Wednesday, October 5, 2011

20111005 1147 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

SP Setia will need to get the nod from shareholders for its recently proposed  Semenyih land purchase in line with the current takeover and merger ruling,  said a spokesman for the  Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG). MSWG said that normally SP Setia would not need to seek  shareholders' approval, but it is different when the transaction coincides with a  conditional takeover offer. (Financial Daily)

 SP Setia founder and boss Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin has met with the company's  contractors, suppliers and employees over the last two days to address some of  the concerns that have surfaced following PNB's takeover bid. Sources said among the top concerns of SP Setia employees is their  entitlement to Esos shares. In response, Liew said it is up to them  whether to sell their shares. During an emotional meeting with the staff yesterday, Liew was asked  whether he would exit the company. "Liew told his staff that it is not  their battle to fight but it is his, as the battle is at the shareholders' and  the senior management level. Liew said business must go on," said a  source. (Financial Daily)

E&O stated that  ECM Libra acquired an additional 2m shares at RM1 each,  increasing its stake to 6.51% from 6.3%. A week before that, it has just adjusted  its stake from 5.12% to 6.3%. The impetus for this move is unclear and many are  puzzled about it. (Star Biz)

The joint offerors for the assets of PLUS Expressways, namely the EPF and  UEM Group, are considering paying an additional amount due to the longer  time it is taking for the deal to be finalised. EPF and UEM have agreed to pay  something but its just a matter of the quantum that isn‟t clear at this point. (Star  Biz)

In response to Bursa queries, Dayang Enterprise and Perdana Petroleum clarified that while both companies have had discussions on potential  collaboration, no agreement has been reached beyond the normal cause of  vessel chartering activities.  Over the weekend, The Edge wrote that Dayang  may buy into Perdana. (BMSB)

Putrajaya insisted today it had „no choice‟ but to implement the controversial  share swap with AirAsia to avoid having bail out Malaysia Airlines (MAS).  If it continues to make losses and the government has to inject funds, there will  be even more anger, according to Deputy Finance Minister  Datuk Awang  Adek Hussin. Awang was forced to repeatedly assure Parliament today that the deal is  based on the guiding principal that no one loses out and it will benefit  all parties. Awang also said that Khazanah was currently undertaking  due diligence before deciding whether to take a stake in AirAsia X.  (Malaysian Insider)

The Najib administration has dropped a mainland Chinese developer‟s US$1bn  (RM3.2bn) redevelopment plan for  Pudu Jail in favour of splitting the  eight-hectare prime land into parcels to be developed by mainly Bumiputera  companies, sources say. The Malaysian Insider  understands that Pudu Jail land owner,  UDA  Holdings Bhd, has been instructed by its shareholder, the Ministry of  Finance (MOF), to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to oversee the  redevelopment and carve up the land with two parcels to be given to  Bumiputera companies and one to a non-Bumiputera firm. “UDA Holdings received a letter from the MOF in July rejecting the  Chinese bid despite a majority board decision to recommend their  plan,” a source told  The Malaysian Insider, referring to China‟s  Everbright International Construction Ltd‟s bid. UDA Holdings chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed confirmed the  MOF directive but declined further comment (Malaysian Insider).

Democratic Republic of Congo is in talks with  Malaysia Smelting  Corporation  over the construction of a foundry in the eastern Maniema  province. “Talks are very advanced with a big foreign mining company, Malaysia  Smelting Corporation, to set up a foundry in Kalima,” Mines Minister Martin  Kabwelulu told a mining conference on Monday. (Reuters)

The Las Vegas Sands casino operators are in discussions on a possible deal to  develop a gambling resort with a group that controls eight blocks of downtown‟s  Park West neighborhood. The Sands operators, however, say they can make the  deal work only if the Florida Legislature grants them an  exclusive gaming  license for Miami-Dade, Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff said.  That tactic,  if successful, would effectively stop  Genting‟s plan for a massive gaming  destination several blocks north on Biscayne Bay. (The Miami Herald)

The  Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) expects a clear,  comprehensive and integrated policy on energy in Budget 2012 to be tabled on  Friday. It hopes the government will address natural gas shortages, including  liberalizing supply and distribution. “The government should allocate more  natural gas to the manufacturing sector,” it said in a statement (Bernama).

BMW Group Malaysia says it hopes to see a continuation of positive steps  such as abolition of the Open AP system and promotion of green technology  in the upcoming 2012 Budget. BMW Group Malaysia said an extension of tax  exemption for clean and green vehicles will develop Malaysia as a regional hub  for advanced and environmentally-friendly automotive technology. The  automaker would like to see the government allocate a concrete roadmap for the  upgrading of the existing Euro  2M based fuel specification to Euro 4 fuel  specification. (Bernama)

Perodua  has received orders for 6,000 units of the 1.5-litre Myvi variant  launched in mid-September, says managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid  Salleh. As for the 1.3-litre Myvi, launched mid-June, orders have been received  for almost 37,000 units. "Insyaallah, we will launch the 1.3 litre Myvi mid-November in Mauritius and late this year or early next year, we will launch  it (the model) in Sri Lanka. We chose the 1.3-litre Myvi as it is more affordable  than the 1.50-litre model and provides better fuel consumption," he added.  (Malaysian Reserve)

