Takaful Malaysia to open four more myCare Centres
Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd will open four more Takaful myCare Centres in Putrajaya, Malacca, Sungai Petani and Temerloh this year. General Manager (retail agency) Mohd Suhaimi Ahmad said each centre would cost an average RM500,000. The centres in Putrajaya and Malacca would be opened in July while the other two by year-end, he told Bernama. (StarBiz)
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport closes one of its runways for 2 months
AirAsia Bhd and its associate Thai AirAsia are expected to be among the hardest hit carriers when Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport closes one of its runways for two months beginning today. AirAsia executives said the airline expects longer turnaround time for its Bangkok operations as a result of the temporary closure of the East runway, but stressed that it doesn’t plan to reduce the frequency of flights to Bangkok. (Financial Daily)
Bumper dividend for ECM Libra shareholders
Shareholders of ECM Libra Financial Group Bhd could be in for a bumper dividend after the group’s RM890m disposal of its investment banking and securities business to K&N Kenanga Holdings Bhd. According to financial executives close to the situation, ECM Libra is expected to distribute the cash proceeds from the divestment to existing shareholders in the form of a special dividend of at least 60 sen per share. (Financial Daily)
Sime woos back investors
Sime Darby Bhd’s uptrending share price proves that investors’ confidence has returned to the once scandalized conglomerate, chairman Tun Musa Hitam said. In 2010, Sime Darby announced it had to make provisions for about RM1bn due to cost overruns for certain projects in its energy and utilities division. Nonetheless, Musa said the conglomerate is now thriving, mainly because of palm oil and also its industrial and motor divisions. (BT)
Kelington major owners to hold on to stakes
Major shareholders of Kelington Group Bhd have no immediate plans to sell their stake in the company despite investors approaching them, said its chief operating officer Ong Weng Leong. Kelington, which offers ultra high purity gas (UHP) and chemical delivery systems, is founded by the company’s chief executive officer Raymond Gan and Gan and Ong have a combined 47.2% stake in the company. (BT)
Dijaya to acquire a land in Jalan Pudu for RM54m
Dijaya Corp Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Advent Nexus SB has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd to purchase freehold land for a building in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur for RM54m. In an exchange filing last Friday, the property developer said that the proposed acquisition is in line with the group’s direction of increasing its investment property portfolio. (Malaysian Reserve)
Johor’s Nusajaya projects main attraction for Singapore buyers
Strong demand from Singaporeans for property projects, especially in Nusajaya, Johor, is a comforting note for UEM Land Holdings Bhd. Its managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said the republic’s move to tighten housing regulation has affected the purchasing power within Singapore. He added that most of the foreign buyers were Singaporeans but they also have buyers from Japan, China, UK, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea and the Middle East. (Malaysian Reserve)
Glenealy Plantations acquires 51% stake in Willsmart for total 100%
Glenealy Plantations (Malaya) Bhd through its subsidiary Bright Palm Pte Ltd has acquired 102 shares, representing a 51% stake, in Willsmart International Ltd from Camelodge Ltd for RM28.8m. In an exchange filing last Friday, the company said upon acquisition, its shareholding in Willsmart has increased to 100%. (Malaysian Reserve)
Healthcare: June 14 decision on IHH cornerstone investors. The IHH Healthcare Bhd (IHH) board will have to decide by Thursday whether to increase the size and allocation of shares to cornerstone investors given the preliminary demand from these investors for the company's initial public offering (IPO) is now in excess of 2b shares. (Source: The Star)
Plantation: FGV set to expand Canada ops. FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), en route to a listing on Bursa Malaysia this month, is set to expand Malaysia's investment footprint in Canada this year via increased investments of another CAD30m-40m in the canola business. The expansion of the company's operations is meant to upgrade the port facilities so they can get products out of the port faster to its export markets. (Source: Business Times)
MYBiomass Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) and Sime Darby, has dispatched its first oil palm biomass shipment for testing. Twelve tonnes of oil palm biomass would be shipped to a pilot plant in Italy which converts biomass into industrial sugar, said MIGHT, an agency in the Prime Minister's Department, in a statement. FGVH and Sime Darby each own a 40% stake in MYBiomass and MIGHT the remaining 20% in the special-purpose vehicle. It is currently studying the feasibility for a project to convert oil palm biomass into high-value green chemicals. (Starbiz)
Property: Prices increase at slower pace. Property prices in Malaysia increased, albeit at a slower pace in 4Q11 from previous quarters, according to Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) website. In 4Q11, the Malaysian House Price Index grew 6.6% compared to 9.9% increase in 3Q11, and in contrast to gains of 10.6% in 2Q and 9% in 1Q. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)
Axiata: Approaches Idea to form tower company
Axiata Group has approached Aditya Birla group-owned Idea Cellular to form a transnational tower company with operations across South-East Asia. Axiata wanted to acquire or merge more than 8,000 towers of the Indian mobile operator as it looked to create a unified tower entity with a presence in seven nations, Times of India reported, quoting banking sources directly familiar with the matter. Axiata holds a stake of just under 20% in Idea Cellular. Diversified Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla, which controls majority interest in the thirdlargest domestic mobile phone firm, has studied the Axiata plan although no decision has been taken yet. Birla’s response will be critical to Axiata’s attempts to carve out a tower company in countries where it owns or has JV in the telecom business. (StarBiz)
