Bumi Armada Bhd, a Malaysian offshore oilfield-services provider, will sign an agreement for financing facilities exceeding US$300 million tomorrow, according to a media invitation.
The agreement will be with several financial institutions, it said, without naming them. -- Bloomberg
Wah Seong Corp, a Malaysian pipe-coating company, fell to a one-month low in Kuala Lumpur trading after HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd cut its price target to RM2.50 after losing potential contracts in Australia.
The stock dropped 1.5 percent to RM1.96 at 9:15 a.m. local time, set for its lowest close since Oct. 3. -- Bloomberg
Business Times : latesthttp://www.btimes.com.my enTuesday, December 06, 2011, 09.07 AMCIMB to expand in Persian Gulf sukuk marthttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091603/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091603/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:16:04 +0800Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. aims to expand in the Persian Gulf by grabbing market share for arranging Islamic bonds from HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, the biggest underwriters in the region this year. CIMB, which dominated global sukuk sales without managing any transactions in the Middle East in 2011, is seeking to form alliances in 2012, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, a unit of CIMB Group, said in a Nov. 29 interview. HSBC and Standard Chartered rank third and fifth for international Islamic bonds sales, as Shariah- compliant debt offerings rose 80 percent to US$25.9 billion in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies and governments in the six member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council have issued US$7 billion of Islamic bonds this year, up 77 percent from the same period of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Emirates, the world's biggest airline by international traffic, Dana Gas PJSC and Al Hilal Bank may sell sukuk, debt that pays returns on assets to comply with Islam's ban on interest. "We are ready to relook at the GCC markets in a more aggressive manner," said Kuala Lumpur-based Badlisyah. "We have to recognize we aren't big in the Middle East and will look for the right partners in the GCC." The GCC includes Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. HSBC, Europe's largest bank, had a 22 percent market share of sukuk underwriting, compared with Standard Chartered's 15 percent. Sukuk and#8216;Preference' Financial institutions are venturing into the Middle East to take advantage of increased government spending on building roads, railways and power plants. HSBC Amanah, the Islamic unit of London-based HSBC, expects strong demand for Shariah-compliant products in the Middle East. Some of the GCC members were largely untouched by the so-called Arab Spring, which saw uprisings topple leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and threaten regimes in Syria, Libya and Yemen. "The sukuk pipeline looks very busy for the simple reason that the market remains relatively open, so companies and governments are taking advantage," Razi Fakih, deputy chief executive officer of HSBC Amanah in London, said in an e-mail interview on Dec. 2. "Given the Arab Spring and global market volatility, there is a preference among investors for sukuk because it is less volatile. The outlook looks good for 2012." CIMB set up an office in Bahrain five years ago but doesn't have a deposit-taking bank there, said Badlisyah, whose company arranged 20 percent of global sukuk this year, versus 15 percent and 8 percent for HSBC and Standard Chartered. CIMB was also the biggest underwriter for Malaysian ringgit-denominated Islamic bonds with 31.1 percent market share in 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show. -- Bloomberg Proton: Unaware of reason for shares' surge http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206105000/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206105000/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:50:37 +0800Proton Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's state-controlled carmaker, said it isn't aware of any reason for its recent share price surge. "There is no material corporate development not previously disclosed," Proton said in a filing with the stock exchange today. The automaker halted its shares before the announcement after jumping 25 per cent yesterday. -- Bloomberg Proton hits year-high on bids reporthttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091211/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091211/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:12:12 +0800Proton Holdings Bhd rose to a one-year high in Kuala Lumpur trading after the Business Times reported three groups had submitted bids to buy Khazanah Nasional Bhd.'s stake in Malaysia's national carmaker. The stock climbed 9.3 percent to RM4.92 at 9:04 a.m. local time, set for its highest close since Dec. 2, 2010. DRB-Hicom Bhd, several key shareholders of Naza Group, and Proton Chairman Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh are all interested, according to the report. -- Bloomberg DRB-Hicom rises most in 4 monthshttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206092823/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206092823/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:28:23 +0800DRB-Hicom Bhd, an automotive, construction and property group, jumped to the highest level in more than four months in Kuala Lumpur trading after the Business Times reported that it is one of three groups to have submitted bids for a stake in carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd.
