Thesun 2009-07-23 Page16 China Says It Has Evidence Rio Staff Stole State Secrets

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theSun

business

KLCI STI Hang Seng SCI

1,148.70 2,450.83 19,248.17 3,296.61

14.00 3.50 253.56 83.41

Nikkei TSEC KOSPI S&P/ASX200

9,723.16 6,985.32 1,494.04 4,068.50

| THURSDAY JULY 23 2009

71.14 31.98 5.05 17.80

KL market summary JULY 22, 2009 INDICES CONSTRUCTION: CONSUMER: FBM2BRD: FBMEMAS: FBM-KLCI: FBMSHA: FINANCE: INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT: INDUSTRIAL: MINING: PLANTATIONS: PROPERTIES: TECNOLOGY: TRADING SERVICES: TURNOVER 1.111bil

KL shares higher on Wall Street

CHANGE 218.87 332.34 4,901.82 7,706.40 1,148.70 7,916.70 9,333.88 86.90 2,483.53 308.02 5,602.00 725.73 15.38 151.40

(- 1.79) (+ 0.95) (+ 27.60) (+ 62.97) (+ 14.00) (+ 56.97) (+ 77.08) (+ 0.13) (+ 29.49) (+ 6.08) (+ 84.77) (- 6.03) (- 0.06) (+ 1.71)

VALUE RM1.842bil

SHARES prices on Bursa Malaysia ended higher yesterday, led by gains on Wall Street overnight. Dealers said investors’ focus was on plantation related stocks. The benchmark index had soared to an intra-day high of 1,160.61, boosted by active buying momentum in bluechip counters. A dealer said the FBM KLCI was expected to touch the 1,165-point level this week on expectations that global markets would bottom out. “The bullish market trend is expected to continue given the improved sentiment,” he added. The Finance Index rose 77.08 points to

9,333.88, the Plantation Index advanced 84.77 points to 5,602.0 and the Industrial Index was 29.49 points higher at 2,483.53. Advancers led decliners by 327 to 290 while 258 counters were unchanged, 355 untraded and 33 others suspended. Leading the actives, KNM closed unchanged at 83 sen while Gula Perak, PBBANK-CH and PJI Holdings increased half a sen each to 6.5 sen, four sen and eight sen respectively. Among heavyweights, Sime Darby rose 25 sen to RM7.80 and Telekom fell one sen to RM2.97 while Maybank and Tenaga closed unchanged at RM6.40 and RM8.40 respectively. – Bernama

China says it has evidence Rio staff stole state secrets judicial process and I requested the Australian side to respect China’s judicial sovereignty,” he said. Chinese authorities arrested Stern Hu, the Australian head of the miner’s Shanghai office, and three local staff earlier this month accusing them of bribery and other illegal means to gather state secrets. However, Rio Tinto said in a statement last week that media reports its employees had bribed steel mill officials during tough iron ore contract negotiations were “wholly without foundation”.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned China that it had “significant” business interests on the line in Hu’s case and that foreign governments and international companies were watching developments closely. He is so far the highest-level Chinese official to comment on the Rio Tinto case. His remarks came after Smith told Australian media over the weekend that China was handling the investigation as a criminal case with a focus on commercial and economic matters rather than espionage. – AFP

Naza Group and Tutti Frutti join hands by Hemananthani Sivanandam [email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: Naza Group signed a licence agreement with Well Spring Inc, the brand owner of Tutti Frutti soft frozen yogurt yesterday. Under the licence agreement signed, the group is now the master licence holder for the frozen delicacy in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India. Tutti Frutti, the latest concept in health food will be available to Malaysians by September this year. The first outlet will be located in a major shopping mall in the Klang Valley followed by four more outlets by the end of this year. Naza Group director Nur Diana SM Nasimuddin said the chain’s unique soft serve frozen yogurt concept would appeal to the masses. “Consumers can choose from more than 18 flavours and 32 toppings, dispensing it themselves from a machine, serve their own toppings and pay for their personalised serving by weight,” she said. The frozen yogurt snack will be priced between RM7 and RM8 for 170gm (six ounces). “The heavier your snack weighs, the more you pay,” said Nur Diana. The group plans to have 25 more Tutti Frutti outlets operating in Malaysia and other territories by the end of 2010. Naza Group has invested about RM3.5 million for the first five outlets in Malaysia and is looking to sub-licence another 20 outlets. The group has also developed a licence programme to assist entrepreneurs run their own Tutti Frutti outlets. There are three sub-licencee pack-

ages with licence fees starting from RM40,000, which includes the rights to operate Tutti Frutti outlets, equipment, designing, renovation and training for five years. The packages will depend on the on the type of concept outlets. There are three types of outlets; stores ranging from 92.9 to 111.5 sq metres with seating capacity for 30 to 40 people. The other two are kiosks – 23.8 sq metres kiosks for concourse areas or open spaces and 37.2 sq metres kiosks for hypermarket or shopping areas. Naza Group food and beverage general manager Zain Azrai Azhar Simin said the group intends to venture into Singapore and Thailand next year, followed by India in 2011. “We’re planning to operate two out-

