Tuesday, 17 April 2012

News Highlights - Axis Real Estate Investment Trust, CIMB Group Holdings, Constructin Sector, Telecommunications Sector


Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (RM2.73/share)
Posts higher profit
Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has reported a net profit increase of 27.1% from a year earlier to RM21.0mil for its first quarter ended March 31, 2012, on higher revenue and property revaluation surplus. During the quarter in review, the company posted revenue of RM30.3mil, up 18.5% from a year earlier.

Axis REIT told Bursa Malaysia that it had registered a property revaluation surplus of RM300,000 for the first quarter of 2012. It had proposed a first interim income distribution of 4.3 sen per unit, up from 4.2 sen per unit for the corresponding period last year. -StarBiz

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM7.61/share)
To buy 60pc of San Miguel’s unit soon
Yesterday, the chairman of Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp’s Bank of Commerce, Jose Pardo, said Malaysia’s second largest lender CIMB Group will sign a deal soon to buy a 60.0% stake.

It would be the first foray by the Malaysian bank in the Philippines, further boosting its regional footprint after it bought some equities and investment banking units from Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc elsewhere in Asia earlier this month.

Pardo presumed that with the 60.0% stake, CIMB will have about eight board seats. Medium-sized lender Bank of Commerce has 15 board members. He also said San Miguel Properties Inc and San Miguel Retirement Fund, which together hold about 76.0% of Bank of Commerce, were in negotiations with CIMB about the deal.  A source added that some minority shareholders would also sell their stakes in the bank.

The deal will be presented to Bank of Commerce shareholders at a meeting on April 24. CIMB’s buy-in may be worth about US$200.0mil to US$250.0mil (RM614.0mil to RM767.5mil) and could be finalised in the next few days, said a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. – Business Times

Construction Sector
MMC-Gamuda to subcontract 4km of tunnelling works
Sources said MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd is looking to subcontract 4km of the My Rapid Transit (MRT) tunnelling works to foreign parties. A source told The Edge Financial Daily that the consortium would subcontract a 4km stretch of the total 9.5km MRT tunnelling works to foreign firms and would also lease the boring machines to them.

The sources said that from a project management perspective, the subcontracting of the easier portion will allow the consortium to focus its key personnel on the harder stretch of the work. The benefactors are foreign parties that have experience in tunnelling. It is believed that the 4km portion is located within the Kenny Hill formation between the northern portal at Semantan and the Pavilion shopping complex.

The 9.5km tunnelling works stretch from Semantan to Maluri and include the construction of seven underground stations. MMC-Gamuda will use 10 tunnel boring machines, with the first two expected to be delivered by year-end. Works is expected to begin by March 2013. – The Edge

Telecommunication Sector
MCMC targets 65pc household broadband penetration in 2012
The chairman of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, said it is targeting a 65.0% household broadband penetration this year, amid the current saturated market condition. Last year, he said Malaysia’s household broadband penetration reached about 63.0%, compared to 31.0% in 2009.

Mohamed Sharil said that although the market is saturating, there is now the need for a high-speed broadband network. He also said that under the national broadband strategies, MCMC is now working on creating the demand side.

Mohamed Sharil clarified that the government had yet to award the 4G, or 2.6GHz, spectrum to any telecommunications players. – Business Times

Source: AmeSecurities 

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