Share This

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Sime Darby dethroned

PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Bhd has been dethroned as the largest company on the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) and now occupies third place after having shed close to RM5.89bil in market capitalisation over the last one month.

Instead, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) now reigns as the largest company on Bursa Malaysia with a market cap of RM50.54bil as at May 27.

Second spot is held by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd with a market cap of RM47.89bil.

Over the last four weeks, Sime Darby’s shares have shed some 98 sen, and it now has a significantly lower market cap of RM47.05bil compared with RM54.15bil six months ago.

The selldown in Sime Darby was perpetuated by the discovery of RM964mil in provisions, which caused investors to lose confidence in and rush to dump the stock.

Maybank’s market cap has in fact increased by RM2.2bil over the last six months on the back of operational improvements.
It recently reported third quarter to March 31 net profit of RM1.03bil, which was 105% higher than the previous corresponding period.

The nine-month cumulative period saw net profit rise to RM2.9bil, driven by higher growth in all sources of operating revenue and a lower loan loss provision.

Since May 13, the FBM KLCI has retraced 77.76 points to 1,269.16. On a year-to-date basis, it is lower by a mere 6 points from 1,275 on Jan 4. The FBM KLCI’s impact on Malaysia’s 10 largest companies has not been quite as bad.

On a six-month basis, five of these companies have still managed to increase their market cap despite the volatility.

MISC Bhd has been a winner and looks poised to become one of the world’s largest tank terminal operators, having entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Vitol Group for the acquisition of a 50% stake in VTTI BV worth some RM2.4bil.

VTTI is one of the largest independent tank terminal operators in the world with a network of terminals spreading across 11 countries.

“This buy serves to expand significantly MISC’s existing tank terminal operations − currently two terminals, one each in Tanjung Langsat and Tanjung Bin. We understand that VTTI’s current tank terminal capacity of 5 million cu m is expected to rise to 8 million cu m by 2012,” said an analyst from AmResearch.

Significantly, IOI Corp Bhd has lost close to RM5bil in market cap at RM31.76bil. On Wednesday, IOI touched a 10-month low of RM4.67 in intra-day session following more selling pressure.

The efficient planter reported a decline in earnings from its plantations division in the quarter ended March 31, down 12% to RM282.02mil.

This was due to lower operating profit from the low crop season which also coincided with the hot weather, further aggravated by the recent El Nino phenomenon. The industry is expected to feel the heat of the weather anytime from six to 24 months.

Meanwhile, Axiata Group Bhd is enjoying a good run, with its market cap gaining some RM5bil to RM31.64bil, as net profit ballooned to RM921.5mil for the first three months from RM63.9mil a year ago.
This was boosted by higher sales from overseas units and disposal of shares in Indonesian subsidiary, PT XL Axiata Tbk.

XL Axiata has been performing better than expected on the back of the telco industry in Indonesia undergoing a revolution of data usage.

This phenomenon started when BlackBerry and iPhone handsets flooded Indonesia last year. There has been a surge in data revenue, mainly from Internet access charges, via the 2G platform.

By TEE LIN SAY
linsay@thestar.com.my

 SIME :  [Stock Watch]  [News]

1 comment:

righways said...

Sime Darby, founded by British colonial powers, employed many kuli (cheap labours) from India and China (Now Malaysian Indian and Chinese), later taken over by the government after independent, was the Malaysian biggest company decade ago, now dethroned due to bad management.

http://rightways.wordpress.com/