theSun | FRIDAY AUGUST 7 2009 15

1,183.97 S 4.48 10,388 S 135.56

business KLCI
STI 2,601.50 T 5.33
Nikkei
TSEC 6,868.65 S 20.41
Hang Seng 20,899.24 S 404.47 KOSPI 1,565.4 S 5.57
SCI 3,356.33 T 72.17 S&P/ASX200 4,326.3 S 61.8

KL market summary
AUGU
AUGU
INDICES CHANGE
Share prices close firmer
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa spending in the US is not really picking up.
FBMEMAS 8,024.84 + 55.42 Malaysia ended higher yesterday on the buy- Consumer are still worried about the uncer-
FBM-KLCI 1,183.97 + 4.48 ing of key heavyweights like Maybank and tain unemployment and personal savings have
INDUSTRIAL 2,610.91 + 7.57
CONSUMER PRODUCT 357.11 + 1.04
Bumiputra-Commerce although the gains gone up on fears of losing jobs,” he said.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT 92.02 + 1.54 were capped by losses in other counters like Although Phua sees the market touching
CONSTRUCTION 229.14 + 2.99 Sime Darby and British American Tobacco, the 1,205-point level in the long term, he
TRADING SERVICES 155.95 + 0.59 dealers said. expects it to hover around the 1,175-point
FINANCE 9,708.40 + 93.68 At the close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala level in the near future. “If the market breaks
PROPERTIES 783.39 + 13.81 Lumpur Composite Index rose 4.48 points to the 1,175-point level, it may stage a small
PLANTATIONS 5,773.52 + 13.51
MINING 350.57 + 6.07
1,183.97 after opening 0.41 of a point lower correction and touch 1,154,” he said. EXCHANGE RATES August 6, 2009
FBMSHA 8,231.10 + 54.55
at 1,179.49 in the morning. According to Phua, the local market is
FBMACE 4,208.92 + 13.79 SJ Securities analyst Phua Kwee Hock said healthy at the moment and the introduction
that although the market maintained its firm of the 1Malaysia fund will have a big impact Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
TECHNOLOGY 16.89 + 0.03
footing, investors may turn cautious ahead of on equities towards the end of next month. TT/OD TT OD
TURNOVER VALUE the US employment data which is due to be Advancers outnumbered decliners by 524 1 US DOLLAR 3.5300 3.4650 3.4550
1.025bil RM1.541bil released today. to 186 while 203 counters were unchanged 1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 3.0080 2.8760 2.8600
“Currently, the concern is that consumer and 314 untraded. – Bernama 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4700 2.4090 2.4010
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.3080 3.2270 .2150
1 EURO 5.1020 4.9780 4.9580

MAS posts record RM876m

1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.4020 2.2960 2.2800
1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4300 1.1950 1.1790
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4695 2.4090 2.4010
1 STERLING POUND 6.0150 5.8700 5.8500
1 SWISS FRANC 3.3350 3.2540 3.2390
Tiger 100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 97.8200 92.6400 92.4400

net profit for Q2

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Datuk Seri Idris Jala said. generating RM1.2 million in revenue.
relaxes
major
standard
for 2009
pg 28
100 BANGLADESH TAKA
100 CHINESE RENMINBI
100 DANISH KRONE
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR
100 INDIAN RUPEE
100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH
5.3400
N/A
70.5600
46.3600
7.7100
0.0372
5.2100
N/A
64.8400
43.9000
7.0800
0.0314
5.0100
N/A
64.6400
43.7000
6.8800
0.0264
posted a net profit of RM876 million “On international routes, we have “We will continue to push hard with 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.7310 3.6410 3.6310
in the second quarter ended June 30, performed better than the industry some 15 sales campaigns planned for 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A
2009, the highest ever quarterly net average as are less dependent on the Malaysia and over 30 for international. 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 60.6400 55.7100 55.5100
profit recorded by the airline. front end,” he said, adding that the We will also ramp up our advertising
100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.3700 4.0700 3.8700
This profit offsets the national car- airline’s forecast booking numbers spending for the rest of the year,” Jala
rier’s RM695 million net losses in the for the second half of the year are said. – Bernama AFPpix 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.5500 7.0700 6.8700
first quarter, leading to a first-half net encouraging. 100 QATAR RIYAL 98.4500 93.6400 93.4400
profit of RM181 million. MAS has aggressively 100 SAUDI RIYAL 95.5900 90.9300 90.7300
Due to an oil price recovery since pushed sales by offering fare 100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 46.4100 42.4800 42.2800
March 31, MAS’ fuel hedging losses of promotions – Everyday Low 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2100 2.9500 2.7500
RM640 million in the first quarter has Fares, Weekend Specials, the
100 SWEDISH KRONA 51.3700 46.7000 46.5000
been reversed with a RM1.3 billion MAS Airlines Travel Fair and
gain in the second quarter, the airline MAS Stimulus Package which 100 THAI BAHT 11.1500 9.4400 9.0400
Source: Malayan Banking Berhad/Bernama
said in a statement. offers nine fare options covering
Since the beginning of the year, MAS all classes of travel.
has implemented aggressive sales cam-
paigns to deal with the worst crisis facing
the industry. It successfully increased its
From January to June, internet
sales at www.malaysiaairlines.
com grew 82% or RM272 million
News Corp dives
load factor to 66% in the second quarter,
a double digit growth of 10% compared
compared to the same period last
year. The MAS Stimulus Package,
into annual loss
to 56% in the first quarter. launched on April 15, registered WASHINGTON: Global media giant News Corporation
In response to the growing demand, sales amounting to over RM93 said Wednesday it ended its business year with a net loss
with the domestic load factor up by million. of US$3.4 billion (RM11.9 billion) due to hefty charges of
69% in the second quarter, MAS said it MAS recently launched the US$9.2 billion (RM32.2 billion).
increased capacity by 6%, adding more Asean Pass. Since its soft launch on The sprawling US media empire headed by Rupert
aircraft for the domestic sector. June 1, 5,000 passes have been sold, Murdoch had posted a net profit of US$5.4 billion (RM18.9
The airline also made substantial billion) a year earlier.
load factor gains for its international The swing into loss was driven by US$8.9 billion (RM31.2
routes with loads up 11% to 65% com- billion) in charges for new acquisitions, notably Dow Jones,
pared to 56% in the first quarter. 10-month high ... the parent of The Wall Street Journal, which mostly had
“We are managing well in this A businessman walks in front of a share price been previously announced.
crisis. While the operating environ- board in Tokyo yesterday. Japanese share prices The company also said it took US$312 million (RM1.1
ment remains tough, load factors have rose 135.56 points to close at 10,388.09 points at billion) in charges, principally for restructuring activities.
increased due to our aggressive strate- the Tokyo Stock Exchange, striking a 10-month high Adjusted operating income fell to US$3.6 billion (RM12.6
gies to boost sales. On the domestic as investors remained upbeat about prospects for billion) in the 2009 fiscal year ended June 30 from a record
front, more passengers are travelling a recovery in corporate earnings, despite overnight US$5.3 billion (RM18.6 billion) a year ago, the company said
with us,” managing director and CEO losses on Wall Street. in a statement.
That was in line with the company’s guidance over the
past six months, Murdoch, chairman and chief executive
of News Corp., said in the statement.

