20100129 0944 Malaysia Corporate News.

The full implementation of the mandatory biodiesel blend programme could be deferred to next year, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. He said the ministry was still looking at the fuel’s extra cost of about four to five sen per litre, mainly due to transport and blending costs, which needed to be handled amicably prior to selling the fuel.

• The Government has a one-off capital expenditure (capex) of about RM200mil for the biodiesel programme but is concerned about the extra cost and which party would absorb it. “We don’t know whether to pass it to consumers, petroleum companies or the Government (to absorb it as subsidy), ” Dompok added. 
• “Hopefully, we can stick to the B5 blend as the production of biodiesel will take up about 500,000 tonnes of palm oil, which is good given the current high palm oil stocks level,” Dompok said. (BT)

A delay in the full implementation of the biodiesel program is slightly negative for CPO price as the market has expected the biodiesel mandate to help boost demand for palm oil in Malaysia. However, it was reported two days ago that the government could start introducing a 5% blend fuel at the pump for private vehicle users in selected states in Peninsula Malaysia this year. This suggests to us that there could still be an incremental demand for palm oil for local biodiesel usage in 2010 but the increase will be lower than 500,000 tonnes.

EON Bank aims to give out RM4bn worth of car loans this year, up 8% from last year, driven by its year-long campaign that gives cash prizes to lucky customers. A successful hire purchase campaign last year has allowed the bank to disburse RM1.4bn financing within five months, helping it gain market share to become the third biggest car financier in the country. EON Bank has 11% of the car loan market, CEO Michael Lor said.

• Despite the growth, he said its non-performing car loans ratio has fallen to 1.7% currently, compared with 2.4% at the end of 2008.
• "Soon, we will report very strong earnings for the final quarter last year. It will surpass all expectations that you are seeing out there," Lor said. Overall, EON Bank expects to grow loans by 14% this year, while deposit is expected to grow 20%.
• "This year we want customers looking for car-financing to remember EON Bank as the preferred Malaysian bank for two reasons - speed of approval and this Super Cash campaign," Lor said. He said EON Bank has the fastest approval in the country with its so-called AM/PM turnaround, which means customers who submit applications with relevant documents in the morning may get the loan approved by the same afternoon. (BT)

Sime Darby listed its Ringgit Malaysia Sukuk Programme on Bursa Malaysia with a combined master limit of RM4.5bn under the Exempt Regime. Based on the Islamic principle of musharakah, the 20-year tenure sukuk programme is rated MARC-1ID/AAAID for its Islamic Commercial Paper/Islamic Medium Term Note Programme and AAAID for Islamic Medium Term Note Programme as assigned by the Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd, Bursa added. (Bernama)

Sunrise is breaking free from its designation as a single location developer as it embarks on stage three of its growth plan, says executive chairman Tong Kooi Ong. Its recently announced JV with Sime Darby to develop a 21-acre land parcel in Bukit Jelutong intimated Sunrise’s business direction of moving away from Mont’ Kiara. It was too soon to say whether the pilot JV would lead to other opportunities at Bukit Jelutong. Tong said Sunrise was also looking elsewhere beyond Mont’ Kiara and Bukit Jelutong. (Financial Daily)

Bursa Malaysia may not have an IPO the size of Maxis this year, but several sizeable state-owned companies should be listed under the government's second wave of privatisation. CEO Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff expects more IPOs this year with an improving economy. Interest would come from companies in China and countries "around Malaysia", he said. (BT)

AmIslamic Bank is confident of achieving double-digit growth in its Islamic banking business for the financial year ending 31 Mar. MD and CEO Datuk Mahdi Murad said the bank expected to see 30% growth in assets and profitability. “For the past five years, we have recorded double-digit growth, so we are confident of achieving it again,” he said. AmIslamic Bank was also targeting a 30% market share with its total Islamic banking profit this year, he said.

• The bank expected its new branch at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia to begin operation in March or April, Mahdi said. “We also plan to issue six more new products, including wealth management and structured products, this year,” he said. 
• On NPLs, Mahdi said AmIslamic Bank expected the figure to be less than 1%. (StarBiz, Bernama)

Agrobank expects its total deposits to increase to RM8.7bn this year from RM5.9bn in 2009 with the launch of new products. Its acting MD, Datuk Ahmad Said, said the new deposit campaign, "Simpan ... Dapat Kereta", was launched as part of its effort to attract present and new clients. "About 50% of our existing customers are expected to participate in the campaign," he said.

