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The Star Online: Business

WCT falls after RM1bil Oman contract cancelled
IMF hails BoJ policy, says Japan’s monetary move will support world growth
HTC profit hit by delayed phone launch

WCT falls after RM1bil Oman contract cancelled

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 06:41 PM PDT

Published: Tuesday April 9, 2013 MYT 9:41:00 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of WCT Bhd fell to as low of RM2.38 in early trade on Tuesday after its RM1bil Oman highway job was cancelled.

At 9.31am, WCT fell five sen to RM2.40. There were 1.15 million shares done at prices ranging from RM2.38 to RM2.41.

The FBM KLCI rose 0.23 of a point to 1,688.22. Turnover was 150.28 million shares valued at RM113.43mil. There were 170 gainers, 128 losers and 168 unchanged.

CIMB Equities Research described the cancellation of WCT's Oman highway job as a negative surprise.

"We are disappointed as the RM1bil project was the largest secured in 2012. Major works have not started, suggesting minimal claims. The impact on EPS and RNAV is minimal but the order book declines 22%," it said.

CIMB Research trimmed its FY13-15 EPS to reflect the cancellation. Its target price dropped slightly from RM2.58 to RM2.55, still based on a 40% RNAV discount.

IMF hails BoJ policy, says Japan’s monetary move will support world growth

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 06:37 PM PDT

BOAO, China: The head of the International Monetary Fund hailed Japan's unprecedented monetary policy boost this week as a welcome support for a world economy that she said has improved from a year ago.

Christine Lagarde said on Sunday the radical US$1.4 trillion stimulus from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would help strengthen the advanced economies, saying growth in countries such as the United States was gaining speed.

But without referring specifically to Japan, Lagarde warned policymakers against thinking that superloose monetary policy alone could do the heavy lifting in reviving economies, when growth may instead be stifled by unhealthy private and public finances.

"Monetary policies, including unconventional measures, have helped prop up the advanced economies, and in turn, global growth," Christine Lagarde told a forum in south China.

"The reforms just announced by the Bank of Japan are another welcome step in this direction," she said.

"There is, however, a limit to how effectively monetary policy can continue to shoulder the lion's share of this effort."

Central banks still need to heed broken balance sheets that impede lending and plan for and guard against uncertainties arising from any policy change, the IMF chief said.

Japan stunned investors on Thursday by unleashing the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus, which will pump US$1.4 trillion into its economy in under two years. It hopes the shock therapy will end two decades of stagnation.

But the move is a huge gamble. It heavily exposes the BoJ to Japan's mountain of public debt and carries the potential for big losses if inflation spikes and investors lose faith in its viability.

Japan's government debt, at twice the size of its US$5 trillion economy, is proportionally the highest among developed nations.

Lagarde said fiscal problems in developed nations such as Japan and the United States marred the global economic recovery and contrasted with emerging economies, where a broadening rebound is brightening the outlook.

Lagarde said the IMF expected Asian economies to grow by nearly 6% this year, "an enviable performance by any measure", as resilient domestic demand and accommodative policies power the region.

She said the impressive growth rate is customary for Asia, which has accounted for twothirds of global growth in the last five years since the financial crisis struck.

Asia's buoyancy has rubbed off on the rest of the world.

"A substantial portion of the global economy looks better today than it did last year," Lagarde said. "And we are beginning to see momentum pick up in the United States."

In the euro zone, however, she said debt problems are weighing on growth and dragging out a recession.

Lagarde said the main task for the currency zone right now is to push for a banking union, a plan that is meant to put an end to the euro zone's debt troubles by severing the link between sovereign borrowers and banks.

Last month, however, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said European aid for troubled banks is a last resort, which raised doubts about the plan for a banking union.

Dijsselbloem made the comments after a rescue programme was agreed for Cyprus that imposed steep losses on depositors, leading to suggestions that the Cypriot deal could serve as a precedent for future bank bailouts in the bloc. - Reuters

HTC profit hit by delayed phone launch

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 06:30 PM PDT

TAIPEI: HTC Corp reported a record-low quarterly profit that missed analysts' estimates after it delayed the full launch of its 2013 flagship smartphone model, which will now debut against Samsung Electronics' newest Galaxy.

A shortage of cameras meant HTC managed to introduce its latest HTC One phone in just three markets by the end of the first quarter instead of the planned 80.

It does not expect to kick off sales across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region before the end of April.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has said its Galaxy S4 will be available in 155 countries by the end of April.

HTC said its unaudited net profit was T$85mil (US$2.85mil) in its January-March first quarter, compared with T$1bil in the prior quarter and T$10.9bil in the same period last year. It was the lowest since HTC began reporting quarterly profits in 2004.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker was expected to post a net profit of T$467.5mil, according to the average forecast of 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

First-quarter revenue was T$42.8bil, lower than the T$50bil-T$60bil range that HTC had forecast in February. Revenue in the fourth quarter was T$60bil.

"As HTC failed to establish its brand image by selling its most important flagship phone on time, it'll be very difficult to push on the mid and low-end phones when HTC launches them in Q3-Q4," said Dennis Chan, an analyst with Yuanta Securities in Taipei. "Sales in the second quarter will bounce, but they will lose momentum again in Q3-Q4."

The company has partnered with Facebook Inc which unveiled new software last week called "Home" that replaces the home screen on some Android smartphones, and introduced a US$100 HTC-made handset that is preinstalled with the new app.

"The Facebook phone is not enough to turn HTC around," said Daiwa analyst Birdy Lu, speaking before HTC's results were released. "Facebook Home could be only good for Facebook addicts, and the distribution channel for HTC First is very limited. HTC's 2013 performance is still highly dependant on HTC One."

HTC was the world's 10th-biggest smartphone maker by shipments in the fourth quarter, according to IT research firm Gartner, jostling in a crowded field behind the top two heavyweights Samsung and Apple Inc.

Shares of HTC have lost more than half of their value in the past 12 months, underperforming a slight rise in Taiwan's main TAIEX index. Yesterday, HTC shares closed down 2.2% before the earnings were released, compared with a 2.4% fall in the main index. Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 8 April 2013