The Week at a Glance 20 July 2014

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Sabah & Sarawak

Nam Cheong to benefit from recovering OSV market

Analysts on Tuesday believe that Nam Cheong Ltd (Nam Cheong) should benefit disproportionately from a recovering offshore support vessel (OSV) market, due to added support from the Malaysian OSV operators, which are profiting from Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s spending push.

 

Teraju disburses RM14 mln to 28 recipients to commercialise innovative ideas

The Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU) has so far disbursed RM14 million in grants to 28 recipients under the Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Startup Scheme (SUPERB) to commercialise innovative ideas. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged more young Bumiputera entrepreneurs, including in Sabah and Sarawak to participate in the programme.

 

ARM opens its maiden store in Kuching at CityOne Megamall

ARM Century Sdn Bhd (ARM) has officially opened its first Kuching branch at CityOne Megamall, following its success in Miri.

It brings to Kuchingites an array of products and all types of the popular devices including but not limited to Nokia, Sony, Samsung, Apple and the in demand China phones such as Lenovo, Huawei, Oppo and XiaoMi.

 

Sabah state govt takes steps to arrest decline in rubber price

The Sabah state government is taking steps to assist rubber smallholders, apart from providing a special assistance, to overcome the current fall in the price of the commodity.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin who is also the Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, said Malaysia was the fifth largest producer of natural rubber

globally with an annual production of 845,000 metric tonnes. However, he noted that the fall in the rubber price is not just in Sabah or peninsular Malaysia, but in all producer countries in the world such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam.

 

TAS Offshore posts higher earnings and turnover for FY14

TAS Offshore Bhd (TAS Offshore) registered higher net profit and turnover for financial year 2014 (FY14).

For FY14 ended May, TAS Offshore in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on July 17 said its net profit soared 114 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM28.79 million compared with RM13.46 million recorded in FY13.

 

 National

Fitch warns bank mega-merger comes with risks

The proposed merger of CIMB Holdings Bhd (CIMB), RHB Capital Bhd (RHB) and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) is ambitious and will bring inherent challenges and risks for the new banking group amid a complex integration process, says Fitch Ratings on Monday.

 

OCBC Bank and subsidiary to increase BLR and BFR

OCBC  Bank (M) Bhd and its subsidiary OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd will increase their base lending rates (BLR) and base financing rates (BFR) effective July 16.

 

Hong Leong Bank, Hong Leong Islamic raise lending rates

Hong Leong Bank Bhdand Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd will raise their Basic Lending Rate and Islamic Financing Rate (IFR) respectively by 25 basis points to 6.85 per cent from 6.60 per cent effective July 16.

 

‘Don’t wait to be GST compliant’

With the goods and services tax (GST) to be implemented on April 1, 2015, the clear message to all companies is to start preparing early.

The sooner they start, particularly in incorporating GST-compliant software and training, they can avoid bottleneck

situations most likely to happen closer to the implementation date.

 

AirAsia X signs MOU for A330 neo, aims for expansion in Europe

AirAsia X Bhd (AirAsia X) has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) for 50 A330neo, plus an additional 50 purchase rights with Airbus SAS (Airbus). AirAsia hopes to return to Europe and expand its presence in the region amid the order of 50 A330-900neo aircraft.

 

Moody’s: Asian banks generally resilient to changing credit conditions

Moody’s Investors Service says the long positive credit cycle enjoyed by the banks in Asia (ex-Japan) may be about to peak, introducing new challenges for the lenders, as pockets of risk emerge, due to potentially tighter global monetary conditions.

 

KPI of GLICs & GLCs to provide RM7 bln in business opportunities for 2014: Najib

Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) and Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs) are expected to generate RM7 billion in business opportunities this year based on their key performance indicators (KPIs), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

 

SCOMI Engineering to participate in Brazil’s RM5.9 bln subway project

Scomi Engineering Bhd (Scomi Engineering) will participate in the 15.5 kilometre Line 18 – Bronze of the Sao Paolo subway project in Brazil. The project is expected to contribute to the group’s revenue during the financial year ending March 31, 2016.

 

DiGi 2Q net profit up 31 per cent to RM498.91 million

Telecommunication services provider DiGi.com Bhd’s (DiGi) earnings continue to tract robust growth with its second quarter 2014 (2Q14) net profit showing an increase of 31 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM498.91 million.

DiGi’s chief executive officer Henrik Clausen explained in a press statement, the stronger financial performance in 2Q14 was a result of steady growth in Internent revenue as well as the increase in its customers.

 

CPI expands at faster pace to 3.3 per cent in June

Inflation in June 2014 has risen 3.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) on higher prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages & tobacco, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

Analysts expect CPI to average around 3.5 per cent to four per cent in 2015, which is in line with BNM forecast of three per cent to four per cent for the year.