Business Times (Malaysia) articles from October 2010

Business Times (Malaysia) archives from October 2010

FBM KLCI breaches 1,500.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar BURSA Malaysia closed above 1,500 points yesterday, the first time since November 2008, with the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rising 6.22 points to 1,505.66. Interest in...

IOI boss says more foreign workers needed.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching THE government should allow plantation companies to hire more foreign workers to harvest oil palm so as not to crimp the country's palm oil export earnings, a top industry executive said. Malaysia's palm oil output is...

Budget for KLIA 2 increased.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Presenna Nambiar MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is ready to spend some RM500 million more than the earlier budgeted RM2 billion for total construction cost of Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2). Prime Minister...

Key Seloga shareholders seek to oust Samsudin.
October 30, 2010... SELOGA Holdings Bhd's two major shareholders, including Tan Sri Halim Saad, are calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan from its board. Samsuddin was appointed as group executive director by...

Rising investor interest in Malaysia.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Tan Choe Choe MALAYSIA has been largely ignored by many foreign investors since the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis and the selective capital controls which followed. Interest, however, seems to have picked up again with the recent...

CIMB picked for role in China ties.
October 30, 2010... CIMB Group has been appointed as representative bank in an effort to foster closer relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The Malaysian banking group together with other major financial institutions...

BII posts RM145m net profit.(Financial report)
October 30, 2010... MALAYAN Banking Bhd's (Maybank) Indonesian unit, PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII), ended its first nine months to September 30 2010 with a net profit of 415 billion rupiah (RM145 million) against a net loss of 183 billion rupiah (RM64...

MHB passes first day with flying colours.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar MALAYSIA Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) ended its first day on Bursa Malaysia with flying colours, recording a premium of 71 sen over its offer price. Being the first of two listings of national oil...

Budget hotels urged to shape up to thrive.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Cheryl Yvonne Achu MALAYSIA'S budget hotels will not have much of a future if they do not improve their facilities and services as foreign rivals are about to make their presence felt. Come 2012, foreigners are expected to be...

Celcom Axiata's BlackBerry Torch to ring up sales.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Cheryl Yvonne Achu CELCOM Axiata Bhd, the country's second largest mobile operator, expects to sell some 10,000 units of newly-launched BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone by the end of 2010. "Now we have reached more than 100,000...

Malaysian firms told to tap India's growth.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Rupa Damodaran INDIA'S transformation into a developed nation will provide opportunities aplenty for Malaysian businesses to tap into, says its Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "India is on the move. We're in the midst of...

Success of plans hinge on effective delivery.
October 30, 2010... FOR a blueprint or growth plan to be successful, implementation and delivery must be effective. So, too, the ambitious Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), which is set to change Malaysia into a RM1.7 trillion gross national income (GNI)...

Easy funding for young entrepreneurs.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Rupinder Singh THE government will make funds easily available to young entrepreneurs to help make Malaysia a high-income nation by 2020, said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah. "Start-ups are an...

Country to save RM3m a year with EMC lab.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Marina Emmanuel MALAYSIA stands to save on a potential outflow of at least RM3.2 million a year for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing services with the opening of its first public EMC laboratory. The estimate is...

Industry eyes bigger slice of banking pie.
October 30, 2010... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail THE Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) 2010 ended yesterday, leaving in its wake a greater awareness of the growing importance of Islamic finance in the world. Most of the more than 1,000 participants left Kuala...

Rebound to continue.
October 30, 2010... Byline: S.N.Lock THE FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) resumed its prior technical rebound over the last five trading days ended yesterday. It continued to stay above its critical resistance of 1,450 when it closed at 1,505.66...

Mortgage cap decision soon.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Shahriman Johari BANK Negara Malaysia may make it harder for Malaysians to buy more than two houses as it seeks to stem speculative buying that is pushing up property prices. Sources said the central bank would be meeting with...

Big money flows don't bother Asia, says Zeti.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Shahriman Johari ASIA is in a better position to handle capital flows today because its financial markets are more developed and its regulators have a bigger tool kit. There is also better regional cooperation between countries in...

