KLCI chart reading :
upside biased with possible pullback correction.
Maybank-CIMB face-off over RHBCap
The country's two largest banks, Maybank and CIMB, will face-off against each other in pursuing a merger with smaller rival RHB Capital. A merger of either bank with RHBCap would create one of the largest banking groups in Southeast Asia. The two banks, in separate filings to the stock exchange late yesterday, said Bank Negara Malaysia had "no objection in principle" to them starting preliminary negotiations with RHBCap and its substantial shareholders for a possible merger. The central bank's approval for them to start talks is valid for three months, from yesterday. RHBCap, controlled by the EPF with a 45% stake, is the country's fifth largest banking group by assets. Its major shareholder, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), has been looking to sell its 25% stake and had hired two foreign investment banks to run an auction on the stake sale. (BT)
MAHB mulls new airline incentive plan
Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) may introduce a new incentive programme for airlines by year-end when the current programme expires. Following MAHB’s results briefing yesterday, CFO Faizal Mansor said, “The intention of the programme is to reward airlines that give us growth, and it is offered to all airlines. We always say that airline incentives are the prerogative of the airport and we may introduce a new incentive programme that could be a slight variation on the existing programme.” The incentives are provided under an Airline Recovery Programme (ARP) for airlines announced on 18 Nov 2009 and effective 3 years ending 2011. (Financial Daily)
KYM forms JV for Perak industrial park project
KYM Holdings and three other firms have formed a JV to develop a heavy industrial park in Perak to ride on Vale International’s RM9bn iron ore distribution centre nearby. The agreement was signed between KYM and Rentas Pasifik SB, Aswan Tenaga SB and Arikinta SB, to form a JV company known as Peih Holdings SB. While not disclosing the development valueor cost of the industrial park, KYM said Peih Holdings would be tasked with several responsibilities. (Financial Daily)
Tradewinds, Zelan to bid for hospital job
Tradewinds Corp has signed a MOU with Zelan to develop Hospital Pakar Kanak-Kanak, UKM through a publicprivate partnership. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Tradewinds said both companies would form a consortium to jointly submit the tender for the project. Tradewinds said Zelan will hold 51% stake in the consortium and it, 49%. (Financial Daily)
MSM Malaysia said to aim for RM891m in IPO
MSM’s owner of the country’s biggest sugar refiner, may raise as much as RM891m (USD295m) in IPO in Kuala Lumpur for expansion and working capital, two people familiar with the sale said. The company, a unit of stateowned Felda Global Ventures Holdings, will market shares to institutional investors at between RM3.30 and RM3.50 per share, said the people who couldn’t be named as the information isn’t public. Individual investors will get a 3% discount from the final price, one of the people said. The share sale would be Malaysia’s secondlargest since state oil and gas company Petronas spun off its petrochemicals interests in a record RM12.8bn offering in November. (Malaysian Reserve)
Malaysia Rare Earths in World’s Largest Would-Be Refinery Provoke Protests (Source: Bloomberg)
On a sweltering Sunday in April, more than 300 people pack a room above GC Curry House, a popular eatery on a tree-lined avenue in Kuantan on Malaysia’s east coast. They’re here to discuss the potential hazards of a rare- earth refinery Sydney-based Lynas Corp. is building about 25 kilometers away that will process radioactive ore into the exotic metals that go into tech gadgets, hybrid cars and weapon systems. Member of Parliament Fuziah Salleh tells the residents that the Australian company got a 12-year tax break from Malaysia even as other countries would shun the plant -- set to be the world’s largest rare-earth refinery -- because of the health risks it poses. That information draws boos from the crowd.
An audience member, Chow Kok Chew, says he used to live near a rare-earth plant in western Malaysia run by a joint venture that included Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (4188) and shut down in 1992. Carelessness by plant operators led to the radiation poisoning of local people’s livestock, he says.
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