Salim Majid Zain has been appointed as the new CEO of FWD Takaful Bhd, following the recent completion of the acquisition of a 49%-stake in HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Bhd from HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Ltd by FWD Life Insurance Co (Bermuda) Ltd, a hong Kong based insurance group. Prior to joining FWD, he led Zurich Takaful Malaysia as CEO for 12 years. FWD is now the largest shareholder in the joint venture and intends to rename the business FWD Takaful. All existing takaful certificates issued under HSBC Amanah Takaful will continue to be honoured by FWD Takaful. ???Malaysia represents another landmark market entry and strategic milestone in our journey,??? FWD group CEO Huynh Thanh Phong said in a release on Monday.

Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd estimated a RM20.37 million impairment of trade receivables and RM8.15 million impairment of contract assets for the financial year ending June 30, 2019, arising from the winding up order of TYL Land & Development Sdn Bhd. In an exchange filing yesterday, the construction group noted it has taken steps to relocate resources to other existing projects to reduce the impact on operations.

AWC Bhd???s wholly subsidiary, Ambang Wira Sdn Bhd (AWSB), has bagged a five-year contract worth RM35.1 million from the Federal Government through the Public Works Department (JKR) for facilities management services at the JB Sentral building in Johor Bahru. The maintenance work will commence on April 1, till March 31, 2024. In an exchange filing yesterday, the engineering services provider noted the contract extends the Group???s involvement in the non-concession segment and takes its outstanding orderbook to above RM1 billion. AWC has amassed more than RM90 million worth of contracts across its key divisions in the first quarter of 2019. The two other contracts secured earlier were the RM26 million subcontract works from SDK Consortium in Singapore and a RM29.9 million contract for plumbing works from TRX Landlease in TRX.

Scomi Energy Services Bhd???s wholly-owned subsidiary, Scomi Oiltools Sdn Bhd (SOSB), has clinched contracts worth US$150 million (RM610 million) with Kuwait Oil Co. The first contract is for the provision of mud products and mud engineering services for deep drilling (dated Jan 31, 2019) and second is for the provision of mud products and mud engineering services for development drilling (dated Feb 4, 2019). The contracts are for a period of five years commencing from the date of the executions, Scomi noted in an exchange filing yesterday.

Sig Gases Bhd (Siggas) has received an offer letter from Air Liquide Malaysia Sdn Bhd (ALM) to acquire its entire stake in the Southern Industrial Gas Sdn Bhd (SIGSB) for RM226.59 million cash. In an exchange filing yesterday, the industrial gases producer noted the offer includes SIGSB???s 40% minority shareholding in Iwatani-SIG Industrial Gases Sdn Bhd. The board will deliberate on the offer in due course. ???If Siggas decides to accept the offer, Siggas is required to reply to ALM by March 29, 2019. The shareholders of Siggas and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in Siggas??? shares, as there is no certainty the offer may proceed or may result in a binding agreement,??? the group noted in its filing. The counter closed two sen or 2.22% higher at 92 sen yesterday following the announcement, giving it a market capitalisation of RM172.5 million. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), Siggas??? net profit rose 17.69% year-on-year to RM4.99 million from RM4.24 million in FY17 due to increase in other non-operating income by RM1.28 million and the reversal of impairment of the air separation unit (ASU) plant of RM1.55 million. Growth was substantially offsetted by increase in selling and administrative expenses and finance costs. SIggas??? yearly revenue increased 3.37% to RM78.58 million from RM76.02 million in FY17, mainly due to higher export sales in liquid nitrous oxide and increase in demand for refrigerant products by RM3.63 million. Siggas??? earnings growth in 2019 is expected to be driven by the revenue contributed by the group???s increased investment in nitrous oxide plant and upgrading of its ASU plant to improve cost efficiency.

George Kent (M) Bhd???s (GKent) net profit for the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2019 (4Q) fell 64.8% year-on-year (YoY) to RM18.25 million due to lower contribution from its engineering segment. Revenue for the three months dropped 33.78% YoY to RM114.5 million for the same reason. For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2019 (FY19), its net profit decreased 31.74% YoY to RM84.92 million, while revenue fell 30.19% YoY to RM430.75 million. The fall GKent???s financial results comes with the suspension and deferment of Light Rail Transit Line 3 project pending renegotiation with the government, the company stated in its exchange filing yesterday. Construction works on the project are expected to resume in the latter part of 2019 its chairman Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock said in a statement yesterday. The company stated demand for its water meters continues to outstrip supply. GKent is looking to expand its production capacity to cater for demand growth via both the organic and merger and acquisition avenues. The board has declared a third interim dividend of 3.5 sen, to be paid on April 30, 2019.

Bio Osmo Bhd???s independent adviser DWA Advisory Sdn Bhd has advised the former???s shareholders to reject the takeover bid offer by its largest shareholder, Datuk Seri Farouk Abdullah, as the offer was deemed ???not fair and not reasonable.??? DWA?? Advisory viewed the five sen offer price as not fair, as it is 16.7% to 28.6% lower from the estimated value per Bio Osmo share of six to seven sen, derived from the sum-of-parts valuation method of valuation; and lower from its historical market price. In addition, the joint offerors intend to maintain the listing status of Bio Osmo on the Main Market of Bursa Securities, thereby allowing the holders to sell their Bio Osmo shares in the open market after the closing date, Bio Osmo???s filing yesterday noted. The joint offerors do not intend to invoke the provisions of Section 222(1) of the Capital Market and Services Act, 2007 to compulsorily acquire any outstanding offer shares for which valid acceptances have not been received prior to the closing date. ???Premised on the above, we are of the view that the offer is not reasonable,??? the adviser stated.