20121024 1000 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Daya Materials secures a RM120m Sabah project
Daya Materials has secured a contract to undertake a property project in Penampang, Sabah with a gross development cost of RM120m. Yesterday, it said that its unit signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chang Cheng Realty SB to build one block of 28-storey retail service suites and 40 blocks of four-storey shop offices and eight blocks of three-storey shops. The company added that the RM120m comprised of the total construction cost and interest. However, the estimated gross development value was more than double, at RM250m. (StarBiz)

Squabble at Scomi
The ongoing squabble at Scomi Group is likely to turn the attention to an upcoming EGM where shareholders will have to approve the issuance of new shares amounting to around 15% in equity to IJM Corp, according to insiders. IJM, which had already bought a 10% stake in Scomi, subscribed to Scomi's redeemable convertible secured bonds that can be converted into new shares. If and when that transpires, IJM will emerge as the clear single-largest shareholder of Scomi with a 25% stake. Sources said the EGM would probably be called in two to three months and the only party that cannot vote is IJM. (StarBiz)

Halim Saad in running for bridge project
Tan Sri Halim Saad, the brains behind the construction of the North-South Expressway and who is now said to be worth a staggering RM60bn, is making a return to the corporate world by attempting to build yet another multi-billion ringgit project: this time, a bridge in Bangladesh. Halim’s fleet of companies is believed to be in the running for the almost USD3bn (RM9.3bn) Padma Bridge project in the South Asian nation. The project is to be implemented under a government-to-government understanding via a memorandum of understanding signed on 10 April 2012. (BT)

Astro wins Singapore court ruling against Lippo
Malaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan's Astro group won a Singapore court ruling upholding a USD250m (RM763m) arbitration award against Lippo Group, its former Indonesian partner, Bloomberg reported yesterday. A three-member arbitration tribunal in 2010 ruled against Lippo for a failed television venture. Toby Landau, Lippo's lawyer, argued that time limit to oppose the arbitration award didn't apply in the case and that the company hadn't agreed to arbitration. Ananda's Astro All Asia Networks plc had said it ended the venture after its Lippo partners failed to pay RM805m in bills. (BT)

MAHB proposes reinvestment plan
Malaysia Airport Holdings (MAHB) has proposed a dividend reinvestment scheme. In the plan, shareholders will have the option to reinvest their cash dividend in new shares of RM1 each. Yesterday, the company announced a single-tier interim dividend of 6sen for its financial year ending 31 Dec 2012. MAHB posted a net profit of RM113m for its third quarter ended 30 Sept 2012, 3.5% lower than RM117.2m in the previous corresponding quarter, which the company attributed to increased operating costs and depreciation. (Malaysian Reserve)

Bumi Armada FPSO gets RM100m contract extension
The contract for Bumi Armada’s floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, FPSO Armada Perkasa, has been extended for one year by Afren Energy Resources Ltd (AER). AER is a subsidiary of London-listed Afren plc, an independent exploration and production company. The vessel has been deployed offshore in Nigeria since 2008 and the one-year extension, effective 1 July 2013 is valued at RM100m. The FPSO has a potential production capacity of 35k barrels per day of fluids and has uplifted 24m barrels of oil to date. (Malaysian Reserve) Please see accompanying report

Singapore and Malaysia agree on SGD1.2bn project
Singapore government-linked firm Ascendas will help build a SGD1.2bn (RM3bn) industrial park in Iskandar Malaysia's economic zone, boosting an area Malaysia has been promoting aggressively, in a sign of improving ties between the neighbours. Ascendas, whose projects include the Singapore Science Park and the International Tech Park in Bangalore, India, said it would team up with UEM Land Holdings to develop a 519-acre site. Ascendas will hold a 60% stake while UEM Land will take the remaining 40%. The park will be in Nusajaya, a part of Iskandar near a bridge connecting Singapore and Malaysia. (Financial Daily)

Petronas to meet Canadian officials over Progress bid
Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) and Progress Energy Resources will be meeting government officials in Ottawa to better understand Canada's requirements with respect to the proposed acquisition of the latter by the national oil corporation. In a statement, Petronas said that it had up to 30 days or longer to make any additional representations and submit any further undertakings, based on the announcement by the Canadian Minister of Industry. "Petronas and Progress will work together to ensure that the minister has the necessary information to determine that the proposed acquisition would likely be of benefit to Canada", said the company said. (Financial Daily)


The slowdown in the domestic tourism industry, together with  Malaysian  Airline's (MAS) effort to cut capacity, dampened passenger growth at KLIA,  said Faizal Mansor, CFO of Malaysia Airports (MAHB). Nevertheless, he  said the outlook remained positive. "We note that the airline winter schedules  indicate a growth of 8.7% in seat numbers in October, which could translate into  higher passenger numbers in the coming quarter. We also expect more new  airlines at our airports before year-end," said Faizal.  On reports that AirAsia has decided to move its operations to KLIA2  once it is completed, Faizal said MAHB has not received confirmation.  Nonetheless, he said it was good news that MAHB and AirAsia could  finally agree on some issues. But there were still a few outstanding  issues that needed to be ironed out, for instance, the airline's office and  check-in counters. (Financial Daily)

