20100519 1006 Malaysia Corporate News.

EON Capital’s board of directors will meet on or before May 21 to consider several matters concerning Hong Leong Bank’s offer to acquire the entire assets of the company. The company told Bursa Malaysia that it will discuss the independent financial adviser’s opinion on the acquisition and finalisation of the terms of the proposed distribution. EONCap said an announcement will be released upon conclusion of the board meeting. (BT)

Telekom Malaysia will not need to raise funds to meet its capex requirements of about RM2bn this year, its CEO said." Our balance sheet is very strong, we have enough funds to (finance) both the investment in HSBB and the business as usual.

• Dividends would still remain,"group CEO Datuk Zamzamzairani Isa said.Half of the RM2bn it needs would go towards further developing the country's HSBB service, known as "UniFi". To date, it has wired up about 370,000 premises, Zamzamzairani said. The HSBB service, which is now available only to home users and SMEs in certain areas, is expected to include bigger enterprises and the government on July 1. 
• "That's our next milestone. We're ramping up to make sure we meet the expectations of the market." The group has been adding over 40,000 subscribers a month this year compared with under 30,000 a month before November last year, he said.(BT)

Celcom Axiata aims to transform local bumiputera graduates from public universities and polytechnics into skillful competitive entrepreneurs, providing industrial training and handson knowledge and skill, said its CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly. (Financial Daily)

Berjaya Corp, which will launch the country's first sports betting in 3Q, will use a system from a reputable supplier with a proven track record in Asia. "In other words, the system will have user-friendly features that are familiar to the Asian players," Ascot Sport senior GM Ooi Lee Meng said. "They will be distributed in strategic locations in major cities or towns with large urban conurbation. We will commence with about 220 outlets," he added. (BT)

UK-based investment fund, Utilico Emerging Market Ltd, could be owning a sizeable amount of Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) shares, based on information posted on its website. As at end-Feb 2010, as much as 11.5% of its gross assets were invested in MAHB. A MAHB spokesman said he was aware that Utilico had shares in the company. However, he was unaware of the percentage involved. (BT)

1MDB, a government-owned strategic development company, has managed to meet one of its main targets, which is to secure RM5bn of FDI. To date, 1MDB has convinced foreign investors to pledge some RM55bn although the money has yet to be invested in Malaysia.

• 1MDB's main objective is to bring in FDI and direct the investment into projects with high multiplier effects, essentially those which can generate a lot of spin-off economic activities. 
• Last week, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) signed an MOU with 1MDB to explore investment opportunities in Malaysia. QIA has proposed to invest RM16bn in sectors like energy, real estate and commodities. 1MDB has already raised some RM5bn from the sale of 30-year medium-term notes in August last year. (BT)

HSBC Bank Malaysia has appointed Shahin Jammal as director of strategic finance advisory, global banking. Shahin will be responsible for providing advice and analysis as well as promoting a strategic financing dialogue for all global banking clients. He will also work towards connecting with all product groups in HSBC in order to deliver holistic financing solutions. (BT)

Scomi Engineering has sold its machine shop business to OMS Holdings Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp Asia Pte Ltd, for RM327m. The transaction is targeted for completion by end-June. Scomi had earlier announced its plans to exit the business to focus on its public transportation business and to seize the growth opportunities in Brazil, India, China, the Gulf Countries and Indonesia. (Bernama)

Faber Group hopes its revenue from overseas will reach RM1bn this year, by expanding on its non-concession income base. The group will continue to focus on its businesses in the UAE and India to expand its non-concession income base, especially in the areas of bio-medical engineering services and facilities engineering services. MD Adnan Mohammad said, "We have set a KPI of 12-15% increase in revenue this year, pushed by both integrated facilities management and property development activities.” (BT)

MLabs Systems has signed a deal to buy all of Grand Inizio Sdn Bhd, a builder of biodiesel plants, for RM79.7m cash and shares to further diversify its revenue. MLabs is also proposing to undertake a private placement exercise to raise funds for working capital. (BT)

China-based Sino Hua-An International is mulling to set up a coke manufacturing plant in Malaysia, to increase its capacity and tap into the rising demand for metallurgical coke in Southeast Asia. "However, it is at a preliminary stage and we are now conducting a viability study," MD Liu Guodong said.

• Sino Hua-An's intention to have an overseas factory could also be the result of the Chinese government's cap on steel production to control oversupply. On the outlook of steel prices in 2010, Liu said it will depend on the cost and demand for coke and iron ore. (BT)

Masteel has proposed a one-for-two rights issue of up to 107m five-year warrants at an indicative issue price of 20 sen each. The proposed warrants were expected to raise about RM21m cash, which would be used for working capital. The exercise is expected to be completed by 3Q. (Financial Daily)

PacificMas hopes to conclude the sale of its insurance arm by Oct 10 to meet the deadline imposed by the regulator on parent Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), says its top executive. In Apr 08, Singapore's OCBC announced the takeover of PacificMas, but on a condition that it could not own two insurance companies in Malaysia. Since OCBC already owned 87% of Great Eastern in Malaysia, it decided to sell the insurance business of PacificMas, and retain Great Eastern general insurance licence held under Overseas Assurance Corporation Bhd (OACM).

• PacificMas is currently in talks with two suitors, namely Great Eastern Holdings Bhd and Canadian based Fairfax Asia Ltd to dispose of its insurance unit, The Pacific Insurance (PI). 
• Following the PI sale, PacificMas will be left with two core businesses - asset management and leasing. PacificMas is confident that the disposal of PIB would not affect the group's earnings as the growth in both asset management and leasing businesses will make up any loss of income. (BT)