DRB-Hicom May Fall; No Plans To Sell Bank Muamalat

 DRB-Hicom (1619.KU) may fall to MYR2.30 on profit-taking from Friday's close of MYR2.36 (+4.9%), a dealer says; this comes after the company says it has no plans to sell its 70% stake in Islamic lender Bank Muamalat. The stock rose Friday after media reports suggested that it was interested in selling the stake to BIMB Holdings (5258.KU). DRB-Hicom says it had approached BIMB but "DRB-Hicom's expression of interest to BIMB was to explore... a possible merger between Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad with (BIMB unit) Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad and not to sell its shareholding in Bank Muamalat." The company has yet to begin discussions with BIMB, it says. The dealer says DRB-Hicom's clarification "isn't negative news as such, but it does mean the stock's gains last week are a little premature." Plans to create a larger Shariah complaint lender is positive in the longer-term but it is "common market knowledge" DRB-Hicom has been looking for a merger partner for Bank Muamalat, he adds.