IOI Corp Bhd and Dutaland's Pertama Land & Development Sdn Bhd have mutually agreed to back out of a sale and purchase agreement that was earlier disputed. Pertama Land had, vide its letter dated Oct 25 2011, disputed IOI Corp's termination of the SPA on October 25 2011. Sri Mayvin had initially agreed to buy 12,000ha of oil plantation land from Pertama Land for RM830m. The former terminated the deal with Pertama Land, however, saying that it (Pertama Land) had failed to upkeep and maintain its properties, besides there being discrepancies relating to the properties. IOI will be refunded the RM83m deposit it had put up. (BT)
Meda Inc Bhd has proposed to buy over property developer Pesona Alfa Sdn Bhd from its shareholder for RM35m.Pesona has a subsidiary which owns a 5.8ha parcel of commercial land within the township of Cyberjaya, Selangor. (BT)
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has approved the proposed merger of Kencana Petroleum Bhd and SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd. (BT)
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) has revised the outlook on Tenaga Nasional Bhd to negative from stable. S&P also affirmed Tenaga’s 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit rating, Tenaga’s 'axA+/axA-1' ASEAN regional scale rating and its 'BBB+' issue rating on Tenaga's senior unsecured notes. S&P credit analyst Rajiv Vishwanathan said, "we revised the outlook to negative because we expect Tenaga's weakened profitability and higher operating costs to continue to weaken its risk profile. Our view is based on our anticipation that higher fuel prices stemming from a shortage of gas supply will continue to burden the company's cash flows. Moreover, the company is likely to incur capital expenditure on its hydroelectric and thermal power projects over the next 12 months." He added, “We assess the stand-alone credit profile of Tenaga to be 'bbb-'. The rating incorporates our opinion of a "high" likelihood that the government of Malaysia would provide timely and sufficient extraordinary support to Tenaga in the event of financial distress. We believe that a more transparent and defined tariff regime could improve the company's financial risk profile”. (Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, Reuters)
Proton, Group Lotus, 1Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT) and its owner Tan Sri Tony Fernandes announced that the legal dispute in the English Courts relating to the Lotus and Team Lotus brands has now ended amicably with the parties agreeing to the settlement terms earlier this month. The deal saw the Lotus brand reunited under the sole ownership of Group Lotus. 1MRT would race in the 2012 Formula 1 season under the name Caterham F1 Team and will use a Caterham chassis. (Bernama, Financial Daily)
Top Glove Corp Bhd expects a better year ahead with a bigger profit margin amid expectations of lower raw material costs and stronger a US dollar. Chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said latex prices had dropped from as high as RM11/kg to RM7/kg and the floods in Thailand would not affect rubber plantations in the southern region and the supply of natural rubber latex production. He said, “We expect our profit margin on sales to be back to normal, about 8% next year. Top Glove will focus on organic instead of external growth because of cost efficiency and the lower risk involved.” (Financial Daily)
Benalec Holdings Bhd, which has requested for its stock to be suspended pending an announcement, is close to securing a land reclamation project that will cover about 5,000 acres in Tanjung Piai in the southwestern tip of Johor, sources said. The contract was being awarded by the Johor government to Spektrum Kukuh Sdn Bhd and Spektrum Budi Sdn Bhd, both of which are 70:30 JV between Benalec and certain individuals. According to sources, Benalec will undertake a private placement soon to raise funds for the project. The source said the parcel at the southwest of Tanjung Piai was some 17km or 9 nautical miles from the major petrochemical complex on Jurong Island in Singapore. That part of Tanjung Piai is also suitable to be a deepwater petroleum terminal facility, similar to what Dialog Group Bhd is developing in Pengerang, Johor. Meanwhile, the land to be reclaimed in the southeast of Tanjung Piai may include a container port to serve Petroliam Nasional Bhd's planned RM60bn refinery and petrochemical integrated development complex in Pengerang. Sources also said it was likely that Singapore's Jurong International, the master planner for Jurong petrochemical complex, would be appointed the master planner for the reclaimed land in Tanjung Piai. (Starbiz)
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has unveiled a new partnership model with its concessionaires, aimed at uplifting the company's existing commercial partnerships to a new dimension of growth as it prepares for new and expanded commercial opportunities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2). Managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said commercial services will play an increasingly significant role for MAHB. He said the airport operator is addressing all the factors such as sales per passenger for concessionaires and passenger and revenue growth for airports as an integral part of the partnership model. Additionally, MAHB is expanding its commercial composition at its airports. (Financial Daily)
