Malaysia Daily Media Highlights

RHBCAP: RHB Islamic Talks with Dallah ended
It was reported that RHB Islamic Bank has broken off talks with Saudi’s Dallah al-Baraka Group, which had been seeking to take a strategic stake in the Islamic lender, RHB Islamic Bank Chairman Datuk Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razak said. Dallah al-Baraka Group which has a 15% stake in Utama Banking Group (UTAMA) is interested getting a strategic stake in RHB via UTAMA with another Middle Eastern Islamic group.

RESORTS: Star Cruises turns in profit
Star Cruises, a 36% owned associate of Resorts World posted its first profit in four quarters, helped by increased travel demand and the sale of a vessel. Net income rose 83% to SG$60.4m in the three months ended September 30, compared with holidays is helping operators including Star Cruises to counter rising fuel costs. An estimated 11.7mn people will go on cruises this year, an increase of 4.5%, according to the 19-member Cruise Lines International Association. The company’s operating expenses per capacity day dropped 0.4%. Fuel made up 18% of operating expenses in the period, compared with 16% a year earlier. (Bloomberg)

The performance for Star Cruises was strong as group capacity had increased by 17.7% with the inclusion of 2 new ships.

AIRPORT: Looking to expand LCCT
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad said the company would expand the LCCT in three to four years to accommodate the anticipated passenger volume of over 10m a year. He said the budget carrier terminal would be expanded to handle up to 15m passengers annually. He said AirAsia was close to achieving six million passengers this year and believed the low-cost carrier would achieve 10m passengers annually within three to four years.

Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL) wants to build and operate the proposed KLIA and low cost carrier terminal (LCCT) rail link project to stem a decline in passengers on its high-speed train service to KLIA from KL Sentral. Its chief executive officer, Dr. Aminuddin Adnan, said the company had seen a drop of up to 30% to 4,000 passengers daily from 5,500 since the commencement of the LCCT in March this year. AirAsia passengers used to make up about 30% of our passengers before the LCCT opened. The 13.4km link would shorten travel time between the two terminals to 11 minutes from 20 minutes currently, adding it would take 15 months to complete construction of the link. (theedgedaily.com)

Bolton: Unit sells “The Body Shop” franchise for RM80m
Bolton unit Kejora Harta is disposing 100% stake in Rampai Niaga Sdn Bhd – which holds the “The Body Shop” franchise in Peninsular Malaysia to Rampai Niaga directors Datuk Foong Choong Heng and Datin Cheah Kim Choo for RM80m cash. Bolton will record a gain of RM9.4m from the proposed disposal which was in line with its strategy to sell non-core assets and refocus on property development. (theedgedaily.com)

LFECORP: Secures RM360m contract from Denmark
LFE Corporation unit LFE International LTD has received a letter of intent from Northcom ApS of Denmark for the purchase of electronic equipment for USD$100m. LFECORP had received the letter from Nothcom confirming its intent to enter a contract to purchase computer-processing units, electronic good and digital streaming devices over 36 months, starting on Jan 1, 2007. The contract would see LFE International contribute positively towards the future earnings of the group. (theedgedaily.com)

KUB: Subsidiary awarded RM54m job
KUB Malaysia, 70% subsidiary KUB-Fujitsu Telecommunications (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has secured a RM54.3m contract from Telekom Malaysia to implement an end-to end service for TM’s metro Ethernet system. The contract was for the supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, and post-acceptance maintenance and support services for the metro Ethernet system. (theedgedaily.com)

YTL Power: Unit is UK’s top water firm
YTL Power International’s wholly-owned utilities company, Wessex Water, has been named Britain’s top water and sewerage company. A report by the UK’s Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) revealed that Wessex Water is the only business to receive the maximum seven stars for customer services for the second successive year. Wessex Water provides water and sewerage to over 2.5m customers within the south west region of England.

Malaysia: Launching of high impact projects in the next 6 months.
Malaysia’s Minister of the Prime Minister Department said the high impact projects approved by the National Implementation Taskforce Meeting chaired by the Price Minister will be launched sequentially in the next six months. He said the Prime Minister is pushing hard for all these projects to commence according to the specific timeline.