Affin Investment Bank raised its target price on Top Glove Corporation Bhd, the world's largest rubber glove maker by volume, to RM6.28 per share from RM6.20 on the back of resilient demand, which is likely to boost sales.
Affin said it is confident of Top Glove's plans for a healthy 10-15 per cent sales growth in the financial year 2013 following record high sales of RM 2.3 billion this year.
"We think this target is achievable due to the resilient demand for rubber gloves from the healthcare sector of both developed and emerging markets," Affin said in a note on Wednesday.
The research house raised its sales growth forecast for the financial years 2013 to 2015 by 1 to 3 per cent, adding that key risks include a sudden resurgence of latex prices if China's demand for rubber stages a strong recovery.
Affin kept its 'add' rating on the counter.
As of 10.2 am, Top Glove's shares rose 1.1 per cent against the Malaysian benchmark stock index's 0.1 rise. - Reuters
12:25PM EDT October 16. 2012 - It looks like Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to take the political heat off President Obama over the deadly attack in Libya.
"I take responsibility," Clinton told CNN. "I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world -- 275 posts."
Clinton spoke as Republican nominee Mitt Romney and allies criticize the administration's handling of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The controversy surfaces amid a close presidential race between Romney and Obama.
One dispute: Vice President Biden's claim in a debate last week that "we did not know" about requests for more security in Benghazi, even though State Department officials have testified to Congress about those requests.
Clinton said security is a State Department responsibility, and there's no reason the White House would know about the situation in Benghazi.
"The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals," Clinton said. "They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs."
The Libya attack may be a topic Tuesday night as Obama and Romney debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. USA TODAY's Catalina provides a preview of the debate.
Another question: The shifting stories about the attack itself. Officials initially attributed it to a protest over an anti-Islam film that got out of hand; later, they called it a pre-planned terrorist attack.
Clinton told CNN:
"In the wake of an attack like this, in the fog of war, there's always going to be confusion. And I think it is absolutely fair to say that everyone had the same intelligence. Everyone who spoke tried to give the information that they had. As time has gone on, that information has changed. We've gotten more detail, but that's not surprising. That always happens."
Clinton added: "What I want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha or blame game."
"There are three separate investigations into the attack going on now: an FBI probe into the deaths of the four Americans, an independent inquiry by a panel appointed by Clinton and the congressional hearings.
"Stevens was among the four killed in the attack, which came on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"Three Republican senators said late Monday that Clinton's claim was "a laudable gesture," but they put the responsibility on President Obama and his national security team.
"'If the president was truly not aware of this rising threat level in Benghazi, then we have lost confidence in his national security team, whose responsibility it is to keep the president informed. But if the president was aware of these earlier attacks in Benghazi prior to the events of Sept. 11, 2012, then he bears full responsibility for any security failures that occurred,' Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said in a statement."
HEMPSTEAD, New York | Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:25pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's camp is promising that the American public will see a more energized and visionary incumbent on Tuesday night as Obama tries to keep Republican challenger Mitt Romney at bay.
Romney's campaign got a much-needed shot in the arm two weeks ago when the Republican came out swinging in the first matchup between the two candidates, while Obama appeared passive and tongue-tied at times.
The strong debate performance helped Romney reverse his slide in the polls. Recent surveys put the race for the White House at a virtual dead heat with just three weeks left before the November 6 election.
"I think you'll see somebody who will be strong, who will be passionate, who will be energetic, who will talk about ... not just the last four years but what the agenda is for the future and how we continue to move ... our economy forward," Obama's senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on MSNBC.
The 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in New York begins at 9 p.m. EDT.
Both men will have to deal with the more intimate town hall format of Tuesday's debate, which often inhibits political attacks as the candidates focus on connecting with the voters asking the questions.
It also offers an element of uncertainty as the candidates cannot predict what the audience of undecided voters might ask, which could range from tax policy to job creation to foreign policy.
"It enables them to talk directly to people and look them in the eye and try to connect, which has not been a strength for either of them," Taylor said of the town hall format. "But you can still make strong points with a velvet glove."
During the first debate, Obama was widely criticized for not challenging Romney on exactly how he plans to give Americans a big tax cut without adding to the deficit, and for not calling attention to the more moderate views Romney appeared to present during the matchup.
"Almost all of the pressure will be on Obama this time, given how poorly he performed in the first debate and how much that seemed to help Romney and change the race," said political scientist Andrew Taylor of North Carolina State University.
A Reuters/Ipsos online tracking poll on Monday showed Obama with a 2-point lead over Romney, 47 percent to 45 percent.
A Gallup/USA Today poll published on Tuesday showed the two had similar favorable ratings from registered voters. But the survey showed Romney ahead of Obama by four percentage points among likely voters in the 12 battleground states.
For Obama, trying to repair damage from the last debate, the challenge will be to confront Romney on the issues without seeming nasty or too personal.
Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive often accused of failing to connect with ordinary people, would be happy with a steady performance to keep up his momentum.
LINES OF ATTACK
The economy is expected to be a dominant topic. Obama is able to tout the latest jobs report, which showed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 7.8 percent in September and reached its lowest level since Obama took office.
Romney has countered that the labor market is not healing fast enough.
Glenn Hubbard, one of Romney's top economic advisers, told Reuters on Tuesday that the Republican candidate was prepared to question Obama's record on the economy.
"His objective is to continue the conversation with voters about what the right economic policies are for the country," Hubbard said on the sidelines of an economic conference in New York. "He did that really well last time and I'd be stunned if he doesn't do it well tonight."