lets on our own in Singapore next year and we plan to sub-licence about four outlets there,” said Zain He said the projected revenue for the outlets depends on the type of outlets. “If it’s a store, we’re looking at a turnover of RM80,000 a month but if it’s a kiosk, then it’s about RM40,000 a month,” added Zain. Tutti Frutti is the newest licence to be added to the Naza Group’s food and beverage portfolio. It currently holds the franchise for the US Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant franchise in Malaysia. Tutti Frutti, which originated in California, United States, currently has 67 stores operating in the US. Well Springs Inc president Jay Kim said the company plans to have 110 stores by the end of this year in the US.

July 22, 2009

1 US DOLLAR 3.5810 1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 2.9550 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4880 1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.2460 1 EURO 5.0960 1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.3790 1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4990 1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4875 1 STERLING POUND 5.8930 1 SWISS FRANC 3.3600 100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 99.2300 100 BANGLADESH TAKA 5.3400 100 CHINESE RENMINBI N/A 100 DANISH KRONE 70.4600 100 HONGKONG DOLLAR 47.0300 100 INDIAN RUPEE 7.6700 100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0372 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.8440 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 58.7200 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.4800 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.6300 100 QATAR RIYAL 99.8900 9 100 SAUDI RIYAL 96.9800 100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 47.2300 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2400 100 SWEDISH KRONA 48.6800 100 THAI BAHT 11.3000

3.5160 2.8260 2.4280 3.1660 4.9730 2.2750 1.2400 2.4280 5.7510 3.2790 93.9900 5.2100 N/A 64.7500 44.5500 7.0500 0.0314 3.7500 N/A 53.9600 4.1700 7.1600 5.0200 92.2500 43.4500 2.9700 44.2500 9.5800

3.5060 2.8100 2.4200 3.1540 4.9530 2.2590 1.2240 2.4200 5.7310 3.2640 93.7900 5.0100 N/A 64.5500 44.3500 6.8500 0.0264 3.7400 N/A 53.7600 3.9700 6.9600 94.8200 92.0500 43.2500 2.7700 44.0500 9.1800

Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama

Australian inflation lowest in decade

ANWAR FAIZ/THESUN

BEIJING: China has told the Australian government it has “sufficient evidence” that detained Rio Tinto executives stole state secrets, a senior Chinese official said yesterday. Vice-foreign minister He Yafei said he briefed his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith of the developments on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned summit in Egypt last week. “I stressed that we have sufficient evidence showing that the individuals involved obtained state secrets using illegal means,” He told reporters. “The case has entered into the

EXCHANGE RATES

(From left) Naza Group joint group executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, Nur Diana, Kim and Well Spring Inc USA vicepresident Sophie Hahn at the signing ceremony.

MELBOURNE: Australia posted a modest inflation rise in the June quarter for an annual rate of 1.5%, the lowest in 10 years, boosting the prospect of higher interest rates, economists said yesterday. The quarterly rise of 0.5% points was in line with market expectations and puts the annual rate below the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2 to 3% target range. Analysts said inflation had increased from just 0.1% in the March quarter, possibly reflecting a pick-up in economic activity as the downturn eases in Australia. – AFP

Oil eases in Asian trade SINGAPORE: Oil eased in Asian trade yesterday after recent gains fuelled largely by an upsurge in global stock markets, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, fell 49 cents to US$65.12 (RM234) a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for September delivery was 46 cents weaker at US$66.41 (RM239). The US Department of Energy (DoE) was to release its weekly oil reserves report later yesterday with investors having already priced in a likely drop in crude stocks, analysts said. A drop in US crude stocks is seen as an indication of demand picking up in the world’s biggest energy user. Beyond the DoE report, investors were closely watching US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s ongoing semi-annual economic report to Congress for clues on the state of the US economy. – AFP

Taiwan jobless rate record high TAIPEI: Taiwan’s unemployment rate hit a new record high of 5.94% in June, mainly due to a hike in first-time job seekers, the government said yesterday. The figure is up from 5.82% recorded in May and is higher than the 3.95% a year ago, said the directorate general of budget, accounting and statistics. On a seasonally adjusted basis, June unemployment rose to 5.91%, up from 5.84% from last month, the agency said. In June, the number of the jobless reached 647,000, up 14,000 from a month earlier, including an increase of 12,000 first-time job seekers. For the first six months, the jobless rate stood at 5.73%, up from 3.87% in the same period last year with an average 623,000 people out of work, up 205,000 from last year. Taiwan reported that the economy shrunk by a record 10.24% in the first quarter of the year as exports were badly hit by weak demand brought about by the global crisis. – AFP