Scomi Group in the red with RM166m net losses

KUALA LUMPUR: SCOMI GROUP BHD [] reported net losses of RM166.48 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, in contrast to the net profit of RM22.97 million a year ago.

The company said on Friday, Nov 26 the losses were due to lower revenue from its core business while there was a potential impairment and costs amounting to RM52.6 million and provision of RM109.7 million.

Turnover was RM367.6 million compared with RM448.5 million a year ago, with the major contributors from the oilfield services division and the transport solutions division. Loss per share was 11.99 sen compared with earnings per share of 2.27 sen.

'The oilfield services division generated revenue of RM269.5 million for the current quarter, representing a decrease of RM31.4 million or 10% over RM300.9 million recorded in the corresponding quarter in 2009,' it said.

Scomi said the decrease was mainly due to lower sales in UK, Middle East and India, whilst Russia and Asia countries performed fairly well. It added the weakening of US dollar against most currencies has also substantially impacted the revenue reported for the period.

Revenue from the transport solutions division was RM77.2 million, down RM45.1 million or 37% from RM122.3 million a year ago. The decline in revenue was due to the disposal of machine shop in the preceding quarter.

Scomi said the energy logistics division was impacted by the cabotage law in the regional markets which delayed the deployment of new vessels into these markets.

The company explained this caused it to reduce its equity interest in its coal logistics and offshore businesses in Indonesia.

'This transaction resulted in the need to remeasure the disposal group to its fair value in the current quarter with a provision being made amounting to RM109.7 million. However, the division will receive approximately RM550 million in cash upon completion of the transaction,' it said.

After the provision and other provisions for potential impairment and costs totaling RM52.6 million, net loss for the current quarter was RM166.5 million compared to net profit of RM23.0 million a year ago.

'Excluding these adjustments, net loss for the quarter would have been RM4.2 million,' it said.

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Interpac Securities to be injected into SPV with Kim Eng

KUALA LUMPUR: BERJAYA CORPORATION BHD [] subsidiary Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd and Kim Eng Holdings Ltd are teaming up in a move to reaffirm the global investor interest in the Malaysian capital markets.

Under the proposal announced late Friday, Nov 26, Interpac Securities Group's entire stockbroking and related businesses in Malaysia would be incorporated into a special purpose company (SPV) valuing the business at RM142 million. This comprises of total net assets of RM100 million and business goodwill of RM42 million.

'Kim Eng will hold 70% stake in the SPV whilst Interpac Securities will hold up to 30% stake in the SPV of which 5% stake may be held by key employees of SPV subject to regulatory approval,' they said in a joint statement.

Berjaya Corp chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Vincent Tan said: 'Interpac Securities' expertise and history in Malaysia, coupled with Kim Eng's experience as a leading stockbroker in Asia, will make the securities landscape in Malaysia more vibrant.'

Kim Eng Holdings chairman and CEO Ronald Ooi said the move reflected the colmpany's commitment towards strategic investments in the region as it seeks to be a leading regional player.

'Malaysia has always been an important and relevant market for us and our clients. Today's announcement underlines our commitment to our core strategy of geographical diversification and the integration of our footprint into a synergistic global franchise,' Ooi said.

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#Stocks to watch:* TRC, Bina Puri, Sime Darby, TM, Stone Master

KUALA LUMPUR: Worries about the European sovereign debt crisis spreading within the continent and the Korean conflict are expected to see investors staying on the sidelines in the coming week, starting Monday, Nov 29.

On Wall Street, US stocks fell after spending Black Friday in the red as worries over the euro zone's finances overshadowed positive readings on the start of the holiday shopping season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 95.28 points, or 0.9%, to end at 11092. JP Morgan Chase''and American Express fell the hardest, with both stocks losing 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite''dropped 0.3% to 2,534. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 0.8% to 1189.

At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch are TRC Synergies Bhd and BINA PURI HOLDINGS BHD [], SIME DARBY BHD [], TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD [] and Stone Master Corp Bhd.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd picked TRC Synergies Bhd as the main contractor for the 17-km extension of the Kelana Jaya Line from Kelana Jaya station to Putra Heights, which includes 13 new stations. The contract value is RM950 million and it is for 30 months.

It also appointed Bina Puri-Tim Sekata JV as the main contractor to implement the 17.7 km extension for the Ampang LRT line between Sri Petaling to Putra Heights. The contract value is RM634.64 million and the duration is 27 months.

Sime Darby swung back into the black with net profit of RM654.74 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 and has set a target of achieving net profit of RM2.5 billion for the current financial year.

Telekom Malaysia reported a 140% surge in its third quarter earnings to RM446.6 million from RM185.7 million due to higher operating revenue, disposal of investments and higher unrealised exchange gain.

Stone Master is venturing into China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation business following the proposed acquisition of a 51% stake in JinZhou Everthriving Logistics Co. Ltd for RM25 million. The shares surged 30 sen last Thursday before the suspension on Friday for the announcement.

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Two Seloga shareholders seek removal of 4 directors

KUALA LUMPUR: Two shareholder of SELOGA HOLDINGS BHD [], holding 21% stake, have requisitioned for an EGM to remove four directors including Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan.

The board of directors said on Friday, Nov 26 that it had received a letter from Usaha Citra Sdn. Bhd and Zulkefli Zaidi, holding 25.54 million shares and 249,800 shares respectively, have called for the EGM.

The resolutions are to remove Samsudin, Datuk Lim Git Hooi @ Robert Lim, Datuk Syed Md. Amin Syed Jan Aljeffri and Derek John Fernandez as directors with immediate effect.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, euro hit by euro-zone debt worry

LONDON/NEW YORK: World stock markets and the euro slumped on Friday, Nov 26 on concern the European sovereign debt crisis will spread within the continent.

Also clouding markets, China warned against military acts near its coastline before U.S.-South Korean naval exercises, which North Korea said risked pushing that region toward war. The North shelled a South Korean island earlier this week.

Worry about the most deeply indebted European nations has intensified, fueled on Friday as newspaper reports shifted attention from Irish debt to Spain and Portugal. The crisis has lingered amid questions whether indebted countries can meet bond payments.

"Officials now seem to be pressing Portugal to take aid and that's unsettling investors. Peripheral issues are unlikely to go away in the short term, and the euro will remain under pressure into the end of the year," said Manuel Oliveri, currency strategist at UBS in Zurich.

The Financial Times Deutschland reported, without identifying its sources, that a majority of euro zone members and the European Central Bank were urging Portugal to apply for a financial bailout.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, along with the Portuguese and German governments, denied the report was true.

The Irish Times, meanwhile, said officials at the International Monetary Fund and in the European Union were examining how senior bondholders could be compelled to pay some of the cost of rescuing Ireland's banks..

Bond rating company Standard & Poor's on Friday cut its ratings on the four domestically owned Irish banks, citing weakened credit-worthiness.

The mounting worry pushed world stocks lower. MSCI's all country world index dropped more than 1 percent, extending the decline since Nov. 5 to 5 percent.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 75.38 points, or 0.67 percent, to 11,111.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 6.19 points, or 0.52 percent, to 1,192.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 7.02 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,536.10.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.4 percent. Banks led losses.

Resource-related U.S. stocks led declines, with the S&P materials sector off 1.3 percent as key base metals prices fell, pressured by the advancing greenback and by a rise in margin requirements by the Shanghai Futures Exchange that prompted liquidation of speculative positions.

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold dropped 2.2 percent to $98.48.

"The debt crisis in Europe is attracting a lot of dollar buyers, causing risk aversion," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York.

Despite price drops, the reaction to euro-zone debt worry has not yet matched those seen in May and June around the time of the Greek crisis due to the creation of a bailout mechanism involving the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The EU is attempting to create a more permanent mechanism, but the various proposals floated for what it might contain have created highly volatile markets.

U.S. stock markets will close at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) following the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The light trading session follows a Wall Street rally on Wednesday as investors focused on upbeat data on the labor market and consumer spending for the holiday season.

EURO WEAKENS

Pressure on the euro has intensified as the spiraling debt crisis threatens to ensnare more countries, including Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The euro fell around 1 percent against the dollar to fresh two-month lows while the dollar got a lift from various factors, ranging from rising optimism about the U.S. economy to tensions in the Korean peninsula.

The euro fell 0.85 percent to $1.3247, having dropped as low as $1.3200 on trading platform EBS.

The dollar rose as high as 84.18, the strongest level since late September. It was last at 84.10 yen, up 0.63 percent, rising further from a 15-year low of 80.21 yen hit at the beginning of this month.

Government debt markets also took their cue from speculation over the euro-zone debt. U.S. Treasury debt tracked German Bunds higher, with both kinds of securities seen as safety plays by jittery investors.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to 2.88 percent from 2.91 percent before the U.S. holiday on Thursday.

Ireland's 10-year bonds were yielding 9.5 percent, Portuguese counterparts 7.1 percent and Spanish 10-year debt 5.2 percent. By contrast, German Bunds yielded 2.7 percent.

In commodities, U.S. light sweet crude oil fell 24 cents, or 0.29 percent, to $83.62 per barrel. - Reuters

GM IPO now world's biggest

NEW YORK: General Motors Co's initial public offering became the world's biggest at $23.1 billion after underwriters swiftly took up additional shares following last week's IPO.

The added shares vaulted GM past Agricultural Bank of China's $22.1 billion IPO in July and underscored the strong demand for the taxpayer-rescued automaker's stock.

GM said on Friday, Nov 26 that underwriters led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc, exercised their full option on an additional 71.7 million common shares worth $2.37 billion.

They also exercised an option to purchase 13 million preferred shares for $650 million.

Underwriters had 30 days from the IPO to exercise the options.

GM last week had raised $20.1 billion in an IPO of common and preferred shares in what was the biggest U.S. IPO ever. Without the preferred shares, GM's IPO would have been smaller than China's AgBank.

