Thursday, October 13, 2011

20111013 1022 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

SP Setia said it has not received other offers to acquire its shares and warrants,  apart from an earlier bid by its major shareholder Permodalan Nasional Bhd.  (BT)

C.I. Holdings Bhd  group managing director Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani has  raised his direct stake to 30.53% or 43.35m shares. A filing to Bursa Malaysia  showed he acquired 750k shares or a 0.528% stake, at RM4.50 a share via a  married deal on Tuesday, Oct 11.  Another filing showed CI Holdings’ head of corporate finance, strategy  & development Syed Khalil Syed Ibrahim had acquired 99k shares or  RM4.39 per share on Tuesday in the open market.  The latest transaction raised Syed Khalil’s direct stake to 919.2k shares  or 0.65%. His indirect stake is 10.44% or 14.882m shares. (Financial  Daily)

The recent flood in Thailand is not interrupting the supply and delivery  schedules of Toyota models retailed in Malaysia at the moment. UMW Toyota said as of now, the flood has no direct impact on Toyota Motor Thailand.  However, some suppliers are experiencing delays in supplying parts to the  plants. (Bernama)

Construction of the Klang Valley MRT is expected to begin in the second or  third quarter of next year, MRT Co CEO  Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said.  Currently, some advanced work is being done for the project. MRT Co assumed  the project and asset owner of the KVMRT project from Prasarana effective Sept  1. (Bernama)

Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) will boost its operations in  Malaysia to ensure an uninterrupted supply of dairy products amid Thailand's  worst flood in decades, its chief executive officer Datuk Ng Jui Sia said.  F&N's facility in Rojana Industrial Park, Ayutthaya, under its unit F&N  Dairies (Thailand) Ltd, has ceased operations due to the massive floods  following unusually heavy moonson rains.  "We are looking at a back-up plan including utilising Petaling Jaya's  capacity to back it up and accelerate the construction of our new dairy  plant in Pulau Indah," (Bernama)

Public Bank yesterday reported a surprising increase in its  foreign  shareholding. Its foreign ownership rose to 25.47% as at end-September,  marking the third consecutive quarter of increase in its foreign shareholding.  The foreign ownership stood at 23.54% as at end March and 24.52% as at end June. As at 31 Dec 2010, its foreign ownership was higher at 26.52%. (Financial  Daily)

AirAsia is still looking for an opportunity to grow its business in Vietnam,  which has a lot of potential, said group deputy CEO  Datuk Kamarudin  Meranun. Although AirAsia’s joint-venture agreement with VietJet Aviation to launch a low-cost airline had been allowed to lapse, AirAsia might relook at  the deal.  The move would not derail AirAsia’s plan to expand in the region as it  had successfully formed several joint ventures, including in the  Philippines and with Japan’s All Nippon Airways. (Bernama)

An internal wing of the telecoms department (DoT) has ruled that the  3G  roaming agreements between Bharti Airtel (SingTel’s Indian associate),  Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular (Axiata’s Indian associate) are 'illegal' and  has asked the department to initiate action against the three mobile phone  companies, including issuing show cause notices and imposing financial  penalties. If the government acts, the three GSM biggies may have to shell out  fines to the tune of Rs 500m (US$10m) for every circle where they have entered  into 3G roaming agreements. (Economic Times of India)

Proton Holdings has denied reports speculating it may be looking at selling a  stake in the company's loss-making subsidiary Group Lotus  to Genii Capital.  Proton said the alleged moves between Group Lotus and Genii Capital were  untrue. "We hope this statement will put all speculation to rest," said the  national carmaker. "Through this positive synergy, our priority now is to ensure  that the Lotus business turnaround plan is executed according to schedule.  Proton and Lotus have reached a juncture whereby the market is eagerly waiting  for Lotus' new products and all our energy and efforts have to be channelled  towards achieving this critical goal," said Proton. (Starbiz)

UMW Toyota Motor  has allocated more than RM200m to  develop its new  integrated quality hub (IQH) facility in Bukit Raja, Klang. The cost of the 35-ha  IQH facility, aimed at improving the delivery lead time of vehicles to customers,  is part of the company's RM1bn three-year investment plan until 2013. Much of  the IQH facility has been completed, while the body and paint centre is due to  commence operations by the first half of 2012. A production parts warehouse is  expected to start operations by the second half of 2012. (Starbiz)

Malaysia's natural rubber production in August dropped 4.5%  month-on-month to 95,731 tonnes, according to the Statistics Department.  However, year-on-year, the August figure was 18.7% higher. It said the  smallholdings sector contributed 94.8% of total production while the estate  sector’s share was only 5.2%. Meanwhile, exports of natural rubber in August  increased 40.7% month-on-month to 80,514 tonnes but year-on-year, it was  down by 5.8%, it added. The department said Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR)  accounted for 94.8% of the exports, with 52% from SMR 20. (Starbiz)

