Friday, June 11, 2010

20100611 1103 Malaysia Local News.

PM tables RM230bn 10th Malaysia Plan
The Government has allocated RM230bn for development expenditure under the 10th Malaysia Plan. The allocation will comprise 55% for the economic sector, 30% for the social sector, 10% for security sector and 5% for general administration. The gross national income per capita is targeted to increase to RM38,850, or USD12,140, in 2015. Growth will be led by the services. The Government will focus on efforts to develop nonphysical infrastructure, including human capital development such as skills development and strong innovation capabilities. The 10MP allocation for non-physical infrastructure will be increased to 40%, compared with 21.8% in the 9MP. (StarBiz)

MAS in, Nestle out of FBM KLCI
Malaysia Airlines will replace Nestle (M) in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index following the semiannual review approved by the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Advisory Committee, Bursa Malaysia and FTSE Group said in a joint statement yesterday. Meanwhile, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index will see the inclusion of Axiata Group, Malaysian Bulk Carriers, Bintulu Port Holdings and Kulim (M). The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index is a tradable index of 30 stocks to be used as the basis for international syariah compliant products. All constituent changes take effect at the start of business on 21 June. (StarBiz)
Also reviewed was the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Syariah Index. The changes approved are the inclusions of Axiata Group, Malaysian Bulk Carriers, Bintulu Port Holdings and Kulim Malaysia and exclusions of Nestle (Malaysia), Star Publication Malaysia, IJM Plantations and Wah Seong. All constituent changes will take effect at the start of business on June 21, 2010, and the next review will take place on Dec 9, 2010. (Source: Bernama)

Boustead believed to be taking over Pharmaniaga
Speculation is rife that Boustead Holdings is acquiring Pharmaniaga following the suspension of trading in the two companies’ shares yesterday, pending a material announcement. However, it is not immediately known if Boustead is acquiring part or the whole of UEM Group Bhd’s 87% stake in Pharmaniaga. Trading in Boustead and Pharmaniaga shares was suspended from 4.56pm yesterday. Pharmaniaga added nine sen to RM5.10 while Boustead gained four sen to RM3.58 prior to their suspension. In a media advisory yesterday, Boustead said it would be signing an agreement with the UEM Group today, involving a major acquisition by the former. It gave no further details. (StarBiz)

Celcom and DiGi to collaborate
Two cellular rivals, Celcom Axiata and DiGi.Com, are coming together to work on a proposal to share infrastructure that could lead to cost savings and reduce duplication in the areas of network operations, transmission and site sharing for towers and radio access. This is the first time a collaboration of this scope is being explored by the players in Malaysia and perhaps regionally. Yesterday both parties inked a memorandum of understanding and a definitive agreement is expected to be hammered out before the year is out. The sharing is for existing and future infrastructure but both will not jointly bid for future spectrum. (StarBoz)

Genting Malaysia unit submits USD1m fee to bid for NY video lottery
Genting Malaysia's indirect unit Genting New York LLC has submitted a USD1m entry fee to the New York Lottery in a move to make a bid for the video lottery operations in the city. "This payment allows Genting NY to participate in the bidding process to develop and operate a Video Lottery Facility at Aqueduct Racetrack in the city of New York," the company said on Thursday, 10 June. Genting NY is evaluating the project and has until 29 June to decide if it wishes to formally submit a bid. The payment was made on 1 June. (Financial Daily)

London Biscuits' offer in TPC lapses
London Biscuits’ conditional mandatory takeover offer in TPC Plus has lapsed after it failed to secure over 50% of the latter’s shares upon the close of the offer period. London Biscuits had only secured an additional 13.88% of valid acceptances to its 33.11% stake it had already held in TPC Plus, totaling only 46.99% after the second closing date on Thursday, 10 June. "In view that the offer has lapsed, the offeror (London Biscuits) shall return all the TPC shares which it has received to the respective accepting holders within 14 days from the second closing date," London Biscuits said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia. London Biscuits had conditionally offered to acquire the remaining shares of 50 sen each in TPC Plus for 30 sen per share, it said. (Financial Daily)

PPB gets Bursa nod for placement, but with conditions
Petra Perdana (PPB) has obtained Bursa Malaysia Securities‘ approval for its proposed private placement of up to 29.76m shares, representing 10% of its paid-up capital, subject to conditions that include renewing a shareholder mandate to issue shares. (Financial Daily)

Naza Group : To study viability of building Malaysian plant with GM. The Naza Group and General Motors (GM) will study the viability of setting up a plant in Malaysia, as the American carmaker aims to expand in Southeast Asia. The companies exchanged letters of intent for the feasibility study and expect it to be done in 6 months. (Source: Business Times)

UEM Land : Eyes more land. According to MD/CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, UEM Land Holdings Bhd is looking at expanding its land bank in areas like the Klang Valley. They are looking for new revenue streams to supplement existing projects in Nusajaya. (Source: The Star)

Malaysia: Najib to halve Malaysia’s deficit under 5-year plan
Malaysia aims to almost halve its budget deficit in the next five years as the Government cuts subsidies, widens the tax base and reduces expenses under a plan to make the economy more competitive. The country plans to cut the budget shortfall to 2.8% of GDP in 2015 from a revised estimate of 5.3% this year, according to the 5- year plan unveiled by Najib in Kuala Lumpur. It earlier projected a 5.6% deficit for 2010. (Bloomberg)

Malaysia: April IPI hints at slower growth ahead
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) in April 2010 grew at a slower-than-expected pace, which can indicate that economic growth will also be slower for the rest of the year. IPI, which measures output from manufacturers, power producers and the mining industry, rose 10.1% in April, driven by the manufacturing sector. Economists expected it to grow by 12%. (BT)

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