On Nov. 18, their first day of trading, the shares rose 3.6 percent. They closed on Friday up 33 cents at $33.81, or 2.5 percent above the $33 IPO price.

The U.S. government bailed out GM for $50 billion after the automaker's 2009 bankruptcy.

The IPO caps the first stage of a turnaround that has taken the 102-year-old automaker from near-death to an unlikely Wall Street flotation favorite in 2010.

A successful stock debut may help the Obama administration argue that the controversial taxpayer bailout of GM was worthwhile.

The White House has said U.S. taxpayers are on track to recoup the full investment made by the administration and that it hopes to make substantial progress toward shedding the government's stake entirely by mid-to-late 2012.

The strong response to the stock sale reflects growing investor confidence that GM is moving beyond its unpopular, taxpayer-funded bankruptcy with sharply lower costs and higher profit potential.

The U.S. Treasury remain GM's largest shareholder after the IPO with a third of the shares outstanding.

Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Canada are GM's other major underwriters. Lazard and Boston Consulting Group served as advisers to the Treasury. Evercore Partners advised GM.

In the days before the IPO, the price range and the number of shares, including preferred, were all increased.

GM last week sold 478 million common shares at $33 each, raising $15.77 billion, as well as $4.35 billion in preferred shares, more than the initially planned $4 billion. - Reuters

Prasarana picks TRC, Bina Puri as main contractors for LRT extension jobs

KUALA LUMPUR: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd has picked TRC Synergies Bhd and the joint venture between BINA PURI HOLDINGS BHD [] and Tim Sekata JV as main contractors for the multi-billion-ringgit light rail transit (LRT) extension projects.

Prasarana said on Friday, Nov 26 that it had picked TRC's unit as the main contractor for the'' 17 km extension of the Kelana Jaya Line from Kelana Jaya station to Putra Heights, which includes 13 new stations. The contract value is RM950 million and it is for 30 months.

It also appointed Bina Puri- Tim Sekata JV as the main contractor to implement the 17.7 km extension for the Ampang LRT line between Sri Petaling to Putra Heights with 13 new stations. The contract value is RM634.64 million and the duration is 27 months.

The announcement confirmed The Edge FinancialDaily report that Bina Puri was in the forefront to win the LRT extension job for the Ampang line worth about RM600 million.

The EdgeFD also reported TRC was tipped to bag the main contract for the Kelana Jaya line extension, estimated to be worth between RM900 million and RM1 billion.

For the Kelana Jaya line extension, Prasarana said the nominated sub-contractor for the fabrication and delivery of segmental box girder was the joint venture between'' UEM BUILDERS BHD [] and Intria Bina Sdn Bhd.

The contract value is RM93.16 million and the contract period is for 21 months.

As for the Ampang LRT line extension, the nominated sub-contractor for the fabrication and delivery of segmental box girder was also the joint venture between Bina Puri and Tim Sekata.

The contract value is RM67.69 million and the duration of the contract is 19 months.

'In addition, within the total contract value the main contractors will also manage the nominated sub-contractors for contracts worth RM469 million (Kelana Jaya Line) and RM305 million (Ampang Line) respectively,' Prasarana said.

It added the nominated sub-contractors, to be appointed by Prasarana through a separate on-going open tender process, would cover CONSTRUCTION [] of stations; supply and installation of escalators and lifts; and construction of multi-storey car parks.

Korean conflict, Europe woes drag KLCI into red

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips on Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday, Nov 26 as sentiment took a hit from the Europe debt crisis, worries about the conflict between on the Korean peninsula and China's tightening measures.

While Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, the largest initial public offer at RM41.6 billion, did provide some boost to market sentiment, external worries saw some profit taking toward the later part of the day.

The FBM KLCI closed 4.44 points down at 1,492.05. Turnover was 1.57 billion shares valued at RM4.9 billion, the highest ever, mainly due to the high volume of PetChem shares transacted.

PetChem saw 630 million shares done, which accounted for about 40% of the total trading value. It opened on a strong note at RM5.71, which was 10% or 51 sen above its institutional offer price of RM5.20. Its retail price was RM5.04. However, intra-day profit taking saw the integrated petrochemicals producer ending the day off its day's best, notching an 11 sen gain at RM5.31.

The overall breadth of the market displayed some caution among investors, with declining counters beating advancers 562 to 224.

At the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 10,039.56 while the Hang Seng Index shed 0.77% to 22,877.25, Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.92% to 2,871.70 and Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.04% to 3,158.08.

At Bursa Malaysia, CICB fell the most, down 26 sen to 54 sen while Shell gave up 24 sen to RM10.56 in thin trade.

PPB, which had a brief respite on Thursday, fell again, weighed down by its weaker earnings, shedding 22 sen to RM18.36. YTL fell 20 sen to RM8.32 and Boustead 15 sen to RM5.29. AMMB lost 14 sen to RM6.08.

However, QSR was the top gainer, surging 59 sen to RM6.20 after Carlyle Asia Investment Advisors Ltd offered to acquire all of Kulim's shares in QSR and all the outstanding shares at RM6.70 a share. Kulim rose 40 sen to RM12.40, QSR-WB 32 sen to RM3.20 and KFCH six sen to RM4.01.

AirAsia rose six sen to RM2.61 on expectations of better earnings in the fourth quarter.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro debt worries hit stocks, euro

LONDON: Financial markets were battered on Friday, Nov 26 by worries over peripheral euro zone debt, knocking European stocks down 1 percent and the euro by the same amount against the dollar.

The cost of insuring against a default by peripheral euro zone countries rose again.

Wall Street also looked set to open lower following its Thanksgiving break on Thursday and a large run up of stocks on Wednesday.

Two newspaper reports were helping set the tone. The Financial Times Deutschland reported, without revealing its sources, that a majority of euro zone members and the European Central Bank were urging Portugal to apply for a financial bailout.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the Portuguese and German governments denied the report was true.

The Irish Times, meanwhile, said officials at the International Monetary Fund and in the European Union were examining how senior bondholders could be compelled to pay some of the cost of rescuing Ireland's banks.

The reports fed into general market disquiet about how the euro zone debt crisis -- created by questions about whether indebted countries' can meet bond payments -- will play out.

"Officials now seem to be pressing Portugal to take aid and that's unsettling investors. Peripheral issues are unlikely to go away in the short-term and the euro will remain under pressure into the end of the year," said Manuel Oliveri, currency strategist at UBS in Zurich.

In the past month, there have been some hefty losses in euro/dollar and on European bourses as a result of the crisis. The reaction has not yet, however, matched those seen in May and June around the time of the Greek crisis.

This is in large part because of the creation of a bailout mechanism involving the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The EU is attempting to create a more permanent mechanism, but the various proposals floated for what it might contain have created highly volatile markets.

The irony is that it is occurring just as the world economic recovery is gaining traction.

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EURO SLIDES

The euro fell around 1 percent against the dollar to fresh two-month lows while the dollar was boosted by various factors, ranging from rising optimism about the U.S. economy to tensions in the Korean peninsula.

The euro was at $1.3223, levels last seen in September.

European shares fell, with banks in particular in focus.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.4 percent, although it is still up around 67 percent from its lifetime low in March 2009.

"It is amazing how resilient markets have been considering the financial explosions we have had in Europe and the gunfire in Korea," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management.

"The market is still trying to find where it goes next. A lot of people may well be saying 'I will take my profits and square the books'."

MSCI's all country world index was down 1 percent and its emerging market benchmark lost 1.6 percent.

Ireland's 10 year bonds were yielding 8.9 percent, Portuguese counterparts 7.2 percent and Spanish 10-year debt 5.3 percent.

By contrast, German Bunds yielded 2.6 percent. - Reuters

Sime Darby in the black in 1Q, net profit RM654.7m

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD [] swung back into the black with net profit of RM654.74 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 and has set a target of achieving net profit of RM2.5 billion for the current financial year.

According to its announcement on Friday, Nov 26, the earnings were however lower by 4.3% from RM684.64 million a year ago.

But this was a turnaround from the preceeding fourth quarter ended June 30 when it posted a net loss of RM77.35 following additional provisions for the loss-making energy and utilities (E&U) division.

(Sime Darby's E&U division reported an operating loss of RM1.75 billion for FY2010 after making additional provisions of RM777.3 million for 4QFY2010. Including the RM1.308 billion provisions up to 3QFY2010, the total provisions for foreseeable losses and impairments for the full year amounted to RM2.085 billion).

Sime Darby said revenue rose 13.5% to RM8.78 billion from RM7.73 billion while earnings per share were 10.89 sen versus 11.39 sen.

At the pre-tax level, it posted profit of RM940.64 million, a 4% decline from 982.23 million a year ago.

The group also announced its headline key performance indicators (KPIs) for the financial year ending June 30, 2011, wherein a target net profit after tax and minority interests of RM2.5 billion and a return on average shareholders' funds of 11.5% had been set.

Sime Darby also said current acting president and group chief executive, Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh, will be appointed president and group chief executive with effect from Saturday, Nov 27.

October inflation up 2% on-yr, up 0.3% on-month

KUALA LUMPUR:'' The inflation rate for October rose 2% from a year ago on higher food and non-alcoholic beverages and non-food items, according to Statistics Department.

It said on Friday, Nov 26 the inflation rate, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), showed the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages had increased by 2.8% on year while the non-food index rose by 1.5% on-year.

The CPI for October rose 0.3% on-month and as the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages and non-food increased by 0.1% and 0.4% respectively.

The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages accounts for 31.4% of the CPI.

For January-October, the CPI increased by 1.7% from the previous corresponding period due to increases in the indices of all the main groups except for clothing and footwear and communication.

Notable increases among these main groups with high weightage were food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.3%); transport (+1.3%) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+1%).

Telekom Malaysia 3Q net profit up 140% to RM446m

KUALA LUMPUR: TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD [] reported a 140% surge in its third quarter earnings to RM446.6 million from RM185.7 million due to higher operating revenue, disposal of investments and higher unrealised exchange gain.

