Tenaga Nasional Bhd will have to deal with gas shortages for another two to three months, the country's energy minister said. He said for now Tenaga will have to deal with losses caused by having to substitute costly fuel oil for power generation, as electricity prices will remain unchanged. "At the moment, the electricity price stays, that is a government decision," Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Peter Chin said on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week conference. "Tenaga as an operating company and Petronas as a gas supplier will have to work within this pricing system at the moment." Chin said the government has received several requests from Tenaga for help to cope with higher fuel costs. "We will look at that and see what we can do to help. Certainly we will not leave Tenaga in the woods," he said. Chin said the cause of the gas shortage was a lack of maintenance on production platforms operated by state oil and gas group Petronas. "We have to grapple with this issue for the next two to three months. It is a maintenance issue rather than a complete lack of gas," he said. (Reuters)
The massive RM11.3bn highspeed broadband (HSBB) project may eventually cost Telekom Malaysia at least RM1bn less than its original costing because of its tough procurement policy, according to sources. They claimed that if TM continued with its tough procurement policy, it could even save up to 20% upon completion of the project. Those in the know claim TM is currently finalising the numbers but it declined to comment on the potential savings of RM1bn. What will TM do with the savings? "Will they give the money back to the government or do they have the buy-in from the government to expand coverage into new areas?" asked a source. TM said: "... whatever savings gained... may be ploughed back into the long-term project to increase the reach and expansion plans, and this will be subject to further discussions with the Government and the public-private project agreement." (StarBiz)
Supermax Corporation Bhd has proposed a one-for-one bonus issue totaling 340,077,440 new shares. The Proposed Bonus Issue will not be implemented in stages over a period of time and is expected to be completed by the 1Q12. The bonus issue is conditional upon approvals being obtained from Bursa Malaysia and the shareholders of Supermax at an EGM of the company to be convened. "We believe in rewarding shareholders, especially those who stayed invested in us long term," said Supermax executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai. "Subject to approval, our one-for-one bonus issue will be a good reward to shareholders while it will further enhance our company's share capital base, better reflect our current scale of operations and assets employed, and promote liquidity of our shares in the market thereby strengthening the equity base of our company," he said. (BMSB, Star Biz)
SapuraCrest's wholly-owned unit TL Offshore has secured a Petrobras contract to charter and operate three pipelay support vessels at a total award value of approximately US$1.4bn. One vessel will be constructed in Brazil while the remaining two will be built outside Brazil. The contract is expected to contribute positively to the company’s earnings effective FY1/15. (BMSB)
DiGi is expected to distribute about RM509m to its shareholders by 1H 2012 under the proposed capital distribution. Its unit DiGi Telecommunications had issued 100,000 redeemable preference shares to DiGi. The RPS will be redeemed by DiGiTel on March 7, 2012. Upon the redemption of the RPS, DiGi will receive about RM509m and is expected to be distributed less expenses to shareholders. (Financial Daily)
The government aims for the use of biodiesel or B5 to reach 500,000 tonnes monthly by the end of 2012, said Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Hamzah Zainudin. The B5 programme which has been implemented since last June is widespread in Central region of Peninsular Malaysia, that is Putrajaya, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. (Bernama)
About 800 delegates from over 15 countries around the world from both palm oil grower and consumer markets have registered to attend the ninth annual Round Table Meeting (RT9) organised by the Roundtable on Sustainable Plam Oil (RSPO). The RT, the world's largest annual meeting on sustainable palm oil, is a platform to exchange views and experiences among various stakeholders in developed and developing countries. (Bernama)
The Competitions Commission will carry out an in-depth study on the collaborative framework between Malaysia Airlines (MAS), its subsidiary Firefly and AirAsia to ensure no anti-competition aspects in the agreement. The study would be carried out once the terms and conditions of the agreement are finalised next month. The Commission has the power to make a final decision and the government will have no power to intervene. (Star Biz)
AirAsia X (AAX) will ramp up its products and services and review its network to defend the airline’s leadership position in the long haul, low cost carrier business in Asia after SIA launched its own similar frills-free service named Scoot. AAX wants to improve its customer service to be at par with that of full service carriers like Cathay Pacific and SIA, and is contemplating investing more money to defend its lead position. AAX has 11 aircraft currently, flying to 14 destinations and will take delivery of two new aircraft in 2012. Scoot would use four B777-4000 aircraft initially to fly to four or more cities in Australia and China. (Star Biz)
AirAsia through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AA international, will take a 49% stake in the new start-up low cost carrier, AirAsia Japan. The new LCC will be in joint venture with All Nippon Airways. (Malaysian Reserve)
