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business
KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research
Rollout of projects bolster
Sdn Bhd continues to have high
expectations of the rollout of projects
under various stimulus packages,
bolstering steel millers’ bottom-lines,
especially in the upcoming calendar
year.
steel millers’ bottom-lines
In a research note yesterday, the
research firm said local steel mills
may continue to export billets to the
South East Asian market as China’s
imposition of a 25% export tax had
created a vacuum in supply.
It said an improvement in the
economies of the Middle East said the market will be searching for
countries, Australia, Pakistan and “recovery plays”, which would put
Bangladesh would also be a boon to the steel counters in the limelight
Malaysia’s billet exports. given that the stimulus packages
Despite the fact that steel prices worldwide will translate into physi-
and demand are expected to be vola- cal steel demand.
tile in the coming year, OSK Research “Given the fact that local steel
MK Land sees growth
for its hotels and resorts
PETALING JAYA: MK Land Holdings Bhd sees
growth for its hotels and resorts which include
Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, Taiping Golf
Resort and the Langkawi Lagoon Resort this
year, despite the current economic situation.
Senior general manager of MK Land Hotels
and Resorts, Annuar Yang Ghazali, said the
company was targeting total sales of RM52
million for its financial year ending June 30,
2010 and RM56 million in 2011.
“As for the economic situation, we think it is
already improving,” he told reporters after the
signing of a memorandum of understanding
between MK Land, Kumpulan Emkay and the
Malaysian Armed Forces Social, Welfare and
Sports Club here yesterday.
Malaysian firm to develop
special economic zone in Laos
VIENTIANE: A Malaysian company, Universal
Pacific Ltd, has been given a 50-year concession
by the Laos government to develop a special
economic zone near the newly-completed Laos-
Thai railway line across the Mekong River.
According to Malaysian and Laos officials
here, the company was expected to allocate
US$50 million (RM175 million) to develop the
53ha zone located in Dongphosy at the Laos-
Thai Friendship Bridge.
“This is an area with great potential as it is
close to Thailand, has a railway line which is
important for transportation of goods and more
so, future plans to extend the track to Vietnam
and China,” a Malaysian official said here.
prices have continued to stay firm,
with steel bars hovering at RM2,000
and wire rods at RM2,300 per tonne,
we are keeping our fingers crossed
and maintain our key assumptions,”
OSK Research said.
As most of the steel mills are still
According to Annuar, Bukit Merah Lake-
town Resort will focus on local tourists.
However, the resort has also been able to
attract foreign visitors from countries such as
Italy and the United Kingdom.
He said the participation of foreign visitors As for the
as well as locals has enabled the company to economic
sustain the room pick-up rates of its holiday situation,
resorts. On an average, Bukit Merah Laketown we think it
has a 36% occupancy and the Langkawi La-
goon Resort, 60%. is already
Meanwhile, the signing of the MoU is to improving’
promote the three resorts managed by MK
Land and the Belum Rain Forest Resort under – Annuar
Kumpulan Emkay, among the members of the
armed forces club. – Bernama
Thailand funded the 197 million baht
(RM21.67 million) 3.5km railway to its land-
locked neighbour, linking the kingdom’s
northeast city of Nong Khai and Dongphosy,
located about 25km from the capital.
According to Vientiane Times daily, the
agreement was signed last Saturday by Vien-
tiane Department of Industry and Commerce
director Berlinh Phetchantharath and Univer-
sal Pacific chairman Terence Lai.
The company is expected to undertake a
mixed development project over a period of
10 years, comprising three-star hotels, a shop-
ping mall, hospital, bank, public park, duty free
market, spa and sports facilities. – Bernama
American
Idol gets
DeGeneres
as judge
pg 21
reporting losses for the second quar-
ter of calendar year 2009 with the ex-
ception of Ann Joo, the research firm
is most certain that financial year
2009 will be a washout year although
the surge in steel prices in May and
June 2009 will be favourable for steel
MAS offers best deals
to celebrate Hari Raya
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines’
(MAS) “Everyday Low Fares” offers are
back with the best deals for domestic
and international travel in conjunction
with Hari Raya celebrations.
In a statement, MAS said the travel
deals were offered from now until
Sept 18, 2009.
It said Turkey-bound travellers
could take advantage of its “Everyday
Low Fares” and fly to Istanbul for as
low as RM1,078 one-way.