Since the last debate, both sides have also focused on new lines of attack that are likely to come up on Tuesday.
Romney was expected to stay on the offensive over the administration's handling of diplomatic security in Libya before the attacks there that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The debate comes a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assumed responsibility for the lack of security that failed to protect against the deadly attack.
"It's a matter of leadership; it's a matter of straight answers," Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said on MSNBC. "I just get a feeling that this president hasn't been straight with the American people."
Democrats, hoping to make more inroads with women voters, have hit Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan for their opposition to abortion rights.
The Gallup poll highlighted the importance of women voters, who have traditionally preferred Obama. The poll showed Romney has pulled within one percentage point among likely women voters.
Obama and Romney have taken time off the campaign trail to prepare for the showdown, the second of three presidential debates. The final one will be next Monday, October 22, in Boca Raton, Florida, and will focus on foreign policy issues.
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles and Susan Heavey in Washington and Jonathan Spicer in New York; Editing by Karey Wutkowski and Vicki Allen)
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were slightly higher in early trade today as investors took cue from the positive performance on the overnight Wall Street, dealers said.
After 10 minutes of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.63 of a point better at 1,655.07 against yesterday's close of 1,654.44.
HWANGDBS Vickers Research, in a research note, said the improved performance on Wall Street, which saw key US stock indices rise between 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent, could pave the way for the local bourse to resume its upward momentum today.
"On the chart, the benchmark FMB KLCI is expected to cross over the immediate resistance level of 1,655," it said.
On the local front, the Finance Index advanced 12.34 points to 14,694.8, the Plantation Index improved 11.19 points to 8,196.83 and the Industrial Index added 1.96 points to 2,855.78.
The FBM Emas Index gained 5.529 points to 11,249.35, the FBM Mid 70 Index jumped 22.78 points to 12,182.46, the FBM Ace edged up 0.3 of a point to 4,193.5 and the FBMT100 rose 7.34 points to 11,091.83.
Gainers led losers 79 to 47, with 113 counters unchanged, 1,403 untraded and 28 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 62.167 million shares worth RM24.552 million.
Actives, Scomi-WA and Compugates Holdings were both unchanged at 8.5 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively, while Scomi declined 2.5 sen to 41.5 sen.
Heavyweights, Maybank advanced seven sen to RM9.01 while Sime Darby eased four sen to RM9.75 and CIMB slipped six sen to RM7.60. -- BERNAMA
NEW YORK: US stocks scored solid gains Monday as investors digested upbeat retail sales data and better-than-expected earnings from Citigroup that helped lift financial stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 95.38 points, or 0.72 per cent, to close at 13,424.23.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 11.54 points (0.81 per cent) to 1,440.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 20.07 points (0.66 per cent) at 3,064.18.
"Stocks gained after a report showed retail sales unexpectedly rose 1.1 per cent in September," Wells Fargo Advisors said.
The Commerce Department report also revised higher the sales gains for July and August, offering a stronger picture of the sector that is a major part of consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy.
"The best story is that even excluding both auto and gas (gasoline), sales were still up 0.9 per cent in September, with a 0.2 per cent revision in August, partly thanks to the release of iPhone 5," said Mei Li at FTN Financial.
Retailers benefited, with Wal-Mart up 1.8 per cent, Lowe's up 3.3 per cent and Macy's 1.3 per cent higher.
The markets rebounded from their worst week in four months amid worries about the third-quarter earnings season getting under way.
Financial stocks were winners after Citigroup reported an 88 per cent drop in third-quarter profit to UA$468 million, with Charles Schwab & Co. analysts explaining that the fall was not as bad as expected.
Citi shares leaped 5.5 per cent. Bank of America surged 3.5 per cent, JPMorgan Chase gained 1.8 per cent and Goldman Sachs jumped 3.6 per cent.
Debt-laden Sprint Nextel fell 0.7 per cent after Japan's Softbank announced it would pay $20 billion to acquire 70 per cent of the third-biggest US mobile firm, behind AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
AT&T skidded 1.2 per cent and Verizon slipped 0.3 per cent.
The deal sparked speculation that the extra cash would allow Sprint to gain full control of wireless broadband firm Clearwire, in which it holds a 48 per cent stake.
Clearwire soared 16 per cent to $2.69.
Microsoft added 1.1 per cent after unveiling Xbox Music, which offers free music streaming for computers and tablets with the new Windows operating system to be launched this month. -- AFP
In a series of new polls out this morning, Mitt Romney's ratings have risen since his performance in the first presidential debate.
In a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 62 percent of Romney supporters now say they are "very enthusiastic" about Romney compared to 52 percent before the debate. The president's supporters have an unchanged view of him with 60 percent saying they are "very enthusiastic" compared to 59 percent before the debate.
Among 923 likely voters polled, 49 percent back Mr. Obama and 46 support the Romney. The outcome is similar to the last Washington Post/ABC poll from two weeks ago and is also within the 3.5 percent margin or error.
The poll noted "barely one in eight" respondents say they are undecided or say there is a chance they could switch their opinion.
The survey shows some positive aspects for the Obama campaign as an increase number of respondents say the country is headed in the right direction, with 42 percent saying so compared to 13 percent before the party conventions in August. On the other hand, 56 percent still say the country is on the wrong track.
Play Video
Luntz: Romney has got to make Obama look negative
Another survey, by Politico/George Washington University, shows Romney with an increase in his favorability rating. Fifty-one percent of likely voters say he has a favorable rating, which is two points higher than before the debate, while 44 percent have an unfavorable view. (Watch pollster Frank Luntz discuss the next presidential debate.)
