US stocks rise on Spain bailout optimism, earnings
Global stocks jumped the most in a month amid better-than-forecast US earnings and industrial production, while the euro and Spanish bonds gained as two German lawmakers said the country is open to Spain seeking a precautionary credit line. Both the S&P500 Index and the Dow rallied 1.0% as Johnson & Johnson and Mattel advanced after reporting earnings, while Citigroup climbed as Vikram Pandit stepped down as CEO. European shares rose earlier as German investor confidence increased for a second month in October, Another report showed US industrial production increased a more-than-forecast 0.4% in September, partially reversing the prior month’s slump and indicating manufacturers are regaining their footing. (Bloomberg)
Green Packet looking to sell P1
Green Packet is looking to exit the broadband service business by selling its entire 61% stake in Packet One Networks (M) SB (P1). Five parties have submitted bids for P1, of which three are foreign parties, according to executives familiar with the matter. P1’s other major shareholder is South Korea’s SK Telecom with a 28.2% stake. (Financial Daily)
AMMB gets nod to buy back stake in life insurance ventures
AMMB received the green light from Bank Negara to start negotiations with Friends Life to buy back the 30% equity held in subsidiaries AmLife Insurance and AmFamily Takaful, which will allow AMMB and Friends Life to pursue separate strategies to enhance their respective businesses. Friends Life will nonetheless continue to provide technical support to AmLife and AmTakaful over a period of time. Friends Life’s JV with AMMB in AmLife began in Dec 2008, while the JV with AmTakaful began in Dec 2011. (Malaysian Reserve) Please see accompanying report.
Revival plan for Proton
DRB-HICOM will announce a plan by as early as next month to revive the fortunes of Proton. "If we don't solve Proton's problems, not only Proton, but the whole DRB-HICOM group will go down," COO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said. The new business plan will look into the whole ecosystem of Proton which includes the vendors as well as its more than 100,000 workers. Che Khalib, however, declined to give further details of the plan or comment on the possibility that a foreign partner would be roped in for Proton. (BT)
Scomi’s asset sale still on, after cancellation of ROS
Scomi Group will still proceed with the proposed sale of three subsidiaries that form part of the group’s ongoing restructuring after the cancellation of the proposed renounceable offer for sale of 283.24m Scomi Marine shares to Scomi Group shareholders. Under the original proposal, Scomi shareholders would have been given the option to buy Scomi Marine shares at a discount of up to 10% of the RM0.47 per share at which Scomi Marine shares were issued pursuant to the proposed RM776m disposal of Scomi Oilfield. (Financial Daily)
Time to supply IPTV to Cyberjaya users
Time dotCom (TdC) has secured a 10-year deal to provide Internet protocol television (IPTV), data, Internet and voice services to commercial and residential premises within the vicinity of Cyberjaya. TdC has signed a memorandum of agreement to collaborate with Cyberjaya’s master developer Setia Haruman Technology SB to introduce 100% fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-office services to about 3,300 homes and 1,400 offices. (Malaysian Reserve)
Glomac on M&A trail
Glomac is seeking M&A as part of its growth strategy, which may involve acquiring smaller real estate firms and Malaysian boutique developers. For now, Glomac is looking at acquiring land in Greater Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere like Johor, according to Group MD and CEO Datuk FD Iskandar Mansor. Glomac has some 400 ha with an expected RM7bn in gross development value. (BT)
Top Glove Corp Bhd has welcomed the proposed takeover offer of Latexx Partners Bhd by Semperit AG Holdings, saying it is 'good' for the overall industry. Semperit is also a customer of Top Glove albeit not a huge one. Top Glove said, "Semperit's strategy to acquire existing capacity instead of adding new capacity is appropriate as there must always be a balance of demand and supply". The company also said that the deal could spur more M&A deals in the sector. (Star Biz)
China's import of palm oil is expected to reach about 6m tonnes next year due to increasing demand, says the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. Its Regional Manager for China, Desmond Ng said as the Chinese economy and population continued to grow, demand for palm oil will also increase steadily, but at a slower pace in tandem with that of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). "Direct usage of palm oil or substituting other oils in the food processing industry may decline. The further processing of palm oil will play a bigger role for the product in the country," he said. As a result of lower soybean import duty in China, locally produced soybean oil will always have the cost discount, against imported soybean oil by 6%. "This again put pressure on imported palm oil and also partly became the reason for the discount in the local palm oil price against landed cost in China," he added. (Bernama)
