20100209 0951 Malaysia Corporate News.

Motorists using 17 highways will receive incentives such as toll-free rides and discounts from concessionaires as “angpow” for the Chinese New Year, Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said.

• The concessionaire of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway and East Coast Highway (Phase 1) has decided to allow free rides on 11.30pm on Feb 11 to 4.30am on Feb 12, and the same times from Feb 15-16. Other concessionaires will be offering discounts of between 5% and 20% for those using their highways, 
• Highways offering discounts on Feb 14 are LDP, SPRINT, NPE, Besraya, Smart Expressway, Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway, Shah Alam-Kuang Guthire Corridor Expressway, KL-Putrajaya Expressway, Duke, Cheras-Kajang Expressway, Shah Alam Expressway and Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK). 
• Class 1 motorists using PLUS Expressways' North-South Expressway and the North- South Expressway Central Link (Elite) highways will enjoy a 10% discount on toll fees in conjunction with Chinese New Year. The discount would be applicable from 12.01am to 7am on Feb 10,11, 12,17,18 and 19. (Bernama, Star)

For PLUS Expressways, the move is not a surprise as it is part of the travel incentive programme announced in Nov 2008. The impact to bottom line is not substantial as class 1 vehicles travelling during non-peak hours make up 7-10% of Plus' total traffic volume. Toll revenue forgone is expected to be less than 1% of total revenue collection. Impact to other toll highways should be equally immaterial as it applies to between 1 to 4 days, also during non-peak hours.

WCT announce that its 50:50 JV Cebarco-WCT has received additional works for the Bahrain City Centre (BCC) IFO project worth RM221m. This brings the total value of the contract, secured back in Aug 2007, to RM467m. Completion date for the additional works is 16th December 2010. (BMSB)
Award of the additional works from BCC is a positive surprise. Based on the JV share, WCT's share of the profits based on the guided 7% pretax margin is RM7.7m and would contribute 2.2% to FY10 pretax profits. Our forecasts are unchanged as this award forms our RM1.5-2bn of new orderbook in 2010.

Hong Leong Bank (HLBB) says it is unable to consider the request to maintain its RM4.9bn acquisition offer for EON Capital from two major shareholders. "The EONCap board had rejected the Offer and HLBB has not been informed of any change in the board's position," HLBB said.

• HLBB received a letter on 5 Feb from Kualapura (M) S/B and Lintang Emas Sdn Bhd informing that two companies had on the same date called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). The meeting will be held on Feb 22 for the EONCap shareholders to deliberate on the appointment of eight new directors to the EONCap board. 
• Kualapura and Lintang Emas have requested for HLBB to maintain the offer to EONCap for a period of 14 days after the date of the EGM. (Bernama)

CIMB Group Holdings, owner of CIMB Thai Bank, could launch in June a public offering worth US$136m in the Thai market. "We have to wait until 4Q09 earnings come out and seek approval from the SEC," said CIMB Thai president Subhak Siwaraksa.

• CIMB owns 94% of CIMB Thai Bank, would become the first foreign company to have a dual listing in Bangkok. The plan is subject to approval by CIMB shareholders and authorities in the two countries, including the SEC, the Thai market regulator. (BT)

The government is studying the possibility of adopting a policy on green energy management, particularly the use of biomass waste for power generation in the country. Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), has commissioned a study on the matter, with special focus on the maximum utilisation of this waste as well as the highest efficiency. "I expect the study to be completed in two months,” he said. (Bernama)

Maxis is targetting between 100 and 150 new commercial buildings mainly in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor for its telecom services this year, said vice president and head of enterprise and carrier business, Fitri Abdullah. It has to date connected 340 buildings after having provided its services to over 100 new buildings last year.

• Maxis had put in place direct fibre access into an additional 31% of the buildings in the Klang Valley last year, he said.Maxis signed a collaborative agreement between Maxis and Macro Lynx to provide a full suite of end-to-end fixed solutions to tenants at GTower. 
• "Macro Lynx will be able to leverage on Maxis' fixed fibre network which allows both parties to expand their service area and improve on services to customers and we have also provided comprehensive coverage," Fitri said. (Bernama)

Sime Darby chairman Tun Musa Hitam said Sime Darby’s earnings for its current financial year ending June 30 will be better. “It’s simple logic. Palm oil prices are very high, beyond our original budget. So you can look forward to much higher profits than last year. We have not seen the last of the fluctuations of such a commodity as palm oil. I’ve lived through it from the day when palm oil was RM400/tonne. Now it has touched well over RM2,000.” For its previous financial year, the company recorded a net profit of RM2.28bn on revenue of RM31.01bn. (Star)

IOI Corporation has set up a trading company in China. Lipid Nutrition Trading (Beijing) Co, set up by IOI's subsidiary Loders Croklaan (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, will engage in wholesales, import and export, commission-based agent of the lipids for food and supplements, and other services, IOI said. (Reuters)

Mah Sing Group is buying a 7.7ha prime freehold land in HICOM Industrial Estate in Shah Alam, Selangor, for RM45.5m cash or RM54/psf. The property developer plans to make it its latest industrial hub project, called the iParc2@Shah Alam, with a GDV of RM143m. (BT)

Perodua will ramp up the production of its Alza multipurpose vehicle (MPV) by 50% to cut the waiting time. Managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh said the carmaker plans to produce 6,000 units a month from 4,000 now. Buyers have to wait for as long as three and a half months to get the car now. "We aim to reduce the waiting period to two months," Aminar said.

