Thesun 2008-12-24 Page18 Bcorp Proposes Interim Divident In Specie

18 œ

theSun

| WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24 2008

business news Hang Seng

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BCorp proposes interim dividend in specie KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation Berhad (BCorp) announced yesterday an interim dividend-in-specie of 25 Berjaya Media Berhad shares for every 1,000 BCorp shares held, or equivalent to a dividend rate of 2.35% single-tier exempt dividend per share for the financial year ending April 30, 2009. The proposal is subject to approvals of the relevant authorities and BCorp’s shareholders. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday evening, BCorp also announced a substantially higher revenue of RM1.61 billion for Q2 ended last Oct 31, compared with RM639.9 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. The higher revenue was mainly due to the consolidation of Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad (BToto) as a subsidiary company with effect from last February and higher revenue contributions from the consumer marketing and general insurance businesses. However, pre-tax profit for the quarter of RM78.9 million was lower than the previous year’s corresponding quarter of RM279.7 million. In the previous year’s corresponding quarter there were significant non-recurring items such as the gain of RM339 million from the placement of 170 million 5% Berjaya Land Berhad ICULS and the gain of RM36 million from the disposal of certain subsidiaries which were partly offset by the loss arising on dilution of interest in a subsidiary company of RM221 million (all totalling about RM154 million). In the current quarter, the group incurred losses on foreign exchange of RM31 million due to the weakened ringgit and made additional impairment in value of investments in associated companies and certain quoted investments totalling about

RM46 million. Profit from operations for the current quarter under review was lower than previous year mainly due to lower brokerage income from the stock-broking business arising from the stock market downturn and high claims ratio which led to underwriting loss in the general insurance business. For the six-month period ended last Oct 31, the group registered a revenue and pre-tax profit of RM3.1 billion and RM215.7 million respectively compared with a revenue and pre-tax profit of RM1.2 billion and RM477.1 million respectively in the previous year. The increase in the current period’s revenue and lower pre-tax profit were mainly due to the reasons mentioned above. However, operationally for the six-month period the group performed better than the previous year, mainly due to the consolidation of BToto as a subsidiary company of the group and higher profit contribution from the consumer marketing business. BCorp’s board took cognisance of the prevailing global economic conditions arising from the financial meltdown in the West and the unavoidable impact on the regional economies, including Malaysia’s economy which may affect the operating performance of the group in the remaining quarters of the financial year ending April 30, 2009, but expects the gaming business under BToto and consumer marketing business under Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd to be resilient. As such, the board is optimistic that the group will continue to register revenue and operating profit growth for the remaining quarters of this financial year from the gaming and consumer business contributions.

briefs November vehicle sales up, says MAA KUALA LUMPUR: The total sales of vehicles in November this year declined to 40,865 units from 43,783 units in the same month in 2007. However, the sales volume in November was up 9% or 3,353 units when compared with October. A longer working month and year-end promotions were attributed as the main reasons for the increase, by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) in a statement yesterday. It said the sales of passenger vehicles in November fell to 36,254 units from 40,053 units in the same month last year, but sales of commercial vehicles rose to 4,611 units from 3,730 previously. MAA said the overall figures were still higher this year compared to 2007. Total sales for the first 11 months rose to 508,290 units from 444,932 units in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the sales volume in December is expected to be lower than November 2008 and December 2007 due to the lower year-end seasonal index and softening of demand in line with current global trends.

KL market summary DECEMBER 23, 2008 INDICES FBMEMAS COMPOSITE INDUSTRIAL CONSUMER PROD INDUSTRIAL PROD CONSTRUCTION TRADING SERVICES FINANCE PROPERTIES PLANTATIONS MINING FBMSHA FBM2BRD TECHNOLOGY

CHANGE 5,688.95 871.16 2,074.44 283.23 66.87 163.01 117.00 6,720.69 513.76 4,101.73 249.25 5,913.98 3,928.04 13.26

-29.62 -2.27 -7.74 +4.19 -0.43 +0.17 -0.44 -33.06 -2.37 -88.87 +4.05 -40.90 -25.97 +0.03

TURNOVER

VALUE

309.783mil

RM327.215mil

Share prices close lower SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday with the key index dragged down by the losses in selected plantation and financerelated stocks, dealers said. At close, the benchmark KLCI declined 2.27 points to 871.16, due to losses mostly in Sime Darby and IOI Corp. The index had opened 0.77 of a point higher at 874.20. The key index, which had started the day on a positive note, was weighed down on profittaking activities by short-term investors. “Most investors have already started to take a break for Christmas,” a dealer said. For the heavyweights, Sime Darby declined 15 sen to RM5.35, Tenaga rose five sen to RM5.95, Maybank slipped five sen to RM5.05, MISC fell 25 sen to RM8.40 and IOI Corp lost 14 sen to RM3.50. Among the actives, KNM declined 1.5 sen to 39.5 sen, MK Land rose 2.5 sen to 18 sen, PI Corp fell half sen to 47 sen and Ramunia-WA lost half sen to 13.5 sen. – Bernama

MMC may court PNB and Tabung Haji to buy PTP stake KUALA LUMPUR: MMC Corporation Bhd may court Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and Lembaga Tabung Haji to buy a 20% stake in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), according to OSK Research. In its research report released yesterday, OSK said MMC may also reduce the asking price to a more reasonable level. Commenting on reports the EPF has rejected MMC’s proposal to sell the minority stakes to EPF, OSK said as expected the sale of PTP will not be easy given the presence of Maersk, which may limit the potential buyers. “As we mentioned in our Dec 12 research note, we value PTP at RM4.4 billion compared with a possible valuation by the company itself of RM8 billion. Our valuation is therefore almost at a 50% discount to MMC’s valuation,” it said. – Bernama

On the production side, MAA said the volume in November was higher with total production of passenger and commercial vehicles rising to 48,431 units from 47,144 units in the same month last year. – Bernama

Synergy between Jetstar, AirAsia not that great: OSK KUALA LUMPUR: Jetstar’s strong presence in Australia and New Zealand’s domestic routes, seems synergistic to AirAsia to tie up or merge with the company for potential interlining, according to OSK Research. However, the research house said judging from AirAsia’s “point to point” aviation business model, it was curious whether this may fit in with the company’s low-cost-cumfast-turnaround business model. “Although we may see the combination of both airlines expanding the network coverage and potentially code-share or even replace some similar routes, we think the synergy is not all that great,” OSK Research said in its research note yesterday. Local newspapers yesterday reported that something may be in the air between Qantas Airways Ltd and AirAsia Bhd. The talks for a merger are reportedly still in the preliminary stages with AirAsia’s group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce mulling over the prospects. – Bernama