20100128 0934 Malaysia Corporate News.

Sime Darby Property is in discussions with a few potential partners for possible joint ventures (JV) to develop its vast land bank in the country. The company has a land bank of 37,000 acres, of which 8,000 acres are in the Guthrie Corridor, according to MD Datuk Tunku Badlishah Tunku Annuar. "It is the company's strategy to team up with strategic partners to develop the land bank," he said. (Starbiz)
This is in line with the group's strategy to unlock the value of its rich property land bank and will be positive for the group's earnings in the medium term.

EON Capital (EONCap) has been given an extension until next Tuesday to decide on a RM4.92bn buyout offer by bigger rival Hong Leong Bank. EONCap chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail said it was pleased with the time extension although he stressed that the "initial offer undervalues EONCap", while some of the proposed terms were "unacceptable. Mulpha International confirmed to Bursa Malaysia that it had asked for Bank Negara Malaysia's consent to negotiate for a share purchase in EONCap. (BT)

The board of Alliance Bank is in the midst of evaluating the response submitted by CEO Datuk Bridget Lai but no time frame has been set to complete the assessment, said bank director Tee Kim Chan. Tee said the board had received Lai's report late Mon evening and had yet to formally meet up to discuss the submission. "It was a long report and there is a lot of material for us to digest. We have to correlate the submitted material with the material we have, and the board has to exchange information," he said. (Financial Daily)

Sarawak’s first biodiesel plant will have an annual production capacity of 120,000 tonnes when it is fully operational in March. The RM80m plant is owned and operated by Sarawak company Senari Biofuels Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Assar Senari Group. Senari Biofuels ED Datuk Abang Khalid Marzuki said the plant, located within the Assar Senari Industrial Complex here, was now ready to commence production. “We expect to be in full operation by March. Our production will be mainly for the export market and we intend to expand the plant gradually to meet future demand,” he added. (BT)

The suit between Splash and Syabas has been set for mention at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Feb 22. Splash is suing Syabas for RM196.3m in alleged outstanding amounts, not including interest. Splash’s claims were in respect to a supply charge and capacity charge from Syabas. Konsortium Abass had filed a suit for RM63m against Syabas for non-payment of water invoices in October. (Star)

Maxis is targeting 30,000 users for its newly-launched Unity Solutions by year-end, said its VP and head of enterprise and carrier business, Fitri Abdullah. Unity Solutions, which is anchored on a unified digital platform, offers seamless connectivity across different systems, devices and applications, enabling businesses to manage their employees and attend to customers anytime, anywhere. (Bernama)

International airlines suffered their biggest decline in traffic since 1945 last year as passenger demand fell 3.5%, IATA said yesterday. Freight also fell, by 10.1%, as "full-year 2009 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic... showed the industry ending 2009 with the largest ever post-war decline," IATA said in a statement.

• "We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business," said director general Giovanni Bisignani. 
• Passenger traffic had improved in the final months of 2009; passenger traffic increased by 4.5% yoy in December and by 1.6% over November, but yields were still 5-10% lower yoy.
• IATA predicted a slow recovery for cash-strapped carriers. "Revenue improvements will be at a much slower pace than the demand growth that we are starting to see," said Bisignani. "Profitability will be even slower to recover and airlines will lose an expected US$5.6bn in 2010," he added. This compares to the estimated US$11bn losses in 2009 despite a recovery in passenger traffic. (BT, AFP)
  

A decline in airfares is a given with the entry of AirAsia and AirAsia X on the major routes to India. Previously, Indian Airlines operated certain routes but it ceased over a year ago, following which Malaysia Airlines has been the sole carrier for some of the points. A check on the respective airlines’ websites revealed that a round trip from KLIA to New Delhi on August 5 to 15 is RM719 on a low-cost carrier; AirAsia X is more than 50% lower than MAS, whose online fare was RM1,592. “The incumbent will not drop fares to RM199 but a reasonable discount can be expected as it would want to safeguard its market share. Initially, the drop will be bigger but in the longer term and prices will stabilise. However, yields will come under pressure,” an industry source said. AirAsia and its sister airline, AirAsia X, finally got the nod to fly to New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai beginning April. Unlike the other sectors, fares are very competitive on the Chennai and Hyderabad routes as the routes are currently serviced by MAS, Jet Airways and Indian Airlines. (Star)

DRB-Hicom plans to pay RM80.83m to privatise its 79%-controlled Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON) which would see Edaran's shareholders receiving RM1.55 for every share they hold. The proposed privatisation, which would be carried via a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise, is mooted as DRB-Hicom is facing difficulty in addressing the shortfall in the public shareholder spread requirement of 25%. It may be financed via internal funds and bank borrowings of Edaran. (Malaysian Reserve)

Petra Perdana has received a 32-page written representation from four of its board members, answering allegations over its recent sale of three new vessels and the disposal of its remaining stake in Petra Energy.

• The four board members are group chairman/CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra, his wife and executive director Datin Nariza Hajjar Hashim as well as independent non-executive directors Wong Fook Heng and Tiong Young Kong. 
• The four also gave reasons behind executive director Shamsul Saad's call for its shareholders to vote them out of the board at the 4 Feb EGM. The document said the board had suspended Shamsul for two weeks from 22 Dec 09, pending further inquiries on the issues of insubordination and management of the group's operations. (BT)
  

With Petra Perdana’s EGM just a week away, the move by CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra to challenge the court injunction that stopped the further sale of shares in associate Petra Energy does not benefit the company, says executive director Shamsul Saad.

