20100108 1000 Malaysia Corporate News.

Work on the US$7.6bn Dubai Metro has been halted for the time being due to delay in payment from the Dubai government. Construction of the Dubai Metro project is being undertaken by the consortium led by Mitsubishi Corp, Kajima Corp and Turkey's Yapi Merzeki. Oyabashi, one of the contractors for the project said they were slowing the pace of construction work for the purpose of negotiating terms of contract with the Dubai government. (AFP) Halt in the construction works on the Dubai Metro does not come as a surprise. LCL Corp, which was doing the interior fit out works for the Dubai Metro "Red Line" worth more than RM300m, has been having collection problems from this project the past year as the consortium also faced collection challenges from the Dubai government. It would be positive if the consortium is able to secure back payments from the Dubai government as some of these funds could flow back to sub-contractors like LCL Corp.

Khazanah Nasional is believed to have obtained the nod from Bank Negara to negotiate for the sale of its 10% stake in EON Capital, sources said. This makes Khazanah the third major shareholder to have received the nod to talk, after Rin Kei Mei and Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, through their indirect 31.7% stake held through Kualapura and Lintang Emas (15.4%) and RH Development (16.3%). It is believed that Kenanga Investment Bank is the advisor for Khazanah, Rin and Tiong while CIMB Investment Bank is advising Hong Leong Bank. EON Capital and EON Bank boards are expected to meet next week to deliberate on the next course of action following Hong Leong’s approval from Bank Negara to talk.

• EON Cap is also expected to seek the nod to talk to Hong Leong on an institutional level. Following that, Hong Leong Bank will probably submit its proposal which may be in various forms involving cash, shares or a combination of cash and shares. (StarBiz)

Hong Leong Bank said yesterday it has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, via a letter dated Jan 6,2010, for its proposed joint venture with Bank of Chengdu Co, Ltd to operate a licensed consumer finance company in China. (Financial Daily)

Malayan Banking aims to grow overseas lending to 40% of total loans by 2015 from 33% now, in line with its goal to become one of the region's top banks by then. Profit from foreign markets and offshore operation is expected to account for a third of the group profits by 2015, up from less than a quarter now, president and CEO Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said. "The domestic market is growing as well, but the rate of growth overseas will be faster than local expansion in the next few years," Abdul Wahid added. (BT)

EON Capital has appointed Goldman Sachs as its international financial adviser and Ethos & Co as its Malaysian financial adviser to assist the group with its strategic review. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, it said EON Bank will continue to pursue a strategy aimed at building a superior financial services franchise that benefits all its stakeholders. (BT, BMSB)

OCBC Bank (Malaysia) hopes to maintain a 30 % growth rate for loans to SMEs this year, as these businesses secure more government work. Last year, it gave out RM4bn in loans to SMEs, 30% more than 2008. “We are pleased with the government’s effort in helping the SMEs during tough times. We foresee that the SMEs will need more financing in 2010 as they undertake more government scheme projects,” CEO Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said. (BT)

Petra Perdana executive chairman and CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra is "shocked and upset" with the notice from 10 shareholders requisitioning an EGM to remove four directors, which included himself and executive director Datin Nariza Hajjar Hashim. Ibrahim said he could not help but feel suspicious of an ulterior motive behind the tussle for board representation by some of the shareholders. (Star)

Supermax expects another year of strong profit growth as fears about a resurgence of the H1N1 flu fuel demand for its products, a top executive told Reuters today. "2010 will continue to be a good year for the glove industry. We expect handsome profits," managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai said. “The industry has not put in new capacity so demand will be far exceeding supply. We expect lower growth rate but higher profit margin,” he said. “Big players with huge capacity such as Supermax and Top Glove will benefit from the tight supply situation,” he said. For 2010, Supermax has already received new orders that are enough to keep its factories busy for the next four to five months, said Thai. (Reuters)

Water companies in all the states, except Sabah and Sarawak, will come under the supervision of the National Water Services Commission, or SPAN, by the end of the year. SPAN (Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara) CEO Datuk Teo Yen Hua said that Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Johor were already under its regulatory watch and efforts were under way to rope in the remaining states. "We expect the other states, such as Kelantan and Selangor, to gradually sign agreements with SPAN to be restructured and corporatised by the year-end. (BT)

Peugeot Automobiles wants to make Malaysia its regional hub, following the success of its Malaysian partner, Naza Group of Companies, in expanding the French marque here last year. Peugeot now wants Naza to spearhead its expansion in the region after the group’s sales of Peugeot vehicles in 2009, totalling 3,766 units, accounted for 86% of Peugeot sales in the Asean region. “We are confident we can make Malaysia Peugeot’s regional hub. For this year, we will launch four models locally and ramp up exports of our Peugeot vehicles manufactured at our plant in Gurun to other parts of the region,” said SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, joint executive chairman of the Naza group.

• This year, the group is targeting to sell 2,930 Peugeot cars in Malaysia, which will include an entry-level model, codenamed T33, to be produced at the Gurun plant. 
• As part of Peugeot’s plans to expand its presence in the region, the company will soon expand its Asean regional office in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, to coordinate operations for the entire Asia-Pacific region excluding China.
• The office will also run an Asean training centre and technical help desk for after-sales technicians in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. (BT)
  

Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin may invest in a local oil and gas company and is believed to have budgeted close to RM500m to tap the growing industry, sources said. One company that he is eyeing is pipeline engineering and services group Sigur Ros S/B, based in Putrajaya. "Sigur Ros is one of the companies that have been shortlisted. "Nothing has been finalised and it is premature to talk on the matter at the moment, especially since the investment is in a private company and not a listed entity," a person close to Daim said. • Established in 2001, Sigur Ros is said to have many ongoing projects both locally and overseas.It has provided construction and support services, including pipeline and structure installation, pipeline pre-commissioning and decommissioning services, and leak-testing services to the oil and gas industry in Southeast Asia and East Africa. Sigur Ros is also the owner and operator of a pipelay barge, called Arwana Satu, used for swamp estuary and shore approach work, which is based in Port Klang. It has done work for clients like Petronas, Shell and ExxonMobil. (BT)

Green Packet has signed a heads of agreement with China's ZTE Corp under which the latter may provide a vendor financing of up to US$150m to Green Packet to support its WiMax network rollouts in Malaysia, Singapore and other markets. (Starbiz)

KNM Group’s wholly-owned unit, KNM Process Systems S/B and its affiliated company, KNM Projects (Thailand) Co Ltd, collectively secured a substantial new order amounting to RM143m. The project was secured from Impress Ethanol Co Ltd for its bioethanol project in Thailand. The project is expected to be completed within 18 months. (BT)

Oilcorp is unable to redeem the outstanding Murabahah notes totalling RM60m on the redemption date yesterday. It has appointed Public Investment Bank as the principal adviser for the restructuring plan to regularise its financial condition. (Star)

F&N has allocated RM100m as capex this year. Part of it will be used to ramp up production capacity by 6% or an additional 5m cases of canned drinks at its Shah Alam facility. "We have in our pipeline about 50 new products of various flavours and packaging to be launched within the next 24 months," said CEO Tan Ang Meng. (Malaysian Reserve)

KUB Malaysia announced that the contract for group MD Datuk Mohd Nazar Samad has been extended for another three years, commencing March 1 2010 to February 28 2013. (BT)