BHIC: Confident of rebuilding orderbook
Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) is confident of replenishing its orderbook and sustaining its business operation amid a challenging environment, according to executive deputy chairman and MD Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor. He said that the current orderbook of RM860m is expected to last until 2015. He added that the company is not in the habit of telling what is it working on but it’ll rebuild the orderbook. Executive director David W. Berry said 80% of its current orderbook were for jobs related to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). (StarBiz)
BHIC: Defends RM9bn patrol craft job
Boustead Heavy Industries Corp (BHIC) denied it overcharged the government to build six navy vessels with armament capabilities for up to RM9bn. BHIC MD Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Md Nor said unlike the first batch of offshore patrol vessels (OPV), the second generation vessels which will be delivered from 2017 onwards, will have more sophisticated combat capabilities. The contract for the first batch of OPVs was awarded in 1999 to BHIC, then known as PSC Industries Bhd (PSCI). (Financial Daily)
MBSB: To focus on retail business, trims loan growth target
Malaysia Building Society (MBSB) is going to focus its business on the retail segment, according to its president and CEO, Datuk Ahmad Zaini. He said a large component (of the retail business focus) will be personal financing and home mortgage programs, and very small auto financing. Ahmad Zaini said on Thursday that the focus would help MBSB achieve its 15% to 20% loans growth target, adding that this should translate to growth of about RM3bn. He said MBSB had seen an increase of 118.81% y-o-y in its personal financing loans to RM8.72bn in its FY2011 from RM3.99bn the preceding year. Meanwhile, its revenue for FY2011 was RM1.27bn, a 65.02% y-o-y growth from RM769.94m. (Financial Daily)
Hibiscus Petroleum: Sets up Aussie unit
Hibiscus Petroleum announced to Bursa Malaysia that its wholly-owned subsidiary Oceania Hibiscus Sdn Bhd has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia, Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd with an initial paid-up share capital of A$95 comprising 95 ordinary shares of A$1 each. (StarBiz)
SEGi GO may be imminent
A general offer may be announced for SEGi by as early as the end of next week should issues between interested stakeholders and Navis Capital Partners, which recently became the second largest shareholder, be ironed out. Sources said while nothing had been confirmed, a GO is a very real possibility and would depend on several factors, including board-level representation, level of management control by Navis and key performance indices. Sources also did not rule out Navis bringing in SEGi MD Datuk Seri Clement Hii, EPF or another GLIC as a joint offeror in the GO. (StarBiz)
An audit into the financial irregularities of Xian Leng Holdings showed that RM85.7m of the company's money were made to several contractors "under questionable circumstances". The audit revealed that out of the RM90.7m which had supposedly been spent on capex for fish farm development, RM85.7m recorded was shown to be paid to four contractors. "The RM85.7m paid to the four contractors were made under questionable circumstances. The bulk of payments were made via cash cheques and there was a lack of corroborative evidence shown that the amount was paid to and/or received by the four contractors," said the audit report. The RM5m balance of the capex was paid to 52 other contractors, it said. (Starbiz)
Irregular capex amounting to RM90.7m at Xian Leng
Three former directors of Xian Leng Holdings Bhd did not follow the group’s accounting procedures in capital expenditure (capex) amounting to RM901.7m between FY05 and FY08, a special audit of the company has found. According to filling with Bursa, the group said the three former directors and substantial shareholders former managing director Ng Huan Tong, his wife Lim Wan Hong and Chua Chong Seng were the signatories of cash cheques amounting to RM85.7m given out under questionable circumstances to pay four contractors for the construction of fish ponds. (Financial Daily)
Favelle secures 5 contracts worth RM102m
Favelle Favco has secured 5 purchase order contracts worth RM102m through three of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. It said the contracts were secured through Favelle Favco Cranes (M) SB (three contracts), Favelle Favco Cranes Pty Ltd and Kroll Cranes A/S (one contract each). “The contracts secured are for the supply of three offshore cranes and spare parts,” it said. (Financial Daily)