Ascendas Land International Pte Ltd, a unit  linked to Singapore's  state-controlled JTC Corp, has inked a landmark deal to help build an integrated  technology park over 210ha in Gerbang Nusajaya, Johor. The projected  investment to build the technology park is around RM3.7bn, with Ascendas  holding a 60% stake in the joint venture. UEM Land will hold the balance 40%.  Iskandar Malaysia's integrated eco-friendly technology park in Nusajaya,  which is scheduled to be ready by 2022, will help create some 34,000  job vacancies. UEM Land MD/CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim  said the first phase will see more than 100 foreign companies investing  in Nusajaya. (BT)

Sime Darby Auto ConneXion, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Motors and the  country's sole Ford vehicles distributor since 2008, plans to open up five more  3S centres nationwide next year in line with its expansion strategy. Its Managing  Director Lee Eu San said the new centres would be located mainly in the Klang  valley which accounted for 40% of the market last year.  "Last year Ford captured 1.2% of the country market share in the pick  up segment and we believe the figure will go up this year. We also  foresee the Sabah and Sarawak sales to go up 30 to 32% next year with  the new Ranger Model," Lee added. (BT)

Dialog Group has proposed to sell its 50% stake in Tracerco Asia Sdn Bhd to  Johnson Matthey Investments for a total cash consideration of RM6m. Tracerco  provides diagnostic services using radioisotope technology in the oil, gas and  petrochemical industry. On completion of the sale, Johnson Matthey will own  100% of Tracerco. (BMSB)

Malaysian and Indonesian senior officials are set to meet in November to  discuss potential areas of  palm oil collaboration. Plantation Industries and  Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the two nations had  brought forward its annual meeting to early November. "We have agreed to look at many areas such as the amount of biodiesel  that should be allowed in the market and how much area of old palm  trees should be replanted," said Dompok. Responding to whether crude palm oil taxes will be one of the areas of discussion, Dompok said tax  issues should be left to the individual countries. (Financial Daily)

Astro Malaysia's top management has been buying the group's share on the  open market. Four of Astro's key management including chief executive  Rohana Rozhan, have collectively bought half a million Astro shares for a  total of RM1.37m. (Financial Daily)

AirAsia is currently negotiating terms with Malaysia Airports to formulate a  service-level agreement at KLIA2. CEO Aireen Omar said, "It's something that is  in progress. Generally, there would be a SLA but I cannot comment much."  (Bernama)

Masterskill Education Group Bhd is embarking on a transformational plan  aimed at nudging it back into the black by the  1Q13, sources close to the  company said. Among the initiatives are to allow its facilities to be used by a few  foreign universities as an "offshore campus" as well as introducing innovative  marketing techniques to push up student numbers.  A sources explained that Masterskill was looking at bringing in at least  three strong foreign universities from the UK and Australia under this  "offshore campus" and that the first batch of students under this  arrangement may come in as early as first quarter of next year. (StarBiz)

Malaysia will likely impose an anti-dumping duty by Feb 19 next year if the  Government is satisfied that the import of steel wire rods (SWR) from certain  countries indeed constitutes dumping and is causing material injury to domestic  steel players. The matter will be decided after the  International Trade and  Industry Ministry concludes its investigations.  If affirmative, the rates of the anti-dumping duty to be imposed will  vary for each alleged country, depending on the pricing and volume. As  a temporary measure, Miti has imposed a provision anti-dumping duty  ranging from 0-33.62% which will be applied on imports from the  alleged countries and shall take effect from yesterday to Feb 19, 2014.  (Star Biz)

MOL AccessPortal Sdn Bhd (MOL),  Asia's leading e-payment service  provider and a subsidiary of MOL Global Pte Ltd, aims to relist on Bursa  Malaysia by early 2014, says CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah. The company was  previously listed on the then Mesdaq Market of the stock exchange.  "We are looking at a number of different markets and, of course, Bursa  Malaysia is a key choice ... I will target a relisting towards end-2013 or  early 2014," Ganesh said at an agreement signing between the company  and US-based Rixty Inc here yesterday.  The agreement is to facilitate MOLAccessPortal's majority investment in  Rixty, an alternative e-payment platform, which would provide the  company a strong foothold in North and South America, while  supporting its continued global expansion. (Bernama)

Cocoaland Bhd is looking forward to Thai Beverage Pcl emerging officially  as the new controlling shareholder of Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N) to help  drive Cocoaland's business strategy forward. "When you think about the impact  of the shareholder changes in Singapore-listed F&N, it can only be positive for  us, as Thai Beverage is well established in Thailand. And not only that, it is one  of the largest beverage producers in Asia," said Cocoaland founder and executive  director Lew Fook Ming. (StarBiz)

Asian Pac Holdings Bhd, a property developer and investment group,  expects to generate annual revenues of around RM45m from Imago, its new  retail mall in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Imago comprises 300 retail, catering,  lifestyle and entertainment outlets. It is earmarked to be completed by the  fourth quarter of 2013. (BT)