KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 5): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus for Friday (Sept 6) may include the following: Power Root Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd, Suria Capital Holdings Bhd, APFT Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd and Maxwell International Holdings Bhd.

Power Root Bhd plans to sell more of its rainforest herbs-infused coffee in China, as it sees a rebound in earnings this year.

The company will sell its products online focusing on suppliers, flagship and specialty stores in the world’s second-largest economy, Managing Director Wong Tak Keong said in an interview. Euromonitor projects the ready-to-drink coffee market there hitting US$1.47 billion by 2023.

Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCTitan) said its US-based joint venture (JV) company Lotte Chemical USA Corp's (LC USA) ethane cracker and monoethylene glycol (MEG) plants had started commercial operations in August 2019 on an integrated basis.

LC USA is a 40:60 JV between LCTitan and Lotte Chemical Corp.

Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) hopes the Government will roll out more projects related to technology in the upcoming Budget 2020.

Executive deputy chairman Datuk Samsul Husin said this particularly referred to projects which the DNeX team had the capability to complete and is ready to take on. He said, for example, the projects can be related to blockchain and artificial intelligence.   

Hence, Samsul said, DneX was preparing its employees to embrace and adopt the Fourth Industrial Revolution in order to be well-positioned for the future.

French insurer AXA SA and Affin Bank Bhd are exploring options, including a potential sale of their life and general insurance business in Malaysia, that could fetch about US$650 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Affin Bank and AXA are working with advisers on the potential deal. The financial firms are seeking around US$500 million on AXA Affin General Insurance Bhd, while they are looking to raise as much as US$150 million from AXA Affin Life Insurance Bhd in a transaction.

Affin and AXA could be joining owners of AmGeneral Insurance Bhd, as well as other foreign players including Prudential Plc and Zurich Insurance Group AG, in seeking to pare stakes in their Malaysian units, after the Government decided to start enforcing ownership cap more strictly.

Suria Capital Holdings Bhd, owner of Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, has appealed to the Sabah State Government to increase cargo tariffs by 15% to 20% at its seven ports in the State.

Its chief financial officer Noorida Baharuddin said the company submitted the application to the State Government last month and hopes it would consider the matter.

The external auditors of APFT Bhd have expressed doubts over the flight training company’s ability to continue as a going concern as they are unable to issue an opinion on the group’s financial statements for the period Feb 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019.

The auditor Messrs PKF for the Practice Note 17 (PN17) company said: “As of April 30, 2019, the group’s and the company's current liabilities exceeded their current assets by RM10,159,991 and RM8,135,499 respectively and registered a shareholders’ deficit of the group and the company of RM3,723,146 and RM2,823,191. These conditions indicate that material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s and Company’s ability to continue as going concern.”

PKF added that the group’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on the timing and successful formulation and implementation of its regularisation plan, as well as it [APFT] achieving sustainable and viable operations.

In addition, the auditor said it was unable to satisfy itself over the group’s opening balances as of Feb 1, 2018 of RM5.93 million.

Priceworth International Bhd slipped into the red for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2019 due to temporary interruptions in its logging operations and the impairment on goodwill.

The group said it posted a net loss of RM90.41 million for the quarter compared to a RM3.54 million net profit in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter declined 66.4% to RM14.45 million from RM42.99 million previously.

For the full financial year, Priceworth posted a net loss of RM143.98 million, compared to a net profit of RM13.84 million in the previous year. Full-year revenue also dropped 80.61% to RM33.62 million from RM173.37 million previously.

A Memorandum of Agreement between ailing China-based sports shoe manufacturer Maxwell International Holdings Bhd and three shoe players aimed at getting the former back to financial health has been terminated.

The Practice Note 17 company said its MoA with Mohd Faizol Abdul Karim, NTH Global Sdn Bhd and Opera Marketing Sdn Bhd to explore ways of bringing the company back into the black had been terminated, but did not provide reasons for the termination.