Petra Perdana Bhd (PETR MK, Buy, TP: RM4.20) subsidiary Perdana Marine Offshore Pte Ltd is selling a work barge to PT Pelayaran Tamarin Samudra for US$2.65m (RM9.22m). In a statement, Petra Perdana said the disposal was in line with the group’s fleet renewal and expansion plan in providing marine support services to the offshore oil and gas facilities. The proceeds will be used to repay borrowings. The realised loss will be about US$130,000 on disposal. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Cityneon Holdings Ltd has more than doubled its order book to S$110m from S$52m in January. The company, a subsidiary of Star Publications (M) Bhd (STAR MK, Hold, TP: RM3.36), said in a statement its order book to 2012 was also more than twice its total revenue for financial year ended Dec 31 (FY08). Cityneon expects to charge about 70% of the order to revenue for the current FY09. Cityneon group managing director Ko Chee Wah said Cityneon had clinched two new contracts at the World Expo Shanghai 2010, a S$110m deal to build the Qatar pavilion and a S$13m contract for the Indonesia pavilion. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Tan Sri Azman Hashim’s AmcorpGroup Bhd’s offer for sale of 119.8m shares in a restructured AMDB Bhd met with a cool reception as only 7.19% of the total shares offered were accepted. At the close of the offer yesterday, the acceptance for shares that were offered at 50 sen each to existing AMDB shareholders was 6.47% while excess share applications were 0.72%. According to a company announcement, the undersubscribed portion was 92.81%. Azman, via wholly-owned Amcorp, will hold approximately 66.83% of the restructured AMDB that will see the disposal of Seri Melayu restaurant, Harpers Tour and Harpers Travel to Amcorp. The disposal is for a sum of RM22.1m that will be partly used to offset AMDB’s acquisition of Amcorp Prima Realty Sdn Bhd, Regal Genius Sdn Bhd, Distrepark Sdn Bhd and a 60% stake in a HDC-Amcorp joint-venture. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Securities Commission (SC) released the Venture Capital Tax Incentives Guidelines to incorporate the new tax incentive for the venture capital industry as stipulated in the income Tax (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2009. This new and more attractive tax exemption incentive supplements existing incentives, where venture capital companies (VCC) registered with SC are eligible for tax exemption for 10 years of assessment if they invest at least 70% of their invested funds in the form of seed capital in qualified investee companies. Venture capital management companies (VCMCs) registered with the SC can also enjoy tax exemption on income arising from a profit-sharing agreement between the VCMC and VCC. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Malaysia will further liberalise the services sector, as it is an important growth area for the economy, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. “The new economic model that we’re working on will include driving growth in the services sector. Manufacturing has seen a lot of loosening in the last decade but services have a lot of potential (for deregulation),” he said. The ministry remained pro-business and aimed to promote entreprenurship through the reduction of bureaucracy and red tape. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
CPO for December delivery in Malaysia dropped 3.8% to RM2,103 a tonne on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange. It was the biggest drop since June 22. Crude palm oil (CPO) tumbled the most in more than three months after Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd, said prices must slump 13% from current levels to stoke demand for food and fuel applications and as crude oil fell. The commodity needs to decline to RM1,900 a tonne for demand to rebound, Mistry said on Sunday. “Prices need to become more competitive if biodiesel usage is to expand,” Mistry said. The outlook for CPO was based on an assumption that crude oil will trade at between US$65 and US$80 a barrel until spring of 2010, Mistry said. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Stocks surged Monday, recharging their recent advance after a one-week break, as a pair of multi-billion dollar merger announcements gave investors a reason to get back into equities. Abbott Laboratories is buying the drug unit of its development partner, Belgian pharmaceutical company Solvay, for about US$6.6bn in cash. Xerox is buying Affiliated Computer Services for US$6.4bn in cash and stock. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.3% (+124.2 pts, close 9,789.4). The Nasdaq gained 1.9% (+39.8 pts, close 2,130.7) and the S&P 500 gained 1.8% (+18.6 pts, close 1,062.9). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 82 cents to settle at US$66.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
* * * * *
Treasury bondholders will lose money for the first time in 10 years amid an unprecedented decline in the gap between the interest rate on 30-year mortgages and government notes, signalling an end to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes will end the year little changed at 3.36% before rising to 3.65% by mid-2010 as bond prices fall, according to the average estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the rest of the 18 primary dealers that trade Treasuries directly with the central bank. The 2.65% loss posted so far this year, as measured by Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Treasury Master Index, shows investors no longer require the refuge of U.S. government debt that led to a gain of 14% last year. Borrowing rates have declined on everything from mortgages to corporate bonds after the Fed and the government lent, spent or guaranteed US$11.6trn to shore up banks and end the recession. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
