Tenaga Nasional Bhd may report next year a full-year loss for the first time in more than a decade because of rising costs. The company this month will post a second, straight quarterly loss as its rising fuel bill is hurting margins, CEO Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said. Tenaga may have to borrow to fund operational expenses for the first time as its cash holdings are dwindling, Che Khalib said. “We have to incur an additional cost of RM400m every month to use the alternative fuel. We are crying for help. If the situation isn’t resolved, Tenaga will report a loss in 2012.” The utility is set to market its 4.85bn Islamic bonds on Oct. 24 to finance the expansion of a coal-fired power plant in Perak, north of Kuala Lumpur, he added. (Bloomberg)
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are expected to discuss the waiver of crude palm oil (CPO) taxes in both countries. If both leaders were to agree to this proposal during their bilateral meeting in Lombok, Bali today, oil palm planters in Malaysia and Indonesia, and some six million smallholders, will benefit from higher palm oil prices. Current high CPO taxes in Malaysia and Indonesia have caused refiners to slash prices in order to compete, and this, in turn, has lowered the CPO prices. "The leaders will deliberate on the proposal to lift the high CPO taxes on both sides. It is on the agenda," a reliable source said. (BT)
Proton has offered the storage facility at its Tanjung Malim plant to automakers in Thailand affected by the flooding there. “We are open for negotiations anytime,” its group managing director, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said. On Proton’s operations in Thailand, Syed Zainal Abi-din said the company’s 34 sales outlets in the country were not badly affected. (Bernama)
UMW Lubricant International, a wholly-owned unit of UMW Holdings, expects its newly-unveiled Repsol range of lubricants to capture 3% market share by end-2012. "With Repsol, we can now penetrate into the high-end and specialised vehicles segments. This will complement our existing brands, which are more focused on the medium- and entry- level segments," said Datuk Syed Hisham Syed Wazir president and group CEO of UMW Holdings. The company plans to produce Repsol lubricants in Malaysia by as early as first-half next year. (BT)
Nasim, the exclusive distributor of the Peugeot brand in Malaysia, has launched the Peugeot 508, marking a new chapter for both Nasim and the Peugeot brand in the premium executive segment. The 508, with an on-the-road price of RM169,888 has been billed as one of the most highly-anticipated launches of the year and has already received over 100 bookings prior to its launching. (Malaysian Reserve)
Tightening rice supply in top exporter Thailand due to floods and defaults by Vietnam as prices jump could prompt Indonesia, Africa and the Middle East to delay imports until the market steadies, or seek cheaper options from India and Pakistan. International traders and government officials meeting in Vietnam this week will also assess the full impact of flooding on output in the top two exporters, whether prices will escalate further, and the demand outlook for typhoon-hit Philippines. Thai and Vietnamese rice rose after the Thai government began buying paddy from farmers on October 7 at 15,000 baht (RM1,520) a tonne, nearly double local prices in June, and export rates climbed further as Thailand’s worst floods in 50 years inundated farms and mills. Thai benchmark 100 per cent B grade white rice hit US$680 (RM2,120) a tonne, while Vietnam’s 5 per cent broken rice rose to US$590 a tonne, the highest in more than three years.
“Vietnamese rice prices will be stable at the current level till the year-end as stocks are low,” said Nguyen Trung Kien, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Food Association.
Thai benchmark prices could be pushed to around US$850, exporters said, but traders and analysts did not expect levels to soar above US$800 immediately, as some exporters would offer rice from their stocks at lower levels. (Reuters)
Malaysia is looking to buy up to 3m tonnes of raw sugar over a three-year period starting in 2012 to replenish stocks, dealers said. Up to nine trading houses were invited to offer prices last week, but no deals were struck, said the dealers. They added that Malaysia wanted to buy the sweetener at below market price. The country consumes about 1.3m tonnes of sugar a year. (Reuters)
Newcomer Nilamas Corp has secured all the requisite licenses from the government to offer digital cable TV in the country and it is targeting the launch of its offering in 2Q12. Nilamas will compete in the pay-TV space, which has Astro and several IPTV providers including Telekom. Nilamas planned to offer entertainment and education programmes with an interactive focus. The company was also in talks with numerous content providers but added that it might find it difficult to secure content already sold to competitors. As for its network, Nilamas would use fibre for its back-haul which will be leased from fibre operators such as TM, Time dotcom, Tenaga, Fiberail and Fibercom. (Star Biz)
Felda Holdings has shortlisted 15 investment banks to undertake the listing exercise of Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH). The final decision will be made this week. It is believed that four investment banks, comprising two local and two international banks would be required to handle the IPO, to be launched around mid next year. (Bernama)
Kurnia Asia is still in talks with interest parties regarding a possible M&A following news in the last few months that the company was looking at selling its insurance arm. Chairman, Datuk Dr Sharifuddin Wahab said whether the parties are local or foreign, Kurnia is alright (for negotiations) as long as it gets an attractive deal at the end. (Financial Daily)
The Asia retail arm of Parkson Holdings is planning to raise up to S$200m (RM492m) in a Singapore IPO. Parkson Retail Asia, a department-store operator with operations in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia is looking to sell shares at an indicative price of S$0.935 to S$1.07 each. HSBC has been appointed the sole global coordinator and issue manager for the offering. CIMB and HSBC are the joint bookrunners and underwriters, while CLSA is the co-lead manager. (Reuters)
