Business Times (Malaysia) articles from October 2009

Business Times (Malaysia) archives from October 2009

Talisman to drill Sabah well by 2012.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus TALISMAN Malaysia Ltd, a unit of the Canada-based Talisman Energy Ltd, expects to drill its first well at recently acquired blocks SB309 and SB310 offshore Sabah by 2012. Its senior vice-president Jonathan Wright said...

Kelington bids for more jobs.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail SOON-TO-BE-LISTED Kelington Group Bhd is bidding for more jobs in China, Taiwan and Singapore as part of its expansion drive. Chairman and chief executive officer Raymond Gan Hung Keng said the Shah Alam,...

Assurances needed from revised automotive policy.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Lokman Mansor INTERNATIONAL Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed on Wednesday announced the keenly awaited National Automotive Policy (NAP) review, which has drawn mixed response. Measures to be implemented under the...

Vehicle inspection date only after roadmap is out.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran THE government will announce the effective date of the mandatory annual inspection of 15-year-old vehicles, once the roadmap for the Vehicle End-Life Policy (ELV) is drawn up. The ELV is part of measures under the...

SILK: Contribution from new unit starts this financial year.
October 31, 2009... TOLL road operator SILK Holdings Bhd will start seeing positive contribution from its recently acquired oil and gas services unit this financial year ending July 31 2010. However, it will continue to post an accounting loss. "We'll start...

Agencies call for review as credit card take-up plunges.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Presenna Nambiar AGENCIES that help banks market their credit cards have seen the take-up rate for new cards plunging 80 per cent, since the government announced the re-introduction of a RM50 service tax for credit card a week ago. ...

Transmile review.
October 31, 2009... TRANSMILE Group Bhd said the financial models upon which its current debt restructuring agreements are based have to be reviewed, as the global air cargo industry has not improved as anticipated. The firm will therefore engage its lenders to...

'Asian financial system needed for stability'.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj ASIA needs to have its own financial system to maintain stability amid increasingly volatile markets and huge capital flows, says Datuk Seri Andrew Sheng, former Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor and chief...

PPB Group to sell sugar units, land for RM1.29b.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Jeeva Arulampalam PPB Group Bhd, controlled by tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok, stands to lose its dominance of the domestic sugar market under a proposal to sell its entire stake in two sugar units and land used for sugar cane cultivation...

MAHB: Revenue from foreign markets to rise.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Goh Thean Eu ISTANBUL: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects revenue from foreign markets to make up one-tenth of group revenue in 10 years, as it expands globally. Currently, foreign sales contribute less than 2 per cent...

Iskandar Investment, UK college in landmark deal.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Rupinder Singh ISKANDAR Investment Bhd (IIB), the catalytic developer of Iskandar Malaysia in Johor, is expected to reveal numerous investments in the south economic region over the next few months. "We continue to have growing...

Scomi: Asset sale an option but we're not in talks.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Zuraimi Abdullah SCOMI Group Bhd says an asset sale is an option to help boost shareholders' value but stressed that it has not talked to or been approached by any party. Top company officials also said Scomi is ready to bid for a...

TA Global lines up RM7b projects over next 2 years.
October 31, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur TA GLOBAL Bhd, which will rank as the country's fifth biggest listed property group in terms of market value, has lined up around RM7 billion worth of property development projects locally, to be launched over the next two...

Initial works on permanent LCCT to begin soon.
October 31, 2009... MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which manages all the airports in Malaysia, said initial works for the permanent low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang will start next month. "If everything goes well, site clearing works, like...

Pullback takes key index below 1,250.
October 31, 2009... Byline: S.N. Lock SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia shifted into post-Budget consolidation mode in tandem with the weak performances on Wall Street and regional stock markets this week. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index (FBM KLCI) slipped...

Ho Hup submits plan.
October 31, 2009... HO HUP Construction Co Bhd has submitted its regularisation plan to Bursa Malaysia to lift its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status. In a statement yesterday, it said the plan essentially comprises a capital reduction exercise to substantially resolve...

Tradewinds buys firm.
October 31, 2009... TRADEWINDS Plantation Bhd said its was buying over a company involved in processing and trading of natural rubber and the manufacturing of value-added rubber and polymer products for RM150 million. Its wholly-owned unit Prisma Spektra Sdn Bhd...