The stock gained 4.1 percent to RM2.29 at 9:15 a.m. local time, set for the highest close since Aug. 4. -- Bloomberg
Hiap Teck jumps on mining licencehttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206092705/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206092705/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:27:05 +0800Hiap Teck Venture Bhd, a Malaysian steel-products manufacturer, rose to a one-month high in Kuala Lumpur trading after the Edge newspaper reported that its 55- percent owned unit Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd had won a licence to mine iron-ore in Terengganu state.
The stock climbed 3.4 percent to 91 sen at 9:17 a.m. local time, set for its highest close since Nov. 1. -- Bloomberg
TRC Synergy gains on Putrajaya jobhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091331/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091331/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:13:31 +0800TRC Synergy Bhd, a construction company, gained the most in more than a month in Kuala Lumpur trading after securing a RM38.1 million development contract from Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The stock rose 1.7 percent to 61.5 sen at 9:02 a.m. local time, set for the steepest increase since Nov. 4. -- Bloomberg
MAHB sees 6.6pc passenger growthhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091103/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206091103/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:11:03 +0800Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd said it expects passenger numbers to grow by 6.6 per cent next year at its 12 airports in Malaysia, India and Turkey, after likely expanding 10 per cent this year.
The Subang, Selangor-based company said it will target 10.4 per cent return-on-equity and RM822 million in Ebitda in 2012. The next financial year will be "challenging" and "profitable," it said in a statement. -- Bloomberg Sanichi falls after 74pc rise yesterdayhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206103637/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206103637/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:36:37 +0800Sanichi Technology Bhd, a precision moulds maker, fell 2.5 per cent to 19.5 sen. The company said in a statement it was unaware of the reason for a 74 per cent jump in its shares yesterday. -- Bloomberg
KL shares in negative territoryhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206094724/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206094724/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:47:25 +0800Fear over ratings agency Standard and Poor's warning to downgrade euro zone ratings deflated share prices on Bursa Malaysia in early trading today, dealers said. As at 9.25am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI remained in the minus territory, off 10.28 points at 1,479.67, after opening 5.14 points lower at 1,484.81. Dealers said the local bourse may come under further pressure today following the weak market sentiment across the board. The Finance Index plunged 81.98 points to 13,196.72 and the Plantation Index declined 54.04 points to 7,823.04 and the Industrial Index slipped 24.98 points to 2,670.04. The FBM Emas Index fell 51.78 points to 10,129.41 and the FBM70 Index eased 4.0 points to 11,046.52 but the FBM ACE Index increased 5.28 points to 4,214.2. Decliners led advancers 151 to 112 while 175 counters were unchanged, 1,045 untraded and 23 others were suspended. Volume stood at 301.248 million shares worth RM125.908 million. Among active counters, Sanichi Technology dropped 1.5 sen to 18.5 sen, Compugates slipped 0.5 sen to 7.5 sen but Proton-CG earned 5.5 sen 42.5 sen. Among heavyweights, Maybank lost 7.0 sen to RM8.22, Sime Darby fell 10 sen to RM8.88, CIMB dipped 12 sen to RM7.09 but Petronas Chemicals increased 1.0 sen to RM6.18. -- Bernama US stocks pare gains after S&P warninghttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206080359/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20111206080359/Article/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:04:01 +0800NEW YORK: US stock markets pared gains Monday on news that Germany and five other triple-A eurozone countries face the prospect of a credit downgrade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back from triple-digit advances and rose 78.41 points (0.65 percent) to finish the day at 12,097.83. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 28.83 points (1.10 percent) to 2,655.76, while the broader SandP 500-stock index advanced 12.89 points (1.03 percent) to 1,257.08. Denting sentiment was a Financial Times report that US-based ratings firm Standard and Poor's was poised to announce later Monday that its was putting the triple-A rated Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, and Luxembourg on "creditwatch negative" due to the deepening eurozone public debt crisis. SandP announced after the markets closed that it had put the six top-rated countries and nine other eurozone members on "creditwatch negative" due to the deepening eurozone public debt crisis. "Today's CreditWatch placements are prompted by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the eurozone as a whole," SandP said in a statement. The news of the looming warning shook Wall Street sentiment. "The retreat came from a negative reaction to the notion that Europe's AAA-rated countries could face a downgrade from analysts at SandP," Briefing.com analysts said. Still, stocks managed to extend last week's sharp rally amid increasing optimism that Europe was heading toward a solution to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Traders digested news that Germany and France, the eurozone's biggest economies, want a new European Union treaty by March with tougher budgetary rules to deal with the eurozone debt crisis. The agreed goal came after talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday in preparation for an EU summit Thursday and Friday. In a further sign that Europe was coming to grips with the threat of widespread debt contagion, Italy, the zone's third-largest economy, presented a tough austerity package of spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reforms to parliament. Financial shares benefited from the better outlook. JPMorgan Chase jumped 3.7 percent, Bank of America gained 2.7 percent and Morgan Stanley surged 6.8 percent. A pair of US economic indicators appeared to have little impact on the markets. The ISM's service sector activity index showed an unexpected slowdown in growth in November as employment fell. Factory orders dropped for the second straight month in October, the Commerce Department reported, in line with market expectations. Discount retailers were in focus after Dollar General posted strong earnings for its fiscal third quarter and served up a positive full-year outlook. Dollar General was up 1.6 percent at US$40.58, Wal-Mart rose 0.4 percent and Costco added 0.5 percent. Stocks extended last week's powerful rally that left the Dow up 787.64 points, its second-highest weekly point gain in three years. -- AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.