Hitachi plans to acquire Malaysia headquartered eBworx to expand network
Hitachi Ltd has initiated take-over proceedings to acquire eBworx, a financial IT solutions company headquartered in Malaysia. Hitachi intends to expand its system solutions business in South-East Asia and China, by gaining access to eBworx's extensive customer base, software products, and development base, including highly-skilled human resources. The share acquisition proposal is subject to approval from regulatory authorities. Hitachi also aims to establish a one-stop service framework targeting Japanese and local financial institutions that were increasing their investments in global operations especially in Asia. By acquiring eBworx, Hitachi would have a business platform to provide comprehensive system solutions to financial institutions as eBworx has an extensive track record and established reputation with leading banks in South-East Asia and China. (StarBiz)
Navis buys stake in cinema operator
Navis Capital Partners has bought a majority stake in the country’s 3rd largest cinema operator MCAT Box Office SB (MBO) at a price of RM104m. The investment was done via a combination of existing shares from the current sole shareholder, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, and new shares issued for a substantial capital injection from Navis. Upon completion of the exercise, Navis and Rashid will emerged as the majority shareholder of MBO. (StarBiz)
Rafique resigns as TNB CFO
Tenaga Nasional’s CFO has resigned yesterday to pursue career opportunities elsewhere, according to a Bursa Malaysia filling. The 47-year-old chartered accountant Mohd Rafique Merican resigned “to pursue better opportunity and career advancement,” leaving without any disagreement with the board of directors nor any issues to be highlighted to TNB’s shareholders. (StarBiz)
Terengganu approves land for new hospital
The Terengganu state government has approved the lease of land in Batu Burok to build and operate a new 130-bed specialist hospital which is operating at or near maximum capacity,” said its chairman, Datuk Roslan Awang Chik, said in a statement. “The hospital, on a 23,424 sq m land, will be the city’s flagship specialist hospital that will serve the approximately 338,000 people of Kuala Terengganu.” (StarBiz)
Naza TTDI’s listing agenda
Naza TTDI SB is eyeing a listing on the local bourse in the next 3-5 years to achieve its aim of becoming one of the largest property developers in the country. Deputy executive chairman-cum-group MD SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin said although internally the company was “all set to go”, it would be more prudent to wait for the right time to undertake the listing exercise. “We want to ensure the company realizes the right value from the listing and will wait for the right market conditions and external factors before proceeding,” Faliq told StarBiz. He said the local market would be quite challenging these few years given the high number of projects coming onstream, especially high-rise residential and commercial projects. To address the market uncertainties, Faliq said Naza TTDI would be launching projects with good demand including terrace houses, shop lots, and also its “bread and butter” township products. (StarBiz)
The government has awarded a contract worth as much as RM530m to China’s CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd (CSR ZELC) to supply trains for the Ampang LRT extension project. CSR ZELC received the award to build and supply 20 sets of six-car LRT vehicles. The trains are meant to service the existing LRT network and the new line to Putra Heights. CSR ZELC is one of the major electric locomotive manufacturers in China and a subsidiary of China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp Ltd. (BT)
The Selangor government has approved a RM5m allocation for a flood mitigation project in Klang town, MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said. He said the project was necessary taking into account the flash floods that hit Klang on March 30, namely in Kampug Delek, Telok Gadong, parts of Pandamaran, Kota Alam Shah, Selat Kelang and Taman Seri Andalas. "The state has found that more than RM20m is needed for flood mitigation in Klang alone and the RM5m is the initial allocation." he said. Khalid said the state government had also approved an allocation of RM3m to assist about 2,500 families affected by the floods, with each household getting RM500 (Star)
