This news is not a surprise and is in line with the government’s earlier stance to review electricity tariffs once in every six months to allow rates to move in tandem with international fuel prices. The last review took place in mid-Jul 09 without any adjustments made to electricity tariffs.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the government will review the country's overall subsidy scheme next year, including tariffs for utilities, as it looks to create a cost-competitive environment for businesses. The move is vital to ensure an "efficient" utility supply for the country.
- As to whether this would include reducing the tariff on electricity and water, Husni said, "Yes, there is a possibility, not only for industries but for all."
- "In general we are looking at utilties as a whole. This is one area of competitiveness (when doing business). We are looking (at) how to ensure efficiency of utility supply, including the high-seed broadband." (Bernama, Financial Daily)
- The country may, however, be indirectly affected should the world's financial centres like London and New York be impacted by the Dubai debt fallout. So far, however, the centres appeared to be taking it in their stride, he noted.
- On another matter, Nor Mohamed reiterated that the government has no plans for now to introduce a third stimulus package. It has yet to make a decision on such a matter, he added. (BT)
Palm oil prices will be supported early next year by lower-than-expected South American soybean output before coming under pressure as supplies recover, Thomas Mielke, editor-in-chief of Oil World said. Global production growth potential is limited to Indonesia because there is little land left for expansion in Malaysia and supplies from other producing nations are small, Mielke added. (Bloomberg, Financial Daily)
Sime Darby's 75%-owned subsidiary Sime Darby Water Resources (Perak) (SDWR) has inked a groundwater resource development agreement with the Perak state government. Sime Darby said subject to the terms and conditions in the agreement, the state government granted to SDWR rights to prospect, drill, abstract and treat groundwater sourced from areas approved by the state within the district of Batang Padang. (Financial Daily)
The EPF earned RM5.5bn investment revenue in 3Q09, up 14.5% from 2Q09 and 52.7% from 3Q08. Equities continued to contribute significantly to its investment income, growing 34.7% to RM2.34bn in 3Q09 from RM1.74bn in 2Q09. "Provided market recovery continues with no unforeseen disruptions till year-end, members can expect higher dividend for 2009 than last year," said EPF CEO Tan Sri Azlan Zainol. (Bernama)
The government should first regulate the construction industry before imposing penalties on any bad contractors, says Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM). Currently, it is easy for anyone to be registered as contractor class A to F, unlike in neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Thailand. So far, the Works Ministry has terminated 80 contractors for late job completion. (BT)
Social programs were the biggest beneficiaries of the special draws of the gaming industry, according to the Ministry of Finance. Revenue obtained from special draws also went to fund helath, welfare, sports and cultural programs. (Financial Daily)
Proton Holdings expects 2009 net profit to surpass RM200m, driven by increased sales, operating efficiency and the launch of new models. "As you can see from our results, we have achieved more than RM100 million in net profit. We expect the earnings momentum to be sustainable as demand for our existing car models like the Exora, Savvy and Saga 1.3 continues to improve," MD Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir said. He was also hopeful that revenue would exceed RM6.5bn this year, with exports contributing up to 24%. According to Syed Zainal Abidin, Proton has a healthy order book with two months of outstanding bookings to help it achieve its targets. (BT)
General Motors hopes to conclude its strategic review of its operations in Malaysia, including the fate of its partnership with DRB-HICOM by end of this month. Antonio Zara, GM's Vice-President Thailand/Asean Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, said they were still discussing with DRB-Hicom on how both parties can work together to grow their business in Malaysia and share the benefits. "The first phase is the introductory phase we needed DRB-Hicom to introduce GM in Malaysia. Now we are looking beyond that as we want to grow our business and assess our capacity as Malaysia is the biggest automotive market in the region," he said. (Bernama)
Bank Islam Malaysia aims to sign up 5,000 new cardholders with the launch of its new World MasterCard card for the FY6/10. Its Consumer Banking Group GM, Khairul Kamarudin, said that to date, the bank had almost 500,000 cardholders. (Bernama)
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is fast-tracking the use of its Universal Service Provision (USP) fund, having awarded RM264m last week, and will announce a further RM1.4bn worth of funding before the year-end. It had a fund size of RM4.7bn in 2008. (StarBiz)
Ranhill expects its second 190MW gas power plant in Sabah (Powertron II) to be completed by end-2010, said president and CEO, Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad. He said the combined capacity of Powertron I and Powertron II of 380MW, will establish the group as the largest IPP in Sabah. On its water and sewerage business, Hamdan said Ranhill would be focusing on expanding into China and India. (Bernama)
S&P Ratings Services revised the outlook on Ranhill to stable from negative previously. It also affirmed the 'B' long-term corporate credit rating on the company and the 'B-' issue rating on the US$220m notes due in Oct-2011, issued by Ranhill (L) Ltd. S&P said the revised outlook and ratings reflected the improvement in Ranhill's financial risk profile due to lower debt following the transfer of its water assets to the government. (Bernama)
Redtone, which currently offers free Wi-Fi service in close to 330 locations in Penang and Seberang Prai, aims to increase this to 350 by year end. In 2010, the broadband service provider plans to set up another 400 spots. Currently, there are more than 25,000 registered users for its free Wi-Fi service. "The number is likely to reach the 30,000 mark by the end of this year." (Bernama)
Cosway Corp and Biofield Sdn Bhd, both indirect subsidiaries of Berjaya Corp, have received central bank nod to sell their stakes in Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd (Cosway Malaysia) to Berjaya Holdings (HK) Ltd. The deal involves some 139.5m shares of RM1 each in Cosway Malaysia, representing a 90% equity interest, including a 60% stake in eCosway.com Sdn Bhd. (BT)
Bursa Malaysia has rejected a request by plastic moulds maker Ge-Shen Corp to cancel a trade transaction yesterday. The transaction involved 200,000 shares that were traded at 4 sen each. This is considered quite a large volume, seeing as Ge-Shen's stock is not traded at all on some days. (BT)
PDZ Holdings hopes to return to profitability in its current financial year ending June 30 2010. Its director Anderson Thor Poh Seng said there were signs of recovery in the shipping operations of the company's core routes in Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and Brunei. (Bernama, BT)
Boustead Heavy Industries Corp (BHIC) is teaming up with German-based MTU riedrichshafen GmbH’s associate MTU Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to undertake a business linked with the maintenance of MTU products and services in Malaysia and Brunei. BHIC said it wholly owned subsidiary, BHIC Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (BHICDT), had entered into a head of agreement (HoA) with MSM for the purpose of forming a joint venture company in Malaysia. (Financial Daily)
LTKM is acquiring a 5.76-acre land in Klang for RM9.3m cash as the site of its processed
glass manufacturing plant. The purchase would be financed by internally generated funds.
(Financial Daily)
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