MY Morning Wrap | MyEG Inks Deal with PDC to Develop RM108m Foreign Workers' Village

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ slipped 0.4% to 4,549.34 while $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ declined 0.6% to 14,146.71. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell 0.2% to 36,054.43.

$MYEG (0138.MY)$: MyEG Lodging (NC) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of e-government service provider MyEG Services Bhd, has signed a 30-year lease agreement with Penang Development Corp to develop a foreign workers' village project worth RM108 million. The lease agreement, valued at RM20.4 million, grants MyEG Lodging the right to build and operate the workers' village and related facilities on an 8.39-acre (3.40-hectare) land parcel in Batu Kawan Industrial Park 3, Seberang Perai Selatan, Penang. The project, with an estimated development cost of RM108 million, is set to start development following the approval for all necessary designs and plans by the relevant authorities.

$SIME (4197.MY)$: Sime Darby Bhd will issue an unconditional mandatory takeover offer to acquire the remaining 38.82% stake it does not own in UMW Holdings Bhd for a cash price of RM5.00 per share. This follows the group's conditional share purchase agreement with Permodalan Nasional Bhd on Aug 24, 2023, to acquire 714.81 million shares or a 61.18% stake in UMW, making Sime Darby the largest shareholder in the automotive group.

$GAMUDA (5398.MY)$: Gamuda Bhd's unit in Singapore has secured a S$509.568 million (RM1.77 billion) design and construction contract for the West Coast station and tunnel in the city state. This project is part of Singapore's 15km Cross Island Line Phase 2 (CRL2) Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line, which is also Singapore's eighth MRT line, comprising six stations. The job, awarded by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA), includes the construction of one underground station and two tunnels covering approximately 1.9km.

$IOIPG (5249.MY)$: Property developer IOI Properties Group Bhd plans to acquire five-star hotel W Kuala Lumpur in Jalan Ampang, KL for RM270 million, cash from property group Tropicana Corp Bhd. IOI Properties, via its indirect subsidiaries IOI PFCC Hotel Sdn Bhd and Flora Development Sdn Bhd, has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Tropicana's unit, Tropicana Residences Sdn Bhd, for the acquisition. This is the second major acquisition made by tycoon Lee Yeow Seng — IOI Properties' chief executive officer and major shareholder — after his private firm Shenton 101 emerged as the sole bidder to redevelop Singapore's Shenton House for S$538 million.

$MPI (3867.MY)$: Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI) said it will cease its leadframes manufacturing operations under Dynacraft Industries Sdn Bhd by end-January next year. MPI, part of the Hong Leong Group, said the cessation "is made after a careful business strategy review". The decision "will not have any material impact" on MPI's earnings for the financial year ending June 30, 2024 (FY2024), it said.

$UMW (4588.MY)$: UMW Group's wholly owned UMW Industrial Power Services Sdn Bhd (UIPS), an authorised distributor of INNIO Jenbacher's engines in Malaysia, has secured a RM50 million long-term service agreement from IOI Corp Bhd's plantation business. Under the agreement, UIPS will provide maintenance services for seven units of Jenbacher biogas engines installed at IOI Plantation Services Sdn Bhd's seven palm oil mills in Lahad Datu and Sandakan in Sabah. The scope of work includes the provision of scheduled services and maintenance for the engines for 16 years.

$BPLANT (5254.MY)$: In a surprise move, Swiss-based multinational investment bank UBS Group has emerged as a substantial shareholder in Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPlant), which is in the midst of being privatised, with a 5.36% stake comprising 120.06 million shares. UBS initially acquired 20.71 million shares in BPlant, equivalent to a 0.92% stake, on Nov 10, 2023. Then, following a series of acquisitions and disposals, it ended up with a 5.36% stake, surpassing the 5% substantial shareholder threshold. According to Bloomberg data, UBS is now the third largest shareholder in BPlant after Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (43.59%) and Boustead Holdings Bhd (24.42%).

$BNASTRA (7195.MY)$: Comintel Corp Bhd, which just completed its regularisation plan last year, is now planning a rights issue exercise followed by a private placement to raise about RM90 million to buy construction equipment and for working capital. The group is proposing a one-for-10 rights issue of 45.25 million shares at 80 sen apiece to raise RM36.2 million. Its proposed private placement will involve 45.25 million shares, representing 9.09% of the enlarged share base post-rights issue, to raise RM53.85 million, based on an illustrative placement price of RM1.19 per share.

$LBALUM (9326.MY)$: LB Aluminium Bhd saw its net profit fall 64.59% to RM4.37 million for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2023 (2QFY2024), from RM12.35 million a year before, due to lower contribution from the aluminium segment. Quarterly revenue, however, increased by 7.56% to RM221.67 million, from RM206.09 million previously. Its aluminium segment’s profit before tax declined by 76.6% to RM4.12 million, from RM17.59 million previously, due to a decrease in both revenue and margins. The segment’s revenue came in at RM152.01 million, 19.3% lower compared to RM188.34 million a year before, due to lower sales volume and average selling prices.

$HIAPTEK (5072.MY)$: Hiap Teck Ventures Bhd will fork out RM53.24 million under its steel manufacturing joint-venture (JV)'s RM195 million rights issue, to fund the JV's capital expenditure, in particular a hot rolling mill. Hiap Teck said it will subscribe to 54.6 million new shares in Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd (ESSB) at 97.5 sen apiece under the JV's rights issue of 200 million shares. Hiap Teck will fund the subscription via internal funds and/or external borrowings. A share subscription agreement has been inked between Hiap Teck, which owns 27.3% in ESSB, and the other JV partners ― Shanxi Jianlong Industry Co Ltd (68.8%) and Chinaco Investment Pte Ltd (3.9%) ― as well as Jianlong Holdings Sdn Bhd (JHSB). JHSB, Shanxi's sister company with Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co Ltd their common parent, is to subscribe to Shanxi's entitlement of 137.6 million shares for RM134.16 million.

$HTPADU (5028.MY)$: Heitech Padu Bhd has secured a contract worth RM37.01 million to provide end-to-end services for hospital information system (HIS) at Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Bahru. The global ICT systems and technology service provider said the 36-month contract will start on Dec 18. Under the contract, the group will supply, install, develop, configure, test and commission HIS hardware, software and systems.