A series of unusual and “erroneous” but matched transactions, which caused Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s (KLK) (KLK MK, Hold, TP:RM14.40) share price to record its biggest one-day surge of RM3.26 or 24% to close at RM17, created much confusion among market participants yesterday. According to available stock market data, a total of 26 buy
transactions involving 163,000 shares were done at RM17 within the last eight minutes of the day’s trading. Analysts said a single institution was involved in the aggressive buying of KLK shares at that elevated price, albeit in relatively thin volume. The stock was expected to see a steep “correction” today, given the “erroneous” trades, they said. (Financial Daily)
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Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) (T MK, Buy, TP: RM3.98) has not put in a bid for the English Premier league (EPL) broadcasting rights for Malaysia for the next three seasons starting in 2010. In a statement, TM said that it has not put in a bid for EPL broadcasting rights at the moment. When asked if TM may look into submitting a bid at a later stage with a
partner, the company said it “does not comment on matters speculative in nature.” (Malaysia Reserve)
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KNM Group Bhd’s (KNMG MK, Buy, TP: RM1.05) wholly-owned units in Malaysia, Germany and Dubai, have collectively secured RM155m worth of new orders, from Sept 25 to Oct 5. KNM’s FBM-KNM FZCO, a unit incorporated in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, won a contract from Danieli & Officine Meccantiche Spa for reactor vessels for the Gulf Steel Plant project in Egypt. KNM expects the orders to contribute positively to its earnings for the year ending Dec 31, 2009 and 2010. (Financial Daily)
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EON Bank Bhd expects its loan book to expand by 5%-6% this year even when the economy is shrinking as low interest rates drive up demand for consumer loans, especially mortgages. “For the consumer side of the business, we are humming along pretty well since January and we will probably end the year at around 9%-10% of growth,“ Micheal Lor, head of consumer banking at EON Bank Group, said. Corporate lending remains sluggish and the bank, which has a market capitalisation of about US$1.1bn (RM3.81bn) plans to speed up this year the provisions for some of its corporate loan accounts in the Middle East, said Lor. (Financial Daily)
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MISC Bhd, the shipping arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has teamed up with PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PTSC) to launch a US$280m (RM972m) floating oil production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility in Pasir Gudang, Johor last month. It is understood that Petronas Carigali Vietnam Ltd, a Ho Chi Minh City-based oil and gas explorations and production company, will use the FPSO for eight years, with an option to extend for another two years. Known as “Ruby II”, the facility has a miximum capacity of 645,000 barrels of oil and is able to receive 39,000 barrels per day and offload 20,000 barrels per hour. Meanwhile, Australia’s SWG said it has together with UMW Holdings Bhd (UMWH MK, Hold, TP: RM5.52) secured a contract for an undisclosed sum to undertake the installation works associated with the Ruby II FPSO development. SWG said the award of the contract has sealed the newly-formed joint venture between SWG and UMW. (BT)
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TA Enterprise Bhd (TAE) is planning a foray in the venture capital (VC) business as the financial services entity strengthens its corporate finance unit and scout for more acquisition targets upon completion of its reorganisation. Its managing director and chief executive officer Datin Alicia Tiah said the initiatives would be financed with the estimated RM230m to be raised from the offer for sale of shares in TA Global Bhd, the soon-to-be-listed real estate and hospitality arm of the TA Group. TAE executive chairman Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian said the TA group planned to acquire more hotels, capitalising on battered global asset prices during the economic downturn. (Financial Daily)
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KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) will open its first two outlets in India – Mumbai and Pune, by year’s end and planning a second KFC outlet each in the two cities in January. KFCH is investing US$400,000 in each outlet and target to have 20 outlets in major cities in India by end-2010 which is populated with 1.2bn people and 26.6m population alone in Mumbai and Pune. (Starbiz)
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The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) said it will not extend the January 1, 2010 deadline for public-listed companies (PLCs) to mandatorily adopt the Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) 139. This is despite a review being carried out on its international accounting standards equivalent IAS 39 by the International Accounting Standards Board to reduce complexity and make it easier for investors to understand financial statements and address how financial instruments are classified and measured. MASB chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi said that most banks are already complying with FRS 139 but the new changes to the standard may see the banks having to revisit their impairment methodology. (BT)
