KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
Retain outperform recommendation with a higher target price (TP) of RM12.51 3QFY16 revenue (QoQ: +28.3%, YoY: +23.8%). The higher 3Q sales were led by plantation (+30.7%) and downstream manufacturing (+13.9%) segments, although this was partly offset by weaker property sales (-17%). Average CPO prices jumped 29% YoY to RM2,617/m while FFB production dropped by 6% YoY to 439,000k mt (3Q Malaysia: -8% YoY, Indonesia: flat). Plantation sales in Malaysia surged 20% YoY while Indonesia jumped 81% YoY, bolstered by stronger palm oil prices. Biodiesel sales rose 14% YoY to RM22.1m On the other hand, property sales dropped 17% to RM32.6m, due to weaker sales in existing projects. It sold a piece of 10 acre land in Kula to a private school for RM8.7m. 3QFY16 core net profit nearly tripled to RM96.1m. Malaysian plantation earnings surged 60% YoY to RM125.9m while Indonesian plantation has turnaround with a profit of RM22.2m. Property segmen contracted 9% YoY to RM11....