20120824 1008 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Felda Global Ventures Holdings, the world's third largest palm oil company by hectarage, plans to buy 150,000 hectares estate land over five years to realise its cherished vision to emerge as the world leader in the oil palm industry. Its president and CEO Datuk Sabri Ahmad said the purchase would however depend on global market prospects for oil palm. Sabri said: "Felda Global Ventures aims to be the world's No. 1 player in the oil palm industry in the next eight years. By acquiring another 150,000 hectares, our company's total land bank will touch one million hectares," he added. (Bernama)

Indonesia may cut its tax on crude palm oil exports to 13.5% in September, Susanto, head of marketing at the nation‟s palm oil association, said. The base price for calculating the levy exporters must pay may be cut to US$920 per metric ton, Susanto said. CPO tax for August is 15% and base price is US$950 per tonne. (Bloomberg)

WCT is buying a plot of commercial land with an abandoned shopping mall in Johor Baru for RM180m cash, in a deal that potentially gives it recurring income. The deal nets the seller,  Malaysia Building Society  (MBSB), a one-time profit of about RM55m. WCT, which won a public tender, intends to undertake a mixed development project on the land situated "in a mature area of Johor Baru", the company said. The freehold land, measuring 5 ha with a four-storey vacant retail podium and a two-level car park, is situated in Jalan Skudai, the main road linking the North-South Expressway to Johor Baru city centre. The price WCT is paying MBSB, is 1.45x the property's net book value and 1.13x the RM160m value ascribed by valuer Messrs Jordan Lee & Jaafar on Feb 15 this year. (Financial Daily)

Scomi Group's oilfield services business has secured a contract from  Qatar Petroleum in Qatar to supply drilling fluids and engineering services over three years. It said the contract was awarded to Scomi Oiltools (Cayman) Ltd, Qatar branch. The tendered value for this contract was RM130m. “The contract, which is a milestone for our drilling fluids business in the Middle East, requires Scomi Oiltools to formulate solutions  for challenging drilling environments onshore as well as providing drilling fluids services for an initial four rigs with more rigs anticipated towards the end of the year," said Scomi Group. (StarBiz)

Bumi Armada and M3Nergy have been shortlisted by Oil and Natural Gas Corp of India (ONGC) for the development of several offshore marginal fields via a FPSO vessel. Bumi Armada is understood to be partnering India's Shapoorji Palonji. Industry players said Bumi Armada is the front runner to bag the job. (Financial Daily)

The recent hike in cement prices will only have a minimal impact on house prices, says Selangor Bumiputera Real Estate Developers Association president Mohammad Sahar Mat Din.  He said cement usage in housing projects usually accounts for 2% of building cost and should not affect overall house prices. Mohammad Sahar that if the price of a 50kg cement bag rises by RM1, houses between RM200K and RM500K should increase by less than RM5K. As such, he said, developers should not take advantage of the situation to increase prices indiscriminately. Cement prices were increased by RM1 to RM17.75 a 50kg bag and by RM20 to RM340 a tonne bag on 1 Aug. (Bernama)

PAN Pacific KLIA, a hotel owned by  Malaysia Airports Holdings, has started a RM56m makeover that will see the property incorporate hi-tech gadgets and digital components. "What we are doing is bringing the hotel to a 21st Century state by taking advantage of modern technology,"  GM  Hans Winsnes said. The 442-room airport hotel commenced the upgrade in June this year and expects it to be completed by March next year. Winsnes expects return on investment on the RM56m makeover to take 11 years. (BT)

Subang Skypark is set to embark on a RM420m infrastructure development plan to transform into a full-fledged aerospace city by 2015. Its executive director, Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, said the company was planning to build a boutique hotel, an aviation museum and a theme park as part of a retail mall. The development, named Skypark Nexus, will have a built-up area of one million sq ft which would be completed in 24 months, budgeted to cost between RM300m and RM350m. (Bernama)

MRCB: More downgrade for Southern Link
RAM Ratings has further downgraded Malaysian Resources Corp (MRCB) unit MRCB Southern Link Bhd’s debts on the premise of the company’s significant liquidity stress. Following the opening of the Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL) in Johor Baru, which was funded by MRCB Southern Link, the Government had announced in March that the highway would not commence tolling, as set out in the concession agreement. Furthermore, MRCB Southern Link had surprisingly paid RM40m to the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. This led RAM to further downgrade MRCB Southern Link’s RM845m secured senior sukuk (2008/2025) to BB3 from A2. The RM199m junior sukuk (2008/2027) was downgraded to C1 from BBB2 as well. (StarBiz)

Telecommunication: High-speed broadband links in Penang by 2014
Malaysia's "Silicon Island", Penang, is set to bring high-speed broadband capability to its residents and investors by 2014 as the state ramps up its Internet connectivity. Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Telecommunications Services Sdn Bhd chairman Jeff Ooi said the upgrading exercise, known as the Next Generation Network (NGN), will see connectivity at a speed of 50 megabits per second (Mbps), which is more than 12 times the current speed of 4Mbps. He said the project will be carried out in 2 phases, with the first on the island and then Seberang Prai. He added that it will be funded via internal resources within PDC Telco and its network partners. Ooi said key consultants for the NGN are Malaysia Neutral Transmission Sdn Bhd, which is made up of its founder and former Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd CEO Dr Mohd Awang Lah and Penang-born Dr Bernard Lee, who consults for national broadband projects in Australia and New Zealand. The first phase of the project was tagged at RM50m. (Business Times)


O&G: Petronas all set to award Tembikai and Cenang prizes. Petronas is expected to reveal as early as late August the winners of two further risk service contracts that will cover development of the Tembikai and Cenang marginal fields off Peninsular Malaysia. The Malaysian state company is understood to have held technical reviews with the shortlisted bidders for three further RSCs to be awarded by the end of 2012. Sources said at least two separate RSCs will be awarded after the Muslim new year, for the development of the Tembikai and Cenang discoveries near Talisman Energy-operated Block PM 314. The bidder list for the two fields is said to include international oilfield services providers including Baker Hughes, Haliburton and Petrofac as well as Australia-based oil and gas independents, AWE and Hydra Energy. (Source: Upstream)

O&G: Bumi Armada, M3Nergy shortlisted. Two Malaysian O&G outfits, Bumi Armada and M3Nergy, have been shortlisted by ONGC for an FPSO. Industry players said Bumi Armada is the front runner to bag the job. "Yes we know both the companies Bumi Armada and us- are in but we are not sure who else is", an executive from M3Nergy told The Edge yesterday. (Source: Business Times)