20121123 1149 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Bursa sees value of IPOs in 2013 to match 2012’s RM23bn
Bursa Malaysia is expected to match this year’s IPO value of RM22.9bn in 2013, Bursa CEO Datuk Tajuddin Atan said, although the listings may not be as impressive as this year’s mega IPOs. “Total capital expected to be raised next year is coming close to what we’re seeing this year, if economic conditions remain, although individual amounts may not be as big as the individual IPOs this year,” he said. Among companies slated to list next year include Wesport Holdings and Malakoff. (StarBiz)

Khazanah divests stake in MAHB
Khazanah sold another 8.7% stake in Malaysia Airports (MAHB) through a placement, a person familiar with the share sale said. Khazanah divested 107m shares in the airports operator at RM5.50 each for about RM589m after exercising an upsize option. Khazanah has progressively lowered its stake in MAHB to 40.4% from 67.7% in 2010 as part of the Government’s plans to reduce its local business holdings. It has also pared its holding in Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional. (StarBiz)

PKA seeks haircut on PKFZ loan
The Port Klang Authority (PKA) has approached the government with proposals to restructure its RM4.6bn Treasury loan incurred to develop the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). PKA proposed to repay only RM2.76bn (or 60%) of the RM4.6bn loan that went towards the development expenses for PKFZ. The port authority argues that it does not have to pay for the cost of acquiring the land and assets as these assets ultimately belong to the government. “We borrowed money from the government but the government still owns the 1,000 acre land and all the properties, so the government doesn’t lose out,” says PKA chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poo. (Financial Daily)

A plantation workers' union has decided to file an industrial court case on alleged bonus payout discrepancies against  Sime Darby Bhd's plantation division, arguing that the conglomerate had been unfair to its lower management and operation staff when it had just dished out handsome bonuses to its management staff. It was reported in early November that a good number of plantation managers and senior staff at Sime Darby took home bonus payout ranging from 12- 14 months. (Malaysian Reserve)

Guinness Anchor Bhd may see its prices for its product range increase between 2% to 4% in the next 12 months depending on the increase in cost of production and consumer market sentiment. Managing director Charles Ireland said a moderate price increase was "more likely than not" and would rather increase price gradually over a period of time than drastically in lower frequency. He said the increment would also be based on consumers' sentiment. Speaking to reporters, he said GAB has no immediate plans of introducing new labels but would "always look at the market from consumers' perspective". The company also appointed Datuk Saw Choo Boon as its chairman as he brings with him a wealth of experience to the brewery. Saw Choo Boon, 65, takes over from Tan Sri Saw Huat Lye who retires after having been on GAB's board for more than 25 years. (Starbiz)

Malaysia Airports (MAHB) has inked a deal with Mitsui Fudosan of Japan to jointly develop an upscale factory outlet centre and its complementary facilities in KLIA at an estimated cost of RM335m. Mitsui Fudosan is a real estate company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is mainly engaged in the development of office buildings, shopping centres and factory outlets, hotels, sports and leisure, and resort facilities. The project is to be developed on a 50-acre site in KLIA over three phases. Upon completion, expected around end-2014, the project is expected to have a total lettable area of 47,000 sq m. (Financial Daily, StarBiz)

Petronas has announced successful gas production from the Berantai field, and the drilling and testing of the first well at the Balai cluster in the first and second risk service contract (RSC) areas. Natural gas production from Berantai was brought onstream on 20 Oct. The RSC was awarded to Petrofac and SapuraKencana in Jan 2011. The national oil company also announced the discovery of gas in Block PM307. (Bernama)

The city of Kuala Lumpur has been ranked fourth best for shopping in global news network CNN's survey. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, who announced this last night, said the Government's continued effort to boost KL as a shopping haven was bearing fruit. She commended shopping malls and stores on the cooperation extended to the ministry to help make its campaigns a success. (Star)

Tan Chong aims to sell 3,000 units of its new Nissan Almera a month. This was driven by over 7,000 bookings for Almera within two weeks of the launch in October. By January 2013, it expects the bookings to reach 10,000 units. (Financial Daily)

Ireka Corp Bhd has obtained an investment certificate to import and distribute computer hardware, programming, consultancy and computer system management in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The certificate was from the city’s People’s Committee, a 13-member executive council.  The company will operate the business under the name i-Tech Network Solutions (Vietnam) Co Ltd. (BT)