Proton Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's state-controlled carmaker, surged to the highest level in more than nine months in Kuala Lumpur trading after the Edge newspaper reported that Khazanah Nasional Bhd may ask for bids for its 43 percent stake in Proton.
The stock gained 14 percent to RM4.10 at 9:05 a.m. local time, set for the highest close since Feb. 24. -- Bloomberg
Tenaga Nasional Bhd, rose to its highest level in almost three weeks in Kuala Lumpur trading after signing a 25-year agreement to buy electricity from Malakoff Corp's Tanjung Bin power plant when completed in 2016.
The stock rose 1.4 percent to RM5.72 at 9:12 a.m. local time, set for its highest close since Nov. 16.
Tenaga also agreed to sell Malakoff coal for the plant, the company said in a statement.-- Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Wall Street stock markets flat-lined on Friday as traders focused on the negatives in a mixed jobs report and worried about Europe's ability to respond to a growing eurozone debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.61 point (0.01 percent) to end the session at 12,019.42.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.73 point (0.03 percent) to 2,626.93, while the S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, slipped 0.30 point (0.03 percent) to 1,244.28.
"Equities surrendered substantial early gains and finished mostly flat to conclude the best week for US equity markets in over two years," Charles Schwab analysts said.
The rally lost steam "as investors' focus shifted to more negative aspects" in the jobs report, they added.
The Dow gained 787.64 points over the week, its second-highest point gain since the week ending October 31, 2008, when it rose 946.06 points.
Analysts said traders may be treading with some caution ahead of the weekend and a key European Union summit on the eurozone crisis next Thursday and Friday.
In its highly anticipated monthly jobs market report, the Labour Department said the unemployment rate dropped to a 32-month low of 8.6 percent in November, surprising most analysts who forecast the it would hold steady at 9.0 percent.
But economists pointed to a sharp drop in the number of people looking for work, a main factor that lowered the jobless rate.
The economy created a net 120,000 jobs, close to forecasts and 20 percent above October.
"The big picture shows an economy that has picked up steam in the second half of the year," said Nigel Gault at IHS Global Insight.
"It still faces domestic headwinds - from the legacy of household and government debt - but the major threat remains external from slowing growth in the rest of the world and from the eurozone's financial crisis."
Banks continued to profit from hopes that Europe is getting a grip on the crisis.
Bank of America added 2.0 percent, JPMorgan Chase jumped 6.1 percent, Citigroup was up 4.4 percent and Morgan Stanley soared 7.0 percent.
In the tech space, Zynga said it plans to raise up to US$1.15 billion in a keenly awaited initial public offering that values the US online games giant at US$7 billion.
A joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks said it would sell wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless for US$3.6 billion.
Comcast surged 3.5 percent and Time Warner Cable gained 4.7 percent. Bright House is not publicly traded.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications, up 0.2 percent, and Britain's Vodafone, down 1.5 percent on the Nasdaq.
Blackberry maker Research in Motion plunged 9.7 percent after warning it would miss its annual earnings target and that it would take a US$485 million charge because of weak sales of its PlayBook tablet.
Google added 1.1 percent after the Justice Department approved its US$400 million purchase of online ad company Admeld. -- AFP
Proton Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's state-controlled carmaker, surged 6.1 percent in Kuala Lumpur trading, set for its highest close in two weeks.
The stock jumped 19 sen to RM3.29 at 10:19 a.m. local time.
It's set to be the second-biggest gainer on the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 Index.