• He noted that the court had clearly ruled that the injunction should remain in place until 3 Mar “so that all Petra Perdana shareholders can be given a chance to decide on the matter themselves.” Shamsul had obtained the court injunction on 23 Dec 09 and, together with a group of Petra Perdana shareholders, requisitioned an EGM on 4 Feb to consider boardroom changes. 
• Had it been allowed to proceed, the share sale would be the “worst thing” that could happen to Petra Perdana as the company would “lose a subsidiary and gain a competitor, said Shamsul. (Star)
  

The new Petronas CEO must be from within the conglomerate to ensure continuity, said company adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. This was also necessary because the new CEO would be familiar with the operations, he said. “Most importantly, we have done business with so many countries. We know heads of governments and an entirely new person will find difficulty in establishing contact with the people we are doing business with,” he added. Speculation is rife the three candidates shortlisted to succeed Hassan are Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas, Datuk Anuar Ahmad and Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin. (Star)

PetroChina Co said it won a joint bid with Petronas and Total to develop the Halfaya oil field in Iraq over 20 years. PetroChina is leading the consortium and will also own the biggest stake in the operating company. A fourth company, Iraq’s South Oil Co, will also take part in the venture. (Bloomberg)

Zurich Financial Services is exploring ways to take a controlling stake in its Malaysian JV and grow its business in Indonesia, its Asia-Pacific head Geoffrey Riddell said. Zurich Financial now holds a 40% stake in a JV offering general and life insurance in Malaysia. "We would like to have control but we want to get to control in a way that is comfortable to parties involved. It could take time. It could involve so many things," he said, adding that Zurich Financial could take a stake of up to 70% according to domestic rules. (Financial Daily)

CB Richard Ellis (Malaysia) (CBRE), a real estate services company, expects the number of property transactions in the country to improve this year, thanks to a new wave of interest from local and foreign institutional funds.

• Executive chairman Christopher Boyd said there is strong buying interest from Singaporean, Hong Kong, Korean and Arab investors, looking for new office buildings in the Klang Valley and Penang. 
• He said there is a possibility that the value of property transactions in the Klang Valley will exceed RM4bn this year as it expects more than 30 major deals.
• Boyd also warned property developers to be cautious over the next six to nine months of over-launching their commercial projects as there is a strong possibility of a double dip in the West in the second half of 2010, which may impact the Southeast Asian market. (BT)
  

Sunway City has hired RHB Investment Bank and Credit Suisse as the main coordinators for the planned listing of its real estate investment trust (REIT) in Malaysia, sources with knowledge of the deal said. The listing of the REIT, the biggest ever in the Southeast Asian country, is likely to happen in 1H10 and the company may raise about RM1bn in its public offering, one of the sources told Reuters. "The REIT will have a market capitalisation of more than RM3bn," said one source. (BT)

Light-emitting diode (LED) maker D&O Ventures is investing more than RM50m to double its Malacca capacity and set up a new factory in Laos. “Energy-saving lightings like LED is gaining popularity as countries around the world become more conscious of the environment and opt for our products. We're doubling our capacity in Malacca and the new factory in Laos is set for completion by mid-year," MD Tay Kheng Chiong said. (BT)

Homeritz Corp, a home furniture maker and designer, plans to spend RM9.1m to set up two factories in Johor and Vietnam to meet new demand. The company is raising RM7.9m from an initial public offering, including a rights issue, prior to its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on February 19. In addition, existing owners will sell shares to raise another RM22.76m from an offer for sale. The shares are priced at 65 sen apiece. (BT)

Gadang Holdings said its indirect wholly-owned unit, Natural Domain, will buy a piece of residential land measuring 49,377.47 sq m off Sungai Besi Highway in Kuala Lumpur for RM33m. (BT)

Bursa has rejected MEMS Tech's application for an extension of time to appoint a sponsor by Mar 31 and submit a regularisation plan by June 30, 2010. MEMS Tech said it intended to appeal to Bursa to reconsider the rejection and that the company was working with the intended investor on the appointment of the sponsor. With no further extension of time, trading in its securities would be suspended with effect from Feb 5, 2010. (Financial Daily)

The second phase of I-Berhad's integrated commercial development in Shah Alam, Selangor, is expected to kick off later this year, its top executive said. CEO Eu Hong Chew said the phase covering 3.64ha has a GDV of over RM150m. It will offer between 300,000 sq ft and 400,000 sq ft of office space. The construction cost will be between RM30m and RM40m and completion is due in 2013. (BT)

A 352-room hotel, an exhibition and convention centre along with commercial lots will form the third and fourth phases of the RM1.1bn Penang Times Square development in Penang. The project, which is being carried out by Ivory Properties Group, will also feature a cineplex and luxury condominiums, its executive director Datuk Seri Nazir Ariff Mushir Ariff said. "We are talking to several parties and hope to sign up with an investor for the hotel by the end of the year," he said. Nazir said it will either get the investor to buy up the 325- room hotel, or get a long-term operator to manage it. The property developer, which is awaiting final approval from the Securities Commission for an initial public offering, will launch the shopping mall portion of Penang Times Square on February 6 under the first phase. (BT)