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Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the government has no plans to sell PLUS Expressways Bhd, putting a dent in little known Asas Serba Sdn Bhd’s plans to acquire all the tolled roads in Malaysia. Nor Mohamed declined to comment on reports that Asas Serba was scheduled to brief Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on its proposed RM50bn takeover of PLUS and other tolled highways in the country. Asas Serba was reportedly to have planned to consolidate and streamline the operations of all tolled roads and subsequently reduce toll rates by 20% until the end of the concession periods. (Financial Daily)
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Stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all gaining at least 1%, as investors used a two-week sell-off as an opportunity to jump back into the market. A better-than-expected reading on the services sector of the economy and strong demand for Treasury' s first bond auction of the week bolstered the broad-based gains. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.2% (+112.1 pts, close 9,599.8). The Nasdaq gained 1.0% (+20.0 pts, close 2,068.2) and the S&P 500 gained 1.5% (+15.3 pts, close 1,040.5). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 46 cents to settle at US$70.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
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U.S. service industries expanded in September for the first time in a year as the emerging recovery spread from housing and factories to the broader economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90% of the economy, rose to 50.9, higher than forecast, from 48.4 in August, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based group. Fifty is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The index was projected to increase to 50, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 70 economists. Estimates ranged from 45 to 52.1. Before yesterday’s report, the gauge had shown contraction in every month since October 2008, just after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)
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U.K. service industries expanded at the fastest pace in two years in September, adding to evidence that the economy emerged from recession in 3Q09. An index based on a survey of about 700 service companies by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply rose to 55.3, the most since September 2007, from 54.1 in August, Markit Economics said yesterday in London. Economists predicted 54.5, the median of 28 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Expectations among services companies rose to the highest since April 2007, yesterday’s report showed. U.K. financial firms say their confidence has increased for the first time since the global economic crisis began in 2007, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed yesterday. While financial companies are more optimistic about the future, they remain worried a lack of demand will crimp expansion plans, the CBI said. (Bloomberg)
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Europe’s manufacturing and services industries expanded more than initially estimated in September, adding to signs the economy is gaining steam after the worst recession in six decades. A composite index of both industries in the euro-area economy rose to 51.1, up from 50.4 in August and higher than an initial estimate of 50.8, London-based Markit Economics said yesterday in a statement. A reading above 50 indicates expansion and the gauge, which is based on a survey of purchasing managers, had remained below that level for 14 months before topping it in August. Economists had projected the index would rise to 50.9 in September, according to a Bloomberg News survey. (Bloomberg)
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Japanese banks’ bad loans won’t be driven higher by a proposed moratorium on debt payments by struggling small companies, said Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei. Lenders won’t have to classify loans encompassed by the plan as non-performing, Kamei said in an interview yesterday at his office in Tokyo. That means they won’t be forced to boost provisions when borrowers postpone repayments of interest or principal, he said. At the same time, Kamei vowed to push banks to extend more credit to small businesses after bankruptcies hit a six-year high in Japan. The moratorium, which would postpone repayment of principal and interest, will be extended to individuals as well companies, Kamei said. It will be aimed at giving relief to small firms with about 100m yen (US$1.1m) or less in capital. (Bloomberg)
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Indonesia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a second month after nine consecutive reductions revived Southeast Asia’s largest economy and prompted inflation to accelerate. Bank Indonesia held its reference rate at 6.5%, Deputy Governor Budi Mulya told a news conference in Jakarta yesterday. The decision was expected by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Policy makers across Asia have stopped cutting rates and are signalling their next moves may be to increase borrowing costs as the region leads the world out of the deepest global slump since the Great Depression. Indonesian inflation unexpectedly accelerated last month and is expected by economists to breach the central bank’s target next year. Bank Indonesia raised its forecast for economic expansion this year to 4.3% from an earlier estimate of 4%. Growth in 3Q09 is predicted at 4.2%, up from 4% in 2Q09. (Bloomberg)