Muhibbah sues GPSB.
October 31, 2009... MUHIBBAH Engineering (M) Bhd (MEB) has filed a lawsuit against Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd (GPSB) over unpaid contracts totalling RM32.7 million. GPSB was the main contractor for the Gerbang Selatan Bersepadu project in Johor Baru. It had...

Investors unlikely to ignore Maxis share offer.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Chong Pooi Koon EVEN as it lacks a long-term growth story, investors are not likely to bypass Maxis Bhd's share sale, which seeks to raise about RM11.7 billion in the country's largest initial public offering (IPO) ever. The...

Scomi may sell assets to raise RM350m.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Francis Fernandez SCOMI Group Bhd might sell some of its major assets to raise as much as RM350 million in cash, a research firm said. "The company hinted about disposing of three of its twelve divisions but remained silent on...

Sunrise plans projects worth RM1.5b in KL.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur SUNRISE Bhd plans to launch two new property projects worth some RM1.5 billion in Kuala Lumpur over the next four months. Executive chairman Tong Kooi Ong said Sunrise will launch 28 Mont' Kiara, a 41-storey tower...

Demand for broadband set to stir growth.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran GROWTH for Maxis Bhd, the soon-to-be-listed mobile operator, will come from the demand for mobile broadband or access to the Internet. "One should not think that with domestic operations, it will not be a growth...

TNT Express aims to triple revenue.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Marina Emmanuel TNT Express Worldwide (M) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based logistics group TNT NV, is looking at tripling its revenue in Malaysia over the next three years. Managing director Gerry Power said in tandem...

Offer to buy out LKT.
October 30, 2009... SINGAPORE Precision Engineering (SPE) and Singapore Aerospace Manufacturing Pte Ltd (SAM) have offered to buy the rest of shares they don't own in LKT Industrial Bhd for RM2.10 apiece or RM21.2 million in total. Shares of LKT, a maker of...

TM defends decision to hire foreign firms for HSBB jobs.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Rupinder Singh TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) has come under fire for picking foreign firms as main contractors for its RM11.3 billion high speed broadband (HSBB) project but defended its decision as it needed high-technology capabilities...

Follow-through rebound likely.
October 30, 2009... Byline: S.N. Lock SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia continued to head south in tandem with the weak performances on regional stock markets on Wednesday. Its overall declining counters outpaced advancing counters by 468 to 216. The Kuala...

Petronas faces additional RM4b tax yearly.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is expected to pay an additional RM4 billion in tax annually over the next five years with a streamlining of how tax is treated for assessment of upstream petroleum companies as proposed...

Shell outlines responsible practices.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus ROYAL Dutch Shell plc is not content with just practising good business ethics and standards. It also wants its partners and contractors to do the same, says its country manager for Malaysia, Datuk Saw Choo Boon. This...

MRCB's Shahril set for EPF job.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Shahriman Johari SHAHRIL Ridza Ridzuan, currently group managing director of property group Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, is poised to join the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as its new chief investment officer (CIO). That position...

AmInvestment expects strong take-up of short-term bond funds.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj SHORT-term bond funds are expected to be a hit with investors looking for higher returns amid the current low interest rate environment, says AmInvestment Group Bhd. The investment bank, which yesterday launched a...

F&N plans to launch 50 ready-to-drink beverages.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching FRASER & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) will introduce tea, coffee and energy drinks once its "exclusivity clause" with Coca-Cola expires on January 26 2010. "While we're still the exclusive distributor for...

Cradle aims to fund more than 30 firms by mid-2010.
October 30, 2009... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar CRADLE Fund Sdn Bhd, which manages the Cradle Investment Programme (CIP) for the Ministry of Finance (MOF), expects to provide funds to more than 30 technology-driven companies by June 30 2010, under the CIP 500 grant....

CIDB: Still plenty of opportunities for contractors to venture abroad.
October 30, 2009... Byline: June Ramlee LESS than half a per cent of Malaysia's registered contractors have successfully ventured abroad but there are still opportunities, said a senior industry official. Malaysia has 65,000 registered contractors and only...

Tradewinds gets nod for Bernas takeover.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Vasantha Ganesan TRADEWINDS (M) Bhd, a company controlled by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, has obtained shareholders' approval to take over control of national rice company Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas). Following the...

