Khazanah Nasional said it will continue to reduce stakes in its companies in a gradual and orderly manner, said its top executive. "Yes, there will be further divestment. We will continue to look at our portfolio, whichever we feel is non-core or has reached certain maturity that we don't need to hold," he said. (BT)
The price of Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) could rise to the RM2,800-RM3,000/MT level by end 1Q 2010 on higher global demand, an industry expert said. Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd London, said global demand would rise by 5.5m MT and price of palm oil would rise higher compared to other vegetable oils. With more of China's and India's rural population crossing the US$1,000 per capita income, a massive demand for edible oil would eventually be created, Mistry said. Mistry also predicted Malaysia's production to dip due to El Nino. (Bernama)
Malaysia Airlines will not place any orders for the B787 Dreamliner as it does not see a fit in the delivery schedule for now even though the B787 uses 20% less fuel than existing aircraft.
- MAS chief financial officer Mohd Azha Abdul Jalil said “there are many orders for the Dreamliner and any orders placed today will only see delivery in 2020. “We are currently planning to refresh our wide-body aircraft but we don’t see a fit between our current fleet plans and the delivery dates of the Dreamliner. As such, at this point, there are no plans to place orders for the Dreamliner.’’
- Delayed for two years, the 250-seater B787 is the first commercial plane to be built with a plastic fuselage and an all-electric system. MAS will be taking delivery of the first of the 35 B737-800 from October next year. (Star)
We are neutral on this news given its immaterial impact to B-Toto’s bottomline. The sale proceeds will be channeled for ILTS’ working capital purposes. Berjaya Asset’s subsidiary, Natural Avenue, is involved in the NFO business in Sarawak. We believe the system purchase is for upgrade purposes.
Maybank will raise its stake in Vietnam’s An Binh Bank to 20% from 15% following the latter's sale of some 17.8m shares today. According to a Reuters report last Friday, the share sale would raise its registered capital by 22% to 3.48tn dong (RM638.3m). (Financial Daily)
HSBC Holdings plc, Bank of Nova Scotia and Hong Leong Bank are among bidders for a stake in Siam City Bank Pcl, Thailand’s seventh-biggest lender by assets, four people familiar with the matter said. Bank of Nova Scotia made the offer together with its local affiliate Thanachart Bank Pcl, the people said. Thailand’s central bank is seeking about US$1bn for its 47.6% stake, people with knowledge of the matter said last month. (Financial Daily)
Bank Islam Malaysia may indirectly become a property developer as it explores the prospect of developing wakaf land into property projects. It is in talks with various Islamic religious and economic agencies, such as Yayasan Wakaf Malaysia, on developing wakaf land nationwide. Group managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat said that instead of just providing the financing, the bank could also become joint project owner. (BT)
Kuwait Finance House said it does not have a legally binding agreement to buy a building from YNH Property. "A conditional letter of offer was executed but the SPA was not executed as the condition letter of offer which amongst others includes the necessary approvals from KFH's board of directors, shareholders and/or committee were not obtained," KFH said in a statement. "As both parties were unable to agree on a revised structure and the terms of the sale, KFH has decided not to proceed with the purchase of the said Menara YNH," it added. (BT)
KPJ Healthcare has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Property Base Development to buy the seven-storey Maharani Specialist Hospital in Muar, Johor, for RM22m. The deal includes the 6.9m sq m of land which the hospital is sited on. The estimated further development cost on the property is RM26m. (BT)
Ho Hup Construction’s 70% subsidiary Bukit Jalil Development plans to sell 13,398 sq m of freehold land in Bandar Bukit Jalil for RM7.64m to Action Master. Proceeds will be used to repay borrowings and fund working capital. Ho Hup will realise a gain of RM520,181 from the sale. (BT)
Ho Wah Genting will venture into tin mining to widen its earnings base, having secured a concession agreement from the Perak state government last year to extract tin until 2018 at a 202.4ha site in Pengkalan Hulu, Grik, Perak. "We will spend RM15m to buy machinery and equipment, which should be in place by 2Q 2010,” CEO and MD William Teo Tiew said. (BT)
Key Asic hopes to finalise merger and acquisition talks with its Japanese and American counterparts by the first quarter of next year. This is part of a move to tap the growing demand for smartphones and netbooks. If talks with the Japanese company goes comes through, it expects a combined sales of 40% from the US and Japan in 2010. Eg said the group’s performance for 2009 will be flat due to the global economic slowdown. However, it is expected to rebound next year in line with the projected growth of smart phones and netbooks. (BT)
Scomi Group has raised RM151m from a rights issue. The group is gaining strong interest from Brazil, the Gulf States, India and China through its public transport technology, the monorail. In a recent development, it was selected as one of the preferred bidders in a Sao Paulo monorail project worth RM2.2bn. (Bernama)
IJM Construction was awarded "Contractor of the Year" at the Malaysia Construction Industry Excellence Awards (MCIEA) 2009. (Bernama)
Xingquan International Sports Holdings, which is aggressively expanding its production capacity, expects to pay out 10-20% of its net profit as maiden dividends to shareholders for FYE6/10. Chairman and CEO Wu Qing-Quan ruled out the possibility of a share buyback exercise in the medium term to help boost its weak share price. (Financial Daily)
Boustead Holdings has terminated an agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Atlas Hall Sdn Bhd for RM8m, and came up with a new agreement to acquire the stake in the oil and gas engineering player at half the price. (Financial Daily)
Heveaboard is looking at potential markets in Japan and US after the firm landed the necessary certifications, its group MD Tenson Yoong said. The firm’s plant in Gemas is capable of producing 535,000 cu m of particle board annually on two lines but Plant 1 has not been operational since Dec-08. (Malaysian Reserve)
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