Business Times (Malaysia) articles from February 2000

Business Times (Malaysia) archives from February 2000

Hauliers: Service may suffer with 15 more players.
February 29, 2000... THE country's five container hauliers are of the view that the Cabinet's decision to open up the haulage industry last Wednesday was based on "faulty reasoning" and could lead to poor service and a waste of funds. The Container Hauliers...

Tracking important info through BuzzCity.
February 29, 2000... TO MEET the heavy demand by Malaysian users of BuzzCity, the company launched earlier this week a dedicated site with emphasis on growing strategic affiliations and user wants. BuzzCity, with close to one million members registered in the...

American jeweler Tiffany opens first store in M'sia.
February 29, 2000... TIFFANY & Co, the 163-year old American jeweler, has opened its first store in Malaysia at the Suria KLCC. The Kuala Lumpur store is Tiffany's fifth store in Asia after Singapore (two) and Hong Kong and Japan (one each). It also has two...

Govt needs private sector's help to boost economic growth.
February 29, 2000... THE first budget of the new millennium has been tabled twice in Parliament. The first time last October, it was called "The People's Budget", and was seen to be a reward of sorts for the Malaysian people and their contribution towards...

Real time software for SITM students.
February 29, 2000... STUDENTS undertaking accounting-related subjects under the School of Information Technology and multimedia (SITM) at Sunway College now have the benefit of utilising FACT - a complete real time business accounting software. This was made...

Your;)Ware protection plan.
February 29, 2000... GATEWAY Inc, one of the worlds top PC manufacturers, has introduced in Malaysia, a protection plan which addresses the single biggest worry that customers confront in buying a PC - the fear that their computer will become obsolete too soon...

Preventing hacker attacks.
February 29, 2000... IN THE wake of the malicious hacker attacks that shut down several major Web sites recently, e-businesses need to bolster their line of defence with security software that can help prevent such assaults. The US National Institute of...

Big help for small companies.
February 29, 2000... DATUK Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's advice to the Malay business giants to leave small jobs to small players is most timely. Increasingly, the bigger and more established companies are competing for contracts which are peanuts in relations to their...

Cisco to display its networking solutions for Windows 2000.
February 29, 2000... CISCO Systems Inc will showcase its suite of networking solutions for Microsoft Windows 2000 at the new operating system's Malaysian launch on March 8. The company is also the Platinum and networking sponsor of the show. Both Cisco and...

Centre seeks innovative Net ideas for businesses.
February 29, 2000... STATE government-linked Johor Incubation Centre (JIC) welcomes innovative Internet ideas that it can help transform into business opportunities - be they from fresh graduates or entrepreneurs, even moonlighters. JIC is a universal...

Klibor futures settle higher.
February 29, 2000... THREE-month Klibor futures contracts on the Commodity and Monetary Exchange of Malaysia (Commex) settled higher as investors bought the contracts on the continued softening of interbank rates. The traded contracts of March 2000, June 2000...

Inro meet to mull move on stock.
February 29, 2000... MEMBERS of the International Natural Rubber Organisation (Inro) will meet on March 27 to decide on its next move to dispose of its 140,000 tonnes buffer stock in the market. Outgoing executive director Gerard Loyen said all Inro members...

Shares ease across the broad.
February 29, 2000... SHARES on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) closed broadly lower yesterday on continued profit-taking activity and selling pressure. Analysts said the steep drop in Wall Street last Friday helped to dampen sentiments further. ...

Index futures close lower.
February 29, 2000... KLSE Composite Index futures traded on The Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange (Kloffe) closed lower yesterday in line with the underlying weak cash market. Spot month dropped 15.5 points to close at 987.5 with 380 lots...

Oriental Hlgs records rise in earnings.
February 29, 2000... ORIENTAL Holdings Bhd chalked up a pre-tax profit of RM310.45 million for the year ended December 31 1999 from RM265.49 million in the previous corresponding period. This was achieved on the back of a drop in turnover to RM1.856 billion...

Carlsberg will raise stake in local unit.
February 29, 2000... INTERNATIONAL brewing group Carlsberg will increase its shareholding in associated company Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd with the purchase of a stake held by Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd. According to a statement by Carlsberg, the purchase...

RPB to invest RM30m in e-commerce business.
February 29, 2000... RELIANCE Pacific Bhd (RPB) intends to participate in e-commerce in a big way and will, over the next few years, invest RM30 million in building the business. In a statement yesterday, RPB has built up a huge customer base that knows and...

