KLSE Market | Malaysia News for 2009-12-31 

  The Star

Stocks fluctuate in thin trade
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chip stocks fluctuated in early trade on the last day of 2009 on thin volume, with the benchmark index staying close to the flat line.


  Scotiabank increases stake in Chinese bank
TORONTO (AP): The Bank of Nova Scotia has increased its stake in China’s Xi’an City Commercial Bank to 14.8 percent, with plans to eventually hold one-fifth of the financial institution.

AIG says general counsel resigns over pay
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP): American International Group Inc. has lost a top executive due to the government’s limits on executive pay.

AirAsia-Jetstar tie-up is on
PETALING JAYA: The proposed partnership between AirAsia Bhd and Jetstar is nearing fruition after a year of talks and the deal will be announced in the first week of January.

GM holding distributorship talks with Naza group
PETALING JAYA: US car manufacturer General Motors Corp (GM) is in talks with several potential parties, including the Naza group, for the exclusive distribution of Chevrolet vehicles in Malaysia, according to an industry source.

Ta Ann eyes more land to expand oil palm plantations
PETALING JAYA: Timber and plantation group Ta Ann Holdings Bhd will further expand its oil palm plantations, especially in Sarawak, via landbank acquisitions, said group managing director Datuk Wong Kuo Hea.

EON Cap may decide today
PETALING JAYA: The EON Capital Bhd (EON Cap) board meeting, which is speculated to take place today, could be a long-drawn affair as its seven members deliberate on whether the banking group will begin acquisition talks with Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) or otherwise.

Linear soars on new RM1.7bil job
PETALING JAYA: Shares of Linear Corp Bhd rose to record levels wednesday, as investors chased the stock on news that the company had secured a RM1.66bil contract to build a cooling plant in Manjung, Perak.

NSTP selling assets to fund future expansion
PETALING JAYA: The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) is selling non-revenue generating assets, including land in Bukit Jelutong near Shah Alam, as well as re-evaluating the commercial viability of other properties it owns to raise funds for future expansion.

Broad money up 10% in November
KUALA LUMPUR: Broad money, or M3, grew at a faster annual pace of 10% in November this year.

Fiery Ho Hup EGM in store
PETALING JAYA: Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd’s EGM today is shaping up to be an explosive affair, with a subtantial shareholder led by Datuk Low Tuck Choy, the company’s former managing director, expected to vote against the company’s plan to dispose two parcels of land.

Media Prima’s voting shares reach 86%
KUALA LUMPUR: Media Prima Bhd (MPB) announced yesterday that it has to date received acceptance of more than 92.9 million shares or 42.77% from New Straits Times Press (NSTP) shareholders as a result of the proposed takeover offer.

Furnace deal may raise Hiap Teck’s gearing
PETALING JAYA: Hiap Teck Venture Bhd’s acquisition of Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd and the capital expenditure (capex) needed for the latter’s blast furnace may bring the company’s total outlay for the acquisition to RM910mil and cause its debts to spiral to RM1.3bil.

CIMB selling properties for RM302mil
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said Wednesday that it is disposing 65 properties to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for RM302.5mil as it is not in the business of owning properties.

Azman Hashim wins awards
PETALING JAYA: AmBank Group chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th Annual Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2009.

Sarawak Energy shares to be delisted on Jan 5
PETALING JAYA: Sarawak Energy Bhd said in a listing circular Wednesday that the company’s shares will be delisted from Jan 5.

Rimbunan Sawit to buy into 9 plantation firms
PETALING JAYA: Sarawak-based plantation firm Rimbunan Sawit Bhd is acquiring equity interests in nine plantation companies and the commercial rights to a plantation estate from several vendors for RM286.1mil to be satisfied via the issuance of shares and new irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS).

KHSB to get Selangor grant
PETALING JAYA: Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd (KHSB) entered into a memorandum of arrangement with Menteri Besar Selangor (Inc) (MBI) in relation to the distribution of a specific grant to KHSB for the principal amount of RM115mil.

Limahsoon under PN17
PETALING JAYA: Limahsoon Bhd is classified as an affected listed issuer pursuant to Practice Note 17 (PN17) Paragraph 2.1(f) as the company defaulted in payment and is unable to provide a solvency declaration to Bursa Securities.

DRB-HICOM in talks to manufacture hybrid vehicles
SHAH ALAM: DRB-HICOM Bhd is in talks with potential partners to manufacture hybrid/electric vehicles in Malaysia, with the company expecting to “finalise something” by next year, a senior company official said.

Naza targets to sell 25,970 vehicles in 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: The Naza Group, the distributor of Kia and Peugeot vehicles in Malaysia, targets to achieve sales of 25,970 units next year with major contribution coming from Kia vehicles.

CEO: AirAsia ends 2010 with record sales
PETALING JAYA: AirAsia finished the last month of 2009 with “record sales” while forward bookings for the first two months of 2010 are looking very strong, said its group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes.

