20100303 0959 Malaysia Corporate News.

CIMB Group has received approval from the Vietnam Securities Commission for its subscription of an equity interest in Vinashin Shipbuilding Finance Company Securities LLC (VFC Securities). VFC Securities will change its name to CIMB Vinashin Securities LLC, with immediate effect. Under the terms of the shareholders' agreement, CIMB will subscribe to an initial equity interest of 10% in VFC Securities for VND34bn (approximately RM6.7m) with an option to increase its shareholding to 40% for a total capital contribution of up to VND200bn (approximately RM39.2m). (Bernama)

Public Bank has no plan for any acquisition but aims to expand its scale and scope locally and aboard, COO Leong Kwok Nyem said. "We are very focused in organic growth strategy. We are aiming for 15% growth in loans and retail deposits," Leong added. Meanwhile, Leong also said that Public Bank has no plans to raise fresh capital this year despite some quarters expressing concern that its capital ratios may decline upon the implementation of enhancements to the Basel II framework. (Bernama, FInancial Daily)

Alliance Bank Malaysia will not be paying any compensation to its outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Bridget Lai, sources said. Lai and COO Shim Kon Teck, who have been on leave since Dec pending an internal probe, are to resign from the bank on April 1. Lai and the bank said in a joint press statement last Thursday that it was an amicable parting of ways. The bank, meanwhile, has already started its hunt for a new CEO. "The board has already started looking for a CEO, but it's still too early to narrow down candidates," a source said. He said the new CEO is expected to come from outside of the banking group as there are no suitably experienced candidates from within. (BT)

Alliance Financial Group announced the resignation of Shim Kon Teck as group COO of Alliance Bank Malaysia with effect from April 1, 2010. Shim's resignation follows the resignation of Alliance Bank group CEO Datuk Bridget Lai last week, which is also effective April 1. (Bernama)

Bursa Malaysia and Taiwan’s GreTai Securities Market signed a MoU to embark on a collaborative effort to further develop the capital markets in both countries. Under the MOU, both exchanges would develop communication channels to facilitate enhanced information sharing capabilities. (Bernama)

Sime Darby Property is waiting for approvals from the state and federal governments on its plans for its proposed 10,861 acre Selangor Vision City development, said MD Tunku Datuk Putra Badlishah. He said the proposal had taken a while as it was a massive project. Meanwhile, Selangor MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he hoped to announce the status of the application next month. (Financial Daily)

Proton Holdings will shift its focus towards developing cars for the world market, a departure from its 25-year philosophy of serving mostly domestic buyers. Chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said the small domestic car market makes it necessary for the company to look abroad to be able to reap economies of scale in production.

• Yesterday, at the Geneva Motor Show, Proton’s founder and adviser Dr Mahathir unveiled Proton's first concept car, dubbed "EMAS", a four-seater hatchback compact car, designed by Italdesign Giugiaro SpA. MD Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir said the vehicle can be powered by electricity, an internal combustion engine or a combination of petrol and electricity. 
• The car is expected to go into production in about 17 months to two years, depending on the market environment. Syed Zainal declined to reveal the car's price except to say that, in general, hybrid cars are priced 30-40% more than basic cars. But it is understood that the price will be below RM50,000. (BT)

Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd (ETCM) is offering attractive interest rates as low as 1.98% per annum for some Nissan models. Buyers will be charged 1.98% per annum for a loan period of up to two years for the purchase of Nissan Sylphy, Grand Livina, Sentra, XTrail and Serena. For loans of three to four years, an interest rate of 2.28% is imposed for the same models, ETCM said. Interest rates for loans of more than four years will be based on prevailing market rates, the company added. (BT)

IDC analyst Chua Fong Yang said the growth of mobile phone sales in Malaysia is expected to grow 5% this year after a flat 2009. 5.5m phones were sold in 2008 and 2009. The top three vendors are Nokia (53% share), Samsung (18%) and Ericsson (11%). Increasingly Apple iPhone is gaining popularity with about 91,000 units sold since March last year. Chua said touchscreen and QWERTY keyboards will remain a popular feature which will be a prerequisite among users below the age of 25. (StarBiz)

Jalur Lebar Nasional Sdn Bhd (Jalenas), a JV between High Speed Broadband Technology Sdn Bhd and the Pahang Government’s subsidiary Pahang Technology Resources Sdn Bhd, will be able to deliver high-speed broadband services to 30,000 users in Kuantan, Pahang, by year-end. Pahang MB Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said the RM150m project using fibre optic cables would mean faster Internet access, from 2 Mbps to 100 Mbps. (BT)

Celcom Axiata’s move to set up Celcom Exclusive Partner (CXP) outlets nationwide has resulted in more Bumiputeras entering the business and an increasing number of subscribers. Celcom Eastern region VP, Datuk Sulaiman Ahmad said the solid support was clearly seen in the east coast, where revenue and the number of subscribers have been increasing annually. (Bernama)

Rebar prices in Malaysia have not changed this week, as weak demand forces mills to put off price rises for a third week running. Malaysian mills continued to list rebar at RM2,000- 2,100 per tonne this week, unchanged from three weeks ago, officials said. There had been speculation that producers would raise prices because of higher scrap and billet prices. Input costs are rising, but demand is still not strong enough to support price rises, mill officials said. (Metal Bulletin)

AirAsia is launching another “Big Sale” promotion, promising more destinations at even lower fares than the previous “Big Sale” held in August 2009. The booking period is from today to Sunday for travel between September 25 2010 and February 13 2011. (BT)

Boustead Holdings marked a significant corporate exercise by disposing of its 80% stake in BH Insurance (M) Bhd to AXA Affin General Insurance for RM363m. The move is in line with the group's decision to streamline its insurance business. According to Affin Holdings chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Mohd Zahidi Zainuddin, the exercise would place the group on a stronger footing to build a larger financial services group in the country. (Bernama)

Biosis Group plans to make SSN Medical Products Sdn Bhd, a natural rubber glove and condom producer, as its subsidiary, Chief Executive Officer Khoo Chee Kong said. Biosis, via its subsidiary Biosis Marketing Sdn Bhd, today inked a distributorship agreement with SSN Medical and another deal which gives Biosis the option to buy up to 51% stake in SSN Medical. "The plan now is to do the marketing of SSN Medical products first. When the time is right, we will exercise the option,” Khoo said. (Bernama)

Guinness Anchor (GAB) is aiming to achieve 60% share of the country’s beer and stout market this year, higher than its 57% share last year, said marketing director Mark Jenner. “I am convinced that GAB can make Tiger the biggest beer in the country,” he said. (Financial Daily)

Tightly held Malaysian Mosaics saw around 5.8m shares or 7.4% crossed in two offmarket transactions yesterday. The total value of the transactions works out to about RM9.4m or RM1.62 a share, a 14% premium to the stock's last traded price of RM1.42. (Financial daily)