20100317 0922 Malaysia Corporate News.

Wah Seong is in talks to acquire a pipe-coating business in Nigeria to tap demand for its products amid increased exploration. The company may provide technical assistance and later take up an equity stake in Nigeria's Orleans Group, said deputy group MD Giancarlo Maccagno. Details will be known by the end of April. (Bloomberg)
This news did not come to us as a surprise as we have highlighted Wah Seong's expansion strategy in West Africa in our notes.

The Institute of Plantations and Commodities Malaysia (IMPAC) launched on Tuesday will be the main source of producing skilled workers and experts to meet the needs of the commodity-based industry. In stating this, Plantations Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said that IMPAC needed the involvement of the industry in order to be successful. "It needs to establish good relations with industry players who should be close to IMPAC and make use of it," he said. IMPAC groups the existing training centres of the agencies under the ministry. (Bernama)

Prices of vegetable oils must rise to encourage farmers to boost planting and meet surging global demand for food and biofuels, Godrej International Ltd. said. “I believe oilseeds and grains have been left behind in comparison with metals or energy,” Dorab Mistry, a director at Godrej, said. “We shall have to look to higher prices in the future to attract acreage to oilseeds and to palm. Consumers will have to get used to paying higher prices.” (Bloomberg)

Telekom Malaysia (TM) has signed a licensing agreement with the England Football Association to be the official England telco licensee in Malaysia. The partnership with the FA which runs through to the end of 2010, will give TM to have the exclusive use of the England crest and England player imagery in the telco category in Malaysia. (Financial Daily)

A RM3m investment by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to build a new integrated terminal on Penang island for its Rapid Penang buses is expected to see the project completed by the end of this year. Rapid Penang Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Prasarana, is currently in final negotiations with the Penang state government to develop 0.4ha of stateowned land at Weld Quay on the island.

• "The proposed integrated terminal will also cater to the needs of the ferry and taxi services on Penang island," Rapid Penang CEO Azhar Ahmad said. "The existing terminal is already congested and the new terminal is expected to have four bus lanes and one lane dedicated for taxis...construction work will another four months" he added. (BT)

The Klang River rehabilitation and development project (RM50bn), which is part of the Selangor state's economic stimulus package, is expected to be under a private financing initiative (PFI). MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said a detailed briefing on the project would be held on March 29, 2010.

• "We will come out with a detailed briefing whereby all the four companies involved (TSSMako Engineering, GJA Engineering, Wessex Water, and DPZ Asia) and the state will discuss on the scheme and how to allocate the task of cleaning up the river," he said. 
• "In terms of equipments and assignment of jobs, it will be done through open tender and it will be transparent but in terms of planning and strategic equity, it will be managed by the four companies," he added. (Bernama)

Malaysian rebar prices have gone up by RM100 per tonne over the fortnight as mills and traders push up prices in response to higher scrap costs. Rebar was trading in the market at RM2,100-2,200 per tonne, up from RM2,000-2,100 per tonne two weeks ago, in line with ex-works prices, said sources.

• Scrap prices have increased to US$420 per tonne cfr, from US$380-390 cfr two weeks ago while domestic billet prices have jumped to US$550 per tonne, from US$525 per tonne last week. 
• "There is an absence of mega-projects in Malaysia, thus demand remains so-so. We are depending on the small to mid-scale projects such as government housing projects and the bridge construction in Penang," said a mill official. "We hope that demand will pick up by June, when iron ore price negotiation is likely to be settled. By then, we should know the magnitude of the price increase, and hope to lock in orders," he added. (Metal Bulletin)

The Coca-Cola Company plans to invest RM1bn in Malaysia over the next five years and to start off, it is setting up a 12ha bottling plant at the Enstek Industrial Park in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, which is expected to be operational by the end of next year.

• The investment is expected to create as many as 800 jobs at the plant and up to 8,000 jobs with local suppliers. "With the new plant, one of the most modern of its kind in this part of the world, we will be able to support our core brands of Coca-Cola and Sprite," said Glenn Jordan, president of the firm's Pacific Group. 
• New beverages will be introduced in the coming months, he added. Its Malaysian unit, Coca-Cola Bottlers (M) will be taking over the bottling and distribution operations once its existing franchise agreement with local partner Fraser & Neave Holdings expires next Sep. (BT)

MASwings, a subsidiary of national carrier Malaysia Airlines, expects to carry 1.1m passengers this year, as it operates an all-new fleet of ATR 72-500s. It is due to phase out the last of its eight Fokker 50s next month, with 10 new ATR72-500s through a RM700m investment.

