News Highlights - Malaysian Resources Corportion, Star Publications

Malaysia Resources Corp Bhd (RM1.69/share)

Debt gloom resolved with takeover of EDL

The government’s takeover of the Eastern Dispersal link (EDL) will lighten Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd’s (MRCB) debt by about RM1.0bil and bolster its coffers significantly. According to an executive at a highway company, the compensation for MRCB would have been spelled out in the concession agreement.

The executive said it is normally the cost incurred and loss of income over the period  so far. It can range from 8% to 12% of the invested cost. Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop announced the government would take over the EDL from MRCB. He said the details would be discussed with the company later.

The EDL was opened to the public on April 1 but has not commenced tolling as per concession agreement because it would result in all vehicles going to Singapore paying toll. Should this happen, officials had said Singapore can impose toll on its side of the causeway under an old agreement. – The Edge

Star Publications (M) Bhd (RM3.24/share)

Proves naysayers wrong

The double-digit surge in the readership of The Star, with past week readership hitting an all-time high of 1.84 million, shows that the English newspaper remains an important source of news and information. Star Publications (M) Bhd group managing director and chief executive officer Ho Kay Tat said the paper’s rise in readership together with recent increases in circulation sales had proven the naysayers wrong. The Star’s daily circulation rose to 287,204 copies at end 2011 from 278,961 at end 2010. The latest Nielsen media index released last week showed The Star daily’s “past week” readership jumped 21% to 1.84 million at end June this year from 1.51 million a year ago.

Ho said the company made several initiatives in the past one year that could have led to the strong performance. He said they improved their content with focus on inspiring stories and launched campaigns like Do Good Volunteer and English for More Opportunities. The Star also launched the augmented reality feature called i-Snap which brings articles and advertisements to life, and made the exact replica of the newspaper available digitally via its e-paper. - StarBiz

Source: AmeSecurities