TNB may have to raise funds amid gas shortage
TNB may look to the market to raise funds to sustain itself amid concerns on the continued gas shortage as it has to spend an additional RM3bn on power generation this year. Bernama reported TNB president/CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Noh saying that if no immediate solution is found to address the gas crisis, it would be the first time that the company is going to the market to raise money for operations. TNB last month submitted a cost sharing proposal with Petronas and independent power producers but there’s no outcome to date. Che Khalib said the gas curtailment exercise by Petronas has prompted TNB to buy fuel distillates, which cost five times more than gas, to keep generating electricity. He also said that TNB’s debt of RM18bn gives the company room to borrow but it cannot sustain itself for long. (Malaysian Reserve) Please see accompanying report
Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said it has to spend an additional estimated RM3bn on power generation for this year and if no immediate solution was found to address the gas crisis the company would have to go to the market to raise money to fund its operations.
• On the company's fourth quarter result ended Aug 31, 2011, Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said it would be bad and his target for the financial year ended Aug 31, 2011 has gone very much haywire. He said it has been more than 50% revised downward.
• He hoped there would be sufficient gas supply by July next year when Petronas' regasification terminal for Liquefied Natural Gas in Malacca is ready.
• On whether the rise in fuel cost could result in a rise in electricity tariff rates, Che Khalib said, "We are not looking at passing down the additional cost to the consumers." (Bernama
Yesterday, Petronas started oil-drilling in Brunei waters near the Sarawak-Brunei border. The national oil company also secured a US$1.6bn contract to build a petrochemical complex on a 60-hectare land at Pulau Muara Besar with BASF. The complex is expected to create 650 employment opportunities and the products are for the export markets. Furthermore, Petronas’s subsidiary MMHE will undertake the development of a fabrication yard in Brunei. (Star)
Open access network provider Jalur Lebar Nasional (Jalenas) said the company is on track to deploy its open access "fibre-to-the-home" network in the country's sourthern states, following what it said was a successful debut deployment in Kuantan. Its executive director Heikal M Ali said, "Our network went live in April an since then, our service providers' customers have been enjoying superior high quality 30Mbps symmetrical services." In late June, Jalenas sealed an agreement with Jaring to use Jalenas' network to deliver their services to end-users in Kuantan. Jalenas said it had signed an agreement with Tenaga Nasional to to accelerate deployment of its network by using the Tenaga's poles. (Malaysian Reserve).
Ralph Marshall, CEO of Astro which invested in Sun TV and also a board member of Maxis, appeared before India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for clarifying on allegations that the company was favoured by the Minister in the takeover of Aircel and in return investments were made in Sun TV owned by Maran family. This is in connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allotment during the tenure of former Indian Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. (Bernama)
Ramunia Holdings seems to be taking a relatively large risk, purchasing a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the MT Laurita, without an attached contract. Shareholders approved the acquisition yesterday, which will set the company back by US$82.5m in cash.
• Nor Badli Mohd Alias, CEO said the company had already started negotiations and submitted tenders for FPSO jobs. They participated in one tender in Vietnam.
• Ramunia is in the midst of acquiring a 56-acre fabrication yard from OilFab for RM83.8m. The yard is central in Ramunia’s effort to come out of the PN17 category. (Financial Daily)
Perodua will export the new Myvi 1.3 to Mauritius in October and Sri Lanka in November. Perodua will ship 10 to 20 units to these countries to test the market. The company also plans to export the Myvi 1.3 to Fiji by early next year.
• The investment for Myvi is about RM215m to RM220m according to managing director, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh (Bernama)
YTL Corp Bhd group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh revealed at a press briefing that YTL’s flagship Yes 4G internet service had seen a strong take-up in the east coast, especially over the Hari Raya holiday season. The Yes 4G service now has over 300,000 users and the group expected to reach a subscriber base of 400,000 by year end. (Star Biz)
The government is now considering proposals to provide alternative assistance to Megasteel, as a bolster against competition from imported hot-rolled coils (HRC).
