SURIA, YTLCEMENT,PETRA,DIALOG

Port operator and builder Suria Capital Holdings Bhd has been qualified to make a bid for the RM1.2bn power plant in Kimanis, Sabah, and is preparing a proposal to submit to the project owner by April. Group MD Datuk Dr Mohd Fowzi Mohd Razi said the company is working on the proposal with its partner from Taiwan, a major engineering, procurement and commissioning (EPC) contractor, as well as a local firm. A consortium, comprising the 3 companies, has been formed and it will be led by the EPC contractor, he said. The project owner is Kimanis Power Sdn Bhd, a 60:40 joint venture between Petronas Gas Bhd (PTG MK, Buy, TP: RM10.90) and NRG Consortium Sdn Bhd, the business arm of Yayasan Sabah Group. It is understood that Petronas is planning to award the contract by August this year. The planned capacity of the 300 megawatts (MW) Kimanis power plant will be implemented in two phases. So far, 12 companies have been shortlisted. The first phase will have a capacity of 100MW, which will be increased by another 200MW in the second. The power plant, covering 41ha, is expected to be completed by the end of 2013 and fully operational by early 2014. (BT)
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YTL Cement Bhd (YTLC MK, Hold, TP: RM4.50), through Singapore unit YTL Cement Singapore, has offered to buy the cement assets of Singapore-listed Jurong Cement Ltd for S$50m. In a letter to Jurong Cement Ltd, YTL said that the asset, Jurong Cement Bulk Terminal, was worth more than the price offered by Holcim Investments Singapore. Holsim had
previously made a takeover offer for Jurong Cement (the company) at S$2.10 a share. In YTL’s letter to the company, it said it was making the offer because it felt the take over offer by Holcim “significantly undervalues the company, its business and its assets.” YTL also noted that if the Holcim’s takeover was successful, the company would no longer be listed on the Singapore
Exchange. (Starbiz)
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Petra Perdana Bhd (PPB) (PETR MK, Sell, TP: RM1.21) said it had identified experienced supervisors and managers within the company to perform relevant job functions pending the appointment of independent consultants. In a reply to Bursa Malaysia’s query, PPB said Suhaimi Badrul Jamil had been appointed management consultant to take charge of the finance and accounts department of the company and its subsidiaries from Jan 13 2010 to Feb 3 2010. Suhaimi is a nonindependent non-executive director of Petra Energy, and is the brother-in-law of executive director Datin Nariza Hajjar Hashim. This will be treated as a related-party transaction with his remuneration fixed at RM25,000. Meanwhile, Capt Abdul Halim
Ahmad Said had been appointed management consultant to take charge of the daily marine operations of PPB and subsidiaries at the same remuneration package. PPB also said Ferrier Hodgson MH had been appointed independent consultant to review the management and operations of the PPB group for FY09. The appointed parties will report directly to
PPB’s CEO. (Financial Daily)
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India’s GTL Infrastructure to buy tower assets of Aircel for US$1.8bn (RM6.03bn), according to sources. This will make GTL one of the largest independent mobile mast firms in the country with 32,000 towers. GTL will pay about 85bn rupees (RM6.23bn) for 17,500 telecom towers owned by Aircel, India’s No. 7 mobile operator and a unit of Maxis Communications Bhd
(, said the sources. New mobile operators in India are looking to cut costs by sourcing telecom masts from independent tower firms. The deal would be the largest so far in the Indian telecom tower sector. (Financial Daily)
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AXA Affin Life Insurance Bhd hopes to grow its share of the local life insurance market from 1.5 % to 8% by 2012, as it undertakes an AXA global branding exercise. Its CEO Loke Kah Meng said the insurer will look to grow organically or via acquisition to achieve its target. In Malaysia, the insurer plans to increase its agency force and strengthen its product portfolio. “As for bank partnerships, we have five presently and will concentrate on these partnerships,” Loke said. On whether it will acquire another insurer or look at partnerships to grow its local presence, Loke said both options are possible. “We are open if the opportunity presents itself for the right partnership at the right price,” he said. (BT)
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Dialog Group Bhd expects to increase its profit after tax by 20% to 30%, for the current financial year. The company’s chairman, Ngau Boon Keat, said the company has been experiencing a steady growth of 30% annually in terms of profit for the past 14 years. For the financial year ended June 30, 2009 the company posted a growth in revenue of RM1.104bn, against
RM790.5m the previous year. He also said the company, a leading integrated specialist technical services provider, has forecast a bright future for the oil and gas industry despite the global economic slowdown as well as the recent Dubai crisis. In a related development, the company is negotiating with relevant quarters on the group’s global network expansion plan.
(Financial Daily)