Malaysia Market: Sime Darby hits 13-month low

Shares of SIME DARBY BHD fell to their lowest in 13-months in late morning on Monday, Sept 19, weighed down by the weak market sentiment despite the much improved earnings visibility.

At 11.42am, it was down 21 sen to RM7.79 with 7.06 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI fell 10.04 points to 1,420.89, partly weighed down by Sime’s losses. Turnover was 258.64 million shares done valued at RM423.37 million. There were 162 gainers, 280 losers and 269 stocks unchanged.

News reports said Sime Darby PLANTATION Sdn Bhd and Thai petrochemical company PTT Chemical International Pte Ltd, Emery Oleochemicals (M) Sdn Bhd will see its first significant investment involving Islamic bonds issuance worth RM480 million expected to be issued early next year.

Of the figure, RM416.2 million will be pumped into three expansion projects in Malaysia while the remaining will go into research and development and other smaller projects.

Another news report said that under the new stewardship of Sime Darby Bhd, the exclusive distributor for Caterpillar Inc is expected to benefit from Caterpillar's US$8.8 billion (RM27.28 billion) purchase of Bucyrus International Inc, from better sales of equipment and parts, lower production cost and improved service. (theedgemalaysia.com)