It said on Friday, Nov 26 revenue rose 4.4% to RM2.19 billion from RM2.10 billion. Earnings per share were 12.3 sen compared with 5.1 sen.

Group profit after tax and minority interests increased by 144.8% to RM438.5 million as compared to RM179.1 million in the corresponding quarter in 2009.

'This was mainly attributed to higher operating revenue, gain on disposal of investments and higher unrealised exchange gain on translation of foreign currency borrowings,' it said.

TM said operating profit before finance cost of RM396.5 million increased by 86.8% compared to RM212.3 million recorded in the same quarter last year primarily due to higher operating revenue and higher gain on disposal of investments in Measat.

The higher group revenue at RM2.19 billion was mainly due to higher revenue from data and other telecommunications related services, which mitigated the impact of lower revenue from voice and non-telecommunications services.

Data revenue increased by 24.6% in third quarter to RM440.9 million compared to RM353.9 million in the same quarter 2009 arising from demand for higher bandwidth services.

Other telecommunications related services revenue increased by 34.2% in third quarter to RM320.7 million compared to RM238.9 million in the third quarter last year mainly due to higher revenue from customers' projects such as MERS 999 and income from high speed broadband grant.

Internet and multimedia registered higher revenue by 1.4% to RM411.1 million in the current quarter arising from increased in broadband customers to 1.60 million in the current quarter from 1.40 million a year ago.

Petronas Chemicals, largest IPO in Southeast Asia, bullish on outlook

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in Southeast Asia, sees more upside for the prices of petrochemicals which would benefit the low-cost producer.

Petronas Chemicals chairman Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the coming calendar year would see the upcycle in petrochemical prices.

"We are very bullish about the outlook going forward. As for Petronas Chemicals, we are a low cost producer and we have got very integrated operations with diversified products," he said at a press conference on Friday, Nov 26 after its listing on Bursa Malaysia.

The integrated petrochemicals producer made its debut at RM5.71 which is about a 10% or 51 sen above its institutional offering price of RM5.20. Its retail price was RM5.04. The IPO of RM41.6 billion is the largest in Malaysia and Southeast Asia based on the institutional price.

Petronas Chemicals president and chief executive officer Datuk Tengku Mahamad Tengku Mahamut said that the debut price was "excellent" and that he was very satisfied with the price.

He said its listing exercise received significant interest from Malaysian retail and global institutional investors. It was expected to raise about RM12.8 billion, making it the largest ever IPO and equity offering to be completed in Malaysia.

The retail offering attracted applications with a value of RM3.7 billion for 729 million shares, representing a subscription rate of 2.5 times. This was the highest amount ever applied for under a retail offering in Malaysia thus far.

'The institutional offering (excluding the offering to cornerstone and bumiputera investors approved by MITI) attracted orders amounting to a staggering RM92.6 billion.

'The positive response received for the offering is a clear reflection of the strong foreign and local investor community's trust and confidence in PetChem in particular and in the Malaysian capital market and Bursa Malaysia in general,' he said.

Tengku Mahamad said looking ahead; the newly-listed Petronas Chemicals would be well equipped with additional funding, strong management expertise and steady supply of raw materials, integrated production facilities and a skilled workforce to meet the growing local and regional demand for its products.

Petronas Chemicals is the national oil company's integrated petrochemicals producer and is also one of the largest petrochemicals producers in South East Asia which primarily manufactures, markets and sells a range of petrochemical products such as olefins, polymers, fertilisers, methanol and other basic chemicals and derivative products.

Post-listing, Petronas Chemicals will consolidate its petrochemical activities and maximise efficiency as well as strengthening its marketing and sales network. While over the medium to longer term, it plans to expand its product portfolio and production capacity and will also consider potential acquisitions for growth.

Ireka secures RM232m office, hotel project in KL

KUALA LUMPUR: IREKA CORPORATION BHD [] has secured a RM232.74 million contract for the proposed offices and hotel development in Kuala Lumpur.

It said on Friday, Nov 26 its unit Ireka Engineering & CONSTRUCTION [] Sdn Bhd had received a letter of intent from Transmission TECHNOLOGY [] Sdn Bhd for the project.

Ireka said the project involved architectural and mechanical and electrical works for basements and the 13-level podium and also the 27-storey and 37-storey office towers.

Earlier, it announced net loss of RM87,000 in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 compared with net profit of RM2.13 million a year ago after accounting for the share of loss in Aseana PROPERTIES [] Limited.

Revenue rose 21% to RM108.02 million from RM89 million and it recorded loss per share of 0.08 sen compared with earnings per share of 1.87 sen.

For the first half, revenue rose 11.5% to RM209.736 million from RM174.610 million mainly due to higher volume of construction works being completed during the period.

At the pre-tax level, it recorded a pre-tax loss of RM2.868 million, as compared to a pre-tax profit of RM5.789 million in the previous corresponding period.

'The loss is after accounting for the share of loss in Aseana Properties of RM7.503 million and also a mark-to-market loss for share investment in Kinh Bac City Development Shareholding Corporation of'' RM1.986 million.'' Excluding these two items, the Group's pre-tax results would be positive at RM6.613 million,' it said.

Stone Master to buy 51% China's JinZhou Everthriving for RM25m via share swap

KUALA LUMPUR: Stone Master Corp Bhd is venturing into China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation business following the proposed acquisition of a 51% stake in JinZhou Everthriving Logistics Co. Ltd for RM25 million.

Stone Master said on Friday, Nov 26 it had entered into a heads of agreement with Sino Achieve International Ltd to acquire the stake via a share swap by a group of identified Stone Master shareholders.

It added Jinzhou supplies and transports LNG and has a large number of client resources with annual output value reaches over 100 million renminbi. Jinzhou owns 50 large LNG transport tankers, with transport capability ranked as top three in the industry.

Stone Master said Jinzhou is a China foreign joint venture company between Sino Achieve International and Everthriving Investment Group Co. Ltd in Beijing.

KLCI extends losses in afternoon, on Europe, Korea worries

KUALA LUMPUR: External worries from a possible Europe debt crisis, weaker China markets and heightening Korean conflict weighed on the markets.

At 2.35pm, the FBM KLCI fell 4.87 points to 1,491.62. Turnover was 955.53 million shares valued at RM3.26 billion. There were 184 gainers, 469 losers and 265 counters unchanged.

In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.KS11> (KOSPI) ended down 1.34%'' at 1,901.80 points, weighed down by growing caution in the run-up to scheduled joint U.S.-South Korean military drills this weekend and by declines in banks such as Hana Financial Group Inc.

The euro hovered near a two-month low against a broadly recovering dollar on Friday as a relentless rise in euro zone countries' bond yields fanned worries over their debt financing.

BAT fell 50 sen to RM44.40, DiGi 32 sen to RM24.38, YTL 22 sen to RM8.30 and Genting 22 sen to RM10.18 while SunCity shed 10 sen to RM4.50 and Genting PLANTATION []s 10 sen to RM8.67.

QSR held on to its gains, up 54 sen at RM6.15, Kulim 36 sen to RM12.36 and QSR-WB 31 sen to RM3.19. Petronas Chemicals rose 27 sen to RM5.47.

Seoul shares fall; caution before military drill

SEOUL:'' Seoul shares extended losses and fell 1.3 percent on Friday, Nov 26, weighed down by growing caution in the run-up to scheduled joint U.S.-South Korean military drills this weekend and by declines in banks such as Hana Financial Group Inc <086790.KS>.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.KS11> (KOSPI) ended down 1.34 percent at 1,901.80 points.

North Korea said on Friday that impending military exercises by South Korea and the United States are pushing the region towards war, days after it launched its heaviest bombardment since the 1950-53 Korean War.

China expressed concern about the exercises with the United States, and a foreign ministry spokesman refrained from singling out Pyongyang as being responsible for the exchange of artillery fire with South Korea.

"Investors are growing more jittery ahead of the joint military exercise. The key concern is, whether North Korea will again take unforeseen, rash actions," said Kim Hyoung-ryoul, a market analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

Institutions were buyers of a net 12.2 billion won ($10.69 million), and foreign investors were buyers of a net 54 billion won.

Shipbuilders advanced, with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering <042660.KS> gaining 2.3 percent on a report that the company was picked as preferred bidder for a $4 billion container ship order from Denmark's A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS .

The company declined to comment on the report.

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding <067250.KS> gained 1.2 percent.

Hana Financial Group Inc <086790.KS> fell 4.1 percent after the group outlined plans to fund the $4.75 trillion won ($4.1 billion) purchase of a controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank <004940.KS> through retained earnings, debt and investment.

"Its shares have risen substantially since November on KEB acquisition expectations, and we are seeing profit-locking moves," said Sohn Joon-beom, an analyst at LIG Investment & Securities.

Hana Financial had gained 22.2 percent since mid-November as of Thursday's close.

"How Hana will fund the buyout is still very much unclear," Sohn added.

Korea Exchange Bank finished down 3.3 percent.

Falls in TECHNOLOGY [] stocks also weighed as investors awaited U.S. Black Friday sales figures.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc <000660.KS>, the world's No.2 memory chip maker, fell 2.2 percent. LG Display Co Ltd <034220.KS>, the world's second-biggest flat panel maker, shed 2.3 percent.

Trading volume was 452.7 million shares worth 5.7 trillion won, compared with average daily trading volume and turnover of 326.7 million shares worth 6.5 trillion won in October.

The KOSPI 200 Dec futures index fell 3.2 points to 250.30. The KOSPI 200 spot index <.KS200> shed 3.14 points to 249.31.

The junior Kosdaq market <.KQ11> fell 2.9 percent to 493.56. - Reuters

Asian markets mixed, KLCI in the red

KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets were mixed at midday on Friday, Nov 26 while the FBM KLCI was in the red on renewed worried about China's efforts to rein in inflation and the debt crisis in Europe.

At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Chemicals was unable to hold on to the massive gains earlier as retail investors took profit. The institutional price was RM5.20 and for retail investors RM5.04.

