Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd (BHPetrol), the petroleum retail unit of Boustead Holdings Bhd (BOUS MK, Buy, TP: RM3.94), plans to spend RM180m in capital expenditure (capex) per year to expand its retail station network in the country. Its managing director Tan Kim Thiam said the company is planning to open over 400 fuel retail stations within the next 5-years, and has currently 335 stations in the country. He also stated that the group’s target was to have between 15 and 20 new sites each year, in line with its business expansion plans. (BT)
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AirAsia Bhd (AIRA MK, Buy, TP:RM1.80) will start offering flights from the French city of Nice to Kuala Lumpur next year, because Air France-KLM is blocking its entry to Parisian airports, La Tribune reported, citing Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, the airline’s founder. Its long-haul flights affiliate, AirAsia X, will be profitable from the first year, the newspaper said, citing the executive. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
DRB-Hicom Bhd’s major shareholder Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has submitted a bid to purchase a block of shares in Proton Holdings, sources say. The bid was put in 2 weeks ago and the offer was reportedly above the current share price of Proton. The number of shares is not known, but it certainly will not trigger a MGO, continued the source. Besides that, it is reported that there were other parties believed to be bidding as well. (The Edge Weekly)
* * * * *
Maxis Communication Bhd (MCB) is offering for sale 30% or 2.25bn shares of Maxis Bhd’s (Maxis) issued and paid-up capital, of which 2.33% is for retail investors and 27.67% for institutional investors as part of the celco’s initial public offering (IPO). The offer for sale is expected to raise US$2.5bn (RM9bn), which will be the biggest IPO in corporate Malaysia since 1995. Maxis will not issue new shares for the IPO and thus will not get any proceeds. The proceeds will go to the shareholders that are making the offer for sale. The objectives of the IPO are to enable the company to access the equity capital markets to give it the financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities and to “enhance” its profile. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) and its substantial shareholder, the EPF, have been given the green light to acquire and develop certain strategically located land parcels belonging to the federal government, sources said. Along with the proposal, it is said that MRCB plans to embark on a fund raising exercise which could see EPF’s shareholding in the company cross the trigger point of 33.3%. To note, land banks to be developed are cited to be in Jalan Cochrane and Jalan Ampang Hilir. The parcel of land in Jalan Cochrane is, according to real estate players, some 150 acres while at Jalan Ampang Hilir, it is 20-30 acres. (The Edge Weekly)
* * * * *
Bursa Malaysia Bhd said it expects the volume of palm oil (CPO) futures trading to more than double in the next two to three years following a stake sale and tie-up with CME Group Inc. About 20% of CPO contacts in Malaysia are traded through international investors, Bursa’s chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said. The exchange is also seeking to raise the valuation of the commodity’s derivatives, which he said are trading at a discount to other products such as soya oil. “CME will help elevate palm oi’s visibility and close that price gap with other edible oils,” Yusli said. ”We are going to leverage CME’s status as a market leader and this will help elevate the international profile of out derivatives exchange offerings.”
(Financial Daily)
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Malaysia Pacific Corp Bhd (MP Corp) is proposing two renounceable call rights issue of up to 129.448m shares together with 129.448m free detachable warrants. The right share is priced at RM1 each, of which the first call of 42 sen per rights share will be fully payable, in cash, and the second call of 58 sen will be capitalised from the retained profits account. The proposed right issue will involve the issue of new shares without diluting the equity interest of existing shareholders and provide them with an attractive option to increase their equity participation in the company during the tenure of the warrants. The proposed right issue is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to about RM54.37m. (StarBiz)
* ***
Syarikat Borcos Shipping Sdn Bhd plans to submit an initial public offering (IPO) proposal to authorities as early as February, said two persons familiar with the matter. “The target is to list Borcos by the middle of the next year,” said one of the two sources, adding that it was too preliminary to share details, including the estimated potential proceeds, of the exercise. The proposed listing of Borcos is in line with its growth strategy. Borcos, which has an order book of RM300m, is currently extending its fleet. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Bank Negara Malaysia' s international reserves increased 0.24% to RM329.9bn (US$93.5bn) as at Sept 15 from RM329.1bn (US$93.3bn) at Aug 28. The reserves position is sufficient to finance 9.4 months of retained imports and is 3.8 times the short-term external debt, the central bank said in a statement Friday. (Bernama)
* * * * *
Thousands of workers in the private sector can expect higher salaries soon after the Human Resources Ministry reviews the Wages Council Act 1947. These include those in the security, hospitality, electronic and textile sectors. The last time a review was conducted was about a decade ago. Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the Wages Council had been reactivated to review salaries in several sectors and that announcements on a few areas where work had been done would be made over the next few months. (NST)
* * * * *
Stocks rallied Tuesday, finding momentum after a choppy morning, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hitting one-year highs. Stocks have carved out one-year highs repeatedly over the past two weeks, with the Nasdaq ending Monday' s session at its highest level since shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5% (+51.0 pts, close 9,829.9). The Nasdaq gained 0.4% (+8.3 pts, close 2,146.3) and the S&P 500 gained 0.7% (+7.0 pts, close 1,071.7). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose US$1.84 to settle at US$71.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
* * * * *
