Companies in Focus (Nov 22)

Some of these companies are likely to be in focus on Wednesday (Nov 23) trade given the recent announcement, rumours and news surrounding them.

• Yen Global Bhd makes cash call to raise RM55 million
• Inari Amertron Bhd's 1Q net profit up 5.5%; pays 3 sen div
• Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd’s 3Q net profit falls 38%, faced priced pressure
• AirAsia X Bhd makes up fourth straight quarterly profit
• Focus Point Holdings Bhd’s net loss grew by over four times in 3Q 
• Dialog Group Bhd's 1Q net profit climbed 35%; higher contribution from JV
• Brahims Holdings Bhd 3Q saw net loss narrowed 
• Heveaboard Bhd's 3Q net profit slipped 4.87%; pays 1.3 sen div
• Century Logistics Holdings Bhd's  3Q net profit fell 36.14%; pays 0.5 sen div
• Sunway Construction Group Bhd 3Q net profit climbed 21% on higher margin

• Yen Global Bhd makes cash call to raise RM55 million

Yen Global, which has garnered a lot of interest ever since the announcement of its venture into Internet of Things (IoT), is proposing a rights issue of up to 275 million shares with an indicative issue price of 20 sen per share, which could raise up to RM55 million.

 

The company, of which Green Packet Bhd has a 22% stake also proposes a capital reduction cancelling its existing par value from 50 sen to 10 sen to offset its accumulated losses. Subsequently, the company’s issued and paid-up share capital will shrink to RM13.75 million from RM68.75 million, according to its filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday evening.

Yen Global is sweetening the cash call with free 206.25 million warrants on the basis of three warrants for every four shares subscribed to.

Yen Global has expanded into the ICT industry via its wholly-owned subsidiary Atilze Digital Sdn Bhd. Earlier this month, the group was reported to be in talks with the Selangor government to use its LoRa network system in their projects.

• Inari Amertron Bhd's 1Q net profit up 5.5%; pays 3 sen div

Inari's net profit grew 5.5% to RM48 million or 5.01 sen per share for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (1QFY17) from RM45.5 million or 4.95 sen per share a year ago.

In line with it, the Group's revenue was up 2.4% at RM281.6 million compared with RM275 million last year due to an increase in product demand, Inari said in a bourse filing today.

The semiconductor company declared the first single tier interim dividend of 2.3 sen and a special dividend of 0.7 sen for the financial year ending June 30, 2017 (FY17). The dividend is payable on Jan 6, 2017. The ex-date for the dividend is Dec 13 and the entitlement date is Dec 15.

On its future prospects, Inari said notwithstanding uncertainties in global trade following the US presidential election, the group remains cautiously optimistic in maintaining its financial performance for FY17.

• Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd’s 3Q net profit falls 38%, faced priced pressure

Glove maker Kossan’s net profit fell 38.3% to RM34.02 million from RM55.17 million, as the glove industry faced selling price pressure, and higher production costs.

The higher production costs was a result of a rise in minimum wage and natural gas prices, while additional labour cost was also incurred due to labour shortage, its quarterly results filing today showed.

Revenue was down 6.3% to RM414.04 million from RM441.74 million.

Nonetheless, it proposed an interim dividend of five sen per share for FY16, payable on Jan 10, 2017.

For the cumulative nine months, Kossan’s net profit dipped 14.7% to RM126.3 million from RM148.06 million in 9MFY15 — due to the same reasons which affected its quarterly earnings — though revenue grew 2.5% to RM1.23 billion from RM1.2 billion.

On prospects, Kossan said the glove industry will continue to face price competition in the remaining quarter of the year.

• AirAsia X Bhd makes up fourth straight quarterly profit

AirAsia X registered its fourth consecutive profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16), posting a net profit of RM11.03 million compared with a net loss of RM288.19 million in 3QFY15.

The long-haul low-cost affiliate of AirAsia Bhd saw its revenue increase 23.9% to RM982.4 million in 3QFY16 from RM793.01 million in 3QFY15, mainly attributed to a 54% increase in scheduled flight revenue, a 50% growth in ancillary income and a 34% rise in aircraft operating lease income.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY16), AAX posted a net profit of RM191.53 million from a net loss of RM547.05 million in 9MFY15, while revenue jumped 27.7% to RM2.84 billion from RM2.22 billion.

AAX group chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said the airline remains cautiously optimistic that it is on track to achieving its first full-year profit since its listing in 2013.

• Focus Point Holdings Bhd’s net loss grew by over four times in 3Q 

Focus Point saw its net loss grew by over 4 times to RM1.01 million or 0.61 sen a share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16), from RM244,000 or 0.15 sen a year earlier, due mainly to lower contribution from the optical and related products segment.

