KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Friday (March 24) involving Axiata Group Bhd, Nestl? (Malaysia) Bhd, Konsortium Transnasional Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX), PUC Bhd, Menang Corp (M) Bhd, Salcon Bhd, Swift Haulage Bhd, Metrod Holdings Bhd, Prolexus Bhd, Astino Bhd, Classita Holdings Bhd and Careplus Group Bhd.

Axiata Group Bhd has appointed the group’s chief financial officer (CFO) and joint-interim group CEO Vivek Sood as managing director and group CEO, effective Friday, while his joint-interim CEO partner Dr Hans Wijayasuriya was appointed group executive director and CEO of the group’s telco business. As for the CFO post, Axiata said the group’s chief corporate development officer Lila Azmin Abdullah will be taking over the position from Vivek.

Minority shareholders of Nestl? (Malaysia) Bhd have been advised by KAF Investment Bank Bhd (KAF IB) to vote in favour of the resolution pertaining to its acquisition of Wyeth Nutrition (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd from Wyeth (Hong Kong) Holding Co Ltd for RM165 million to be tabled at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting at end-April. Independent adviser KAF IB is of the view that the proposed acquisition is “fair and reasonable” and is not detrimental to the non-interested shareholders.

Konsortium Transnasional Bhd‘s wholly-owned subsidiary Transnational Builder Sdn Bhd has secured a RM153.09 million contract from Aman Wijaya Sdn Bhd to provide labour and materials for the construction of a Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) housing project in Pahang. Relevant works for the housing project are expected to take place between July 2023 and June 2026. The project comprises 340 units of single-storey semi-detached houses and eight single-storey bungalows.

Dagang NeXchange Bhd has entered into an agreement with Saudi-based Ajlan & Bros Holding Group to establish a joint-venture company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to undertake the business of system integration in smart cities and large enterprise projects in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as projects of Ajlan and its subsidiaries.

Datuk Seri Adnan Wan Mamat, a substantial shareholder of PUC Bhd, exited the group after disposing of 125.02 million shares representing 6.86% of the share base of the group, via an off-market transaction. Adnan, a non-independent non-executive director of the company, was its second-largest shareholder prior to the disposal, after GPVF Sdn Bhd with a 10% stake. GPVF is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Plantations Bhd.

Menang Corp (M) Bhd‘s former director Dr Christopher Shun Kong Leng has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the property developer, whose share price has jumped over the past few days, after he sold off his entire equity interest in the company of 48.13 million shares or a 9.45% stake via a direct business transaction.

Salcon Bhd, via its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Nusantara Megajuta Sdn Bhd, has entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Exsim Kebun Teh Sdn Bhd to develop serviced apartments and retail units on two parcels of land measuring a total 51,476.2 sq m (12.72 acres) of leasehold land. Under the terms of the JVA, Exsim will pay RM140 million as landowner’s entitlement to Salcon within either 46 months of the first payment of RM10 million after the conditions are fulfilled, or 37 months from the issuance of the advertising permit and developer’s licence, whichever is earlier.

Swift Haulage Bhd has increased its stake in Global Vision Logistics Sdn Bhd (GVLSB) after it acquired a 17.5% stake in the latter for a total purchase consideration of RM19.16 million, bringing the group’s ownership in the warehouse service provider to 42.5%. GVLSB is the leaseholder of the land measuring 70.9 acres and is currently in the process of developing six million square feet of warehouse space, which will be done in phases.

Copper rod producer Metrod Holdings Bhd declared a final dividend of six sen per share for the year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022) that will be paid on Aug 25. The ex-date falls on July 27 and the entitlement date is July 28. The group’s annual net profit for FY2022 about doubled to RM17.04 million from RM8.64 million in FY2021, as revenue grew 18.16% to RM4.15 billion from RM3.51 billion.

Prolexus Bhd‘s net profit jumped more 22 times to RM22.81 million in the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2023 (2QFY2023) from RM1 million posted a year ago on the back of higher revenue and gain on other investments. Quarterly revenue rose 1.94% to RM63.23 million from RM62.02 million a year ago primarily contributed by the increase in revenue from the textile and advertising divisions.

Astino Bhd posted a net profit of RM2.95 million in 2QFY2023 — the lowest since the first quarter of FY2019 when it posted a quarterly net profit of RM3.22 million — down from RM10.83 million, dragged by lower profit margins due to the higher cost of materials. The Ipoh-based flat steel products maker warned that demand for its products will remain moderate as it expects to be hit by multiple headwinds.

Five shareholders of Classita Holdings Bhd, formerly known as Caely Holdings Bhd, have failed in their attempt to block the lingerie maker from convening an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to vote on the company’s proposed rights issue pending the conclusion of their lawsuit. When contacted by The Edge, Classita confirmed that the company is to proceed with its EGM to vote on the group’s proposed rights issue fixed on March 27.

Rubber glove maker Careplus Group Bhd has succeeded in striking out Petrolife Aero Sdn Bhd’s RM27.08 million suit against it over an alleged breach of a liquefied natural gas supply agreement. Careplus said the High Court had allowed its wholly-owned Rubbercare Protection Products Sdn Bhd’s (RPP) application to strike out Petrolife’s suit, with RM5,000 costs to be paid to RPP.

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