KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus for Friday (July 5) may include the following: Seacera Group Bhd, Sunzen Biotech Bhd, Kelington Group Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, UEM Edgenta Bhd, Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Minetech Resources Bhd and Pasdec Holdings Bhd.

Seacera Group Bhd was served with a winding up statutory notice for RM15.53 million, it announced today.

The group was served the notice by Messrs A.S. Gill, Thong & Agnes on behalf of Suong Sdn Bhd demanding payment for outstanding rental, goods and services tax and agreed liquidated damages over breaches to its tenancy agreement dated Aug 4, 2016 for its factory in Selayang, Selangor.

Sunzen Biotech Bhd is disposing of its 70% stake in food items manufacturer Amplio Ingredients Sdn Bhd for RM1.5 million as the latter was unable to procure the level of net profit agreed upon in the acquisition agreement last year.  

Sunzen said it had entered into a settlement agreement with Amplio and its chief executive officer Low Yuan Heng to settle and resolve controversies and disputes arising from agreements it had with them.  

It said proceeds from the disposal will be used for working capital of the company and defraying estimated expenses in relation to the settlement.

An individual by the name of Soh Tong Hwa has emerged as a substantial shareholder in Kelington Group Bhd, after he acquired a 20% stake in Kelington's largest shareholder Palace Star Sdn Bhd.

After the acquisition, Soh has an indirect stake of 27.639% in Kelington, comprising 84.79 million shares, Kelington said. Soh also has a 0.133% direct stake comprising 407,000 shares in Kelington.

Star Media Group Bhd has appointed Andreas Vogiatzakis as group chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from Aug 13, after the post was left vacant for the past six months.
 
Greek national Andreas, 53, was previously the CEO of Havas Media Group, Malaysia, a position he had held from August 2016 till June 2019.

UEM Edgenta Bhd has secured contracts for the provision of hospital support services to the Ministry of Health, Singapore, worth up to RM540.06 million.  

UEM Edgenta said its indirect 97.46% subsidiary UEMS Solutions Pte Ltd accepted the contracts for the provision of hospital support services to the restructured hospitals in Singapore, which include housekeeping and portering services.  

The total value of the contracts is estimated to be between RM429.96 million to RM540.06 million, with the final value dependent on the actual manpower resources deployed.

Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd (DGSB) is disposing of its entire stake in ISS Consulting (Thailand) Ltd for THB236.43 million (approximately RM32.03 million) cash.

The company will declare a special dividend of 0.8 sen per share with part of the proceeds.

DGSB said the divestment is a move to unlock and realise the value of its overseas investment in the company, especially with the strong Thai baht, to bring the foreign exchange investment and earnings back to invest further into its existing operations in Malaysia.

KNM Group Bhd has bagged an air cooler heat exchangers contract worth €7.754 million, equivalent to about RM36.14 million, from Technip Italy SpA.

KNM said its indirect wholly-owned unit secured the job from Technip via a purchase order (PO) dated June 28, and that it involves the design, detailed engineering, fabrication and supply of air cooler heat exchangers as part of the expansion and modernisation projects of the Middle East Oil Refinery located in Alexandria, Egypt, that is managed by Middle East Refining Ltd (MIDOR).

The job is to be completed in no more than 14 months from the PO's date.

Minetech Resources Bhd has appointed Yee Kon Sin as its chief executive officer with effect from today.

He was the chief operating officer at De Lufra Sdn Bhd prior to joining Minetech on Jan 1, 2019.

Separately, Mintech said its non-executive chairman Choy Sen @ Chin Kin Sang has been redesignated as executive chairman effective today.

Currently, he has a direct interest of 172.9 million shares or a 19.62% stake in the company.

Pasdec Holdings Bhd’s non-independent non-executive chairman Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob has retired from his position.

Pasdec said the former Menteri Besar of Pahang’s resignation took effect today. The 69-year-old had served the board as its chairman for 16 years since Jan 21, 2003.