20120913 1050 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Australia’s Roc Oil has kicked off the drilling and testing of Bentara 2, the first appraisal well at the Balai cluster off Sarawak. The process is part of the pre-development phase that comes under the marginal field development, a risk service contract undertaken by Roc (48%),  Dialog (32%) and  Petronas Carigali (20%). The Balai, Bentara, West Acis and Spaoh fields make up the cluster. (Upstream)

General Electric (GE) is considering options including a sale of its US$2.2bn (RM6.76bn) stake in Bank of Ayudhya, Thailand’s fifth largest lender, said two people with knowledge of the matter. GE might contact potential buyers including Maybank. GE owns 33% of Bank of Ayudhya, which has a market value of 206.5bn baht (US$6.7bn), data compiled by Bloonberg show. (StarBiz)

Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) has appointed the consortium of Syed Mohamed Hussein Bhd, Ranhill Consulting Sdn Bhd and KTA Tenaga Sdn Bhd to undertake the engineering design of the RM3.7bn  Langat 2 water treatment plant. The project was envisaged to be developed in two phases with the first phase involving the construction of treatment works with a nominal output capacity of 1,130 MLD. PAAB said work on the phase one was scheduled for completion in early 2017. The first phase has attracted an initial interest from 65 companies. Package 2A has more than 20 sub-contracts. Other jobs that are up for grabs during the entire development of Langat 2 include the construction of pipelines, a reservoir, a pump house and water tanks. (Starbiz)

Selangor MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the state government would be asking its legal advisor and a group of appointed lawyers to study developments on the Langat 2 Water Treatment Project. He said the findings over jurisdiction on land matters under the state government were expected to be announced next week. The Selangor government still held specific powers relating to the approval of the Langat 2 water treatment plant according to the National Land Code, he said. This was in response to the federal government's go-ahead with the project despite not receiving a development order from the Selangor government, in the interest of the people in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The successful bidder for the Langat 2 water treatment plant project will eventually have to face the Selangor government, he said. "The state government wants to remind everyone that it will protect this responsibility. You (Langat 2 bidders) know the cost and boundaries," he said, adding the state government's powers included permission to enter the site and planning permit. (Bernama, NST)

Axiata Group  said it has priced the world's largest  China currency denominated Islamic bond, or sukuk, of 1bn yuan or US$157.85m (RM485m) at 3.75% due to strong demand. Axiata's yuan Islamic bond is the second of its kind after Malaysia's state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd offered 500m yuan of sukuk last year. The latest yuan Islamic bond issuance is part of Axiata's multi-currency sukuk programme that was established in July this year with a combined value of US$1.5bn (RM4.6bn). Axiata said in a statement ay that the sukuk was oversubscribed with a final book of more than 3.5bn yuan of orders, enabling Axiata to boost the size of the deal from an initial 500m yuan to 1bn yuan. The initial price guidance was at 4% and finally priced at the tightest end of the price guidance at 3.75%. "The ability to raise yuan-denominated funds demonstrates Axiata's ability to diversify away from other more traditional currencies such as the US dollar and achieve cost-efficient funding," Axiata group CFO James Maclaurin said in the statement. Malaysia's CIMB Bank, HSBC and Merill Lynch are the joint lead managers and book runners for the sukuk deal. (Reuters)

The number of customers in Negeri Sembilan hooked to Telekom Malaysia (TM) Unifi service, launched last year, stood at 2,076, including 204 business customers, as at Aug 31. TM Negeri Sembilan General Manager Ramlan Omar said the total includes 1,302 customers in Senawang (including 157 business customers) and 774 in Nilai (47 business customers). "In Senawang there are 6,624 households and in Nilai 3,264 households hooked up to the service, and nearly 10,000 households in the state will have the service by year-end," he told. (Bernama)

Ananda Krishnan's Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd has partially redeemed RM1.06bn of its senior sukuk and prepaid US$6.87m (RM22m) of its US dollar-denominated term loan, said a local ratings agency. RAM Ratings said it was closely monitoring the progress of the group's corporate restructuring exercise to decouple Aircel, and was in consultation with its advisors to determine and implement an optimal structure to satisfy the objective. “The corporate exercise which was initially slated for completion by September 2012, is now targeted to be completed within the next few months once there is further clarity on the New Telecom Policy and other regulatory and policy changes in India that could impact the transaction,” it said. It added the partial redemption had been prompted by the sale of Binariang's indirect 5% stake in  Maxis  Bhd via its wholly-owned subsidiary Maxis Communications Bhd, which has a direct shareholding of 65% in Maxis Bhd. The senior sukuk consists of a RM19bn Islamic medium-term notes programme and a RM2bn Islamic commercial papers programme, of which only RM7.2bn senior sukuk remains outstanding after the recent redemption. It also has a US$900m cumulative non-convertible Islamic junior sukuk. The move to restructure Aircel out of Binariang is due to the drag caused by Aircel on Binariang's consolidated balance sheet. Aircel is 74% owned Binariang via its subsidiary, Maxis Communications. (StarBiz)