At midday, PetronasChem was up 27 sen to RM5.47 with 470 million shares done, which accounted for about half of the total trading volume on Bursa.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.53 points to 1,494.96. Turnover was 916.67 million shares valued at RM3.16 billion. The trading value was the largest in many months, mainly due to PetronasChem.

China markets were mixed after China's finance ministry failed to draw enough demand at a bill sale for the first time in June, according to wire reports. It targeted to sell 20 billion yuam but could only sell 11.55 billion yuan due to a shortage of cash at banks after the government raised the reserve requirements.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.08%to 23,036.18, Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.17% to 2,893.24 . The Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 10,069.83, Korea's Kospi shed 0.69% to 1,914.41 and Singapore's Straits Times Index inched up 0.04% to 3,160.46.

At Bursa, AirAsia rose 12 sen to RM2.67 in active trade on expectations of better fourth quarter results.

BAT fell the most, down 50 sen to RM44.40, DiGi 30s en to RM24.40, Genting PLANTATION []s 11 sen to RM8.66 and Sunway City 10 sen to RM4.50.

QSR rallied 55 sen to RM6.16, QSR-WB 32 sen higher to RM3.20 and Kulim 40 sen to RM12.40.

RAM Ratings affirms New Pantai Expressway's RM740m debt notes

KUALA LUMPUR:'' RAM Ratings has reaffirmed the ratings of New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd's debt notes totaling RM740 million with a stable outlook.

They are the AA3 rating of its RM490 million Senior Bai' Bithaman Ajil Notes (2003/2014) (Senior Notes) and AA3(s) rating RM250 million Junior Bai' Bithaman Ajil Notes (2003/2016) (Junior Notes).

RAM Ratings said on Friday, Nov 26 the rating of the Senior Notes remains supported by the 19.6-km New Pantai Highway's (NPH or the Highway) sustainable traffic growth from established townships and strong debt-coverage levels.

In FY March 2010, the NPH registered an average daily traffic (ADT) of 129,428 vehicles, on the back of the robust traffic flows at the Pantai Dalam and PJS 2 Subang-bound toll plazas; the ADT was relatively stable compared to the previous corresponding period, despite the abolishment of toll collection at the PJS 2 Kuala Lumpur-bound toll plaza in February 2009.

As traffic volume continued improving in 1Q FY Mar 2011, the Highway's ADT rose 6.91% year-on-year to 138,375 vehicles, supported by organic growth arising from the townships along its alignment.

Moving forward, NPESB is envisaged to maintain its strong debt-coverage levels, with a projected minimum Senior Finance Service Coverage Ratio (FSCR) of 2.74 times (with cash balances, post-distribution).

After having wrapped up the debt-restructuring exercise for its Senior Notes on 30 April 2010, the outstanding amount has been reduced from RM370 million to RM259 million.

Meanwhile, the enhanced rating of the Junior Notes reflects the strength of the corporate guarantee from IJM Corporation Berhad (NPESB's ultimate holding company), pursuant to the Payment Guarantee that unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees the Junior Notes throughout the existence of the Senior Notes.

As the corporate guarantee is only applicable while the Senior Notes are still outstanding, the rating of the Junior Notes will be reassessed upon full redemption of the Senior Notes on 31 October 2014.

Similar to other toll-road concessionaires, however, NPESB is also exposed to regulatory and single-project risks. NPESB holds the concession for the CONSTRUCTION [], maintenance and toll collections of the Highway.

#Update* Petronas Chemicals off early high

KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asia's largest initial public offer, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was off its early high of RM5.71 on Bursa Malaysia on Friday, Nov 26.

It opened at RM5.71, which was was 51 sen above its institutional offer price of RM5.20. There were 79.78 million shares transacted.

At 9.19am, it was trading at RM5.51, up 31 sen. There were 178.65 million shares done during the first 19 minutes of trade.

The FBM KLCI was up 3.02 points to 1,499.51. Turnover was 248.87 million shares valued at RM1.10 billion. There were 149 gainers, 113 losers and 125 stocks unchanged.

Petronas Chemicals IPO of RM41.6 billion is the largest in Asean based on the institutional price of RM5.20 per share.

Due to its significantly large market capitalisation, it will be included as a constituent of the 30-stock index next Monday, Nov 29 after its public listing.

QSR, Kulim top gainers in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares, QSR BRANDS BHD [] and Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd rallied in early trade on Friday, Nov 26 after the proposed acquisition of QSR at RM6.70 a share.

At 9.10am, QSR was up 59 sen to RM6.20 with 1.01 million shares done and its warrants, QSR-WB gained 29 sen to RM3.17.

Kulim rose 36 sen to RM12.36 with 404,400 shares done while KFC Holdings Bhd added 10 sen RM4.04.

Carlyle Asia Investment Advisors Ltd has offered to Kulim to acquire all its shares in QSR at RM6.70 a share. Its offer trumps Tan Sri Halim Saad's offer of RM5.60 a share for QSR.

The bid for all of QSR's 290.034 million shares values it at RM1.94 billion.

The FBM KLCI rose 2.37 points to 1,498.86. There were 187.46 million shares done valued at RM854 million. Gainers led losers 140 to 66 while 97 stocks were unchanged.

Sime advances ahead of 1Q results

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD [] advanced in early trade on Friday, Nov 26 ahead of the release of its first quarter results for the period ended Sept 30, 2010.

At 9.25am, it was up nine sen to RM8.82 with 24,500 shares done.

The FBM KLCI rose 2.56 points to 1,499.05. Turnover was 306.76 million shares valued at RM1.36 billion. There were 157 gainers, 128 losers and 146 stocks unchanged.

Sime Darby acting president and group chief executive Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh had stated recently the group would be in the black in the first quarter ended Sept 30.

It posted a net loss of RM77.35 million in 4Q ended June 30, 2010 (FY2010) compared with net profit of RM984.04 million a year ago, following additional provisions for the loss-making energy and utilities (E&U) division.

Sime Darby's E&U division reported an operating loss of RM1.75 billion for FY2010 after making additional provisions of RM777.3 million for 4QFY2010.

Including the RM1.308 billion provisions up to 3QFY2010, the total provisions for foreseeable losses and impairments for the full year amounted to RM2.085 billion.

OSK Research maintains Neutral on Genting Malaysia, higher TP RM3.24

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said Genting Malaysia Bhd reported 9MFY10 earnings that were largely in line with its full-year estimates.

'We are maintaining our NEUTRAL recommendation but confer a higher TP of RM3.24 as we roll forward our valuations to FY11, although pegging the same 8x EV/EBITDA to its domestic casino business,' it said on Friday, Nov 26.

OSK Research said its fair value imputed a 10% discount on RNAV. The group's relatively attractive valuations of 6x EV/EBITDA vs the regional average of 10x will help to anchor its share price.

'Nonetheless, we continue to prefer its parent company, GENTING BHD [], as a proxy to Genting Singapore's more compelling growth story,' it said.

OSK Research maintains Buy on Puncak, TP RM3.85

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said Puncak Niaga's earnings came within its and consensus expectations.

The research house said on Friday, Nov 26 that in view of low water consumption growth c.3% in the Selangor state, revenue for Puncak came flat on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

'We note that as part of its 2010 YTD revenues, Puncak booked in RM309.6 million being a sum payable by the Selangor State Government in respect to a delay in the water tariff rate hike by 37% initially scheduled to be implemented in January 2009,' it said.

HDBSVR: FBM KLCI to test 1,500

KUALA LUMPUR: Hwang DBS Vickers Research said the FBM KLCI, after taking the first step of recovery ' by overcoming the resistance hurdle of 1,495 ' it may follow up with the next step to cross the psychological barrier of 1,500 ahead.

In its outlook report for Friday, Nov 26, it expected a busy day on Bursa Malaysia. Counters that could attract a lot of action would include:

(a) Petronas Chemicals Group, an integrated petrochemical manufacturer with a market capitalization of RM41.6b based on an institutional offer price of RM5.20, which is making its debut listing;

(b) Kulim, which has received a new offer to buy over its entire stake in QSR at an indicative price of RM6.70 per QSR share. QSR, in turn, is the parent company of KFC Holdings;

(c) CONSTRUCTION [] companies like Bina Puri and TRC after a media report said they are in the running to bag LRT extension jobs which would be awarded soon; and

(d) AirAsia and Genting Malaysia following the release of their buoyant set of financial results Thursday evening.

''

Oil inches up after big jump; Europe debt in focus

LONDON: Oil inched up in paltry trade on Thursday, Nov 25, extending its biggest gain in four months as the dollar edged lower, but ongoing concerns about the euro zone and Chinese inflation threatened to limit gains.

U.S. crude for January delivery rose 32 cents to $84.18 a barrel by 1900 GMT, after plumbing lows of $83.45 earlier. Total New York Mercantile Exchange crude trade came to just 48,000 lots, less than a tenth its average this year. All trade on Thursday will be combined into Friday's official session.

ICE Brent rose 41 cents to $86.25. Total trade of just over 100,000 lots was about a quarter of the norm.

After falling sharply two weeks ago, oil prices found strong technical support at around $80 a barrel, setting the stage for Wednesday's 3.2 percent rally on pre-holiday short covering spurred by inventory data that was less bearish than feared and upbeat U.S. weekly jobs and consumer spending data.

"Technically, the action of the last two days definitely print out a very strong defence of $80.50 a barrel as a support," Petromatrix' Olivier Jakob said in a note.

Continued worries about the ability of peripheral euro-zone members to manage their debt weighed on the euro, which remained close to a two-month low even after staging late gains that pulled the dollar lower amid corporate buying.

In Europe, senior officials dismissed suggestions by some commentators that the single currency area could break up. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was more confident than earlier this year that the European Union will emerge stronger from the current crisis.

But German government bonds fell, pressured in part by the possibility of further euro-zone bailouts, although the European Commission said there were no discussions on financial aid for more countries after Ireland asked for help.

