20121120 0942 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Malaysia vehicle sales accelerate 20.7% to 55,358 in October
Vehicles sales in Malaysia rose to 55,358 units in October, up 20.7% or 9,486 units from a month ago and the Malaysian Automotive Association expects sales to be maintained in November. The association said on Monday the higher sales in October were due to the positive consumer sentiment, the introduction of new models and also a longer working month. Of the 55,358 units sold in October, it said passenger vehicles accounted for 478,515 units and commercial vehicles 6,943. The MAA said year-to-date, total vehicles sale rose 1.97% to 513,805 units from 503,859 units in the previous corresponding period. (StarBiz)

Golden-Agri issues RM1.5bn Islamic bond in Malaysia
Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources Ltd, the world's second largest palm oil plantation company, has issued its first Islamic bond, or sukuk, in Malaysia worth RM1.5bn (USD488m). "The company considers Malaysia the ideal location for the issue given the country's well-established and advanced sukuk market, which is abundant with liquidity, coupled with its familiarity with the palm oil industry," Golden Agri said. The Islamic medium-term notes, part of a RM5bn program established earlier this month, will have a tenure of five years and mature in Nov 2017. The notes were priced at 4.35%. (StarBiz)

IOI Corp Q1 earnings up 134% to RM604.3m, boost from forex gains
IOI Corporation's earnings jumped 134% to RM604.30m in its first quarter ended 30 Sept 2012 (Q1FY13) from RM258.1m a year ago, boosted mainly by foreign exchange gains while it expects a challenging year ahead. The plantation heavyweight reported on Monday its revenue fell 18.7% to RM3.4bn from RM4.1bn a year ago.
"The increase is due mainly to translation gain of RM259.2m (Q1 FY2012 - loss of RM271.7m) on foreign currency denominated borrowings and higher contributions from all major segments other than plantation segment," it said. (StarBiz)

Scomi tracking KL monorail system
SCOMI Engineering wants to take the government-owned Kuala Lumpur monorail system private and expand the services to Bandar Sunway, Selangor, in a deal that could be worth over RM3bn. The KL Monorail project was built at a cost of RM1.2bn by KL Infrastructure Group, which had a 40-year concession to collect fares. The system is now operated by Prasarana's wholly-owned unit, KL StarRail SB, and uses 12 two-car trains built by Scomi Rail, a subsidiary of Scomi Engineering. Scomi Engineering president Suhaimi Yaacob said the company has prepared two proposals - extending the line to Bandar Sunway and privatising the project. (BT)

Mitsubishi launches Mirage, plans Malaysia assembly plant
Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia SB (MMM) is planning to set up its first assembly plant here by the end of next year. Its chief executive officer Tetsuya Oda declined to reveal the cost of setting up the plant or its location. The company is now in discussions with the relevant parties on the extent of the production capacity, he told reporters at the launch of the Mitsubishi Mirage yesterday. The Mirage, the latest model by Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC), is powered by the new 3A92 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine with MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control) system. (BT)

MMC: Our collaboration with Proton is over
Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) of Japan says its collaboration with Proton Holdings is over. This follows a change in ownership of Proton to DRB-Hicom, which subsequently chose Honda as Proton's new foreign strategic partnership (FSP). This was confirmed by MMC vice-corporate GM for Asia and Asean Ryujiro Kobashi, who said there are no plans to extend the MoU with Proton. MMC and Proton signed a product development agreement in Dec 2008 to develop a new vehicle model for Proton. Both parties had agreed on the collaboration that would see Proton source a vehicle from Japan to replace the Waja. (Financial Daily)

Matang launches RTO for Scope
The MCA-controlled plantation firm, Matang Holdings, has launched a reverse take-over (RTO) of electronics firm Scope Industries in a deal worth RM145m. The same deal also saw ACE Market-listed Scope signing an agreement to buy out another plantation company Benua Mutiara SB, for RM31.7m. Both deals are to be satisfied via the issuance of new Scope shares at 25 sen each. The proposals, if approved, will change Scope's nature of operations from being a manufacturing company to a plantation outfit with a total landbank of 6.966 acres. (Financial Daily)

Dialog, Halliburton to jointly manage RM4b oilfield deal
Dialog and Halliburton International Inc signed an agreement yesterday to jointly manage the Bayan Field oilfield services contract (OSC) worth USD1.2bn (RM3.7bn) over 24 years. Under the terms of the agreement, Dialog D&P SB and Asia Energy Services SB, will hold a 50:50 interest in Halliburton Bayan Petroleum SB (HBP). HBP recently signed an agreement with Petronas Carigali SB to provide services to recover the reserves from the Bayan Field, which is located off the shores of Bintulu, Sarawak, estimated to have a total project value of USD 1.2bn over 24 years. ((Malaysian Reserve)

Astro management exercises 1m new shares
Astro Malaysia Holdings management has exercised one million new shares in the company for RM1 per share under a scheme to reward its top management and executives. The price is way below Astro's current market price that closed at RM2.70 yesterday and its initial public offering (IPO) price of RM3 per share. The issue is part of the 21.9m management share scheme which was announced on 11 Oct, after its IPO listing on 19 Oct. Astro's market capitalization after the scheme takes effect would be around RM14bn thus the management share scheme would have a minimal effect on the company's share price. (Malaysian Reserve)