Revenue saw a slight increase of 3.19% to RM39.05 million from RM37.85 million, the group said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

For the nine-month period (9MFY16), Focus Point reported a net loss of  RM2.25 million or 1.36 sen a share, compared with a net profit of RM539,000 or 0.33 sen in 9MFY15. Revenue increased 5.93% to RM121.3 million from RM114.49 million.

• Dialog Group Bhd's 1Q net profit climbed 35%; higher contribution from JV

Dialog saw its net profit jumped by 35% year-on-year to RM81.33 million in its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (1QFY17) from RM60.07 million, on higher contribution from its joint ventures, particularly the Pengerang Independent Terminals which has fully leased out its storage capacity.

The group's share of JV results for 1QFY17 more than doubled to RM25.1 million from RM12.1 million last year, its quarterly results filing today showed.

Revenue gained 22% y-o-y to RM653.55 million from RM536.37 million.

Dialog said its Malaysia operation remained busy with engineering, construction and fabrication activities during the quarter from various on-going projects such as the Pengerang Deepwater Terminal (PDT) Phase 2, Jetty Topside works for Samsung, and bullet tanks for Toyo.

However, the higher revenue recorded from these activities was partially offset by the slower upstream activities and lower sales in specialist products and services.

Its international operations, meanwhile, remained "challenging", with slower upstream activities resulting in lower sales in specialist products and services.

However, the international ops' net profit after tax during the quarter was still higher than last year's due to increased engineering and construction activities in Singapore, and a gain on the disposal of an office-cum-warehouse there.

• Brahims Holdings Bhd 3Q saw net loss narrowed 

Airline catering service provider Brahims Holdings Bhd’s net loss narrowed to RM1.29 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16) from a net loss of RM8.63 million a year ago, on lower cost of sales and finance costs.

In a statement accompanying its financial results, Brahims said the performance was better due to menu enhancement by Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB).

Revenue for the quarter grew 10.9% to RM71.95 million from RM64.88 million.

For the nine-month period, Brahim’s net loss was at RM12.11 million, compared with a net loss of RM12.61 million in 9MFY15.

Revenue fell 10.94% to RM193.87 million from RM217.69 million.

• Heveaboard Bhd's 3Q net profit slipped 4.87%; pays 1.3 sen div

Heveaboard's net profit dipped 4.87% to RM17.23 million or 3.7 sen per share in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 compared to RM18.12 million or 4.44 sen per share in the previous year's corresponding quarter.

The particleboard maker registered higher revenue of RM127.15 million compared to RM123.83 million a year ago, mainly contributed by its RTA sector, said the group.

"This was due mainly to the implementation of the minimum wage order on July 1, 2016 which had caused the labour cost to go up for both the Ready-to-Assemble (RTA) and particleboard sectors," the group said in a statement today.

The RTA sector saw a year-on-year increase of 21.98% in revenue to RM42.19 million.

In a separate filing today, the group announced a single-tier second interim dividend of 1.3 sen, payable on Dec 21.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2016 (9MFY16), the company posted a net profit of RM52.66 million, up 8.6% from RM48.13 million a year ago. Revenue rose 12% to RM394.83 million from RM351.58 million.

• Century Logistics Holdings Bhd's  3Q net profit fell 36.14%; pays 0.5 sen div

Century Logistics net profit fall by 36.14% to RM4.01 million or 1.05 sen a share in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16) from RM6.28 million or 1.69 sen a share a year ago, on lower activities of both Total Logistics Services and Procurement Logistics Services segments.

Revenue also slipped 3.64% to RM73.55 million in 3QFY16 from RM76.32 million a year ago.

Nevertheless, the group has declared a single tier third interim dividend of 0.5 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016, payable on Dec 22.

For the cumulative nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2016 (9MFY16), its net profit was down 46.03% to RM13.89 million or 3.66 sen per share, against RM25.74 million or 6.98 sen per share in the same period last year.

However, 9MFY16 revenue increased by 0.51% to RM225.67 million compared with RM224.53 million a year earlier.

• Sunway Construction Group Bhd 3Q net profit climbed 21% on higher margin

SunCon's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16) increased by 21% on stronger earnings from its construction segment which saw a better profit before tax (PBT) margin of 9.3% compared to 2.4% previously.

It posted a net profit of RM31.14 million for the 3QFY16 compared with RM25.66 million a year earlier, its bourse filing today showed.

The improved construction PBT margin is due to the absence of loss recognition for a project and adjustment for a lower margin of a project due to acceleration cost incurred made last year.

The group's cumulative nine months net profit, meanwhile, was down 7% y-o-y to RM91.46 million from RM97.82 million, as revenue fell 15% to RM1.24 billion from RM1.45 billion.

"The group's outstanding order book as at Sept 30, 2016 amounts to RM4.8 billion with RM2.6 billion new order book secured to date.

"Our tender activities for nine months total to RM25.7 billion, which brings our success rate for tender to 10%. Based on secured order book, the anticipated turnover for balance fourth quarter 2016 and 2017 should be promising," said SunCon on its prospects.