KLSE Market | Malaysia News for 2010-07-29

  The Star

Most Asian markets lower in morning trade
KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets were mostly down in Thursday morning trade in tandem with Wall Street’s lower close last night.


  Oil falls below US$77 after surprise US supply jump
NEW YORK: Oil prices dropped just below US$77 a barrel on Wednesday after the government said crude supplies rose unexpectedly last week.

Stocks: US end 4-day win streak, Europe mixed, Asia up
NEW YORK: Investors cashed in some of their recent gains Wednesday after the Federal Reserve gave them more confirmation that the economic recovery is slowing.

Kiwi central bank Thursday raised interest rate


Measat makes it hattrick for tycoon Ananda Krishnan
PETALING JAYA: Tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan is going for his third major corporate exercise in less than a year, this time involving the privatisation of Measat Global Bhd – at a cash offer price of RM4.20 or about RM668mil.

Astro Holdings completes acquisition of shares
KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd (AHSB) has completed the compulsory acquisition of all the remaining offer shares which were not already owned by it pursuant to the offer at RM4.30 apiece.

Get to the root of foreign direct investment decline
THIS is a story about a Malaysian entrepreneur who, in an interview with a writer from a vernacular publication, spoke about his plans to list his company. Two days after the story was published and to his surprise, two officials from the Singapore stock exchange came knocking on his door to pitch Singapore’s appeal as a listing destination for his business.

Mustapa: Miti taking proactive measures to attract FDIs
KUALA LUMPUR: The drop in foreign investments into Malaysia is not as bad as revealed by the Unctad World Investment Report (WIR) 2010 and changes are under way to ensure the country competes to attract high value-added investments.

SJAM licence revoked
KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has revoked SJ Asset Management Sdn Bhd’s (SJAM) licence to undertake fund management activities.

CCM investigates CNLT and ‘related’ companies
PETALING JAYA: A source has confirmed that Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) is investigating yarn and textile manufacturer CNLT (Far East) Bhd and its “related” companies based on public complaints.

AirAsia carries 10.6% more passengers in Q2
KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd carried 10.6% more passengers in the second quarter ended June 30 compared with the same period last year.

Consumer confidence in M’sia turns more optimistic
KUALA LUMPUR: Consumer confidence in Malaysia inched up to 99 index points in second quarter from 98 points in first quarter this year, according to the latest Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey.

George Kent consortium bags RM130m deal
PETALING JAYA: George Kent (M) Bhd and a consortium partner have secured a RM129.8mil contract to construct and complete 160-million-litres-per-day (MLD) water treatment plant in Kuantan, Pahang.

Advantage for M’sian furniture exporters
MUAR: Malaysian furniture exporters are encouraged to strengthen their position in the international market following some shortcomings in the Chinese furniture industry.

Opportunities for SMEs in LED sector
GEORGE TOWN: The light emitting diode (LED) industry now offers a variety of opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enter the business at a capital cost of as low as RM1.5mil.

PepsiCo renews Permanis’ bottling rights
PETALING JAYA: PepsiCo has extended the rights of C.I. Holdings Bhd’s (CIH) wholly-owned subsidiary Permanis to manufacture and sell its beverage brands in Malaysia for 10 years.

Sabahans urged to tap market in Uzbekistan
KOTA KINABALU: Uzbekistan Ambassador to Malaysia Shukur Sabitov has asked Sabah businessmen to explore business opportunities, particularly in palm oil and tourism industries, in his country.

MARC downgrades ratings on Hytex
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has downgraded its ratings on Hytex Integrated Bhd’s RM100mil murabahah underwritten notes issuance facility/Islamic medium term notes (MUNIF/IMTN) to MARC-4ID/B+ID from MARC-3ID/BBB-ID.

TDM to build RM120mil hospital
KUANTAN: Terengganu state-owned company TDM Bhd will build a RM120mil seven-storey hospital for Kuantan Medical Centre (KMC).

TPP likely to have better direction come Apec 2011
PUTRAJAYA: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which concluded its second round of negotiations last month, is expected to have a “better sense” of direction a year from now, especially with the United States hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) 2011 meeting.

Clarification
WITH reference to the article ‘Mercedes-Benz aims for record sales’ in StarBizWeek last Saturday, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd has clarified that it has revised upwards its passenger car sales target to 4,500 units from 4,200 initially for 2010, and not to 5,000 units as reported.

WCT to issue RM600m bonds with detachable warrants
PETALING JAYA: WCT Bhd has proposed an issuance of RM600mil nominal value serial fixed rate bonds of up to five years with up to 181 million detachable warrants on a “bought deal” basis to primary subscribers.

Support Line
K.M. Lee writes on Bandar Raya Development, Globetronics Technology and Tamadam

CIC trims stake in Morgan Stanley
HONG KONG: China Investment Corp (CIC) has trimmed its stake in US investment bank Morgan Stanley over the past week, selling a combined 9.8 million shares worth about US$264mil, regulatory filings by the sovereign wealth fund show.

Soros may buy 4% in India bourse for US$40mil
MUMBAI: Billionaire financier George Soros is in advanced talks to buy a 4% stake in India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for US$35-US$40mil, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said yesterday.

ICBC plans US$6.6bil rights issue
HONG KONG: Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s most valuable bank, plans to raise up to 45 billion yuan (US$6.64bil) through a rights offer, the latest in a series of massive fund-raising plans by Chinese lenders to shore up their capital base.