'Policy addresses many industry predicaments'.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Zuraimi Abdullah; Zurinna Raja Adam PROTON Edar Dealers Association Malaysia (Peda) said the revised National Automotive Policy (NAP) addresses most of the predicament faced in the automotive eco-system, especially the competition...

Hai-O aims to strengthen Indonesian ops.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Hamisah Hamid RETAILER and multi-level marketer (MLM) Hai-O Enterprise Bhd expects its Indonesian operations to break even within two years. The company, which opened an office in Indonesia in August, is targeting between 5,000 and...

Spirit AeroSystems aims to grow revenue to RM400m.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Jeeva Arulampalam; Suresh Ram SPIRIT AeroSystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd aims to grow its revenue to RM400 million next year by producing composite sub-assemblies for Airbus single-aisle aircraft. The company is a local unit of the...

SDC sees good market for solar cooling system.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar MALAYSIA gets more sunlight than many other countries in the world, and while others might complain about the heat and run for shade, one local company hopes to make big bucks from it. Solar District Cooling Sdn Bhd...

NAZA upbeat on new Picanto.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Fay D' Cruz NAZA Kia Sdn Bhd is targetting to sell 6,000 units of the new Picanto model next year, says its chief executive officer SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin. The model is already available at all authorised Naza Kia showrooms...

Car vendors set to ride on the NAP.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail AUTOMOTIVE vendor companies such as Ingress Corp Bhd and Hirotako Holdings Bhd are expected to immensely benefit from the unveiled National Automotive Policy (NAP) as their order books may swell to supply national...

TNB Remaco confident of RM400m revenue.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd (TNB Remaco), a unit of Tenaga Nasional Bhd, expects to chalk up revenue of up to RM400 million for its current financial year ending August 31 2010. Tenaga Nasional president and...

SP Setia to develop RM2b mixed project in China.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur SP SETIA Bhd, the country's biggest property developer, will develop a RM2 billion mixed development project in XiaoShan, Hangzhou City in China, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2010. This will be SP Setia's...

IOI hopeful of higher palm oil prices.
October 29, 2009... IOI Corp Bhd is hopeful of palm oil prices rising to between RM2,200 and RM2,500 per tonne in the next few months, on robust global demand. For the past two months, palm oil has been trading at between RM2,000 and RM2,200 per tonne on Bursa...

Mah Sing buys land worth RM927m.
October 29, 2009... PROPERTY developer Mah Sing Group Bhd is buying two plots of land worth a combined RM927 million in Selangor, it told Bursa Malaysia yesterday. It plans to develop the two plots, a 10.53ha land in Selayang and a 7.938ha land in Petaling Jaya,...

Plastics, rubber industries picking up: Manufacturers.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar THE local plastics and rubber industries are expected to recover next year, along with increased demand and supply, says Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association president Lim Kok Boon. He said there are signs...

IOI to spend RM1b to boost refining capacity.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching IOI Corp is investing RM1 billion to expand and upgrade its refineries and specialty fats plants in Malaysia and the Netherlands. The money will be sourced from shareholders. Yesterday, IOI Corp Bhd's shareholders...

Adventa may pause for a breather.
October 29, 2009... Byline: S.N. Lock SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia continued to consolidate further in step with the weak performances on the regional stock markets yesterday. Overall declining counters outpaced advancing counters by 460 to 201. The...

Mutiara Goodyear plans to launch RM1.5b properties.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus MUTIARA Goodyear Development Bhd, a mid-sized property developer, plans to launch RM1.5 billion worth of residential and commercial properties in the Klang Valley and Penang over the next year. The properties will be...

Tie-up sought for Proton.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Rupinder Singh THE government is looking for an established global automotive company to partner Proton Holdings Bhd, which could entail anything from equity participation to technological collaboration or provision of back-up...

YTL to develop project in George Town heritage area.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Marina Emmanuel THE heritage enclave of George Town in Penang may see a waterfront development soon. It is learnt that YTL Corp Bhd will embark on a project, through joint-venture company PDC Heritage Hotel Sdn Bhd, to build...

