Thesun 2008-12-02 Page13 Idris Jala Named Orient Aviation Person 2008

theSun

13

| TUESDAY DECEMBER 2 2008

business news

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KLCI

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17.71

STI

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Idris Jala (pix), managing director and chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), has been named Orient Aviation Person 2008 for being the driving force behind the national carrier’s amazing comeback. While many wrote off the airline when it made its biggest losses ever of RM1.3 billion in nine months in 2005, Idris joined the airline and turned MAS’s record losses into record profits and rebuilt confidence and morale among its 20,000 employees, all within two years. “MAS recorded RM851 million in the financial year 2007, its highest profit in 60 years of operations, and is only one of the

six airlines in the world recognised as a ‘5-star airline’ by Skytrax, United Kingdom, an accolade it has won for three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008,” said MAS in a statement. Idris said he was pleased and honoured to accept the award as he and his team worked hard to turnaround MAS. Now, they are embarking on a business transformation journey in pursuit of their vision to become the World’s Five Star Value carrier. Idris said he is blessed with a great team of people who are passionate about the airline. Orient Aviation chief executive Barry Grindrod said Idris acted speedily and

the possibility of not only undertaking CBU (completely built-up) but also the CKD if the opportunity is right. We are still evaluating the possibility and have not made any decision,” he told reporters after the launch of Proton Persona and the facelifted Gen.2 models here last week. Syed Zainal Abidin (pix) said Egypt could become a gateway to the northern African region to serve countries like Morocco, Sudan, Algeria and Tunisia. Proton has sold over 5,500 cars in Egypt since its debut

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decisively. In the last three years, he has slashed US$500 million (RM1.8 billion) costs at MAS. Idris is on target for additional cuts of US$280 million (RM1.08 billion) in operational costs this year. Significantly, he has also restored morale in the carrier which was rock bottom when he joined the airline, Grindrod said. Previous winners of the award, which was established in 1999, include Chew Choong Seng from Singapore Airlines; Geoff Dixon, Qantas Airways; Jaime Bautista, Philippine Airlines; Kanok Abhiradee, Thai Airways International and David Turnbull, Cathay Pacific Airways. – Bernama

in 2001. Proton exports about 2,000 cars a month to 24 countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. On Proton’s plan to strengthen its presence in the Middle Eastern market, Syed Zainal Abidin said the company was looking to set up an office in the region. “Soon, there will be an office somewhere in the Middle East. We are also looking to have a warehouse for our spare parts,” he said. – Bernama

ABM sets up toll-free line for queries KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has launched a toll-free service to receive queries and complaints on issues related to the local conventional banking industry and general concerns about credit. In a statement here yesterday, ABM said the service,

ABMConnect, would be operational from Monday to Friday and provide an avenue for customers to clarify any doubts and verify information on conventional banking issues. ABM chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Hamidy Abdul Hafiz said the toll-free line, 1-300-889980, was in keeping with the

association’s aim to facilitate and create a conducive banking environment for its client, and complement existing initiatives by the respective member banks. “With the establishment of ABMConnect, ABM can now assist in bridging any gaps which may occur in the individual

bank’s communication with its customers, if necessary,” he said. Moving forward, he said, ABM would play a bigger role in building public understanding of the local banking industry, how it worked and how risk was managed by the banking sector. – Bernama

115.05

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KL market summary

Proton exploring CKD operations in Egypt CAIRO: National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd is exploring the possibility of undertaking CKD (completely-knocked down) operations in Egypt. Its managing director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, said Egypt, with a population of 80 million, was a big market and Proton cars had received encouraging response. He said total car sales in Egypt could touch 500,000 units going forward from more than 200,000 units a year now. “We are exploring

8,397.22

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42.34

Idris Jala named Orient Aviation Person 2008

Nikkei

KOSPI

1,690.23

FBMEMAS COMPOSITE INDUSTRIAL CONSUMER PRODUCT INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT CONSTRUCTION TRADING SERVICES FINANCE PROPERTIES PLANTATIONS MINING FBMSHA FBM2BRD TECHNOLOGY TURNOVER 3.961mil

CHANGE 5,566.84 848.43 2,007.08 276.03 66.94 153.35 115.78 6,532.83 510.25 3,876.82 263.44 5,756.54 3,990.60 13.15

-108.73 -17.71 -81.09 -1.05 -0.41 -1.36 -3.60 -83.62 -0.66 -36.66 UNCH -143.83 -40.00 -0.08 VALUE

RM740.392mil

KL shares end lower KUALA LUMPUR: At 5pm yesterday, there were 153 gainers and 345 losers while 176 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. The KLCI closed at 848.43 down 17.71 points. Turnover was at 3.961 million lots valued at RM740.392 million. Among heavyweights, Tenaga was flat at RM5.90, Maybank slipped five sen to RM5.10, Telekom eased four sen to RM3.08 and Malaysia Airlines declined four sen to RM2.52. Volume on the main board declined to 342.928 million shares valued at RM725.575 million from 473.272 million shares valued at RM995.117 million last Friday. – Bernama

Ireka revenue up 41% to RM88.79mil in 2Q Catchy slogans alone won’t sell pg 32

KUALA LUMPUR: Ireka Corp Bhd’s revenue for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2008 rose by 41% to RM88.79 million from RM62.86 million in the first quarter. In a statement here yesterday, Ireka said for the first half of the financial year ended Sept 30, 2008, revenue fell by 5% to RM151.65 million from RM159.77 million in the corresponding period last year. “This is mainly due to the lower volume of construction works completed during the period. “In the first half of financial year 2009, the company registered a pre-tax loss of RM711,000 which was mainly attributable to the surge in raw material prices during the period under review, especially prices of steel bars,” it said. The company’s financial year ends on March 31. Group managing director Lai Siew Wah said high steel bar prices were one of the main contributing factors, which saw an average price of RM2,500 per tonne as at the end of last year, to more than RM4,000 per tonne during the period under review. – Bernama