• Ahmad said the bank also aimed to grow its loan portfolio by 30% this year. Last year the loan portfolio stood at RM5.6bn, he said. (Bernama)

HSBC Amanah Takaful, the Islamic insurance arm of HSBC Bank Malaysia, plans to launch up to seven products this year. CEO Zainuddin Ishak said the company is now focused on traditional long-term plans such as retirement and medical health. HSBC Amanah Takaful aims to maximise its bankatakaful partnership by leveraging on its parent HSBC Bank Malaysia's client base. HSBC Amanah Takaful is a joint venture between HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings, Jerneh Asia and the Employees Provident Fund. (BT)

MRCB Land, the property arm of MRCB, has been awarded the Green Mark certification by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for one its projects. KL Sentral Park recently received BCA’s Green Mark highest rating, making it the country’s first ever commercial development to be awarded the rating.

• The BCA Green Mark certification is a rating system that evaluates a building’s environmental impact and performance. (BT)

Petra Perdana chairman and CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra said the company has identified a potentially lucrative brownfield area to provide specialised well intervention vessels and barges. "This will involve Petra Perdana converting some of its existing workbarges and installing the required equipment to undertake the well intervention works. We foresee that this can potentially earn revenue of about RM50m per barge per year," he said. (BT)

Petra Perdana will today seek to set aside an injunction which stopped the further sale of Petra Energy shares. According to CEO Tengku Datuk Ibrahim Petra, Petra Perdana is expected to submit an application to lift the injunction filed by executive director Shamsul Saad. Shamsul had earlier obtained the court injunction on 23 Dec,and, together with a group of Petra Perdana shareholders, requisitioned an EGM on 4 Feb to consider boardroom changes. Asked if lifting the injunction is the right thing to do given that the EGM will be held next week, Tengku said: “Why not? There was no wrongdoing in the first place.” (Star)

Ramunia yesterday announced a tie-up with Coastal Contracts to bid for new oil & gas projects. Ramunia is one of seven local oil & gas fabricators licensed by Petronas, while Coastal’s wholly-owned unit Pleasant Engineering Sdn Bhd owns a 20.95-ha fabrication and engineering yard in Sandakan. Both Ramunia and Coastal have Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) as significant shareholder. LTH has a 25% stake in Ramunia and owns about 10% of Coastal’s shares. (Star)

Vastalux said Petronas has notified the company that the suspension of its licence was because of actions taken by Vastalux to rectify “relevant issues” raised “were not satisfactory". The relevant issues mentioned were the adverse report from Murphy Sarawak and Petronas Carigali pertaining to non-performance of Vastalux relating to projects awarded by them. (BMSB)

Malaysia Airports (MAHB) expects three or four more airlines, particularly from Asia, to fly into KL International Airport (KLIA) this year. "We can also expect to see the current airline operators increase their flight frequencies and add new destinations through KLIA," said senior general manager of operations Datuk Azmi Murad. (Starbiz)

Mah Sing aims for property sales to climb 39% to RM1bn this year, as an economic recovery spurs home purchases. “The impact of a possible increase in interest rates on property transactions will likely be minimal,” MD Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said. “This year will be a good year; our engine is going to ramp up again,” he added. The company aims to expand in markets including Vietnam, Australia and Singapore. (Bloomberg, Financial Daily)

Bursa Malaysia has publicly reprimanded Axis Corp and imposed a total fine of RM647,200 on its seven directors for the late submission of its financial accounts and a 525% deviation between its audited profits and unaudited profits. (BT)

Masteel has proposed a 10% private share placement involving the issuance of up to 19.5m new shares. (Financial Daily)

JCY International's owner may raise as much as RM1.2bn in Malaysia's second largest initial share sale in the past year, said two people familiar with the matter. Shareholder of YKY Investments, controlled by 54-year old Malaysian businessman Y K Yong, plans to offer 540.2m shares of JCY for RM1.60-RM2.20 apiece, said the people.

• About 470.3m shares will be offered to institutional investors and the remainder to individuals. Individual investors will get a 5% discount to the institutional price, the other person said. (Bloomberg, BT)

Goh Ban Huat (GBH) has accepted a revolving credit facility of up to RM50m from AmBank for the purpose of meeting the working capital requirements of the group. GBH said the revolving credit facility was also to repay in full the term-loan facility amounting to RM36m that was granted by Kenanga Investment Bank. (Financial Daily)

Automotive parts manufacturer New Hoong Fatt (NHF) is building two new manufacturing facilities at a total cost of RM8m in the vicinity of its current factory in Klang in anticipation of increased demand for its products. MD Chin Jit Sin said the company had a good year in 2009 despite the economic downturn and, going forward, it saw opportunities emerging from the tax exemption under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) scheme as well as potential demand from China and India. (Financial Daily)

Taliworks is expanding its wastewater treatment businees in China via the acquisition of a 70% stake in an industrial wastewater plant operator, Eco 3 Technology and Engineering Pte Ltd for RM172,550. (Financial Daily)

As part of the Government Transportation Programme (GTP), the ONE-ticket system for public transport in the Klang Valley will be introduced by the end of the year. The "1Ticket, 1Seamless Journey" project would be launched for all 16 public tranport operators. (Malaysian Reserve)