theSun | FRIDAY DECEMBER 5 2008  27

business news

HANG SENG S&P/ASX200 TSEC

13,509.78 3,532.4 4,254.96
78.88 1.4 52.30

KLCI STI KOSPI NIKKEI

846.86 1,643.68 1,006.54 7,924.24
0.67 3.11 16.13 79.86

KL market summary
DECEMBER 4, 2008

Prices end INDICES

FBMEMAS 5,538.84
CHANGE
- 7.70
lower COMPOSITE
INDUSTRIAL
846.86
2,012.90
- 0.67
- 3.01
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia CONSUMER PRODUCT 273.97 UNCH
ended lower yesterday on fears INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT 66.13 - 0.16
of a deeper global economic CONSTRUCTION 155.11 + 0.52
TRADING SERVICES 115.12 - 0.43
recession, dealers said.
They said, however, some
FINANCE 6,538.24 + 36.17 On the
PROPERTIES 504.31 - 1.79
mild bargain hunting among key PLANTATIONS 3,825.66 - 37.41 ball
heavyweights helped narrow MINING 247.23 UNCH with
overall losses. FBMSHA 5,724.45 - 15.35
An analyst said weaknesses FBM2BRD 3.961.87 - 3.49 Chelsea
in Asian markets had also af- TECHNOLOGY 13.23 + 0.13 pg 30
fected investor sentiment. TURNOVER VALUE
He said investors would also
293.441mil RM486.741mil
be watching developments in
the US car sector which was
bracing for a slowdown. at 37 sen, KNM Group slipped half sen to
The KLCI declined 0.67 point to 846.86. 49 sen and Genting fell 12 sen to RM3.78.
Losers beat gainers by 267 to 198, 202 In heavyweights, Maybank gained 10
counters were unchanged, 578 counters sen to RM5.20, Tenaga increased 10
untraded and 30 counters suspended. sen to RM6, Telekom rose eight sen to
Among active stocks, Resorts was RM3.10 and Malaysia Airlines declined
flat at RM2.28, Ramunia was unchanged two sen to RM2.52. – Bernama

MAS pursues strategic

tie-ups with other carriers
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines
(MAS) yesterday clarified it is pursuing
strategic partnerships with a number of
airlines, but stopped short of saying it is
merging with any of them.
Australian newspapers have been
playing up reports of Qantas in merger
talks with British Airways, which included
additional news the Australian airline had
merger talks with MAS earlier this year.
Responding to the reports, MAS
managing director/chief executive officer
Datuk Seri Idris Jala said: “We are in talks
with a number of airlines on collaborating
and creating synergies for growth, ranging
from joint ventures and code shares to
interlining partnerships.”
For example, he said, the national
carrier has signed a memorandum of
understanding with Qantas on joint
venture on maintenance repair and
overhaul.
“In our Business Transformation Plan,
we have said we will pursue strategic
partnerships to create additional value
for MAS.
“This is in line with our vision to
transform into the World’s Five-Star Value
Carrier,” he said.
According to the Sydney Morning
Herald, MAS and Qantas earlier this year
started talks but were suspended because
they could not agree on the merger ratio
and governance issues.
Qantas is now in merger talks with
British Airways and is said to have
committed itself to forging a tie-up with a
foreign carrier even if the planned merger
falters.
The world’s airline industry has been
hard hit by high fuel prices this year, and
although prices have plummeted, the
global financial crisis will continue to bear
down on airlines’ operations.
Last week, MAS reported weaker
earnings in the third quarter.
It managed to stay in the black with
a net profit of RM38 million during the
quarter, sharply down from RM364 million
a year ago. – Bernama

BMW to set benchmark for
premium pre-owned car mart
SHAH ALAM: BMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd aims to
take the lead and set the benchmark for the
premium pre-owned car market in Malaysia.
Its managing director, Geoffrey
Briscoe, said the grey market
trade under the premium
vehicle segment has seen an
average growth rate of 6.2%
for the past four years.
“In 2007, around 6,081
parallel imports were pur-
chased out of the total 13,760
premium vehicles sold,” he told a media brief-
ing at the launch of its used car programme,
BMW Premium Selection, here yesterday.
Briscoe said the programme was part of the
company’s strategy to face the grey market
head on.
He said a customer buying a car on the grey
market or from an unauthorised used car dealer
would put himself at great risk because the car
may not have been designed for the Malaysian
climate, has no service history and could have
dubious documentation. – Bernama
Shell expects slight drop in
commercial fuel business
KUALA LUMPUR: Shell Malaysia expects its
commercial fuel business to fall slightly,
particularly from the manufacturing indus-
try amid the current economic crisis.
“I think there is a slight effect but not
significant because people use less. Right
now the manufacturing industry is down
and it produces less,” chairman Datuk Saw
Choo Boon said.
On when the situation would improve,
he said: “It is hard to say until the financial
crisis is over and when the demand will
rise, I don’t really know how long it would
take.”
He said the volume for retail business
was still holding, adding that the demand
was just about the same. – Bernama