theSun | FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 2008 25

business news Hang Seng S&P/ASX200 TSEC

4,683.64
KLCI
853.56
STI
1,801.91
KOSPI
1,084.72 NIKKEI
14,329.85 4,001.1 24.15 130.71 115.75 9,029.76
1,627.78 155.5 277.12 817.86

KL market summary

Berjaya all out to woo

ABU DHABI: Berjaya OCTOBER 30, 2008
Hotels and Resorts is
going all out to woo more INDICES CHANGE
Middle East travellers FBMEMAS 5,591.11 +172.1
to its properties in COMPOSITE 853.56 +24.15
Malaysia, including those INDUSTRIAL 2,067.18 +36.00
located on Tioman and CONSUMER PROD 266.43 +2.34
INDUSTRIAL PROD 67.03 +1.83

Redang islands as well as
Langkawi.
Its regional sales and
marketing director, Peggy
Tan, said Middle Eastern
tourists are seasoned
travellers, eyeing
destinations where they
can enjoy a total holiday
experience.
“We’re not only talking
about, say, good hotels
and accommodation and
good airfares here. It
has to be a total holiday
experience for them.
“And with properties
on resort islands, the
highlands of Berjaya
Hills as well as in Kuala
Lumpur, I think we
should be able to meet
their expectations,” she
told Bernama on the
sidelines of a workshop
here on Wednesday,
aimed at strengthening
business ties with Middle
East travel agencies and
airline companies.
The event was part
of a joint promotional
roadshow with Tourism
Malaysia, with Kuwait
being the next stop.
Tan said the company
believed that the Middle
East was the key to
helping it further boost
Mid-East tourists
its presence in the
international travel and
leisure industry.
She said Berjaya Hotels
and Resorts has invested
nearly RM66 million in
product development and
upgrading hotel facilities
and would launch new
rooms in Redang soon.
In addition, she
said, the company has
appointed Dubai-based
Leen Marketing Services
as its general sales agent
for the United Arab
Emirates and the Gulf.
“This office will be
our eyes and ears that
can hopefully spur more
business from this region.
“It’ll enable us to
elevate Berjaya Hotels
and Resorts’ branding and
positioning in the Middle
East market,” she said.
A member of the
Berjaya Corporation
Group of Companies,
Berjaya Hotels and
Resorts is a public-listed
Malaysian conglomerate
managing 15 properties
in Malaysia, Singapore,
Seychelles, Sri Lanka and
the United Kingdom.
Elaborating on the
Middle East market, Tan
said: “We’re realigning
our marketing strategies,
focusing our efforts on
this market. The current
downturn will have an
impact to a certain extent.
But as far as this market is
concerned, I think this is a
bright spot for us to tap.”
Disclosing that Middle
East customers chalked
up close to 10,000 room
nights at Berjaya hotels
last year, she said
Berjaya would offer more
packages developed in
collaboration with its
travel trade partners.
Being a Muslim
country with wonderful
culture and a wide array
of culinary delights, Tan
reckoned that Middle East
travellers found Malaysia
appealing.
She also commended
CONSTRUCTION 140.67 +5.24
TRADING/SERVICES 120.63 +2.62
FINANCE 6,555.87 +194.33
PROPERTIES 505.01 +9.29
PLANTATIONS 3,520.41 +388.74
MINING 245.20 +6.08
FBMSHA 5,784.13 +183.44
Tourism Malaysia for FBM2BRD 4,199.20 +56.49
having undertaken TECHNOLOGY 14.06 +0.28
numerous promotional TURNOVER VALUE
campaigns in this region
973.008mil RM1.392bil
to attract more tourists to
Malaysia.
Tan said: “We’re
committed to showcasing
Prices higher in line with rally
Malaysia as a premier on Asian markets
holiday destination among
Middle East travellers and SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher yesterday
are going into full gear in line with the rallies in other Asian markets after the US
with Tourism Malaysia Asian Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 1%,
in placing Malaysia dealers said.
prominently on the world
markets They said the key index reversed its earlier losses sup-
map. signal ported by gains in plantation stocks including IOI Corp, Sime
“The Middle East tentative Darby and KL Kepong.
plays an essential part in “The strong rally in the regional markets spurred buying
helping elevate Berjaya’s
return interest in the local market,” a dealer said.
brand name in the travel of risk The KLCI gained 24.15 points or 2.91% to 853.56.
industry. And we’re taking Topping the most active counters was IOI Corp which
certain that our travel gained 49 sen to RM2.74, followed by KNM which added 8.5
trade partners in this
pg 26 sen to 58.5 sen while Lion Industries jumped 12 sen to 61.5
region will find our new sen. Of the other active counters, Scomi and SAAG Con-
plans refreshing and solidated increased 2.5 sen each to 31.5 sen and 21.0 sen
exciting.” respectively, while Gamuda added nine sen to RM1.44.
Lucky workshop Of the heavyweights, Sime Darby and MISC both in-
participants went home creased 20 sen to RM6.10 and RM8.30 respectively, with
with attractive prizes, Public Bank adding 10 sen to RM8.35 while Tenaga Nasional
courtesy of Berjaya Hotels shed five sen to RM5.95. Maybank rose 15 sen to RM5.15
and Resorts and Tourism with Bumiputra-Commerce gaining 35 sen to RM6.15 and
Malaysia. – Bernama Genting added 20 sen to RM4.20. – Bernama