The government needs to consider implementing a "temporary termination" on the development of new shopping malls in high-growth areas, said the Malaysian Association for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management (PPK). Its president HC Chan said there is an oversupply of shopping malls in the country, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, as about 75% of the malls in Malaysia are located in these areas. (Bernama, Financial Daily)
YTL Corp spent RM26.75m on a share buyback exercise yesterday. The diversified flagship of the YTL group acquired 18.04m shares at RM1.48 a share. (Malaysian Reserve)
Sinaria Corporation has proposed to seek approval from its shareholders to purchase up to 10% of its own paid-up share capital. (BMSB)
AT Systematization announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Automation Technology Systematization Industries Limited (ATSI) located at Pathumthani, Thailand, has temporarily shut down the operations of its manufacturing facilities from Oct 13 due to the unexpected severe flood condition in Thailand. Presently, the premises of ATSI are not affected by flood but have been forced to shut down as its workers were unable to turn up for work due to the crippled transportation system. (BMSB)
Sozo Global Ltd is investing RM15m to set up a halal processing plant in Malaysia, says CEO Shen HengBao. The company hopes to conclude land acquisition by year-end and the plant construction will start in early 2012. Sozo is still looking to identify a location that has access to ports and workforce, as well as the assistance of the authorities, he told reporters at a media briefing yesterday. It is likely that the plant would be located in Penang. Sozo has signed a MOU with the Malaysian Halal Development Council. Shen said the company is currently setting up its third plant in China, specifically for halal products.(Bernama)
Wijaya Baru Global (WBG), which has clinched a deal to log and clear 80,000 hectare of land in Indonesia to make way for an oil palm plantation, will seek partners for the cultivation venture. CEO Datuk Faizal Abdullah said the company is in talk with Malaysian entities for a possible joint venture. (BT)
Hai-O Enterprise Bhd expects a better performance for the financial year ending April 30, 2012, with the anticipation of better sales for its core products in the health, beauty and fashion range. Managing Director Tan Kai Hee said Hai-O was confident earnings would improve despite the multi-level-marketing (MLM) industry being highly regulated by the government. The company would focus on products that would give the company recurring sales over the long-term and revamp its marketing programmes. Tan also said the implementation of stricter new membership guidelines in the MLM industry had resulted in less new members and lower revenue and earnings. "We have also been revamping our marketing programmes to emphasize on product knowledge," Tan said. (Bernama)
Bonia unit buys Cheras properties for RM44.29m
Bonia Corporation is acquiring properties in Cheras for a total of RM44.29m to facilitate its future expansion plans and to reduce rental expenses. It said on Wednesday, 19 Oct that its wholly owned subsidiary Luxury Parade SB had entered into 15 sale and purchase agreements with Platinum Starhill SB to acquire freehold units in two blocks in Cheras. (Financial Daily)
Lynas in the dark over licence decision
Lynas Corp said yesterday it was not aware of any decision by the Malaysian authorities not to grant the company pre-operating and import licences of rare earth into the country. It told the Australian Securities Exchange that as far as it was concerned, the decision on the licences was not expected in some weeks. "As far as Lynas is aware, no decision has been made by the Malaysian authorities concerning the pre-operating licence and the importation of rare earth ores into Malaysia," it said in the filing. The International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, in a joint statement on Monday, said Lynas had not been issued a licence nor given permission to ship rare earth ores into Malaysia. (BT)
Lynas is already producing rare earths concentrate at Mount Weld in Western Australia but the group’s refinery on the east coast of Malaysia “is running a bit late”. Crucial to Lynas entering production is for the Malaysian government to issue the Australian group with an operating licence. That process has been bogged down by political opposition to the plant and local community protests worried about possible radiation leaks. Lynas on Wednesday said a decision had not been reached on the application. Shares in the company fell 9.9 per cent to A$1.09 in Sydney. The International Atomic Energy Agency this year conducted an independent review into the plant. “They came out and said it was a safe process and made some recommendations that Lynas has agreed to comply with,” according to the executive chairman, Nick Curtis. Assuming approval is granted in the coming months, Lynas could ship first product in the second quarter of next year. (Financial Times)
Kencana expands Lumut yard
Kencana Petroleum is in talks to acquire more than 130 acres beside its fabrication yard, in Lumut Perak, sources said. It is understood that Kencana is close to sealing the deal, which could see the company substantially increase its yard space to enable it to take on larger jobs. It is still not clear which parties Kencana is in negotiations with, but among its neighbours is Lumut Maritime Terminal SB (LMT), whch is 50% plus one share controlled by the Perak government. (Financial Daily)
Harvest Court MD to buy Affin stake
Harvest Court Industries Bhd managing director Ng Swee Kiat has submitted a proposal to buy Affin Bank Bhd’s stake in the group at 20 sen per share. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, the group said Ng, its second-largest shareholder, has proposed to buy Affin’s 31.4 million shares and 7.9 million warrants through a put option agreement. Currently, Affin is Harvest Court’s biggest shareholder with a 18.27% stake in the group. (StarBiz)
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