Genting Bhd: Singapore unit buys stake in Australia's Echo
Genting Singapore said Friday it had taken a US$234m (RM737.1m) stake in Echo Entertainment, raising the prospect of a battle for control over the Australian casino company with billionaire rival James Packer. Packer, who wants to use Echo's licence to build a new casino complex in Sydney to attract more Asian high-rollers, has been agitating for change at Echo after building a 10% stake in the company, and succeeded in ousting the company's chairman on Friday. A Genting spokeswoman declined to give the size of the stake but said the value of its investment was S$298m (RM721.1m). The Australian newspaper said earlier that Genting had built up a 4.9% stake in Echo, which runs Sydney's Star casino and Jupiter's on the Gold Coast of Australia. A full takeover would cost more than A$3bn(RM9.45bn) and both Packer and Genting will face tough regulatory scrutiny. Echo said that its chairman, John Story, has resigned, bowing to a destabilising campaign run by Packer who owns a rival casino operator and wanted to sack the chairman. (Business Times)
MMC Corp: Unit to withdraw RM83.61m claim against Sumitomo
MMC Corp's unit, Prai Power Sdn Bhd, has agreed to withdraw its claim in the arbitration proceedings against Sumitomo Corp of Japan where it had earlier sought RM83.61m. MMC Corp said Prai Power had on Thursday signed a settlement agreement with its insurers Allianz General Insurance Co (Malaysia) Bhd and Sumitomo. The settlement agreement substantially sets out the parties' agreement to resolve and settle in full the dispute between the parties in the arbitration proceedings on the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement. In August 2011, Prai Power had filed a statement of claim against Sumitomo - referring to a contract signed in October 2000 - where Sumitomo would design, engineer, manufacture, erect, install and commission the Prai power plant. Prai Power alleged that Sumitomo had breached the obligations under the contract by supplying a defective rotor, after the rotor was found damaged on September 11 2006. (Business Times)
DRB-Hicom: Preve sales fall short of target
Sales figure for Proton Holdings’ Preve have fallen short of the initial target of 4,000 units per month which was made at the launch of the new model’s launch on April 16. Only 494 units of Preve were sold in April, while in May, 2,699 units were sold. This works out to a total of 3,193 units in 1.5 months. However, a Proton spokesman pains a more rosier picture, saying that sales numbers have climber strongly since May. He said as of June 6, orders for the Preve have exceeded 10,000 units. (Financial Daily)
Group Lotus confirmed that Dany Bahar has been terminated as Lotus Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. The decision was made by Group Lotus plc's board following the results of an investigation into a complaint made against him by DRB-Hicom. The company also announced the appointment of 51-year old British permanent resident, Aslam Farikullah, as the Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect. (Bernama, BT)
Dijaya Corp: Buys land, building from MPHB for RM54m
Dijaya Corporation’s unit Advent Nexus Sdn Bhd is acquiring freehold land with a building in Kuala Lumpur for RM54m cash from Multi-Purpose Holdings. The company said its unit had entered into a sale with MPHB to acquire the land and building in Section 19 in Kuala Lumpur. On the rationale for the acquisition, Dijaya said it was in line with its direction of increasing its investment property portfolio that would provide it with long term stable and sustainable income stream. (Financial Daily)
Yinson Holdings: Yinson-PTSC to get US$700m FPSO job
Yinson Holdings and its partner PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PTSC) have managed to negotiate with Lam Son, a JV between Vietnam’s oil major PetroVietnam and Petronas, for a substantially higher contract value for a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) job that was previously awarded to Norway-based Fred Olsen Production. The job to supply Lam Son a FPSO vessel on a 10-year bare-boat charter was awarded to Fred Olsen 4 months ago, and the contract was valued at US$500m (RM1.6bn). The Norwegian outfit is said to be facing financing issues for the project, and as the letter of intent from Lam Son expired recently, the Yinson-PTSC JV has stepped in. A person familiar with the matter said that, Yinson-PTSC managed to negotiate for a higher contract value of US$700m – US$500m for a 7-year bare-boat charter and a US$200m extension for another 3 years. The group will soon announce that it has won the job from Lam Son. A bare-boat charter means the JV will only deliver the FPSO to Lam Son, without having to operate the vessel on the client’s behalf. Yinson hold a 49% stake in the JV while PTSC, a unit of PetroVietnam, has the remaining 51%. (The Edge Weekly)
Petra Energy: In talks with Bourbon
According to industry sources, Petra Energy is in collaborative talks with French oil and gas outfit Bourbon SA, which could result in the two companies forming a consortium to bid for risk-service contracts (RSC) for marginal oilfields. It is understood that the talks could also involve Petra Energy acquiring stakes in some of Bourbon’s subsidiaries. When contacted, Petra Energy officials declined to comment on the matter. The source adds that Bourbon and Petra Energy have done work together for Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd in the installation of subsea platform equipment in Kanowit, Sarawak. (The Edge Weekly)
Naim Holdings: Turning old Bintulu airport site into integrated upmarket project