GE may double investment in two to three years.
February 29, 2000... US conglomerate General Electric (GE), which has over RM100 million worth in investment in Malaysia, is expected to double its investment in the country in the next two to three years, says the president and chief representative of GE...

Retail selling drives KLSE index to below 1,000 level.
February 29, 2000... RETAIL selling drove local share prices down yesterday, pushing the stock market's benchmark index to below 1,000 for the first time in two weeks, on concern over rising US interest rates. Small investors, spooked by last Friday's sharp...

KLSE Business Done (5).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

Restructuring of companies effected via share exchange.
February 29, 2000... THE RESTRUCTURING exercise of the four listed companies - Diversified Resources Bhd (DRB), Hicom Bhd, Gadek Capital Bhd and Gadek (Malaysia) Bhd will be affected via a share exchange mechanism which entails the conditional voluntary offers...

DRB-Hicom to focus on 3 divisions.
February 29, 2000... THE soon-to-be merged entity DRB-HICOM Bhd will focus its business on three core divisions - automotive, property and construction, and services - with the automotive division contributing the most in the initial stages, according to...

'Downtime of prime movers a reality of this business'.
February 29, 2000... Dear Sir, FIRSTLY, I would like to thank reader Mr K.C. Kung for his view points on the haulage industry (Letter to Editor, Shipping Times, 28 February). At the very outset of my article "Should the Container Haulage Industry have...

With the right system, you are put back in charge.
February 29, 2000... WHERE does the time go? In the past, top-notch products, paired with superior service, all but guaranteed your success. But this, by itself, is no longer enough to ensure long-term prosperity. In today's economy, intense competition, high...

Growing rapidly with e-business demands.
February 29, 2000... DEMANDS placed by the Internet on information technology (IT) are growing by 'powers of ten'. To succeed in the Internet economy, companies must build infrastructures that can grow rapidly and affordably with e-business demands, says Intel...

Sime Darby rakes in RM247m pre-tax profit.
February 29, 2000... SIME Darby Bhd has reported a group pre-tax profit of RM247.0 million on a turnover of RM2.65 billion for the quarter ended December 31 1999, bringing its pre-tax profit for the first half of the year ending June 30 2000 to RM463.7 million....

Effective Capital sees 90pc pick-up rate.
February 29, 2000... EFFECTIVE Capital Sdn Bhd is confident of a 90 per cent pick-up rate for its amended irrevocable request and authority (IRA) proposal to resolve the frozen Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) shares. Its chief executive officer Datuk Mohamed...

KLSE Business Done (1).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (3).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (2).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (4).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (6).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (8).
February 29, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

'Asean should not preach but help actively'.
February 29, 2000... THE Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) should not dictate its economic policies to Indonesia but instead engage the republic in economic programmes to speed up recovery. Indonesia's recovery will result in economic benefits...

Malaysia stockbroking consolidation.
February 29, 2000... MALAYSIA's stockbroking sector will be consolidated by 2003, First Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh said yesterday. "Everybody is now talking about consolidating, and we are saying we will consolidate. We just do not...

Bank launches RM400m technology, education funds.
February 29, 2000... BANK Industri Malaysia Bhd launched yesterday two new funds worth RM200 million each for technology and education in conjunction with its name change to Bank Industri & Teknologi Malaysia Bhd. The Technology Fund is aimed at enabling the...

Japan urged to increase investments in Asean.
February 29, 2000... THE Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) yesterday urged Japanese investors to take advantage of the member countries' economic recovery and increase their investments in the region. International Trade and Industry Minister...

Govt to seek Japanese loans for highway, bridge.
February 29, 2000... THE Government will be seeking long-term loans from Japanese financial institutions and agencies for the proposed elevated highway on the Federal Highway and the second crossing for Penang, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. ...

MRCB back in the black.
February 29, 2000... MALAYSIAN Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is back in the black, recording a pre- tax profit of RM21.4 million in the first quarter ended November 30 1999 on a turnover of RM72.9 million. This compares with a pre-tax loss of RM1.4 billion on a...

Employers free to hire foreign workers.
February 29, 2000... THE Government has lifted the freeze on hiring foreign workers, except for 138 jobs, effective from yesterday. However, new applications to hire foreign workers will not be entertained until all pending applications are approved. ...

Move will reduce group's loans.
February 29, 2000... THE to-be-merged DRB-Hicom Group will see some RM3 billion in long-term loans eliminated within one year of the completion of the entire restructuring exercise, says DRB-Hicom Group chairman Tan Sri Mohd Saleh Sulong. Mohd Saleh...

