20100119 0935 Malaysia Corporate News.

Tenaga could be legally required to buy renewable energy under new laws being drawn up by the Government, PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. One of the mechanisms considered was “feed-in tariffs”. Meanwhile, Najib said a study has been commissioned to restructure and realign the Malaysian electricity sector. “The findings will help lay the foundation for a more efficient industry through market mechanisms and liberalisation,” he added. (The Star)

The government's call for oil palm companies to use biomass to generate electricity may not be practical without first putting in place a biomass policy. "Unless there is a policy that addresses the environmental hazards related to oil palm biomass, the use of biomass whether for power generation or other industrial usages will be slow to take off,” POIC Sabah CEO Dr Pang Teck Wai said.

• On the concept of oil palm mills generating electricity from EFB to augment power supply shortages in Sabah, Dr Pang said the 21 sen per kWh paid for such supply is not attractive. (BT)

Palm oil dropped yesterday to near an eight-week low amid concern global supplies of vegetable oils are sufficient to meet demand. The contract for March delivery fell as much as 2.3% to RM2,433/MT on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, the lowest intra-day price since Nov 24. (Bloomberg, Malaysian Reserve)

Malaysian glove makers who supply about two-thirds of the global market may not be able to keep pace with strong demand due to a natural gas shortage in the Southeast Asian country, a top industry official said yesterday. Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers' Association (MARGMA) president Lee Kim Meow said the industry wanted the government to ensure adequate gas supplies to spur expansion of domestic firms.

• "We do not mind market rates (for natural gas) but it must be step-by-step. We would like to have transparency in the pricing of natural gas," Lee said. "The government should allocate more natural gas to us as we significantly contribute to export revenues." 
• Rubber glove demand is expected to jump as countries ramp up healthcare expenditure to guard against the H1N1 flu pandemic that has spread to 208 countries and as top buyer US kicks off reforms expanding access to health insurance.
• Glove makers in Malaysia want to advance to this year expansion plans made for 2011 so as to meet that extra demand, said Lee. "Strong demand and expansion augurs well for us. We (the industry) could have a growth rate of 8-10% this year," he said. "The gas pipelines have been laid years ago and the investment costs have been sunk. We need more supply."
• The total cost per 1,000 pieces of gloves stands US$24, Lee said, with natural gas accounting for 10%. Many firms were using energy from biomass to fuel their plants as well as cut costs and reliance on natural gas. "Players are using environmentally-friendly stuff, woodchips, palm kernels and fibres," he said. (Reuters)
  

Malaysia is happy with current rubber prices and expects the commodity to trade between US$2.40-US$3.00/kg this year, Commodities MInsiter Bernard Dompok said. Meanwhile, Dompok said Malaysia had no plans to raise crude palm oil export quotas of 3m tonnes after India last year asked the government to supply more. (Reuters, Malaysian Reserve)

A source says Alliance Bank Malaysia CEO Datuk Bridget Lai has asked for an extension until this Friday to respond to a set of questions from the board. Bridget, who is on leave amid an internal probe, has been given till Friday to respond to a set of questions from the board, sources said. "She has asked for an extension until this Friday," says a source.

• The board had sent the questions to her last Monday, saying she had seven days to reply, acknowledging however that it was not unusual in such cases for one to ask for additional time if needed. Lai, when contacted yesterday, said she would require copies of certain files in the office to be sent to her to assist with her replies. It is understood that the bank will be sending her some of these. 
• The board had last Friday sent a separate set of questions to chief operating officer Shim Kon Teck, the source said. He, too, is believed to have seven days till this Friday to answer. (BT)
  

CIMB Group, the market leader in structured deposits last year, is bullish on the outlook of such products this year given the improving global economy and wealth accumulation. The country's second largest banking group, which launched over 30 structured deposit products last year, hopes to launch as many if not more this year, company officials said.

• Last year, about half of the structured deposit products it launched were for the general public while the rest were tailor-made for its private clients. "For 2010, we'll continue (with launches) in the regional, domestic and Islamic space. We'll do the same number of launches as last year, maybe more," said Dato’ Lee Kok Kwan, deputy CEO, group treasury and investments. (BT)

Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), a government-owned maker of aircraft components, plans to carry out an initial public offering (IPO) in as early as 2011. CEO Datuk Rosdi Mahmud said initial preparations for a Bursa Malaysia listing have started and it would be one of the key agendas for CTRM in the next couple of years. CTRM is one of 17 companies under the Ministry of Finance identified for listing or privatisation under the government's second wave of privatisation, he said.

• CTRM posted an unaudited net profit of RM30m in 2009. The company was incorporated on 20 Nov 1990, with Minister of Finance Inc holding 92% and Petronas holding the rest. Its role is to develop the high technology-based industry, namely the aerospace and composites industries. CTRM started by assembling and manufacturing a two-seater composite light aircraft called the Eagle 150B. 
• "Thanks to the Eagle aircraft project, CTRM today is part of the global supply chain composite aero structures for major commercial and aircraft manufacturers in the world," Rosdi said. (BT)
  

MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, and SpiceJet, India’s low cost carrier, sealed a 3-year maintenance support agreement for SpiceJet’s fleet of Boeing 737 New Generation (NG) series aircraft. SpiceJet’s current fleet of 19 aircraft and future aircraft will be sent to MAE for “C” and heavy checks from 2010 until 2013.

• SpiceJet will be adding 12 B737 NG aircraft over the next 2 years to build a fleet of 31 aircraft. Once the MRO JV company, MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering in Hyderabad, India commences operation by the first quarter of 2011, the aircraft will be serviced on the subcontinent. (Press release)

MASkargo expects its revenue to grow 10-15% this year, driven by its network expansion and improving cargo demand.