Goldman Sachs initiates coverage on Maxis
PETALING JAYA: Goldman Sachs Group Inc has initiated coverage on telecommunications service provider Maxis Bhd with a discounted cashflow-based target price of RM5.20 per share and a “neutral” call.

A good time to buy
PROPERTY INSIGHTS – By CHRISTOPHER BOYD

Enter a decade of small returns
AS we say goodbye to a decade so abysmal it never even earned a nickname, it is time to take bets on how the coming 10 years will shape up in economics and financial markets.

Support Line
By K.M. LEE

JAL hits record low on bankruptcy fears
TOKYO: Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) stock tumbled as much as 32% to a record low yesterday on growing expectations the struggling carrier was headed for bankruptcy under a state restructuring plan.

Japan unveils long-term economic goals
TOKYO: Japan’s government said it aimed for economic growth of more than 2% over the next decade, but its long-term plan unveiled yesterday lacked detail needed to convince investors the goal is realistic.
  The Malaysian Mail

Flat trading in Euro stocks
LONDON: European stocks ended mixed yesterday amid concerns on Greece’s debt crisis and the stability of Austrian banks, as well as investor speculation on a possible early hike in US interest rates.. London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down 0.56 per cent at 5,285.77 points while in Paris the CAC 40 inched up 0.10 per cent to 3,834.09 and the Frankfurt Dax rose 0.16 per cent to 5,811.34.. Zurich was up 0.10 per cent, Brussels rose 0.08 per cent and Amsterdam gained 0.83 per cent, but Milan fell 0.15 per cent and Madrid was down 0.25 per cent.


  Wall Street ends lower
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks retreated yesterday with investors turning skittish in the face of mixed economicnews and as a two-day Federal Reserve meeting on monetary policy got underway.. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 49.05 points (0.47 per cent) to close at 10,452.00, a day after the blue chip index’s highest close since October 2008.. The technology-rich Nasdaq composite lost 11.05 points (0.50 per cent) to 2,201.05 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 6.18 points (0.55 per cent) to close at 1,107.93.

Fed likely to maintain stimulus
WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve concludes a two-day meeting today expected to pledge ongoing stimulus for a recovering US economy.. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is widely expected to keep its near-zero interest rate policy and a range of programmes to flood the financial system with money to restore credit flows.

Dream comes true for Boeing (finally)

BIZ BRIEFS: AirAsia to expand India routes

Colourful chips in the market

QMS launches hub in KL
KUALA LUMPUR: Qatar Media Services (QMS) aims to be a leading regional media partner leveraging on several platforms such as outdoor, print, online and television in countries like Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Malaysia in areas of media representation, media buying and consultancy services.. Trademarked as Q.media, the media representative for the Al-Jazeera Network and numerous other global and regional media networks, it launched its Asia Pacific hub here this morning.


  The Edge Malaysia

Bank Negara: 9,000 SMES benefited from RM2b SME scheme
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia said on Thursday, Dec 31 the RM2 billion SME Assistance Guarantee Scheme, launched on Feb 3, has assisted more than 9,000 SMEs from all sectors of the economy.Under ….

#Flash* Ho Hup proposed land sale passed by wider-than-expected majority
PETALING JAYA: The proposed land sale by Ho Hup Construction Co. Bhd was passed with a 60.6% majority at the EGM on Thursday, Dec 31.. Shareholders owning 63.7 million shares of the company’s paid-up ….

Felda: No abuse of power in contracts
KUALA LUMPUR: Felda Holdings Bhd said on Thursday, Dec 31 there was no abuse of power in awarding of contracts by a subsidiary as it sought to rebutt allegations made by Kelab Belia Graduan 1 Malaysia….

Khazanah sells 124.72m PLUS shares
KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd sold 124.72 million shares of PLUS Expressways Bhd from Dec 9 to 21 as the government’s investment agency decided to divest its stake in government-linked companies….

Robert Kuok to pay US$20m for 14.3m shares in Russia’s RUSAL IPO
KUALA LUMPUR: Robert Kuok plans to pay about US$20 million for 14.3 million shares in Russia’s UC RUSAL –  world’s largest aluminium maker – which is undertaking an initial public offer in Hong Kong….

Linear extends gains, but banks ease
KUALA LUMPUR: Linear Corp’s share price extended its gains in early trade on Thursday, Dec 31 but banks slipped in an otherwise quiet market as trading winds up for the year.At 10am, the FBM KLCI fell….

Limahsoon skids after subsidiary defaults on payments
KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Limahsoon Bhd fell in early trade on Thursday, Dec 31 after its major subsidiary defaulted on RM91.35 million in payments for three tranches of loans.At 9.29am, it was down thr….

#Stocks to watch:* JAKS, IJM, Gamuda, Puncak Niaga, Ho Hup
KUALA LUMPUR: Companies involved in water-related infrastructure projects and Ho Hup are expected to see trading interest on Thursday, Dec 31.However, trading activity could be light as the year winds….