The president, however, still has a higher favorability rating of 53 percent.
Obama enjoys the support of 49 percent of the 1,000 respondents polled compared to 48 percent who are backing Romney, which is the same as last week's Politico poll. Among battleground states, Romney posts 50 percent to Obama's 48 percent, which is within the 3.1 percent margin of error.
The survey reveals Romney has an eight-point advantage among independents and an 11-point lead among men. Women, however, back the president by 11 points: 54-43 percent.
In a third poll, Gallup's Daily Tracking poll, Romney has the support of 49 percent of likely voters and Mr. Obama garners the support of 47 percent. The results are also within the margin 2 point margin of error, as are the results of every Gallup Daily Tracking Poll since October 1.
BIRMINGHAM, England A teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by the Taliban arrived in the United Kingdom on Monday for more specialized medical care and to protect her from follow-up attacks threatened by the militants.
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad that Malala Yousufzai's doctors expect her to make steady if slow progress, according to a diplomat who had seen her en route to Britain.
The attack on 14-year-old Malala as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's northwest a week ago has horrified people across the South Asian country and abroad. It has also sparked hope that the Pakistani government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taliban and their allies.
Malala's condition was reported as stable during the weekend, and doctors had reduced her sedation to see if they could determine how much damage has been done to her brain, Palmer reports.
Malala was targeted by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group's behavior when they took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived. Two of her classmates were also wounded in the attack and are receiving treatment in Pakistan.
The Taliban have threatened to target Malala again until she is killed because she promotes "Western thinking."
Play Video
Signs of hope for young girl shot by Taliban
Police told Palmer that that, although the attack happened on a relatively busy road, no witnesses have come forward. On a brighter note, Palmer reports, the school that Malala championed so passionately is full. All the girl students have come to school and told Palmer that they and their parents -- even though they've been frightened by the attack -- are refusing to be intimidated.
Malala, who had been receiving treatment at a Pakistani military hospital, arrived in Britain on Monday afternoon. Pakistan's military had said a panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted to a center in the United Kingdom that has the ability to provide "integrated" care to children who have sustained severe injuries.
"It was agreed by the panel of Pakistani doctors and international experts that Malala will require prolonged care to fully recover from the physical and psychological effects of trauma that she has received," the military said in a statement.
Play Video
Wounded Pakistani girl moved to U.K. for treatment
Malala will be taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in central England, which is also home to the Royal Center for Defense Medicine, according to British Prime Minister David Cameron's office.
The Royal Center is the primary receiving unit for military casualties returned from overseas, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is designated as one of the country's 16 major trauma centers which specialize in treating severe gunshot wounds, major head injuries and road accident victims.
The hospital said a senior medical director is expected to provide an update on the girl's condition following an initial assessment later Monday.
Malala was flown out of Pakistan on Monday morning in a specially equipped air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates, the Pakistani military said.
Video footage handed out by the military showed Malala being wheeled out of the hospital on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet and surrounded by uniformed army officers. She was placed in the back of an ambulance and driven to the airport, where she was put on a plane.
The plane stopped for several hours in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi on the way to the United Kingdom, said Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan. The ambassador visited Malala during the stop and said she appeared to be in stable condition. Her parents were not on the plane with her, he said.
Khan told CBS News Malala appeared to be improving steadily. He said her doctors told him they believe she will make a slow recovery, but will recover, eventually. He added that her parents will join her in the U.K. at some point.
Khan told CBS News security measures were being taken to protect Malala because of the Taliban threat against her, but he would not go into specifics.
Pakistani doctors at a military hospital earlier removed a bullet from Malala's body that entered her head and headed toward her spine.
The military has described her recovery as satisfactory and said she was able to move her legs and hands several days ago when her sedatives were reduced. It has not said whether she suffered any brain damage or other permanent damage.
On Monday, the military said damaged bones in Malala's skull will need to be repaired or replaced, and she will need "intensive neuro rehabilitation." The decision to send the girl abroad was taken in consultation with her family, and the Pakistani government will pay for her treatment.
Pakistanis have held rallies for Malala throughout the country, but most have only numbered a few hundred people. The largest show of support by far occurred Sunday when tens of thousands of people held a demonstration in the southern port city of Karachi organized by the most powerful political party in the city, the Muttahida Quami Movement.
"The U.K. stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement sent to reporters. "Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all."