The Felda Holdings Bhd's refusal to pay the full price for the purchase of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) has been described as unjust. Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said after sellers complained that Felda Holdings, through its subsidiary Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd, had issued a notice that the company would not pay the full sum to all sellers of FFB. "Felda is blantantly ignoring the prevailing market prices and will pay the sellers, who are also Felda settlers, approximately 10% less than the market rate. The formula is based on the current market Crude Palm Oil (CPO) price minus RM200 per metric tonne," she said. Nurul Izzah said it was unjust, if not illegal, for Felda to unilaterally forced a discount on the settlers. (Malay Mail)
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is keen to partner with Petronas in its third-country ventures, said Minister in PM's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop after meeting India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Jaipal Reddy. (Bernama)
Maybank has obtained a banking licence in Laos and plans to open its first branch in the capital city in early November, becoming one of few Malaysian banking groups to venture into the smallest Southeast Asian economy. The move ties in with its plan to have a presence in all 10 Asean countries by 2015. "We're making all the final arrangements to open a branch in Vientiane this November," president and CEO Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar told. (BT)
Malaysia Airports (MAHB) expects the Penang International Airport to register a 4-5% growth in passenger traffic this year despite the upgrading work in progress. Last year, the airport recorded a 4% growth, handling 4.5m passengers. (Bernama)
YTL hotels, the hospitality arm of YTL Corp, said demand for its hotels remains strong despite the global economic uncertainties. Its executive director Datuk Mark Yeoh said this is mainly driven by the growing trend of its Asian customer base. "We noticed that our hotels are seeing a shift in customer base, from being more European centric in the past, to more Asian. Yeoh expects the bullish trend to continue over the near term, thanks partly to growing affluence in the region that sees more Asians going on holiday. He added that its hotels are doing "very well", with occupancy rates of over 80% in most cases. (BT)
Telekom Malaysia, Astro Malaysia Holdings: Scoring for EPL
The bidding process for English Premier League (EPL) broadcast for the next 4 years is set to begin, with Telekom Malaysia (TM), Astro Malaysia Holdings and newcomer Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) indicated their interest for bidding. The previous 2010-2012 EPL season bid was won by Astro, paying a rumoured figure of RM800m. Potential bidders have until Oct 12 to decide and must submit their bids by Nov 8. The winner will be announced in January or February 2013 and the successful party will have to pay up 5% of bid price to secure the rights. (StarBiz)
Hartalega Holdings: Forms subsidiary in India
Hartalega Holdings has formed a 70%-owned subsidiary, Pharmatex Healthcare Ptd Ltd, in India through its wholly-owned unit Hartalega Sdn Bhd. The authorised capital of Pharmatex is 100,000 rupees divided into 10,000 equity shares of 10 rupees each, with an issued and paid-up capital of 100,000 rupees only divided into 10,000 ordinary shares of 10 rupees each. Pharmatex is mainly involved in trading, import, export, packing and re-packing in all kinds of high quality rubber gloves. (StarBiz)
Apex Equity Holdings: New substantial shareholder emerges
Apex Equity Holdings which was the subject of shareholders’ fights 4 months ago has seen the emergence of a substantial shareholder – Endau Suria Sdn Bhd. The filling with Bursa Malaysia yesterday shows that Endau Suria holds 7.54%, or 15.27m shares, in Apex Equity, which makes it the fourth largest shareholder in the stockbroking group. The shareholders of Endau Suria are Laura Hauw Soei Yong and Kong Hock Kin. (Financial Daily)
Sarawak Cable: Plans to buy over Trenergy
Sarawak Cable (SCB) has proposed the acquisition of the entire stake in Trenergy Infrastructure Sdn Bhd and the remaining 25% stake in Sarwaja Timur Sdn Bhd for RM65m and RM11.3m respectively, to be funded wholly in cash. SCB already owns 75% of Sarwaja, asteel fabrication and galvanising company, and the complete acquisition is intended to enable SCB to fully consolidate the financial results of Sarwaja into the audited financial statements of the SCB group. The remaining 25% had been held by Austin Corp (M) Sdn Bhd. Meanwhile, Trenergy would be bought from its chairman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who is also SCB non-independent non-executive chairman, Clarion Power Sdn Bhd and
Austin. (Starbiz)
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