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Malaysia stock market and companies daily report (February 25, 2013)

Contributed by Shares Investment

Axiata Surprises Analysts With Biggest Dividend Payout
Axiata Group surprised analysts by its generous dividend payout. Analysts deemed it as a re-rating catalyst for the stock. The Telco giant has declared its biggest ever dividend payout amounting to RM3 billion for the financial year ended 31 December, 2012 almost twice the amount in FY11 (RM1.6 billion). Aside from the 70 percent dividend payout ratio at 23 sen per share, a special one-off dividend of RM1 billion or equivalent to a dividend per share (DPS) of 12 sen was declared.  UOB Kay Hian Research said �gWhile the total 27 sen net DPS lends immediate support to Axiata�fs share price, we see downside risk in the near term. Entry price is RM5.40.�h The research unit added that Axiata was exposed to certain weakness resulted by competitive pressure on XL in Indonesia although 2012 core net profit was in line. Furthermore, the group is also securing a foothold in Myanmar which calls for some needed capital expenditure. This would limit Axiata�fs ability to pay more dividends. Street consensus according to Bloomberg data was RM6.64 with 19 analysts calling it a �ghold�h, whereas 13 called it a �gbuy�h.
Significance: According to RHB Research, the total DPS of 35 sen per share translated to a net yield of 5.5 percent. The research unit projected Axiata�fs cash balance to fall to RM5.6 billion from RM7.9 billion after the distribution of final and special dividends.

Bumi Armada Plans RM3b Capex
Bumi Armada is planning to invest RM3 billion as capital expenditure (capex) in financial year 2013 for its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) segment along with its transport and installation services (T&I) segment. Bumi Armada chief executive officer and executive director Hassan Basma said the company was still deciding on the medium to generate its capex target. Bumi Armada had registered a 12.5 percent drop in net profit to RM109.14 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 from RM124.76 million a year ago. Revenue however, was up 28.8 percent to RM477.8 million from RM370.85 million while its earnings per share stood at 3.73 sen per share. For the full-year, its earnings rose 7.4 percent to RM385.83 million from RM359.7 million while revenue increased by 7.46 percent to RM1.659 billion from RM1.543 billion, driven by activities across its major business segments.
Significance: The better performance was mainly due to increases in activity in FPSO, offshore support vessel (OSV) and T&I segments, with their revenue increasing 17.5, 14.3 and 60.3 percent respectively.

UEM Land Re-Rating After Strong Q4
UEM Land Holdings�f better than expected results for the fourth quarter ended 31 December, 2012 beat analysts�f expectations, after its net profit clinched 43.2 percent to RM201.2 million. It also recorded RM691.7 million of revenue, which is a 15.7 percent improvement.  For the financial year 2012, the group�fs revenue rose 13.9 percent to RM1.93 billion, whereas net profit grew 48.6 percent to RM448.3 million. In view of this, some analysts are expecting higher profit growth for UEM Land this year. CIMB Research is forecasting higher net profit and better dividends for the financial year 2013, as a result of strategic land sale gains as well as the promising prospects for new property launches in Nusajaya. MIDF Research noted that UEM Land has set a more moderate target of 20 percent sales growth for the financial year 2013. �gWe believe financial year 2013�Œs sales target is achievable after taking into account of a RM400 million land sales transaction, which will likely conclude in the financial year as well as strong booking for the Teega serviced apartments,�h it added.
Significance: Given the increasing demand for Nusajaya properties which are boosted by several government-to-government (G2G) projects announced recently, MIDF believes these could be the immediate catalysts for the property company. The group is aiming for RM3 billion of new sales in 2013.