Sabah & Sarawak
Coastal contracts acquires 49 pct stake in Indonesia’s JSK Gas
Coastal Contracts Bhd inked a binding memorandum of understanding on Monday with Jakarta-based PT. Jaya Samudra Karunia Internasionalfor the acquisition of a 49 per cent equity interest in its unit, PT. Jaya Samudra Karunia Gas for US$6.55 million.
Sabah govt agencies contributed RM90.88 mln in dividends last year
Government agencies in Sabah had contributed dividends amounting to RM90.88 million last year, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, This was part of the total dividends of RM94.57 million received by the state government.
P&G appointment a sure sign of KTC’s growing prowess in Sarawak
Sabah-based Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Bhd (KTC) expanded its access of valuable business in Sarawak following the appointment by Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P&G) recently to distribute the latter’s brands of products beginning Oct 1.
The company believed that the wider access of more distribution points will enable the group to improve its revenue and potentially earnings in the future.
Press Metal set to see comeback in Samalaju plant
Analysts believe Press Metal Bhd (Press Metal) is on track to making a comeback following news of it receiving full claims from its insurer to compensate for losses incurred from last year’s fire incident in its Samalaju smelter. RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd noted that all smelting pots in Press Metal’s Samalaju plant have been running at full capacity since June. This is further aided by aluminium price showing signs of bottoming out, with an upside bias.
Alliance Bank to further tap Sarawak’s equipment financing business
Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (Alliance Bank) is eyeing a bigger slice of the equipment financing business from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout Sarawak. Alliance Bank SME senior vice president Christopher Yap revealed that the banking group sees huge potential to grow its lending business for equipment financing in the state as there were increased demand for that segment of the SMEs.
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National
Islamic wealth management a new growth area for Malaysia
Malaysia has identified Islamic wealth management as a new growth area going forward, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Tuesday. The country is also looking forward to opportunities to collaborate with other jurisdictions, as well as with industry and academia, to expand international connectivity, strengthen talent and capabilities, and grow the global Islamic capital market for the benefit of all.
Corporate credit still resilient despite challenging climate
Following a decade of strong growth that had been partly driven by accommodative interest rates, RAM Ratings said the Malaysian economy has been decelerating in recent years with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth clocked in at 4.2 per cent in the first quarter amid a raft of challenges on both the global and domestic fronts.
BCM Alliance gets NOD for ace market listing
BCM Alliance Bhd has received Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd’s approval on Wednesday for its initial public offering (IPO) to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities.
The company is principally involved in the distribution of equipment specialising in the commercial laundry and medical devices businesses in Malaysia.
High time for Malaysian businesses to invest in Ukraine
It is high time for Malaysian businesses to invest in Ukraine and take advantage of the country’s free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), said its President Petro Poroshenko.
MAS CEO reiterates call for same PSCs at KLIA, KLIA2
Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) chief executive officer Peter Bellew has reiterated his call for airport passenger service charges to be the same at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and KLIA2, saying the current charges are totally anti-competitive. On Friday, he said the move was crucial for MAS to become profitable again as it needed a “competitive set of charges at our home base” that would protect workers’ jobs and enable new jobs to be created in the future.
1H16 trade surplus of RM41.79 bln reflects strong export sector
Malaysia’s export sector continued on a positive note with the trade surplus in the first half of this year (1H16) increasing to RM41.79 billion from RM41.69 billion registered in 1H15. June’s trade surplus was RM5.52 billion, making it the 224th consecutive month of trade surpluses recorded since November 1997, said the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) in a statement.