Wah Seong secures RM390m contract

KUALA LUMPUR: Wah Seong Corporation Bhd’s group company Petro-Pipe (Sabah) Sdn Bhd has secured a RM390mil contract to supply pipes for the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline Project.
It announced to Bursa Malaysia on Thursday that the contract with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd involved the manufacturing, coating, delivery and storage of pipes.
The entire pipeline project to be undertaken by Petronas will involve laying an onshore natural gas pipeline from the proposed Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis, Sabah to the Petronas Liquefied Natural Gas complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, and the construction of associated facilities.
”The estimated value of the contract is RM390mil and the pipes are scheduled for delivery to Petronas over a one year period starting from September 2008,” it said.
Wah Seong said it expected the contract to contribute positively to the group’s earnings for the financial years ending Dec 31, 2008 and 2009.-www.staronline.com.my

Aras Kreatif owns 11% of RCE

KUALA LUMPUR: Aras Kreatif Sdn Bhd has emerged as a substantial shareholder in RCE Capital Bhd after acquiring an 11.17% stake on April 1.
A filing with Bursa Malaysia showed the stake accounted for 70.4 million shares. The share price closed at 52.5 sen on that day.
On Monday, the company announced that its placement of 64.63 million shares or 10% of its existing paid-up share capital had been completed with the listing of the shares on April 5.
RCE provides loan financing to civil servants. Its share price hit a 52-week high on Oct 7 last year at RM1.14 while its 52-week low was 49 sen on March 21 this year. It is trading at a price to earnings of 5.21 times.-www.staronline.com.my

PNB's Total Funds At RM130 Billion

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) The funds of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), which celebrated its 30th anniversary Friday, currently stands at a total of RM130 billion comprising shareholders funds and proprietary funds.The figure represents about 14 percent of the stock market capitalisation, its Chairman, Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said.With such funds, PNB has been able to hold equities in 313 companies,with 256 of them being listed companies and encompassing various strategic sectors such as plantations, banking, real estate, oil and gas, energy, port and others."In the last 30 years PNB has carried out the efforts to fulfill the duty entrusted to it by Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera (Bumiputera Investment Foundation) which was to increase the wealth of Bumiputeras, raise the ownership of Bumiputeras in the country's main economic sectors and enhancing the value of its unit trust shares," he said at a dinner given in conjunction with its anniversary celebration here Friday.Also present at the event were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Datin Seri Jeanna Abdullah, Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor, and the president and chief executive of PNB Group, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman and his wife Puan Sri Rohani Mohamad.Todate, PNB has distributed a total of RM60.4 billion in dividends and bonus to 8.845 million holders of its nine unit trust funds.The share units that they hold amount to 76 billion, which is about 35 percent of the total industry figure, Ahmad Sarji said."PNB wishes to express its deepest appreciation to all its investors including the 748,303 non Bumiputera unitholders who now hold a total of 10 billion share units."Under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the chairman of Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera, PNB, he has taken the efforts to ensure that the institution would continue to have the trust of both its Bumiputera and non Bumiputera investors," he said.PNB has also moved into the global level through strategic partnerships with world reknown companies, besides opening up global fund management offices in Singapore and London.It also plans to soon open an office in Tokyo, Japan, he said.Hopefully, these efforts will bring higher returns to the investors especially the lower income earners who make up 7.6 million or the majority 86.12 percent of PNB unit trust funds holders with investments of below 10,000 share units, he said.

GE Oil & Gas In Alliance With Sime Darby Industrial

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) - GE Oil & Gas' PII Pipeline Solutions division has signed a pipeline integrity alliance with TPS, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd (SDI) as part of GEs strategy to strengthen its pipeline integrity services in Southeast Asia.In a statement, GE said TPS/SDI will act as distributor for PII services in Malaysia, providing local inspection crew, project management and logistics.PII will continue to support TPS/SDI by supplying state-of-the-art inspection technology, data analysis and its pipeline integrity management expertise, it added.GEs PII Pipeline Solutions is a leading provider of pipeline inspection technology and integrity management services for the oil and gas industry.TPS/SDIs expertise lies in managing turnkey projects, including the financing, supply, maintenance and repair of vital components of the petroleum industry.

Tabung Haji Targets 50 Percent Muslim Depositors

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) - The Pilgrims Fund Board (Tabung Haji) aims to have 50 per cent of Muslims in the country as its depositors compared with the current 35 per cent, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.He said would use all his experience to help Tabung Haji achieve the target."About 4.2 million Muslims in thes country are Tabung Haji depositors. Agressive measures and actions will be taken to increase the number," he told reporters after visiting the Tabung Haji headquarters here.Earlier, Zahid, who is in charge of Islamic Affairs, met Tabung Haji senior officers and was briefed on the operations of the organisation.Ahmad Zahid also said that he would ensure that Tabung Haji continued to offer the best service and become the one and only national organisation for pilgrims.At the same time, he said, it would also continue to help the poor." Although it is not Tabung Haji's responsibility as there are other agencies and departments to help the poor, I think it is possible for Tabung Haji's profits to be shared with the poor," he said.Ahmad Zahid said, he was satisfied and impressed with the management of the organisation which showed an excellent performance and recorded a revenue of RM1.8 billion for 2007.

Bank Negara international reserves up RM8billion

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara Malaysia’s international reserves rose RM9.06bil to RM393.21bil (US$119.08bil) as at March 14 from RM384.15bil on Feb 29.
The central bank said the RM393.21bil was sufficient to finance 9.8 months of retained imports and was 7.2 times the short-term external debt.
Economists said the increase in international reserves could be due to foreign portfolio funds shifting their money into the bond market from equities, especially early last week following political uncertainties and external factors.
They said these funds were awaiting the ringgit to strengthen against the US dollar.www.thestar.com.my

Ferrari Appoints Naza As Sole Importer For Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Naza Italia Sdn Bhd, a unit of the Naza group of companies, was today appointed as the sole importer for Ferrari cars in Malaysia.The company is scheduled to begin operations early next month.Naza Italia, which signed an agreement with Ferrari today, is expected to launch a flagship showroom with service centre by the third quarter of this year.Its chief executive officer S. M. Faisal Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin said as Ferrari's representative, Naza Italia aimed to make a greater contribution to the brand image."Investment will include showrooms equipped with 4S -- sales, service, system and spare parts -- and Ferrari merchandise," said Faisal, who is also executive vice president of the Naza group."A substantial amount of the investment will be allocated for customer relationship management, sales and after-sales services, training, branding and marketing activities," he said at a media conference here.Naza Italia will be bringing to local customers the whole Ferrari line-up, ranging from the F430 range to the 599 GTB Fiorano and the flagship 612 Scaglietti, Faisal said."Our existing automotive business has enabled us to build significant relationship with the niche market which is demanding access to high quality automobiles," he said.Asked about target sales, Faisal said the luxury car market in Malaysia was experiencing strong growth, adding that there was always a strong demand for such niche market cars."Our mission is to provide an experience to the Malaysian market. We plan further enhancements with new additions, innovative facilities and services, all of which will significantly contribute to the success of Ferrari in Malaysia," he said.Commenting on the partnership, Ferrari's communication director, Asia Pacific, Matteo Bonciani, said the company started the relationship because Naza has proven to be the premier distributor in Malaysia.He said Ferrari sold 1,054 units in the Asia Pacific last year, adding that the company considered Malaysia as an important market.