KLSE Market | Malaysia News for 2010-07-27

  The Star

FBM KLCI extends gains
THE FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) continued its rally in morning trading today in line with other regional bourses


  Airlines profits up, so harder for passengers to get bargains
DALLAS: Good times are finally back for the U.S. airlines – and travelers find it harder to get bargains.

Oil down toward US$78 as Tropical Storm Bonnie fades
NEW YORK: Oil prices fell toward $78 a barrel Monday as the threat to crude production in the Gulf of Mexico from tropical storm Bonnie diminished and investors awaited economic data from the United States.

Dow in 3rd straight triple digit gain, global stocks up


Game changer in battle for Parkway
PETALING JAYA: In a highly anticipated tit-for-tat move to wrest control of Singapore-listed Parkway Holdings Ltd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd yesterday sweetened its offer for the healthcare provider to a voluntary general offer (VGO) of S$3.95 cash per share – 4.5% higher than its original partial offer of S$3.78 a share.

Fortis looks to SEA and Mideast for opportunities
NEW DELHI: Fortis Healthcare, in accepting Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s offer yesterday, said it would use the S$116.7mil profit on its Parkway stake to look for other opportunities.

Nazir: FDI drop needs careful study
KUALA LUMPUR: The 2009 plunge in Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) needs to be studied carefully before jumping to conclusions, says CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.

Q1 FDI nearly matches 2009’s
KUALA LUMPUR: The International Trade and Industry Ministry said foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first quarter nearly matched that of the entire 2009.

CIMB to give update on Seasam’s stake sale
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the country’s second largest bank by assets, will update investors on its plans to sell a stake in its bad-debt unit in August, said chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.

Kenmark unable to time statement submission
PETALING JAYA: Troubled firm Kenmark Industrial Co Bhd, which has informed Bursa Malaysia that it will miss the July 31 deadline to submit its audited financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2010 (AFS FY10), said yesterday it was unable to say when it will be able to do so.

MMHE offering seen raising up to RM1.1bil
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Marine & Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd’s (MMHE) initial public offering (IPO) could potentially raise between RM854.4mil and RM1.12bil, priced in the range of RM2.09 to RM2.76 a share.

Asia File gets stay of execution on claim
PETALING JAYA: Asia File Corp Bhd told Bursa Malaysia that the Taiping High Court had yesterday granted a stay of execution against a claim filed by Kalidason Ramoo to seize and sell a piece of industrial land in Seberang Prai, Penang owned by the company, pending the outcome of a court hearing fixed for Aug 11.

KBB names new CEO, says units defaulted on facilities
PETALING JAYA: Vermicelli maker KBB Resources Bhd yesterday appointed property developer Datuk Chin Seak Huat its new chief executive officer, and told the stock exchange that seven of its subsidiaries – including the main unit Kilang Bihun Bersatu Sdn Bhd – had defaulted in “some banking facilities repayment’’ since July 21.

Leong Hup plans RM30m broiler farm
JOHOR BARU: Integrated poultry company Leong Hup Holdings Bhd plans to spend up to RM30mil this year to set up a broiler farm in the Bio Desaru Food Valley project in the Kota Tinggi district.

Plastic millers worry over Europe debt crisis
GEORGE TOWN: Manufacturers of plastics for industrial and consumer packaging products are expecting growth this year, while those in the consumer electronics component and engineering resin segment are anticipating a flat year.

US firm invests in new high-tech facility
KUANTAN: US-based Solutia Inc is investing some RM129mil in Pahang to set up a new polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer manufacturing facility in line with the rising demand for the product.

Envoy: Malaysia-Australia FTA will improve business
KUALA LUMPUR: A free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and Malaysia will improve the business relationship between both countries, said Australian High Commisioner Miles Kupa.

APMG makes KL regional base
KUALA LUMPUR: APMG-International has chosen Kuala Lumpur to be its regional base in South-East Asia to provide high quality accreditation and qualification services to organisations.