Loh's buy helps boost GHL shares.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Francis Fernandez THE emergence of Simon Loh Wee Hian as the second largest stakeholder in GHL Systems Bhd, one of Asia Pacific's leading end-to-end payment services enabler, helped push the stock to its highest level in seven months....

TNB Q4 net profit more than doubles.(Financial report)
October 29, 2010... Byline: Rupinder Singh TENAGA Nasional Bhd's fourth quarter net profit has more than doubled but the utility giant cautioned that higher coal price could affect its earnings next year. TNB made RM388.4 million net profit in the period...

Southern Acids to sell land to finance Indonesia expansion.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching SOUTHERN Acids (M) Bhd is looking at selling a 261ha land near Kota Kemuning in Shah Alam, Selangor, to finance its oil palm landbank expansion in Indonesia. "We are looking to unlock the value of this freehold land....

MMHE listing may spur interest in oil & gas stocks.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Presenna Nambiar THE eagerly-awaited listing of Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE), the first of two listings by national oil company Petronas, may reignite interest in oil and gas stocks, analysts said. MMHE...

Call to set up Islamic exchange.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj THE Islamic finance industry should seriously consider setting up a dedicated exchange for syariah-compliant products to be listed on. This will help global investors know what kind of products are out there and...

i-REIT from GCC may list next year.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj BURSA Malaysia Bhd expects an Islamic real estate investment trust (i-REIT) from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be listed on the exchange next year, adding to its three existing i-REITS. It did not identify...

Bursa unfazed by SGX-ASX merger.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar BURSA Malaysia does not expect the proposed merger between the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) and Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to affect the local bourse's performance and competitiveness. Chief executive officer...

Sunrise to launch RM3b worth of projects next year.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Zurinna Raja Adam PROPERTY developer Sunrise Bhd will launch about RM3 billion worth of property projects next year to boost profit and revenue for the year ending June 2011. The projects are mainly located in the Klang Valley as...

Plenitude plans RM400m small-scale projects.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Goh Thean Eu PLENITUDE Bhd plans to launch several small-scale property projects worth as much as RM400 million over the next eight months. The builder is taking advantage of a run-up in property prices to launch the seven...

Equities to be main asset class for ETFs.
October 29, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid EQUITIES will continue to be the main asset class for the Islamic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the near future. BNP Paribas Investment Partners' investment specialist (structured and indexed investments) Kevin Chan...

75pc of EPPs need govt support.
October 29, 2010... ABOUT 75 per cent of the delivery of 131 entry point projects (EPPs) will require some form of government action, be it policy and regulatory change or funding, according to the Economic Transformation Programme roadmap. The rest did not ask...

Kannaltec gets KFH notice.
October 29, 2010... KANNALTEC Bhd has received a letter of demand from Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd for RM23.58 million of Islamic loan it took from the bank. It must settle the amount within two weeks from October 26 or may face legal proceedings,...

KFC price trend likely to stay firm.
October 29, 2010... Byline: S.N. Lock THE FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) paused to consolidate after hitting its intra-day high of 1,501.57 yesterday. Its overall declining counters continued to outpace advancing counters by 427 to 350. The FBM...

MAHB in Maldives JV.
October 29, 2010... MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd has set up a 23:77 per cent joint venture with GMR Infrastructure Ltd to expand and operate the Male International Airport in Maldives. The joint-venture firm will have a paid-up capital of US$30 million (RM93...

Sunway gets RM200m loan.
October 29, 2010... SUNWAY Holdings Bhd has secured RM200 million loan from HSBC Bank Malaysia, CIMB Bank and Affin Bank. The loan will be used to repay part of its outstanding loan under an existing syndicated term-loan facility amounting to RM276.2 million.

Bursa fines former Ho Hup directors.
October 29, 2010... BURSA Malaysia has publicly reprimanded Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd for nine breaches of the listing requirements pertaining to its financial reports. Bursa Malaysia also imposed RM109,500 fines on two of its former directors. The exchange...

On the fast track.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Sharen Kaur SEVERAL companies made presentations to the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) lab about three months ago on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed train project, industry sources say. Among them were YTL Corp Bhd and...

