Trading ideas: Gas Malaysia, ManagePay Systems, Gadang, Hartalega

New high for Dagang NeXchange Bhd

KUALA LUMPUR: JF Apex Research expects Gas Malaysia, Managepay Systems and Gadang, Hartalega to be among the stocks to watch on Thursday after their corporate news.

It said Gas Malaysia’s 1QFY17 net profit grew 7.5% on-year to RM33.74mil, on higher gross profit in line with the increase in volume of gas sold, coupled with lower administrative expenses. 

Gas Malaysia is setting aside about RM500mil in capital expenditure for its pipeline network expansion in the next three years, which includes its Natural Gas Distribution System (NGDS) network in peninsular Malaysia; 

JF Apex Research said ManagePay Systems has been appointed by a joint venture company (JVCo) formed by major taxi consortiums here known as PICK N GO Sdn Bhd as the sole card payment facilitator for the JVCo's taxi e-hailing mobile application. 

The appointment will see its unit ManagePay Services Sdn Bhd enabling participating taxi operators to accept major card payments through their new taxi e-hailing mobile application, PickNGo; 

Gadang’s 51% joint venture Gadang CRFG Consortium Sdn Bhd has won a RM327.91mil traffic dispersion and upgrading contract for the Jalan Tun Razak highway from TRX City Sdn Bhd.

Hartalega’s 4QFY17 net profit improved by 45.3% on-year to RM89.43mil due to higher sales revenue, improvement in operational efficiency, as well as reduction in operation overheads.

Tenaga Nasional has inked a new power purchase agreement (PPA) and land lease agreement (LLA) with YTL Power to operate the combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Paka, Terengganu;

Meanwhile, it was reported Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) plans to sell a minority stake in its Istanbul unit, which operates Turkey’s second-biggest airport, people familiar with the matter said.

MAHB  is seeking an investor for Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, also known as ISG, and plans to maintain control of the company.

Overnight on Wall Street, US markets ended mixed with the Nasdaq and S&P extending their record highs but the Dow declined after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Similarly, European stocks were unchanged amid quarterly earnings announcements.
 
At Bursa the FBM KLCI shed 1.59 points to end Tuesday at 1,766.56. 

“Following the flat performance in the US and Europe, the KLCI could continue to hover above 1,750,” it said.