Thursday, January 10, 2013

20130110 1114 Malaysia Corporate Related News.


Mudajaya entered into an MOU with the Government of Mandalay (Myanmar Region), represented by the Minister for Electricity and Industry, Mandalay Region Government and Koon Yew Yin, a Malaysian, with the intention to facilitate the setting up of  coal-fired power  plant and  solar-powered power plant projects. Mudajaya and Koon Yew Yin will form a 70:30 JV company. Mudajaya will prepare a feasibility report/proposal and submit to the Government of Mandalay within nine months. The MOU will expire in 12 months unless an extension period is agreed by all the parties. (BMSB)

DRB-Hicom is working on a plan to list the merged Proton Edar and EON Bhd, the distributors of Proton cars. This is part of the group's ambitious plan to create the Asian car project which will see Malaysia becoming a hub for the production of VW vehicles. As part of the plan, DRB-Hicom itself might be de-listed and then just the group's automotive manufacturing relisted later under the DRB-VW JV. (Financial Daily)

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary may make a standalone offer to privatise DRB-Hicom, the country's biggest automotive company, people working on the plan said yesterday.BT understands that the plan is being helmed by privately-held Meridian Solutions Sdn Bhd. Meridian is a unit controlled by Syed Mokhtar's top financial aide, Ooi Teik Huat. The low-profile 53-year-old Ooi is one of the Syed Mokhtar's top backroom boys, who sits on the board of many companies in which the Kedah-born businessman has a controlling stake. Ooi currently sits on the board of Malakoff and MMC Corp Bhd. It is further understood that Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Public Bank Bhd  are the two top banks working with Ooi on the privatisation. "Hong Leong and Public Bank will help provide the financing for the exercise. It is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of this year," said the source. BT was also told that DRB-Hicom could be taken private for between RM3.50-RM4.00/share, and that the exercise will be solely driven by Syed Mokhtar, who controls some 55% of the company. (BT)

Sales for the first phase of the RM24bn  Battersea Power Station development,  the largest Malaysian property development outside the country, kicked off yesterday with up to 800 units of apartments on offer.SP Setia Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) launched the first phase, named Circus West, with a gross development value (GDV) of STG900m (RM2.7bn). "We are quietly optimistic about the take-up for the residential units," Battersea Power Station Development Co Ltd (BPSDC) CEO Robert Tincknell told the Malaysian media prior to the launch. BPSDC is the company managing the Battersea Power Station project. "We're confident. There's a lot of pent-up demand for these apartments, especially from Londoners," he said. The sales launch will be followed by sales exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 12 before moving to Singapore, Hong Kong and back to London.  Tincknell noted that the company made an allocation for each market but did not give a quantum. The project's first phase comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, townhouses and penthouses as well as a mix of offices, shops, leisure and hospitality units.Prices start from STG0.34m (RM1m) for a studio unit, from STG0.42m (RM1.3m) for a one-bedroom, from STG0.61m (RM1.8m) for a two-bedroom and STG0.9m (RM2.7m) for a three-bedroom apartment as well as from STG6m (RM18m) for the penthouse units. Construction of the 990,000sf of residential space and 110,000sf of commercial space will start in 2H13. (BT)

A  risk service contract (RSC) that made  Scomi  a takeover target is not likely to come its way because its Australian partner is reassessing its plans to go into the venture. Sources said Cue Energy Resources Ltd is not keen on becoming a contractor and developer, which effectively is its responsibility as an RSC contractor of a marginal oil field offered by Petronas. Cue Energy's new management felt certain risks on the operations were not mitigated. Cue Energy was one of the companies invited to bid for the RSC of the Tembikai and Cenang marginal oil fields. (Financial Daily)