Asean countries should embrace full gas market liberalisation as the situation of subsidised gas prices that continue to distort the market is not sustainable in the long term, said International Gas Union (IGU) president Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim. Rahim warned that increasing reliance on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, which were based on market price, would leave South-East Asia's economies little option but to progressively increase gas prices to be near or at market parity in key gas consuming countries in this region. The IGU statement also said over the next five years, regasification projects in Asean countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam were expected to deliver 37m tonnes per year of regasification capacity. (Starbiz)
The Securities Commission (SC) has approved eight private retirement scheme (PRS) providers. This marks a milestone in the country's development of a long-term sustainable private retirement industry, the SC said in a statement yesterday. The eight PRS providers are AmInvestment Management Sdn Bhd, American International Assurance Bhd, CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd, Hwang Investment Management Bhd, ING Funds Bhd, Manulife Unit Trust Bhd, Public Mutual Bhd, and RHB Investment Management Sdn Bhd. The SC said PRS providers were selected on the basis of their expertise in investment and/or pension fund management, experience in global pensions management, financial strength, governance structure and proposed business model. The approval of the PRS providers follows the release and announcement in December last year of the SC's "Eligibility Requirements for Private Retirement Scheme Providers", which stipulated the expectations and requirements for interested and qualified parties. The SC has issued the Guidelines on Private Retirement Schemes. (BT)
SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd’s merger with Kencana Petroleum Bhd is expected to be completed by June. SapuraCrest and Kencana yesterday said they had mutually agreed with Sapura-Kencana Petroleum Bhd to extend the deadline to meet all merger conditions to May 31. They told Bursa Malaysia that the proposed disposal, capital reduction and repayment and share issue in relation to the merger are expected to be completed by June. (BT)
A price war in the synthetic rubber glove market would probably not materialise as growing demand from developed nations will be more than enough to offset the need to push prices dramatically down. Hartalega Holdings Bhd MD Kuan Kam Hon said, “The nitrile glove business should grow by 30% this year. Growth will continue in Europe because of the lower cost of nitrile.” Hartalega says they have problems meeting demand, illustrating that there is a shortage of nitrile gloves. Kuan added “The glovemakers will have better business while the new ones will find it challenging. It will take time for them to come into the nitrile business, build up their reputation and trust”. (Star Biz)
The Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC) is turning its sights to new markets such as Russia and South America to boost the export value of rubber-based products. It wants local manufacturers to diversify their product mix to suit these non-traditional markets. To help clients and potential buyers to contact Malaysian producers online, the MREPC yesterday launched its marketplace website. (Sun)
Permodalan BSN Bhd (PBSN) has announced a gross distribution of 2.5 sen per unit for its Amanah Saham Bank Simpanan Nasional (ASBSN) and 1.5 sen per unit for its BSN Dana Al-Jadid (Jadid). It involves a payment of RM6.79m and RM2.55m respectively, it said yesterday. Based on the average selling price for the financial year 2011, the income distribution is equivalent to a gross yield of 6.70% for ASBSN and 5.84% for Jadid respectively. (BT)
Pre-qualification exercises for various tender packages relating to Petronas' refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) project in Pengerang, Johor will begin as early as 3Q12. Petronas completed a detailed feasibility study on the project in Oct 11. The US$20bn project is on schedule. (Edge Daily)
Land & General (L&G) is mulling ventures outside the Klang Valley. It is considering forays into Penang and Johor Baru as it looks to replenish its landbank. Managing director Low Gay Teck said the company would consider acquiring land either through outright purchase or through JVs with property owners. Other than property development, the company is also involved in oil palm cultivation and provision of education services. Low said the company had no plans at the moment to sell or develop its 2,500 acres of oil palm, or expand its oil palm business, which currently contributes less than 5% of total revenue. (Malaysian Reserve)