PLUS to dispose entire equity in PT Cimanggis Cibitung Tollways
KUALA LUMPUR: PLUS Expressways Bhd has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with PT Bakrie & Brothers TBK for the disposal of its entire equity interest in PT Cimanggis Cibitung Tollways (CCTW) for 57.82 billion rupiah or about RM20.2mil.

MAS eyes 5% annual growth revenue from charter services
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) expects 5% annual growth in revenue from charter services due to high demand and availability of resources, said haj and charter department head Captain Nik Ahmad Huzlan Nik Hussain.

IATA: Air freight demand leaps in June
GENEVA: Air cargo demand jumped by more than a quarter in June compared with a year ago and passenger numbers rose more than one tenth as airlines saw a growing recovery from the economic crisis, industry figures showed.

HwangDBS: Islamic investments not sufficiently represented globally
 

Banks expect to toughen lending rules further in Q3
FRANKFURT: Banks expect to continue to tighten their credit rules on loans to firms in the third quarter, the European Central Bank (ECB) said yesterday.

Penang port needs a month to solve woes
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) needs one month to solve the congestion problems at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) as the new decking area with 3,000 ground slots will only be ready by then.

Daibochi posts lower Q2 profit due to higher raw material prices
PETALING JAYA: Daibochi Plastic and Packaging Industry Bhd posted a net profit of RM4.2mil in the second quarter ended June 30, 27.3% lower than RM5.8mil posted in the same period last year due to continuous uptrend in raw material prices throughout the reporting period.

MISC to give final dividend
PETALING JAYA: MISC Bhd announced to Bursa Malaysia that it is giving a final dividend of 20 sen (tax exempt) for the financial year ended March 31, 2010.

China industrial profits up 71.8% in H1
BEIJING: Chinese industrial profits in a wide sample of provinces rose 71.8% in the first half of the year from the same period a year earlier, the statistics agency said yesterday.

Outlook for KL office market remains soft
PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur office market is expected to remain soft for at least the next six months, with average rental rates facing downward pressure, including for some prime office buildings, property consultants said.

Ivory hopes to expand to KL soon
KUALA LUMPUR: Penang-based Ivory Properties Group Bhd, which made a strong debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, hopes to expand its operations to Kuala Lumpur in the near future, said its chairman and group chief executive officer Datuk Low Eng Hock.

MRCB will consider setting up REIT, says CEO
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) will consider injecting some of its properties into a real estate investment trust (REIT) as part of the company’s growth strategy, said chief executive officer Mohamed Razeek Hussain.

Extension soughton tax deadline
PETALING JAYA: There is a need for the tax authorities to be more understanding and grant taxpayers under the company, trust bodies and cooperatives category further extension of deadline for submission of income tax statements, some tax professionals argue.

BP oil spill a wake-up call for entire industry
LONDON: BP Plc’s newly named chief executive on Tuesday called the Gulf oil spill a “wake-up call” for the entire industry as the company tallied up its losses and disclosed two US investigations.

First half FDI surges by 46% in Indonesia
JAKARTA: Foreign investment in Indonesia soared 46% in the first six months of the year, an official said yesterday, as confidence in the country continued to grow after the global financial crisis.




  The Edge Malaysia

Sime Darby slips, CIMB lowers TP to RM8.15
KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby slipped in late morning trade on Thursday, July 29 which could be linked to near-term uncertainty over the probe into the energy and utilities division.At 11.11am, it was down….

AgBank exercises HK over-allotment, IPO at $20.8 bln
HONG KONG: The Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, came a step closer to becoming the world’s top IPO after China’s No. 3 lender released extra shares in Hong Kong, increasing the amount raised so far to ….

Asia shares retreat from highs, dollar dips
TOKYO: Asian stocks edged down from a three-month high and the dollar eased towards three-month lows on Thursday, July 29 hit by soft U.S. data that underlined the patchy nature of the U.S. economic r….

Top Glove up on positive outlook for sector
KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove advanced in early trade on Thursday, July 29 as Citi Group global markets research sees more upside for the glove manufacturing sector.. At 9.32am, Top Glove was up 12 sen to R….

Measat soars on takeover offer
KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Measat Global Bhd jumped in early trade to RM4.08 on Thursday, July 29 after MEASAT Global Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MGNS) made an offer to take over the remaining shares at RM4….

AmResearch maintains Buy on Scomi Group
KUALA LUMPUR: AmResearch maintains its BUY rating on Scomi Group Bhd but have raised its fair value to 80 sen a share (from 76 sen a share previously) based on 5% discount to its sum-of-parts (SOP) of….

CIMB Research: Sell on HPI at RM1.84
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Retail Research has a Sell on HPI Resources at RM1.84, which pegs its price-to-earnings for FY11 at 5.6 times and price-to-book value of 0.7 times.. It said on Thursday, July 29 tha….

CIMB Research retains Outperform on Daibochi
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research reiterated its Outperform call on Daibochi Plastic and Packaging Bhd.. It said on Thursday, July 29 that factors that could catalyse the stock include i) margin ex….

CIMB Research maintains Neutral on Sime Darby
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research is maintaining a NEUTRAL recommendation on Sime Darby Bhd with a lower target price of RM8.15.. It said on Thursday, July 29 that in line with the earnings downgra….

Ananda Krishnan to privatize Tanjong at RM20.50 a share?
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan is set to make a RM20.50 (US$6.44) per share bid to privatise the Tanjong PLC  utilities and gaming business that he is a shareholder in, two so….