Mofaz to sell 70 super bikes by year-end
KUALA LUMPUR: Mofaz Motosikal Sdn Bhd (Momos), a subsidiary of the Mofaz group, has targeted to sell 60 to 70 units of its super bikes by the end of this year.

Iris unit, partner in Prasarana deal
PETALING JAYA: Iris Corp Bhd told Bursa Malaysia that the Indra-Iris AFC consortium, comprising its wholly-owned unit Iris Information Technology Systems Sdn Bhd and Indra Sistemas S.A., had entered into an agreement with Syarikat Prasarana Negara Sdn Bhd to design, manufacture, deliver, install, test, commission and warranty the automatic fare collection system for the Kelana Jaya light rail transit line and Ampang LRT line.

Clarification
With reference to the article Petra Energy to set up new onshore fabrication facility in Sabah that appeared in StarBiz on July 22, Petra Energy said that for the purposes of the potential brown field work, it had identified Petra Perdana Bhd and Bourbon Group as strategic partners, and Bumi Armada, as a potential strategic partner, in providing offshore marine support and services.

Reverse takeover of GPRO planned
KUALA LUMPUR: GPRO Technologies Bhd has entered into a heads of agreement (HoA) to acquire AB Technology Sdn Bhd (AB Tech), a precision casting and injection moulding firm, for RM140mil to be settled via the issuance of new shares.

Support Line
K.M. Lee writes on Malton, Silk Holdings and Sunway City.

Linear says it will write to Sivanantan
PETALING JAYA: Linear Corp Bhd’s board will write to Messrs Sivanantan on its purported appointment as the solicitors for Linear’s subsidiaries LCI Global Sdn Bhd and Imux (Asia) Ltd.

FBM KLCI lifts funds’ interest in blue chips
KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, which tracks the top 30 Malaysian companies on the local stock exchange, has placed more blue-chip stocks on the radar of foreign institutional investors as well as fund managers since it was implemented a year ago.

Mudajaya shares fall for a second day on SC probe report
PETALING JAYA: Shares of power plant builder Mudajaya Group Bhd fell for a second day as jittery investors booked in profits from recent sharp gains on a news report that the company had been probed by the Securities Commission (SC).

PacificMas ends talks with Tokio Marine
PETALING JAYA: PacificMas Bhd has decided to stop negotiating with Tokio Marine Asia Pte Ltd on the proposed disposal of its entire equity interest in wholly-owned subsidiary The Pacific Insurance Bhd.

PJD plans rights, restricted issues
PETALING JAYA: PJ Development Holdings Bhd (PJD) yesterday proposed a renounceable rights issue of up to 213.8 million new warrants in PJD on the basis of three new warrants for every eight existing RM1 shares held in PJD or shares held on an entitlement date to be determined later.

B-Retail IPO oversubscribed
PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) said that as at the closing date of the initial public offering of Berjaya Retail Bhd (B-Retail) at 5pm on July 22, applications for the shares by BCorp minority shareholders were oversubscribed by 17.52 times.

Raw deal for independent palm oil millers
PRODUCING quality crude palm oil (CPO) has given Malaysia the edge as the world’s largest exporter of palm oil products. Even though Malaysia comes in second after Indonesia, which is now the world’s leading producer of the commodity, quality has always been the determining factor in terms of exported goods.

Milux to sell land for RM11mil
PETALING JAYA: Milux Corp Bhd subsidiary T.H. Hin Sdn Bhd has entered into an agreement to sell a 10,627-sq m land in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya to Albert Wines & Spirits (M) Sdn Bhd for RM10.98mil.

Butterworth container terminal woes to be resolved by next month
GEORGE TOWN: The congestion problem at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) will be resolved by next month when an additional 3,000 ground slots at its container yard is ready for stacking cargo.

Analysts play down Perodua-Proton merger
KUALA LUMPUR: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) would likely scupper any attempts to merge with Proton Holdings Bhd as there would be little benefit for the second national carmaker to enter that marriage.