MK Land seeks cheap loans for Bangalore project.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching PROPERTY developer MK Land Holdings Bhd is seeking cheap loans from Exim Bank to develop affordable housing in northern Bangalore with India's Embassy Group. The project, with gross development value of around RM4...

Manipal to have varsity here.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Zurinna Raja Adam INDIA'S Manipal Education will invest about RM650 million over the next five years in a multi-disciplinary learning institution, Manipal International University (MIU) said in Kuala Lumpur. The investment includes...

Infrastructure opportunities beckon Malaysians.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Zurinna Raja Adam INDIA, Asia's third biggest economy after China and Japan, is determined to improve its infrastructure, and it spells opportunity for Malaysian companies. "Inadequate infrastructure is a major constraint on...

Biocon planning RM500m facility.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Rupa Damodaran BIOCON Ltd, one of India's billion-dollar biotechnology companies, will be investing RM500 million in a biomanufacturing and research and development facility in Malaysia. Its chairman and managing director Kiran...

Starting point to transformation.
October 28, 2010... THE Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) is not intended to be a definitive blueprint of economic activity in the country for the next 10 years, but serves as a starting point. "A number of projects will evolve. Some will change quite...

Room for improvement in our design industry.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Presenna Nambiar THE local design industry is a haphazardly developed one, with some areas at a more advanced stage than others. While fashion design has taken off, other segments like product and automotive design have been...

Gatehouse deftly picks up business.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj GATEHOUSE Bank plc, one of five standalone Islamic banks in the UK, says the industry is starting to benefit from the 2008 financial meltdown of conventional banks. The London-based wholesale investment bank's...

Initiative to spur cross-border flows welcomed.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail THE latest industry initiative to help spur cross-border flows of syariah-compliant funds is likely to get bigger and help promote Islamic finance to the world, industry players say. The formation of...

Takaful outsourcing on the rise.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Rupinder Singh THERE is a rising trend of outsourcing and white labelling in the takaful industry as companies seek to expand faster. Under white labelling, a company's product or service is rebranded by other companies to make it...

Mutiara Goodyear bullish on outlook.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Sharen Kaur PROPERTY developer Mutiara Goodyear Development Bhd has lined up four projects worth RM2.1 billion for the next 12 months to expand. Executive chairman Hamidon Abdullah said he was bullish on next year's outlook,...

Prudential: Little growth in Islamic fund management.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid MALAYSIA is widely recognised as a global hub for Islamic finance, especially sukuk, but more should be done to make the country a centre for Islamic fund management, a fund manager said. Prudential Fund Management...

Kuchai hits 4-year peak on corporate exercise talk.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Francis Fernandez KUCHAI Development Bhd is trading at a four-year peak as investors bet a corporate exercise could be imminent. The stock closed unchanged at RM1.24 a share yesterday, with 3.9 million shares changing hands. So far...

Tanjung Offshore gets Carigali-PTTEPI job.
October 28, 2010... TANJUNG Offshore Bhd has been awarded a RM22 million job from Carigali-PTTEPI Operating Company to supply a tug and utility vessel. The duration of the contract is for three years.

Firm trend.
October 28, 2010... Byline: S.N. Lock The FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) continued on its gradual climb towards the 1,500 level yesterday. Its overall losers outpaced gainers by 497 to 328. The FTSE Bursa Malaysa Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM...

Naim lands Kuching infrastructure project.
October 28, 2010... NAIM Holdings Bhd has won a RM168.8 million contract from Jabatan Kerja Raya, Kuching, to design and build the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme - Infrastructure Work in Kuching. The deal is expected to contribute positively from the financial years...

HP to raise US$100m Islamic term financing.
October 28, 2010... HEWLETT-PACKARD (HP) is raising US$100 million from an Islamic term financing facility with CIMB Islamic Bank and not a sukuk as reported in Business Times yesterday. The error is regretted.

JPK makes Manhara acquisitions.
October 28, 2010... JPK Holdings Bhd is buying Manhara Fashion Sdn Bhd, Manhara Group (M) Sdn Bhd and Myscan Technology (M) Sdn Bhd for RM177.1 million. Manhara Fashion deals in garments and household products, Manhara Group trades in fashion products and Myscan...