• This comes after Megasteel’s request for an additional 35% import tariff on HRCs was rejected and Lion group boss, Tan Sri William Cheng said he is considering moving his steel manufacturing operations to Indonesia, which imposes a 48% duty on HRC imports. (Financial Daily)
Kelington Group, a provider of ultra high purity gas and chemical delivery system has submitted to the Securities Commission an application for a transfer to the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia from the ACE Market. (Star Biz)
Kian Joo Can Factory (KJCF) has withdrawn its counterclaim for damages against CanOne International (CISB). The claim was in respect of the suit field by CISB against KJCF and its founding See family on its proposed corporate exercises involving a bonus issue and the issuance of warrants. (Financial Daily)
Maersk Drilling, a unit of the AP Moller-Maersk Group, has secured a US$51m (RM155.55m) contract from Petronas Carigali to provide a high pressure, high temperature jack-up rig, Maersk Convincer, for offshore Malaysia. (Financial Daily)
No hot-rolled coils duty hike
The International Trade and Industry Ministry will not approve a 35% duty on imports of hot-rolled coils to protect the local steel industry’s upstream and downstream players. Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that in the interest of the country, they are not in a position to approve the duty hike as it has big implications on other upstream and downstream businesses. He said the additional tariff would further burden consumers amid the increase in construction and production costs. However, the ministry is working with Megasteel SB to explore various avenues in assisting the company. (StarBiz)
Malaysian ports container throughput up 9.4% in first seven months of the year
Malaysian ports recorded a 9.4% increase in container throughput in the first seven months of 2011. 11.6m TEUs were handled by ports nationwide in the period compared to 10.6m TEUs in last year’s first seven months. Port Klang recorded an 8% growth from 5.1m TEUs to 5.5m TEUs while Port of Tanjung Pelepas was up 16.2% from 3.8m TEUs to 4.2m TEUs. The total figure for July 2011 is 1.8m TEUs, a 7.3% y-o-y growth. (Malaysian Reserve)
Najib says that the government will introduce GST when the time is right
Malaysia will introduce a goods and services tax (GST) sometime "after" the general election (GE), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said, without giving any hint on when the GE will be held. Malaysia has deemed it necessary to implement a GST but has twice delayed its implementation. "When the time is right, in the near future, after the GE, we will introduce GST," Najib said during an interview session with Steve Forbes. (BT)
Additional incentives to telcos unnecessary for deferring 6% tax
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai says he will not agree to providing incentive to telecommunication companies for deferring their plan to impose a 6% service tax on prepaid users. He said that “unless they (the telcos) are not making money, only then we have to think of otherwise.” (Malaysian Reserve)
Malaysian Airline System Bhd : Sponsorship for Queen Park Rangers jersey to cost RM18.0mil
Malaysian Airline System Bhd’s (MAS) recently-announced sponsorship for the Queen Park Rangers (QPR) home jersey in the Barclays Premier League will cost the national carrier some RM18.0mil, according to a source. The total sponsorship fee for both MAS and AirAsia for the English professional football club, which involves a term of two years, would cost some RM30mil. The source added that MAS will take up a bulk or almost 60.0% of the total fees while the remaining will be forked out by AirAsia Bhd and its related companies which could also involve AirAsia X. On Monday, MAS and AirAsia signed a jersey deal for QPR which will see the MAS logo adorn the jersey at home while the AirAsia logo will be used on the team’s away games. MAS executive director Mohammed Rashdan Yusof said that this sponsorship is the first major initiative of their new brand and marketing strategy that would see important advertising money spent on boosting their top line. In an earlier announcement to Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia said it would cough up some RM2.4mil as sponsorship fees for the duration of the two-year term. - StarBiz
Oil and Gas Sector : Malaysia proposes two O&G-related projects in Brunei
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia has proposed to undertake two oil and gas- (O&G) related projects in Brunei. One is by Petronas to build a petrochemical complex with BASF in Pulau Muara Besar, involving an investment of about US$1.6bil, while the other is the development of a fabrication yard by Petronas’ subsidiary, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd. Najib said the projects would take off if Brunei agreed to it. He also added that both projects will have positive impacts on both countries, particularly the job opportunities to be created. The prime minister said the petrochemical complex was expected to create about 650 employment opportunities, and the products were for export markets. Meanwhile, Najib said he had also discussed investment opportunities for Brunei in the Sabah tourism sector and hydro power generation in Sarawak. – Bernama
Transportation and Logistics Sector : Malaysian ports’ container throughput up 9.4% in Jan-July period
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said 11.6 million TEUs were handled by ports nationwide in the Jan-July 2011 period compared with 10.6 million TEUs in last year’s first seven months. The total figure for July 2011 alone was 1.8 million TEUs, an increase of 7.3 percent from 1.7 million TEUs in the same month of last year. Meanwhile, the amount of cargo handled rose 31.5 million tonnes or 9.3% to 371.1 million tonnes in Jan-July 2011 from 339.6 million tonnes in the previous corresponding period. – Bernama - Business Times
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