20100716 0943 Malaysia Corporate News.

Government cuts fuel, sugar subsidies
Prices of petrol for RON95, RON97, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and sugar will increase from today as the Government seeks to reduce subsidies for these products and cut government expenditure by about RM750m. Subsidies for RON95 petrol and diesel will be cut by 5 sen per litre, LPG by 10 sen per kilogram and sugar by 25 sen per kg. The government would no longer subsidise the higher grade RON97 petrol, which would be subject to a managed float. At current price, the RON97 petrol would cost an additional 5 sen. (Financial Daily)

Changes to listing rules proposed
Proposed amendments to Bursa Malaysia’s listing requirements and the introduction of the Corporate Disclosure Guide (CD Guide) are set to prod listed companies into revealing more details about key developments, including changes of directors, chief executive officers (CEOs), chief financial officers (CFOs), external auditors and independent advisers. The revamp also covers disclosure rules for quarterly and annual reports, pledging of shares by controlling shareholders, termination of corporate proposals and voting results of shareholder meetings. (StarBiz)

PAAB sees Selangor water asset takeover by year-end
Pengurusan Aset Air (PAAB) is hoping to complete its planned acquisition of water assets in Selangor by the end of the year, said its CEO and director Datuk Ahmad Faizal Abdul Rahman. The cost of acquiring the water assets in Selangor would be well over RM10bn in total, and PAAB is sticking to its plans to acquire the assets, with operational and maintenance (O&M) rights, contrary to what the Selangor wants. Ahmad Faizal said PAAB too hoped to complete the takeover of the water assets in Perlis, Kelantan, Perak and Pahang by year-end. (Financial Daily)

Time Eng sale next week?
UEM Group’s proposed sale of its 45% stake in Time Engineering is expected to be announced as early as Monday, which is strong evidence of the acceleration of the conglomerate’s asset disposal programme, sources said. The identity of the purchaser could not be ascertained. The disposal of Time Engineering shares was previously reported to be at around 50 sen apiece. (Financial Daily)

Trading in Titan suspended ahead of corporate announcement
Titan Chemical Corp requested that trading in its shares be suspended today pending an announcement of a corporate proposal involving the major shareholders of the company. Market talk is that a general offer (GO) for the company is in the works, which could come after two of the company’s largest shareholders sell their respective stakes in Titan. Although market talk has been rife of Titan being privatized, pricing and other salient features have yet to surface. One name that has cropped up as a buyer is China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (known as Sinopec Corp) but this remained unsubstantiated. News reports had speculated that Titan’s largest shareholders, the Chao family and PNB, would sell out. (Financial Daily)

Nikko to be delisted
Nikko Electronics will be delisted and removed from the official list of Bursa Malaysia on 27 July. The delisting is in accordance to the decision of Bursa announced by the company on 23 Oct last year. The Securities Commission via its letter dated 24 June 2010 rejected Nikko’s proposed restructuring scheme and the company decided not to appeal against the decision. (BT)