Bank Negara keeps key rate at 2pc.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran BANK Negara Malaysia yesterday kept its key interest rate untouched at 2.0 per cent, as the Malaysian economy is gaining strength and well on the road to recovery. The central bank said improvements in the domestic...

KL to host aviation conference.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Hamisah Hamid AIRPORT chiefs across the world will converge in Kuala Lumpur beginning Monday to attend the 19th ACI World Annual General Assembly and the ACI Asia-Pacific Conference and Exhibition. Hosted by Malaysia Airports...

'GST will stabilise govt's finances in long run'.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran THE Goods and Services Tax (GST), the broad-based consumption tax, will stabilise the government's finances in the long run as it draws in a fair bit of revenue, says Ernst & Young (E&Y). Bhupinder Singh, one...

Maxis IPO at RM5.20 each for retail investors.
October 29, 2009... Byline: Chong Pooi Koon MOBILE phone operator Maxis Bhd will offer shares to retail investors for as much as RM5.20 each in Southeast Asia's largest initial public offering (IPO) in more than a decade, which is set to raise about RM11.7...

Fibre-to-the-home network in Kuantan.
October 28, 2009... CONSTRUCTION of the country's first open access fibre-to-the-home high-speed broadband infrastructure city network in Kuantan will start by year-end and expected to be fully operational in 2012. Pahang information, science, technology and...

Use local materials, feedmillers told.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar FEED millers have been urged to use more local feedstuff to reduce reliance on imported materials which have soared in price. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Noh Omar said one major constraint in...

ESG index in the pipeline, says Bursa.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj BURSA Malaysia Bhd plans to come up with an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) index as investors increasingly show interest in companies that pay attention to these issues, its chief said. "We hope to do...

KL Metro plans to launch projects worth RM300m.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur BOUTIQUE property developer Kuala Lumpur Metro Group will launch two resort developments and a housing project worth a combined RM300 million in Port Dickson, Bangi, and Penang, over the next eight months. The...

Malaysian rubber research gets boost from USM findings.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Marina Emmanuel MALAYSIA'S global position as a leader in rubber research and production, has received a shot in the arm through a research carried out by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) on decoding the genome of the rubber tree. ...

NSTP reports better Q3 net profit.
October 28, 2009... THE NEW Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd reported a 15 per cent rise in third quarter net profit from a year ago, driven by better revenue and higher operating income. The group is confident that it can do better in the final quarter as the...

Only certain groups to get subsidised petrol next year.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Kamarul Yunus THE government may allow the price of petrol to rise sometime between January and June next year as part of plans to cut spending and rein in a rising budget deficit. However, targeted groups will still get subsidised...

Adjust financial statements, SC tells MEMS Tech.
October 28, 2009... THE Securities Commission (SC) has instructed microelectronics maker MEMS Technology Bhd (MEMS), for the second time this year, to comply with the applicable financial reporting standards by adjusting its reissued financial statements dated...

SunCity to take part in RM2.5b China project.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur SUNWAY City Bhd (SunCity) has signed a joint-venture agreement with Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd (SSTEC) to undertake a RM2.5 billion mixed development in Tianjin, China. However,...

Firms urged to apply for RM1.5b green loans.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching BIODIESEL and biogas plant contractors, oil palm millers installing greenhouse gas capture tanks and biodiesel plant owners are eligible to apply for cheaper loans under a new government scheme. Energy, Green...

Plan to sell stake to IBA Molecular.
October 28, 2009... MALAYSIA Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel) plans to sell 35 per cent of its biotechnology unit to Belgium-based IBA Molecular for RM7 million. The fully-owned unit, Bio Molecular Industries Sdn Bhd (BMI), makes cancer markers, which are fluids...

Masteel in RM120m deal with Australia's Stemcor.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching MALAYSIA Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel) has clinched a RM120 million supply deal from Australian trader Stemcor Australia Pty Ltd, which will run for two years. "This is part of our long-term strategy. We've worked...

SPE plans to take company private.
October 28, 2009... SINGAPORE Precision Engineering (SPE), a major shareholder of LKT Industrial Bhd, a maker of precision tools, has proposed to take the company private. LKT's directors have asked for the stock to be suspended from 11.16am yesterday until 5pm on...

Emerging giants need to keep up Doha Round momentum: NZ minister.
October 28, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran EMERGING giants China, India and Brazil must get involved in the multilateral forum of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to keep up the momentum of the Doha Round, says New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser. "With...