Experts doubtful about China-led recovery
SHANGHAI: With booming retail sales, record
lending and a soaring stock market, China
accounted for nearly all of the world’s growth
last quarter, but experts warn not to expect a
China-driven global recovery.
The world economy grew 1.6% quarter-
on-quarter in the three months ending June
30. Yet excluding China’s 14.6% rise in gross
domestic product, world GDP was flat or
contracted slightly, according to Barclays
Capital.
But as the world searches for a beacon of
growth, economists warn that China alone is
not big enough to offset plummeting US con-
sumption, and a growing number of voices
here and abroad are sceptical of Beijing’s
figures.
“China cannot be the locomotive for global
growth,” American economist Nouriel Rou-
bini, who became famous for predicting the
financial crisis, told a conference in Australia
this week.
Roubini forecast US unemployment would
rise to 11% next year, consumers would rem-
ain “shopped out” and industrial production
would continue to fall – huge challenges that
China is simply not yet equal to.
China’s growth has long been driven by US
demand and even with 1.3 billion consumers,
economists say it is nearly impossible for it to
pick up the slack.
Household consumption in China was 15%
of US levels last year. For every 1% drop in
American consumption, Chinese consump-
tion would have to increase by 6.5%, Hong
Kong-based Merrill Lynch economist T.J. Bond
said.
Chinese consumption grew 9.6% last year
and Bond predicted that growth would remain
roughly flat in the next two years.
“It would be overly optimistic to expect it
to head towards mid-double digits,” he said.
The biggest winner in any spending spree
would be China itself. Consumer goods only
account for 12.5% of the Asian giant’s imports,
Bond said.
Other countries have benefited more from
China’s investment boom over the past five
years, with commodities accounting for 31%
of GDP and capital goods making up 23%, he
said. “A consumer boom in China would have
a much smaller spillover impact on the rest
of the world.”
Other countries may benefit from Beijing’s
four trillion yuan (RM2.05 trillion) stimulus
plan to steer it through the global crisis by
spending heavily on infrastructure projects,
Sherman Chan, a Sydney-based economist
at Moody’s Economy.com said.
“If construction is gathering steam again,
it means it will help other exporters such as
Australia or Latin American countries that
export resources to China,” she said.
But many, including the finance ministry,
fear money from the stimulus and the record
7.4 trillion yuan in new loans extended in
the first half was diverted into stocks and
property for quick profits instead of helping
the real economy.
The flood of easy credit has helped push
the value of the Shanghai market up nearly
90% since the beginning of the year.
“The government is walking a tightrope,”
said Ren Xianfang, an IHS Global Insight ana-
lyst. “It pinned its hopes on an early recovery
in the real economy and at the same time
hoped asset market inflation would not run
away.” – AFP
News Corp. reported a net loss per share of
US$1.29 (RM4.50). But calculated by another accounting
method favoured by analysts for forecasting, the company
had earnings per share of US$1.16 (RM4.06), double the 66
cents (RM2.31) expected.
Murdoch said the past year had been “the most dif-
ficult in recent history” as the company confronted a weak
economic environment amid the worst global recession
in decades.
“We streamlined all our businesses and continue to do
so, at the same time adjusting to the revolutionary changes
taking place throughout the media industry,” the Austral-
ian-born US magnate said.
Murdoch said that restructuring measures had posi-
tioned the company to reap the benefits of a recovery from
the global recession when it materialises.
Earlier Wednesday, News Corp. announced it had in-
creased its stake in ailing German pay-television network
Sky Deutschland, the new name for Premiere, to 39.96%
from 30.5%. The company did not disclose financial terms
of the transaction or provide other details in its brief state-
ment, notably its impact on profitability.
The loss-making network has never recovered from
the 2005 loss of exclusive transmission rights to German
first-division football matches.
In the conference call, Murdoch reaffirmed his support
for a pay model for Internet access.
He noted that The Wall Street Journal had been the only
US newspaper to increase its subscriber base, on paper
and online, during the recession. – AFP