Plantation: Felda said to have hired banks for IPO. Felda Global Group has hired bankers for an initial public offering (IPO) that would raise as much as USD2b (RM6.3b) next year. A source with direct knowledge of the matter said that Felda has hired CIMB Investment Bank, Maybank Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley to be joint global co-ordinators, while JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank are joint bookrunners. (Source: Business Times)
Plantation: Indonesia CPO discount to Malaysia emerging on thin capacity. Crude palm oil, free on board (FOB) Indonesia, is moving into a discount to the Malaysian grade on market talk of higher production as well as a lack of refining capacity on the archipelago. The Indonesian grade was offered at USD917.5 per tonne on Monday, a 1.4% discount to Malaysia. This could widen as traders in Jakarta say they cannot cope with more orders of processed palm oil, as refining capacity is at the maximum. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)
Hibiscus in oilfield deal
Hibiscus Petroleum, which has requested for a suspension of its stock pending an announcement, is to buy a stake in an oilfield concession priced between USD50m (RM150m) and USD70m (RM210m), said a source. The company, which is the first listed Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) in Malaysia, is expected to make an announcement today. Located outside of Malaysia, this oilfield is said to come with a concessionary lifespan of some 20 years and would be providing recurring income to the company starting from its financial year ending 31 March, 2013. (StarBiz)
Genting game to fly punters to Miami
The Genting Group is dead serious about the potential of its casino report plan in sunny Miami, so much so that it is willing to buy 50% of seats to make direct flights happen from Asia to Miami. If Miami can’t attract non-stop flights from Asia, Genting is “prepared to bankroll and subsidize some of the flights,” Colin Au, president of Genting Americas said. (Financial Daily)
Court nod for HL Islamic Bank to take over EONCap Islamic Bank
Hong Leong Islamic Bank has been given court approval for it to take over the entire business of EONCap Islamic Bank with effect from 1 Nov 2011. HL Islamic Bank said the High Court had granted the vesting order for the transfer of the entire business including all assets and liabilities of EONCap Islamic Bank. Following the vesting, EONCap Islamic Bank will become a dormant company. (Financial Daily)
Maybank ties up with India’s Axis Bank for remittance services
Malayan Banking expects 15% growth in remittances for its Maybank Money Express (MME) service following its tie-up with Axis bank of India to introduce remittance services to beneficiary accounts in India. Maybank said this service offered competitive service charge to its customers and it also reduced the time taken for remittances from Malaysia to India compared to conventional remittance method (Swift) which took about two days to reach the beneficiary. (Financial Daily)
KL Eco City to get off the ground early 2012
After more than a decade of delay, property developer SP Setia expects to start working on the RM6bn KL Eco City, opposite Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, by early next year. In its filing to the stock exchange yesterday, SP Setia said Kuala Lumpur City Hall or Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) had finally formalized the privatization of the 10ha cluster of land parcels in the Kampung Haji Abdullah Hukum area. The land is being alienated to KL Eco City SB (KLEC), which is owned by SP Setia and Yayasan Gerakbakti Kebangsaan on a 60:40 basis. (BT)
Engtex snags cheap land in Puncak Alam.
