KLSE

Dated 2012-01-21


  KL bourse set to keep bullish momentum
Bursa Malaysia is likely to keep its bullish momentum next week on improving investor confidence amid positive signs of a recovery in the global economy, dealers said. This week, the International Monetary Fund announced that it was planning a large …..

  Ringgit likely to see uptrend
The ringgit is expected to see an uptrend against the US dollar next week on investors’ short-recovering activities, dealers said. ‘The market expects to see better progress on the European debt crisis which will see demand for the greenback as the s…..

Palm futures seen trading easier
Crude palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to trade lower next week amid quiet conditions and in the absence of positive factors, dealers said. A dealer said sentiment would be quiet because dealers have already ta…..

Rubber market may trend upwards
The Malaysian rubber market is expected to extend its uptrend next week in anticipation of the tight supply amid an easing of concerns over the global economic crisis, dealers said. ‘Concerns over the European crisis are easing and positive economic …..

KL tin prices to strengthen further
The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market is expected to gain further strength next week, buoyed by continued demand from European buyers ‘We expect tin prices to hover within the US$22,000 range next week,’ a dealer said. Price fluctuations on the London Metal Ex…..

US stocks mixed on corporate earnings
NEW YORK: US stocks closed mixed on Friday on a batch of strong fourth-quarter earnings, especially from Microsoft and IBM, but a disappointment by Google held the Nasdaq index back.At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chi…..

PNB and Liew in Joint offer for SP Setia
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin and the country’s largest asset manager, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), are making a joint revised offer for SP Setia Bhd in a bid to safeguard the interests of all shareholders and maintain management continuity in…..

RM500mil for Samalaju port
KUCHING: The Federal Government has approved RM500mil to fund the development of the new Samalaju deepsea port in Bintulu Division……

Your 10 questions with Mark Lankester
Mark Lankester answers your 10 questions……

Up close and personal with Aaron Soo
He is a hotelier at heart but at present he is a theme-park extraordinaire……

Vastalux signs restructuring agreement with PBJV
KUALA LUMPUR: Vastalux Energy Bhd had entered into an agreement with Nik Hamdan Daud, the controlling shareholder of PBJV Group Sdn Bhd for the purpose of a corporate restructuring following its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status……

Metrod’s 2011 local operations hit by economic situation, says MD
KUALA LUMPUR: Metrod Holdings Bhd said its Malaysian operations, particularly housing, were affected by the economic situation last year……

Envoy: Malaysia’s plus-points will draw more Japanese firms
KUCHING: More Japanese companies are expected to invest in Malaysia as they are attracted by the country’s five plus-points……

OM Sarawak signs binding termsheet with Japan firm
KUCHING: OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd (OM Sarawak) has signed a binding termsheet with Japan’s JFE Shoji Trade Corp for an off-take of up to 100,000 tonnes a year of ferro silicon product from its proposed smelting plant in Samalaju Industria…..

Long and winding road ahead
Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil cuts a confident and articulate figure when he takes a barrage of questions from reporters on DRB-Hicom Bhd’s plans for Proton Holdings Bhd……

Driving change at Proton
DRB-Hicom Bhd has taken calculated risk in its acquisition of Proton Holdings Bhd. In an interview with StarBizWeek, DRB-Hicom group managing director Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil emphasises on cost-saving, product renewal, enhancement and quality af…..

DRB-Hicom gets a second shot at controlling Proton
DRB-Hicom Bhd’s purchase of Proton Holdings Bhd marks a second bite at ownership of the national carmaker by the former with expectations very much similar when it first acquired the company almost two decades ago……

Auditing in hard times
Errol Oh looks at current times when auditors and accountants are at a lost for words and numbers……

The task ahead for DRB-Hicom
P.Gunasegaram discusses what the many have done while helming Proton……

The natural evolution of markets
Andrew Sheng traces the evolution that hastaken place in the way markets are run……

Global imbalances and domestic inequality
WASHINGTON, DC – Despite years of official talk about addressing global current-account imbalances, they remained one of the world’s main economic concerns in 2011. Global imbalances were, to be sure, smaller overall than before the crisis, but they …..