DOLLAR DISCONNECT

The dollar index <=USD> slipped 0.21 percent, lending a measure of support, although the normal inverse relationship between oil and the greenback has weakened recently.

The average daily correlation over the last 25 days dropped to -30 percent on Thursday, the weakest in over a month.

"Once again yesterday, we saw a disconnect between the dollar and commodity prices in yesterday's trading," MF Global senior commodities analyst Edward Meir said.

Oil tumbled to 2010 lows under $65 in May as the Greek debt crisis dampened confidence about the global economic recovery, and rebounded to a two-year high of $88.63 on Nov. 11.

Earlier this week, oil prices dropped to near $80 after North Korea's deadly artillery barrage against a South Korean island boosted the dollar's value and reduced the appetite for riskier commodity assets. - Reuters

Proton 2Q earnings decline 19.6% to RM65.92m

KUALA LUMPUR: PROTON HOLDINGS BHD [] saw its earnings decline 19.6% to RM65.92 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM82.06 million a year ago, due to'' one-off provision for stock obsolescence and branding cost.

It said on Thursday, Nov 25 revenue was 6.6% higher at RM2.24 billion compared with RM2.10 billion. Earnings per share were 12 sen compared with 14.9 sen. Its net asset per share was RM9.83.

Group profit before tax was RM81.26 million, a decline of 19% from RM100.65 million a year ago.

The pre-tax profit in 2Q declined from RM105 million in 1Q ended June 30, 2010 due to'' one-off provision for stock obsolescence and branding cost incurred by a principal subsidiary.

Genting Bhd earnings double, boost from RWS

KUALA LUMPUR: GENTING BHD []'s earnings doubled to RM765.92 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM371.33 million a year ago, boosted by its leisure and hospitality operation in Singapore -- Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

Genting said on Thursday, Nov 25 that there was also a one-off net gain of RM413.6 million arising from deferred consideration. Net impairment losses amounted to RM250.6 million.

It said revenue rose 63% to RM3.91 billion from RM2.40 billion. Profit before tax rose 76% to RM1.418 billion from RM805.5 million. Earnings per share were 20.72 sen compared with 10.05 sen.

Overall revenue from the leisure and hospitality operations rose 89% to RM3.11 billion from RM1.644 billion a year ago.

The increases were mainly due to the commencement of RWS in Singapore in the first quarter.'' But revenue from Resorts World Genting decreased mainly due to lower business volume and weaker luck factor in the premium players business.

Profit before tax from the leisure and hospitality division was RM1.35 billion, up 84% from RM732.9 million, with Singapore accounting for RM800.8 million (compared with pre-tax loss of RM62.9 million a year ago).

The power division reported pre-tax profit of RM146.9 million in 3QFY10 (RM1501 million in 3QFY09); PLANTATION [] RM112.7million (RM85.2 million),investments and others were lower at RM72.5 million (RM128 million).

DRB-Hicom 2Q earnings up 114% to RM132m

KUALA LUMPUR: DRB-HICOM BHD []'s earnings rose 114% in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM61.74 million a year ago.

It said on Thursday, Nov 25 profit before tax increased nearly 143% to RM186.2 million compared with RM76.66 million.

Revenue rose 7.5% to RM1.647 billion from RM1.531 billion. Earnings per share were 6.84 sen compared with 3.19 sen.

MAS records operating profit of RM122.7m in 3Q

KUALA LUMPUR: MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] (MAS) posted operating profit of RM122.7 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30 (3Q2010) compared with an operating loss of RM77.4 million a year ago, which lifted the nine-month financial period into the black.

MAS said on Thursday, Nov 25 for the 3Q2010, the significant improvement was mainly due to higher operating revenue and improvement in its yield.

'The group recorded a profit after tax of RM233.9 million (3QFY09: RM299.1 million loss) after including amongst others, derivative gain of RM155.7 million (3QFY09: RM202.1 million loss),' it said. There was a derivative gain of RM169.8 million from fuel hedging contracts compared with loss of RM174.5 million a year ago.

Its revenue was RM3.39 billion compared with RM2.94 billion a year ago while earnings per sghare were 6.98 sen compared with net loss per share of 14.6 sen.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2010 (9M2010), it posted net profit of RM8.55 million compared with net loss of RM120.08 million in the previous corresponding period. Revenue was RM9.91 billion compared with RM8.21 billion.

MAS reported an economic loss of the group for 3QFY10'' and 9M2010 of RM70 million (2009: RM96 million loss) and RM150 million (2009: RM794 million loss) respectively.

The group recorded economic loss for the quarter and 9M2010 after excluding certain items such as derivative gain/(loss), interest income and foreign exchange differences respectively.

The airline qualified that although the economic profit may have some usefulness in terms of providing an indication of the return after deducting the cost of the resources it employed, it should not be used in isolation as an indicator of a company's performance nor is it a predictor of future performance. The EP results purely on their own may often give misleading results or trends, it explained.

Firmer close as sentiment improves

KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets closed on a firmer note on Thursday, 25, as sentiment showed improvement following the positive Wall Street while European markets were higher in early trade despite concerns of the rescue package for Ireland.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was up 7.59 points or 0.53% at 1,496.49 as the psychological important 1,500 level proved elusive after the recent selldown. Turnover declined to 1.0 billion shares valued at RM1.42 billion. There were 463 gainers, 291 losers and 287 stocks unchanged.

China's main equity indices outperformed the regional markets. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.34% to 2,898.26 and the CSI 300 Index 1.46% higher at 3,223.48. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up 0.13% to 23,054.68.

The Nikkei 225 added 0.5% to 10,079.76, South Korea's Kospi 0.09% up at 1,927.68 and Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 0.71% at 3,159.23.

At Bursa, market sentiment held steady from the start of trade following the fresh news of mergers and acquisitions, especially from the property sector, the latest being the proposed merger of Sunway Holdings with Sunway City.

Index linked stocks including Genting rose 28 sen to RM10.40, DiGi 18 sen to RM24.70 while CIMB added five sen to RM8.39 and Genting Malaysia two sen to RM3.38.

The rally on crude palm oil (CPO) futures, which rose RM103 to RM3,271 helped pushed PLANTATION [] stocks. PPB rose 16 sen to RM18.58, KL Kepong 14 sen to RM20, IOI Corp five sen to RM5.85 and Sime Darby four sen to RM8.73.

Stone Master, which reported losses in its quarter ended June 30, soared 34 sen to 63 sen with 1.69 million shares done.

The proposed merger of Sunway and Suncity gave their securities a boost, with Sunway-WC adding 18 sen to RM1.32 while Sunway added nine sen to RM2.34, Suncity 11 sen higher at RM4.60.

KNM was the most active with 110 million shares done, up six sen to 49.5 sen after posting a stronger set of earnings.

Nestle fell the most, down 38 sen to RM43. IJM Land gave up some of the previous day's gains after the proposed merger with MRCB. IJM Land and its warrants, IJM Land-WA fell nine sen each to RM3.10 and RM1.79 while MRCB shed two sen to RM2.04.

#Flash* AirAsia 3Q net profit surges 152% to RM327.28m

KUALA LUMPUR: AIRASIA BHD [] posted a strong set of results for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010, with earnings surging 152% to RM327.28 million from RM130.07 million a year ago.

The low-cost carrier said on Thursday, Nov 25 there was RM142.9 million of unrealised translation gains in the quarter, a result of the significant strengthening of the ringgit against the US Dollar during the period. These gains are partially offset by losses from the change in the fair value of currency derivative

Revenue rose 34% to RM987.6 million from RM739.7 million. Earnings per share were 11.90 sen compared with 5.3 sen.

'The revenue growth was supported by 12% growth in passenger volumes and average fare that was 22% higher at RM173 as compared to RM142 achieved in 3Q09. Seat load factor was three percentage points higher at 78% compared to 75% in the same period last year,' it said.

AirAsia said the group's core operating profit for the period was RM216.1 million, which was a 539% increase from a year ago.

Its core operating profit margin for the period was at 21.9%, 17.3 percentage points higher than the 4.6% core operating profit margin a year ago.

YTL Corp 1Q earnings up 34.4% to RM278.9m

KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Corp Bhd reported a 34.3% increase in its earnings at RM278.9 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30 from RM207.5 million a year ago, boosted by the strong performance in its major operating companies.

It said on Thursday, Nov 25 that revenue rose 12% to RM4.4 billion from RM3.93 billion a year ago. Profit before taxation increased by 24.0% to RM623.8 million from RM503.2 million.

YTL POWER INTERNATIONAL BHD [] saw its earnings rise by 18.1% to RM272.9 million from RM231.1 million. Its revenue reported an 8.8% increase to RM3.48 billion mainly due to the better performance of its merchant multi-utility businesses. It declared a 7.5% interim single tier dividend.

YTL CEMENT BHD [] earnings rose 4.8% to RM72.6 million from RM69.3 million. Revenue rose 3.4% to RM463.0 million from RM447.6 million.'' It declared a 7.5% single tier first interim dividend.

'The improvements in financial performance were due mainly to consolidation of the Batu Tiga Quarry group of companies that YTL Cement acquired during the 2010 financial year,' it said.

However, YTL Land & Development Bhd reported a decline in revenue and profits for the first quarter ended Sept 30. Net profit decline to RM3.2 million from RM7/3 million while revenue fell to RM14 million from RM97.2 million.

'The decline was due to lower revenue and profit recognition from the property development and CONSTRUCTION [] segments,' it said.

''

Starhill Real Estate Investment Trust said revenue was RM8.2 million while income before tax was RM15.4 million.

'The decline was due to the proposed rationalisation exercise currently being undertaken by the Trust, the first stage of which involved the disposal of the Trust's retail PROPERTIES [], completed in June 2010. Starhill REIT is now focusing on the acquisition of new hotel properties and the repositioning of its portfolio as a hospitality REIT,' it said.

