18 œ
business news
Hang Seng
14,220.79
S&P/ASX200
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401.60 26.0
STI
1,724.54
21.09
BCorp proposes interim
dividend in specie
KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation
Berhad (BCorp) announced yesterday an
interim dividend-in-specie of 25 Berjaya
Media Berhad shares for every 1,000 BCorp
shares held, or equivalent to a dividend rate
of 2.35% single-tier exempt dividend per
share for the financial year ending April 30,
2009.
The proposal is subject to approvals
of the relevant authorities and BCorp’s
shareholders.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia
yesterday evening, BCorp also announced
a substantially higher revenue of RM1.61
billion for Q2 ended last Oct 31, compared
with RM639.9 million in the previous year’s
corresponding quarter.
The higher revenue was mainly due
to the consolidation of Berjaya Sports
Toto Berhad (BToto) as a subsidiary
company with effect from last February
and higher revenue contributions from the
consumer marketing and general insurance
businesses.
However, pre-tax profit for the quarter
of RM78.9 million was lower than the
previous year’s corresponding quarter
of RM279.7 million. In the previous
year’s corresponding quarter there were
significant non-recurring items such as the
gain of RM339 million from the placement
of 170 million 5% Berjaya Land Berhad
ICULS and the gain of RM36 million from
the disposal of certain subsidiaries which
were partly offset by the loss arising on
dilution of interest in a subsidiary company
of RM221 million (all totalling about RM154
million).
In the current quarter, the group
incurred losses on foreign exchange of
RM31 million due to the weakened ringgit
and made additional impairment in value
of investments in associated companies and
certain quoted investments totalling about
TSEC
4,405.86
KLCI
871.16
129.68 2.27
KOSPI
Nikkei
1,144.31 CLOSED
35.30
RM46 million.
Profit from operations for the current
quarter under review was lower than
previous year mainly due to lower
brokerage income from the stock-broking
business arising from the stock market
downturn and high claims ratio which
led to underwriting loss in the general
insurance business.
For the six-month period ended last
Oct 31, the group registered a revenue and
pre-tax profit of RM3.1 billion and RM215.7
million respectively compared with a
revenue and pre-tax profit of RM1.2 billion
and RM477.1 million respectively in the
previous year.
The increase in the current period’s
revenue and lower pre-tax profit were
mainly due to the reasons mentioned
above. However, operationally for the
six-month period the group performed
better than the previous year, mainly due to
the consolidation of BToto as a subsidiary
company of the group and higher profit
contribution from the consumer marketing
business.
BCorp’s board took cognisance of the
prevailing global economic conditions
arising from the financial meltdown in the
West and the unavoidable impact on the
regional economies, including Malaysia’s
economy which may affect the operating
performance of the group in the remaining
quarters of the financial year ending April
30, 2009, but expects the gaming business
under BToto and consumer marketing
business under Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd to be
resilient.
As such, the board is optimistic that the
group will continue to register revenue
and operating profit growth for the
remaining quarters of this financial year
from the gaming and consumer business
contributions.
briefs
November vehicle
sales up, says MAA
KUALA LUMPUR: The total sales of vehi-
cles in November this year declined to
40,865 units from 43,783 units in the
same month in 2007.
However, the sales volume in No-
vember was up 9% or 3,353 units when
compared with October.
A longer working month and year-end
promotions were attributed as the main
reasons for the increase, by the Malaysian
Automotive Association (MAA) in a state-
ment yesterday.
It said the sales of passenger vehicles
in November fell to 36,254 units from
40,053 units in the same month last year,
but sales of commercial vehicles rose to
4,611 units from 3,730 previously.
MAA said the overall figures were
still higher this year compared to 2007.
Total sales for the first 11 months rose to
508,290 units from 444,932 units in the
same period last year.
Meanwhile, the sales volume in
December is expected to be lower than
November 2008 and December 2007 due
to the lower year-end seasonal index and
softening of demand in line with current
global trends.
theSun | WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24 2008
KL market summary
DECEMBER 23, 2008
INDICES CHANGE
FBMEMAS 5,688.95 -29.62
COMPOSITE 871.16 -2.27
INDUSTRIAL 2,074.44 -7.74
CONSUMER PROD 283.23 +4.19
INDUSTRIAL PROD 66.87 -0.43
CONSTRUCTION 163.01 +0.17
TRADING SERVICES 117.00 -0.44
FINANCE 6,720.69 -33.06
PROPERTIES 513.76 -2.37
PLANTATIONS 4,101.73 -88.87
MINING 249.25 +4.05
FBMSHA 5,913.98 -40.90
FBM2BRD 3,928.04 -25.97
TECHNOLOGY 13.26 +0.03
TURNOVER VALUE
309.783mil RM327.215mil
Share prices
close lower
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower
yesterday with the key index dragged down by
the losses in selected plantation and finance-
related stocks, dealers said.
At close, the benchmark KLCI declined 2.27
points to 871.16, due to losses mostly in Sime
Darby and IOI Corp. The index had opened 0.77
of a point higher at 874.20.
The key index, which had started the day on
a positive note, was weighed down on profit-
taking activities by short-term investors.
“Most investors have already started to
take a break for Christmas,” a dealer said.
For the heavyweights, Sime Darby declined
15 sen to RM5.35, Tenaga rose five sen to
RM5.95, Maybank slipped five sen to RM5.05,
MISC fell 25 sen to RM8.40 and IOI Corp lost 14
sen to RM3.50.
Among the actives, KNM declined 1.5 sen
to 39.5 sen, MK Land rose 2.5 sen to 18 sen, PI
Corp fell half sen to 47 sen and Ramunia-WA
lost half sen to 13.5 sen. – Bernama
MMC may court PNB and
Tabung Haji to buy PTP stake
KUALA LUMPUR: MMC Corporation Bhd may court
Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and Lembaga
Tabung Haji to buy a 20% stake in the Port of Tan-
jung Pelepas (PTP), according to OSK Research.
In its research report released yesterday, OSK
said MMC may also reduce the asking price to a
more reasonable level.
Commenting on reports the EPF has rejected
MMC’s proposal to sell the minority stakes to EPF,
OSK said as expected the sale of PTP will not be easy
given the presence of Maersk, which may limit the
potential buyers. “As we mentioned in our Dec 12 re-
search note, we value PTP at RM4.4 billion compared
with a possible valuation by the company itself of
RM8 billion. Our valuation is therefore almost at a 50%
discount to MMC’s valuation,” it said. – Bernama
On the production side, MAA said the
volume in November was higher with
total production of passenger and com-
mercial vehicles rising to 48,431 units
from 47,144 units in the same month last
year. – Bernama
Synergy between Jetstar,
AirAsia not that great: OSK
KUALA LUMPUR: Jetstar’s strong presence
in Australia and New Zealand’s domestic
routes, seems synergistic to AirAsia to tie
up or merge with the company for potential
interlining, according to OSK Research.
However, the research house said judging
from AirAsia’s “point to point” aviation
business model, it was curious whether this
may fit in with the company’s low-cost-cum-
fast-turnaround business model.
“Although we may see the combination
of both airlines expanding the network cov-
erage and potentially code-share or even
replace some similar routes, we think the
synergy is not all that great,” OSK Research
said in its research note yesterday.
Local newspapers yesterday reported
that something may be in the air between
Qantas Airways Ltd and AirAsia Bhd.
The talks for a merger are reportedly
still in the preliminary stages with AirAsia’s
group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony
Fernandes and Qantas chief executive of-
ficer Alan Joyce mulling over the prospects.
– Bernama