Stocks to watch: BCorp, Gamuda, Sunway Holdings, Ramunia

Written by Loong Tse Min
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 08:02

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian investors will have to look at the domestic front for leads on Wednesday, Sept 30 after the disappointing close on Wall Street where the surprise drop in consumer confidence pushed the key indices into the red.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 0.5%, to 9,742.20, giving up about a third of Monday's 124-point gain. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.2% to 1,060.60 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.3% to 2,124.04.

US stocks slid after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell in September. Economists had been expecting a reading of 57; instead it came in at 53.1.

At the home front, there is a lot of fresh news for investors to ponder upon. For one, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will make a "major announcement" on a Middle East investment in Malaysia today, as the country tries to bring in foreign capital amid this year's nosedive in foreign direct investment.

"FDIs were at an all-time high in 2008, with 73.4% of a total US$18.1 billion (RM63 billion) manufacturing project investments approved made up of foreign investments.

Stocks to watch include Berjaya Corp, Sime Darby, Ramunia, Gamuda and Sunway Holdings.

BCorp proposed a corporate exercise involving the injection of two units - Singer(M) Sdn Bhd and 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn Bhd - under a new holding company Berjaya Retail Bhd (B-Retail) which will then be listed. BCorp would spin off Singer to B-retail which would then acquire 7-Eleven for RM600 million.

Sime Darby announced a plan for RM4.5 billion Islamic debt notes to finance its working capital requirements and also future investments and if required, refinance debt obligations.

Sime Darby is taking over Ramunia, which net loss narrowed to RM25.59 million in the third quarter (3Q) ended July 31, 2009 from a net loss of RM215.21 million in 3Q08. Ramunia attributed the loss to diminishing order book and lower project margins to cover expenses.

GAMUDA BHD []'s net profit fell 38.3% to RM43.29 million in the fourth quarter ended July 31 compared with RM70.2 million a year ago due to sharply higher operating expenses.

Gamuda said on Tuesday, Sept 29 that revenue however rose 10.68% to RM942.24 million from RM851.3 million. Earnings per share were 2.16 sen compared with 3.50 sen.

CONSTRUCTION [] player Sunway Holdings' unit Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd secured a RM147.36 million construction project from Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd for a 16-storey, three-star hotel and an 11-storey office tower.

Corrugated cardboard maker and resort property developer, KYM Holdings has reduced the par value of its shares to 50 sen per share from RM1 per share effective Sept 29.

The company had hit the headlines in June for the sale of a 16.5 ha site in Manjung, Perak to Brazil's Vale International SA - a global mining giant. KYM is planning to use the proceeds of RM40.6 million from the par value reduction to create a reserve for the issuance warrants and for the setting off and elimination of accumulated losses.

Chinese-language newspaper publisher, MCIL has announced that national pension fund, Employees Provident Fund Board has on Sept 18 acquired 84.7 million shares or 5.03% in the stock.