20121101 1015 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

TNB sees higher profits on stronger demand
Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) recorded a net profit of RM2.9bn for the financial year ended 31 Aug (FY12), 34% higher than last year’s profit, due to stronger demand for electricity, the strengthening of ringgit and lower average cost of coal. TNB chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie said the higher fuel cost incurred by the company, resulting from the higher usage of oil and distillate, was addressed following the implementation of the fuel cost sharing mechanism. In a related development, Bernama reported that TNB is confident of managing the power supply despite a delay in the starting up of Petronas’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) regassification facility in Melaka, which was supposed to have come onstream in September. (Financial Daily, Bernama)

Emkay sees rising demand in Cyberjaya, to invest RM3.7bn
Property developer Emkay Group believes there will be a higher middle-income population in Cyberjaya as the population in the area is expected to reach 100,000 over the next five years. Chief executive officer Ahmad Khalif Mustapha Kamal said there will be 16 developers who will build about RM20 billion worth of property projects which include commercial property, landed property, high-rise and office blocks. (BT)

IGB ‘frontrunner’ for Taipei MRT job
IGB Corp, in an exchange filing yesterday, stepped forward to clarify several media reports regarding a RM8bn contract to construct the Taipei Twin Towers. According to the reports, a consortium led by IGB had been awarded the contract to construct the two high-rise buildings by the Taipei City government. However, IGB has since clarified that it had on 16 May 2012, submitted a tender for the proposed joint land development investment on the airport mass rapid transit (MRT) system. (Malaysian Reserve)

Dijaya makes RM38m on land sale
Dijaya Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Dijaya Property SB, has sold 27ha of freehold land in Balakong to Kuala Lumpur Metro (M) SB for RM106.4m. In a press statement yesterday, Dijaya said it will realise a net gain of approximately RM38m by the first-quarter of 2013 and the sales proceeds will be utilised as working capital for the group’s upcoming development projects.(Malaysian Reserve)

PLB Eng wins sanitary landfill concession
PLB Engineering’s subsidiary PLB Terang SB has clinched a 20-year concession agreement with Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) and Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP) to operate and maintain a sanitary landfill and materials recovery facility at Pulau Burung, Seberang Perai Selatan, Penang. MPSP and MPPP have agreed to pay PLB Terang a tipping fee, from RM20.20 per tonne to RM26.89 per tonne depending on the number of years in operation for each billing month. (StarBiz)

XL Axiata posts RM717m 9-month profit
Axiata Group’s Indonesian 66%-owned unit PT XL Axiata Tbk posted a net profit of IDR2.2trn (RM717m) for the nine-month period of the financial year ending 31 Dec 2012. In a statement issued, Axiata Group said XL Axiata’s key offering for data remained the pay-per-use or volume-based packages and Hot Rod 3G+. To align its focus on using the 3G network for data, XL Axiata had started to offer additional quota for its data volume packages, if used on the 3G network. (StarBiz)

C I Holdings Bhd (CIH) is still eyeing opportunities in the power sector, despite its failed bid for a Prai power plant, and hopes to firm up a new business direction within a year, a top executive said. "I'm passionate about the power sector and there are still opportunities,  but we don't want to limit ourselves to just power or consumer. Hopefully by the next AGM, we will see something firmed up," group managing director Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said after the company's AGM. "I would like to buy problematic companies and turn them into successful ones. No point paying 20-30x P/E for assets. I'll not be fair to shareholders if we pay unrealistic prices," Johari said, conceding that pricing had been a key hurdle in CIH's search for a new unpolished gem. While the company only has about RM88m cash currently, Johari said the company can always borrow or propose a rights issue to raise cash from shareholders should the need arise.According to Johari, CIH does not face a timeline to find a new business
as it is not a Practise Note 17 (PN17) distressed company or cash company without a core business under Practise Note 16(PN16). Shareholders would likely not get any dividends in the coming financial year, though. On opportunities in the power sector, Johari said it would be easier to go abroad once it has a good track record in Malaysia. While small relative to many players in the power sector, Johari said the CIH has necessary expertise and capability to compete with the bigger boys. "Our bid was the second lowest after Tenaga [Nasional Bhd], beating others like Malakoff and YTL Power," he said. CIH is no longer considering acquiring poultry player D.B.E. Gurney Resources Bhd. "I've not looked at that for awhile now," Johari said. (The Edge)

Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGV)  has again clarified that Genting Bhd is not a shareholder of FGV, and that it has not granted any shares to Genting during and after the initial public offering (IPO) exercise. In a statement, FGV president and chief executive officer Datuk Sabri Ahmad said it is imperative for FGV to provide such clarification so that the public as well as Felda settlers are not misled by ambiguous reports. (BT)

