20120815 0949 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

MRT Corp awards 3 contracts for station packages worth RM563m
MRT Corp has awarded three station packages to TRC, Ahmad Zaki and Apex Communications for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang project with a total value of RM563m. With the announcement, 40 out of a total of 85 tender packages for the MRT project have been awarded. (Malaysian Reserve) Please see accompanying reports.

Astro offers IPO to Bumiputera investors at RM3.60 a share
Astro Malaysia Holdings’ IPO portion set aside for Bumiputera investors through the MITI is priced at RM3.60/share, according to a newswire report. At an indicative price of RM3.60, Astro stands to raise about RM2.15bn from the 597.69m of its shares allocated to Bumiputera investors. The offer to Bumiputera investors was made available in the middle of last week and will close today. (Malaysian Reserve)

Media Prima in early talks with Worldview Broadcasting Channel
Media Prima has commenced preliminary negotiations with Worldview Broadcasting Channel (M) SB (WBC), with the view of taking up a stake in the ailing free-to-air news channel that started test-transmission in December last year. Industry executives said things have not worked out too well for WBC, and the company has been on the lookout for investors for a few months now. (Financial Daily)

New minimum price RM7 for 20 cigarettes from 1 Sept
The minimum price for 20 cigarettes has been set at RM7 from 1 Sept. The new price for all brands and cigarettes can only be sold in packets of 20. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said from 1 Sept, discounting by cigarette companies will not be allowed. Cigarette companies will only be allowed to sell cartons with a minimum of 10 packets of cigarettes. (Financial Daily)

KKB to build RM48m pipeline
KKB Engineering has received a letter of acceptance from the Sarawak government to build a transmission pipeline worth RM48m in Kuching’s Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone. KKB said the job will last for 24 months and is expected to be completed by 3Q of 2014. (Financial Daily) Please see accompanying report.

Hibiscus proposes acquisition of Aussie assets
Hibiscus Petroleum has proposed to acquire stake in an Australian exploration and development company, which will take a majority stake in an oilfield off the southeast Victorian coastline. It expects the first production of oil from the Australian assets to occur around mid-2014, subject to relevant approvals and the availability of rig and production facilities. (Financial Daily)

The government will look into whether utilities such as Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional should have to incur additional capex to build infrastructure for new housing projects in order to lower the price of new properties said Minister for Housing and Local Government Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung. This comes after both the House Buyers Association (HBA) and developers said that the current model of financing infrastructure such as laying of electrical cables and sewage and water pipes in new housing projects unfairly burdens the purchasers. HBA president Chang Kim Loong said the costs of building new properties could be reduced by up to 5% by shifting the cost of building utilities to the respective companies. Real Estate and Housing Developers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Michael Yam said that in developed countries the government would be in charge of doing the masterplanning and building the public infrastructure. (The Malaysian Insider)

Utility companies such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd and Perbadanan Urus Air Selangor (Puas) must share with property developers the cost of building public infrastructure such as reservoirs, substations and flyovers. National House Buyers Association secretary general Chang Kim Loong said developers have no qualms building the infrastructure if they can share the cost with government agencies. Chang said developers should not be the ones sacrificing their profits. As a result they have no choice but to lumber the cost into the house buyers purchase price. (BT)

Packet One, a unit of Green Packet, aims to add 50,000 business subscribers over the next 24 months with its latest product - P1 ForBiz Fibre targeted at SMEs. P1 CEO said highspeed broadband (HSBB) coverage for business in Malaysia is between 350,000 but only 46,000 are users.(StarBiz)

The government will initiate measures to address various issues gripping the property sector, including curbing rampant speculative activities in the market. Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said he would present to the cabinet findings of an industry meeting which could be used to come up with innovative ways to build affordable homes. "The government has done fairly well in addressing the housing issues of the lower income. However, 40% of the medium-income society still need accommodation. "My ministry will use some of the findings to improve the sector," Chor told reporters here after opening a roundtable discussion on "Housing Affordability - Issues and Challenges". The government will put forward recommendations, which will be based on proposals made by Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (Rehda) such as on how to curb speculative property prices, financing, abandoned projects and sluggish developments. Metro Kajang Holdings Bhd group managing director  Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi said for example, a house built in Perlis cost RM250,000 but the same house using the very same materials but built in KLCC would cost RM1m. "This is caused by land cost due to two different locations. Nevertheless, there are some of the issues which Rehda will look into to address this such as materials prices. Working groups and a task force have been set up," said Chen.(BT)

SP Setia Bhd president Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) are unlikely to be taking up shares in the proposed share placement exercise which the property developer announced on Monday. The share placement exercise comes on the heels of announcements by SP Setia of several major JV projects, of which the most prominent would be the Battersea project in London announced early last month and the Qinzhou Industrial Park in south-west China announced in April.(Starbiz)

