16 theSun | FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6 2009

business

Hang Seng S&P/ASX200 TSEC KLCI STI KOSPI Nikkei KL market summary
13,178.90 3,428.60 4,363.25 879.95 1,704.60 1,177.88 7,949.65 FEBRUARY 5, 2009
115.01 9.30 26.72 3.15 2.79 17.49 89.29 INDICES CHANGE
FBMEMAS 5,759..38 +17.07
COMPOSITE 879.95 +3.15
INDUSTRIAL 2,064.41 +4.15

HSBC survey shows

CONSUMER PROD 285.83 +1.14
INDUSTRIAL PROD 66.26 +0.11
CONSTRUCTION 165.72 -1.03
TRADING SERVICES 115.01 +0.20
FINANCE 6,983.07 +82.18
PROPERTIES 526.65 +4.68
Cheah PLANTATIONS 4,398.58 -58.24
(right) with MINING 233.04 unch

contraction in local economy

by Loo Sim Ee
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s small and
medium enterprises (SME) are expecting
a contraction in the local economy for the
first half of the year but most of them do
not plan to retrench any employee.
This is according to the HSBC Asia-Pa-
cific Small Business Confidence Monitor,
a survey conducted by research company
TNS from October to November last year
in Hongkong, China, Taiwan, Bangla-
desh, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Korea,
Malaysia and Indonesia.
At a briefing to announce the survey
findings, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd direc-
tor for SMEs, insurance and investment,
Peter Cheah, said this year will be a
difficult year for many businesses, but
Malaysia and Asia have withstood many
difficulties in the last decade, and the
survey results support what HSBC has
seen among their customers.
The survey was based on a random
sample, with pollings scattered randomly
in different business sectors.
The survey asked SME decision-mak-
ers about their local economic outlook for
the next six months, their plans on capital
the bank’s FBMSHA 5,959.38 - 5.29
commercial FBM2BRD 3,906.82 + 9.20
banking TECHNOLOGY 13.35 + 0.10
planning
TURNOVER VALUE
and product
315.914mil RM466.514mil
development
director Fong
Regional results of the survey showed ues to go through difficult times. But it is
that SMEs in Bangladesh, Vietnam and
India are the most optimistic, with plans
good to see that these challenges are not
translating into job cuts, so these busi-
Chia Ping at
a briefing to CI buoyed by
announce
to increase their capital expenditure and
expectations to increase trade volumes
nesses could improve conditions later in
the year,” he said.
the survey
findings.
selected blue chips
with Asia and the rest of the world, SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed
whereas SMEs in Singapore, Taiwan and lower yesterday as investors took cue from the
Hongkong are expecting to face economic downtrend on Wall Street with the losses led
contractions. by selected plantation-related stocks, dealers
Most of the Asian regional SMEs’ re- said.
cruitment plans remain unchanged with The benchmark KLCI however closed 3.15
a stable employment and little to no plans points higher at 879.95 supported by selected
for retrenchment. blue chips such as Maybank.
Cheah also said the local GDP growth Maybank increased 15 sen to RM5.40
is expected to be 1.7% for the first half of yesterday.
the year and 4.7% for the second half. A dealer said the global economic outlook
He said while the survey findings may remained the main concern for investors and
not reflect the latest developments in they were reluctant to take position in the
January, where jobs are slashed, they are market.
still useable due to the change in condi- Among the actives, PETROCH-C8 declined
tions such as the fuel price drop and the half sen to one sen, KNM eased 1.5 sen to 42.5
announcement of reduction in Overnight sen and IOI Corp lost 24 sen to RM3.68.
Policy Rate (OPR) by Bank Negara, which As for the heavyweights, Sime Darby rose
proved beneficial for SMEs. five sen to RM5.40, Tenaga gained five sen to
“There are great challenges ahead in RM5.40 and Telekom increased four sen to
early 2009 as the global economy contin- RM3.20. – Bernama

investment and staffing levels and their
expectations for trade volumes with China,
the rest of Asia and the rest of the world.
The figures show SMEs’ confidence
has declined since 2007, based on the
responses to the questions on economic
outlook, capital investment plans and
staff recruitment plans.
Fifty-six per cent of Malaysian SMEs
are expecting negative economic growth
for the first half of the year, and 31% are
expecting the Malaysian economy to
maintain the same pace of growth.
Notable from the survey is the stable
employment, with 85% of the local SMEs
planning to keep their staff despite the
negative outlook, and 88% are not plan-
ning to expand their businesses.
Trade outlooks with China, the rest
of Asia and the world are expected to be
slow, with more than 50% of SMEs plan-
ning to decrease their trade volumes for
the first half of the year.
briefs
TNB proposes review
of pacts with IPPs
KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional
Bhd (TNB) has recommended fresh
plans to the government to improve
certain areas in the power supply
agreements with the independent
power producers (IPPs) for the peo-
ple’s benefit, president and chief ex-
ecutive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib
Mohamad Noh said yesterday.
“Whatever benefit and savings we
get from the renegotiations with the
IPPs will definitely translate to tariff
reduction,” he said but declined to
reveal the details of the plans.
“It can be substantial, depending
on the quantum of reduction the
IPPs are prepared to give. We hope
the agreements with the IPPs can be
revisited,” he told reporters on the
sidelines of the power utility giant’s
Chinese New Year celebrations held
here.
He was responding to comments
from former prime minister Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad to review the
power supply contracts with the IPPs
as the huge power reserves are a
burden to TNB. – Bernama
Panasonic M’sia still
upbeat on sales
KUALA LUMPUR: Panasonic Malay-
sia, which employs 20,000 workers,
expects its sales to be unaffected
despite the closure of its manufac-
turing plant in Malacca.
The closure, which resulted in
490 workers being retrenched,
was due to a decrease in market
demand, the company said in an
email reply to Bernama yesterday.
It also said the closure was part
of its Japanese parent company’s
effort to increase manufacturing
efficiency.
“Our sales contribution will re-
main the same after the closure of
the Malacca plant. We consolidate
our plants for better efficiency
and results,” the company said.
– Bernama
Asia Pacific CEOs bullish
on short-term growth
KUALA LUMPUR: Asia Pacific chief
executive officers (CEOs) remain more
upbeat than their global counterparts
about short-term growth prospects
amid a looming world economic slow-
down, according to a survey.
In the PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) 12th annual global CEO survey,
nearly 31% of Asia Pacific CEOs were
very confident of growing revenues
during the next 12 months compared
to the global average of 21%.
However, the confidence levels
are significantly lower compared with
2007, where 56% of the Asia Pacific
and 50% of global CEOs felt confident
about achieving short-term growth,
said PwC in a statement yesterday.
“Despite the challenges imposed
by the global financial crisis, Asia
Pacific business leaders are still fo-
cused on long-term growth,” said PwC
Global CEO Samuel A DiPiazza Jr.
Nearly all the Asia Pacific CEOs
believed that attracting and retaining
key talent, high quality customer serv-
ice offerings and brand strength and
reputation are critical to sustaining
long-term growth. – Bernama