KUALA LUMPUR (May 2): Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday:

Yinson Holdings Bhd has closed the limited recourse term loan facility of up to US$1.3 billion (RM6.2 billion) for the financing of its Agogo floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, to be deployed in Angola. As at Jan 31, Yinson's net borrowing stood at RM13.31 billion, up 66% from the RM8.01 billion recorded a year ago. Yinson unit secures single largest term loan of US$1.3b to finance Agogo FPSO delivery

Protasco Bhd has received an offer for its education unit Ikram Education Sdn Bhd, which owns the Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (IUKL), from Hong Kong-based Star Teenagers International Group Ltd (STI). STI has paid an unspecified earnest deposit for the acquisition and will have three months to conduct due diligence on Ikram Education. The group's education segment has been loss-making since the Covid-19 pandemic. Protasco gets offer from HK firm to buy its university unit

Lotte Chemical Titan Holdings Bhd (LCTitan) logged a net loss of RM178.03 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024), making it the group's eighth straight quarter in the red as product costs continued to exceed revenue. Nevertheless, the latest quarterly loss narrowed year-on-year from RM224.76 million, mainly stemming from a decreased share of losses from its associate company, Lotte Chemical USA Corp. Revenue for the quarter dropped 2.72% to RM1.92 billion, from RM1.97 billion a year before, which LCTitan attributed to lower sales volume, but partially offset by higher average selling prices amid a strengthening US dollar. LCTitan posts 8th straight quarterly loss ahead of planned plant turnaround

Westports Holdings Bhd’s net profit rose 11.4% year-on-year to RM204.51 million or six sen per share in 1QFY2024, from RM183.59 million or 5.38 sen per share, thanks to higher container revenue coupled with higher finance income and share of results of a joint venture (JV). Quarterly revenue rose 5.9% y-o-y to RM543.15 million from RM512.92 million. It is forecasting a low single-digit growth rate over the previous year, noting that the prospects of stable or lower interest rates this year could provide some buffer to consumers’ containerised consumption. Westports' 1Q net profit up 11% on higher container revenue, finance income and share of results of JV

UOA REIT’s net rental income fell 12.7% to RM18.48 million in 1QFY2024 from RM21.17 million a year earlier, due to lower occupancy rates and higher property operating expenses. Total income fell 12.3% year-on-year to RM18.66 million from RM21.29 million. Net profit fell 20.2% to RM11.67 million from RM14.61 million, while earnings per unit dropped to 1.73 sen from 2.16 sen. “We foresee the improvement in rental rates will remain restrained in the near term,” it said. UOA REIT’s net rental income drops 13% in 1Q as its properties record lower occupancy rates

Frontken Corp Bhd recorded a 27.4% jump in its net profit for 1QFY2024 to RM30.05 million from RM23.58 million last year, mainly due to improved revenue and profit margin. Quarterly revenue rose 23.3% to RM140.52 million from RM113.99 million in 1QFY2023, attributed to improved revenue due to higher contributions from its subsidiaries in Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Frontken kicks off FY2024 with 27% jump in net profit on improved revenue, better profit margin

Pasukhas Group Bhd has secured a RM56.98 million contract from an undisclosed company to build a data centre in Selangor. Pasukhas described the company as "one of the leading multinational technology corporations headquartered in the US". The project is expected to be completed by June 30, 2025. Pasukhas secures RM57m contract from US company to build data centre in Selangor

Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) has secured a contract worth RM43.6 million from the Ministry of Defence for the in-service support for its Royal Malaysian Navy Prime Minister Class submarines. The award is an expansion of the scope of work of an earlier contract awarded in May 2023, which amounted to RM99.8 million and ended in mid-February this year. BHIC secures RM43 mil contract for navy submarine in-service support

JAKS Resources Bhd's unit has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China-based CALB Group Co Ltd to explore opportunities in the battery energy storage system (BESS) market, with a particular focus on the Southeast Asia region. The MOU is a non-binding agreement and will not have any financial implications until a definitive agreement is signed, which is expected to occur within six months, it said. JAKS partners CALB to tap into SE Asia's battery energy storage systems market

Construction outfit and bus operator Epicon Bhd will exit Practice Note 17 (PN17) status on Friday as it has regularised its financial condition. The group slipped into PN17 status in April 2020 after its auditor flagged that its current liabilities exceeded current assets by RM63 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY2018). Epicon, formerly Konsortium Transnasional, exits PN17 status

Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCB) has once again obtained a time extension from March 31 to Sept 30 to submit its Practice Note 17 (PN17) regularisation plan from Bursa Malaysia. The original deadline was Nov 1, 2023. Trading of SCB shares could be suspended and the company delisted if it fails to submit its regularisation plan to the authorities on or before the new deadline. Sarawak Cable gets another time extension to submit PN17 exit plan

Annum Bhd received a show-cause notice from Bursa Malaysia over the company's failure to issue its annual report for the financial period ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023), which was due on Oct 31, 2023. It has been accorded five market days to make written representations to Bursa Malaysia as to why Annum’s securities should not be delisted. Annum still fails to issue annual report after landing auditor following 31 rejections; hit by Bursa show-cause notice

Aldrich Resources Bhd is reconsidering an earlier plan to diversify into dolomite and gold mining and has suspended these operations for the time being. The suspension of the business, which it had entered in May 2023, is “pending further compliance of necessary guidelines and requirements”. Aldrich has spent some RM2.85 million — initially raised via a private placement exercise for other businesses — on the venture. Aldrich Resources suspends mining venture after one year

Ajinomoto (M) Bhd’s RM2.12 special dividend announced in July last year will go ex on May 15. The payment date will be May 30. The dividend, totalling RM128 million, is derived from the sale of six land parcels along Jalan Kuchai Lama to Tan Sri David Law Tien Seng for RM408 million. Ajinomoto’s special dividend of RM2.12 goes ex on May 15

South Malaysia Industries Bhd (SMI) has appointed Leow Thang Fong as its new chief executive officer, effective May 1, after a group of shareholders rejected him from being re-elected executive director at its annual general meeting in March. Leow has served as executive director in SMI for nearly 30 years since September 1994 and has a deemed interest of 1.15% in SMI. SMI makes Leow Thang Fong CEO after his reappointment as ED rejected at AGM