20110412 0941 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

 KLCI chart reading :
correction range bound upside biased.

Najib to announce Felda’s USD215m sugar IPO
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is set to announce today the IPO of the Federal Land Authority’s sugar refining arm, which would raise about USD215m (RM649m), a source with direct knowledge on the matter said. The listing of Malayan Sugar Manufacturing will be announced at the Invest Malaysia conference, the source said. He said Felda will be selling about 25%-30% of Malayan Sugar. (FinancialDaily)

Notion VTec confirms buyout interest
Notion VTec has confirmed that a third party has approached its controlling shareholders to acquire the entire business or equity stake in the company. While Notion’s controlling shareholders have not received any definitive proposals, the negotiations are ongoing and the company would make the announcements when necessary. It did not name the third party or the controlling shareholders that were approached on the deal. (FinancialDaily)

MAA Holdings seeks BNM nod on stake sale
MAA Holdings (MAAH) has applied to Bank Negara for approval to proceed with discussions to sell its life and general insurance businesses to Zurich Insurance. The composite insurance business is held under MAAH’s wholly-owned Malaysian Assurance Alliance (MAA). Money raised from a successful sale of MAA is expected to be partly used to expand MAAH’s growing Islamic insurance or takaful business. News reports had put a RM1.2bn figure to the MAA franchise. (Malaysian Reserve)

UMW: Expects oil & gas unit to be back in the black. UMW Holdings Bhd is confident that its oil and gas division will be back in the black this year, helped by several jobs it has secured. The company is banking on the performance of associate company WSP Holdings Ltd in China, its success in securing a drilling job from Petronas Carigali and expectations of a bigger revenue contribution from its foreign joint ventures, especially those in India and China. (Source: Business Times)

Westports: Container handling Up 20% In 1Q. Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd posted a 20% growth in container handling for the first quarter this year compared with the same period last year. Westports container throughput was 1.5m twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), the highest ever quarterly achievement compared with 1.2m TEUs in the same period last year. (Source: Bernama)

Sagajuta: To unveil RM2b projects. Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, a pioneer developer in Sabah is launching four commercial projects worth almost RM2b this year, as demand for the properties increases, its chief said. They include the abandoned commercial project in Selangor, called 1Gateway Klang, which its unit, Lagenda Erajuta Sdn Bhd, has taken over and is reviving this month. The three new projects are located in Kota Kinabalu, Bukit Mertajam in Penang and Johor Baru, launching in phases from the end of this year. The projects will comprise modern shoplots, office towers, street mall and leisure facilities. (Source: Business Times)

Coastal: Secures deal to sell 11 tugboats. Coastal Contracts Bhd won contracts for the sale of 11 tugboats to a company based in Central America for about RM61m. Including the new contracts, the group to date has about RM665m worth of vessel sales orders awaiting delivery to customers up to 2012. (Source: Business Times) 

Harbour-Link clinches RM75m jobs
Harbour-Link Group’s wholly owned subsidiary Harbour-Link Logistics has clinched contracts worth RM75.2m. The subsidiary has accepted two letters of acceptance from Bintulu Port Holdings for the supply, delivery, testing and commissioning of eight rubber-tyred gantry cranes and two Panamax class gantry cranes. The contracts are for a 12-month period, which is expected to commence by April. (FinancialDaily)

Puncak Niaga seeks waiver talks
Puncak Niaga has decided to negotiate with some of its bondholders after a total of RM982.9m of its debt papers’ credit rating fell below the minimum level allowed. Puncak Niaga had decided to call for a bondholders meeting to seek for certain waivers from the bondholders to address the current situation. The downward rating by MARC had resulted in the rating of some of the group’s debt to fall below the minimum required under their respective trust deeds. (Malaysian Reserve)

Axiata seeks to buy back shares
Axiata Group has proposed to buy back its shares in a bid to prop up its valuations that would result in its major shareholder, Khazanah Nasional’s, stake rise to about 51% from 41%. Axiata has also proposed, on behalf of Khazanah, an exemption from the obligation to undertake a mandatory takeover offer on the remaining shares in Axiata it does not already own. The maximum amount of shares that Axiata can buy back is 844.5m, including those granted under its existing employee share option scheme. The buyback will be financed through internally generated funds depending on the availability of funds, but not exceeding in aggregate of the retained earnings of RM5.7bn and share premium accounts of RM1.9bn. (Malaysian Reserve)