Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (RM2.81/share)
Buying two buildings in PJ
Axis Real Estate Investment Trust's trustee, OSK Trustee Bhd, has entered into two sales and purchase agreements to acquire Wisma Academy and the Annex in Petaling Jaya for RM85.0mil from Academy Resources Sdn Bhd. Chief executive officer of Axis REIT Managers Bhd, the manager of the trust, Stewart LaBrooy said that the proposed acquisitions will also enable Axis-REIT to diversify and enlarge its portfolio of properties and is expected to benefit the trust in the long term as a result of economies of scale. ' StarBiz
Sime Darby Bhd (RM9.73/share)
Opens new unit in China
Sime Darby Bhd, Malaysia's biggest conglomerate, established the Chengdu Bow Yue Used Cars Centre Company Ltd in China on Monday. It received the business licence approval for the company yesterday. Sime Darby said the RM17.0mil entire registered capital for the centre will be held by B.M.W. Concessionaires (HK) Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Sime Darby. The centre's core activities are display and sale of used cars and consultancy services for motor vehicles. ' The Malaysian Insider
Pos Malaysia Bhd (RM2.68/share)
Looks to grow income streams
Pos Malaysia Bhd will spend RM150.0mil annually over the next five years to diversify its revenue streams. Group chief executive officer Datuk Khalid Abdol Rahman said its cash position was strong at RM409.9mil as at March 31 2012 with zero gearing. Between 2015 and 2017, Pos Malaysia aims to establish regional presence via alliances or partnership and hopes to register significant revenue from overseas operations. Khalid said Pos Malaysia was targeting a double-digit revenue growth in the next five years and hoped to improve its profit margin, which currently stands at 12%. The group will also be embarking on a syariah-compliant pawnbroking business soon under a separate entity. On the plans to develop the Brickfields land, Khalid said it was considering how best to capitalise on the land's strategic location. Asked if Pos Malaysia sees a possible merger and acquisition in its courier business, he said the group was always looking for opportunities. ' Business Times
Malaysian Airline System Bhd (RM1.15/share)
MASkargo to pay RM19mil fine to Australia
Malaysian Airline's unit, Malaysia Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd, (MASkargo) will pay A$6.0mil (RM19.0mil) as penalty following Australia's Federal Court ruling over alleged price fixing. MAS told Bursa Malaysia that the settlement ended the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) claims against MAS and MASkargo over alleged price fixing of surcharges relating to certain air freight services. The company agreed to pay a penalty of A$6mil and to contribute A$500,000 to the ACCC's legal costs (totalling about RM20.5mil) in five instalments over 24 months. - StarBiz
Construction Sector
Several allegations are thrown at MRT Corp and Prasarana over public rail projects
It was reported in an English daily that three out of the six pre-qualified companies have walked away from the RM1.6bil My Rapid Transit (MRT) supply tender for the 51km Sungai Buloh-Kajang line without submitting a bid. The reasons given by the three parties for not submitting their bids although they were qualified to do so included insufficient time to put in their bids and concerns about favourtism. The companies that did not submit their bids were South Korea's Hyundai Rotem Company, Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Co and Canada's Bombadier Transportation. Those that have submitted their bids were Germany's Siemens SMH Rail Consortium, Chinese train-makers Changchun Railways Vehicle Co Ltd and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd. The winner is expected to be announced in late July. StarBiz understands that at least two of the foreign companies had wanted to preserve capital in view of the bleak economic times. The issue of clarity and transparency in the tendering and bidding process for the rail packages surfaced in April. It involved a British and a South Korean company over the Ampang light rail transit and its extension and re-signalling package. ' StarBiz
Power Sector
Siemens to team up with IPPs for Prai job
Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd plans to team up with independent power producers (IPPs) to bid for the Prai power project. Siemens is keen to introduce its latest gas turbine for the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power project, company officials said. They claimed that Siemens SGT5 8000H, or the H-Class turbine is the world's largest and most efficient gas turbine. ' Business Times