For travel within Peninsular Ma-
laysia, the all-inclusive one-way fares
would start from as low as RM69,
RM228 for Asean destinations, RM438
to China and RM428 to the Indian sub-
continent, it said.
“Guests can fly one-way from Kuala
Lumpur to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris,
Rome, at fares starting from RM1,148
briefs
Pakistan, Malaysia to
form business council
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Paki-
stan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
and the National Chamber of Commerce
and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) is ag-
gressively pursuing the formation of a joint
business council to bridge more private
businesses between the two countries.
A Pakistan High Commission state-
ment said the decision to set up the coun-
cil was made after a meeting between
Pakistan High Commissioner Lt-Gen (Rtd)
Tahir Mahmud Qazi and NCCIM executive
director Syed Hussain Al Habshee.
The business council will facilitate
the private sectors of both countries to
work closely to achieve free exchange of
information on trade, economic coopera-
tion and services.
Initially, business councils would be
established by both chambers which
would later pave the way for the forma-
tion of the joint business council, the
statement said. – Bernama
NEC, Hitachi, Casio to
merge mobile operations
TOKYO: Japanese firms NEC Corp,
Hitachi Ltd and Casio Computer Co
said yesterday that they had agreed to
merge their mobile phone businesses
in a bid to improve profitability.
Together they would have the
second biggest slice of Japan’s mobile
phone handset market, ahead of Pana-
sonic Corp but behind Sharp Corp.
The firms said that by pooling
their technological know-how and
resources, they aim to come up with
appealing new products and boost
their future growth.
The joint venture will develop,
produce and sell mobile telephone
theSun | TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2009
mills in the coming quarter.
The research firm however re-
mains hopeful of a better financial
year 2010 as various governments
pour in money via their respective
stimulus packages.
The conclusion of 2009/10 iron ore
pellets price at 48.3% drop is certainly
cause for cheer for iron makers such
as Lion Industries and Perwaja as
pellets form the main raw material
costs while selling prices continue
to escalate after scrap metal prices
pierced through US$350 (RM1,225)
per tonne recently.
The settlement of new iron ore
benchmark prices for 2009/10 also
marked a milestone for the steel
industry as it gave steel prices a
clearer direction for the year ahead.
– Bernama
one-way and Dubai from RM768 while
the popular ‘kangaroo’ routes were
going from RM618 to Perth and RM988
to Melbourne,” it said.
MAS said the travel period were
between Oct 14, 2009 and Aug 20,
2010 for all destinations on offer ex-
cept London which was between Jan
19, 2010 and Aug 20, 2010.
Its senior general manager (network
and revenue management), Dr Amin
Khan, said the airline was delighted
to extend its popular “Everyday Low
Fares” to Istanbul in its September
2009 offers.
“Due to growing demand from cus-
tomers, MAS will increase its flights
from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul effec-
tive Oct 25 this year,” MAS said.
The “Everyday Low Fares” promotions
were launched last year. – Bernama
handsets. It will initially be owned
66% by NEC, 17.34% by Casio and
16.66% by Hitachi.
They aim to merge the operations
by April 2010 and pump extra capital
into the firm, boosting the stake of NEC
to 70.74% and that of Casio to 20%. Hi-
tachi’s share will drop to 9.26%. – AFP
Sarkozy threatens G20
walkout if no bonus deal
PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy
has threatened to walk out of the summit
of Group of 20 leaders in Pittsburgh next
week if there is no agreement on bank
bonuses, Le Figaro reported yesterday.
“If there is no concrete decision, I will
leave,” the daily quoted Sarkozy as saying.
It did not describe the context in which
the remark was made but Sarkozy’s
chief of staff Claude Gueant told RTL
radio that the president was “extremely
determined” to secure a deal.
“It should be taken seriously,” Gueant
said of the threat, which echoes similar
French demands before previous inter-
national crisis meetings.
Sarkozy has led a push by European
leaders to limit bonuses paid to bank-
ers and wants to persuade the G20 as
a whole to adopt a common front on the
issue. – Reuters
Oil prices fall
in Asian trade
SINGAPORE: Oil prices eased in Asian
trade yesterday amid weakness in the
global equities market, dealers said.
New York’s main contract, light
sweet crude for October delivery
was down US$1.04 to US$68.25
(RM238.88) a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for October
delivery fell 86 cents to US$66.83.
“The fall is really related to some
weakness in equities markets,” said
Victor Shum, senior principal at en-
ergy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in
Singapore. – AFP