Wilmar International Ltd warned of challenges in the near term, especially in China due to excess capacity in oilseed crushing. Chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong said short-term prospects are difficult, even though Wilmar is well positioned to benefit from growth in demand for agricultural commodities, especially in Asia and emerging markets like Africa. (Financial Daily)

Hartalega Holdings Berhad is on track to start construction of its new RM1.5bn facility in Sepang by Dec 2012. In a worse case scenario the company expects to start construction by Mar 2013. The move according to the company will not affect Hartalega’s dividend policy (45% payout of net profit) and will help the company stay ahead of its peer group due to cost efficiencies. Capex for the project is expected to be RM300-400m annually for the first three years of construction. The company says this will be funded internally. (Financial Daily)

Hartalega's first production line at its sixth plant will start operations in September this year. The glove manufacturer said that all 10 production lines at the sixth plant were expected to be completed in June 2013. Hartalega expected full contribution from the 10 lines to be in the financial year ending March 31, 2015. (StarBiz)

Supermax Corp Bhd aims to gain ground in new product markets with the construction of its new national distribution headquarters located in Chicago, Illinois. The first phase will cost US$6.25m and will consist of a building to suit 90,170 sq ft warehouse and distribution facility as well as a 6,000 sq ft office for the company’s operations. The facility will be completed by 2Q13 and will consolidate the company’s US distribution units. (Malaysian Reserve)

WCT Bhd expects to start work on its RM4bn mixed development project on an strategically-located site in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur in 2014. Deputy MD Goh Chin Liong said the project would be done phase by phase over a period of 10 years. “Development will go in tandem with the market outlook,” he said after the company's EGM. The project will mark the company's first development foray in Kuala Lumpur after having completed several projects in the Klang Valley, including its flagship township Bandar Bukit Tinggi in Klang. At the EGM, shareholders approved the company's RM450m acquisition of the said land in the Overseas Union Garden (OUG) area. (Starbiz)

Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd's (MPHB) indirect subsidiary Magnum Corporation Sdn Bhd has proposed to undertake a medium-term notes programme of up to RM1bn. It said the tenure for the programme would be 20 years and the proceeds from the first issuance would be used to refinance Magnum's current borrowings and or its holding company Magnum Holdings Sdn Bhd. There were also plans to use the funds to finance working capital requirements and future investments. (StarBiz)

MMC Corp Bhd has appointed CIMB Investment Bank and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd as lead managers for the proposed initial public offering of its unit Malakoff Corp Bhd. Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan have also been appointed as global co-coordinators of the proposed IPO, which is due to be launched in the 1Q13 and is expected to raise over US$1bn. (Reuters)

RGB International Bhd plans to undertake an unrated commercial papers/medium term notes programme of up to RM77m in nominal value to refinance the outstanding RM76m. It said on Tuesday the proceeds from the proposed seven-year programme would be used to refinance the outstanding RM76m from its existing CP/MTN programme of RM97m from existing noteholders. RGB added the proposed CP/MTN programme was expected to be implemented by 4Q12. (Starbiz)

Borneo Aqua Harvest Bhd’s unit Plentiful Harvest Sdn Bhd has been granted RM24.8m in financial incentive by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry. The company said the grant is to implement and complete the agro-based project identified by the government. (BT)

The shares of Stemlife, which is listed on the ACE Market, will be suspended from trading today pending a announcement on a corporate exercise involving a substantial transaction. (BT)

MAS: Suffers net losses of RM349.2m in Q2 due to drop in revenue
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) continued to be in the red for the sixth quarter, with net losses of RM349.3m in the 2QFY2012, though the losses had narrowed compared with RM526.7m a year ago. Its revenue fell 5.1% to RM3.3bn from RM3.5bn a year ago following the Route Rationalisation programme in late 2011 and early 2012 to cut several loss making and low yielding routes. Loss per share was 10.45 sen compared with 15.76 sen. MAS said it had managed to reduce operating loss to RM102m compared with RM443m a year ago. (StarBiz)

Top Glove: Swap land with New Hoong Fatt Holdings
Top Glove and New Hoong Fatt Holdings (NHF) have agreed to swap land worth RM10m with each other. NHF said both parties decided to swap the land due to their locations. Top Glove’s land is located behind NHF’s existing warehouse while NHF’s parcel is located behind Top Glove’s existing factories in Meru, Klang. (Financial Daily)

Deleum: Unit to buy 60% stake in NPSB
Deleum’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Deleum Services Sdn Bhd, has proposed to acquire a 60% stake, or 594,000 shares, in Northern Primera Sdn Bhd (NPSB) for a total cash consideration of RM3.18m. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, Deleum said the proposed acquisition, which was expected to be completed by 3Q 2012, was expected to generate an additional revenue stream for the group through the existing business of NPSB, which is involved in providing services in integrated corrosion, inspection and mitigation, primarily using Sponge-Jet products. At present, NPSB is the sole distributor of certain Sponge-Jet products in Malaysia and Indonesia. (StarBiz)