Genting proposes special cash dividend of 50 sen/share, restricted issue of warrants

From The Edge Malaysia
29th Aug 2013

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): GENTING BHD  has proposed to declare a special interim cash dividend of RM0.50 less 25% income tax for every Genting share held.

In conjunction with this dividend payment, the mainly gaming group has also proposed to undertake a restricted issue of warrants to provide shareholders with an option to reinvest some or all of the net dividend back into the company through the subscription of warrants.

The warrants are to be issued at RM1.50 per unit, on the basis of one warrant for every four Genting shares held.

PublicInvest revises Parkson to Outperform, says worst is over

From The Star Online: Business
28th Aug 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Following Parkson Holding’s latest quarter results which saw FY13 full-year earnings drop 36.7% to RM240.5mil year-on-year on weaker sales in China,PublicInvest Research says it believes the company’s performance has bottomed out and is upgrading its recommendation to Outperform.

Target price is, however, unchanged at RM4.17 for the stock, which closed Tuesday at RM3.30.

PPB expects “good” 2013 results, seen paying higher final dividend

From The Edge Malaysia

27th Aug 2013

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): PPB Group Bhd said today it expects to achieve “good” results for its full financial year in 2013, supported by domestic demand and flour milling expansion overseas.

It also expects profit contribution from its 18.33%-associate company, Wilmar International Ltd of Singapore, to continue to account for 65%-70% of PPB’s total profit.

“On the whole, PPB Group’s operations are expected to perform well in 2013; nonetheless the overall financial results would depend substantially on Wilmar’s business performance for the year,” said Leong Choy Ying, chief financial officer of PPB Group, at a briefing for the media and analysts today.

“The domestic demand in Malaysia is expected to be well-supported by resilient consumer and business spending… Regionally, expansion of the group’s flour milling capacity in Indonesia and Vietnam is progressively coming on-stream to supply additional volume in those markets,” she added.

Highlight REITs lose lustre as bond yields rise

From The Edge Malaysia
26th Aug 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Real estate investment trusts (REITs), the darling of risk-averse investors a year ago, are losing their lustre as investors switch to government debt papers, the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS).

This comes as the yields of MGS rise with the outflow of funds following the US Federal Reserve’s impending move to reduce its asset purchase that has been in place since 2009.

An Affin Investment Bank Bhd analyst told The Edge Financial Daily that when REITs were the flavour of investors, the gap between MGS and REIT yields was apparent.

“Back when government bonds yields were at 3%, they were about 100 to 150 basis points lower than REIT yields. Now, the difference is not that much. Investors who are looking for REIT stocks now are only buying for acquisition growth,” the analyst said.

Myriad headwinds for M-REITs

From The Edge Malaysia
19th Aug 2013

Prospects for real estate investment trusts
(REITs) listed on Bursa Malaysia are likely to stay muted for the foreseeable future.

Whilst REITs had fared well previously, when excessive liquidity and historic low interest rates pushed investors into seeking higher yields in these investments, the trend has reversed in recent months.

Even though unit prices for most of the larger, more liquid trusts have corrected over the past month, their expected returns do not appear any more attractive, given that risk-free returns on government bonds have risen in tandem.

Long-term prospects for Parkson still good

From The Edge Malaysia
14th Aug 2013

GRANTED, the lacklustre growth of China's retail and consumer market has pulled Parkson Holdings Bhd's earnings down so far this year, but the medium to long-term prospects for the group, especially its China operation, are still good.

Briefly, department stores in China are facing challenges from the slowing economy, rising wage costs and heightened competition, not to mention the advent of online shopping.

While not that many analysts are excited about Parkson, with at least two out of three calling a "hold" on the stock, the sheer size of China's consumer market cannot be ignored. Plus, Parkson's share price has declined 19.83% to RM3.80 from a year ago.

According to Affin Investment Bank analyst Mandy Teh, China's retail market will recover by the second half of the year at the very least. Meanwhile, Parkson's plan to expand selectively and close non-performing stores on the mainland will reflect on the group's earnings going forward.

Glove makers gaining from demand

From The Edge Malaysia
5th Aug 2013

IN 2012, Malaysia exported about 100 billion pieces of rubber gloves, approximately 63% of the world' supply, to more than 180 countries. here are glove makers in other countries such as Thailand and Indonesia,but locally listed Hartalega Holdings and Top Glove Corp are the global market leaders for nitrile and latex gloves respectively.

The bulk of the demand comes from hospitals, hence the healthcare industry is an important one for glove makers. This burgeoning industry is expected to hit US$3 trillion by 2015, on the back of growing health awareness, increased spending on healthcare in emerging markets and the occurrence of new infectious diseases.

Costlier land the price of growth

From The Edge Malaysia
2nd Aug 2013

IN recent years, escalating prices for residential property, especially landed homes in traditional hot spots such as Petaling Jaya, coupled with improving road transport, have seen Malaysians buy homes further away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

One such suburb is Rawang, which is located northwest of KL and is part of the Gombak district, under the supervision of the Selayang municipal council. It had started as a small tin-mining town, consisting of only a few rows of shophouses, but today, it is slowly but surely turning into a residential hot spot.

Hwang DBS retains Quill Capital on Buy, RHB Research says Sell

From Star Online: Business

2nd August 2013

 

KUALA LUMPUR: HwangDBS Research is maintaining its Buy calls on real estate investment trust Quill Capital Trust but is revising its target price to RM1.40 from RM1.45, while RHB Research says it’s time to Sell.

According to HwangDBS Research, QCT’s first-half earnings were well within estimates, noting that the 4.1 sen dividend declared amounted to a 94% payout but said it was cutting earnings estimates for the financial years 2013-2015 by 5-8% because of softer rental reversions and the zero contribution to earnings from their Quill Building 10 in PJ’s Section 13.

The second quarter net profit at RM9mil was 3% lower year-on-year (plus 10% q-o-q) on slightly lower revenue and weaker net property income margin.

“We attribute the lower revenue to vacancy at Quill Building 10 – a result of high office space supply and attraction of newer office buildings (QB10 is now seven years old),” it said.