Business Times : latestMaybank: M&A option to access Thai growthSAAG plunges to 1sen on owing to creditorsBerjaya: Turf Club building cost may riseMalaysia makes RM32.74m sales in PuneMaxis' Indian unit to cut 600 jobsFBM KLCI open mixed
http://www.btimes.com.my en Monday, October 15, 2012, 12.20 PM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015104715/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015104715/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:47:15 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd, Malaysia's largest lender, is considering options to expand in Thailand including takeovers after raising RM3.66 billion (US$1.2 billion) this month to boost its presence in Southeast Asia. "There are a number of options we are assessing at the moment," chief executive officer Abdul Wahid Omar, 48, said last week in an interview in Tokyo. "Our default position is to look at opening a branch there by 2014, but if there are other interesting opportunities we'll be open to look at them." Malayan Banking, also known as Maybank, is competing with Southeast Asian rivals that are reducing reliance on their home markets through acquisitions in the region's faster-growing countries. The company, which already controls PT Bank Internasional Indonesia and owns smaller stakes of lenders in Vietnam and Pakistan, bought Singapore brokerage Kim Eng Holdings Ltd last year. Maybank earned 28 per cent of pretax income from overseas operations in the six months through June 30 and plans to generate 40 per cent of operating profit from abroad by 2015, Wahid said last year, adding that he wants the bank to enter all of Southeast Asia's major markets by then. "It's hard to grow organically in Thailand," Lim Sue Lin, an analyst at HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn, said by phone in Kuala Lumpur. "It's better for them to get ready infrastructure and distribution channels via an acquisition. It helps if the target has a good local franchise." Shares of Maybank have risen 4.2 per cent this year and were unchanged at RM8.94 as of 10am in Kuala Lumpur today. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index has gained 7.9 per cent this year. "It is our intention to have a full presence across all the 10 countries in Southeast Asia," Abdul Wahid said in an interview on Oct 12. "Within that context, the idea of raising additional capital is meant to enable us to grow a bit more aggressive in markets like Indonesia, the Philippines and later possibly into Singapore." Abdul Wahid, who was attending the Institute of International Finance's annual meeting in Tokyo, reiterated that proceeds from its Oct 8 share sale are not meant for making a bid for Bank of Ayudhya Pcl in Thailand. General Electric Co said last month that it's reviewing options for its remaining stake in Bangkok-based Bank of Ayudhya after selling an initial 7.6 per cent. Singapore's Oversea- Chinese Banking Corp and Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings Bhd are considering bidding for the stake, people familiar with the matter said Oct 5. Other banks on the takeover path in Southeast Asia include DBS Group Ltd, the region's biggest lender. DBS said on April 2 that it offered to buy PT Bank Danamon Indonesia for about US$7.2 billion. CIMB Group, Malaysia's second-largest lender, in May agreed to buy a 60 per cent stake in Bank of Commerce in the Philippines after making acquisitions in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore over the last seven years. -- Bloomberg http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015105659/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015105659/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:57:00 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: SAAG Consolidated (M) Bhd's share price fell four sen or 80 per cent to one sen as at 10 am today following news on suspended payments to its creditors on Friday. The company said any effort to restructure the group will depend on the decision following a meeting with the group's loan creditors. SAAG's creditors are Arab Malaysian Bank Bhd, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd and Idaman Capital Bhd. A meeting is to be held with Maybank and the State Bank of India, said SAAG in a note to Bursa Malaysia. SAAG is a company engaged in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia and in the Asian region. -- BERNAMA http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015111309/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015111309/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:13:10 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Land Bhd expects the construction cost for the new turf club in Sungai Tinggi, Selangor, to increase to RM1 billion (US$326.85 million) from RM605 million previously due to the rising cost of building materials after years of delay in getting the necessary approvals from the state government. The expected construction cost of RM1 billion effectively translates into land cost of about RM94 per square feet for the 244.79 acres in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, that Berjaya Land is acquiring from Selangor Turf Club. -- Reuters http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094916/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094916/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:49:17 +0800 NEW DELHI: The Showcase Malaysia 2012 held in Pune has generated RM32.74 million in total sales, says Malaysia's Mumbai-based Trade Commissioner Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir. Major sectors that generated sales were furniture, education services such as colloboration on twinning programmes and students recruitment as well as investment in specialty hospitals, he said. The three-day event by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), which ended on Friday, attracted a total of 1,023 visitors, he told Bernama. Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra state after Mumbai, was selected for the showcase as it serves as the hub for the auto industry and the location for many multinational corporations in information technology, biotechnology, electrical and electronics and education. It is ranked among India's highest purchasing power cities. Along with some government agencies, there were 32 Malaysian companies with varied business interests such as furniture, franchise businesses, healthcare products and services and food and beverage, participated in the event. A total of 633 business meetings were held during the event aimed at promoting trade and business relations between Malaysia and India, said Noraslan. Last year, total trade between Malaysia and India rose by almost 33 per cent to hit US$12.5 billion. Malaysia's exports to India increased by about 35 per cent to US$9.3 billion while imports rose by almost 28 per cent to US$3.3 billion. -- BERNAMA http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015095523/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015095523/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:55:23 +0800 NEW DELHI: Maxis Bhd's 74 per cent-owned unit in India, Aircel, plans to cut some 600 jobs or 12 per cent of its total workforce in five states following its decision to reduce operations in unprofitable regions amid surging costs and severe margin pressure. It will scale down operations in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat in its bid to trim down costs and reallocate resources to profitable zones, reported "The Economic Times", quoting an executive aware of the development. Aircel, India's fifth largest mobile carrier with a total of 66 million customers, has about 800 employees and six million customers in the five circles. The report said