Dayang
Enterprise
has proposed a 2-step takeover of Perdana Petroleum: 1) Dayang will acquire 43m
Perdana shares, representing a 5.74% stake, from Affin Hwang Asset Management
for a total cash consideration of RM67m or RM1.55/share. 2) Upon the completion
of the 5.74% stake purchase, Dayang’s stake in Perdana will increase to 35.5%.
Dayang will then be obligated to extend a mandatory general offer for the
remaining Perdana shares, also at RM1.55/share. (BMSB)
Chairman of CIMB Group Bhd Datuk Seri Nazir Razak took the board of 1Malaysia
Development Bhd (1MDB) to task for not addressing the growing concerns on the
fund and its financials. He said that a responsible board should appoint an
independent auditor to verify the accounts immediately and deal with the
mistrust pertaining to the financial position of 1MDB instead of waiting for
the Auditor General (AG) to do the job.
· “The
immediate check for a responsible board is to appoint an independent (auditor)
now … otherwise the board and management, in my view, should resign. ”It is
your basic responsibility. There’s a complete mistrust in your financial
situation. You have to responsibly deal with that. But instead you sit there
and wait for AG.
· “To
me that’s irresponsible. If you do that then it’s better for you to step down
and let someone else come in and take over,” Nazir told the media over a
luncheon at the Asean Business Club (ABC) forum. (StarBiz)
Only
World Group Holdings Bhd's (OWG) shares rose as much as 21 sen or 7.9% yesterday,
after the leisure and hospitality services provider, in reply to an unusual
market activity (UMA) query, announced that it was in discussions with certain
parties relating to possible business transactions. The stock hit an intraday
high of RM2.87 before easing to close up 15 sen, or 5.64% at RM2.81, yesterday,
with 1.05m shares traded. Its market capitalisation stood at RM519.85m.
· "The
company is in the very early stages of discussions with certain parties
relating to possible business transactions, of which the discussions are still
in a state of flux this juncture," it told Bursa Malaysia, which vide a
letter dates May 13, 2015, had queried OWG on the recent increase in the company's
share price. (Financial Daily)
Casino operator Genting Singapore Plc's first-quarter core profit fell 43% on the
year due to weakness in the premium gaming market, which the company expects to
persist. Genting's core earnings, or adjusted EBITDA, fell 43% on the year to
S$228m in the first quarter, below an average estimate of S$322m in a Reuters
survey of five analysts. (Reuters)
Syarikat
Takaful Malaysia Bhd
confirmed the purchase of a RM85m Islamic Bond in 2009 from the Terengganu
Investment Authority (TIA), now known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
"It was purchased when the TIA issued the bond and this was prior to 1MDB
coming in existence," Group Managing Director, Datuk Seri Mohamed Hassan
Kamil said. The bond is fully guaranteed by the government and matures in 2039,
he told reporters after BIMB Holdings Bhd's annual general meeting here.
Takaful Malaysia is a unit under BIMB. (Bernama)
Inari
Amertron Bhd's
pre-tax profit for the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2015 rose 39.7% to RM37.961m
from RM27.173m registered in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue improved 19%
to RM228.2m from RM191.8m chalked up previously due to higher trading volumes,
in particular the radio frequency business, the company said in a filing to
Bursa Malaysia.
· "An
increase in demand for smartphones and mobile devices has led to the better
radio frequency business," it said. Going forward, Inari Amertron said it
will continue to integrate and improve the operating margins of its
optoelectronics business and continue to ride the growth of the mobile smart
device market. (Bernama)
Malaysia will keep its crude palm oil export tax for June at
0%, continuing duty-free exports from this month, a government circular showed.
(Financial Daily)
The
telecommunications industry supports the government's decision to apply the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) for prepaid top-ups whereby consumers should receive
RM10 worth of prepaid air time for RM10 reload value or 'RM10-for-RM10'
formula, only upon usage of prepaid services. In a joint statement via the
Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM), the
telecommunication companies (telcos) said it understood the call for a more
future-oriented application. They also welcomed the Communications and
Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek's directive for GST on
prepaid services to follow a usage-based principle.
· "This
means GST is applied to the individual transactions when customers use their
airtime," it said. On the new methodology, the telcos said it would form
the foundation for application of GST on all electronic payments such as
e-wallet and mobile wallet, which has become increasingly ubiquitous in our
growing digital economy. (Bernama)
Approvals
to build serviced apartments in Johor will be postponed from this year as
a step towards countering oversupply in the market. Johor Menteri Besar Datuk
Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the postponement is to allow the department of
town and country planning to draft guidelines to address the issue.
· "The
guidelines will include a check on approval criteria for the construction of
serviced apartments and a feasibility study to ensure the situation of
oversupply can be avoided", he said. (Bernama)
Beijing
Auto International Cooperation (BAIC), which is among the world's leading
electric vehicle producers, wants to make Malaysia as the hub for its electric
cars for the Southeast Asian market. Towards this end, BAIC has signed a
cooperation agreement with its Malaysian joint venture partner, Amber Dual Sdn
Bhd, at BAIC's plant here Thursday. The first batch of production will take
place in July next year at a manufacturing plant to be built in Gurun, Kedah.