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transactions involving 163,000 shares were done at RM17 within the last eight minutes of the day’s trading. Analysts said a single institution was involved in the aggressive buying of KLK shares at that elevated price, albeit in relatively thin volume. The stock was expected to see a steep “correction” today, given the “erroneous” trades, they said. (Financial Daily)
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Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) (T MK, Buy, TP: RM3.98) has not put in a bid for the English Premier league (EPL) broadcasting rights for Malaysia for the next three seasons starting in 2010. In a statement, TM said that it has not put in a bid for EPL broadcasting rights at the moment. When asked if TM may look into submitting a bid at a later stage with a
partner, the company said it “does not comment on matters speculative in nature.” (Malaysia Reserve)
* * * * *
KNM Group Bhd’s (KNMG MK, Buy, TP: RM1.05) wholly-owned units in Malaysia, Germany and Dubai, have collectively secured RM155m worth of new orders, from Sept 25 to Oct 5. KNM’s FBM-KNM FZCO, a unit incorporated in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, won a contract from Danieli & Officine Meccantiche Spa for reactor vessels for the Gulf Steel Plant project in Egypt. KNM expects the orders to contribute positively to its earnings for the year ending Dec 31, 2009 and 2010. (Financial Daily)
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EON Bank Bhd expects its loan book to expand by 5%-6% this year even when the economy is shrinking as low interest rates drive up demand for consumer loans, especially mortgages. “For the consumer side of the business, we are humming along pretty well since January and we will probably end the year at around 9%-10% of growth,“ Micheal Lor, head of consumer banking at EON Bank Group, said. Corporate lending remains sluggish and the bank, which has a market capitalisation of about US$1.1bn (RM3.81bn) plans to speed up this year the provisions for some of its corporate loan accounts in the Middle East, said Lor. (Financial Daily)
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MISC Bhd, the shipping arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has teamed up with PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PTSC) to launch a US$280m (RM972m) floating oil production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility in Pasir Gudang, Johor last month. It is understood that Petronas Carigali Vietnam Ltd, a Ho Chi Minh City-based oil and gas explorations and production company, will use the FPSO for eight years, with an option to extend for another two years. Known as “Ruby II”, the facility has a miximum capacity of 645,000 barrels of oil and is able to receive 39,000 barrels per day and offload 20,000 barrels per hour. Meanwhile, Australia’s SWG said it has together with UMW Holdings Bhd (UMWH MK, Hold, TP: RM5.52) secured a contract for an undisclosed sum to undertake the installation works associated with the Ruby II FPSO development. SWG said the award of the contract has sealed the newly-formed joint venture between SWG and UMW. (BT)
* * * * *
TA Enterprise Bhd (TAE) is planning a foray in the venture capital (VC) business as the financial services entity strengthens its corporate finance unit and scout for more acquisition targets upon completion of its reorganisation. Its managing director and chief executive officer Datin Alicia Tiah said the initiatives would be financed with the estimated RM230m to be raised from the offer for sale of shares in TA Global Bhd, the soon-to-be-listed real estate and hospitality arm of the TA Group. TAE executive chairman Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian said the TA group planned to acquire more hotels, capitalising on battered global asset prices during the economic downturn. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) will open its first two outlets in India – Mumbai and Pune, by year’s end and planning a second KFC outlet each in the two cities in January. KFCH is investing US$400,000 in each outlet and target to have 20 outlets in major cities in India by end-2010 which is populated with 1.2bn people and 26.6m population alone in Mumbai and Pune. (Starbiz)
* * * * *
The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) said it will not extend the January 1, 2010 deadline for public-listed companies (PLCs) to mandatorily adopt the Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) 139. This is despite a review being carried out on its international accounting standards equivalent IAS 39 by the International Accounting Standards Board to reduce complexity and make it easier for investors to understand financial statements and address how financial instruments are classified and measured. MASB chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi said that most banks are already complying with FRS 139 but the new changes to the standard may see the banks having to revisit their impairment methodology. (BT)
* * * * *