Mohd Azha Abdul Jalil will end his tenure as the CFO of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at year-end. He would remain with the company until Dec 31 to ensure a smooth handover for seamless business continuity. Mohd Azha joined the national carrier in July 2007 as senior general manager – finance, and contributed significantly to the implementation of its Business Transformation Plan from January 2008. He was appointed CFO of MAS in September 2009. (Bernama)
US-based Seagate Technology LLC is very bullish about the growth of hard disk drive (HDD) market in Malaysia. Its senior vice president and managing director (Asia Pacific and Japan sales and marketing) Teh Ban Seng, said Malaysia was one of the emerging markets the company was monitoring closely. "And we expect that it will continue to be growing quite strongly," he told reporters. He said the growth in the country's HDD market was driven by the increasing shipment of computers as well as the growing consumer market. "PC (personal computer) shipments in Malaysia are still growing quite strongly. The consumer market is also growing very fast as well," he said. (Bernama)
Scomi Group Bhd is disposing of its drilling waste management assets and businesses to National Oilwell Varco, Inc.'s subsidiaries for RM107.293m. The business was held by Scomi Oiltools, Inc (Soinc) and Scomi Oiltools De Mexico, S.DE R.L DE C.V (SMEX), both held indirectly via a 76.08% subsidiary, Scomi Oilfield Ltd, Scomi said in a filing to Bursa. The bulk of the proceeds from the disposal would be used to repay borrowings. Scomi said the disposals were in line with its ongoing business strategy to rationalise and streamline existing assets by exiting from volatile markets and to re-focus on Asia, a stable and growing market. Going forward, the company expects the business strategy to bring in stable earnings. (Bernama)
Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd is selling all its Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd (PNSB) debt note to Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) for RM328.12m. Puncak Niaga said it had signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with PAAB’s special purpose vehicle – Acqua SPV Bhd – to sell all its redeemable, unsecured, coupon bearing notes. (Financial Daily)
APM Automotive has inked two JVs with International Automotive Components Group (IACG) to make and market automotive interior plastic components and systems to local and multinational original equipment makers in Malaysia and Thailand. APM will hold a 60% stake in the Malaysian JV company and a 40% stake in the Thai JV company. APM will invest about RM33m into the two ventures. (Malaysian Reserve)
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has blamed the lack of proper business planning for under-utilisation of the RM185 million over-the-budget baggage handling system at KL Sentral. The baggage handling system is located at the KL-City Air Terminal at KL Sentral and is linked with the KL International Airport via the Express Rail Link. Chairman and PAC and Padang Besar MP Azmi Khalid referred to the failure of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to fully utilise the system as it is embroiled in deep negotiations with the world governing body on air travel, the International Air Travel Association (IATA) on extra costs for moving baggage on the now derelict outgoing baggage handling system. "The issue here is insurance and extra costs, which must be incurred if the baggage from disembarking passengers are sent directly to KL Sentral," Azmi explained. The issue of insurance and costs requires an agreement signed at the international level with IATA to allow the movement of baggage carried on air carriers under the Global Distribution System, or GDS, from the point of arrival in KLIA to the KL-City Air Terminal at KL Sentral. The system, which can transport 24,000 bags daily, carries only 6,000 in a day, which means only 25 percent of the capacity is being used. The walkabout by the members of the PAC at KL Sentral and KLIA marked the start of their probe into irregularities pointed out in the recently released Auditor-General's Report for 2010. (Malaysiakini)
PayPal, the US-based e-commerce business, today officially opened its new global operations centre in Malaysia, its first in Southeast Asia. The facility provides service and support in English to customers across Asia and provides an additional risk and financial services operations for PayPal's global business. PayPal senior vice president of global operations, John McCabe, said: "People are the most important asset and we are making a significant investment here in terms of hiring local talent, and providing them extensive training to better serve our customers around the world." PayPal plans to hire up to 500 local employees by end of 2013, with 200 staff already on-site. The facility occupies two floors at the strategically-located 1 First Avenue, Dataran Bandar Utama, which is a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)-status building. It joins PayPal's other global operations centres in Berlin, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Dublin, and Chandler and Omaha in the US. (Malaysiakini )
Telekom: Tough procurement policy saves RM1b. The massive RM11.3b high-speed broadband (HSBB) project may eventually cost Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) at least RM1b less in expenditure than its original costing because it has implemented a tough procurement policy. (Source: The Star)
Aviation: SIA targets mid-2012 Scoot takeoff. SIA new long-haul budget carrier will be renamed Scoot with takeoff set for mid-2012. The new carrier will fly to cities in China and Australia, operating a fleet of 200 second-hand Boeing 777 jets and charging up to 40% less than full-service airlines. (Source:The Edge Financial Daily)
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