Engtex’s 70%-unit Tiara Best SB acquired two parcels of agriculture land in a public auction, measuring 182 acres in Puncak Alam for RM31m, or RM3.90 psf. The group is planning to convert the agricultural land into industrial land and develop it into an integrated industrial park with a GDV of RM166m. (Financial Daily)
Petronas records the highest pre-tax profit
PETALING JAYA: More than half of the 47 Federal Government companies were profitable in 2009 with pre-tax profit totalling RM93.06bil. According to the Auditor-General's Report, about 59.6% or 28 companies had been profitable. Of the companies, 14 had been profitable for three consecutive years up till 2009. Among the top three companies with the highest pre-tax profit were Petronas at RM89.4bil, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd at RM339.5mil and Cyberview Sdn Bhd at RM79.3bil. The total pre-tax profit for the 28 companies totalled RM89.9bil in 2009, down from RM97.1bil in 2008. (The Star)
Supermax third-quarter earnings decline on price volatility
PETALING JAYA: Supermax Corp Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011 fell 18.9% to RM30.91mil from RM38.12mil in the previous corresponding period due to continuously high volatility in both natural rubber and nitrile latex prices. “Compared with a year ago, the price of natural rubber latex has risen by 23.4% while nitrile latex prices have increased even more sharply by 41.6%,” it said in a note to Bursa Malaysia yesterday. The company said although profitability was lower than last year, it is seeing positive signs for a rebound after recording a second consecutive quarter of core profit growth. “This can be attributed to a sustained retracement in natural rubber latex prices from a high of RM10.87 per kg wet in April 2011 to RM7.91 as at Oct 21, 2011. Supermax's revenue for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011, however, rose to RM271.42mil from RM235.10mil a year earlier. (The Star)
DiGi.Com net profit marginally higher
PETALING JAYA: DiGi.Com Bhd saw its net profit rising by a marginal 1.08% to RM292.45mil for the third quarter ended Sept 30 compared with RM289.31mil for the corresponding period last year. This was due mainly to accelerated depreciation charges of RM306.8mil during 3Q2011, compared with RM196.69mil in 3Q2010. DiGi.Com's average revenue per user for the quarter in review also fell to RM50 compared with RM53 last year. (The Star)
PT Bank CIMB Niaga net profit higher
PETALING JAYA: PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk reported an unaudited consolidated net profit of 2.38 trillion rupiah (RM844.65mil) as at September 2011, up 33% from 1.79 trillion rupiah in the same period last year. This translated to earnings per share (EPS) of 95.10 rupiah, higher than the 74.98 rupiah recorded for the same period last year. CIMB Niaga's higher profit was largely driven by an increase in total operating income of 1.15 trillion rupiah to 7.65 trillion rupiah in September 2011, compared to 6.50 trillion rupiah for the corresponding period last year.
YTL Comm plans more base stations
KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) will be setting up additional 1,500 base stations in the country bringing its total to 4,000 by end-2012 to expand coverage for its 4G mobile Internet-with-voice service, Yes. “We started with 1,200 base stations when we introduced our service last November. Today, we have some 2,000 base stations covering the whole Peninsular Malaysia. We're almost a year now and we're doubling the sites in 12 months,” chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said at a joint briefing by YTL Comms and research firm IDC. He said by year-end it should have 2,500 base stations running and that Yes' coverage encompasses the entire North-South Expressway, the west coast, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.
The company, however, did not reveal the investment for the additional base stations. It was reported that the company had invested some RM2.5bil in the Yes 4G infrastructure. In an interview with StarBiz earlier, Lee said YTL Comms had allocated RM3.3bil for the deployment of its base stations and had so far spent more than US$200mil. YTL Comms intends to step up its coverage to 85% of the population from 65% currently. Yes currently has some 300,000 subscribers. YTL Comms also intends to extend its services to Sabah and Sarawak and is currently awaiting for green lights from the Government. (The Star)
Genting Malaysia is acquiring two IT support services entities, E-Genting and Ascend International from sister company Genting Singapore for RM48m and RM2m respectively. The related party transaction will enable Genting Malaysia to reap cost savings. Genting Singapore acquired E-Genting in 2005 for RM87.4m and Ascend for HK$2 in 2007. The services provided by the acquiree group are mainly to the Genting Malaysia group of companies, comprising IT, implementation, support and maintenance services as well as Malaysian WorldCard loyalty programme management services. (Financial Daily)