Proton is "on our radar now" as it's a "beneficiary" of merger and acquisitions of government-linked companies, UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Ltd wrote in a report today. -- Bloomberg
Tenaga Nasional Bhd may be in line for a payment of about RM2 billion (US$641 million) after the government and Petroliam Nasional Bhd agreed to share extra fuel costs that have driven the Malaysian utility into losses.
Tenaga received a letter from the government agreeing to a fuel-cost sharing mechanism, with extra costs of RM3.069 billion caused by a gas shortage to be split equally between the three, according to a statement from Tenaga yesterday. As the company's financial situation is "critical," it will liaise as soon possible with the other two parties to implement the agreement, it said.
"It's a welcome relief," Lim Tee Yang, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst at RHB Capital Bhd, wrote in a report today. "The fuel cost mechanism indicates that the government is sympathetic to Tenaga's troubles and will step in when necessary." Lim raised his rating on Tenaga to "strong buy" from "underperform".
Disrupted production at gas platforms owned by Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, has forced state-controlled Tenaga to buy costlier oil and distillate fuel for electricity generation. This incurs additional costs of RM400 million every month, chief executive officer Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said on Oct 28.
Tenaga's stock gained 1.4 per cent to RM5.76 at 9:42 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur trading.
Tenaga's shares were upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Maybank-Kim Eng, which cited an improvement in its balance sheet health. The stock was raised to "neutral" from "underperform" at Credit Suisse Group AG, which increased its estimate for Tenaga's profit for the year through August by 87 per cent.
Tenaga is facing higher costs from running plants on alternative fuels and from importing electricity from Singapore and Thailand, yesterday's statement said. The extra costs covered by the fuel-cost sharing mechanism were incurred between Jan 1 last year and Oct 31 this year, it said.
"Although the compensation mechanism is a positive development for Tenaga, the deal only covers for costs up to October 2011," Annuar Aziz and Tan Ting Min, Kuala Lumpur-based analysts at Credit Suisse, wrote in a report. "We remain concerned as the gas shortage is expected to persist." -- Bloomberg
AirAsia Bhd will start collecting the newly revised passenger service charge of RM32 from December 1 2011.
AirAsia passengers flying to international destinations from Malaysia will be subjected to new PSC rates, as per Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) directions.
The PSC was previously RM25 for international passengers.
SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is projecting a 12 per cent growth or 37 million passenger movement this year from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT).
The bulk of the growth will come from the LCCT which will see about 15 per cent jump in passenger movement to 17 million as compared with KLIA, which is expecting between six and seven per cent growth or 20 million passengers this year.
"The good numbers are coming from LCCT as we see an increase in airlines frequency and demand for inbound and outbound destinations," MAHB senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad said yesterday.
Next year, he expects to see between six and eight per cent growth from both airports collectively as the LCCT introduces new destinations and KLIA expects to sign-up at least two new airlines.
Another positive indicator to the airport operator is Emirates Airline A380's daily transit at KLIA beginning January next year.
Murad said the decision to cease Firefly's operations next month will inevitably see a dip in KLIA passenger movement. Since January this year, Firefly has based its jets operations at the main terminal building, KLIA.
This year, the group aims to handle more than 60 million passengers at all its 39 airports in Malaysia. Its long term plan is to hit a 72 million passengers per year by 2014. Last year, MAHB handled a total of 57.8 million passengers in all
its airports.
For the third quarter ended September 30, its net profit jumped 74 per cent to RM108.2 million from a year ago, boosted by a RM22 million dividend income from a joint venture and positive contribution from associates overseas. Revenue climbed 4.7 per cent to RM652.8 million on rising passenger traffic.
Azmi, however, refused to comment on AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes' statement that the airline will refuse to use the aerobridge at KLIA2.
The outspoken CEO had taken to his social networking site to bash MAHB's decision to include 80 aerobridges at KLIA2 and condemn the airport operator for a ballooning budget to construct the new LCCT.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd fell to a two-week low after the stock was downgraded at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd, which said rising cost of a new terminal may hurt earnings.
The stock slid 1.2 percent to RM6.02 at 10:17 a.m. local time in Kuala Lumpur trading, set for its lowest close since Nov. 23. -- Bloomberg
GHL Systems Bhd, a Malaysian online transactions provider, tumbled 44 percent, set for a record decline after a review found "irregular transactions" between its China unit and a third-party company.
The stock dropped 15 sen to 19 sen at 9:32 a.m. local time in Kuala Lumpur trading. -- Bloomberg
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