RAM Ratings reaffirms Bank Pembangunan ratings, RM7b debt notes

KUALA LUMPUR: RAM Rating Services Bhd has reaffirmed Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd's (BPMB) long- and short-term financial institution ratings at AAA and P1, respectively.

The ratings agency said on Thursday, Nov 25, the long-term rating of the bank's up to RM7 billion conventional medium-term notes (MTN) and/or Islamic Murabahah MTN programmes has been reaffirmed at AAA. Both long-term ratings carry a stable outlook.

'The ratings reflect BPMB's status as a strategically important entity to the Federal Government of Malaysia (the government), based on the Bank's socio-economic role and track record of exceptionally strong support from the Government', explains Promod Dass, RAM Ratings' head of financial institution ratings.

As a development financial institution (DFI) and wholly owned subsidiary of the Government, BPMB acts as the government's key funding conduit to develop and support the infrastructure, maritime and high-TECHNOLOGY [] sectors.

Given the bank's DFI business model, BPMB is typically exposed to higher credit and loan-concentration risks, particularly from its portfolio of infrastructure loans.

Nonetheless, the Federal Government is more than likely to extend its backing if needed. Historically, such support has been provided by way of equity injections, government guarantees on specific borrowings, and compensation, among other forms.

In FY Dec 2009, BPMB's pre-tax profit plunged 65% year-on-year to RM339.5 million, as a result of significantly higher loan-loss provisions amounting to RM507.2 million (FY Dec 2008: RM41.2 million). The bulk of these impairment provisions had been set aside as a prudent measure vis-''-vis a sizeable loan in view of the impending implementation of Financial Reporting Standards 139.

Meanwhile, the bank's liquid-asset ratio had lowered to 21.3% as at end-March 2010 (end-December 2008: 54.8%), following BPMB's hefty financing requirements for infrastructure projects during the period.

While the pressure on the bank's liquidity and loan concentration are not expected to subside over the medium term, comfort can be drawn from the strong support from the Government - if required - and the Bank's healthy capitalisation, demonstrated by its overall risk-weighted capital-adequacy ratio of 31.3% as at end-March 2010.

''

Loss-making Stone Master top gainer

KUALA LUMPUR: Loss-making Stone Master Corp Bhd surged to a high of 67 sen on Thursday, Nov 25 despite the absence of fresh positive news.

At 4.33pm, it was up 30 sen to 59 sen. There were 1.48 million shares transacted at prices ranging from 26 sen to 67 sen.

In the first quarter ended June 30, it posted net loss of RM732,000 on the back of RM16.64 million in revenue. Net asset per share was 69.6 sen.

Sime Darby sees 4.95m shares done off market

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD []'s 4.95 million shares were transacted in an off-market deal at RM8.72 apiece on Thursday, Nov 25.

The shares rose four sen to RM8.73. There were 912,300 shares done at prices ranging from RM8.69 to RM8.73.

Sime Darby is scheduled to announce its financial results for the first quarter ended Sept 30 on Friday instead of Thursday.

At the recent AGM, its acting president and group chief executive Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh had stated the group would be in the black in the first quarter.

It posted a net loss of RM77.35 million in 4Q ended June 30, 2010 (FY2010) compared with net profit of RM984.04 million a year ago, following additional provisions for the loss-making energy and utilities (E&U) division.

Sime Darby's E&U division reported an operating loss of RM1.75 billion for FY2010 after making additional provisions of RM777.3 million for 4QFY2010. Including the RM1.308 billion provisions up to 3QFY2010, the total provisions for foreseeable losses and impairments for the full year amounted to RM2.085 billion.

MSC sees 1.34m shares crossed, 5.2% below market price

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd saw its 1.34 million shares crossed at RM4 apiece on Thursday, Nov 25, which was 5.2% below the market price.

At 3.15pm, MSC was unchanged at RM4.22 with 11,000 shares done.

MSC is involved in smelting of tin concentrates and tin bearing materials in Malaysia and Indonesia. It also produces various grades of refined tin metal; and sells and delivers refined tin metal and by-products.

Javace advises UBG minority shareholders to take up its offer

KUALA LUMPUR: Javace Sdn Bhd, a unit of PetroSaudi International Ltd, has advised the minority shareholders of UBG BHD [] to take up its offer of RM2.50 a share.

The deadline for the offer was extended to Dec 17. The offer was made by to privatise UBG and its two subsidiaries PUTRAJAYA PERDANA BHD []'' and Loh & Loh Corporation Bhd.

Javace said on Thursday, Nov 25 the minority shareholders would not have many avenues to exit their investment once UBG was delisted.

Early this year, PetroSaudi International acquired the entire stakes in UBG held by Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd, Concordance Holdings Sdn Bhd and PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd.

Majestic Masterpiece was then the single largest shareholder in UBG with a 52.62% interest. Concordance Holdings owned 28.29% while PPES controlled another 8.92% of UBG shares. Concordance Holdings and PPES are subsidiaries of CAHYA MATA SARAWAK BHD [].

The earlier acquisitions gave PSI an 89.83% stake in UBG. It had on Oct 20, via Javace, made the cash offer for the remaining shares in UBG that it did not already own.

In line with the offer for UBG, Javace extended its mandatory takeover offer for all remaining shares in Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh not held by UBG. The offer was RM4.85 per share for both companies. The offer for these two companies closed on 10 November 2010.

Trading of UBG shares was suspended on Nov 2 and six days later, trading on PPB and LLCB shares was similarly suspended.

Javace has initiated the steps to withdraw the listing status of Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh and is expected to do the same for UBG after the Dec 17 deadline.

KLCI, Asian markets up on positive US data

KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets rose in the morning session on Thursday, Nov 25 after the positive economic data from the US as concerns about the Ireland debt crisis took a back seat.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 8.16 points or 0.56% to 1,496.70. Turnover was 549.61 million shares valued at RM710.74 million.'' There were 297 gainers, 229 losers and 252 stocks unchanged.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.79% to 10,109.55, the Hang Seng Index added 1.03% to 23,260.11, Shanghai's Composite Index 0.94% higher at 2,886.68 and Taiwan's Taiex 0.65% to 8,350.84. Korea's Kospi rose 0.28% to 1,931.36 and Singapore's Straits Times Index 0.8% higher at 3,162.06.

At Bursa Malaysia, Genting rose 24 sen to RM10.36, adding 2.15 points to the KLCI while Axiata added nine sen to RM4.58, pushing up the index by another 1.84 points.

CIMB rose five sen to RM8.39, Sime Darby four sen to RM8.73 and Maybank two sen to RM8.72.DiGi rose 18 sen to RM24.70 and PPB 14 sen to RM18.56.

Companies in the Johor Corp group rose, with KPJ up 23 sen to RM3.99 and KPJ-WA 17 sen higher at RM2.13. Its food related companies Kulim, KFCH and QSR advanced before their suspension at midday.

Carlyle Asia Investment Advisors Ltd had made a non-binding offer to Kulim to acquire all its shares in QSR BRANDS BHD [] at RM6.70 a share. QSR-WB rose 18 sen to RM2.88, QSR 15 sen to RM5.6,'' KFCH three sen to RM3.95 and Kulim 12 sen to RM12.

Sunway Holdings and Sunway City rose after the proposed merger. Sunway-WC added 18 sen to RM1.32, Sunway 10 sen to RM2.35 and Suncity 16 sen higher at RM4.65.

KNM was the most active with 72.5 million shares done, rising five sen to 48.5 sen after reporting a stronger set of results.

Nestle fell the most, down 28 sen to RM43.10 with 400 shares done and Dutch Lady eight sen lower at RM17.84.

#Flash* Carlyle Asia makes bid for Kulim stake in QSR at RM6.70 per share

KUALA LUMPUR: Carlyle Asia Investment Advisors Ltd has offered to Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd to acquire all its shares in QSR BRANDS BHD [] at RM6.70 a share.

Kulim said on Thursday, Nov 25, it had received the non-binding offer from the Carlyle Group as it seeks to buy up all QSR shares.

Its offer trumps Tan Sri Halim Saad's offer of RM5.60 a share for QSR.

AmResearch positive on SunCity-Sunway merger

KUALA LUMPUR: AmResearch views the proposed merger of SUNWAY CITY BHD [] and SUNWAY HOLDINGS BHD [] as positive.

It said on Thursday, Nov 25 the new company, which would take over the listing of both companies, is offering to acquire SunCity shares at RM5.10/share and Sunway Holdings' at RM2.60/share with a total consideration of RM4.5 billion.

'We understand that after the disposal of the businesses of SunCity, the group would return all proceeds amounting to the offer price to the shareholders, warrant holders, and holders of the ESOS options of SunCity by way of a capital repayment and reduction exercise under which all SunCity shares will be cancelled,' it said.

Warrant holders would also be paid RM1.29 per warrant that has yet to be exercised and the group would proceed to cancel all the outstanding warrants. Under this Warrant Scheme, the warrant holders of Suncity shall receive RM1.29 per warrant via a combination of Newco shares (80% of offer) and the remaining 20% would be satisfied via cash.

'We think the offer is attractive: (1) The offer price of RM5.10/share represents a premium of 23% to our fair value of RM4.13/share. Our fair value is arrived at after applying a 30% discount to our estimated NAV of RM5.90/share.

'An opportunity for SunCity shareholders to move to a larger entity and a more liquid company where property development would be the main contributor to earnings ' about 50%. The management indicated yesterday that the main focus of this company would be in the property development,' it said.

Meanwhile, SunCity reported core earnings of RM30mil in 3QFY10, which brings its cumulative 9MFY10 core earnings to RM111 million.

'This is short of expectations, accounting for only 63% and 48% of our and street's estimates, respectively,' it said.

HDBSVR: Further recovery for FBM KLCI

KUALA LUMPUR: Hwang DBS Vickers Research said the FBM KLCI, after bouncing up from an intra-day low of 1,476.82 to settle at 1,488.54 on Wednesday, Nov 24, would probably show a further recovery ahead.

