CSC Steel made record high earnings in FY2009

CSC Steel (5094, CSCSTEL 中钢马来西亚, formerly known as Ornasteel), a subsidiary of China Steel Corporation of Taiwan (中钢公司) which produces flat steel products, is always well known for its excellent cash flow management.

Its unaudited 4th quarter financial result for 2009 announced today is very promising. Despite a comparatively lower revenue made during the challenging year of 2009, CSC Steel has successfully made record high in its operating profit, EBITA, profit after tax and NTA. The EPS of 24.42 sen has outperformed the expectation of all research firms, which majority estimate it to be around 20 sen only. Its cash on hand also soars to a new height of RM312 million.

The board of directors has proposed for a 20 sen dividend, which is also a record high in DY since its listing.

With its unaudited EPS of 24.42 sen and closing price of RM1.53 on 5 Feb 2010, its PE stood at a low point of 6.27 although its share price has risen above 50% within the past 1 year period.

The proposed 20 sen dividend will give a high DY of 13.07%.

The domestic steel demand and prices of steel products started to recover in December 2009 as the steel demand in China rebounded strongly after falling steel prices since October 2009. This improved market sentiment is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2010 as downstream steel industries are back to the market for re-stocking activities. The management of CSC Steel is optimistic that the first half of 2010 will continue to be positive.

Congratulation to the 6000+ shareholders of CSC Steel holding its 373 million shares (about 7 million of its 380 million shares are sitting in its treasury account due to buy back exercise).

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.


Click here to read my other article about this stock counter, written about 2 years ago.

The oriental culture of gift economy

Now is the new year gift session, and traditionally it is a norm for oriental businesses to send greeting card or gift to their loyal clients, partners, principals, suppliers, staffs, etc. This could also be in the form of lunch and/or dinner invitation.

The oriental gift culture, especially during new year time, is a form of social appreciation and thanksgiving to the people and entities who help or involve in the business making.

Gift economy (送礼文化) and the underlying spirit of gift governance (礼治精神) has always been in the core position in traditional Chinese culture. The basic principle is that whenever we received a gift, we must also respond with a returned gift (礼尚往来). From here, the harmonious relationship strengthen.

Note that the government in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and some other regions have come out with guidelines and rules to govern the gift economy, especially applied to civil departments. The value of the gift should not exceed a certain limit, or else it could be viewed as a form of corruption.

Normally, calendar, planner book, small stationeries, small electronic gadgets, etc. with the company info imprinted are common gifts specially made for this purpose.

The oriental culture of gift economy is a kind of crucial business activity, particularly in Asia-Pacific region. The business owners and their senior executives ought to practice well in this, in order to facilitate their money making business.

Earth Hour @ 20:30 Saturday 27 March 2010

The Earth Hour campaign which started in Sydney in 2007 is now entering its 4th year. It is reported that hundreds of millions of people around the world has supported in Earth Hour 2009 last year.

You can participate in the worldwide Earth Hour 2010 campaign by switching off all the non-essential lights for 60 minutes by Saturday 27 March 2010, 8.30pm sharp.


No doubt WWF has successfully made Earth Hour a global moment for many people to participate and turn off their lights during the historical moment.

However, what happened after that 60 minutes? Did WWF raise enough awareness to us of global climate change issues? Did we made any changes to our day-to-day habit after participated in that 60 minutes Earth Hour?

Why people in the soutern hemisphere started to see so many iceburgs floating around the ocean far away from the Antarctica? Why people in the northern hemisphere is experiencing the coolest winter season now?

I believe that supporting Earth Hour is not only for that 60 minutes moment. After that, we should be more awared of the issue that suppose to be brought up in this campaign, and act accordingly to reduce the burden of Mother Earth whenever we can.

Earth Hour should remain as a serious matter, and not merely becoming another celebration event of the year.

Here is the official Earth Hour 2010 video:


Click here to visit the official website of Earth Hour.