the firm will "test the waters" in Madhya Pradesh where it proposes to rely on its intra-circle roaming pact with Tata DoCoMo for coverage, and handle customer acquisitions and recharges online, dispensing with the need of having its own network and sales and distribution channels at the field level. "If the Madhya Pradesh pilot project is successful, the new business model will be extended to other unprofitable regions," said a company executive with direct knowledge of the development. Aircel, in its response to The Economic Times' specific queries, said it was changing its business model to reduce costs. "Operational costs are high and margin pressure is severe. Aircel is revamping its business model to lower the "cost to serve" without compromising on customer service and network experience," said a company spokeswoman, declining, however, to confirm whether impacted staff in the scaled down circles would be relocated to profitable zones. But executives privy to the developments said the new business model of relying on intra-circle roaming pacts to provide coverage to six million customers could have serious limitations. "Coverage can be a challenge as the intra-circle roaming pacts in the five regions are not all-encompassing," said one of them, adding that there could also be problems in targeting customer acquisitions and recharges online if Aircel dispenses with ground level sales and distribution channels. -- BERNAMA SM SM TOM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094425/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094425/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:44:25 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in early trading Monday on lack of buying interest in the local cash market, dealers said. After 33 minutes of trading, the FBM KLCI was 2.36 points easier at 1,651.0 after opening 1.58 points lower at 1,651.78. HwangDBS Vickers Research said eventhough trading on Wall Street ended between flat and slightly down Friday, "it reckoned our Malaysian bourse could stage a technical rebound today." On the chart, it expects the key FBM KLCI may work its way up to cross above the 1,655 mark again. "Beyond this level, the benchmark index will probably be looking to challenge the 1,670 immediate resistance target," it said. The Finance Index fell 9.141 points to 14,696.43 but the Plantation Index gained 11.73 points to 8,187.53 and the Industrial Index lost 1.2 points to 2,845.30. The FBM Emas Index erased 10.55 points to 11,231.91, the FBM Ace Index was 13.14 points higher at 4,214.09, while the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 7.88 points to 12,186.38. Gainers led losers by 126 to 109, with 171 counters unchanged, 1,240 untraded and 25 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 182.148 million shares worth RM44.054 million. For actives, SAAG Consolidated lost four sen to one sen, Compugates Holdings was flat at nine sen, Asia Media Group earned a sen to 36 sen but Pesona Metro rose five sen to 29.5 sen. Among heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM8.95, Sime Darby lost one sen to RM9.71, CIMB shed six sen to RM7.64 and Axiata fell four sen to RM6.45.-- BERNAMA
Business Times : latestMaybank: M&A option to access Thai growthSAAG plunges to 1sen on owing to creditorsBerjaya: Turf Club building cost may riseMalaysia makes RM32.74m sales in PuneMaxis' Indian unit to cut 600 jobsFBM KLCI open mixed
http://www.btimes.com.my en Monday, October 15, 2012, 12.20 PM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015104715/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015104715/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:47:15 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd, Malaysia's largest lender, is considering options to expand in Thailand including takeovers after raising RM3.66 billion (US$1.2 billion) this month to boost its presence in Southeast Asia. "There are a number of options we are assessing at the moment," chief executive officer Abdul Wahid Omar, 48, said last week in an interview in Tokyo. "Our default position is to look at opening a branch there by 2014, but if there are other interesting opportunities we'll be open to look at them." Malayan Banking, also known as Maybank, is competing with Southeast Asian rivals that are reducing reliance on their home markets through acquisitions in the region's faster-growing countries. The company, which already controls PT Bank Internasional Indonesia and owns smaller stakes of lenders in Vietnam and Pakistan, bought Singapore brokerage Kim Eng Holdings Ltd last year. Maybank earned 28 per cent of pretax income from overseas operations in the six months through June 30 and plans to generate 40 per cent of operating profit from abroad by 2015, Wahid said last year, adding that he wants the bank to enter all of Southeast Asia's major markets by then. "It's hard to grow organically in Thailand," Lim Sue Lin, an analyst at HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn, said by phone in Kuala Lumpur. "It's better for them to get ready infrastructure and distribution channels via an acquisition. It helps if the target has a good local franchise." Shares of Maybank have risen 4.2 per cent this year and were unchanged at RM8.94 as of 10am in Kuala Lumpur today. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index has gained 7.9 per cent this year. "It is our intention to have a full presence across all the 10 countries in Southeast Asia," Abdul Wahid said in an interview on Oct 12. "Within that context, the idea of raising additional capital is meant to enable us to grow a bit more aggressive in markets like Indonesia, the Philippines and later possibly into Singapore." Abdul Wahid, who was attending the Institute of International Finance's annual meeting in Tokyo, reiterated that proceeds from its Oct 8 share sale are not meant for making a bid for Bank of Ayudhya Pcl in Thailand. General Electric Co said last month that it's reviewing options for its remaining stake in Bangkok-based Bank of Ayudhya after selling an initial 7.6 per cent. Singapore's Oversea- Chinese Banking Corp and Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings Bhd are considering bidding for the stake, people familiar with the matter said Oct 5. Other banks on the takeover path in Southeast Asia include DBS Group Ltd, the region's biggest lender. DBS said on April 2 that it offered to buy PT Bank Danamon Indonesia for about US$7.2 billion. CIMB Group, Malaysia's second-largest lender, in May agreed to buy a 60 per cent stake in Bank of Commerce in the Philippines after making acquisitions in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore over the last seven years. -- Bloomberg http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015105659/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015105659/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:57:00 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: SAAG Consolidated (M) Bhd's share price fell four sen or 80 per cent to one sen as at 10 am today following news on suspended payments to its creditors on Friday. The company said any effort to restructure the group will depend on the decision following a meeting with the group's loan creditors. SAAG's creditors are Arab Malaysian Bank Bhd, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd and Idaman Capital Bhd. A meeting is to be held with Maybank and the State Bank of India, said SAAG in a note to Bursa Malaysia. SAAG is a company engaged in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia and in the Asian region. -- BERNAMA http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015111309/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015111309/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:13:10 