Top Glove to spend RM80mil for capital expansion

KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove
Corporation Bhd is looking to
spend around RM80 million
for its capital expenditure for
the financial year 2009, from its
strong internal cash reserves of
over RM100 million, its executive
director Lim Cheong Guan said
yesterday.
He said the group was in a
position to do so due to its low
gearing and if external funding was
required, it was looking to borrow
around RM20 million only.
“We have set aside RM80
million to add on capacity. It will
mostly come from internal funds
because we still have cash of more
than RM100 million. If we do
need to borrow, the most would
be RM20 million, and that is still
sufficient for capex and dividends,”
he tolds reporters after the press
briefing on the group’s fourth
quarter results, here.
Meanwhile, Top Glove issued
a RM70 million sukuk in 2005 and
is expected to start repaying RM15
million this December, another
RM25 million in December 2009
and RM30 million in December
2010.
Lim said the group was unlikely
to issue more bonds in the near
future.
He said the group has had a
tough year this year as the latex
price peaked at RM7.20 per kg in
July, the ringgit strengthened at
RM3.14 to a dollar in April and the
crude oil price hit an all time high
at US$147 (RM521) per barrel in
July.
This, he added, led the
government to announce a 41%
increase in petrol price, a 26% hike
in electricity tariff and 72% rise in
natural gas tariffs.
Going forward, he said the
group was looking at a growth rate
of 20% for 2009 and 2010 following
a 32% drop in latex price as of
September, the strengthening of the
dollar around 5% and the decline
in crude oil price by about 43%.
He said other key industry
drivers for rubber gloves include
the increasing best practice
standards especially in healthcare
sectors, and industry consolidation.
It was looking at Asia and Latin
America as future markets with
greater potential.
Top Glove chairman Tan Sri
Dr Lim Wee Chai said in some
countries, the demand for the
rubber gloves had increased 100%
due to legislation in the healthcare
industry.
He said the group was also still
open to the possibility of a merger
and acquisitions if it was deemed
good for the group.
“We’ve had talks with
several parties from Malaysia,
Thailand and Indonesia. But their
contribution to the group was not
suitable. But we are still open to
other possibilities,” he said.
Top Glove which produces 28
billion pieces of rubber gloves
per annum from 320 production
lines currently holds a 24% market
share and intends to increase this
to 35% by December 2010.
It has 13 glove factories
in Malaysia, two in China
and another two in Thailand.
The group also has two latex
concentrate plants in Haadyai,
Thailand due to be completed by
March next year.
For the financial year ended
Aug 31, 2008, the group posted a
13% increase in pre-tax profit of
RM134.6 million from RM118.6
million before.
Its total sales rose 12% to
RM1.374 billion from RM1.228
billion previously. – Bernama