Jobless rates rose in 27 US states last month, with several reaching record levels of unemployment, offering a bleak reminder that the economic recovery could be slow and painful for the stricken labour force. In spite of bold stimulus measures intended to stem the flow of job losses, payrolls declined in 42 states, with Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio suffering the
biggest declines, labour department figures showed on Friday. Unemployment rates reached record levels in Nevada, Rhode Island and California, where they hit 13.8%, 12.8% and 12.2%, respectively. Michigan, which has been savaged by the collapse of the car sector, continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the US at 15.2%. The unemployment rate in the US reached a 26-year high of 9.7% in August and sustained high levels of jobless claims are stretching state finances. Next week Congress is expected to decide whether to extend expiring jobless benefits to people in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5%. (Financial Times)
* * * * *
U.S. leading economic index increased 0.6% in August for the fifth straight month, capping the longest stretch of gains since 2004 and signalling a recovery is under way. The Conference’s gauge of the economic outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.6% in August, in line with forecasts, after a 0.9% increase in July that was larger than previously estimated, according to data that the New York-based group released today. The gains in stock prices, consumer confidence and homebuilding that are buoying the leading index bolster Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s view that the worst recession since the Great Depression has probably ended. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
The Federal Reserve has started talks with bond dealers about withdrawing the unprecedented amount of cash injected into the financial system the last two years, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Central bank officials are discussing plans to use so-called reverse repurchase agreements to drain some of the US$1trn they pumped into the economy, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. That’s where the Fed sells securities to its 18 primary dealers for a specific period, temporarily decreasing the amount of money available in the banking system. The central bank’s challenge is to decrease the cash without stunting the economy’s recovery and before it sparks inflation. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to stoke a U.S. economic recovery may be undermined by the central bank’s other goal of restoring the banking system to health. The Federal Open Market Committee, at the conclusion today of a two-day meeting, will probably maintain its assessment that “tight” bank credit is impeding growth, said economists including former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley. Lending contracted for five straight weeks through Sept. 9, a drop that in part reflects Fed orders to banks to raise more capital and toughen lending standards. A failure to restore the flow of bank credit carries the risk that the economic recovery will be slower than the Fed anticipates, or even that the U.S. lapses into another recession, economists say. That would make it more likely the Fed will keep its main interest rate close to zero for a longer period. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News unanimously forecast the Fed will leave its benchmark interest rate
unchanged. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
* * * * *
AirAsia Bhd (AIRA MK, Buy, TP:RM1.80) will start offering flights from the French city of Nice to Kuala Lumpur next year, because Air France-KLM is blocking its entry to Parisian airports, La Tribune reported, citing Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, the airline’s founder. Its long-haul flights affiliate, AirAsia X, will be profitable from the first year, the newspaper said, citing the executive. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
DRB-Hicom Bhd’s major shareholder Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has submitted a bid to purchase a block of shares in Proton Holdings, sources say. The bid was put in 2 weeks ago and the offer was reportedly above the current share price of Proton. The number of shares is not known, but it certainly will not trigger a MGO, continued the source. Besides that, it is reported that there were other parties believed to be bidding as well. (The Edge Weekly)
* * * * *
Maxis Communication Bhd (MCB) is offering for sale 30% or 2.25bn shares of Maxis Bhd’s (Maxis) issued and paid-up capital, of which 2.33% is for retail investors and 27.67% for institutional investors as part of the celco’s initial public offering (IPO). The offer for sale is expected to raise US$2.5bn (RM9bn), which will be the biggest IPO in corporate Malaysia since 1995. Maxis will not issue new shares for the IPO and thus will not get any proceeds. The proceeds will go to the shareholders that are making the offer for sale. The objectives of the IPO are to enable the company to access the equity capital markets to give it the financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities and to “enhance” its profile. (StarBiz)
* * * * *
Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) and its substantial shareholder, the EPF, have been given the green light to acquire and develop certain strategically located land parcels belonging to the federal government, sources said. Along with the proposal, it is said that MRCB plans to embark on a fund raising exercise which could see EPF’s shareholding in the company cross the trigger point of 33.3%. To note, land banks to be developed are cited to be in Jalan Cochrane and Jalan Ampang Hilir. The parcel of land in Jalan Cochrane is, according to real estate players, some 150 acres while at Jalan Ampang Hilir, it is 20-30 acres. (The Edge Weekly)
* * * * *
Bursa Malaysia Bhd said it expects the volume of palm oil (CPO) futures trading to more than double in the next two to three years following a stake sale and tie-up with CME Group Inc. About 20% of CPO contacts in Malaysia are traded through international investors, Bursa’s chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said. The exchange is also seeking to raise the valuation of the commodity’s derivatives, which he said are trading at a discount to other products such as soya oil. “CME will help elevate palm oi’s visibility and close that price gap with other edible oils,” Yusli said. ”We are going to leverage CME’s status as a market leader and this will help elevate the international profile of out derivatives exchange offerings.”
(Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Malaysia Pacific Corp Bhd (MP Corp) is proposing two renounceable call rights issue of up to 129.448m shares together with 129.448m free detachable warrants. The right share is priced at RM1 each, of which the first call of 42 sen per rights share will be fully payable, in cash, and the second call of 58 sen will be capitalised from the retained profits account. The proposed right issue will involve the issue of new shares without diluting the equity interest of existing shareholders and provide them with an attractive option to increase their equity participation in the company during the tenure of the warrants. The proposed right issue is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to about RM54.37m. (StarBiz)
* ***
Syarikat Borcos Shipping Sdn Bhd plans to submit an initial public offering (IPO) proposal to authorities as early as February, said two persons familiar with the matter. “The target is to list Borcos by the middle of the next year,” said one of the two sources, adding that it was too preliminary to share details, including the estimated potential proceeds, of the exercise. The proposed listing of Borcos is in line with its growth strategy. Borcos, which has an order book of RM300m, is currently extending its fleet. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Bank Negara Malaysia' s international reserves increased 0.24% to RM329.9bn (US$93.5bn) as at Sept 15 from RM329.1bn (US$93.3bn) at Aug 28. The reserves position is sufficient to finance 9.4 months of retained imports and is 3.8 times the short-term external debt, the central bank said in a statement Friday. (Bernama)
* * * * *
Thousands of workers in the private sector can expect higher salaries soon after the Human Resources Ministry reviews the Wages Council Act 1947. These include those in the security, hospitality, electronic and textile sectors. The last time a review was conducted was about a decade ago. Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the Wages Council had been reactivated to review salaries in several sectors and that announcements on a few areas where work had been done would be made over the next few months. (NST)
* * * * *
Stocks rallied Tuesday, finding momentum after a choppy morning, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hitting one-year highs. Stocks have carved out one-year highs repeatedly over the past two weeks, with the Nasdaq ending Monday' s session at its highest level since shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5% (+51.0 pts, close 9,829.9). The Nasdaq gained 0.4% (+8.3 pts, close 2,146.3) and the S&P 500 gained 0.7% (+7.0 pts, close 1,071.7). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose US$1.84 to settle at US$71.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
* * * * *
Jobless rates rose in 27 US states last month, with several reaching record levels of unemployment, offering a bleak reminder that the economic recovery could be slow and painful for the stricken labour force. In spite of bold stimulus measures intended to stem the flow of job losses, payrolls declined in 42 states, with Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio suffering the
biggest declines, labour department figures showed on Friday. Unemployment rates reached record levels in Nevada, Rhode Island and California, where they hit 13.8%, 12.8% and 12.2%, respectively. Michigan, which has been savaged by the collapse of the car sector, continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the US at 15.2%. The unemployment rate in the US reached a 26-year high of 9.7% in August and sustained high levels of jobless claims are stretching state finances. Next week Congress is expected to decide whether to extend expiring jobless benefits to people in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5%. (Financial Times)
* * * * *
U.S. leading economic index increased 0.6% in August for the fifth straight month, capping the longest stretch of gains since 2004 and signalling a recovery is under way. The Conference’s gauge of the economic outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.6% in August, in line with forecasts, after a 0.9% increase in July that was larger than previously estimated, according to data that the New York-based group released today. The gains in stock prices, consumer confidence and homebuilding that are buoying the leading index bolster Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s view that the worst recession since the Great Depression has probably ended. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
The Federal Reserve has started talks with bond dealers about withdrawing the unprecedented amount of cash injected into the financial system the last two years, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Central bank officials are discussing plans to use so-called reverse repurchase agreements to drain some of the US$1trn they pumped into the economy, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. That’s where the Fed sells securities to its 18 primary dealers for a specific period, temporarily decreasing the amount of money available in the banking system. The central bank’s challenge is to decrease the cash without stunting the economy’s recovery and before it sparks inflation. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to stoke a U.S. economic recovery may be undermined by the central bank’s other goal of restoring the banking system to health. The Federal Open Market Committee, at the conclusion today of a two-day meeting, will probably maintain its assessment that “tight” bank credit is impeding growth, said economists including former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley. Lending contracted for five straight weeks through Sept. 9, a drop that in part reflects Fed orders to banks to raise more capital and toughen lending standards. A failure to restore the flow of bank credit carries the risk that the economic recovery will be slower than the Fed anticipates, or even that the U.S. lapses into another recession, economists say. That would make it more likely the Fed will keep its main interest rate close to zero for a longer period. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News unanimously forecast the Fed will leave its benchmark interest rate
unchanged. (Bloomberg)
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