16.12.2009 local business news

Mah Sing Group Bhd has secured an en bloc sale of a 7-storey retail and office space known as Apex Tower to a
Taiwanese individual, Chen Ho-Yuen for RM63m cash. Mah Sing said Apex Tower, which has about a net floor area of
90,126 sq ft, formed part of the overall freehold commercial development project, Southgate, located at the intersection of
Jalan Dua and Jalan Sungai Besi, about 3km from KLCC. Mah Sing’s subsidiary, the registered owner, yesterday entered into
a sale and purchase agreement with Chen for the proposed transaction. Apex Tower is under construction. Mah Sing said the
proposed en bloc sale would provide funds for the development of Southgate while further improving its working capital
available for future business expansion. (Financial Daily)
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Mudajaya JV gets RM241m job. Mudajaya Group Bhd’s joint venture with Bina Rezeki Sdn Bhd has received a letter of intent
from Boulevard Plaza Sdn Bhd, the owner of the proposed Boulevard Plaza development in Putrajaya, for the design and
construction of the project for RM241.29m. Mudajaya said its wholly owned subsidiary Mudaya Corporation Bhd had a 51%
interest in the JV with Bina Rezeki. The Boulevard Plaza development is expected to be completed by Dec 31, 2011. (Financial
Daily)
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Petronas’ international oil reserves received a boost. Together with four consortiums, it secured four oilfield development contracts in Iraq – said to have the last and largest onshore oil reserves that can be tapped economically. The four new contracts will lift Petronas’ international crude oil reserves by an additional 3.6bn barrels of equity reserve to a total of 5.8bn barrels, exceeding the domestic crude oil reserve of 5.5bn barrels. Petronas chairman and president, Tan Sri Hassan Marican said the oil company bid with different partners for five contracts in Iraq’s second oil contract auction. Petronas has been granted the licenses through four partnerships to develop Majnoon, Halfaya, Badra, and Garaf oilfields, all of which are already in production. Hassan said production could take place immediately as the fields are proven crude oil reserves and no exploration is required. The contracts given were service contracts where Petronas earns fee income based on the production level measured in barrels. (Financial Daily)
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Malaysia could lose billions of ringgit in palm oil export earnings if a serious labour shortage in Sabah continues, industry officials say. The plantation sector in Sabah, Malaysia’ most productive palm oil producer has seen its work-force fall
by a fifth recently, Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) chief executive Datuk Mamat Salleh said. Checks with plantation companies revealed that more than 10 sizeable oil palm estates in the state did not have enough workers because those who
had gone home to Indonesia for the Hari Raya Puasa and Haji holidays did not come back. The main reason was that estates in Kalimantan were paying the same wages offered in Sabah, Mamat said. “If foreign workers, comprising half of the 600,000
workforce in palm oil industry, are reduced by 30%, our country’s palm oil export earnings could shrink as much as RM10bn a year,” he said in an interview. Two months ago, East Malaysia Planters’ Association (Empa) chairman Othman Walat reportedly said that oil palm planters in Sabah and Sarawak might recruit workers from China, Bangladesh and the Philippines to make up for the shortage of Indonesian workers. However, industry officials felt that it was easier said than done as other
nationals did not prefer working on the estates, while Malaysians were under assumption the job does not pay well. (BT)
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Dell Malaysia plans to lay off 700 employees in Penang in 2010 in line with its decision to shift its notebook production in Bukit Minyak to other locations. Dell has 4,500 employees at manufacturing plants in Bukit Minyak, Penang and
Cyberjaya. The downsizing exercise will involve mainly employees at the Bukit Minyak facility, which produces notebook computers for the US, Latin American and Canadian markets. Dell senior manager of corporate communications Jasmine Begum said all the affected employees were Malaysians and offered competitive severance packages in voluntary separation scheme (VSS). Jasmine said the move to offer VSS was in line with Dell’s plans to move up the value chain. The exercise would start in January 2010 and complete by July 2010 and involve front-line employees including board, operators, supervisors, and managers. Last March Dell cut 60 employees in Penang as part of its exercise to cut its global workforce by 10%, or 8,800 people and save up to US$3bn. (Financial Daily)
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