IGB Corp, Selia Pantai JV project to kick start next year
The estimated RM6bn Southkey Megamall development in Johor by IGB Corp through a JV with a Johor-based property developer is expected to start next year, according to IGB Corp group MD Robert Tan Chung Meng. Tan said a full planning and study of the project will be conducted first before signing a definitive agreement within the next one to two months which will be undertaken between IGB Corp and Selia Pantai SB. (Malaysian Reserve)
May listing for Thai AirAsia
A listing in May is what Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is looking at for Thai AirAsia and sometime in October for Indo AirAsia. And he has not given up hopes of trying to list AirAsia X this year too. “There will be two listings this year. If we can add AirAsia X, and I am confident we can, we will have three listings this year,” the group CEO said. (StarBiz)
AirAsia is now zooming on South Korea and two other Asean countries to set up new operations as it widens its reach to more countries in the Asia-Pacific. “In North Asia, the next potential is South Korea and we are closing in on Japan as that is where our next launch will be,” Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said. “We are also looking at adding two more countries in Asean and we hope to announce that within the next six to eight months. We are at a very advance stage of discussions,” he added. Fernandes declined to name the two countries, although the market is saying that it may include Myanmar and Vietnam. (Star Biz)
Bintai Kinden JV bags RM405m Singapore MRT jobs
Bintai Kinden Corp secured a SGD166.23m (RM405.2m) worth of contracts via a joint venture for Singapore’s MRT line extension, the Downtown Line Stage 3 project. The contract will be for the supply and installation of electrical services worth SGD78.23m as well as the supply and installation of tunnel ventilation and environmental control systems worth SGD87.94m. (Financial Daily)
Key West acquires Manjung Niaga for USD52.5m
Key West Global Telecommunication, together with Maryland International Offshore Ltd, has acquired Manjung Niaga SB (MNSB) for USD52.5m (RM160.65m) as part of Key West’s plans to position itself as an oil and gas player. Key West has 78.9% equity interest and Maryland 21.1%. Key West executive director Stephen Ng said MNSB owns 95% of PT Formasi Sumatera Energi, which owns a 15-year Kerja Sama Operasi concession to reactive and optimize the production of petroleum resources in the Tanjung Time Timur field in South Sumatera, Indonesia. (Financial Daily)
Cypark units in green energy pact with TNB
Cypark Resources, via two wholly-owned subsidiaries, has signed renewable energy power purchase agreement with TNB for a feed-in-tariff concession period. The 21-year concession is for electricity generated from Cypark’s 8MW solar park in Pajam, Negri Sembilan. (BT)
QSR Brands Bhd will spend up to RM10m to open another 20 Pizza Hut Delivery (PHD) outlets nationwide by year-end as part of its expansion plan, said managing director, Jamaludin Md Ali. "As of Feb 21 last year, we have 42 PHD outlets, which contributed 5% to our 2011 revenue of RM20m," he said. Jamaludin said the delivery arm of Pizza Hut has a lot of potential and QSR expected a double-digit growth in revenue this year. On sales, he said, 70% came from the delivery business and 30% from take-away. "We also see a potential in online ordering, which made up 5% of the delivery business. In Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, online ordering made up over 20% of their businesses," he said. For Pizza Hut's dine-in outlets, Jamaludin said, the company planned to invest another RM10m to set up another 10 in the country. "For overseas, we plan to open another one or two outlets in Singapore," he said. On the Johor Corp buyout deal, Jamaludin said announcements would be made soon. (Bernama)
The Securities Commission (SC) has hinted at a bigger and more eventful year for the local capital market. This follows the SC’s plans to introduce a slew of new initiatives after the domestic market closed 2011 strongly in terms of new listings, fund-raising value and even criminal actions, among others. Some RM118.9bn worth of fund raising was approved in 2011 compared with RM77.0bn in 2010, the SC said in a statement in conjunction with the release of its 2011 annual report yesterday. This reflected strong confidence in the fund-raising environment and sukuk approvals, which more than doubled to RM78.9 bn from RM38.3bn in 2010. A total 14 initial public offerings (IPOs) for Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market were also approved last year. However, the total funds raised via the equity market fell to RM12.6bn from RM32.1bn the year before, in line with a general slowdown in IPO activities worldwide. (BT)
The investigation into the share swap agreement between Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia is continuing, said the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC). The investigation would take a longer time as it is a complex process involving the examination of the agreements. The probe into the share swap deal would focus on whether it involved an abuse of monopoly or the formation of a cartel. (Bernama)
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) plans to hedge more of its U.S. dollar debt, in an atmosphere of ringgit appreciation that it believes will boost profits this year, its chief financial officer said. Malaysia's state-owned fixed-line operator has hedged US$200m, or 26% of its total U.S. dollar debt at the end of 2011, but plans to increase the hedged amount going forward, Bazlan Osman told Dow Jones Newswires. The company's foreign currency exposure is primarily from US$765m in debt, comprising US$465m in bonds due in 2014 and US$300m bonds due in 2025. That's about 39% of its total borrowing. "Telekom Malaysia will make an unrealized forex gain on the unhedged portion of foreign currency debt should the ringgit strengthen," Bazlan said. He also added that every time the ringgit strengthens 1%, or approximately MYR0.03, Telekom Malaysia's unrealized forex gain is around MYR18m. TM reduced its dollar exposure by redeeming a US$260m debt upon its maturity in 2010. It also bought back US$75m in debt in 2009. TM expects the ringgit to strengthen to below 3.00 against the dollar by the end of 2012, Bazlan said. The ringgit hit a year-to-date high of 2.9950 against the U.S. dollar on March 1, and is currently trading at 3.0655 to the dollar. (Dow Jones)
