KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Friday (Nov 25) involving Infomina Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Sunway Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd, IOI Corp Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Uchi Technologies Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, Chin Hin Group Bhd, OM Holdings Ltd, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and IGB Bhd.

Infomina Bhd made a strong debut on the ACE Market on Friday. The stock jumped by as much as 60% to an intraday high of 64 sen in early trading, despite profit-taking sentiment in the broader market. At market close, the stock pared some gains to settle at 53.5 sen per share — marking a 13.5 sen or 34% gain for Infomina's debut day, with 172.63 million shares traded. It was the third most actively traded stock of the day among all Bursa Malaysia-listed securities. In comparison, the FBM KLCI fell by 1% or 15.34 points to 1,486.54, with 629 stocks on Bursa Malaysia closing lower versus 347 gainers and 362 unchanged.

Genting Malaysia Bhd, along with six other companies bidding for a new 10-year gaming concession in Macau from 2023, may have to increase their proposed level of investment. Citing a report from TDM Portuguese radio, gaming industry magazine Inside Asian Gaming (IAG) on Wednesday (Nov 23) said the Macau government had sought an increase in investments as the bidding parties completed negotiations with the government and submitted their final proposals this week. IAG also reported that the preliminary results of the tender committee is expected to be announced shortly, possibly as early as this week.

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd's (PetChem) net profit slipped by 3.5% year-on-year for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) as margins came under pressure from higher operating costs. Net profit fell to RM1.895 billion for 3QFY2022 from RM1.96 billion a year ago, despite a 22% growth in revenue to RM7.03 billion from RM5.78 billion, due to higher product prices supported by elevated crude oil prices amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and stronger US dollar. The petrochemical group also recorded a higher plant utilisation rate of 97% for the quarter under review, versus 94% in 3QFY2021, mainly due to lower plant maintenance and statutory turnaround activities resulting in higher production and sales volumes.

Axiata Group Bhd registered a net loss of RM52.4 million or 0.6 sen loss per share in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) versus a net profit of RM349.56 million or 3.8 sen earnings per share in the same quarter last year. This is the group’s third straight quarterly net loss. Despite the disappointing results, Axiata declared a five sen interim dividend, and the entitlement and payment dates will be announced in due course. The group’s latest earnings were dragged by significant foreign exchange losses of RM346.7 million, higher depreciation and amortisation, one-off additional fees (net of accruals) and penalties charged for the use of microwave equipment in prior years of RM151.6 million recorded by mobile operations in Cambodia as well as higher finance costs and taxes. In contrast, quarterly revenue rose 10.96% to RM7.26 billion from RM6.54 billion.

Sunway Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) more than doubled to RM164.72 million, from RM81.1 million in the corresponding quarter in 2021, lifted by improved performance across its business segments. Revenue for the quarter also expanded 48.27% to RM1.27 billion, from RM856.92 million a year ago, fuelled by the improvements from all of the group’s business segments.

Affin Bank Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 jumped more than six-fold to RM872.36 million from RM133.2 million a year earlier, due mainly to higher net interest income. Revenue for the quarter surged to RM1.62 billion from RM552.49 million previously. For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, Affin Bank posted net profit of RM1.16 billion versus RM320.09 million the year prior on the back of revenue of RM2.73 billion against RM1.67 billion.

Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) posted a net profit of RM41.72 million for its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (1QFY2023)compared with RM293.56 million in 1QFY2022, when it recorded a RM264.51 million gain from the bargain purchase of a 60% stake in SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a semiconductor wafer foundry. Excluding the one-off-gain from the bargain purchase, DNex's net profit grew 44% from the normalised 1QFY2022 net profit of RM29.05 million, as revenue grew 55% to RM419.58 million from RM270.87 million a year ago, driven by higher contribution from both its technology and energy segments.