• Buoyed by the prospect of a full economic recovery this year, Aminar said, Perodua hoped to better its performance last year when it sold 166,700 cars. Perodua targets to sell 176,000 units this year. (BT)

The international arbitrators, under the auspices of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, has upheld Proton Automobiles (China) Ltd's (PAC) termination of the JV contract with Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co Ltd (Goldstar). The Final award was delivered by the arbitral tribunal on Jan 12, 2010. Proton said with this decision, it would focus on expanding its business and sales in China via its collaborative partner, Zhejiang Youngman Passenger Car Group Co Ltd. (Bernama)

Airline companies expect a significant narrowing of losses in 2010, a survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows. It said improvements were seen in all the indicators of airline business confidence but it did not necessarily mean a return to profit. "A divergence was evident between more positive Asian airlines and more pessimism among European airlines but, for the first time since January 2008, a majority said profitability had improved in the last quarter 2009. "76% expect profitability to improve over the next 12 months," it said.

• IATA has predicted that airline net losses will halve from US$11bn in 2009 to US$5.6 bn in 2010. 
• It said there was a particularly sharp improvement in both cargo and passenger demand during the previous quarter, with the majority of airlines switching from reporting declining demand to rising demand. 
• Expectations for improvements in demand over 2010 have risen back to levels last seen in 2007, with over 82% of airlines expecting further gains in passenger demand and 72% expecting improved cargo demand. (Bernama)

Two Malaysian companies are vying to supply Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) to the Nepalese government, racing to modernise its immigration operations ahead of an international deadline. Iris Corp and HeiTech Padu had joined a list of international bidders to supply MRPs to Nepal which needs about a million passports a year.

• Both firms have expressed interest to supply the MRPs to Nepal and have submitted their proposals, said Malaysian ambassador to Nepal Datuk Ilankovan Kolandavelu in New Delhi yesterday. (Bernama)

KNM Group says Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte Ltd will be arranging debt and equity financing for its founder's RM3.6bn takeover bid. Bluefire Capital Group Ltd, a company controlled by KNM founder and MD Lee Swee Eng.

• Lee said last week that it wanted to work with two other firms, namely GS Capital Partners VI Fund LP and Mettiz Capital Ltd, in buying KNM's entire business for 90 sen/share. Lee owns 24% of KNM. 
• On why Bluefire was making the offer, KNM said it was because the company would require more money and would have to gear up further to finance its restructuring and improve its position in the market. As such, Bluefire intended to tap the funding resources and financial strengths of its equity partners. (BT)

Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) abandoned its Genale exploration site in eastern Ethiopia's Ogaden region after failing to find exploitable oil deposits, the Reporter said. The company will leave the 3,000-metre deep well and continue exploration in order parts of the region, the Addis Ababa-based newspaper said. (Bloomberg)

Ingress Corp says its manufacturing company in Thailand has secured a contract from General Motors Co (GM) that could likely yield 974 million baht (RM109.09m) in revenue over seven years but the value could be higher as a truck normally has a lifespan of nine years. The contract is to supply sash products to General Motors Thailand for its new onetonne truck, Ingress said. (BT)

KFC Holdings will open five new Rasamas restaurants this year. Each restaurant will cost about RM600,000. At present, KFCH has 43 Rasamas restaurants, including three in Brunei. MD Jamaluddin Md Ali expects Rasamas' revenue contribution to KFCH to increase to 10% this year from 8% last year. (Bernama)

Putrajaya Holdings (PHB) will invest RM182m to develop the first commercial green building complex in Putrajaya. The complex, located in Precinct 2, will feature an eightstorey building, a four-storey podium block and two courtyards. It will be ready by early 2012, PHB chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Abdul Karim said. He said construction will be done by Putra Perdana Construction S/B (PPC), the construction arm of Putrajaya Perdana, after the Chinese New Year festival.

• By March, construction on the new 350-room business hotel in Precinct 1, with estimated development value of around RM160m, will start. Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd has been awarded the contract to build the four-star hotel, which is expected to open by end- 2012. 
• By April, PHB plans to launch an S-shaped waterfront development, comprising boutique retail lots for alfresco dining and lifestyle offices, next to Alamanda shopping complex in Precinct 1. The RM80m project is in the tender stage now. (BT)

Country Heights Holdings has been sued by the Malaysian government claiming RM22.62m in real property gains tax owed since 1993. The said claim is instituted against the company after it acquired shares of eight property companies as well as various leisure-related assets to cushion the effects of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, according to a disclosure to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

• However, Country Heights is disputing the claims as both exercises were non-cash transactions to facilitate its listing in 1993 and to enable corporate restructuring exercises in 1998 and 1999, the disclosure said. (Malaysian Reserve)

MCIS Zurich Insurance expects gross premiums to expand faster this year, driven by an economic recovery and higher productivity from its agents. Despite what is expected to be a recession in 2009, the composite insurer posted 8.3% growth in premiums for 2009. This year, it forecasts gross premiums to expand close to 10% to RM703m. (BT)