U.K. house prices increased the most in two years during September as confidence in the property market improved, Hometrack Ltd. said. The average cost of a home in England and Wales rose 0.2% from August to £156,100 (US$248,000), the London-based property-research company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The increase, the biggest since June 2007, left house prices 5.6% lower y-o-y, the smallest annual decline in a year. The report adds to evidence that the housing market may be starting to level off after the credit squeeze ended a decade-long boom. There still is a risk that the recovery from recession will falter as unemployment continues to rise, Bank of England policy maker Kate Barker said last week. In August, house prices fell 0.1% from the previous month, the government Land Registry said in a separate report yesterday. From a year earlier, prices dropped 9.4%. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
German consumer prices fell at a sharper annual pace in September after energy costs declined. Prices, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, dropped 0.4% y-o-y after easing 0.1% in August, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said yesterday. From the previous month, prices also fell 0.4%. Economists predicted a 0.2% annual decline, the median of 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Oil prices have dropped about 32% in the past year during the biggest global economic slump since the Great Depression, dragging down inflation rates around the world. Prices may begin to rise again as the impact of cheaper oil drops out of annual data and the economic recovery gathers momentum. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Consumer confidence in Italy rose in September to the highest in more than seven years as concerns about unemployment were offset by signs that the country’s worst recession in six decades is easing. The Isae Institute’s consumer confidence index climbed to 113.6 from 111.8 in August, the Rome-based research center said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. That was the highest since July 2002 and exceeded the median estimate of 112 by 15 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. Yesterday’s report mirrors the situation in France and Germany, the biggest economies of the euro region. German consumer confidence and French households’ optimism both rose in September, two separate reports showed on Sept. 25. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Emerging-market countries face pressure on their credit ratings as the economic recovery remains sluggish and governments rack up deficits, Standard & Poor’s said. “Our forecasts also point to persistent ratings pressure,” said New York-based John Chambers, managing director of S&P’s sovereign ratings in a report yesterday. “Economic conditions remain difficult. The fiscal positions of almost every government will be worse than that of the preceding five years.” Gross domestic product per capita will decline or remain steady this year in two-thirds of the 42 developing nations S&P rates, while eight economies, including Bulgaria, Hungary, and El Salvador, will continue to contract next year, the ratings company forecast. The state debt of 14 emerging-market sovereigns will grow at least 5% by 2011 compared with 2007, the year before the crisis, it said. China’s economy will expand at the fastest rate, 8.3% next year and 6.9% in 2011, S&P projected. The other so-called BRIC nations, which account for 15% of the world economy, Brazil, Russia and India, will grow in 2010 at a rate of 2.5%, 2.4% and 4.5% respectively, according to S&P. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
* * * * *
Cityneon Holdings Ltd has more than doubled its order book to S$110m from S$52m in January. The company, a subsidiary of Star Publications (M) Bhd (STAR MK, Hold, TP: RM3.36), said in a statement its order book to 2012 was also more than twice its total revenue for financial year ended Dec 31 (FY08). Cityneon expects to charge about 70% of the order to revenue for the current FY09. Cityneon group managing director Ko Chee Wah said Cityneon had clinched two new contracts at the World Expo Shanghai 2010, a S$110m deal to build the Qatar pavilion and a S$13m contract for the Indonesia pavilion. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Tan Sri Azman Hashim’s AmcorpGroup Bhd’s offer for sale of 119.8m shares in a restructured AMDB Bhd met with a cool reception as only 7.19% of the total shares offered were accepted. At the close of the offer yesterday, the acceptance for shares that were offered at 50 sen each to existing AMDB shareholders was 6.47% while excess share applications were 0.72%. According to a company announcement, the undersubscribed portion was 92.81%. Azman, via wholly-owned Amcorp, will hold approximately 66.83% of the restructured AMDB that will see the disposal of Seri Melayu restaurant, Harpers Tour and Harpers Travel to Amcorp. The disposal is for a sum of RM22.1m that will be partly used to offset AMDB’s acquisition of Amcorp Prima Realty Sdn Bhd, Regal Genius Sdn Bhd, Distrepark Sdn Bhd and a 60% stake in a HDC-Amcorp joint-venture. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Securities Commission (SC) released the Venture Capital Tax Incentives Guidelines to incorporate the new tax incentive for the venture capital industry as stipulated in the income Tax (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2009. This new and more attractive tax exemption incentive supplements existing incentives, where venture capital companies (VCC) registered with SC are eligible for tax exemption for 10 years of assessment if they invest at least 70% of their invested funds in the form of seed capital in qualified investee companies. Venture capital management companies (VCMCs) registered with the SC can also enjoy tax exemption on income arising from a profit-sharing agreement between the VCMC and VCC. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Malaysia will further liberalise the services sector, as it is an important growth area for the economy, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. “The new economic model that we’re working on will include driving growth in the services sector. Manufacturing has seen a lot of loosening in the last decade but services have a lot of potential (for deregulation),” he said. The ministry remained pro-business and aimed to promote entreprenurship through the reduction of bureaucracy and red tape. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