It said in its technical outlook for Thursday that the benchmark index may attempt to cross the immediate resistance threshold of 1,495.

Major U.S. equity barometers also rebounded last night ' up between 1.4% and 1.9% at the closing bell ' lifted by a drop in jobless claims and a rise in consumer confidence level. This should shore up sentiment across the region.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said more market action driven by the current trend of M&A corporate exercises will be at play.

The proposed merger between Sunway Holdings and Sunway City ' which will be carried out via the acquisitions of all the assets and liabilities to be satisfied by a combination of shares and cash at an indicative price of RM2.60 per Sunway Holdings share and RM5.10 per Sunway City share ' should attract much interest from investors.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said among the slew of companies that announced their latest financial results on Wednesday, KNM surprised on the upside with a strong set of earnings performance.

SunCity, Sunway rally in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Sunway City and Sunway Holdings rallied in early trade on Thursday, Nov 25 spurred on by the proposed merger of the two companies.

AmResearch viewed the proposed merger as positive and added the offer price of RM5.10 a share represents a premium of 23% to its fair value of RM4.13 a share.

At 9.04am, SunCity rose 18 sen to RM4.67, Sunway-WC added 16 sen to RM1.30, Sunway 13 sen to RM2.38 and SunCity-WA seven sen higher at RM1.19.

The FBM KLCI was up 6.52 points to 1,495.06. Turnover was 45.67 million shares valued at RM60.49 million. There were 138 gainers, 22 losers and 70 stocks unchanged.

KNM advances in active trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of KNM advanced in very active trade on Thursday, Nov 25, after the company announced its nine-month financial results which were above consensus.

At 9.14am, KNM was up three sen to 46.5 sen with 10.12 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI rose 6.34 points to 1,494.88. Turnover was 95.62 million shares valued at RM142.27 million. There were 202 gainers, 48 losers and 96 stocks unchanged.

OSK Research said KNM results were above consensus but within its expectations, making up 83% and 78% of the FY10 forecasts respectively.

The improvement in the 3QFY10 numbers showed that PBT soared 393% to RM41.0m q-o-q, mainly contributed by higher utilization of its plants as well as a better product mix.

'However, on a YTD comparison, the 9MFY10 PBT was still lower by 77.4% due to lower selling prices and higher cost of operation,' it said.

OSK Research said its target price for KNM remained unchanged at 56 sen, based on a PER of 9 times FY11 EPS.

AmResearch maintains Naim Holdings FV at RM5.09

KUALA LUMPUR: AmResearch is maintaining its earnings forecast and fair value of RM5.09 a share for NAIM HOLDINGS BHD [], pending further updates from management ' with an upward bias.

'We continue to like Naim for exposure to a re-acceleration of infrastructure spending ahead of the Sarawak state elections (due by July 2011) ' with added oil & gas kickers coming from Dayang,' it said on Thursday, Nov 25.

AmResearch said Naim reported 9MFY10 results which were above expectations. 3QFY10 earnings surged 52% YoY to RM37 million ' bringing profits for 9MFY10 to RM75 million (+26% YoY). This constitutes 84%-87% of both consensus and its full-year estimates, respectively.

Britain to urge EU to adopt rules on bankers' pay

LONDON: British finance minister George Osborne will this week urge the European Union to adopt transparency rules for bankers' pay, the Treasury said on Wednesday, Nov 24, but the UK has not ruled out acting on its own.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government is keen to get rules forcing banks to disclose how many staff earn big salaries adopted internationally, fearing that unilateral action could hurt the UK's attractiveness for business.

The previous Labour government backed proposals by David Walker to force banks to reveal staff numbers within salary bands from 1 million pounds (1.2 million euros) upwards -- and the new government, in power since May, has broadly adopted the same goals.

"The Chancellor will be writing to his EU counterparts to suggest new EU-wide transparency rules on bankers' bonuses in line with David Walker's recommendations," a Treasury spokesman said.

Osborne, who is expected to write to EU finance ministers within 48 hours, could also suggest the proposals at G20 level. Improving transparency for salaries in the banking sector is seen as one way to make banks more accountable as global policymakers seek to avoid a repeat of the credit crunch. - Reuters

Wall Street rally on upbeat data

NEW YORK: Wall Street rallied as stock investors put aside worries about swirling global problems on Wednesday, Nov 24'' turning to improvement in the labor market and signs consumers are ready to open their wallets ahead of the biggest shopping day of the year.

New claims for unemployment benefits hit their lowest level in more than two years last week while consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month in October, suggesting the economy is nearing a self-sustaining recovery.

The data boosted enthusiasm in the consumer sector, which has outperformed all year, as Black Friday, a key date for retailers and the traditional kickoff to the year-end shopping season, approached.

Online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN.O) rose 5.4 percent to close at an all-time high of $177.25. The S&P consumer discretionary index .GSPD, which gained 2 percent for the day, has climbed 22.5 percent year-to-date and is the best-performing of the S&P 500's top 10 sectors in that period.

"Consumer spending is continuing to improve. Even the unemployment situation, which everyone knows is very bad, is slowly, but surely improving," said Bryant Evans, the Champaign, Illinois-based portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management. He is "overweight" the consumer discretionary sector.

Upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) posted quarterly profit and sales that handily beat estimates and forecast strong holiday sales. Its stock shot up 5.3 percent to $61.33.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 150.91 points, or 1.37 percent, to 11,187.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 17.62 points, or 1.49 percent, to 1,198.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 48.17 points, or 1.93 percent, to 2,543.12.

The S&P 500 closed in on 1,200 for the fourth time in five sessions. The benchmark seems to be in a tight range between 1,175 and 1,200, without strong catalysts to break the trend in either direction.

"We're entering a period with a lot of days of very weak volume," said Manny Weintraub, president of Integre Advisors in New York.

"There's no earnings, you got pre-announcements possibly coming, but otherwise there's nothing really to knock (the market) down or push it forward either."

Airline stocks were among the top performers, with AMR Corp (AMR.N), parent of American Airlines, up 8.1 percent at $8.70.

The ARCA airline index .XAL surged 3.7 percent, its largest daily percentage gain in more than a month.

In other readings on the economy, data showed new durable goods orders registered their largest drop in nearly two years and sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell unexpectedly in October. But a private survey of U.S. consumer sentiment rose in November to its highest level since June. - Reuters

#Stocks to watch:* Sunway, Suncity, Naim, KNM, MMC

KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia are expected to advance on Thursday, Nov 25 after Wall Street rallied on positive economic data from the US but worries about Ireland's ability to meet the tough IMF-EU austerity proposal could keep gains in check.

On Wednesday,'' Wall Street rallied as stock investors put aside worries about swirling global problems turning to improvement in the labor market and signs consumers are ready to open their wallets ahead of the biggest shopping day of the year.

Reuters reported ''new claims for unemployment benefits hit their lowest level in more than two years last week while consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month in October, suggesting the economy is nearing a self-sustaining recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 150.91 points, or 1.37 percent, to 11,187.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 17.62 points, or 1.49 percent, to 1,198.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 48.17 points, or 1.93 percent, to 2,543.12.

Stocks to watch on Thursday include SUNWAY HOLDINGS BHD [] and SUNWAY CITY BHD []'s multi-billion ringgit merger, NAIM HOLDINGS BHD [], MMC Corp Bhd and KNM GROUP BHD [].

Also in focus would be BINA PURI HOLDINGS BHD [], SARAWAK OIL PALMS BHD [], PLUS Expressway Bhd and MISC BHD [].

Sunway Holdings and Sunway City will be merged under a proposed exercise undertaken by Sunway Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling. This would involve'' RM4.5 billion in cash and share swap.

The exercise entails Newco offering RM2.60 per Sunway share, RM1.50 per Sunway warrant and RM5.10 per SunCity share and RM1.29 per SunCity warrant.

Naim Holdings' earnings jumped 72% to RM36.94 million in the quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM21.39 million a year ago mainly due to higher sales of PROPERTIES [] and substantial completion of certain CONSTRUCTION [] projects.

Revenue slipped 2.4% to RM140.99 million from RM144.46 million. Earnings per share were 15.59 sen compared with 9.03 sen. It declared dividend of 5.0 sen a share.

MMC Corp Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30 surged 32% to RM117.8mil from RM88.7mil a year ago due to better performance from some divisions.

It said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday that revenue for the period was RM2.23bil against RM2.17bil while earnings per share stood at 3.87 sen versus 2.91 sen previously.

KNM Group Bhd saw its third quarter bottomline improve by 75% to RM56.09 million from RM31.92 million a year ago. Pre-tax profit was RM41.03 million while there was also tax incentive of RM19.54 million.

Bina Puri Holdings is teaming up with a Chinese association to develop a two acre site in Jalan Pasar, which guarantees investment return of RM40.6 million in 14 years.

Bina Puri will be investing RM16.0 million which is the estimated construction cost.

Sarawak Oil Palms' earnings doubled to RM49.23 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30 from RM24.85 million a year ago, as it benefited from higher prices for crude palm oil and palm kernel.

PLUS Expressway's earnings rose 12.2% to RM349.67 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM311.57 million a year ago. Revenue was 7% higher at RM872.64 million compared with RM815.17 million while earnings per share were 6.99 sen versus 6.23 sen.

MISC reported net profit of RM369.36 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 as it benefited from the improvement in the restructured liner business and increased profitability from the heavy engineering business.

However, pretax profit of RM416.29 million in 2Q fell 11.7% from RM471.3 million in 1Q due to higher losses from chemical business and petroleum business recording nominal loss in the quarter.

OSK Research maintains KNM target price at 56 sen

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said KNM Bhd's 9MFY10 results were above consensus but within its expectations, making up 83% and 78% of the FY10 forecasts respectively.

It said on Thursday, Nov 25 the improvement in the 3QFY10 numbers showed that PBT soared 393% to RM41.0m q-o-q, mainly contributed by higher utilization of its plants as well as a better product mix.

