Monday, September 20, 2010

20100920 1246 Malaysia Corporate News.

Digi: Shares fall ahead of iPhone 4 launch. The shares of DiGi.Com Bhd shed 10 sen to end at RM24.70 during last Friday's trade ahead of its iPhone 4 launch this week. DiGi's introduction of iPhone 4 is expected to impact DiGi's EBITDA margins, which have suffered over the last few quarters because of handset subsidies. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)

O&G: GNI to see USD24b more from OGE sector under NKEA. The Malaysian government hopes to see an additional USD24b (RM74.6b) contribution to gross national income (GNI) through the oil, gas and energy (OGE) sector in the next decade as one of the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA), according to sources. Some of the key milestones are to import liquefied natural gases (LNG) by 2012 as a fuel substitute and to create new industries, to reduce the energy bill by 15% by 2014 and to have in place, a regional oil storage and trading hub with a capacity of 10m tones by 2017. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)

Plantation: Less carbon dioxide from oil palm estates. The Tropical Peat Research Unit in the Sarawak Chief Minister's Department has set up three Eddy Coveriance towers to carry out an advanced carbon flux study to reinforce its early breakthrough in scientific findings that carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from oil palm plantations on peatland is lower than that of forest peat swamp. Preliminary findings also revealed that CO2 emission from plantations on peatland decreases over time. (Source: The Star)

Property: AQRS to launch RM153m Melawati Heights project. Property developer, AQRS The Building Co Sdn Bhd, will launch its residential project, Contours Twin Courtyard Show Villa, at Melawati Heights in Hulu Kelang, Selangor, on Friday. The project, with a gross development value of RM153m, is located on 3.2ha land. The units are priced between RM3.2m and RM4.8m. (Source: Business Times)

HELP eyes secondary listing in Singapore
Local private education provider HELP International Corp is planning a secondary listing of its shares in Singapore over the next 18 months to fund its expansion plans. The group, which runs the HELP University College in Pusat Bandar Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, plans to set up a chain of private schools, offering preschool, primary and secondary education, in the next five years. HELP University is now also looking at buying a controlling stake in a Singapore-based private school and turning it into a subsidiary prior to the secondary listing in the republic. HELP director of corporate planning Adam Chan Eu-Khin declined to reveal the name, except to say that it is a reputable school with strong psychology and hospitality management programmes. (BT)

Puncak Niaga to meet bondholders as informed by Malaysian Trustees
In an announcement on Bursa last Friday, Puncak announced that the Trustee for the holders of the Notes, Malaysian Trustees Berhad is convening a Collective Bondholders Informal Meeting among all the Selangor water concessionaire holders/operators/bond issuers/term loan borrowers. The meeting agenda will entail: i) the impact of the current situation in the water sector on water treatment operation cash flow, ii) the course of action(s) to be taken by the bondholders/lenders to resolve the situation, and iii) other matters related thereto. (Bursa Malaysia)

Eonmetall to tap global production market
Eonmetall Group plans to tap into the global palm oil production market through participation in Indonesia, after building five solvent extraction plants here. Its chief executive officer Yeoh Cheng Chye said the fifth plant in Malaysia is being commissioned in Sitiawan, Perak, which will be handed over to its client next month. The company delivered Malaysia's first solvent extraction plant in Johor Baru in 2008 to a plantation company which owns and operates over 11,000ha of oil palm plantations in the country. (BT)

Voir mulls expansion via M&As
Fashion retailer Voir Holdings is looking to expand its business through mergers and acquisitions, says its top official. Voir, which retails women's fashion & casual apparels, shoes and accessories under the Voir, Soda and Applemints brands, said it is exploring several possibilities for expansion, including acquiring rivals and brand extension in the fashion apparel, perfumery, beauty and wellbeing segments. "There are some discussions... we are open to such opportunities," its managing director Ham Hon Kit told Business Times in an interview. He said the new brands can come from either its in-house brands or brands of international or local fashion owners. Voir expects an exciting year in 2011, as recent store openings have begun to show results and more new fashion stores and cafes are scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year. (BT)

Naim ends MoU with Libyan partner
Naim Holdings’ wholly owned subsidiary, NCSB Engineering SB, has dropped plans to establish a joint venture with Al-Waatasemu Charity Foundation for the construction of the Gaddafi Tower at Tripoli City Centre, Libya. After detailed discussions and feasibility studies, both parties have mutually agreed to terminate the MoU. (MalaysianReserve)

Proton has no merger plans
Proton Holdings has no plans to merge with other companies at this juncture, according to adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Dr Mahathir said the national car manufacturer was a profitable company. It was earlier reported that Proton was working on a deal to make DRB-HICOM an equity partner, but the deal may have hit a snag as neither party has confirmed their interest. Dr Mahathir said Proton was now at the restructuring stage and is not anxious to merge yet. (StarBiz)

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