Parkson: To accelerate expansion in China. MD Alfred Cheng said the company will open 8 to 9 stores a year through 2013, after opening 5 last year and spend up to RMB500m this year on new stores and remodeling existing outlets. (Source: Malaysian Reserve)
MAS: Offering up to 85% discount for all destinations. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is offering up to 85% discount to all destinations in conjunction with the 8th edition of the Malaysia Airlines Travel Fair (MATF'11) from Feb 21 to Feb 28. The travel period for the fares is from March 21 to Dec 31. MAS is also offering up to 50% discount for business class seats for all of its destinations for the first time. (Source: Malaysian Reserve)
Healthcare: Medical records online by 2015. At least 20 government hospitals nationwide will be able to serve patients faster by 2015 when medical records are accessible online. However, having a common database for medical records has raised concerns on privacy and confidentiality. (Source: New Straits Times)
Maybank mulling ways to trim stake in BII
Malayan Banking (Maybank) is evaluating proposals on how best to reduce its stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) to 80% by June this year, its chief said. The Indonesian market regulator has given it until June to meet a 20% free float requirement for BII. Maybank, which held about 97.5% of BII, has already managed to sell less than 1% in the market and is also looking at undertaking private placements, president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said. (BT)
Amway lines up 7 new products, 4 more shops
Amway (Malaysia) Holdings plans to maintain its sales growth momentum of past years through the launch of seven new products, and the opening of between three and four more Amway shops this year. The seven new products will be for the beauty and food supplement categories. Amway Malaysia managing director Low Han Kee said besides its on going efforts to grow its energetic distributor network, globally Amway will be spending a lot of time and resources in developing its information technology (IT) capabilities. Some half a billion dollars (RM1.5tn) have been allocated for its IT initiative. (BT)
Ekuinas to buy stake in education group
Ekuiti Nasional (Ekuinas), a Government-linked private equity fund management company, will acquire a 51% stake in the APIIT/UCTI Education Group for RM102m. A share sale agreement between Ekuinas and Sapura Resources for the controlling stake was completed effective 18 Feb, the former said in a statement yesterday. “This acquisition completes Ekuinas’ fourth investment for 2010 and Ekuinas looks forward to working together with the management in accelerating the growth of the education group with the view to further strengthen its position as a high quality provider of educational excellence among Malaysian students and those from abroad,” it said. (StarBiz)
Berjaya Food plans to open more outlets
Berjaya Food (BFood) sees the current trend of healthy food consumption as an opportunity for its business to expand in the country through its chain of Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants. BFood has a 100% stake in Berjaya Roasters (M) SB, which operates the chain of Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Malaysia. Chief executive officer Datuk Francis Lee says the group plans to open eight to ten new outlets throughout Malaysia this financial year (ended 30 April 2011), promoting its healthy menus to society. BFood is en route for a listing on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market, scheduled for March, offering 35.84 million shares of 50 sen each, or 25.35% stake in BFood, via the initial public offering (IPO). (StarBiz)
Mizuho gets commercial banking licence
Mizuho Corporate Bank (M) has received the Finance Minister’s approval for its commercial banking licence. The banking group said in a statement yesterday that the licence would enable it to provide a full range of financial services to multinational companies seeking to establish and expand its broad manufacturing base. Mizuho, which received approval from Bank Negara in June 2010, said this was important, in view of the increasing business between Malaysia and other countries, including Japan. “Mizuho is a global financial institution and a leading provider of financial solutions to multinational corporations. We believe our extensive network and presence in more than 30 countries will help to facilitate international trade linkages and investment flows between Malaysia and other parts of the world,” it said. (StarBiz)
Notion VTec targets RM45m net profit for FY11
Hard disk drive component maker Notion VTec forecasts its revenue and net profit to be RM280m and RM45m respectively for the current fiscal year as the company reorganises its production portfolio. The company is also aiming in reducing its exposure to US dollar-denominated sales to 70% from about 90%, a move deemed pivotal to safe guard the exporter’s top line. (FinancialDaily)
Oriented Media in reverse takeover
Beleaguered Oriented Media Group (OMedia) may find a white knight in construction outfit Bina Puri Holdings. It was reported in The Busy Weekly that Bina Puri will be injecting its polyol manufacturing business and power assets in Indonesia into OMedia in exchange for new shares, making Bina Puri the largest shareholder in OMedia, after the reverse takeover (RTO) is concluded. (FinancialDaily)
UMW: Toyota targets 90,000 units sales. Automobile giant UMW Toyota Motor is anticipating nationwide sales to exceed 90,000 units this year to maintain its market share at 15% this year. UMW Toyota's strategy was to launch a series of new models this year, such as the new Lexus CT200h hatchback next week. (Source: The Star)
Ramunia: In talks with Coral Alliance. Ramunia Holdings Bhd is in talks with oil and gas outfit Coral Alliance Sdn Bhd-believed to be linked to Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra and Robert Lee, former directors of Petra Energy Bhd- for a possible synergistic tie-up or even an acquisition of the latter. In any case, a joint venture or an acquisition of Coral Alliance by Ramunia will benefit the latter as Coral Alliance is said to be the frontrunner for a hook-up and topside maintenance contract from Petronas. (Source: The Edge Financial Weekly)
Ivory: Secures major tenants for Penang Times Square. Penang-based Ivory Properties Group Bhd has signed up several tenants that will take up sizeable areas in Times Square, along Jalan Datuk Keramat. The shopping centres total tenancy will increase from about 50% now to about 80% by April or May. The new tenants are reputable restaurateurs such as Tao, Ming Garden and Coffee Island. (Source: The Edge Financial Weekly)
Manufacturing: Solutia to invest RM305m on sulfur factory. US-based Solutia Inc is set to invest RM305m to build a new high-tech facility to manufacture insoluble sulfur, a vulcanising agent for critical application in tire industry. It is part of an expansion plan to the current plant operating in Gebeng industrial area here and by doing so, Solutia will double the capacity, making it the worlds largest manufacturing site for insoluble sulfur. (Source: The Star)
EPF: Declares 5.8% dividend for 2010. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced a 5.8% dividend for the year ended Dec 31, 2010, slightly higher than the 5.65% given out in 2009. The RM21.6b dividend payout is the highest in the history and a 11.55% increase compared with the RM19.37b paid out in 2009. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)
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