Najib declares windfall for palm oil planters as general election looms
PM Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak announced windfall one-off payments to palm oil planters and their family yesterday, the latest in a string of giveaways ahead of an upcoming general election. The Federal Land Development Authority will distribute RM1.7bn to more than 112k members of its planters’ cooperative, as well as their wives and children. The government has already raised civil servants’ salaries, announced plans for a national minimum wage, and begun distributing RM500 cash handouts to the poor. (Malaysian Reserve)
CIMB Group buys BoC stake in the Philippines for RM881m
CIMB Group Holdings will pay RM881m or RM13.13/share for a 59.98% stake in Bank of Commerce (BoC) in the Philippines and thus extends its footprint further into the Asean banking sector. Its group CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said the purchase value of 1.14x price to book and at a premium of about RM110m was reasonable but warned that the multiple could rise to 1.3x upon alignment with CIMB’s accounting and provisional policies. (Malaysian Reserve)
Kencana Petroleum awarded RM474m Sarawak job
Kencana Petroleum’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kencana HL SB, has received a letter of award from Murphy Sarawak Oil Co Ltd for the fabrication of offshore topsides. The job is estimated at between RM460m and RM474m. It was given the award on 20 Apr and is expected to deliver the job from 1QFY13 to 2QFY13. (Malaysian Reserve)
Perisai Petroleum buys USD208m rig from PPL Shipyard
Perisai Petroleum Teknologi has announced its entry into the offshore drilling segment by ordering a USD208m (RM635m) rig from SembCorp Marine Ltd subsidiary, PPL Shipyard, to construct a jack-up rig, with an option for a second rig at a later date. The first Pacific Class 400 jack-up drilling rig is expected to be completed and delivered by end-July 2014, while the second unit of similar specification is set for delivery in 2Q15. (Financial Daily)
MMC to relist Malakoff next year
MMC Corp is expected to relist its 51% owned unit Malakoff Corp next year, a move which could involve an offer for sale by MMC of its shares in Malakoff, besides a new share sale in the power generation subsidiary. Group MD Datuk Hasni Harun said the planned relisting could see MMC offering to sell at least a quarter of its 51% block in Malakoff. This could mean MMC lowering its interest to 38.25%, thus reducing Malakoff to an associate company. (Financial Daily)
The identities of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd’s (FGVH) strategic foreign partner or partners will be announced next week. FGVH group president and chief executive officer Datuk Sabri Ahmad said the foreign partner or partners will assist in the areas that Felda does not have strong presence in, such as logistics, marketing, advertising and promotions. “Felda is strong in upstream operations but needs strong foreign strategic partners in downstream operations. We will announce who they are next week,” said Sabri. Sources had said FGVH had shortlisted four foreign strategic partners. Among those speculated to be in the running are Procter & Gamble and Behn Meyer & Co, which are already listed as joint venture partners of FGVH, and New York based Bunge Ltd and Archer Daniels Midlands Co. The purpose of the strategic partner is to grow the business across the value chain from being too reliant on upstream to mid-stream and downstream. (BT)
CIMB Group CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak is disappointed with the decision to unwind the share-swap deal between Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia, saying it had succeeded in establishing better cooperation between the two airlines. “It has laid the foundation for a stronger collaboration framework between the two companies and I don‟t think that could have been done without this period of cross-holding, rather ironically. We hope that the new framework gives rise to good cost savings for both MAS and AirAsia and is helpful to MAS‟s turnaround plan,” he added. (The Sun)
AirAsia has received Singapore‟s approval to start a hub in the island republic soon, say sources, allowing the airline to expand its network. Singapore has informed AirAsia it will get an air operator‟s certificate (AOC) as soon as possible, ending years of lobbying by Asia‟s biggest low-cost carrier to set up operations in the city-state. AirAsia chief executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was quoted last February as saying he aims to get clearance this year from the Singapore aviation authorities to fly to more destinations from Singapore. Fernandes told Channel NewsAsia he proposed to make the country a regional hub for his low-cost airline, alongside Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, naming India and China as key countries to which AirAsia is seeking approval to fly to. “This is a good boost for AirAsia as the current economic climate means more people will fly low-cost airlines for leisure and even business from Changi, which is an international hub,” another source said, adding AirAsia can compete with Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier unit Scoot. (Malaysian Insider)
AirAsia X (AAX) has registered another record-breaking quarterly load factor of 87% for 1Q12, an increase of six percentage points from the same quarter last year. AAX carried 690,000 passengers, a growth of 7.5% yoy. CEO Azran Osman-Rani said the airline‟s core markets remain Australia, Greater China and North Asia as they continue to deliver strong passenger growth. (Bernama)
