20121004 1256 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

GW Plastics Holdings is selling all its business under the two subsidiaries, Great Wall Plastic Industries and GW Packaging, to Scientex for RM283.2m. GW Plastics will then return virtually all the sales proceed to its shareholders and ultimately seek delisting from Bursa Malaysia. Estimated cash per share payout is RM1.19. This deal will turn Scientex into one of the world's largest industrial plastic packaging players. Scientex said the acquisition, which is due for completion by Mar-2013,  will enlarge its industrial cast film production capacity to 154,000 tonnes from 120,000 tonnes. The takeover  will also allow Scientex to gain entry into the rapidly expanding global food and beverage (F&B) market segment via GW Plastics' blown film, and downstream printing and lamination facilities. Scientex MD Lim Peng Jin said the enlarged entity will see about RM1bn in sales. "It will also be earnings' enhancing, allowing the post-acquisition enlarged entity to benefit from cost-savings as a result of economies of scale, in terms of operations and administrative efficiencies as well as in the procurement of raw materials," Lim said. Scientex has a cast stretch film facility in Pulau Indah, Selangor, which currently has nine production lines. Cast stretch film is mainly used for applications in the logistics and industrial sectors.(BT)

MRT Corp has awarded three elevated station contracts worth RM732.2m in total for MRT SBK line.  Naim Holdings won a RM204.7m job to build stations at Taman Industri Sungai Buloh, PJU 5 and Kota Damansara. UEM Construction will build stations at The Curve, One Utama and Dataran Sunway for RM275.8m. Apex Communication won the RM251.7m job to build stations at Saujana Impian, Bandar Kajang and Kajang. MRT Corp CEO Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said he three winning companies were the appointed, nominated sub-contractors for the elevated civil work packages held by  Gadang, Mudajaya, and UEM Construction. No contract for track works is awarded yet, which involves 41.5km of track laying from Sungai Buloh to Kajang. The job is estimated to worth some RM850m. MRT Corp has awarded 48 out of the total 85 packages for the SBK line. (BT)

The Malaysian crude palm oil export tax policy that is unchanged since the 1970's will likely see a downward revision to between 8-10% from the current 23%. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said he would present a proposal to the cabinet tomorrow and the proposal is understood to contain some measures to stabilise the current CPO price. "I think this (lowering of CPO export duty) will put us in a very much competitive position as the difference will be the same as Indonesia, which has a 13.5% export tax." he said. (StarBiz)

The  Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is initiating a proposal for the setting up of a  Construction Court as a response to the construction industry's demand for a dedicated channel to resolve construction-sector disputes. Should the proposed Construction Court materialise, Malaysia will be the second country in the world after Britain to have established a specialist court dedicated for the construction industry. CEO Datuk Seri Dr Judin Abdul Karim said the board has worked closely with the Bar Council and industry leaders to initiate discussions on the setting up of a specialist court, which will focus on resolving  complex and technical construction disputes. "Establishing the Construction Court is vital for the construction sector as speedy dispute resolutions often require knowledge of industry intricacies and technical complexities," he said. (BT)

UEM Group expects to sell its 45% subsidiary  Time Engineering  by year-end. Government-linked UEM has been mulling over divesting its Time Engineering stake since 2010, which it sees as a non-core asset. UEM has four core business divisions  - expressways, township and property development, engineering and construction, and asset and facility management. Group MD/CEO Datuk Izzaddin Idris said the diversified group is currently in talks with local suitors and hopes to complete the sale by year-end. "Once the board of directors meets and approves the sale, we will call you (the media) in due course," he said. Time Engineering previously owned a 24.7% stake in Internet service provider Time dotCom before disposing of it for RM287m in 2011. As at 2011, its price tag was said to be at least RM166m. (BT)

AZRB has won a RM673m job to redevelop Bangunan MAS in Jalan Sultan Ismail. The contract was awarded by  Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). PNB bought the 35-storey building from national carrier Malaysia Airlines about five years ago for RM130m. AZRB will demolish an existing podium at the 35-storey building, build a 50-storey hotel and upgrade the existing 35-storey office building. The hotel will also have six-storey basements for car park and mechanical and electrical service area. Construction is expected to be completed by Oct 17. (BT)

The country's four largest banks have agreed to cooperate with the government to offer a housing loan scheme to civil servants. A concrete plan will be announced by the end of the year. "If we outsource to the banks, we don't have to fork out RM6bn annually...the amount we allocate for housing loans to civil servants. But we have to cover the difference in interest...the civil servants still pay 4%." Finance secretary-general, Datuk Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said. (Financial Daily)

Maxis chief executive officer  Sandip Das said in a statement "We laud the measures announced (by the prime minister) particularly in the areas of education and training, which is a key part of nation-building,". The incentives announced for smartphones and the establishment of Internet centres is a reflection of Maxis' ambition to bridge the digital divide and expedite adoption of contemporary global technology by the underserved, he added. (BT)

Tobacco growers and curers in Kelantan have joined the global fight against the World Health Organisation (WHO) plan that threatens their jobs and livelihoods. About 15k local players will be among millions of tobacco growers worldwide waiting for their fate come next month following discussion on the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).  Kelantan Tobacco Growers and Curers Association said draft recommendations on tobacco farming and environmental practices could force its communities out of business through punitive measures. Under the earlier WHO's FCTC, the proposals encouraged governments to help tobacco growers find viable alternatives to growing tobacco with the assumption that demand would decline over time. At present, WHO has taken a radically different track to phase out tobacco growing without finding viable solutions to tobacco growers' livelihoods. (BT)

Malayan United Industries (MUI) chairman Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng continued to accumulate shares in the group, effectively increasing his stake to 11.8%. There has been speculation over Khoo's possible comeback to the Malaysian corporate scene after he was seen at a luncheon with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other leading Chinese businessmen. (Financial Daily).

Danainfra Nasional is finalising plans to issue RM1.5bn sukuk tranche by mid-November to finance the MRT SBK line, with one portion to be marketed as retail bond as mooted by Budget 2013. The issuance, part of the RM8bn ICP/MTNs programme signed in early July, will see one fifth of it, or RM300m, being floated as retail bond. "This is an opportunity to widen the investor base for the MRT project. However, should retailers fall short, we expect the corporates to snap up the retail bond portion." Principal officer Fazlur Rahman Ebrahim said. (Malaysian Reserve)

Instacom Group, a Sarawak-based telecommunications engineering and services provider, has forecast a revenue of RM88m for its 2012 financial year. Its chief executive officer, Anne Kung, said the confidence on the forecast was based on the after-tax profit guarantee of about RM15m made for the current financial year, as well as for FY2013. "That guarantee gives an indication of our confidence to generate this profitability," she said in a media briefing to announce the re-listing of Instacom on Bursa Malaysia Securities. She said last year the group achieved a turnover of RM87m and profit after tax of RM9.9m. On the re-listing of the group, she said the exercise commenced after the conclusion of a reverse takeover of I-Power Bhd, which was approved by Bursa Malaysia in April. The re-listing is a very important milestone for Instacom, being a Sarawakian company with a strength in the services sector, rather than resource- or manufacturing-based, she added. (Bernama)