Guinness Anchor Bhd managing director Charles Ireland told StarBiz in an  e-mail that the company was hopeful the Government would not raise excise  duty this year.  “The last increase was in 2005. There were three consecutive years of  excise duty increase from 2003 to 2005, which resulted in excise duties  increasing by over 70%. “The beer and stout market has hardly grown in the last 14 years and if  there were an increase in excise this year, we expect volumes to decline.  This in turn will have a detrimental effect on the industry and the  economy,” he said, adding that local beer industry paid RM1.4bn in tax  revenue in 2010. (Star Biz)

British American Tobacco (M) Bhd managing director William Toh said  given the severity of the illegal cigarettes incidence in Malaysia, the industry was  hopeful that the Government would take a moderate tax approach to cigarette  excise in the upcoming budget. “International experiences have proven that smaller and gradual tax  increases will allow consumers to adjust to price changes, and are  therefore less likely to fuel demand for illegal cigarettes. On the contrary,  excessive tax increases cause significant price shocks to consumers who  will then accelerate their purchases of cheap illegal cigarettes as  alternatives.” (Star Biz)

Former Bursa Malaysia CEO,  Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, 52, has been  appointed non-executive director at YTL Power International. Yusli also sits  on the boards of Mudajaya and Mulpha International. (Malaysian Reserve)

Xian Leng Holdings said there might be some financial irregularities  involving some RM17.4m in capital expenditure. The company plans to hire an  independent party to carry out a special audit. The amount is significant  because for the past two financial years, Xian Leng's group revenue came in just  under RM20m. (BT)

VTI Vintage Bhd has won a contract from Gou Yaoming, an individual based  in China to manage and market a residential development of 30 units of  low-rise high-end apartments at Taman U-Thant, Kuala Lumpur.   The  contract sum for project management and marketing shall be 5% of estimated  gross sales revenue from the  proposed development. The gross sale revenue is  estimated to be RM100m. (BT)  

Bursa Malaysia Securities has publicly reprimanded  Haisan Resources for  breach of the Main Market Listing Requirements (MLR) and publicly  reprimanded and fined its directors a total of RM0.23m. Haisan was publicly  reprimanded for breach of paragraph 9.16(1)(a) of the MLR for failing to ensure  that its unaudited 4Q09 financial results (which was announced in Feb 2010)   took into account adjustments made in its audited accounts announced on 30  April 2010. The adjustments resulted in a 68% difference between the  company‟s audited and unaudited results. (BMSB)

The Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has downgraded  Scomi Group and  KMCOB Capital’s ratings by one notch to balance both entities‟ low  operating cashflow against recent improvement in Scomi‟s core business  operations. KMCOB is held under Scomi Oilfield (SOL), a 76%-owned  subsidiary. Both Scomi and SOL have maturing debt obligations and tight  liquidity which are the main reasons for the MARC downgrade. (Star Biz)

Maxis Bhd  : To launch IPTV Maxis Bhd has teamed up with All Asia Networks plc’s (Astro) associate and Australiabased Fetch TV to launch Internet Protocol television (IPTV) as part of its triple play offering. However, it is believed that Maxis has yet inked a deal with Astro for its IPTV offerings but the industry expects Maxis to launch its home broadband by the end of the month. Fetch TV, a pay-TV provider in Australia, is currently parked under the stable of Astro. It offers a range of pay TV-style programming over broadband for a monthly fee. Last year, Maxis signed a 10-year agreement for wholesale high speed broadband (HSBB) Services with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), giving it instant access to all the households under coverage. It has also rolled out its own fibre to the home network in selected places. – StarBiz

Top Glove Corp Bhd : May acquire nitrile players Top Glove Corp Bhd may acquire rivals to expand its nitrile glove portfolio, and buy more rubber plantation land across the region as it faces external and industry headwinds that have battered the company’s earnings. Managing director KM Lee said while organic expansion is the preferred route to expand Top Glove’s nitrile glove output to 50% of the group’s annual capacity within three years, the company will not discount the possibility of mergers and acquisition (M&A) should viable opportunities come along. According to Lee, the company has doubled its capacity for nitrile or synthetic rubber gloves from 8% to 16% and may reach 25% by early next year. Lee said Top Glove’s production facilities are interchangeable between natural rubber and nitrile gloves to meet supply-demand conditions of both products.  Top Glove had an annual production capacity of 35.3 billion gloves as at June this year, translating into a global market share of 23%. He added that world rubber glove demand is seen at 150 billion pieces this year and is expected to register an annual growth of between 8% and 10%. Malaysia is the world’s largest rubber-glove producer, accounting for about 60% of the global pie. – The Edge

Bumi Armada incorporates a Russian unit
Bumi Armada has incorporated a subsidiary, Bumi Armada Russia Holdings (BARH), which will principally be involved in the oil and gas industry. The latter has an authorized capital of USD50k (RM159.8k). The incorporation is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings or net assets of Bumi Armada Group for FY11. (Malaysian Reserve)

MAA slips into PN17 status
The country’s biggest locally-owned insurer now falls under the PN17 category, leading to a drop in its share price yesterday amid active trade. MAA fell into PN17 because it has sold its major business to deal with debt and not due to other reasons like a loan default or shrinking shareholders’ funds. (BT)

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