News Highlights - Genting Malaysia, Building Materials Sector, Construction Sector

Genting Malaysia Bhd (RM3.63/share)

Restructures UK subsidiaries

Genting Malaysia Bhd is restructuring its indirect subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (UK) to better streamline its operations. In a note to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said Palomino World Ltd was disposing of its unit Palomino World (UK) Ltd (PWUK) to Genting Worldwide (UK) Ltd (GWUK) for £113,004 (RM565,020) and that Palomino Star Ltd was disposing Genting International (UK) Ltd (GIUK) to GWUK for £21.67mil. It also said GWUK was transferring PWUK and GIUK to Nedby Limited (NL) in exchange for 21.79 million new NL shares. The company announced also the transfers of PWUK, Genting Solihull Limited (GSL) and GIUK by NL to Genting International Investment (UK) Ltd (GIIUK) in exchange for 21.79 million new GIIUK shares, as well as the disposal of 0.28% equity interest in Genting UK Plc (GUK) by GIUK to GIIUK for a cash consideration of £733.87. Genting Malaysia further announced the transfers of PWUK, Genting International Investment Properties (UK) Ltd, GSL and GIUK by GIIUK to GUK, in exchange for 24.38 million new GUK shares. – StarBiz

Building Materials Sector

Malaysian firms in talks to set up joint venture concrete plant in Saudi Arabia

A Malaysian consortium is in serious talks with a Saudi Arabia-based public listed cement company to jointly set up a precast concrete plant in Jeddah. The consortium, which comprises Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) and other groups, is likely to take up a 30% stake in the joint-venture (JV) company that will own the proposed RM150.0mil plant. SCIB chairman Tan Sri Hamid Bugo said that SCIB has the expertise to build the plant and that the Malaysian group plans to take up a 30% stake in the JV. The plant’s capacity will be several times bigger than SCIB’s existing facility in Bintawa Industrial Estate here. While Tabuk Cement will own the majority stake in the project, Finnish Elematic the world’s leading supplier of precast concrete machinery and equipment is tipped to take up 5% equity interest. – StarBiz

Construction Sector

MMC to submit proposal on KTMB

Next month, MMC Corp Bhd plans to submit a proposal on the privatisation of national railway company Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) to the government. Group managing director, Datuk Hasni Harun said the proposal is subject to the result of due diligence study conducted by the company which is expected to be completed by the end of the month. He added that they will also submit an operational plan together with the proposal, which will indicate how they intend to run KTMB. KTMB suffered some RM1.5bil in accumulative net losses up until 2008. It is further believed that the national railway company cannot “afford” to pay back its own operational costs and loans. The operator has been mostly bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs. – Business Times

Source: AmeSecurities