• MD Shahari Sulaiman said the air freight market saw positive growth in the last quarter of last year. "For MASkargo, the final quarter proved to be a good quarter as we saw a 20% improvement in yields despite a 25% increase in capacity. Our load factor was also up to 75%," he said during a media briefing in Selangor yesterday. 
• While the worst is expected to be over for the air freight and passenger markets, Shahari expects more gradual growth for the air freight market this quarter as industry players prepare themselves for an upturn. "The last quarter was abnormal. The demand grew and it caught everyone by surprise. Due to this unexpected surge, yields and load factors improved and those who had the capacity could do lucrative business," he said. MASkargo plans to grow its network capacity by 10% this year. (BT)
  

Citibank expects the country's credit card spending activities to maintain its double-digit growth this year. The country's credit card industry registered an 11% average growth last year. Citibank head of consumer markets Fabio Fontainha said the industry is consolidating and the market place is expected to spend again.

• "Citibank expects to retain its position as the country's largest credit card issuer with a market share of 20% by introducing more promotions and privileges for our more than one million customers," Fontainha said. (BT)

E&O’s Quayside Seafront Resort condo, with a GDV of RM1.8bn, will be launched next month. The 1,200-unit project is located within the Seri Tanjung Pinang development. Quayside will be located on 21 acres of prime seafront land and billed as the first in the region to have a 4.5-acre waterfront park. GM for sales and marketing, Lim Hooi Yen, said the project was expected to attract 40% foreign and 60% local buyers. (Financial Daily)

Genting Singapore is ready to start operating Singapore’s first legal casino as soon as the city state’s government issues its gaming licence, says Resorts World spokesman, Robin Goh. (Bloomberg)

Dreamgate has fixed the issue price for the fourth and final tranche of its proposed private placement of 8.2m shares at RM0.16/share. (BMSB)

The Securities Commission is looking into the submission of Petra Perdana executive director Shamsul Saad, purportedly relating to “breaches in procedures’’ over the sale of a block of Petra Energy shares belonging to Petra Perdana and also the sale of vessels by Petra Perdana to Petra Energy.

• The complaint comes in the wake of three major incidents that mark the totally divergent views of two groups of Petra Perdana shareholders – one led by executive chairman and CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra and the other by Shamsul, and brothers Datuk Henry Kho and Koh Pho Wat, both senior GMs of Petra Perdana. (Star)

Petronas Dagangan has launched a newly enhanced RON 97 fuel, the Petronas Primax 97, which offers motorists more power, better acceleration and fuel economy benefits. The new fuel is now available at more than 300 of its 900 stations nationwide. Primax 97, which replaces the current RON 97 fuel Primax 3, is formulated with Sinar G07 additive to provide superior engine performance. (BT)

BMW Group Malaysia chalked up record sales last year despite the global economic downturn and the overall negative trends which affected much of the automotive industry. BMW Malaysia's share of the Malaysian premium segment also increased in 2009 to 40%. (BT)

Naim Holdings is bidding for a RM150m project to relocate villagers affected by the Bengoh dam now under construction in Padawan, Sarawak. Corporate affairs head Ricky Kho said that Naim was eyeing another road project – from Balingian in Mukah Division to Bintulu – estimated to be worth RM120m, which would be located within the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score). (Starbiz)

The board of Ho Hup Construction Co has slammed an alternative regularisation plan proposed by former MD, Datuk Low Tuck Choy, saying it will further constrain its cash flow and fail to lift the construction outfit out of PN17 status. Separately, Ho Hup said it had lodged reports with the authorities of alleged wrongdoings that had led to the company incurring losses of RM236m. (Financial Daily)

MCIS Zurich Insurance's major shareholders have denied that there is any rift between them and say they remain keen to build the business together. They also denied that Switzerland's largest insurer, Zurich Financial Services Ltd (Zurich FS), might sell its shares in MCIS Zurich. The main shareholders of MCIS Zurich are Koperasi MCIS (43.7%) and Zurich FS (40%). (BT)

Amway (Malaysia) Holdings has invested RM100m in its new HQ to support future growth in business, says Executive director Paul Yee. The 202,500sf premises on a 1.8ha site is 3x larger than the old headquarters. It houses a concept shop, brand centre, training centre and larger warehouse with digital picking system.

• "Now that our business is 6x, over RM645m, we need to ensure that the facilities can cater for the expansion in business," Yee said. "We are currently processing about 2,000 orders a day, but the warehouse has the capacity to process 6,000 orders. 
• "The digital picking system is very efficient. It reduces distributors' waiting time to about 5mins to clear one order compared with 10mins previously," Yee said. As of end-2008, Amway has 195,000 distributors throughout the country. Yee said Amway will invest RM4.8m in capital expenditure this year to open three more shops and on infrastructure upgrading and maintenance, including information technology.
• Over the past two years, Amway has opened eight shops which contributed about 10% to its total sales. The Amway shop is the latest in its distribution channel, which includes a distributor network, regional distributor centres and an Amway2u website. "About 63% of our revenue comes from Internet sales," Yee said. (BT)
  

Shares of Ekran will be delisted from Bursa Malaysia on 28 Jan. The company failed to submit a revamp plan by 4 Dec 09 and its request for more time was rejected, Bursa said. (BT)

UBG said the company and two of its subsidiaries have yet to receive any notice of takeover from PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI), or its nominees. UBG said it was given to understand through media reports that PSI planned to privatise and delist UBG once it has completed the acquisitions and to also take over and delist its subsidiaries, namely, Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh Corp. (Bernama)

Bursa Malaysia has queried Pentamaster Corp over the sharp rise in price and volume of the company's shares recently. (Bernama)