2 feeder lines to extend services to Westport.
February 29, 2000... WESTPORT said two feeder line will be extending their services to its terminal this week. The Indonesia Xpress Line (IXL) by Gold Star will extend its service to include Westport in its Semarang-Surabaya-Jakarta-Manila-Sibu-Colombo loop...

Star Cruises, Thailand sign contract to build terminal.
February 29, 2000... STAR Cruises, "The First Global Cruise Line" held an exchange of contract ceremony for the construction and operation of the Star Cruises Terminal, Laem Chabang, Bangkok with the Port Authority of Thailand. The exchange of contract...

Support port's aim, PTP tells shippers.
February 29, 2000... THE Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) has appealed to shippers in Johor to support the port's aim in becoming a transhipment hub in South-East Asia. The port's chief executive officer Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman in briefing the shippers from four...

DRB-HICOM unveils RM6bn merger plan (HL).
February 29, 2000... THE DRB-HICOM Group is undertaking a mammoth restructuring exercise that will result in the four listed entities - Diversified Resources Bhd, HICOM Bhd, Gadek Capital Bhd, Gadek (Malaysia) Bhd - coming under one umbrella with a RM6 billion...

Tanjung Pelepas port to open in two weeks.
February 29, 2000... THE countdown to the opening of the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) is two weeks away. Touted as the new transhipment hub in the country, all eyes will be focused on how the port will perform. Many port users have given the thumbs up to the...

Fire-fighting equipment maker sees 10pc growth.
February 28, 2000... FIRE fighting equipment manufacturer and retailer, SRII Bhd has projected a 10 per cent growth in turnover and profits for the financial year ending September 30 2000, from RM78.678 million in turnover and RM7.515 million in pre-tax profits...

Textile exports expected to grow by 15pc: Yap.
February 28, 2000... THE Malaysian textile exports, propelled by strong overseas market, is expected to grow by 15 per cent this year, Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Asociation (MTMA) vice-president Yap Fung Kong said. "At the moment, the overseas market is...

Firm still studying all possibilities.
February 28, 2000... PERUSAHAAN Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) says it is still "looking at all possibilities" to develop a second national car with the Automobiles Citroen of France. Proton chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Mahaleel Tengku Ariff said the...

Proton, Lotus to jointly develop sports car.
February 28, 2000... PERUSAHAAN Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) and Lotus Engineering Ltd of the UK are jointly developing a new two-litre sportscar, codenamed Proton Ultimate or PU, which is expected to be on the road by early 2003. Proton chief executive...

Pyongyang happy with current state of relations with KL.
February 28, 2000... PYONGYANG says it is happy with the current state of relations with Kuala Lumpur as both North Korea and Malaysia have common grounds in building an independent national economy. North Korean Foreign Trade Minister, Mr Kang Jong Mo said...

Amcorp's subsidiary to invest in IT business.
February 28, 2000... ARAB-Malaysian Corp Bhd (Amcorp), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mezzanine Capital (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd aims to invest in information technology (IT) related businesses this year, says managing director Mr Soo Kim Wai. Speaking to...

SRII shareholders to be rewarded.
February 28, 2000... SRII Bhd is rewarding its shareholders by proposing a four-for-five bonus issue of 15.984 million new ordinary shares of RM1 each. The company has also proposed to increase its authorised share capital to RM50 million comprising 50...

KLSE Business Done (8).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (10).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (9).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (11).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

IT in schools resolution among 103 passed.
February 28, 2000... THE Government has been urged to introduce information technology (IT) lessons in the school curriculum at the latest by the end of 2002 to prepare Malaysians to face the challenges of a knowledge-based economy and global competition. ...

Bumi entrepreneurs must understand changing landscape.
February 28, 2000... BUMIPUTERA entrepreneurs who want to remain resilient and competitive in the long term need to understand the effects of the powerful waves of change that are constantly shifting and reshaping the economic and financial landscape. Bank...

Don't compete with Davids, Malay business Goliaths told.
February 28, 2000... THE big Malay entrepreneurs should not compete for small projects with their minor-league counterparts, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says. They should instead focus on their core business activities and take on...

Surprise, sudden end to CLOB issue.
February 28, 2000... THE deadlock over Malaysian shares frozen on Singapore's over-the-counter market ended abruptly last week, a surprising and swift conclusion to the issue given the posturing of authorities on both sides of the Causeway up to just a few days...