(Bernama)
While significant progress has been
made to integrate the economies of the 10 member states of Asean, the region is
not expected to achieve full integration by the end of this year as outlined in
the Asean Economic Community (AEC)
blueprint. Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri
Mustapa Mohamed said on Thursday:
· “We
have accepted the fact that we are not going to achieve 100% of the integration
measures by the end of 2015. “We have made significant progress towards
integration our economies, but there is still a lot more work to be done.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of CIMB Group Bhd Datuk Seri
Nazir Razak said he was anxious over
the commitment of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s commitment towards the
AEC.
· “Indonesia’s
commitment towards the AEC has been ambiguous… we’re waiting for Jokowi’s
statement on his stand on Asean,” Nazir said. “Asean is nothing without
Indonesia, so I hope the country will take the lead in the AEC,” he added.
(StarBiz)
Export-Import
Bank of Malaysia
(EXIM Bank) president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Adissadikin Ali
has tendered in his resignation, effective May 15, 2015. “Adissadikin has
chosen to explore new opportunities as he leaves EXIM Bank in a position of
strength and growing cross-border opportunity for Malaysians to venture,” EXIM
Bank said on Thursday. EXIM Bank’s current chief operating office, Norzilah
Mohammed as been appointed as the acting president and CEO until a further
notice. (StarBiz)
Palm oil imports by India increased in
April to the highest level this year after prices tumbled to a seven-month low.
Inbound shipments of crude and refined palm oil rose 7.5% to 718,091 tonnes
from March, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said. (Bloomberg)
Port
inventory
est. 400,000 mt in recent weeks, compared with 1.2m tonnes at same time last
year or 1.3m tonnes in 2013, China National Grain and Oils Information Center
says in e-mailed report. Shipments may exceed 1.3m tonnes in 2Q. Port inventory
unlikely to grow as consumption forecast to rise during summer. (Bloomberg)
Details of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 (MRT2) project will start to
go on public display from tomorrow. The public can visit the SPAD office and 23
roadshow locations in the Klang Valley for information on the proposed MRT2,
also known as the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP Line). The display will
run until August 17, 2015 for public inspection, which is part of the
requirement of the Land Public Transport Act 2010. Mass Rapid Transit
Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Shahril
Mokhtar said the main purpose of the display is to provide a platform for the
public to give feedback on the proposed alignment. (Bernama)
China's
steel consumption
will likely fall 6% this year, an industry official said, underlining how a
slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy will continue to hurt industrial demand.
Chinese crude steel consumption dropped 3.4% last year, shrinking for the first
time since 1981, and fell again in the first quarter, spurring producers to
sell more steel overseas. "This year it will continue to be negative
growth, minus 6%," Wang Liqun, VP of the China Iron and Steel Association
said.
· The
country's steel sector has been saddled by oversupply for years, with excess
capacity now estimated at around 300m tonnes, triple the annual output of
Japan, the world's No. 2 steel producer after China. "There is no winner
at all, the profit margin has dropped significantly," he said. (StarBiz)
The U.S. Department of Commerce on
Thursday confirmed import duties on steel nails from South Korea, Malaysia,
Oman, Taiwan and Vietnam after finding they were being sold below cost in the
United States. Anti-dumping duties ranged as high as 324% for goods from
Vietnam, which was also found to be providing unfair government subsidies to
its domestic industry and is being subjected to separate anti-subsidy duties.
· The
complaint was lodged by Mid Continent
Steel & Wire, the largest bulk pallet nail manufacturer in the United
States. A final decision from the International Trade Commission is due by June
27, 2015. (Reuters)
Construction outfit Zelan, with an order book of RM1.1bn,
is bidding for some of the Pengerang projects which are up for tender in Johor.
MD Adnan Mohammad confirmed Zelan was bidding for some of the projects but did
not want to disclose the details. He said Zelan has stepped up its efforts to
turn around the group and intends to secure more local construction jobs. The
present order book will last till the first half of 2017.
· "We
are optimistic about securing more engineering projects in the country this
year. The key issue is still turning around the company and our shareholders
are looking for returns. "Our response to them is to build Zelan's
strength, putting it on firmer financial footing," he said. (StarBiz)
Cliq
Energy Bhd
and vendor Phystech Firm LLP have mutually agreed a one month extension for
Phystech to execute the business transfer agreement (BTA) between itself and
the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to transfer its assets for the production of
hydrocarbons at oilfield blocks at the Karazhanbas Northern Deposit in the
Kazakhstan, contractual obligations and certain existing employees to the SPV.
This is in line with the proposed
acquisition by Cliq of a 51% stake in a SPV to be incorporated in Kazakhstan
from Phystech for US$117.3m.
· Phystech
is the sole operator of the Karazhanbas Northern Field and is principally
involved in the exploration and production activities at the Karazhanbas
Northern deposit. (Sun)
Malindo
Air
will offer an unlimited broad-based web surfing service named starting May 18
on its Boeing 737-900ER aircraft. The hybrid airline has selected Panasonic
Avionics and Aeromobile for in-flight communications and officially becomes the
first in the region to offer unlimited broad-based web surfing, named Malindo
WiFi and Malindo Mobile, the company said in a statement.
· "Malindo
Air will begin offering Panasonic's eXConnect in-flight broadband connectivity
and eXPhone mobile phone services powered by Aeromobile. The airline will offer
this service without limiting users to a number of applications or
websites," it added. (Bernama)
CIMB Daybreak - 15 May 2015
