KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Wednesday involving Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), Heitech Padu Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd, HIL Industries Bhd, YTL Power International Bhd, Capital A Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd, OM Holdings Ltd, Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Bhd (MGRC) and Salutica Bhd.

Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) and Minister of Finance Inc (MOF Inc) have mutually agreed to extend the conditional period for the disposal of a 20.77% stake in Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) to MOF Inc by another one month till Dec 1. BHIC said that the parties “require additional time for the fulfilment of the conditions precedent” to finalise the conditional agreement.

Heitech Padu Bhd has accepted a RM29.68 million contract for strengthening the IT technology system for the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living. The group said the 36-month contract will commence from November 2023 till October 2026.

Rapid Synergy Bhd‘s external auditor KPMG PLT has issued a qualified opinion on the precision tool-making company’s financial statements for the 18-month period that ended June 30, 2023 (FPE2023), due to insufficient disclosures over RM4.43 million rental income, a RM2.32 million gain from the disposal of property and deposits paid for acquisition of properties, that were recognised during the financial period. In an independent auditors report on Wednesday, KPMG said it could not confirm the appropriateness and veracity of Rapid Synergy’s RM4.43 million rental income recognised for FPE2023. The rental income is in relation to the renting of two properties to an entity, which was a former subsidiary of the group.

HIL Industries Bhd has proposed to acquire a three-acre piece of land in Kuala Lumpur for RM47 million cash to undertake  a condominium development. The moulded plastic products maker and property developer said the freehold land is surrounded by landmarks such as Garden International School, Plaza Mont Kiara, 163 Retail Park, Hartamas Shopping Centre and Sri Hartamas Commercial Area. HIL said its indirect wholly-owned unit Amverton Prop Sdn Bhd is acquiring the land from A & M Modern Homes Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amverton Bhd.

Independent power producer YTL Power International Bhd has become a substantial shareholder of smaller rival Ranhill Utilities Bhd, after acquiring 243.33 million shares, equivalent to an 18.87% stake, in Ranhill. YTL Power said the transaction was made on Wednesday.

Capital A Bhd is seeking to float its AirAsia brand royalty business and aircraft leasing unit in the US by injecting these operations into a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), aiming for an indicative valuation of US$1 billion (RM4.77 billion) as part of its plans to regularise its financials. The plan came after sister company AirAsia X Bhd’s application for relief from having to submit and implement a regularisation plan for its Practice Note 17 status was rejected by Bursa Securities. While the specifics of the restructuring were never disclosed, it was understood that the restructuring would have involved a share swap and a valuation of goodwill of Capital A’s airlines.

Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, the son of Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of KNM Group Bhd, after he disposed of a 0.03% stake or 1.1 million shares in the group. The disposal comes less than a month after Abu Bekir emerged as a substantial shareholder of the group on Oct 9. Following the stake disposal, he now has a 4.99% stake or 202.37 million shares in the oil and gas engineering firm.

Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) fell marginally to RM75.94 million from RM76.39 million a year earlier, largely due to a weaker trading environment and softer consumer sentiment. Quarterly revenue declined by 10.18% to RM513.44 million from RM571.63 million a year ago, underpinned by soft market sentiment and affordability pressure caused by rising cost of living. The group declared a third interim dividend of 19 sen per share.

Malakoff Corp Bhd has signed a solar power purchase agreement with DRB-Hicom Bhd to develop, operate and maintain solar photovoltaic systems at 14 locations in Selangor, Perak, Melaka and Pahang. According to the group’s statement on Wednesday, its subsidiary Malakoff Radiance Sdn Bhd had entered into the deal with 10 companies under the DRB-Hicom banner for the project, which has a total capacity of 20.78 MWp and total electricity generation of 26,546.45 MWh per annum.

Manganese ore and ferroalloy producer OM Holdings Ltd‘s unit is disposing of 90% of its 100% stake in OM Materials (Qinzhou) Co Ltd (OMQ) for US$25 million (RM119.49 million). OM Holdings said its wholly-owned OM Materials (S) Pte Ltd (OMS) is selling the 90% equity interest in OMQ to Beijing Kunpeng Hongsheng Metal Co Ltd, which is involved in the trading of ores and alloys in China. Upon completion of the sale — slated to be completed by Nov 30 — Beijing Kunpen and OMS will hold the equity shares in OMQ on a ratio of 90:10.

Former beauty queen Datin Seri Jacqueline Ngu Hia Kee has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Bhd (MGRC) after disposing of 201,200 shares, bringing her stake to 4.98%, below the regulatory threshold of 5% that requires timely disclosures to changes in shareholdings. MGRC told Bursa Malaysia that the transaction occurred on Wednesday without disclosing the transacted price.

Salutica Bhd has stated that while there are no undisclosed corporate developments, rumours or reports explaining the unusual market activity (UMA) of its shares, the ongoing legal suit involving its subsidiary and Apple Malaysia is a potential contributing factor.