PTP 2000 expo gets good response.
February 28, 2000... PTP 2000 International Exhibition and Conference has received good response with 96 per cent of the exhibition space taken up. To date, 24 of 25 exhibition booths have been taken up. With the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) geared to be...

Surge in PC penetration rate expected: Minister.
February 28, 2000... MALAYSIA expects to increase its PC penetration rate from 11 per cent presently to the world average of 35 per cent and Internet access rate from 5 per cent to the world average of 30 per cent by the end of the year. Energy,...

ABN Amro appoints Bornhoft as director.
February 28, 2000... ABN Amro Bank Bhd has appointed Datuk Jorgen Bornhoft, managing director of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd as a director of the bank. According to managing director, Mr Huibert Boumeester in a ABN Amro statement, Bornhoft's vast consumer...

Govt should liberalise haulage sector.
February 28, 2000... LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, I am amused to learn of the objection from Container Hauliers Association of Malaysia (CHAM) for the liberalisation of the container haulage industry in Malaysia. Their objection is expected; as in...

'Firm's proposals only a discussion paper'.
February 28, 2000... THE Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) said the four proposals forwarded by Bintang Melewar Sdn Bhd for the Central Limit Order Book (Clob) investors is only a discussion paper and should not be placed in public domain. ...

Mart recovery to usher in better years for Hunza.
February 28, 2000... HUNZA Properties Bhd (Hunza) expects the mild recovery in the property sector to usher in a favourable year for the company as it seeks a listing on the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. During the recent economic slowdown,...

CI futures end lower.
February 28, 2000... KLSE Composite Index Futures traded on the Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange (Kloffe) ended the day easier in tandem with the with lower cash. An analyst said, the less than impressive performance of the futures was...

Easier on profit-taking.
February 28, 2000... SHARES on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) closed easier yesterday on profit taking activities on Main and Second Board lower-liners after having chalked up impressive gains in the past weeks. An analyst said, that the technical...

Klibor futures close unchanged.
February 28, 2000... THREE-month Klibor futures on the Commodity and Monetary Exchange of Malaysia (Commex) settled flat at close yesterday following a quiet trade. A dealer said there was very little market participation as most players sidelined ahead of...

UN agrees to expand Congo mission.
February 28, 2000... UNITED NATIONS, Fri: THE United Nations Security Council yesterday unanimously agreed to expand the UN Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to up to 5,537 military personnel and extended its mandate to...

'Universal brokers similar in concept to anchor banks'.
February 28, 2000... THE new category of brokers referred to as universal brokers, announced by Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin in his presentation of the Budget 2000 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, will be similar to the concept of anchor banks, wherein one large...

Call to spend EPF money wisely.
February 28, 2000... CIVIL servants have been advised to use the opportunity to withdraw their contribution from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) wisely before reaching the retirement age. Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Senator Zainal Rampak...

Manufacturing sector helps spur GDP growth.
February 28, 2000... THE manufacturing sector, "backbone" of the economy, enabled the country to perform strongly last year, analysts and economists said. The manufacturing sector, they said, was supplemented by the services industry and the recovery in the...

RM peg against US$ will remain: Dr M.
February 28, 2000... THE Government expects to retain the ringgit exchange rate at RM3.80 to the US dollar for the year unless Malaysia becomes uncompetitive because other currencies depreciate. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he does not...

KLSE Business Done (1).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (3).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (2).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (4).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

KLSE Business Done (6).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

Pahanco revises proposed rights, bonus issues.
February 28, 2000... PAHANCO Corp Bhd has revised its proposed renounceable rights and bonus issues, in accordance with the Securities Commission Guidelines and the prevailing market share price. Accordingly, the company has proposed to make a renounceable...

Shares take a breather after recent rallies.
February 28, 2000... SHARES on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) ended the week easier on the back of a slight technical correction and taking a much needed breather after the recent spectacular rallies involving Second Board stocks and lower liners on the...

KLSE Business Done (7).
February 28, 2000... BID and offer prices, in sen per share, officially listed and business done on and reported to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, from the lowest to the highest price, with the number of shares traded shown in lots of 1,000 units each; the last...

The many perils of immigration.
February 28, 2000... I NEED to ask you this question. Why are the Europeans, Americans and Israelis so worried about Jorg Haider? Is it his obnoxiousness? Or is it merely a phony hysteria? The inclusion of Haider and his party in the Austrian Government...