Bursa Malaysia has granted RHB Capital a further extension of time of six months to complete the implementation of its rights issue to raise gross proceeds of approximately RM1.3bn for the proposed acquisition of a substantial stake in PT Bank Mestika Dharma. (Star Biz)
The Energy Commission (EC) is appointing consultants to advise the commission on future power plant bids, which includes possible replacement plants for the existing first generation independent power producers (IPP). According to Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin, 4,500MW more of gas-based power generation would be required by 2017 to replace retired capacities and meet new demand. The first unit of 750MW in peninsular Malaysia is expected to be open for competitive bidding by the 1Q12. Sources say it is likely to be a gas-fired power plant with a 21 year concession. The current problems faced by Tenaga Nasional Bhd regarding the shortage of gas may be a boost for the first generation gas-fired IPPs as they negotiate extensions of their power purchasing agreements. Sources say that while some regard the gas shortage as temporary, others think that it could signal that Petronas is rationing the supply of gas. Also, adding power from coal-fired power plants costs 30 sen per kilowatt hour (KwH) compared with that from gas-fired power plants at less than 20 sen KwH. Until the new coal-fired power plants come up by 2015-2016 Tenaga may look towards extending the gas-fired IPPs or convince Petronas for more availability of gas. (Star Biz)
Toyota Motor said it would trim production at its Japanese vehicle assembly factories this week, from yesterday to Friday, due to a shortage of Thai-made parts as floods in the country disrupted supply. The world’s biggest automaker would cancel overtime at its four directly owned vehicle plants in Japan this week, while other subsidiaries and affiliates would also reduce vehicle assembly. Toyota estimated an output loss of about 6,000 vehicles in Japan for this week. It has also suspended production in Thailand at least through Friday, estimating lost output as of last week at 37,500 vehicles at its Southeast Asian export hub. (Reuters)
The owner and operator of the Port Klang Cruise Centre (PKCC) in Pulau Indah has come up with a proposal to convert the country's first cruise terminal into Port Klang's third container port. Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poo told BT that owner-operator Glenn Defense Marine (Asia) Sdn Bhd (GDMA) had submitted its proposal to the port authority.GDMA bought over PKCC from Star Cruises Terminal Sdn Bhd for RM118m in 2009. GDMA is part of the Glenn Marine Group of Companies which is partly owned by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT). When asked why the location was not considered in its 20-year master plan, Teh said the idea of converting the cruise terminal into a container port had not come about then. The Port Klang Development Master Plan 2010-2030 commissioned late last year in effect had identified five locations, which did not include the PKCC site. These were Pulau Che Mat Zin, Klang Bar Channel, Old Klang Bar Channel, Pulau Carey and Kampung Batu Laut. Industry players have questioned the need for a third port considering there is room for expansion in Northport and Westports.Teh, however, begged to differ, saying land for expansion at the two ports were limited."Westports has land for further development but this is land owned by Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam in his personal capacity, we cannot consider that in our plans," Teh said.(BT)
The 75.5 acre KL Metropolis development by Naza TTDI, which will house the new headquarters of Matrade has a total GDV of RM15bn. It will be completed by 2025 over three phases. The first phase involves an estimated GDV of RM6bn and will see the construction of the new Matrade HQ, an exhibition centre, a retail space offering more than 2m sq ft, a residential tower, two hotels and two office buildings. Naza TTDI will open a tender for the building of the RM628m Matrade HQ within two months. Phases 2 and 3 may include a five-star healthcare development and education establishments potentially involving business schools. (Financial Daily)
Malaysia is on the right path towards a digital economy by 2020 amid strong demand for new technology, says Nielsen, a leading global information and analytics provider. There is strong interest for new technology as Malaysians are ready for the changes as shown in the Malaysian Digital Consumer Report 2011, said Luca Griseri, Nielsen Malaysia director of customised research, client services. Malaysia's digital transformation programme is going to change consumers' behaviour, he told a press conference. Griseri said the report revealed that the take-up rate for smartphones and tablet computers is gaining significant momentum in Malaysia, and therefore the industry must ensure easy access for these devices. "Smartphone ownership is expected to double in the next 12 months to reach 89% from 48% currently, while tablet computers is likely to reach 75% from 18% presently," he said (Bernama).
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