  With aspirations come preparation
Urgent need for better road planning among other developments……

  The Dragon is here and the best is yet to come
COME midnight tomorrow, as we usher in the Year of the Dragon, most of us will not help but stop to wonder what the next 12 “moons” of the lunar calendar have in store for us……

Welcome back to the 19th century
TO understand the economic and financial implications of the rise of emerging markets, it just may pay to consider how things worked during a surprisingly similar period – the late 19th century……

Diversity pays off for Khazanah
A DIVERSE portfolio of companies under Khazanah Nasional, the Malaysian Government-owned investment arm, is helping to shield its investments from volatile global markets amid dark economic clouds gathering over the horizon presently……

Listing of Felda Global Ventures promises positive outcomes
POLITICAL innuendos aside, the planned listing of Felda’s business unit, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGV) by mid-year, promises to be a game changer on many fronts with positive outcomes……

MD: Perodua open to working with DRB-Hicom
KUALA LUMPUR: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) is open to working with DRB-Hicom Bhd and welcomes more competition following the latter’s takeover of Proton Holdings Bhd, said Perodua managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid……

TM launches Integrity Pact to fight graft
KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) has launched its Integrity Pact – an agreement between TM and its vendors to abstain both parties from bribery, collusion and other corrupt practices……

CIMB appoints three new directors
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has announced the appointment of new directors for CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd……

Bank Negara reserves at RM423.5bil
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara’s international reserves stood at RM423.5bil as at Jan 13, 2012……

RHB Cap hopes merger nod soon
KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Capital Bhd expects the merger with OSK Holdings Bhd to be finalised by April……

CIMB Thai and units post consolidated profit of RM130mil
BANGKOK: CIMB Thai Bank Plc and its subsidiaries posted a consolidated net profit of 1.31 billion baht (about RM130mil) for the year ended Dec 31, 2011……

Scomi Engineering JV signs Brazilian monorail contract
KUALA LUMPUR: Scomi Engineering Bhd (Scomi), a 67%-owned subsidiary of the Scomi Group Bhd with other three consortium partners, entered into a contract with the Infrastructure Secretariat of the State of Amazonas in Brazil to develop and build a mon…..

Will there be a rate cut?
THE argument for a cut in the overnight policy rate (OPR) may be stronger now with evidence growing that inflation is trending lower after the latest consumer price index (CPI) data was released on Wednesday……

Khazanah-linked Jadwa declares 15% higher dividend
KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd-linked Jadwa Investment, which posted 18% increase in net income of more than RM109mil last year, has declared 15% higher dividend of RM1.26 a share……

CMMT’s two new assets boost FY11 net profit by 64%
KUALA LUMPUR: Capitamalls Malaysia Trust’s net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31 (FY11) rose 64% to RM179.81mil with revenue surging 143% to RM230.89mil……

Suspension on Glenealy, Lingui
PETALING JAYA: Shares in Glenealy Plantations (Malaya) Bhd and Lingui Developments Bhd have been suspended following requests by both companies, which said that they would issue statements……

CI ends Year of the Rabbit higher, Dragon shows signs of slight rally
PETALING JAYA: The docile Rabbit has proven to be quite the antagonist, with much volatility that unrooted market confidence the world over. That said, the local benchmark index ended the Year of the Rabbit on green pastures, showing signs of a sligh…..

Bursa reprimands and fines dealer’s representative
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has publicly reprimanded, issued a fine of RM100,000 and struck off Ng Siew Wai of Affin Investment Bank Bhd from the register as a dealer’s representative for engaging in unlawful and/or unethical ac…..

YTL unit triggers offer for sale
PETALING JAYA: YTL Industries Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTL Corp Bhd, has triggered an unconditional offer for all the shares and outstanding irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks in YTL Cement Bhd……

GPRO plans rights issu, warrants
PETALING JAYA: ACE market company GPRO Technologies Bhd proposed a renounceable rights issue of up to 253,994,100 rights shares together with up to 253,994,100 warrants at an issue price of 10 sen per share……

Brokerages: JCorp and CVC offer for QSR and KFC reasonable
PETALING JAYA: Johor Corp (JCorp) and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Asia III Ltd (CVC)’s offer to privatise QSR Brands Bhd (QSR) and KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) is generally viewed as reasonable……

Eye on Stock
UNISEM (M) Bhd, a semi-conductor counter extended the recovery process amid follow-through buying interest, sending the shares to settle up three sen to RM1.35 yesterday, also the best since August, last year……