Puncak Niaga in deal with Korean firm.
October 28, 2010... PUNCAK Niaga Holdings Bhd has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with Korea's K-water Institute to prepare for studies, training and research into water, wastewater and environmental management technology. KWI is a Korean government...

Asli to bring together Chinese diaspora.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Tan Choe Choe THE Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) hopes to bring together the global Chinese diaspora at its 2nd World Chinese Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur on November 2-3. The local private think-tank thinks...

Sealink bags RM67m vessel contract.
October 28, 2010... SEALINK International Bhd, a shipbuilder, has bagged a RM67 million contract for two offshore support vessels. The vessels are expected to be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2010 and reflect on the financial year ending December 31 and beyond.

InnovationXchange to help SMEs find partners.
October 28, 2010... Byline: Azlan Abu Bakar SMALL- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) seeking external partners may encounter problems caused by limited resources, time constraint and day-to-day operational issues. SMEs, which represent more than 99 per cent...

Bursa urged to tie up with Asian exchanges.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Presenna Nambiar ANALYSTS think it is unlikely that Bursa Malaysia Bhd will contemplate a merger and acquisition (M&A) exercise any time soon, but agree that the stock exchange could ramp up efforts to form alliances with other...

Household debt not a worry, says Zeti.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid BANK Negara Malaysia is not concerned about rising household debt as the level of bad loans is still low and there are various ways to keep it in check. The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research had noted that...

Malaysia-India trade pact.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Rupa Damodaran MALAYSIA will sign today a bilateral trade agreement with Asian economic giant India, paving the way for strong trade and investment ties. The two countries recently concluded the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation...

Cagamas may issue another sukuk worth up to RM2b.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid NATIONAL mortgage company Cagamas Bhd will issue another landmark sukuk, with size estimated to be between RM500 million and RM2 billion. Chief executive officer Steven Choy said the size of the Islamic debt paper...

Differences in local laws pose a challenge.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid SYARIAH standardisation is not an issue in Islamic finance but the challenge is overcoming the differences of local laws in different markets, Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) participants were told. Panelists at...

Group proposes forum to ensure financial stability.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid THE task force on Islamic finance and global financial stability has proposed the setting up of an Islamic Financial Stability Forum (IFSF) as a cross-border dialogue platform for regulators to promote financial...

S. Korea to beef up Islamic finance sector.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail SOUTH Korea is keen to foster further cooperation with Malaysia to beef up its Islamic finance and services sector that is at its infancy stage. Korea Investment and Securities head of Islamic finance Yul-Hee Lee...

MARC launches IFI governance rating.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Hamisah Hamid MALAYSIAN Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has launched an Islamic financial institution (IFI) governance rating, the first of its kind in the country. Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFHMB) is the first IFI to be rated by MARC...

Maldives bank eyes up to 25pc of market.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Adeline Paul Raj THE Maldives, which is set to open its first Islamic bank in January 2011 with the help of a Malaysian institute, aims for the bank to capture up to a fourth of the banking market there in three to five years. The...

Transparency, execution key to success.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Rupa Damodaran TRANSPARENCY and execution are the key factors to ensure the success of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), an ambitious plan to get the private sector to drive economic growth. Malaysian Rating Corp chief...

Exporting varsity courses abroad.
October 27, 2010... Byline: June Ramlee MALAYSIAN public universities will export their courses abroad through Asia e-University (AEU), a project expected to generate gross national income of about RM110 million by 2020. AEU president and chief executive Prof...

Talks on Bakun may wrap up mid-2011.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching ENERGY, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui expects negotiations between the Finance Ministry and the Sarawak government on the sale of the Bakun hydropower project to conclude by mid-2011....

Times Avenue units 70pc snapped up before Nov launch.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Sharen Kaur TIMES Avenue, a RM160 million office and retail project on Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur, has been 70 per cent sold, one month ahead of its launch in November. The space was bought mainly by a Hong Kong private equity group,...