Troubles at Malaysian Airlines (MAS) are deepening. Skytrax has placed the company‟s vaunted five-star airline ranking on watch following consistently poor feedback from passengers. Recent customer reviews have depicted the airline as „uncomfortable‟ while its service „lacked warmth‟. There were also complaints about the airline‟s fleet being „poorly maintained‟. Skytrax‟s review facility also has customers making unfavourable comparisons between MAS and Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines. (Financial Daily)
PPB Group has announced the receipt of two more approvals from the Chinese government on its proposed 20% stake purchase in Wilmar International Ltd's China flour milling units. To date, four of the seven selected China subsidiaries have received relevant regulatory authorities' approval. (Financial Daily)
Telekom Malaysia Bhd is still reviewing the documents on the request for proposal (RFP) in respect of digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB), its Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said Tuesday. He said the proposed bid would cover a very wide scope and not only backhaul services, which the company is currently providing to broadcasters. The RFP is for the building of infrastructure to migrate free-to-air television stations from analogue to digital by 2015. The deadline for the submission of proposals is July 24, 2012. (Bernama)
DiGi expects revenue contribution from its mobile data segment to reach 35% this year from 30% last year even as this segment continues to enjoy growth as opposed to the relatively saturated voice segment. Its CEO Henrik Clausen said DiGi aims to grow its revenue from mid to high single digit this year. It is expected to deliver a growth “much more” than the overall industry's projection of 5% helped by a growth in subscribers and an uptake in its data services, Clausen said. Clausen said DiGi expected to turn in an EBITDA margin similar to last year's, which stood at 46.4%. DiGi has set aside up to RM750m for capex in 2012. (StarBiz)
BIMB Holdings unlisted unit Bank Islam Malaysia is still in preliminary discussions with PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia to acquire a stake in the latter. Due to the regulatory uncertainty in Indonesia, BIMB MD Johan Abdullah said that the group is also engaging with the Indonesian authorities before it makes any decision to invest in the republic‟s capital market. BIMB already has a presence in Indonesia through its 65.22%-owned Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd (STMB). STMB controls 56% of PT Syarikat Takaful Indonesia, which in turn holds majority stakes in PT Asuransi Takaful Keluarga and PT Asuransi Takaful Umum. According to Johan, Takaful Malaysia is looking to consolidate and restructure its shareholdings in Takaful Keluarga and Takaful Umum under one umbrella company, and create a more efficient corporate structure. (Financial Daily)
Permanis Sdn Bhd recently signed an exclusive multi-million dollar agreement to supply beverages to Revenue Valley Sdn Bhd, which owns and operates food outlets, Manhattan Fish Market (MFM), Tony Roma‟s and Popeyes. The five-year deal sees Permanis, the official bottler for PepsiCo in Malaysia, supplying Pepsi, 7Up, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Lipton, Revive, Tropicana Twister and Bleu mineral water to all 18 MFMs, six Tony Roma‟s and five Popeyes outlets in the country. "This is a huge milestone for us in many ways," said Permanis CEO, Erwin Selvarajah. "These outlets are some of the best-known food names in Malaysia and the United States and synonymous with high-quality meals. We‟re delighted that Revenue Valley has selected Permanis to be their beverage partner of choice," he added. He also said that in addition to Revenue Valley, Permanis would look to forge other innovative business partnerships in the future, to introduce its world-class products to a wider consumer base. (Bernama)
Suria Capital's venture into property and development is now taking shape after securing 9.4ha here for a landmark project. The group aims to have a mixed development there to complement Yayasan Sabah's proposed Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) nearby. Suria group chairman Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin said it now has the land title after paying half of the RM142m land premium. He said the project will involve a gross development value of RM1.8bn, with construction spanning five to eight years. "The mixed development will include two hotels where we are looking at 800 to 1,000 rooms, plus commercial, retail and residential lots," he added. (BT)
Eleven Malaysian companies have bidded for the construction job for the interim port facilities of the new Samalaju Port in Bintulu. Tender for the package, the second for the port project called by Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) closed last Wednesday. The package is worth about RM200m with various works to be completed between nine and 12 months. It is understood that BPHB targets to award the contract for the interim port facility package later this month. BPHB CEO Datuk Mior Ahmad Baiti Lub said the interim facilities would include a 300m barge berth with a depth of 7m. Based on its masterplan, BPHB targets to commence the construction of the port on 450ha early next year for full completion in 2016. (Star Biz)
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