Timber exports to the European Union could come to a halt in 2013 if Malaysia  fails to agree on the EU Timber Regulation, a regulation to curb illegal timber  trade that comes into force on Jan 1, 2013. Malaysia had balked on signing the  agreement after the EU added new terms and conditions that were unrelated to  the certification issue, said Second Resource Planning and Environment  Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan yesterday."We are still holding  discussions with them and hope to reach a compromise on the matter. "But we have made our stand clear. They should not add  non-certification requirements to the FLEGT (Forest Law, Governance  and Trade)," he said. The EU had strayed from the legality and  sustainable issues by adding points on human rights, native customary  rights (NCR) land and even the issuance of timber licences by Sarawak  into the negotiations. He said even though the country's timber export to the EU was "not  significant" at around RM3.25bn annually, or only 2% of Sarawak's total  timber exports, it would like to sign the agreement that "we have agreed  on". (BT)

Malaysia's  advertising expenditure (Adex) is expected to record a double  digit growth this year, says Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk  Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said the forecast was based on the Adex for the first five months of  this year which has already reached RM4bn, 16% higher than last year.  "Despite the uncertain global business environment, it is still a good  time to be in advertising," (Bernama)

MAA Group cancelled a RM200m debt issuance programme it announced on  Aug 4, 2006, as it has made an early and full redemption of the remaining  outstanding notes of RM140m. (Malaysian Reserve)

Berjaya Land has scrapped plans to run Berjaya Air in Indonesia following  the termination of the JV between Berjaya Vacation Club and  PT Lion  Mentari. The JV was terminated as both parties could not finalise the terms of  the shareholders’ agreement. PT Lion Mentari is the operator of Indonesia’s  largest private carrier Lion Air. (Financial Daily)

UOA Development COO David Khor said a residential development was  being planned for the proposed purchase of a 9.8 acre piece of land and work  would commence next year. "It will be one of several projects - about five or six - being planned for next year," he said. No GDV is available. "We are unable to  comment on the share price. However, we are extremely pleased to share that  UOA has recorded a gross profit of RM161m in the first half of 2011." he said.  (Starbiz)

French banking group BNP Paribas has set up its locally incorporated bank in  Malaysia which will focus on both domestic and multinational corporate and  financial institutions to provide the full suit of banking products and services.  (Star Biz)

Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd  plans to extend its reach to taxis, mass rapid transit  (MRT), RapidPenang buses, Iskandar Region community transportation  services and local theme parks to spur a cashless society, says CEO Abdul Karim  Md Lassim. Touch 'n Go aims to further target the local market and enable more  e-payment systems by increasing its penetration through partners of the public  transport and retail sectors.  He said the company is in the process to pilot the Touch 'n Go usage in  taxis. One of  the key issues is the cost of implementing the system  although it is convenient for the customers, he added.Touch 'n Go is in  the midst of preparing a proposal to enable customers to use e-ticketing  system on the MRT, which is due to be completed in 2016. (BT)

Malaysia has the potential to be the number one player in the global  Halal  food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, says Minister of  International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said  Malaysia had proven its capabilities in many areas of the Halal industry, and  that it could repeat the success in the Halal food industry as well.  For the processed halal food and beverages industry, Malaysia's total  export was worth RM8.2bn last year with China, US, Pakistan, Japan  and Singapore being the main export destinations (Bernama).

Lynas Corp adds RM700m for Phase 2
Australian mining giant Lynas Corp has allocated an additional RM700m for expansion under Phase 2 for its controversial Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, Pahang. Half of the investment is spent in Malaysia for subcontracting requirements and materials purchase and some 40% is to purchase equipment and technical expertise offshore, it said. “Undertaken by lead contractor, Toyo-Thai Corp, these investments will gear up to an increased in production capacity of 22,000 tonnes rare earth oxide per annum,” it said in a statement. (Malaysian Reserve)

MTDC signs technology deals
Malaysian Technology Development (MTDC) signed three MOU with three parties at the KL International Venture Capital Symposium 2011 yesterday that are aimed at helping start-up companies and entrepreneurs as well as promoting the technology sector. The MoU signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and involved Indonesia Investment Agency (IIA), Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd (Exim Bank) and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA). Under the MoU with IIA, both parties will work to set up a regional fund to support and encourage entrepreneurship. "Target groups of this proposed regional fund are entrepreneurs with feasible tech-based businesses and those who with high growth potential and sustainability," said MTDC. (BT)

TSM Global to make RM32.2m provision
Automotive parts manufacturer TSM Global is liquidating 85.5%-owned Kenseisha (M) SB. It expects the winding-up proceedings to result in some RM32.17m losses, being the entire cost of investment and advances to the latter. In a statement, TSM said the proceedings will not materially impact the group’s operations given that there had been minimal activity at Kenseisha following the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami in March. (StarBiz)

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