Right product design can spur economy.
October 27, 2010... Byline: June Ramlee THE right design and packaging of locally-made products can do wonders to help transform Malaysia into a high-yield economic nation in no time, design experts said. "As Malaysia races towards an era of globalisation and...

KPS likely to remain firm.
October 27, 2010... Byline: S.N. Lock THE FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) initiated another round of mild technical rebound, inching closer to its major psychological resistance of 1,500. Its overall advancing counters continued to outpace declining...

Opcom wins deal.
October 27, 2010... OPCOM Holdings Bhd subsidiary Opcom Cables Sdn Bhd has won a contract to supply and deliver fibre optic cables with TT dotCom Sdn Bhd for two years beginning October 18 this year to October 17 2012. The contract is expected to contribute...

Omega sells shares.
October 27, 2010... D&O Green Technologies Bhd wholly-owned Omega Semiconductor Sdn Bhd has sold its entire 51 per cent stake in Aeopto Technologies Co Ltd to Tongfang Optoelectronic (HK) Ltd for RM5.4 million cash. D&O, a semiconductor and light-emitting...

HP issues maiden US$100m sukuk.
October 27, 2010... Byline: Kamarul Yunus HEWLETT-PACKARD (HP), the world's largest technology company, has issued its maiden US$100 million (RM310 million) sukuk to part- finance the development and construction of its multi-million-dollar next generation data...

BCB, debtors in pact.
October 27, 2010... BCB Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding with a few companies that collectively owe it RM47.99 million. Global Earnest Sdn Bhd owes BCB RM35.95 million, Marvel Plus Development Sdn Bhd RM7.37 million and Wawasan Perumahan (Johor) Sdn Bhd...

DiGi profit up 19pc.(Financial report)
October 27, 2010... DIGI.Com Bhd recorded a 19 per cent rise in net profit to RM289.3 million for the third quarter ended September versus RM244 million achieved in the same quarter of 2009. DiGi attributed the rise to a steady increase in new customers and...

Sukuk platform.
October 26, 2010... Byline: B. Suresh Ram MALAYSIA is well-positioned as a multi-currency issuance platform for sukuks given its access to a wide range of players and investors, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday. This is further backed by significant tax...

PM: 7pc growth real and achievable.
October 26, 2010... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail MALAYSIA is expected to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of about seven per cent this year and set to grow between five and six per cent in 2011 based on its economic performance which expanded strongly...

IMF bullish on Malaysia's GDP.
October 26, 2010... Byline: Rupa Damodaran JAKARTA: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is confident Malaysia will chalk more than five per cent annual growth in the medium term. Its Asia and Pacific Department director Anoop Singh said the growth outlook...

Dr M urges incentives to boost DDIs.
October 26, 2010... TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad has urged the government to extend tax holiday and other incentives to boost domestic direct investments (DDIs) and not be too dependent on foreign direct investments (FDIs). "In those days, FDIs were necessary to...

Perwaja keen to mine iron ore in Terengganu.
October 26, 2010... Byline: Ooi Tee Ching STEEL miller Perwaja Holdings Bhd is looking at venturing upstream to mine iron ore in Terengganu. The firm is also planning to spend RM200 million on a new concentration and pelletisation plant in Kemaman,...

Urgent need for regional regulatory framework: Yeoh.
October 26, 2010... THERE is an urgent need for Malaysia and its neighbours to cooperate on developing a regulatory framework to encourage infrastructure, tycoon Tan Sri Francis Yeoh said. "There are a lot of opportunities for infrastructure (in the region), but...

AirAsia X to gain from ministry programme.
October 26, 2010... THE Ministry of Transport's (MOT) plan to develop a transparent and liberalised air rights allocation framework could finally see AirAsia X getting the much sought after rights to fly to Seoul and Sydney. Under the Economic Transformation...

Use sovereign funds to invest in syariah-compliant products: Regent.
October 26, 2010... Byline: Zaidi Isham Ismail MUSLIM countries should allocate a fraction of their sovereign funds to financial institutions which have the expertise to invest in syariah-compliant investment funds and instruments. Perak Regent Raja Dr Nazrin...