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Land Bhd expects the construction cost for the new turf club in Sungai Tinggi, Selangor, to increase to RM1 billion (US$326.85 million) from RM605 million previously due to the rising cost of building materials after years of delay in getting the necessary approvals from the state government. The expected construction cost of RM1 billion effectively translates into land cost of about RM94 per square feet for the 244.79 acres in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, that Berjaya Land is acquiring from Selangor Turf Club. -- Reuters http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094916/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094916/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:49:17 +0800 NEW DELHI: The Showcase Malaysia 2012 held in Pune has generated RM32.74 million in total sales, says Malaysia's Mumbai-based Trade Commissioner Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir. Major sectors that generated sales were furniture, education services such as colloboration on twinning programmes and students recruitment as well as investment in specialty hospitals, he said. The three-day event by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), which ended on Friday, attracted a total of 1,023 visitors, he told Bernama. Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra state after Mumbai, was selected for the showcase as it serves as the hub for the auto industry and the location for many multinational corporations in information technology, biotechnology, electrical and electronics and education. It is ranked among India's highest purchasing power cities. Along with some government agencies, there were 32 Malaysian companies with varied business interests such as furniture, franchise businesses, healthcare products and services and food and beverage, participated in the event. A total of 633 business meetings were held during the event aimed at promoting trade and business relations between Malaysia and India, said Noraslan. Last year, total trade between Malaysia and India rose by almost 33 per cent to hit US$12.5 billion. Malaysia's exports to India increased by about 35 per cent to US$9.3 billion while imports rose by almost 28 per cent to US$3.3 billion. -- BERNAMA http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015095523/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015095523/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:55:23 +0800 NEW DELHI: Maxis Bhd's 74 per cent-owned unit in India, Aircel, plans to cut some 600 jobs or 12 per cent of its total workforce in five states following its decision to reduce operations in unprofitable regions amid surging costs and severe margin pressure. It will scale down operations in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat in its bid to trim down costs and reallocate resources to profitable zones, reported "The Economic Times", quoting an executive aware of the development. Aircel, India's fifth largest mobile carrier with a total of 66 million customers, has about 800 employees and six million customers in the five circles. The report said the firm will "test the waters" in Madhya Pradesh where it proposes to rely on its intra-circle roaming pact with Tata DoCoMo for coverage, and handle customer acquisitions and recharges online, dispensing with the need of having its own network and sales and distribution channels at the field level. "If the Madhya Pradesh pilot project is successful, the new business model will be extended to other unprofitable regions," said a company executive with direct knowledge of the development. Aircel, in its response to The Economic Times' specific queries, said it was changing its business model to reduce costs. "Operational costs are high and margin pressure is severe. Aircel is revamping its business model to lower the "cost to serve" without compromising on customer service and network experience," said a company spokeswoman, declining, however, to confirm whether impacted staff in the scaled down circles would be relocated to profitable zones. But executives privy to the developments said the new business model of relying on intra-circle roaming pacts to provide coverage to six million customers could have serious limitations. "Coverage can be a challenge as the intra-circle roaming pacts in the five regions are not all-encompassing," said one of them, adding that there could also be problems in targeting customer acquisitions and recharges online if Aircel dispenses with ground level sales and distribution channels. -- BERNAMA SM SM TOM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094425/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20121015094425/Article/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:44:25 +0800 KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in early trading Monday on lack of buying interest in the local cash market, dealers said. After 33 minutes of trading, the FBM KLCI was 2.36 points easier at 1,651.0 after opening 1.58 points lower at 1,651.78. HwangDBS Vickers Research said eventhough trading on Wall Street ended between flat and slightly down Friday, "it reckoned our Malaysian bourse could stage a technical rebound today." On the chart, it expects the key FBM KLCI may work its way up to cross above the 1,655 mark again. "Beyond this level, the benchmark index will probably be looking to challenge the 1,670 immediate resistance target," it said. The Finance Index fell 9.141 points to 14,696.43 but the Plantation Index gained 11.73 points to 8,187.53 and the Industrial Index lost 1.2 points to 2,845.30. The FBM Emas Index erased 10.55 points to 11,231.91, the FBM Ace Index was 13.14 points higher at 4,214.09, while the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 7.88 points to 12,186.38. Gainers led losers by 126 to 109, with 171 counters unchanged, 1,240 untraded and 25 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 182.148 million shares worth RM44.054 million. For actives, SAAG Consolidated lost four sen to one sen, Compugates Holdings was flat at nine sen, Asia Media Group earned a sen to 36 sen but Pesona Metro rose five sen to 29.5 sen. Among heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM8.95, Sime Darby lost one sen to RM9.71, CIMB shed six sen to RM7.64 and Axiata fell four sen to RM6.45.-- BERNAMA
President Barack Obama's advisors say he is preparing to be more energetic in Tuesday's debate.
President Obama's top advisers accused Mitt Romney of trying to "exploit" the terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya by hammering the White House for alleged security failures and mixed messages.
"What we need to do is stop playing politics with this issue," senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Obama strategist David Axelrod chimed in on "Fox News Sunday" that Romney "is working hard to exploit this issue."
"From the beginning of this issue, before any facts were known, he was cravenly trying to exploit it," he said.
Romney was chided by members of his own party for alleging - within hours of the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens — that Obama was weak on terror.
But since then, the White House has been under fire from critics — for incorrectly declaring the attack was not a preplanned terrorist operation and failing to secure the consulate on the 9/11 anniversary.
At a congressional hearing last week, a State Department security officer revealed he was rebuffed after he asked higher-ups for extra agents to protect the Benghazi compound.
Vice President Joe Biden didn't clear up the confusion when he said during his Thursday debate with Paul Ryan, "We weren't told they wanted more security."
