MY Morning Wrap | DOSM: Malaysia's Natural Rubber Production Up 9.7% in August Against July

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose 0.5%, while the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ gained 0.6%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ advanced 0.4%, or 135 points. Ten of the S&P 500's 11 sectors rose, after all 11 closed higher on Monday.

$TIMECOM (5031.MY)$ : Khazanah Nasional Bhd via its associate Pulau Kapas Ventures Sdn Bhd (PKV) has disposed of its 3.7% stake, equivalent to 67.5 million shares, in TIME dotCom Bhd, whose share price climbed to an all-time high of RM5.56 last week. However, TIME did not reveal in its filing to Bursa Malaysia the amount raised by the national sovereign fund through the share sale. The shares changed hands on Tuesday. Bloomberg’s off-market transaction data showed that 67.5 million TIME shares were traded on Oct 10 at RM5.29 apiece, or RM357 million. Khazanah, via PKV, remains the largest shareholder of TIME with a 25.1% stake after the share divestment, compared with a 28.8% stake previously.

$ITMAX (5309.MY)$ : ITMAX System Bhd has secured a RM79.6 million contract from the Pasir Gudang City Council in Johor to design, install and maintain a smart command centre, a closed-circuit camera system with artificial intelligence (AI) features as well as a smart traffic lights system within the district. The company said its 65%-owned subsidiary Southmax Sdn Bhd has secured a letter of award (LOA) for the 15-year project. This is the second such contract awarded to ITMAX by a Johor local authority, after the RM111 million contract by the Iskandar Puteri City Council awarded in September.

$KERJAYA (7161.MY)$ : Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd has bagged a RM226 million contract from Aspen Vision City Sdn Bhd for the development of a 37-storey residential building in Batu Kawan, Penang. With the latest contract win, Kerjaya Prospek has to surpassed its target of RM1.2 billion new contracts this year, having locked down RM1.5 billion in new jobs so far. As a result, its outstanding orderbook increased to RM4.7 billion.

$PTRANS (0186.MY)$ : Perak Transit Bhd has secured approval from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) for an investment tax allowance (ITA) on qualifying capital expenditure in relation to the development of an integrated public transportation terminal in Bidor, Perak. Its 99.97% owned subsidiary The Combined Bus Services Sdn Bhd (TCBS) received the approval from the MOF on Tuesday.

$SAPNRG (5218.MY)$ : Sapura Energy Bhd said the contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the single buoy mooring (SBM) Pipeline Rejuvenation Phase II Project in Singapore has been terminated. The said contract had been initially bagged together with its consortium partner Dredging International Asia Pacific back in 2020, and formed part of a larger cluster of contracts worth RM766 million. The contract, which was awarded by Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, involves pre-emptive repair of the nearshore pipeline section, rejuvenation of the SBM system and optional removal of existing pipeline to ensure fitness for service of the crude offloading system to Bukom Refinery in Singapore.

$AWC (7579.MY)$ : AWC Bhd has secured Islamic banking facilities of up to RM100 million from AmBank Islamic Bhd. The amount will be used to finance the acquisition of a 49% equity stake in automated waste collection system provider Stream Group Sdn Bhd. Last month, AWC announced it is buying the remaining 49% stake it does not own in Stream Group, for RM110 million, confirming a report by The Edge. At the same time, it is taking over the remaining 51% stake that Stream Group does not own in Premium Patents Sdn Bhd, which holds the intellectual property rights of assets required for Stream Group's current business, for RM1.

$FLBHD (5197.MY)$ : Focus Lumber Bhd announced that it has entered into an industrial tree planting agreement (ITPA) with Rakyat Berjasa Sdn Bhd (RBSB) to plant, rehabilitate and harvest forests in a 5,000-hectare area in Sabah’s Sungai Pinangah Forest Reserve. The plywood maker said the ITPA would allow the group to manage and secure wood resources on a long-term basis – until September 2097 – in the designated area for the purposes of sustainable production of timber and natural forest produce and for harvesting, distributing, processing and export of such timber, forest industrial products and other relevant materials.

$PTT (7010.MY)$ : PTT Synergy Group Bhd has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire two parcels of freehold development land for RM70.56 million via indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Projek Tetap Teguh Sdn Bhd (Projek TT) on Tuesday. The group said the 7.28 hectares (18 acres) of land is located in Seberang Perai Selatan, Penang. The company said the proposed acquisition is expected to strengthen the group’s involvement within the industrial development segment and is “a valuable addition” to the group’s land bank.

$LKL (0182.MY)$ : LKL International Bhd, whose share price has halved since the start of the year, is selling a parcel of land in Serdang, Selangor for RM6.65 million. The company had completed the purchase of the freehold land, together with a unit of three-storey semi-detached factory erected thereon, in December 2022 for RM5.98 million. The medical and healthcare bed manufacturer said its wholly-owned subsidiary, LKL Advance Metaltech Sdn Bhd has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) on Oct 10 with JLL Electrical Sdn Bhd for the proposed disposal.

$DIGISTA (0029.MY)$ : Digistar Corp Bhd is selling two parcels of freehold land in Melaka for RM7.76 million cash. The land, measuring a combined 4.1197 hectares, is a parcel of vacant agricultural land. The group is expecting a loss of RM98,000 arising from the land sale. Digistar said its wholly-owned unit Mulia Optima Sdn Bhd (MOSB) has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Earnings Base Sdn Bhd (EBSB) for the land transaction.