• The Fokker planes will be returned to Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. MASwings managing director Datuk Salleh Tabrani said the airline carried 900,000 passengers last year, up 24% from 2008. From inbound flights in Sabah and Sarawak, 
• Salleh said MASwings is now eyeing the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) to expand its area of operation. It has cut losses by half last year and envisages its newer profitable routes in its network will cross subsidise those that are not economically viable. (BT)

SP Setia has been slapped with a counter suit filed by PPH Resorts (Penang) seeking a RM5.7m claim for damages following the termination of a JV agreement between the two parties. (Financial Daily)

The Employees Provident Fund has denied that it is interested in acquiring a part or the whole of UEM Group Bhd’s 87% stake in Pharmaniaga, as reported by an Englishlanguage daily yesterday. An official with the EPF said there was nothing further to comment as “this is not true”.

• Meanwhile, in an e-mail reply to a query by StarBiz, UEM Group said it was unable to comment on any speculation. UEM Group is a wholly-owned unit of government investment vehicle Khazanah Nasional. (Star)

Diversified Mofaz Group has denied that it is in talks to buy the distribution rights to Fiat cars in Malaysia.

• The group is looking instead at expanding its motorcycle business under Mofaz Motosikal (Momos), through the introduction of the Momos Madass 125 motorcycle. 
• Ally Azran Holdings, a former franchise holder for Fiat cars in the country, said that it terminated the franchise agreement with the Italian carmaker in December last year, after 15 years, because of poor demand.
• "Fiat cars are not popular in Malaysia because many are made with a small engine capacity of 1.4L and sold at a high price ranging from RM100,000 above. (BT)

Siemens Malaysia will study the feasibility of providing solar-powered electricity to rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak, said its vice-president for management coordination office Eric Loo. The German company plans to partner utility companies to do this. Tenaga Nasional (TNB) is already doing the same thing by providing hybrid energy systems. (BT)

Malaysian Merchant Marine (MMM)'s staff have accepted a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) offered by the shipping company. "Accordingly, following the completion of the VSS on March 15, all the staff of the company are considered retrenched," MMM said in a statement. (Financial Daily)

Daya Materials has proposed a 10% private share placement to raise gross proceeds of up to RM22.71m to fund future acquisitions and the expansion of the group. The proceeds amount was based on an indicative issue price of 25 sen per share. (Financial Daily)

EcoFirst Consolidated group has proposed to dispose of its collective 19.86% stake comprising 17.69m shares in education services provider SEG International (SEGi) to Rexter Capital for RM30.6m cash, representing RM1.73 per share.

• EcoFirst said the group's original cost of investment in SEGi shares was RM36.1m since 2001, but said the disposal would result in an estimated gain of RM2.4m. The proceeds would be used to repay borrowings of about RM7m and the balance for working capital purposes. (Financial Daily)

Choong Khuat Hock, 49, head of research at Kumpulan Sentiasa Cemerlang, a Kuala Lumpur based fund management company, has been found dead in Bentong, Pahang. He was reported missing for a week. Bentong deputy chief Mohamad Mansor has classified the case as murder as post-mortem revealed blunt force trauma with several broken ribs.

• Hock was rated as one of the top analysts in the country for most of the 1990s and wrote columns for The Edge and The Star. He had more than 20 years of experience in investment banking, having worked in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. (Star & NST)

Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) will complete the takeover of water assets in Perlis and Perak by end-May as part of the national initiative to regulate the water services industry. PAAB has said it planned to wrap up the deals in all states by mid-year although CEO Ahmad Faizal Abdul Rahman, who took over from Suhaimi Kamaralzaman in July, said in a December interview with StarBizWeek that “he didn’t like deadlines.”

• So far, PAAB, a unit of Minister of Finance Inc, has completed in three states – Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor – deals valued at a total RM6.12bn. Selangor remains the most fragmented and complicated with many different players. (Star)