Axiata  is eyeing deals in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, but reckons getting into Myanmar will be "very tough", CEO Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim said in an interview. "That's a good reflection of what we intend to do," he said. "It can be a small company, it can be a relatively large company. Generally what we would like to do is consolidation." Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia are the most likely candidates for similar deals, Jamaludin said. "That's the inorganic expansion. Of course, there are opportunities for new countries but in reality there's very few left." Axiata hopes to enter Myanmar but the country has attracted a host of potential bidders, including Digicel and Norway's Telenor, for the two telecoms licences Myanmar plans to offer to foreign operators. Five or six of the bidders were "really aggressive," Jamaludin said. "It's going to be a tough one, a very tough one." In contrast, he said Axiata had little interest in entering Vietnam, which he said was an "anti-climax" after widespread excitement over its potential a few years ago. "They have a high level of penetration, so the attractiveness has gone down dramatically."Jamaludin said there was increasing competition in Indonesia. Axiata doubled its spending on Indonesia last year and would invest another "big sum" this year, he said. "Everybody can see it's a big opportunity and this is the time to go for it. Smaller players have also decided to up the ante, whereas in a lot of the other countries, the smaller players are getting more quiet." (Reuters)

The Ayer Molek Rubber Co Bhd,  which had failed to implement its proposed restructuring scheme within the stipulated timeframe, will be delisted from the Bursa Malaysia on Jan 21. “The securities of the company will be delisted on Jan 21 unless an appeal against de-listing is submitted to Bursa Securities on or before January 16,” said the company. The trading in the company’s securities will remain suspended (BT)

Iris Corp Bhd, via its joint-venture company Iris JV, has entered into an addendum to the agreement with the Bangladesh government for the supply of additional equipment related to the Machine Readable Passport and Machine Readable Visa projects. Iris JV, which consists of Iris Corp, Data Edge Ltd and Polish Security Printing Works, has submitted a price of US$17.0m (RM52m) for the additional equipment and related services. The requirement came due to the increased volume of issuance of machine readable passports. (BT)

Takaso Resources Bhd is contemplating venturing into the defence business, one of its top executives indicated yesterday. Under the plan, Takaso may form a new subsidiary to partner Amdac Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Pesaka Astana (M)), a contractor with about 20 years of experience in building and supplying vehicles for the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).  Takaso executive director Chin Boon Kim said the company is always looking at ways to improve its income stream but thus far, nothing has been cast in stone yet.  On Jan 4, Takaso told Bursa Malaysia that it is in negotiations with Amdac on possible future project collaboration. (BT)

Malindo Air is ready for a takeoff and has no financial constraints as claimed by certain quarters, said its CEO Chandran Ramamuthy. He was responding to reports that suggest that the new airline has financial issues. "We have no cash problems," Chandran said. (Financial Daily)

Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, which suffered a 30.7% decline in net profit to RM52.67m for the financial year ended Aug 31, 2012, is taking steps to normalise its Indonesia operations located in Lampung province in Sumatra. Its oil palm plantation there had been affected by a suspension in routine harvesting since the second quarter of FY12 due to unrest in the villages located in the vicinity. Chin Teck has about 12,122ha of planted oil palm areas in Malaysia and Indonesia as at Aug 2012. On palm oil prices, the group is of the view that palm oil is one of the vital oils in meeting the world's dietary and energy requirements, and thus remains optimistic about the long-term prospects of the business. (Financial Daily)

LBS Bina Group Bhd is targeting the middle market segment with its first high-rise property project - BSP Skypark - in Bandar Saujana Putra, Jenjarom. The BSP Skypark serviced apartments, with a gross development value of RM320m, was launched yesterday and is targeted for completion by 2016. These units are priced from RM399,900 with a gross built up area from 1,004 sq ft with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two parking lots per unit. (StarBiz)

Frost & Sullivan expects Malaysia's vehicle sales to decline 2.9% on-year to 600,000 units as some buyers await details of the revised National Automotive Policy (NAP). Its partner and head of the automotive & transportation practice for Asia Pacific, Kavan Mukhtyar said the marginal decline in total industry volume (TIV) was due to concerns about the general election and details of the NAP. (StarBiz)

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