Friday, December 17, 2010

FBMKLCI 1497.52 DJ+41.78 CRUDE OIL 88.79 RM 3.11

AirAsia Bhd, which has formed a 40:60 joint venture (JV) with three Philippine partners, is investing US$8mil for its 40% stake in AirAsia Philippines. We will be funding it internally via equity, group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said after a signing ceremony between AirAsia and Antonio O. Cojuangco Jr, Dr Michael L. Romeo and Marianne B. Honours yesterday. He expects AirAsia Philippines to be profitable straight away and contribute to group revenue immediately as a lot of ground works had been done. The set-up cost is very low. There are already flights from Kuala Lumpur to the Philippines. Everything is there already, Fernandes said. AirAsia will hold 40% equity in AirAsia Inc, the JV company set up for AirAsia Philippines. The new airline is expected to begin operations in August 2011 with an initial working capital of US$25m. To a question, Fernandes said it was in the midst of getting approval from authorities for its airline operations in the Philippines.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has inked three agreements worth RM991.8mil for the Hulu Terengganu hydroelectric project involving the construction of two dams and the installation of two hydro turbines and generators in an underground power station with a total installed capacity of 250MW.

Four companies, namely construction firm Putrajaya Perdana, water infrastructure specialist Loh & Loh Corp, property developer General Corp and planter Kurnia Setia, will be delisted on 21 Dec. The companies made the announcements to Bursa Malaysia yesterday. Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh were being taken private by Javace SB and Sheikh Tarek Essam Ahmad Obaid for a cash offer price of RM4.85 per share respectively. General Corp was being taken private by Consistent Record SB, which was acquiring all the company's assets and liabilities for RM505.01m while Kreatif Selaras SB was taking private Kurnia Setia.

MAA Holdings Bhd and AmG Insurance Bhd (a 51%-owned subsidiary of AMMB Holdings Bhd) have mutually agreed to discontinue discussions on the proposed disposal of Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd’s (a subsidiary of MAA) general insurance business for RM180mil.

Mulpha International Bhd will use the RM327mil proceeds from the sale of its Hilton Melbourne Airport Hotel to repay its debt levels unless new investment opportunities arise.

Proton Holdings is to replace its existing Persona model with a new version in 2012, said its group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. However, he did not disclose which of the five Pahlawan concept cars shown at the recent KL International Motor Show would be replacing the Persona model. "Take a guess," Syed Zainal said, when asked by reporters to reveal more on the Persona replacement model. Industry talk has it that the Tuah concept, or code-named Espire, would be bound for production. It is learnt that the Tuah concept car shown to the public was not the final design approved as Proton is coming up with an improved version. Earlier, Syed Zainal witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between AutoV Corporation Bhd with US-based ArvinMeritor Inc and Germany's Continental AG.

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