Maxis Bhd has tied up with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) as its official mobile service provider for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The partnership allows Maxis to become the exclusive mobile service provider for the Malaysian contingent. "A large portion of our customer base is young people, and a lot of these events are related to young people, inspire young people, and so forth," said Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das. Under the partnership, each Malaysian athlete will get RM1,500 worth of air time for voice calls and text messages, among others. Sandip, however, declined to comment if the company will be the main Malaysian sponsor for another major global sporting event, the Euro 2012. (BT)
The scrapping of the proposed RM7bn aluminium smelting plant project in Similajau near Bintulu, will not affect the implementation of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said. He said there are probably two other investors on the waiting list following the termination of the pact between Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), Rio Tinto Aluminium Malaysian and Sarawak Energy to construct the plant. "In fact, Sarawak is short of power for aluminium smelter at the moment and can only accommodate one project at a time. So if this one is not on, it does not matter," he said. (Bernama, Financial Daily)
Sarawak Energy confirmed that it was unable to reach agreement on the tariff for a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Rio Tinto/Sarawak Aluminium Co (Salco) for the proposed aluminium smelter at Samalaju Industrial Park near Bintulu. “Despite the inability to reach agreement, the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) agenda is forging ahead, with SEB expected to sell more than 2000 megawatts of power to export customers. This means the entire firm output of the Bakun hydroelectric facility is already committed. There is now a long queue of potential customers competing for SEB’s remaining power,” Sarawak Energy’s CEO Torstein Dale Sjotveit said. (Bernama, Financial Daily)
Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (AB) has inked an 8-year conventional life insurance arrangement with AIA Bhd, and expects its wealth management business to gain significant momentum. Under this bancassurance arrangement, AB will sell, market and promote conventional life insurance protection and savings products developed by AIA to its customers. AB Group chief executive officer Sng Seow Wah told reporters that the bancassurance value proposition will complement the joint venture the bank had established with AIA to offer takaful insurance. Alliance Bank has a total customer base of 1.1m. (BT)
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with global oil and gas major, Total of France to jointly study the development and production potential of a gas field in offshore Sarawak. Under the HoA, Petronas' newly established upstream research unit - Exploration and Production Technology Centre - and Total will explore the possibility of developing the field. (Malaysian Reserve)
UMW Toyota is maintaining its year-end sales target of 93,000 units, despite the stricter lending guidelines imposed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). UMW Toyota president Ismet Suki said the firm had experienced "minimal impact" on its sales since the implementation of the new lending guidelines. "We have not seen the effect at all, the impact is minimum, partly I believe it's because our customers have good credit rating," Ismet said. (BT)
A joint venture between Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd, a unit of Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, and South Korea-based Samsung C&T Corp has secured two projects in Singapore worth RM405m. Bintai Kinden said the first project was for the supply and installation of electrical services worth RM190m. The second project was for the supply and installation of tunnel ventilation and environmental control systems worth RM214m. The contracts are expected to be completed by Dec-2016. (BT)
YTL Corp may buy power, cement or property assets in Asia in the next six months to expand its business in the region, managing director Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh said. The group has identified targets and may make purchase in the second or third quarter. YTL made a RM1.06bn offer in December to buy out YTL Cement through a share swap. The company may double its dividend payout, which was two sen per share in the year ended June 30, after the purchase of YTL Cement, Dr Yeoh said. (Malaysian Reserve)
Century Logistics Holdings Bhd, which is actively scouting for land in Johor, Port Klang and Shah Alam to expand its warehousing capacity, has bought a two-storey factory and office buildings in Bandar Sultan Suleiman, Port Klang from Nakamichi Corp Bhd for RM19m. With a 289,721 sq ft built-up, Century told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the facility will be used to house its procurement logistics operation. (The Sun Daily)
WCT: OCBC emerges a substantial shareholder
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has emerged as a substantial shareholder in construction company WCT after it acquired 5.01% stake in WCT. WCT said the Singaporebased bank had acquired 40.98m shares in the open market on Monday. The closing price for WCT shares on Monday was at RM2.51. Meanwhile, WCT also informed that Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) had acquired a total of 2.14m of WCT shares on Wednesday and Thursday last week. As a result, KWAP now holds a 6.04% stake in WCT. (StarBiz)
BRDB: To proceed with disposal of properties