Kencana to buy drilling rig for US$150m
KUALA LUMPUR: Kencana Petroleum Bhd, which yesterday received shareholders approval to acquire drilling rig, KM-1, expects the cost of acquisition to be US$150mil.

Long-term broadband growth
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian broadband sector offers industry players long term growth given the number of postpaid cellular voice subscribers in the country, according to HwangDBS Vickers Research.

South Korea Q2 growth above expectations
SEOUL: South Korea’s economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, thanks to robust investment that showed businesses were confident about a sustained upturn even as the nation’s main trade partners appeared to lose steam.

Sony to return to profitability in Q1
TOKYO: Sony Corp will likely return to profitability in the April-June quarter, beating market expectations for an operating loss, on solid sales and cost cuts, the Nikkei business daily reported yesterday.

EU launches two probes on IBM
BRUSSELS: The European Commission launched two antitrust probes yesterday against US computer firm International Business Machines Corp, alleging it might have abused its dominant position on the mainframe computer market.

Kirin buys F&N stake for US$953mil
TOKYO: Japan’s Kirin Holdings will buy a 14.7% stake in beer and property conglomerate Fraser & Neave Ltd (F&N) from Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings for US$953mil to accelerate its expansion in Asia.

Australia’s QBE H1 forecast disappoints
SYDNEY: QBE Insurance, Australia’s top insurer by premium, yesterday flagged a 40% fall in first-half net profit on equity losses and a lack of one-off gains, disappointing investors who knocked its shares down 6.5%.




  The Edge Malaysia

Stamford College slides after Bursa rejects revamp plan
KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Stamford College fell the most in mid-morning trade on Tuesday, July 27 after Bursa Malaysia rejected its proposed regularization plan.. At 10.32am, the shares were down 16.5 s….

FBM KLCI stays firmly above 1,350-level at mid-morning
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI continued to stay firmly above the 1,350-point level at mid-morning on Tuesday, July 27, lifted by gains including at AMMB, Public Bank, IOI Corp and Tenaga.The gains at the….

KBB Resources falls on PN1 status
KUALA LUMPUR: KBB Resources Bhd’s share price fell on Tuesday, July 27 after it was designated as an affected listed issuer pursuant to Practice Note No 1/2001 (PN1) of the Main Market listing require….

Kenmark most active in early trade
KUALA LUMPUR: Kenmark Industrial Co (M) Bhd — which faces suspension on Monday, Aug 9, after its application for more time from Bursa Malaysia Securities to issue the audited financial statements fo….

FBM KLCI extends gains
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its gains on Tuesday, July 27 in line with key regional markets after an upbeat outlook from FedEx, coupled with encouraging home sales, lifted US stocks on Monday,….

#Flash* Focus Point defers listing
KUALA LUMPUR: Focus Point Holdings Bhd, which was scheduled to be listed on the ACE Market on Tuesday, July 27, has been deferred.. OSK Investment Bank said further details would be announced in due c….

CIMB Research: Sell on Tanjung Offshore at RM1.53
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Retail Research has a Sell call on Tanjung Offshore at RM1.53, which is trading at FY11 price-to-earnings of 9.6 times and price-to-book value of 1.2 times.. In its technical outloo….

CIMB Research bullish on power sector
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research is turning bullish on the local power sector as power subsidies could be the next target after the recent price hikes for fuel and sugar.. The research house said ….

#Update:*OSK Research bullish on FBM KLCI outlook, CIMB cautious
KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said the  immediate technical outlook of the FBM KLCI is bullish after the FBM KLCI had on Monday, July 26 created a new high in the 2009-2010 rally. However, CIMB Retail R….

AmResearch has Buy on TM, fair value RM3.90
KUALA LUMPUR: AmResearch has a Buy call on Telekom Malaysia with a fair value of RM3.90.. It said TM’s Unifi attracted a total of over 7,000 subscribers since its launch almost five months ago. This….