Iris Corp Bhd has been awarded a RM39.5m contract by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) to build and develop an integrated community centre in Felda Tenggaroh, Mersing. The new modern rural project is to further assist the government in uplifting the social and economic standing of the Felda settlers and to create an agriculturally progressive community and environment. The company said the project, called "Sentuhan Kaseh", will be financed through internally generated funds and bank borrowings. The contract period is from Nov-2012, to Feb-2013. (BT)

Zelan Bhd's Meena Plaza in Abu Dhabi has run into trouble following project owner Meena Holdings LLC's decision to terminate the contract. The group said its legal counsels are instructed to initiate legal actions to challenge the purported termination of contract and to liquidate the performance bond. In March 2008, Zelan had announced that the contract value was RM771m. (StarBiz)

AirAsia may add only 1 more hub
AirAsia said it may add only one more major hub for expansion as it focuses on boosting profits from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in the next three years. Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and India are among the potential markets for a new base. Meanwhile, the discount carrier aims to increase annual profit from its three main markets to RM1bn each. (Malaysian Reserve)

AirAsia Bhd has been granted an air operator's certificate (AOC) to fly for another five months instead of a two year period for not meeting  regulatory standards. The current AOC is valued until Apr 2013. Sources say this occurred after periodical audit findings by the Department of Civil Aviation showed shortcomings in AirAsia's flight operations procedures and practices. This included failed communications between flight operations and pilots, an outdated manual and flight operations not keeping with the manual. It is also understood that AirAsia's head for flight operations has been charged due to the action. One source said, "The fact that they have not grounded AirAsia aircraft shows that it's not a serious safety issue, but this action still serves as a warning". (Sun Biz)

YTL Corp net profit soars 56% y-o-y in 1Q
YTL Corp's net profit rose 55.6% y-o-y to RM391.9m in 1QFY13. This was mainly due to the better performance of its cement operations, unrealised foreign exchange gains and derivative gains recorded by an offshore subsidiary. The cement and utilities divisions continued drive the group's growth while the reorganisation of its property development and real estate investment trust businesses, completed over the past year, had successfully streamlined and improved the divisions' operational efficiency. (BT)

Gadang Holdings Bhd is expected to replenish its construction orderbook by RM500m in six months' time from its current tendering of projects worth RM3bn. According to MD Tan Sri Kok Onn, Gadang has an orderbook of RM1.6bn at present. “We are also interested to further participate in the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) project for Line 2,” he told StarBiz after the company's AGM recently. Currently, Gadang, mainly involved in construction and property development, has already started work on the V2 package of KVMRT valued at RM863m, which is the biggest project in its orderbook.Other works include Shah Alam Hospital project valued at RM410mil and newly secured phase 1 of site preparation work for the proposed Refinery and Petrochemical Intergrated Development (Rapid) project valued at RM312.8m. (Starbiz)

Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd has emerged as a substantial shareholder in PA Resources Bhd with a 9.16% stake or 78.8m shares.A filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday showed Fajabaru bought 74.15 million shares by subscribing for the rights issue.The subscription was carried out on Tuesday. (Starbiz)

Bina Goodyear Bhd has suspended its senior general manager (finance) pending investigation into the accounting records of the company, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia. The company had recently been classified as a Practice Note 17 company due to a provision of RM29.6m for its work-in-progress.It has appointed PKF Advisory Sdn Bhd to conduct a special audit to look into the provision and the related matters. (Starbiz)

UEM Group may soon know the outcome of its bid for the privatisation of bridges and highways in Turkey. The Privatisation Administration of Turkey (OIB) is expected to decide on the privatisation by year end, the group said. Grp MD/CEO Datuk Izzaddin Idris said UEM and its JV partners are in discussions with OIB on the bid they had submitted. UEM's partners are Turkish industrial conglomerate KOC Holding and financial services firm Gozde Girisim Sermaesi Yatirim Ortakligi. UEM and KOC Holdings each own 40% stake in the JV while Gozde holds the balance. The three joint venture partners last month submitted a bid for the privatisation of two bridges over the Bosphorus Straits in Istanbul and seven motorways across Turkey. (BT)