The proposed high-speed rail (HSR) project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is not driven by any proposal from the private sector. Instead, said Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) CEO Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, the project would take shape based largely on its needs and viability. “This HSR plan will ultimately depend on the need to have such infrastructure, although there have been a number of proposals received. We are starting afresh this time around in terms of concept, alignment and infrastructure plan,” he told StarBiz yesterday. In comparison, the MRT project was first initiated and proposed by a joint venture between MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd that subsequently become the MRT project delivery partner. Mohd Nur confirmed that pre-feasibility studies for the HSR project had just been completed. He added that the tender for the feasibility studies would be opened before year-end and work would start early next year. There had also been an open tender for the pre-feasibility studies. On the cost of the project, Mohd Nur said it was too early to estimate at this point, adding that it would become clearer after all the tender exercises were done. It has been reported that the KL-Singapore HSR could cost between RM8-14bn depending on the technology used.(Starbiz)
Perwaja Holdings Bhd is expected to secure a sizeable iron ore mining concession from the Terengganu government “anytime soon”, according to industry sources. To enable economies of scale, sources said, Perwaja's unit Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd should ideally be given about 500ha in Bukit Besi to mine iron ore with a mining lease running for at least 10 years, which later will be subject to renewal. The 2,400ha Bukit Besi area is believed to hold 50m tonnes of iron ore reserves, which has the highest quality in Malaysia at 70% Fe (iron). (Starbiz)
Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS), which will be relocating its headquarters (HQ) from Subang to KL International Airport (KLIA) in February next year, will cut several routes including those to Dubai, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Cape Town, in a bid to reduce costs, sources said. The sources added that MAS would no longer rely on Kota Kinabalu as a hub and would cut flights out of the Sabah capital to destinations such as Haneda, Seoul and Osaka. The sources claimed that the airline might add Abu Dhabi as a destination in place of Dubai, a route served by Emirates several times weekly, but whether it was a wise move would remain to be seen as Abu Dhabi is an equally competitive route. (Star Biz)
Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) disposed off 70% of its shares in MAS Catering Sdn Bhd (MCSB) in 2002 as part of the airline company's financial restructuring strategy, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. Najib who is also Finance Minister said the move was to enable MAS to concentrate on its core activities of providing domestic and international flights and cargo services. "It was to also provide MAS much needed funds at that point while retaining its 30% equity in MCSB to take care of its interest," he said in a written reply at the Dewan Rakyat. (The Star)
On 8 Nov 2011 Plus Express Berhad (PEB) received a letter from UEM Group Berhad (“UEM”) and the Employees Provident Fund Board (“EPF”) confirming that all conditions precedent pursuant to the proposed acquisition have been fulfilled. The completion of the proposed acquisition is now subject to UEM and EPF confirming that they are satisfied with the revised terms and conditions of the existing concession agreements held by the Malaysian concession companies under PEB, which is still pending. The completion shall take place on the fourteenth business day after receiving the above confirmation letter. On 4 November 2011 UEM and EPF have also agreed to allow PEB to pay a dividend of approximately RM106.6m to PEB’s shareholders as of an entitlement date to be determined by the Board. (BMSB)
RM135m plan to enhance Northport container terminals
Northport (Malaysia) will invest RM135m in new facilities and equipment at its container terminals. Northport hopes to enhance its capacity and efficiency of the container-handling facilities operated, in particular that of Container Terminal 1. Container Terminal 1 and Container Terminal 3 service the larger range of container vessels calling at Northport. (BT)
Masterskill says won’t be affected by PTPTN proposal
Masterskill Education Group says it will not be affected by the National Higher Education Fund Corp’s (PTPTN) proposal to restrict loans if it is approved. “Masterskill University College of Health Sciences is not involved and this we will not be affected by the PTPTN move to stop providing loans for the expenses of students,” the group said. (Financial Daily)
SEGi sees strong 2011 after profit hit RM55m in nine months
SEG International (SEGi) is optimistic it can achieve strong results for 2011 after its cumulative profit after tax for the first three quarters hit RM54.7m, exceeding the previous year’s full year result of RM42.1m. At a media briefing, SEGi CEO Lee Kok Cheng revealed that the company was slated to open a new campus in Ipoh that would commence operations around 2014. (StarBiz)
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