14 theSun | MONDAY MAY 25 2009

business

Hot-Can to tap
market with
halal beverage
products
KUALA LUMPUR: Hot-Can Sdn Bhd, the developer
of self-heating canned coffee, plans to tap the
global halal market with its product to meet the
increasing demand for halal goods.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Kenneth Kolb
said there was huge potential to be tapped in the
global market, particularly in the Organisation of
Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, with demand
continuing to grow every year.
“The halal market is so big and Malaysia is a
prominent producer of halal food products. We
think it will be ridiculous not to take advantage of
that,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.
Kolb said the company has projected sales of
over one billion cans annually in the halal market
and recently signed a distribution agreement for
Turkey, the largest Muslim market in Europe.
He said that more than 200 billion beverage
cans were sold annually in the global market and
over 500 billion hot drinks consumed annually,
with a small market share equating to greater
demand than possible supply.
Hot-Can is a pioneer in the smart packaging
arena and aims to continue setting new standards
for quality, performance, speed and pricing of self-
heating beverages in the global halal market.
Kolb said the company’s product was currently
exported to six countries through exclusive dis-
tribution agreements, including two agreements
which were signed during the recent World Halal
Forum.
In addition to the six countries comprising
Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Turkey,
Hongkong and China, the company also supplied its
product to the Malaysian army, he said.
Kolb said the company, based in Balakong,
Selangor, began product development in 2000
and started exporting the product in November
last year.
The plant, involving an investment of over
RM20 million, can produce up to 27 million cans
a year, he said.
“We hope to expand the production capacity to
a billion cans over the next five years to cater to
future demand,” Kolb said.
“We also looking for private equity type of
investors but they can also be someone with
distribution networks to handle the product in
other markets,” he said.
Kolb said the product will be available in the
local market in July this year, particularly at petrol
kiosks nationwide.
Besides self-heating beverages, the company is
also developing new products such as self-heating
baby formula and halal soups. – Bernama
Bursa expected to see slight
uptrend this week
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia are ex-
pected to see a slight uptrend this week as
investors set aside concerns on negative
fundamentals, analysts said.
Jupiter Securities’ head of research,
Pong Teng Siew, said he expects the
The halal market to “not pay too much attention
to the US market and also other negative
market is backgrounds such as domestic political
so big and issues”.
Malaysia “I expect to see a slight uptrend as the
is a market is prepared to ignore the negative
backgrounds,” he said.
prominent Pong expects the market to continue
producer to attempt the resistance level of 1,070
of halal points with support at 1,010 points.
food The market closed mixed for the
products. week, although it was in a correction
mode after having been overbought for
We think about eight weeks.
it will be The KLCI also hit a new high of
ridiculous 1,042.63 on Wednesday and touched an
not to intra-day high of 1,050.45 on Thursday
on buying interest in heavyweight
take counters. However, the selling of key
advantage heavyweights capped gains at the end
of that.” of the week.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the KLCI
closed the week at 1,045.26, up 31.05
Michelin still bullish on local tyre market
KUALA LUMPUR: Michelin Malaysia
Sdn Bhd is still bullish on the local tyre
market and its business growth this year
amid the global economic turmoil.
Its managing director Yves Pouliquen
said the business growth will be driven
by continuous marketing activities
involving its dealers and customers as
well as new product launches.
“We expect 2009 to be difficult for
the industry but it will be better than
the 2007 level. Overall, 2007 was a good
year while last year was fantastic for the
industry,” he told reporters at a recent
media briefing here.
Pouliquen said he was confident that
the tyre market will continue to grow in
line with positive signs concerning the
economic conditions.
Barca
celebrate
despite
defeat MAS offering more low-fare bargains
pg 30 KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines
(MAS) will be offering more all-inclusive
low-fare bargains starting from RM48
for domestic travel beginning June 25
to Nov 30.
MAS Network and Revenue Manage-
ment senior general manager Dr Amin
Khan said the offer demonstrates the com-
pany’s commitment to provide customers
with quality, affordable and convenient
services.
The public can make their reservations
points from the previous week’s closing
of 1,014.21.
The Finance Index rose 118.73
KL market summary