A dull, thin week ahead
Shares on Bursa Malaysia kicked off the week on a soft platform, with the FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) falling 2.68 points to 1,520.39 amid dearth of compelling news on the horizon……

KrisAssets plans REIT exercise
PETALING JAYA: KrisAssets Holdings Bhd is likely to inject its two retail assets in Mid Valley City – the Mid Valley Megamall and The Gardens shopping mall – into a retail real estate and investment trust (REIT) this year……

Scanwolf unit undertakes property project in bidor
KUALA LUMPUR: Scanwolf Corp Bhd’s subsidiary, Scanwolf Development Sdn Bhd, signed a joint-venture agreement with SQ Land Sdn Bhd yesterday to undertake the proposed development of 128 plots of mixed development land into five units of shop houses an…..

Sara-Timur expands
KUCHING-based construction and property development company Sara-Timur Sdn Bhd is building its presence in Peninsular Malaysia with a number of projects in the pipeline……

China’s housing slowdown to cut big hole in GDP growth
CHINA’S cooling property market could shave more than 2 percentage points off 2012 growth, forcing Beijing to decide just how badly it wants to keep the economy expanding at more than 8% a year……

Lafarge names new CEO, executive director
KUALA LUMPUR: Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd had appointed British national Bradley Peter Mulroney, 49 as its president and chief executive officer and Malaysian Chen Theng Aik, 45 as its executive director……

After solid Q4, IBM brims with confidence over 2012
NEW YORK: IBM Corp, the world’s largest technology services company, aims to grow earnings by at least 10% this year after it beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, underderscoring signs of confidence in global tech spending……

Google fourth-quarter results fall short, rare miss hurts shares
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc’s quarterly results fell short of Wall Street’s heightened expectations for the holiday season as declining search advertising rates contributed to a rare miss, triggering a 9% slide in its shares……

Draft says bailouts only for states signing EU budget treaty
BRUSSELS: Bailouts will only be offered to European governments that ratify a new budget pact aimed at avoiding a repeat of the eurozone debt crisis, according to a new draft of the treaty……

Chevrolet record sales lift GM to the top again
DETROIT: General Motors Co (GM) regained its title as the world’s top-selling carmaker from Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp in 2011 but the US company faces a challenge to stay on top this year as Toyota rebuilds its disaster-struck business……

EU and Britain to discuss reforms
BRUSSELS: Michel Barnier, the official in charge of regulating finance in the European Union, meets George Osborne on Monday in what are likely to be tough talks over rules the British finance minister believes will hurt the City of London……

Greece, creditors struggle to breach gap
LONDON: Greece and its bondholders struggled to bridge differences in talks on a debt swap, sources close to the talks said, with time to strike a deal and avoid a messy default running out rapidly.       …..

EU deadlocked on derivatives law
LONDON: European Union (EU) states have failed to agree a law to crack down on derivatives, casting doubt on whether they can meet a globally agreed December deadline for new rules.       …..

Slovenia joins race for ECB board
LJUBLJANA: Slovenia has become the second country to officially join the race for a seat on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) powerful Executive Board as calls for a more balanced representation of northern and southern eurozone countries on it inten…..

Moody’s cuts rating on Sony, Panasonic
TOKYO: Ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded Japanese electronics titans Sony and Panasonic, giving both companies a negative outlook……

China urban jobless rate at 4.1%
BEIJING: China’s urban jobless rate, the country’s only official measure of unemployment, was steady at 4.1 % at the end of last year, unchanged for six quarters, the labour ministry said……

GAB and OgilvyOne use creativity to grab consumers’ attention
WITH beer advertising in Malaysia being a little bit more challenging than a lot of other products, marketers and brewers need to constantly come up with creative methods to engage and retain the consumers……

Ogilvy tasked to drive the BMW brand image
BMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd has appointed Ogilvy & Mather Advertising as its retained above-the-line creative agency following a four-way pitch completed last month……

Perodua’s Uncle Fortune has gifts for readers in the wee hours of morning on Chinese New Year
PERUSAHAAN Otomobil Kedua’s (Perodua) creative agency partner Spin Communications has created a Chinese New Year campaign that distributes gifts in the wee hours of morning via 100 lucky numbers……

Snapshots
Compiled by THEAN LEE CHENG……