CIMB, PUBLIC BANK,HONG LEONG & other local news

CIMB Thai has no plans to delist even when its Malaysian parent CIMB Group Holdings Berhad (CIMB MK, Buy, TP:RM15.25) gets a listing in Bangkok, which is expected this year. 93.15% of CIMB Thai is owned by CIMB and its share price soared late last year on a speculation that the parent would buy out the 6.85% it did not own. “At the moment, we are not thinking about delisting at all. We are not doing or preparing things to do with that” said the new president, Subhak Siwaraksa. In November, the Malaysian bank said it planned to raise about US$136m from a public offering in the Thai market by the middle of 2010. This has sparked speculation that it would offer a premium to buy out the remaining shareholders in its Thai unit. CIMB Thai hopes its loan book would grow 12% this year due to the improvement in economy. (StarBiz)
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Public Bank Bhd (PBB) (PBK MK, Buy, TP: RM12.80) chief operating officer (COO) Wong Jee Seng has resigned from his position, after serving in the banking group for more than 15 years, sources familiar with the matter said. They said Wong’s resignation was possibly due to a career path change, whereby he could be heading operations in a foreign banking group believed to be Singapore’s DBS Bank. “Wong’s resignation is not expected to bring a negative impact on Public Bank, as his decision to leave the bank is not because of unhappiness over how the bank is run,” a source familiar with the banking group said. (Financial Daily)
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Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HL Bank) (HLBK MK, Hold, TP: RM8.71) has obtained Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) go-ahead to start negotiations with the boards of EON Capital Bhd (EONCap) and EON Bank Bhd for the potential acquisitions of their assets and liabilities. HL Bank said the central bank had, vide a letter dated the same day, “no objection” for it to start negotiations with the respective boards for the acquisition of the assets and liabilities, including EONCap’s interest in EON Bank. (Financial Daily)
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Tanjung Offshore Bhd unit has taken delivery of three new anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels, which have been chartered to Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for about RM150m in total. With the new additions, its offshore support vessel (OSV) fleet would be operating 14 OSVs as of March 2010. Tanjung Offshore added that it had been awarded long term contracts by Petronas Carigali for tenures of between three and six years. The contracts were expected to commence from March this year. (Malaysian Reserve)
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Mudajaya Group is planning a share placement exercise which may raise RM185.8m to be used as working capital and to fund new investments, possibly in India. Mudajaya is presently involved in a power generation project in India through its wholly owned unit Mudajaya Corp Bhd which controls a 26% stake in RKM Powergen Private Limited, a SPV undertaking the
project. While Mudajaya is engaged in the construction of 1,440MW coal fired plant in Chattisgarh, the company was also reported to be bidding for various projects worth RM400m in India. (Malaysian Reserve)
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OSK Holdings Bhd is looking at expanding its overseas investment banking operations in an overall strategy to make the division a 50% contributor to the group’s net profit within three years. The company said it will achieve this goal in three to five years, by building customer’s confidence in the banking sector and the economy. OSK will also look to bank on its
cross-border presence to grow its investment banking business according to chairman Datuk Nik Mohamad Din Nik Yusof. OSK has presence in Indonesia and Cambodia, with stock-broking services in Singapore. It hopes to expand its investment bank’s regional presence through one or two more countries by year-end. (BT)
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Kumpulan Perubatan (Johor) Sdn Bhd, a unit of KPJ Healthcare Bhd, plans to acquire a 51% stake in SMC Healthcare Sdn Bhd (SMCH) from Sabah Medical Centre Sdn Bhd (SMC) for RM51m. In its statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group said the acquisition will not only enable it to expand its network of hospitals to locations where private healthcare were in
demand, but also widen its customer base. The acquisition will be funded via internal funds. (BT)
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