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the government has no plans to sell PLUS Expressways Bhd, putting a dent in little known Asas Serba Sdn Bhd’s plans to acquire all the tolled roads in Malaysia. Nor Mohamed declined to comment on reports that Asas Serba was scheduled to brief Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on its proposed RM50bn takeover of PLUS and other tolled highways in the country. Asas Serba was reportedly to have planned to consolidate and streamline the operations of all tolled roads and subsequently reduce toll rates by 20% until the end of the concession periods. (Financial Daily)
* * * * *
Stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all gaining at least 1%, as investors used a two-week sell-off as an opportunity to jump back into the market. A better-than-expected reading on the services sector of the economy and strong demand for Treasury' s first bond auction of the week bolstered the broad-based gains. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.2% (+112.1 pts, close 9,599.8). The Nasdaq gained 1.0% (+20.0 pts, close 2,068.2) and the S&P 500 gained 1.5% (+15.3 pts, close 1,040.5). U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 46 cents to settle at US$70.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
* * * * *
U.S. service industries expanded in September for the first time in a year as the emerging recovery spread from housing and factories to the broader economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90% of the economy, rose to 50.9, higher than forecast, from 48.4 in August, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based group. Fifty is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The index was projected to increase to 50, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 70 economists. Estimates ranged from 45 to 52.1. Before yesterday’s report, the gauge had shown contraction in every month since October 2008, just after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
U.K. service industries expanded at the fastest pace in two years in September, adding to evidence that the economy emerged from recession in 3Q09. An index based on a survey of about 700 service companies by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply rose to 55.3, the most since September 2007, from 54.1 in August, Markit Economics said yesterday in London. Economists predicted 54.5, the median of 28 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Expectations among services companies rose to the highest since April 2007, yesterday’s report showed. U.K. financial firms say their confidence has increased for the first time since the global economic crisis began in 2007, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed yesterday. While financial companies are more optimistic about the future, they remain worried a lack of demand will crimp expansion plans, the CBI said. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Europe’s manufacturing and services industries expanded more than initially estimated in September, adding to signs the economy is gaining steam after the worst recession in six decades. A composite index of both industries in the euro-area economy rose to 51.1, up from 50.4 in August and higher than an initial estimate of 50.8, London-based Markit Economics said yesterday in a statement. A reading above 50 indicates expansion and the gauge, which is based on a survey of purchasing managers, had remained below that level for 14 months before topping it in August. Economists had projected the index would rise to 50.9 in September, according to a Bloomberg News survey. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Japanese banks’ bad loans won’t be driven higher by a proposed moratorium on debt payments by struggling small companies, said Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei. Lenders won’t have to classify loans encompassed by the plan as non-performing, Kamei said in an interview yesterday at his office in Tokyo. That means they won’t be forced to boost provisions when borrowers postpone repayments of interest or principal, he said. At the same time, Kamei vowed to push banks to extend more credit to small businesses after bankruptcies hit a six-year high in Japan. The moratorium, which would postpone repayment of principal and interest, will be extended to individuals as well companies, Kamei said. It will be aimed at giving relief to small firms with about 100m yen (US$1.1m) or less in capital. (Bloomberg)
* * * * *
Indonesia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a second month after nine consecutive reductions revived Southeast Asia’s largest economy and prompted inflation to accelerate. Bank Indonesia held its reference rate at 6.5%, Deputy Governor Budi Mulya told a news conference in Jakarta yesterday. The decision was expected by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Policy makers across Asia have stopped cutting rates and are signalling their next moves may be to increase borrowing costs as the region leads the world out of the deepest global slump since the Great Depression. Indonesian inflation unexpectedly accelerated last month and is expected by economists to breach the central bank’s target next year. Bank Indonesia raised its forecast for economic expansion this year to 4.3% from an earlier estimate of 4%. Growth in 3Q09 is predicted at 4.2%, up from 4% in 2Q09. (Bloomberg)
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