The  Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is seeking to promote environmental conservation to complement the industry's sustainability efforts and counter the criticism of the industry by local and foreign interest. The industry body aims to encourage oil palm planters to adopt conservation of wildlife measures as part of their standard operating procedure and become more socially responsible. The move towards conservation is part of the industry's effort to combat the negative publicity it faces. (Malaysian Reserve)

Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOP) plans to buy the remaining stakes in two plantation companies for a total of RM242.5m to expand its palm oil-related activities in Sarawak. SOP has signed  a conditional share sale agreement with Shin Yang Holding Sdn Bhd to acquire the remaining 40% stake in  SOP Plantations (Beluru) Sdn Bhd for RM122.4m and 35 per% stake in SOP Plantations (Kemena) for RM120.1m. Upon completion of the exercise, both companies will be wholly-owned subsidiaries of SOP. The plantation estates held by both SOP Plantations (Beluru) and SOP Plantations (Kemena) consist of a mixture of immature and young mature oil palms, between age one to five years. (BT)

Genting Malaysia Bhd's indirect subsidiary Resorts World Sentosa Pte Ltd (RWS) has been fined $S600,000 (RM1.5m) by the Singapore Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) for partially reimbursing the annual entry levy paid by local patrons. This is the second time RWS has been fined and is the highest single fine imposed to-date by the authority. (StarBiz)

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said he is unperturbed by Malindo Airways and instead, will give his new rival a real run for their money in Indonesia. "We are thrilled that Malindo is coming here as this means taking away capacity from Indonesia. It is a confusing model. No way can they have lower unit cost than ours," said Fernandes. (Financial Daily)

Petronas Carigali (PCSB), the exploration and production arm of Petroliam Nasional (Petronas), has teamed up with MIT Innovation Sdn Bhd (MITSB) to produce a new drilling tool that can save more than RM150m in drilling cost a year. The two companies signed a technology collaboration agreement yesterday for the development of the new drilling tool that will significantly reduce drilling cost in challenging upstream exploration and development environment. "The new invention, known as the intelligent circulation while drilling (ICWD) tool, is being designed to safeguard complex equipment commonly used in today's drilling operations," Petronas said. Petronas said the ICWD tool will help drillers cure losses encountered in difficult wells and allow for continuous drilling operations without the limitations of the current technologies. Under the agreement, Petronas said the intellectual property rights of the ICWD tool, including patents will be jointly owned by PCSB and MITSB. (BT)

Sarawak export  plywood prices are likely to rise 5-10% over the next three months as demand continues to pick up from Japan. According to Shin Yang Group's ED  Wong Kai Song, average plywood price is currently at  US$550/ cu m compared to US$500/cu m  early this year. Demand from Japan is picking up from Japan and orders are full till the end of the year. Wong also said Japan total import of plywood from various markets rose to 304,000cu m compared to 250,000cu m in Jun. (Starbiz)  

Mazda Motor Corp announced that Berjaya Auto Philippines Inc (BAP) will commence the new distributorship of Mazda vehicles, parts and accessories in the Philippines from Jan 1, 2013. Bermaz Motor International Ltd, an indirect subsidiary of Berjaya Corp Bhd, and Berjaya Philippines Inc will be the major shareholders of BAP. Berjaya Philippines, a unit of BCorp's gaming arm  Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd, is listed on the Philippine stock exchange. (Financial Daily)

KPJ Healthcare Bhd is paying RM14.25m for 100% of  Sri Manjung Specialist Centre Sdn Bhd, which operates a medical centre by the same name in Sitiawan, Perak. It intends to fund the acquisition with internal funds. (Financial Daily)

While the major shareholders are maintaining that they do not intend to privatise  Bonia, the company will focus on an aggressive overseas expansion drive. The expansion in Indonesia and Vietnam would keep the company busy for the next three to five years. Bonia is looking at setting up their own retail stores there and also seek opportunities in the Middle East. (Star Biz)