Berjaya may pause for short consolidation.
October 28, 2009... Byline: S.N. Lock SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia staged their follow-through consolidations in unison with the weak performances on the regional stock markets yesterday. Overall declining counters outpaced advancing counters by 404 to 264. ...

OSK-UOB offers another 200m units of China fund.
October 28, 2009... THE craze for China stocks have prompted OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd to offer another 200 million units of the OSK-UOB Capital Protected China A-Share fund. The Series 2 fund follows the recent launch of the China A-Share fund which had...

Bank Islam to launch new structured product.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur BANK Islam Malaysia Bhd, the country's oldest Islamic lender, will launch a new structured deposit fund with an initial size of RM300 million this fiscal year, to improve its non fund-based income. Its non-fund based...

Bond issues may touch RM50b.
October 27, 2009... MALAYSIA's corporate bond issues may reach RM50 billion this year as investors' appetite for credit returns after the global crisis, says CIMB Group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak. New bond issues have so far reached RM40.5 billion...

e-dividend payment system by Q3 2010.
October 27, 2009... PUBLIC-listed companies will be required to provide an e-dividend payment system to shareholders by the third quarter of next year. "Investors will be given a one-year grace period to provide their bank account number to Bursa Malaysia...

Scicom plans to move up to main board.
October 27, 2009... Byline: June Ramlee SCICOM (MSC) Bhd, an outsourcing firm, has proposed to move up to the main market from the ACE Market, to boost interest in its stock. It has met all the profit track record requirements for the transfer, which it...

Selangor water deal likely by year-end: PAAB.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Chong Pooi Koon PENGURUSAN Aset Air Bhd (PAAB), a government company in charge of reorganising the nation's water industry, may reach a deal to buy Selangor's water asset before the year is out, its chief said. Chief executive...

Move to speed up approval of grants, soft loans.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Hamisah Hamid THE government p lans to cut the time needed to approve grants and soft loans, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. However, he did not provide a targeted timeline. Currently, these...

Crawford quits as chief exec of Labuan IBFC.
October 27, 2009... MARTIN Crawford has resigned as chief executive officer (CEO) of Labuan IBFC Inc Sdn Bhd last Friday, barely three months after being appointed to the post. Crawford took the CEO's position in July this year. In a statement yesterday,...

Talisman, Petronas Carigali win US$192m jobs.
October 27, 2009... PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has awarded two production sharing contracts (PSCs) worth a combined US$192 million (RM649 million) for Block SB309 and Block SB310 offshore Sabah to a partnership between Talisman Malaysia Ltd and Petronas...

Bank Rakyat 9-month pre-tax hits RM1.06b.
October 27, 2009... BANK Kerjasama Rakyat Bhd's profit before tax and zakat for the first nine months ended September 30 2009 jumped 31.1 per cent to RM1.06 billion, backed by financing growth and fee-based income. In a statement issued yesterday, the bank said...

Kumpulan Jetson stages sharp technical rebound.
October 27, 2009... Byline: S.N. Lock SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia consolidated immediately after the unveiling of Budget 2010 last Friday. Overall declining counters overwhelmed advancing counters by 497 to 195. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell...

Prudential set to launch array of new Islamic funds.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Rupinder Singh PRUDENTIAL Fund Management Bhd (PFMB) is set to launch an array of new Islamic funds for both the local and Asian markets over the next six months. The unit of UK-based Prudential Fund Management Group will use Kuala...

IRDA chief denies he's resigning.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Sharen Kaur HARUN Johari has denied a report that he would quit as chief executive officer of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA). "I will continue to execute my duties as the CEO of IRDA to ensure the successful...

OPR seen stable for rest of the year.
October 27, 2009... Byline: Rupa Damodaran BANK Negara Malaysia will most likely keep the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), which determines banks' lending rates, at 2.0 per cent for the rest of the year as it seeks to nurse the economy back to health. It may only...

Extended to Feb 20.
October 27, 2009... PROPERTY developer SP Setia Bhd said its wholly-owned unit KL Eco City Sdn Bhd and Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) have agreed to extend the period for the execution of a privatisation agreement up to February 20 2010. Both the parties were...