RAM Ratings downgraded the rating of Silver Bird Group's RM30m commercial papers or medium-term notes programme (CP/MTN) from C3/NP to D yesterday. At the same time, the ratings agency lifted its negative outlook rating watch on the group. The downgrade came after facility agent AmInvestment Bank's announcement through the fully automated system for issuing or tendering that Silver Bird had failed to redeem RM15m of its outstanding CP/MTN on the scheduled maturity date that was yesterday. (Starbiz)
Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd's (CMS) recent decision to abort its plan to jointly develop a US$2bn (RM6.12bn) aluminium smelter with Rio Tinto Aluminium Ltd will preserve the group's coffers, according to RAM Ratings. However, RAM expects CMS to embark on new projects under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy and expand its current operations in a moderate pace. (BT)
RAM Ratings has upgraded the rating of Cahya Mata Sarawak's RM399.6m serial bonds and the conditional payment obligations of the facilitator bank, from A2 to A1. The rating upgrade was premised on the sustained improvement in CMS' financial results over the past five years. It said the rating had a stable outlook and pointed out that under the transaction structure, CMS assumed the risk of non-payment of the conditional payment obligations by the facilitator bank. (Starbiz)
TDM Bhd has received the state government's approval on the lease of land in Batu Burok to build and operate a new 130-bed specialist hospital. Chief executive officer Badrul Hisham Mahari said the new hospital will cost RM170.2m, excluding the cost of the lease of the land and incidental fees. "It will be financed by internally generated funds and/or bank borrowings, which the board has yet to decide," Badrul Hisham said after the company's shareholders meeting yesterday. Chairman Datuk Roslan Awang Chik said the new eight-storey hospital will replace the current Kuala Terengganu Specialist (KTS) hospital which is operating near maximum capacity. "The hospital, on a 23,424 sq m land, will be the city's flagship specialist hospital that will serve about 338k people of Kuala Terengganu," he said. (BT)
OldTown is setting up a new food processing centre in China as part of its expansion plan to penetrate the Chinese F&B market. The RM5m investment is part of a JV between OldTown (19%), its Hong Kong-based related party OldTown Asia Pacific (11%) and a Chinese company which holds OldTown's master franchise licence (70%). (Edge Daily)
CHATIME Malaysia plans to open another 50 outlets nationwide by the third quarter of this year, from the present 50 it already has. Chatime Malaysia managing director Bryan Loo said it expects to have at least 100 bubble tea outlets nationwide by year-end. "We are looking at expanding across Malaysia which includes Sabah and Sarawak as well," Loo told reporters after the launch of the BCARD and Chatime collaboration at a Chatime outlet in Bandar Puteri Puchong yesterday. "We hold the master franchise for Malaysia and we are also looking at buying the master franchise for two other countries soon," he said. Besides Malaysia, Chatime has over 700 retail outlets across the Asia Pacific region. (BT)
Operator of KSL Resort Johor Baru, one of Malaysia's biggest city hotels, says there is big potential for the hotel industry here. KSL Resort executive chairman Ku Hwa Seng said the city's average occupancy rate had increased from 68% two years ago to 78% last year. KSL Resort is having its soft opening today. The five-star resort hotel, built on top of the KSL Mall in Taman Century, will feature 868 rooms in two face-to-face 20-storey tower blocks. Of the total rooms, 596 are superior rooms, 239 are deluxe rooms and 33 are suites. The resort hotel also boasts the biggest restaurant seating 560 persons. It will also have a pillarless ballroom on the seventh floor to accomodate up to 1,000 people. Developed at a cost of RM200m by KSL Holdings Bhd, the hotel will be fully opened by May 15. Ku said the resort hotel formed part of the RM1bn development in the area, which also features the shopping mall, which was opened in December 2010, and an exclusive condominium called D' Esplanade Residence, scheduled for opening in the third quarter of this year. (BT)
Yung Kong Galvanising Industries Bhd’s unit Star Shine Marketing Sdn Bhd has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Kota Tropika Development Sdn Bhd to sell a plot of land in Klang for RM12.22m. (BT)
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