KUALA LUMPUR (May 25) : Based on the corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Thursday (May 27) include George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd, Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Boustead Plantations Bhd, S P Setia Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd, UOA Development Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag), Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM), Pos Malaysia Bhd, WZ Satu Bhd, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, Muda Holdings Bhd, Perak Transit Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Sunway Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS), KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, Genting Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd.  

George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd was found to have been in breach of a shareholders’ agreement (SHA) concerning its joint-venture company (JVCo) with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) under the AIAC arbitration rules on May 21. George Kent will now have to confirm its agreement in writing within 21 days to the appointment of an audit firm by the JVCo’s management to carry out an independent valuation of the latter’s shares on a discounted cash flow basis.

Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) foreign shareholding has fallen — from 16.63% on April 30, 2021 to 16.54% as of May 12 — according to the figures on the bank's website. This is the lowest since Feb 17, 2017, when foreign shareholding stood at 16.24%.

Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd will likely be included in the FBM KLCI index, replacing Supermax Corp Bhd, which has the lowest market capitalisation among KLCI component stocks, said analysts today. CGS-CIMB’s analysts Ng Lee Fang and Nagulan Ravi said according to their assessment of market data as at end of yesterday, Mr DIY has risen to the 20th position in terms of market cap ranking, satisfying the rules for inclusion into the KLCI index.

Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd saw its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021 (4QFY21) increase by 41.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM78.47 million, from RM55.58 million for the corresponding quarter a year ago, thanks to better margins, reduced sales and marketing expenses and tax expenses. The group said that this was in spite of revenue declining by 17.8% y-o-y to RM388.25 million, from RM472.14 million, due to reduced recognition from residential properties, which was partially mitigated by higher industrial property sales.

Petronas Gas Bhd reported today that first quarter net profit rose 40.28% to RM516.4 million from RM368.12 million a year earlier despite a drop in group revenue on lower income from the group’s utilities segment in line with lower product prices. Petronas Gas said group revenue fell to RM1.34 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) from RM1.4 billion. 

Bumi Armada Bhd's net profit grew 12.94% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM162.79 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM144.14 million for 4QFY20, on lower operating cost for its Olombendo FPSO and the absence of impairment loss on vessels in the quarter.  At the operating profit level, its performance improved by 29.62% to RM278.23 million from RM214.64 million.

Boustead Plantations Bhd swung back to the black in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), posting a net profit of RM12.26 million versus a net loss of RM9.55 million a year prior. The group also declared a dividend of 0.3 sen per share, payable on June 30. The planter’s latest quarterly revenue rose by 6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM171.94 million from RM162.69 million for 1QFY20.

S P Setia Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) jumped more than threefold to RM75.23 million, from RM24.09 million a year ago, mainly driven by progressive revenue recognition from strong take-up rates achieved.Its quarterly revenue also rose 49.83% to RM1.05 billion, from RM702.66 million a year ago

MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, the country's largest refined sugar producer, posted its second straight quarterly profit in its first financial quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21). Net profit came in at RM31.19 million, lower than the RM56.24 million reported in 4QFY20 due to lower overall margin and higher finance cost. Revenue for 1QFY21 was also lower by 18.3% at RM514.94 million from RM630.33 million in 4QFY20 on decreased overall sales volume.

Affin Bank Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) fell 44.21% to RM68.94 million from RM123.57 million, largely on lower net gain on sales of financial instruments. At group revenue or net income level, Affin Bank saw a 13.95% decline to RM537.63 million from RM624.77 million.

Sanichi Technology Bhd has been hit with an unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Malaysia today after its share price declined by as much as 21.05%. The local bourse has asked Sanichi to disclose any corporate developments that had not been previously announced that could account for the greater trading activity.

UOA Development Bhd’s first quarter net profit fell 70.95% year-on-year to RM36.09 million from RM124.22 million on lower revenue after the property developer recognised, a year earlier, higher progressive income from its United Point Residence project. The group said revenue fell to RM140.17 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) from RM375.27 million.

Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) swung back to profit in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) due to higher gross profit recorded amid favourable Mean of Platts Singapore (MoPS) prices trend in the quarter. Also helping the company was lower operating expenditure from lower advertising and promotion activities and purchased and professional services.PetDag registered a net profit of RM191.11 million compared to a net loss of RM29.42 million in the previous year. 

Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM) continued to bleed in its first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), as net losses widened to RM483.59 million or 8.55 sen per share, from RM417.96 million or 7.39 sen per share in 1QFY20, due to the temporary closure of the group’s businesses in Malaysia and the UK. Revenue in 1QFY21 tumbled 68.13% to RM623.35 million from RM1.96 billion a year ago,

Pos Malaysia Bhd saw its net loss significantly narrow to RM46.78 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM232.35 million in the immediately preceding quarter (4QFY20), mainly due to the absence of impairments. The postal and logistics company said its lower losses were attributed to the lack of impairments during its latest financial quarter.

WZ Satu Bhd achieved a net profit of RM1.09 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021, after reporting twelve consecutive quarterly losses since the third quarter of 2018. The group’s quarterly revenue came in at RM68.05 million.

Ta Ann Holdings Bhd’s net profit quadrupled to RM40.98 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM10.25 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, in part due to higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Revenue for the quarter grew 35% to RM340.62 million from RM252.6 million a year earlier.

Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd's net profit declined 25% to RM120.83 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM160.38 million a year earlier, on lower contributions from its property and credit financing divisions. Revenue fell 13% to RM1.28 billion from RM1.48 billion in 1QFY20. The group declared an interim of 10 sen, unchanged from a year earlier, to be payable on June 23.

Padini Holdings Bhd’s net profit in the third quarter ended March 31, 2021 (3QFY21) fell by 26.62% to RM12.19 million from RM16.61 million in the previous year as the group suffers from adverse impacts from the pandemic and the re-imposition of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by the government. The group said its quarterly revenue tumbled 24.31% to RM262.87 million against RM347.32 million as all of its outlets except those in Sarawak were closed during a certain period in 3QFY21. 

Star Media Group Bhd, publisher of The Star newspaper, posted its second straight quarterly loss in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), although it managed to narrow its net loss by 10% to RM14.1 million from RM15.71 million in the preceding quarter. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, the group's net loss widened 254% from RM3.98 million a year ago, mainly due to lower revenue from the print segment.

Muda Holdings Bhd's net profit more than doubled to RM35.42 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM17.49 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, on the back of better selling price of industrial paper and paper packaging products. Revenue for the quarter grew 22.25% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM415.01 million from RM339.48 million.

Perak Transit Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) rose 55.64% to RM13.4 million from RM8.61 million, as lower cost of sales, finance costs, and higher revenue more than offset higher tax expenses incurred. The group declared a second interim dividend of 0.8 sen per share — up from 0.25 sen last year — which goes ex on Aug 3 and is payable on Aug 23. This brings its dividend payout for FY21 thus far to 1.6 sen per share.

Axiata Group Bhd's net profit tumbled 60% to RM75.56 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM188.11 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher depreciation and amortisation costs and lower one-off gain. The sharp decline in earnings was recorded despite a 0.45% rise in revenue to RM6.07 billion from RM6.04 billion, supported by higher revenue in its Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia operations.

Sunway Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) slipped 6% to RM58.45 million from RM62.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year, amid lower contributions from its property and property investment segments. The group's revenue rose 4.7% to RM1.02 billion from RM971.44 million, as it registered higher contributions from most business segments save for its property development and property investment segments.

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) recorded a three-and-a-half fold higher net profit of RM77.8 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) compared with RM17.28 million in the same period last year. Revenue increased to RM202.06 million from RM189.44 million previously.

KPJ Healthcare Bhd's net profit tumbled 66.32% to RM12.98 million or 0.3 sen per share in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), from RM38.53 million or 0.9 sen per share a year earlier, due to lower patient numbers following the implementation of the second Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) for more than a month from Jan 13. Revenue fell 9% to RM605.94 million, from RM665.82 million in 1QFY20.

Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd said today it is commencing a special independent review after its board of directors was informed by its external auditors on some matters pertaining to statutory audit."The board is in the midst of appointing an independent firm to commence a special independent review to assess the veracity and accuracy of the matters,”the group said.

Genting Bhd slipped into the red in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) with a net loss of RM331.76 million compared with a net profit of RM24.98 million in the preceding quarter, dragged by lower adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the current quarter and higher pre-opening expenses incurred by its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Resorts World Las Vegas LLC (RWLV). Revenue fell 26% to RM2.25 billion from RM3.05 billion in 4QFY20.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd said it has disposed of 50,000 shares of CME Group Inc (previously known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc) Class A common stock for US$18.86 million (RM44.94 million). The proceeds of the sale, it said, will be used to fund its initiatives to ensure continuous development to the ecosystem and infrastructure of the exchange.