Plantation-based group IOI Corp Bhd reported a net profit lower by nearly 40% at RM167.5 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (1QFY2023), against RM277.6 million a year ago, in a Bursa Malaysia filing. The group's revenue was nearly flat at RM3.66 billion for 1QFY2023 compared with 1QFY2022's RM3.63 billion. IOI Corp's plantation profit for the quarter under review fell by 27.8% to RM351.8 million from RM487 million in 1QFY2022 due to lower fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production and higher cost of production, mitigated by higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices realised.

Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) fell 34.4% to RM82.34 million from RM125.49 million for the same period last year on higher production costs following increases in fertiliser and labour costs. Quarterly revenue, however, climbed 1.71% to RM1.32 billion from RM1.3 billion.

Uchi Technologies Bhd reported a 30.5% year-on-year jump in net profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) to RM32.5 million, mainly due to higher demand for the group’s products and services, and the appreciation of the US dollar against the ringgit. These factors contributed to Uchi recording 23% higher revenue of RM54.7 million in 3QFY2022 compared with RM44.4 million in the corresponding quarter in 2021.

Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd chalked a 31.7% increase in net profit for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY22) as its revenue and profitability increased due to more cargo throughput at the Bintulu Port and Samalaju Industrial Port. In the quarter under review, the group recorded RM28.66 million of net profit compared with RM21.76 million in the corresponding quarter in 2021 (3QFY21). This came on the back of a 15.3% increase in revenue year-on-year during the quarter to RM199.12 million.

IJM Corp Bhd turned profitable in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (2QFY2023), with a net profit of RM27.03 million from its continuing operations compared to a net loss of RM29.32 million in the prior year. The improvement in profitability came on the back of higher revenue and profit before tax (PBT), following the full resumption of business activities during the quarter, as countries emerged from Covid-19-induced lockdowns. In 2QFY2023, IJM’s operating revenue increased 22.6% year-on-year to RM1.07 billion, while its PBT jumped 1,228% y-o-y to RM88.8 million.

Chin Hin Group Bhd's net profit for the third quarter (3Q) jumped 6.44 times y-o-y to RM16.41 million from RM2.55 million in the same quarter a year ago, driven by full resumption of business activities. The resumption of business activities contributed to a hike in revenue, especially in the distribution of building materials and logistics services division, as well as the concrete manufacturing division. Revenue increased by RM191.58 million or 84.57% y-o-y to RM418.12 million in 3QFY2022. The jump in revenue led to a 138.98% increase in gross profit to RM21.82 million — also supported by the increase of its gross profit margin to 8.97%, from 6.93% in the corresponding quarter.

Australian mining firm OM Holdings Ltd is seeking to raise up to A$30.9 million (RM93.49 million) through the issuance of a private bond to certain key management personnel, managers, employees as well as sophisticated and professional investors. Subscribers of the three-year private bond, which carries a 10% coupon rate and payable semi-annually, will include executive chairman and chief executive officer Low Ngee Tong and related parties. Proceeds raised will be used to partly finance the purchase of a 25% interest in OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and OM Materials (Samalaju) Sdn Bhd from Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd for US$120 million (RM536.4 million).

Mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering services specialist Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd has secured a project worth RM39 million from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) for the installation of a 132 kilovolt (kV) underground cable double circuit. The cable circuit, or 132kV XLPE cable system, will be installed from the PMU Financial Center to the GDS Data Center substation in Nusajaya, Johor. This new XLPE cable comprises two circuits and three phases, with one cable of 1,600mm2 copper per phase. The project was secured via Bintai Kinden's wholly owned Kejuruteraan Bintai Kindenko Sdn Bhd (KBK).

Datuk Seri Robert Tan Chung Meng will step down as IGB Bhd’s group chief executive officer effective Jan 1, 2023. Robert will remain with the group in the role of a non-independent, non-executive director to facilitate the change in leadership during the transition. The property developer also announced that Tan Boon Lee, the current deputy group CEO, will succeed Robert as the group CEO.