Naim Holdings will develop the site of the old Bintulu airport into an integrated upmarket commercial and residential project. The new city centre for the booming industrial town will comprise condominiums, street mall, international-class hotel, shopping complex and other related facilities. Corporate services senior director Ricky Kho said the project on about 12ha would have a GDV of RM2bn. Kho said the proposed street mall would feature commercial shophouses and small home offices while the three-star hotel would have about 200 rooms. The condominium blocks would house some 600 units for sale to both local and foreign buyers. (StarBiz)
Yung Kong Galvanising Industries: Inks MoU with Becker Industrial Coatings
Yung Kong Galvanising Industries (YKGI) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Becker Industrial Coatings (M) Sdn Bhd (Beckers) with the aim of establishing a long-term strategic business partnership. YKGI said the MoU between both the parties was towards implementation of sustainable solutions for the new colour coating line of YKGI. This MOU is an understanding for cooperation, and the detailed matters of the cooperation will be further specified in a formal contract. The company said an announcement will be released upon the signing of the formal contract. (Financial Daily)
OM Materials (Sarawak) has obtained detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) approval for its US$500m JV manganese and ferro alloy smelting plant project in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu. OM Sarawak is a 80:20 JV between OM Holdings and Cahya Mata Sarawak. Partial commissioning of the plant is targeted in the first quarter of 2014 and full commercial operation in the second quarter of 2015. (Star Biz)
Dialog Group believes that there is no concern over overcapacity in Pengerang, which oil majors are likely to consider given the political situation in the Middle East. Also, demand for petroleum products is expected to be strong given the momentum of Asia’s economic growth. Seperately, for Petronas's refinery and petrochemical integrated development (Rapid), some RM120bn worth of investments have been earmarked by Petronas including RM60bn by the national oil company and up to RM38bn by Taiwan’s Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co. (Star)
Statoil ASA, Norway’s largest oil and gas producer signed its first long-term deal for deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia. The agreement was signed with Petronas Gas Berhad on 5 June, and will see Statoil delivering about 1bn cubic meters of gas to Malaysia’s first import LNG terminal at Melaka over three and a half years starting in Aug 2012, the Norwegian company said in a statement today. (Bloomberg)
Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd has no plans to buy the Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza) to help build an MRT station. Instead, MRT Corp said, it will work with the government to build an underground station integrated with BB Plaza. MRT Corp CEO Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said it is in talks with the government on this, adding that the plan will do away with the need to involve private properties in completing the project and at the same time provides a golden opportunity to re-position the almost 40-year-old BB Plaza, Azhar said. "It must be clarified that there has never been any plan to acquire BB Plaza. Our principal focus is to build the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT Line. We do not want to be distracted by property development at this stage," he said. (BT)
Headwinds are turning into tailwinds for rubber glove manufacturers, prompting market anticipation of better financials and a sector re-rating in the coming quarters. A weaker ringgit against the US dollar and cheaper natural and synthetic rubber (nitrile), bode well for glovemakers’ revenue and profit as they add production capacity to meet global demand. But the degree to which players will benefit depends on their niche, and whether the macro-dynamics will be sustained in the near term. Supermax Corp group MD Datuk Seri Stanley Thai said glove manufacturers’ net profit margins are expected to improve in the coming quarters, thanks to the strengthening greenback. Bottom line is expected to improve also due to lower raw material prices. Natural rubber constitutes about half of glove producers’ cost structure. (Financial Daily)
CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (CMMT) has received approval from the Securities Commission (SC) to establish a 20-year MTN Programme of up to RM3.0bn in nominal value, pursuant to which rated/unrated Medium Term Notes (MTNs) may be issued from time to time. The net proceeds from the issue of the MTNs (after deducting issue expenses) will be utilized to refinance existing borrowings and to finance investments, capital expenditure, asset enhancement initiatives and working capital of CMMT. CMMT will also be allowed to use the proceeds to refinance maturing MTNs on their respective maturity dates subsequent to the first issuance. (BMSB)
Oil & Gas: Petronas expects minimal impact from sanctions on Iran
Petronas expects a minimal impact from the proposed sanctions on import of oil from Iran, mooted by the EU. Its COO Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said he believed that the national oil corporation would be able to cope with the oil supply for its refineries following the sanctions. Petronas had stopped importing crude oil from Iran effective April 1 this year. It used to import between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels of Iranian crude per day for its refinery in Malacca and its majority-owned Engen refinery in Durban, South Africa. (Business Times)
Power: Lower rates for first-generation IPPs
According to industry sources, for the upcoming round of first-generation power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiations, the independent power producers (IPPs) could see their rate lowered by some 80%. It is learnt that if the 6 bidders in the running to extend their firstgeneration PPAs are successful, the new rate, currently under discussion, would be RM6 per kWh per month. In the previous contracts, the rate for the IPPs ranged from RM35 to RM50 per kWh per month. Most industry players are already expecting the first-generation IPPs to take a haircut if their PPAs are extended. (The Edge Weekly)
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