The White House tried to explain the comment by saying Biden meant he and Obama had not been personally told of the request.
But Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said Sunday that Biden has "directly contradicted" sworn testimony, and that the White House was trying to dodge responsibility.
"What we have seen is a constantly shifting story from this administration," Gillespie told Fox News.
Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, sneered at the Romney campaign for going after his father on the foreign-policy front.
"These are folks that seem to be more interested in kind of pounding their chest to make the neoconservatives who advise them proud than they are about being serious about foreign policy and protecting our national interests around the world," he said on ABC's "This Week."
And Gibbs fired back at GOP: "We don't need wing tip cowboys. We don't need shot-from-the-hip diplomacy."
With just three weeks left in the campaign, the Republicans are likely to keep using Libya to take some of the polish off Obama's foreign-policy credentials.
It's unclear, however, how much opportunity Romney will have to focus on it during Tuesday's presidential debate — a town hall format with questions from undecided voters.
This debate could be critical for Obama, who took a hit in many polls after his passive performance in the Oct. 3 faceoff with an aggressive Romney.
Gibbs said the President has learned from his mistakes and plans to step up his game.
"He knew when he walked off that stage and he also knew as he's watched the tape of that debate that he's got to be more energetic," he said on CNN.
"I think the President will be very forward-looking."
Romney's team said the candidate is prepared for a more combative Obama at Long Island's Hofstra University Tuesday night.
"The President can change his style. He can change his tactics. He can't change his record, he can't change his policies," Gillespie told CNN.
Following Thursday night's vice presidential debate, Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume said the way viewers react to Vice President Joe Biden's aggressive demeanor will dictate who "won" the debate.
"Well, it all depends on what they think of Joe Biden and his demeanor," Hume said. "If you read the transcript, you might conclude that the vice president had a very strong debate, that he had a lot to say, that he was strongly critical of Gov. Romney and his program, that he held his own. But that's not all there is to it. We had the split screen, much as we did during the presidential debate. And what you saw while Paul Ryan was talking, as others have pointed out was smirking, laughing, smiling, mugging by the vice president."
Hume said Biden risked coming across as "a cranky old man."
"My sense was that it was so compelling that people probably couldn't take their eyes off of it. And so, it will come down to whether or not people thought that was attractive or not. Myself, I thought it was unattractive. I thought it was rude. And I have a feeling it will come across to an awful lot of people as rude. It looked like a cranky old man to some extent, debating a polite young man.
PUBLISHED: 10:23 EST, 13 October 2012 | UPDATED: 11:11 EST, 13 October 2012
Clearly not content with flashing a nipple and 'ironically' calling Barack Obama a Muslim, Madonna has decided to wade in on the brutal killing of a Pakistani girl who was shot for speaking out against the Taliban.
Madonna continued to use her 'MDNA Tour' to make yet another controversial statement by strip-teasing to 'show her support' for Malala Yousafzai, who was shot on a schoolbus for writing a blog about how important education is.
On her Wednesday night performance in the Staples Centre, Los Angeles, the singer began by telling her audience that she wanted have a 'serious talk'.
Inappropriate: Madonna stripped off to 'dedicate' her act to a Pakistani girl who is in hospital in a critical condition
In yet another 'controversial' act, the singer took her clothes off to support a cause that had touched her
Madonna shouted 'support education'... before taking her clothes off, angering Pakistani people who branded it 'cheap self popularity'
Madonna performing in her MDNA Tour at Staples Center, Los Angeles, when she decided to embark on a striptease
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, but survived
According toEntertainment Today, she told fans that the news that the 14-year-old had been gunned down by the Taliban had made her 'cry'.
She said: 'The 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot on a schoolbus for writing a blog about how important education was to her.
'The Taliban stopped her bus and shot her. Do you understand the sickness and absurdity of this?'
She rallied the crowd by shouting at them to support education and those who help women.
But then the millionaire decided that this performance clearly was not a strong enough statement, and chose to 'dedicate' a strip tease to the girl, who is currently in a critical condition.
She turned her back to reveal 'Malala' written across it, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
'This song is for Malala,' she said, before singing her 'Human Nature' song.
But her attempt to make a stand in the name of Malala backfired after furious Pakistanis discovered her act.
There was a chorus of disapproval from Twitter users, who branded her performance a shameless attempt to garner attention, Entertainment Today reported.
@OHPakistan tweetwed to NBC News' Amna Nawaz: 'Get it Right: Associating #Madonna with #Malala IS DISRESPECT TO #Malala!!! Plz. Give #Malala a rest!'
User @bijm30caahm condemned the move: 'Not the right way to pay Homage to Brave Malala. Its a way to earn cheap self popularity.'
A Taliban gunman boarded a packed school bus and shot a teenage education activist twice at point blank range.
The brave teenager was targeted by the Taliban after speaking out against atrocities committed under the regime.
People have protested against attack on Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, in Hyderbad, Pakistan
The senseless attack on of Malala Yousafzai has captured the heart of the Pakistani people, who have been praying for her recovery
According to Malala's friend Shazia, speaking to the Christian Science Monitor, a group of militants riding on a bike stopped the bus carrying the schoolgirls.
Masked men then boarded the vehicle and pointed guns at the girls, asking for Malala.
A hooded Taliban militant shouted: 'Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all. She is propagating against the soldiers of Allah, the Taliban. She must be punished.'
Almost as soon as he shouted this, the militant recognised the youngster and shot her at point blank range.
