CIMB Group Holdings Bhd hopes to complete negotiations soonon its proposed acquisition of a stake in the Bank of Commerce belonging to SanMiguel Corp, a diversified Philippines conglomerate. Yesterday, Group ChiefExecutive Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak said the deal presented it an opportunityto enter the market. In line with the group's overseas expansion, Nazir addedthat it was eyeing the South Korea market and expanding into the Asean regionwhich includes Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. CIMB Group recently inked anagreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group for the acquisition ofits Asian equities business to expand CIMB Group's presence beyond the Asean shores.' Bernama

Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB) has launched the new design forits Petronas stations, in line with its pledge to offer customers greaterconvenience and comfort. PDB has now pushed the bar on customer experience anotch higher by making bold and evolutionary changes in the Petronas stationsby including energy-saving and safety-enhancing concepts. PDB managing directorand chief executive Amir Hamzah Azizan said as PDB ramps up its retail networkto attain market leadership, it is only apt that they re-image their stationsin line with the growth momentum and take the lead with the latest trends. PetronasDagangan Bhd, the national oil corporation Petronas' retail arm, has revampedthe Kedai Mesra design to provide easier access to the aisles and offer a customer-friendlylayout. ' Business Times

According to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA),sales of new vehicles in March fell by 15.3% from a year ago to 53,583 units.Sales of passenger vehicles was down to 47,106 in March compared with 56,482last year while commercial vehicles sales dropped to 6,477 units from 6,782 ayear ago. The total industry volume for the first quarter this year alsorecorded a fall by 12.5% to 138,544 units against the corresponding quarterlast year. However, MAA said that on a month-on-month basis, the sales in Marchreflected an expansion for the second consecutive month this year. Sales inMarch was at 9,570 units or 21.7% higher than the previous month. It added thatthe month-on-month increase was due to positive consumer sentiment, theintroduction of new models of vehicles and a longer working month. - StarBiz

Source: AmeSecurities