Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa will have a soft open for its casino on Sunday, 14 Feb i.e. the first day of the Lunar New Year. It will also host a week-long sneak preview of Universal Studios Singapore (USS) from the same day onwards. (SGX) This latest development confirms our earlier expectations that the casino will open in time to capture the Chinese New Year (CNY) festivities. While we are slightly disappointed that there will only be a sneak preview of USS this weekend, we think that a peek into South- East Asia’s first Universal Studios is attractive enough to draw in the crowd even during the pre-rides and shows period.
EON Capital is in no hurry to find a merger partner or be taken over, according to chief executive officer Michael Lor. His comments came after EON's board rejected a RM4.9bn takeover offer from larger local rival
Hong Leong Bank as too low. Some EON minority shareholders have since requested a meeting on February 22 to appoint new directors they expect will be more supportive of Hong Leong's overtures.
- Mulpha International last month submitted a request to the central bank to start competing talks to buy an EON stake. There has since been no official word as to whether the central bank has approved that request. EON hasn't started discussions with Mulpha and won't rule out any other takeover talks, Lor said. (Bloomberg)
Mulpha International said it is in an ongoing dialogue with Bank Negara Malaysia with regards to its application to begin talks with
EON Capital to acquire a stake in the latter. The company said that its long-term strategy is to gain greater exposure in the Malaysian financial services sector and to diversify from its property businesses. (Bernama)
Palm oil advanced an eight day to extend its longest rally in more than a year after Malaysia said January output slumped to a nine-month low to help trim stockpiles. Malaysia’s stockpiles dropped 11% mom to 2m tonnes. April-delivery palm oil futures advanced as much as 1.1% to RM2,590/MT on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange. (Bloomberg, Malaysian Reserve)
The income from the export of
palm oil products last year reached RM49.6bn following an increase in the production of the commodity. Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said the increase in production also contributed to the total export of palm oil products of 15.87m tonnes. (Bernama)
The federal government will talk to Sarawak on whether
Bakun will have enough power to share with the peninsula in future as planned, PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak said. "We'll have to discuss. There are two requirements that have to be taken into account - one is the power requirement for the peninsula in the future and the other is the requirement for SCORE
(Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy), especially for the heavy industries,” he added. (BT)
Electricity export to Peninsular Malaysia via the proposed
submarine cable project from
Bakun will be timed with the completion of the
Murum dam by 2013, Deputy CM Tan Sri Dr George Chan said. "There is some timing as Peninsular Malaysia will not need power straight away. There will be enough supply (by then) to be transmitted from Bakun," Dr Chan added. (Bernama)
Leader Universal Holdings may build a second power plant in Cambodia after it completes the country's first coal-fired plant in 2012. Leader is eyeing a 700MW facility, MD and CEO Datuk Sean H'ng Chun Hsiang said.
- "Our plan hinges on demand for power and we are currently in talks for this with our JV partner," he said. Meanwhile, H'ng said the coal-fired electric power plant project in Sihanouk Ville is estimated to cost US$170m (RM581m). (BT)
Berjaya Corp appears to have reached a dead end with its plan to manufacture small cars in Malaysia with China’s BYD Auto. The government does not plan to relax rules under the
National Automotive Policy, which only allows new manufacturing licences for cars of 1.8 litres and above.
- "The National Automotive Policy is very clear, there is no exception. Malaysia is already making big concessions to allow foreign brands to be assembled here," International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said. (BT)
Berjaya Media (BMedia) subsidiary Gemtech (M) Sdn Bhd has acquired 0.7m shares representing a 0.02% stake in
Berjaya Corporation (BCorporation) on the open market for RM891,450 cash. BMedia said the acquisition represented an opportunity to increase its investment in BCorporation at an attractive price (average cost of RM1.28 per share) with its surplus funds. Currently, BMedia group owns about 53.8m 0% irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks 2005/2015 of 50sen each in BCorporation. (Financial Daily)
Halim Alias, the former CIO of
Tabung Haji, is believed to have resigned willingly although it cannot be immediately ascertained as to the reason for his abrupt departure.
- His 24-hour resignation has been linked to the voting at last week's Petra Perdana EGM which saw the removal of four directors. Halim, it is believed, had voted for the directors' removal despite the instructions from the top management. The investment committee headed by Halim had submitted a report to vote for the removal of the directors.
- Minister in PM's Department Major Gen (B) Datuk Seri Jamal Khir Baharom was "very aware" of the situation and had entrusted Halim to make sure that "Tabung Haji's interests were protected". (Star)
The National
Tobacco Board has allocated RM24m for research into the kenaf plant so that it can be commercialised to provide a new revenue stream for tobacco farmers. Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said the effort will have three years to get the best results and had received the cooperation of various authorities. (Bernama)
Green Packet is optimistic it will be profitable next year, driven by new broadband businesses in Malaysia and Singapore, and its growing customer base.It also expects to make more money from its software and WiMAX devices, including the supply of WiMAX modems, group managing director Puan Chan Cheong said.
- Green Packet also plans to raise some RM150m from a share placement to fund the rollout of its WiMAX network and services in Singapore later this year. "We may raise more but it will depend on the market situation then," Puan said. (BT)
Speculations are rife that the Umno and Barisan Nasional-linked
Media Prima group will be taking over a Chinese-language daily to tighten their control over the mainstream print and broadcasting media.
- According to news portal Merdeka Review, Media Prima group advisor (Chinese language content) Goh Hin San has admitted that the company aspires to be a comprehensive media group and it would be ideal for it to own a Chinese newspaper. He, however, declined to confirm the speculations about a take-over of an existing paper. (Malaysianmirror)
Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) will pay a dividend and bonuses of 14% to eligible members for FY Dec-09. LTAT or the Malaysian Armed Forces Fund said the payout would consist of 7% dividends, 1% bonus and 6% special bonus in the form of unit trusts, amounting to a total of RM575.2m.
- For the year under review, LTAT registered an audited total income of RM554.8m compared with 2008's income of RM596.5m. At group level, LTAT chalked up a pre-tax profit of RM1.2bn in 2009 compared with RM1.4bn last year.
- LTAT's total assets, year-on-year, increased 4.2% to RM7.5bn as at Dec-09 while members' contribution account rose 8.6% to RM6.3bn. (Bernama)
Venezuela's state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) has signed a series of mul-ti-billion-dollar agreements with foreign and domestic firms to develop oil fields in the Orinoco region, one of the world's largest known oil deposits.
- One block will be developed by a consortium that includes Spain's Repsol, Petronas and three Indian companies - Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Oil India Ltd and Indian Petroleum Corp. PDV will have a 60% stake in the venture, while Repsol, Petronas and ONGC will each have 11% and the other two Indian firms will split the remaining 7%. (AP, AFP)
Sunway City has hired RHB Investment Bank and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd as joint global coordinators for its proposed listing of a REIT on Bursa Malaysia. RHB Investment was also made the sole financial adviser for the exercise. (BT)
Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) is bidding for another two airport management jobs in Asia, with hopes of securing them by the end of the year. MAHB currently manages and operates three airports overseas, two in India and one in Turkey. MAHB has interests in all three foreign airports that it operates now. The airport operator's managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said the two jobs are purely management jobs, without any equity interest. (BT)
K&N Kenanga’s group MD Datuk Ramli Ismail will retire on March 31, 2010, after having served the company for 30 years. Ramli will continue as a non-executive director and lend his experience to support the executive management committee. (Bernama)