Brahmal Vasudevan has emerged as a substantial shareholder with a 5% acquired stake in MyEG Services Bhd yesterday. Vasudevan, who has a direct and indirect shareholdings totalling 30 million shares in MyEG, is believed to be a close business acquaintance of billionaire T Ananda Krishnan. (Starbiz)

The widening of certain stretches of the North-South Expressway (NSE) is to be completed by end of 2014. The plan is to add a fourth lane along the NSE from Shah Alam to Rawang, Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta and Nilai Utara to Seremban in both directions. "The initial preparations for the construction of the fourth lane from Shah Alam to Rawang and Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta are almost complete and land works will start soon," PLUS Malaysia Bhd managing director Datuk Noorizah Abd Hamid said.     The project consists of four packages - the 16.1km Shah Alam junction to Sungai Buloh, Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta Toll Plaza (7km), Sungai Buloh to Rawang junction (13.1km) and Nilai Utara to Seremban (27km). Noorizah added that the construction cost for the project is about RM1.4bn to RM1.6bn. (BT)

Ethiopian Airlines, the national flag carrier of Ethiopia, plans to work with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in a big way as soon as early next year. Ethiopian Airlines planned to work on code sharing and special pro-rate agreement with its Malaysian counterpart. "This arrangement would see the traffic from 44 countries in Africa to be transported into Kuala Lumpur and would be supply to MAS. MAS will then take it from KL to add to its network that includes the rest of South-East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. (Star Biz)

Competition in the mass market, 1.5-litre car segment has heated up, with Tan Chong Motor pricing its latest model below market expectation. The 1.5l Nissan Almera is priced at between RM66,800 and RM79,800. The Proton Preve, a 1.6-litre model, ranges from RM59,990 to RM72,540, which is not far away from Nissan's Almera. Tan Chong is targeting 1,000 to 1,250 units in monthly sales. (Financial Daily)

Samalaju Industrial Port expects construction of phase one of the RM1.8bn Samalaju Port to be completed by the first quarter of 2016. It will have an annual handling capacity of 18m tonnes of cargo. In the interim, the port plans to provide facilities starting in the second quarter of next year with an annual handling capacity of 4m tonnes of cargo. (Bernama)

Tune Hotels Group, which is building a new Tune Hotels at KLIA2 in Sepang, has yet to decide whether to maintain its existing budget hotel at the current low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) once the new one is up. But for now it is business as usual, said its CEO Mark Lankester. Mudajaya Group Bhd on Monday announced it won a RM65m contract from TP Sepang Sdn Bhd, a member of Tune Group Co, to build the new Tune Hotels, which is expected to be completed by Nov 22, 2013. "We are developing a brand new 400-room Tune Hotels at the new KLIA2. Mudajaya has been selected as the main contractor," Lankester told SunBiz via email. He said while no firm decision has been made on the hotel at the current LCCT, the group is aware that KLIA2 is designed to cater to 30m passengers, expandable to 45m passengers. "With that substantial number, we may require both hotels to cater to overall passenger needs. "We will continue to operate the Tune Hotels at LCCT to look after our guests up until the time that the new KLIA2 hotel is up and operating," Lankester added.The budget hotel chain now has 25 hotels in five countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and the UK. (Sun)

Carrefour SA, France’s biggest grocer, agreed to sell its  Malaysian operations to  Aeon Co., Japan’s largest retailer, for 250m euros ($324m). The sale was effective immediately, Boulogne-Billancourt, France-based Carrefour said.  “The transaction is part of Carrefour’s strategy of refocusing on its core activities and allocating its resources to mature countries where it occupies strong and established positions and emerging markets where it has strong growth potential,” the company said in the statement. (Bloomberg)

Premier Nalfin Bhd could soon be taken over by the privately-held Emrail Sdn Bhd, people with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday. It is further understood that the two parties could sign a heads of agreement by as early as this week to help facilitate the reserve takeover. Premier Nalfin is a Practice Note 16 company, which means that it has cash but no core business. The company has a cash backing of RM0.33/share. In Oct-2011, Premier Nalfin sold its downstream palm oil business and has since been a cash shell. (BT)

Boon Siew Honda Sdn Bhd, the distributor and assembler of Honda motorbikes, believes it is on track to grow its sales by 12% to 262,700 units this year, helped by the introduction of new models. The company, which has a 47% share in the sales of new motorbikes, is also planning to launch a few more new models over the next two months. Besides the launches, Okada said that its rising dealership network has also played a key role in boosting company's sales number. (BT)