However, on a YTD comparison, the 9MFY10 PBT was still lower by 77.4% due to lower selling prices and higher cost of operation.

The ex-date for the company's share consolidation of every four shares into one share has been set for Dec 2.

'Our target price for KNM remains unchanged at 56 sen, based on a PER of 9x FY11 EPS. In the immediate term, we believe there may be some upside to its share price once the shares are consolidated as worries over its liquidity would be successfully addressed by then.

'Going forward, we expect KNM's outlook to gradually improve in line with the recovery of the global O&G industry,' said OSK Research.

OSK Research: Petra Perdana to break even by 4Q

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said PETRA PERDANA BHD []'s'' 9MFY10 results were within its'' expectations, with a cumulative net loss of RM53.1 million year-to-date.

'We expect the company to break even by 4QFY10, unless the monsoon season turns out worse than expected and cause some of its contracted vessels being put on hold,' it said on Thursday, Nov 25

OSK Research said the lower 3QFY10 net loss of RM23.7 million gave a good indication that the worst for the company may be over. The better q-o-q results were contributed by 1) higher utilization of vessels, and 2) lower mobilization costs during the quarter.

'Nevertheless, we think the share price may have hit bottom and hence are upgrading our call to Trading Buy, with a target price of 94 sen,' it said.

Singapore leads regional rebound; others recover

BANGKOK:'' Most Southeast Asian stock markets regained lost ground on Wednesday, Nov 24 a day after sell-offs triggered by Korean tension.

Singapore finished up 0.34 percent, reversing a 2 percent drop to a three-week low on Tuesday, as investors built up positions along with recovering Asian bourses, while Malaysia gained its lost ground to end nearly unchanged.

Vietnam climbed almost one percent, recouping its early losses. Thai, Indonesian and Philippine shares extended their losses, all suffering more outflows.

Shares in Asia and Europe steadied on Wednesday from a sell-off following North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island on Tuesday, but tension on the divided peninsula supported safe-haven assets such as gold and Japanese government bonds.

Bargain hunters entered the region, dealers said, boosting daily volume in most share markets above their 90-day average, including those of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

"The trend in Southeast Asia was very much the same as the region's. Overall, it's a good rebound and foreign selling in the region such as for the Thai market and Indonesia's were not a big deal," said a Kuala Lumpur-based stock trader.

"The buying in Malaysia was led by local investors. The debut of Petronas Chemicals on Friday helped keep momentum. Everyone was hopeful that the IPO will bring the market up to next level."

The IPO of Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals, the unit of state oil firm Petronas, is the latest in a series of multi-billion dollar offerings in the region, fueled by foreign investors in search of greater returns and looking to capitalise on strong economic growth.

About 1.06 billion shares changed hands on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, more than one time its average volume over 90 days while at the Indonesian stock exchange, 5.62 billion shares changed hands, 1.29 times its 90-day average, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Jakarta had an outflow of $60.8 million on the day, after $23.5 million the previous session. Manila saw an outflow of $11.1 million while Bangkok saw $64 million flowing out, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Among gainers in the region, Singapore's casino operator Genting Singapore rose as much as 3 percent on bargain hunting after its recent sell-off made its valuation more attractive while Malaysian financial firm CIMB Group Holdings rose 0.4 percent.

Among weak spots, Singapore-listed palm oil refiner Mewah International saw its shares plunge as much as 13 percent, marking one of the weakest IPO performances in Singapore in recent months.

In Bangkok, PTT Exploration and Production dropped 5 percent after Australia said it planned to tighten regulations on offshore oil exploration and review projects run by the company after Australia's worst offshore oil spill last year

Ireland set for majority stakes in leading banks

DUBLIN: Ireland is set to take a majority stake in top lender Bank of Ireland as part of a massive international bailout that could leave the state with effective control of the country's top three banks, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, Nov 24.

The state's ownership of Bank of Ireland could rise to near 80 percent from 36 percent now under the bailout, put at up to 85 billion euros ($114 billion), and Allied Irish Banks could join Anglo Irish Bank in being fully nationalised.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed to provide external assistance to Ireland to shore up its banks and give them access to cheaper state funding.

Billions of the bailout that could be used immediately to recapitalise the banks, but most will be a backstop in case they need more in the future and to ease funding strains.

Irish officials have said they wanted to overcapitalise banks and were expected to require a core Tier 1 capital ratio of about 12 percent, giving a bigger cushion than most international rivals to withstand future shocks.

Bank of Ireland could need over 3 billion euros and AIB even more, and the government may be the only provider of funds.

"In the current environment I do not think they stand any chance of getting all that privately," said Ciaran Callaghan, analyst at NCB in Dublin, estimating that would leave the state with about an 80 percent holding in Bank of Ireland.

Lifting the core Tier 1 ratio of Bank of Ireland, AIB and Anglo Irish Bank would cost almost 8 billion euros, Reuters calculations showed, including about 5.6 billion for AIB, 1.6 billion for Bank of Ireland and 500 million for Anglo Irish Bank.

More would be needed if preference shares and other types of capital were excluded.

A plunge in share prices this week has increased the dilution for shareholders and the size of the government stake.

Bank of Ireland shares were down a quarter in value to 22.5 cents by 1110 GMT, cutting its market value to under 2 billion euros. AIB shares were down 18 percent, valuing it at less than 500 million euros. Both have lost about 40 percent of their value this week.

The government could be left with over 99 percent of AIB and may only leave the shares listed to make it easier to sell down the stake in future, analysts said.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said detail of the recapitalistion had not been finalised.

Extra cash could be pumped into Ireland's ailing banks as soon as this weekend, the Irish Independent reported on Wednesday.

As well as providing capital, the government wants to shrink banks' loan books to ease a funding strain which has intensified in the past six months after an exodus of deposits, adding to lenders' dependence on ECB funding, which has risen to 130 billion euros.

Ireland could also impose a levy on banks as a term of the bailout and to ease a deadlock over the country's low corporation tax, The Irish Times reported.

Banks have been told to sell assets to focus on aiding the domestic economic recovery. That could see AIB being told to restart a sale of its British business, after halting the process when failing to find a buyer.

The banking crisis has rocked Ireland and stretched its finances. The deeply unpopular government was due to explain on Wednesday how it planned to save 15 billion euros over the next four years. The IMF and EU bailout depends on the austerity plan and a later budget going through. - reuters

KNM 3Q earnings up 75% at RM56.09m, tax incentive boost

KUALA LUMPUR: KNM GROUP BHD [] saw its third quarter bottomline improve by 75% to RM56.09 million from RM31.92 million a year ago.

It said on Wednesday, Nov 24 that pre-tax profit was RM41.03 million while there was also tax incentive of RM19.54 million.

The group's effective tax rate was lower than the statutory tax rate mainly due to the availability of certain tax incentives.

Revenue however declined 8.7% to RM418.36 million from RM458.34 million. Earnings per share were 1.42 sen versus 0.81 sen.

When compared to the second quarter, KNM's revenue of RM418.36 million and net profit before taxation and minority interest of RM41.03 million for the third quarter were higher by RM35.15 million and RM32.71 million.

'The higher revenue and profit for this quarter are mainly due to improvement in capacity utilisation and higher contribution margins during the quarter,' it said.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2010, the group achieved revenue of RM1.17 billion, profit after tax and minority interest of RM110.57 million and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of RM154.46 million.

Compared to the same period of previous year, the better performance in this period was due to higher contribution margins during the quarter.

MISC 2Q earnings surge on heavy engineering, liner business

KUALA LUMPUR: MISC BHD [] reported net profit of RM369.36 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 as it benefited from the improvement in the restructured liner business and increased profitability from the heavy engineering business.

It said on Wednesday, Nov 22 the earnings were 350% higher than the RM82.06 million a year ago. Revenue fell 12.5% to RM3.085 billion from RM3.527 billion. Earnings per share were 8.3 sen compared with 2.10 sen. It declared 15 sen dividend a share.

However, pretax profit of RM416.29 million in 2Q fell 11.7% from RM471.3 million in 1Q due to higher losses from chemical business and petroleum business recording nominal loss in the quarter.

As part of the group's efforts to hedge its interest rate risks, the group had entered into interest rate swap arrangements to convert its interest exposure from floating term into fixed term.

As at Sept 30, the fair value loss of the interest rate swaps with maturity exceeding three years, for a notional value of RM4.14 billion was RM272.5 million.

During the year, the group recognised a net loss of RM87.21 million in its equity in relations to interest rate swap arrangements.

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Naim Holdings 3Q earnings jump 72%

KUALA LUMPUR: NAIM HOLDINGS BHD []'s earnings jumped 72% to RM36.94 million in the quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM21.39 million a year ago mainly due to higher sales of PROPERTIES [] and substantial completion of certain CONSTRUCTION [] projects.

It said on Wednesday, 24, revenue slipped 2.4% to RM140.99 million from RM144.46 million. Earnings per share were 15.59 sen compared with 9.03 sen. It declared dividend of 5.0 sen a share.

However, when compared to 2Q, group revenue of RM156 million, there was a decline of RM15 million. Group profit before tax increased substantially to RM50 million from RM30 million in 2Q'' mainly due to recognition of variation orders for and cost savings in certain projects.

PLUS Expressways 3Q earnings up 12.2% at RM349.6m

KUALA LUMPUR: PLUS Expressway Bhd's earnings rose 12.2% to RM349.67 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM311.57 million a year ago.

It said on Wednesday, Nov 24 revenue was 7% higher at RM872.64 million compared with RM815.17 million while earnings per share were 6.99 sen versus 6.23 sen.

PLUS said net toll revenue for Sept 30, 2010 was RM867.27 million of which toll compensation was RM223.10 million and collection RM644.16 million. There was also revenue of RM5.37 million from other non-toll operations.

In the previous quarter, net toll revenue was RM815.17 million of which RM604.62 million was from collection and RM210.55 million from compensation.