Stocks to watch: Unisem, Faber Group, MMC, Gamuda, E&O, Three-A Resources

KUALA LUMPUR: The volatile global markets, triggered by the Greek debt crisis which sent major markets into the red on Wednesday, May 5 will continue to weigh on Asian bourses including Bursa Malaysia on Thursday.

On Wall Street, US stocks slipped on Wednesday on worries that Greece's debt crisis could spread to other euro zone nations, but losses were capped as investors looked for bargains a day after a hefty sell-off, according to Reuters.

Doubts about Europe's plan to rescue Greece and fears the debt problems could hinder global growth drove investors to safe-havens, boosting U.S. Treasuries and driving down European stocks and the euro.

At Bursa, stocks to watch include UNISEM (M) BHD [], FABER GROUP BHD [], MMC Corp Bhd, GAMUDA BHD [] and Menang Corp Bhd.Also on the watch list are THREE-A RESOURCES BHD [] (3A) and Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O)

Six months after roping in Wilmar International Ltd as a major shareholder via a private placement, Three-A Resources Bhd (3A) has put into effect its proposed overseas business partnerships with, and leveraging on, the larger Singapore-listed group.

In what appears to be a move to consolidate his shareholding in Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O), its managing director Datuk Terry Tham Ka Hon has seen his direct interest in the company increasing over the past few weeks.

Unisem's net profit of RM41.63 million in the first quarter (1Q) ended March 31, 2010 reflected the turnaround in the semiconductor sector. This was versus a net loss of RM23.1 million a year ago.

Riding on on the recovery of the semiconductor sector, it expected a further improvement in the current quarter. Revenue surged 82% to RM329.25 million, up 82% from RM180.68 million while earnings per share were 8.03 sen compared with a loss per share of 4.9 sen.

Faber Group Bhd's net profit almost doubled in its first quarter to RM14.39 million from RM7.26 million a year ago as revenue rose 30.6% to RM183.98 million from RM140.82 million.

According to the group, its integrated facilities management (IFM) concession recorded positive variance of RM49.9 million largely thanks to business expansion in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), higher variation order, higher bed occupancy rate and additional new facilities at the government hospitals within the group's concession area.

The start of new housekeeping projects in India also contributed to the group's positive variance, it added.

MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd, which is building the RM12.49 billion Ipoh-Padang Besar electrified double tracking project, is confident of completing the CONSTRUCTION [] by December 2013 without any increases in costs.

Its executive director Datuk Azmi Mat Nor said it had hedged three quarters of the required raw materials and that if the scope of work remained the same, the company "will bear the extra costs", if any.

The JV company has so far spent RM2 billion to purchase raw materials such as concrete products, quarry materials, steel products, plant, machineries and others. A plus point is that had received about 43% of the RM12.49 billion contractual value from the government, in line with the progress of the project.

It has completed about 43% of the physical works and construction of the 329km railway track is taking place simultaneously in the four states involved - Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis.

In Menang Corp, its subsidiary has secured a concession agreement from the government to build a campus for Universiti Teknologi MARA in Seremban costing RM300 million. The concession is for 23 years, similar to the two earlier contracts awarded to Crest Builder and TRIplc.

ECS ICT Bhd, which made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia last month, reported net profit of RM5.69 million in its first quarter ended March 31, 2010 (1QFY10), up 52.9% from RM3.79 million a year ago. The better performance was underpinned by higher revenue and margins of its enterprise systems segment.


Earnings per share stood at 6.2 sen. It declared a special single-tier interim dividend of four sen per share, which would be paid on June 15, 2010.

Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) posted a 10% rise in net profit in its first quarter to RM10 million from RM9.1 million a year earlier while revenue rose 5.7% to RM23 million from RM21.8 million.

The higher revenue was primarily due to higher recognition of turnover rent in 2010. In addition, the application of FRS117 which started on Jan 1, 2010, also contributed to a higher revenue by RM421,174 in 2010.