points to 8,148.75, the Industrial Index MAY 22, 2008
gained 56.08 points to 2,301.09, and the
Plantation Index jumped 367.1 points to INDICES CHANGE
5,458.41. FBMEMAS 6970.32 70.26
Of the FTSE-BM Index series, the COMPOSITE 1045.26 9.70
FMBEmas was 66.32 points higher at INDUSTRIAL 2301.09 12.95
6,970.32, the FBM2BRD advanced 0.46 CONSUMER PROD 307.19 2.19
INDUSTRIAL PROD 80.16 0.70
of a point to 4,526.88 and the FBM30
CONSTRUCTION 203.62 2.53
went up 5.34 points to 6,697.48 while the TRADING/SERVICES 139.02 1.78
FBMMDQ fell 46.13 points to 3,497.92.
The weekly turnover decreased to
FINANCE 8148.75 58.55
PROPERTIES 690.92 17.18
8.081 billion shares worth RM7.757 bil- PLANTATION 5458.41 56.35
lion from 13.982 billion shares worth MINING 293.83 -4.06
RM7.980 billion the previous week. FBMSHA
FBM2BRD
7311.87
4526.88
54.67
-5.96
Volume on the Main Board dropped
to 6.837 billion units valued at RM7.428 TECHNOLOGY 14.25 -0.10
billion from 11.354 billion units worth TURNOVER VALUE
RM8.999 billion previously.
1.270bil RM1.348bil
The Second Board’s volume declined
to 566.076 million shares worth 208.588
million from 1.247 billion shares worth last week.
RM446.288 million the previous week. However, call warrants increased to
Turnover on the Mesdaq Market was 169.177 million shares worth RM30.356
lower at 347.009 million shares valued million from 155.727 million shares
at RM66.691 million compared to 1.153 worth RM28.039 million previously.
billion shares worth RM190.155 million – Bernama
“Malaysia has been affected like other Its presence in the country since
countries around the world but was 1960 has enabled the company’s range
less affected due to the healthy banking of tyres to command over 10% share of
system. The financial sector has not af- the local market, Pouliquen said.
fected by the subprime mortgage crisis According to him, the company is
in the United States. That is the key,” he currently holding a market share of over
said. 25% for tyres for mid-range and high-
According to Pouliquen, Malaysia range vehicles.
is considered one of the top three fast- “We expect to see growth, especially
moving markets in Asia Pacific for in the 15-inch tyre range across all mar-
Michelin. ket segments,” he said, adding that this
To improve its market share, Michelin tyre type was contributing more than
planned to launch five new tyre ranges half of the company’s revenue.
this year, comprising two for passenger Michelin Malaysia, established as a
cars and three for trucks, he said. private limited company in November
The company has also doubled its 2002, is involved in the sales and mar-
advertising and promotion spending keting of tyres for vehicles like passenger
this year to get closer to customers and cars, two-wheelers, earthmovers, trucks
dealers, he added. and buses. – Bernama
at www.malaysianairlines.com from today services such as snacks and meals on
to June 7. board, convenient schedules, punctual
“With such competitive fares, customers departures and a minimum 20kg baggage
can now consider travelling to destinations allowance.
that previously did not fit their budget. Trips to Asean countries start from
“For instance, fares from Kuala Lumpur RM198, one-way trip from Kuala Lumpur
to Cape Town are now going for as low as to Singapore RM98, Hongkong from
RM988 while Los Angeles or Buenos Aires RM398 whilst Seoul would cost RM388
start from RM1,888,” he said in a press and Chennai RM398.
statement yesterday. Perth on the other hand starts at
According to Amin, travellers on RM498, Tokyo RM688 and London RM888,
these low fares will still enjoy premium he added. – Bernama

Proton hopes new policy can ensure industry eco-system

JELI: Proton hopes that the new
automobile industry policy, which is
expected to be ready by end of this year,
can help ensure the local industry eco-
system so that all parties involved are
able to continue competing during the
global economic downturn.
Its managing director Datuk Syed
Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir
said he also hoped that the policy will
take into consideration how exporters,
distributors, wholesalers and sellers are
able to continue their businesses and
compete when facing the Asean Free
Trade Agreement (AFTA) next year.
“We hope that the policy will help our
economy to maintain competitiveness
in facing AFTA and the global economic
slowdown,” he told reporters at the
Proton carnival here on Saturday.
He said this when asked to com-
ment on the review of the National
Automotive Policy which is expected
to be completed in the third quarter of
this year.
On Proton’s preparation in facing
AFTA, Syed Zainal Abidin said the
national carmaker has taken active
measures to ensure that its products
are able to compete with those of other
carmakers.
The measures, he said, included re-
search and development on the vehicles
to ensure that the technology was able
to meet the needs of users.
“We will always be introducing new
models to provide buyers with a variety
of choices and also to attract new buy-
ers,” he added.
Syed Zainal Abidin also said that the
branding of Proton would be strength-
ened. – Bernama