Bandar Raya (BRDB) will proceed with the proposed disposal of BR Property Holdings Sdn Bhd, CapSquare Retail Centre and Permas Jusco Mall via a tender exercise. BRDB said its board noted that while Ambang Sehati Sdn Bhd, its second largest shareholder, is still evaluating its plan to increase its stake in the company (which may or may not result in a general offer), the latter has yet to confirm its decision to proceed with the exercise. BRDB said it was working with its legal and financial advisers to implement the proposed disposal in an efficient manner. (StarBiz)
Proton: Mustapa says Proton, Perodua should continue collaboration
Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Proton and Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) should continue to collaborate in areas they had previously agreed on. This, he added, is despite the recent developments in the pioneer national car maker. He said the collaboration talks, had benefited both carmakers and the automotive industry, as a whole. Mustapa said MITI would continue to engage with both national car companies. He also said that he was given a briefing by DRBHicom Bhd last week. Perodua MD Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said recently that the compact car maker is open to collaboration talks with DRB-Hicom. However, he reiterated that Perodua, as the country's largest car maker, is still against any kind of merger between the two entities. (Financial Daily)
Shell Refining Co: New diesel processing unit ready by year-end
Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) said its new diesel processing unit is 73% complete and is expected to be commissioned by year-end. Its chairman Anuar Taib said the new 6,000 tonnes per day diesel processing unit, which cost RM810m, will allow the company to vary feedstock options and is expected to improve refining margins. He said the company's profitability this year would depend not only on crude oil prices, but the prices of oil processed products. (Financial Daily)
Eng Teknologi: Board accepts revised takeover offer, to seek shareholders’ consent
The board of Eng Teknologi Holdings has accepted the revised takeover offer of RM2 a share by the founders and major shareholders of the hard disk drive component manufacturer. In a statement to the exchange on Wednesday, Eng Teknologi said its directors will seek the company’s shareholders’ consent on the revised offer at an extraordinary general meeting. Founders of Eng Teknologi Datuk Teh Yong Khoon, and Low Yeow Siang via private vehicle TYK Capital Sdn Bhd, have proposed to lower the offer price to RM2 from RM2.50 as their financiers were unable to justify the funding of the takeover at RM2.50. OSK Investment Bank is the independent adviser for the exercise. (Financial Daily)
Nakamichi Corporation: Disposes of disused plant for RM19m
Nakamichi Corporation is disposing of a piece of industrial land and disused building in Port Klang for RM19m. It said on Wednesday it had signed a sale and purchase agreement with Century Advance Technology Sdn Bhd. Nakamichi said the proposed disposal of property included a double-storey factory with an annexed double-storey office building and warehouse. This property has been vacant since 2007 with the relocation of the company’s then audio and visual business to Singapore in 2007. The audio and visual business has since ceased operations in early 2011. (Financial Daily)
Bintai Kinden Corporation: JV with Samsung gets S$166m contracts
A subsidiary of Bintai Kinden Corporation and its partner Samsung C&T Corporation have secured S$166.23m (RM405.10m) in contracts from Singapore’s Land Transport & Authority. Bintai Kinden said the contracts were for the downtown line Stage 3 project of its mass rapid transit in Singapore. The first contract was to supply and install electrical services for contract value of S$78.29m. The second contract was to supply and install tunnel ventilation and environmental control systems for S$87.93m. The JV comprised of Samsung C&T Corp and Bintai Kinden’s subsidiary Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd (BKPL). Samsung holds a 60% stake in the JV and BKPL 40%. The contracts are due for completion by end-2016. (Financial Daily)
Ho Hup Construction: Court ordered to buy over minority stake in BJD
Ho Hup Construction Company has been ordered by the High Court to buy over Zen Courts Sdn Bhd’s 30% stake in its subsidiary Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd (BJD). The buyout order was made on a petition brought by Zen Courts against Ho Hup, its subsidiary Ho Hup Equipment Rental Sdn Bhd and BJD. The company said when the buyout is completed, it will give Ho Hup 100% of BJD, which holds 24ha of freehold land in Bukit Jalil. (Financial Daily)
Oil & Gas: OSV players face stiff competition
Petronas and other oil majors are planning significant spending was seen as a great boon for local oil and gas (O&G) support services providers. But, the Malaysian OSV Owners Association (OSV Malaysia) said this may not translate into an immediate windfall for domestic offshore support vessel (OSV) operators given the intensifying competition, particularly from foreign players. OSV Malaysia president Tasripin Masotee said local OSV players are unable to offer competitive rates because they do not enjoy the tax benefits given to Malaysian merchant shippers. These include tax exemption for spare parts, lower corporate tax and no personal tax for crew members. (Financial Daily)
Gamuda Q2 net profit up at RM147.3m
Gamuda Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended January 31 2012 rose to RM147.3 million from RM96.97 million recorded in the same period last year. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, revenue increased to RM769.33 million from RM607.19 million a year ago. It said the better performance was due to higher contributions from the higher work progress from the electrified double tracking project in the construction division and existing property projects in Malaysia and Celadon City’s land sale to Aeon Co of Japan. (Source: Business Times)
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