The shooting has horrified people in Pakistan and internationally, and has been followed by an outpouring of respect for a girl who earned the enmity of the Taliban for publicising their acts and speaking about the importance of girls' education.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying that the girl was promoting 'Western thinking'.
Malala was shot twice at close range and is currently unconscious in hospital in a critical condition.
Madonna has also used her tour to encourage her fans to support Obama by demanding they vote for 'the black Muslim in the White House'.
The Queen of Pop threw her weight behind the president during a concert in Washington, D.C. on Monday, before stripping off her shirt to reveal her massive 'Obama' temporary tattoo on her back.
But she made a fatal error - which she later said was 'deliberately ironic' - because Obama is a Christian.
Madonna 'backs' Obama with a temporary tattoo during her MDNA Tour at the New York's Yankee Stadium
>>>voters learned last night that for a man who described himself as a numbers guy , paul ryan is one of the worst mathematicians in america. for instance, his zero tolerance policy on stimulus money, well, that comes with an asterisk.
>>sure, he did.
>>on two occasions we advocated for skaents who were applying for grants. that's what we did. we do that for all constituents --
>>i love that. this is such a bad program and he writes the department of energy saying the reason we need this stimulus, it will create growth and jobs.
>>indeed. numbers plagued mr. ryan so much during thursday's debate that he nearly forgot who he was.
>>you can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve these important preferences for middle class taxpayers.
>>not mathematically possible.
>>it is possible. it's been done before.
>>it has never been done bofer.
>>it's been done a couple times. jack kennedy lowers tax rates and --
>>now you're jack kennedy .
>>joining us now here in new york is salon.com's joan walsh and in washington michael scherer white house correspondent for "time."
>>did i not know jack kennedy . he was not a friend of mine but i feel confident in saying paul ryan is no jack kennedy . would you agree?
>>i would agree with that. and he walked right into that. he wahanded that to joe biden and it was hilarious. michael , my friend, literally my friend, not in the joe biden sense, michael is my friend, is in the beltway, i don't mean to dispaur raj beltway reporters, but paul ryan has been given such a pass. he has a reputation for being a worngy guy, good at the numbers. his numbers have never added up. he has this reputation for being a deficit hawk . as joe biden said he voted for the wars, for the new medicare --
>>the prescription drug benefit.
>>he voted --
>>the bush tax cuts .
>>the bush tax cuts , all of the bush budgets. he voted for a bush stimulus. in addition to voting against obama stimulus but asking for money, he voted for bush stimulus and he described it in his speeches. he was a kecanesian. he's never been forced to be consistent and yet he's hailed as this great economist, this great numbers thinker.
>>michael , ryan still had no answer, as joan said shall as to how he'd pay for a 20% across the board tax cut . martha raddatz asked at least twice. mike, have you ever heard a politician make such a promise to the electorate yet not even try, not even attempt to provide one detail when asked?
>>well, here is what the campaign will say and here is what ryan wasn't saying explicitly on that stage because it's a hard thing to argue. it's that they believe that if you give this sort of tax cut , there will be economic growth that's not projected now that we can then add to the amount of revenue the government takes in. it's a republican argument that's been used basically since the '80s consistently and most of the time it doesn't work. every now and then it's true, you do get this big economic boost, and that boost revenues, and then all of a sudden you can pay for it. the problem is in washington the congress budget office and those people who score these things don't score this methodology. romney cannot go to congress and say there's going to be an extra 1% or 2% growth that i'm projecting because a couple people have written blog posts that say it's reasonable and, therefore, we can say it's all going to not add to the deficit. if romney goes to congress and tries to put through that plan, the result will be a score that says you are adding to the deficit, and he will either have to at that point try to convince all of the american people that the cbo is wrong or he will have to pull back on his proposal. and so that's really where this discussion is right now. ryan and romney are relying on an accounting prediction that is not really predictable. you can't bank on it. it could happen, probably won't.
>>michael , many people would call that an outright lie. joan, by my count joe biden mentioned the magic number 47% on at least five o kitions. how effectively do you think mr. biden used the secret tape where romney was waxing lyrical about his con terpt for half the population.
>>i thought those were his finest moments . he had -- he mentioned it several times but he had two separate times when he talked to martha and he talked to the audience, and he said that you're talking about my parents, you're talking about my neighbors, you're talking about the people i grew up with in scranton, you're talking about seniors, and you're talking about the military. and he made it vivid in a way that few of us, myself included i feel, have really made that number vivid. he also, you know, again, not going to bash president obama again, but he did give a rationale for their administration and for the re-election, that they have a very different view of the role of government in creating the middle class , that we did it once before in the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s and we can do it again and the middle class just needs a fair shot. i felt that was the most heartfelt and emotional portions of his presentation, and i think that they're very effective. people are talking about his laughter, about you when you show those couple moments and you see his passion talking to people directly, i think it's so effective and devastating. paul ryan looks like an accountant whose numbers don't add up.
>>michael , final opportunity for you, do you think mr. biden has stole the limited momentum that romney appeared to have last week?
>>well, he at least changed the conversation. we're no longer talking about how barack obama is a terrible debater and may have given away the election a week ago which is good for barack obama . i don't know if this debate will move polls, it will probably stop a slide that was already slowing and all that will matter from here on on is the performance of obama and romney . i think the public will come away from this slightly more informed than they were before and it was a pretty entertaining debate to watch but it's not the kind of debate that will decide the election. vice presidential debates rarely do.
>>it could close the enthusiasm gap.
>>but obama has to deliver on that. it can go away just as quickly.
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