CPO for December delivery in Malaysia dropped 3.8% to RM2,103 a tonne on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange. It was the biggest drop since June 22. Crude palm oil (CPO) tumbled the most in more than three months after Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd, said prices must slump 13% from current levels to stoke demand for food and fuel applications and as crude oil fell. The commodity needs to decline to RM1,900 a tonne for demand to rebound, Mistry said on Sunday. “Prices need to become more competitive if biodiesel usage is to expand,” Mistry said. The outlook for CPO was based on an assumption that crude oil will trade at between US$65 and US$80 a barrel until spring of 2010, Mistry said. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Stocks surged Monday, recharging their recent advance after a one-week break, as a pair of multi-billion dollar merger announcements gave investors a reason to get back into equities. Abbott Laboratories is buying the drug unit of its development partner, Belgian pharmaceutical company Solvay, for about US$6.6bn in cash. Xerox is buying Affiliated Computer Services for US$6.4bn in cash and stock. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.3% (+124.2 pts, close 9,789.4). The Nasdaq gained 1.9% (+39.8 pts, close 2,130.7) and the S&P 500 gained 1.8% (+18.6 pts, close 1,062.9). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 82 cents to settle at US$66.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
* * * * *
Treasury bondholders will lose money for the first time in 10 years amid an unprecedented decline in the gap between the interest rate on 30-year mortgages and government notes, signalling an end to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes will end the year little changed at 3.36% before rising to 3.65% by mid-2010 as bond prices fall, according to the average estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the rest of the 18 primary dealers that trade Treasuries directly with the central bank. The 2.65% loss posted so far this year, as measured by Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Treasury Master Index, shows investors no longer require the refuge of U.S. government debt that led to a gain of 14% last year. Borrowing rates have declined on everything from mortgages to corporate bonds after the Fed and the government lent, spent or guaranteed US$11.6trn to shore up banks and end the recession. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
U.K. house prices increased the most in two years during September as confidence in the property market improved, Hometrack Ltd. said. The average cost of a home in England and Wales rose 0.2% from August to £156,100 (US$248,000), the London-based property-research company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The increase, the biggest since June 2007, left house prices 5.6% lower y-o-y, the smallest annual decline in a year. The report adds to evidence that the housing market may be starting to level off after the credit squeeze ended a decade-long boom. There still is a risk that the recovery from recession will falter as unemployment continues to rise, Bank of England policy maker Kate Barker said last week. In August, house prices fell 0.1% from the previous month, the government Land Registry said in a separate report yesterday. From a year earlier, prices dropped 9.4%. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
German consumer prices fell at a sharper annual pace in September after energy costs declined. Prices, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, dropped 0.4% y-o-y after easing 0.1% in August, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said yesterday. From the previous month, prices also fell 0.4%. Economists predicted a 0.2% annual decline, the median of 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Oil prices have dropped about 32% in the past year during the biggest global economic slump since the Great Depression, dragging down inflation rates around the world. Prices may begin to rise again as the impact of cheaper oil drops out of annual data and the economic recovery gathers momentum. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Consumer confidence in Italy rose in September to the highest in more than seven years as concerns about unemployment were offset by signs that the country’s worst recession in six decades is easing. The Isae Institute’s consumer confidence index climbed to 113.6 from 111.8 in August, the Rome-based research center said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. That was the highest since July 2002 and exceeded the median estimate of 112 by 15 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. Yesterday’s report mirrors the situation in France and Germany, the biggest economies of the euro region. German consumer confidence and French households’ optimism both rose in September, two separate reports showed on Sept. 25. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Emerging-market countries face pressure on their credit ratings as the economic recovery remains sluggish and governments rack up deficits, Standard & Poor’s said. “Our forecasts also point to persistent ratings pressure,” said New York-based John Chambers, managing director of S&P’s sovereign ratings in a report yesterday. “Economic conditions remain difficult. The fiscal positions of almost every government will be worse than that of the preceding five years.” Gross domestic product per capita will decline or remain steady this year in two-thirds of the 42 developing nations S&P rates, while eight economies, including Bulgaria, Hungary, and El Salvador, will continue to contract next year, the ratings company forecast. The state debt of 14 emerging-market sovereigns will grow at least 5% by 2011 compared with 2007, the year before the crisis, it said. China’s economy will expand at the fastest rate, 8.3% next year and 6.9% in 2011, S&P projected. The other so-called BRIC nations, which account for 15% of the world economy, Brazil, Russia and India, will grow in 2010 at a rate of 2.5%, 2.4% and 4.5% respectively, according to S&P. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Comments