The Star Online: Business

More News: | Today | May 24 | May 23 | May 22 | May 21 | May 20 | May 18 |

Budget breather for Greece would spur economic recovery

ATHENS: Finance ministry officials in Greece have calculated that the debt-stricken country's economy will recover faster and its debt be more sustainable if it is given two more years to reduce its budget deficit, a Greek newspaper reported on Saturday.

Dell takes swipe at Indian way of doing business

NEW DELHI: A combination of power blackouts, uncertain tax rules and contracts that are not honoured make India a difficult place to do business, a senior Dell Inc executive said on Friday in unusually blunt comments by a foreign investor.

China's Wen urges North Korea to let the market help revamp economy

SHANGHAI: Premier Wen Jiabao encouraged North Korea to allow "market mechanisms" help revamp its economy, state media said on Saturday, and laid down other pre-conditions as China tries to wean its impoverished ally off its dependence on Chinese aid.

Heineken lifts Tiger beer bid to $6.35 billion

SINGAPORE/AMSTERDAM: Heineken NV raised its offer for Fraser and Neave's stake in the maker of Tiger beer to $6.35 billion on Friday, seeking to fend off a Thai rival for control of a leading brand in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market.

Small states squabble over euro zone's future

VIENNA/HELSINKI: Smaller euro zone countries that have retained top credit ratings through the region's crisis squabbled on Friday over whether struggling nations like Greece that threaten the currency union's stability should be kicked out.

Stocks rise on German backing for ECB action

NEW YORK: Global shares and the U.S.dollar advanced on Friday as apparent support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel for European Central Bank intervention to calm the euro zone's debt troubles lifted investor sentiment for a second day.

Cover feature

Pressure on Asean economies

REMEMBER the television advertisement some months back by an investment bank touting Asean as the third leg in the Asian growth story? Well, that resilience will be tested in the coming months, if it has not already, because growth in the other two legs, China and India, have slowed down.

Monetary policy, growth and inflation

WITHOUT a doubt, monetary policy for the remainder of the year will weigh more on growth than on inflation. This was also emphasised by Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz at a media briefing on Wednesday when the second quarter’s GDP was released.

Growth seen accelerating at year-end

MALAYSIA’S growth for the fourth quarter is likely to see some gradual improvement after bottoming out in the third quarter driven mainly by year-end festive demand and possible clarity in the eurozone.

View Points

Listed companies can be faulted for being too conservative

Errol Oh focuses on an unusual case of a listed company that was faulted for being too prudent.

The E&O price surge – and collapse

P Gunasegaram stresses on the need to clampdown on market manipulation and spotlights the recent runup of E&O’s

August central banking has lost its god-like status

Andrew Sheng details how central banks have lost their god-like status in the current economic woes in the West.

Engaging your customer

Joan Hoi describes how innovative television coverage of the Olympics has engaged audiences.

High returns are the real false cult

It may not be just the cult of equity which is dead, it may be the cult of investment

Stocks

An uptrend in slow motion

Bursa Malaysia extended the previous week’s three-day winning streak on follow-through interest, with the bellwether FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rising 1.94 points to 1,647.30.

Global forex market

IN a mostly muted week, better-than-expected US retail sales provided the market with some catalyst. In most cases, good US data would spur risk-on and consequently an appreciation of risk currencies.

Eye on stock

MWE Holdings Bhd sustained the upward thrust amid follow-through buying momentum, sending the shares to a high of RM1.70, the best level since April 2000.

Billings & Advertising

Is the advertising industry worth RM15bil a year?

Harmandar Singh wonders if the advertising industry is worth RM15bil a year.

Operating in a new media ecosystem

WALK into the office of Carat Malaysia’s newly-appointed chief executive officer Bala Pomaleh and you would be greeted by nearly 20 pots of plants.

Land & Property

Driving home a few points

THREE years after the spike in property prices, a roundtable discussion was finally held with the guest-of-honour being the Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung.

Chang: Yam’s action plans can lift burden of the middle-income group

HOUSING Buyers Associations secretary-general Chang Kim Loong has heaped praises on Rehda president Datuk Seri Michael Yam for suggesting various action plans during the roundtable discussion Housing Affordability: Issues and Challenges.

Uphill battle for developers

REHDA president Datuk Seri Michael Yam says the challenges facing property developers are tremendous. Some of these challenges are unavoidable and had directly or indirectly contributed to the high cost of properties.

Personal Finance

Affordable quality aged care cornerstone of high-income nation

THERE are two simple certainties in life – ageing and death. Regardless of our efforts, we all will age, and along with aging comes physical and mental impairment and the potential need for long term care.

How to cut costs

When economic conditions are less favourable and profit margins become strained, businesses are forced to find ways to cut costs in order to continue operating efficiently.

News

Your 10 questions with Zainal Amanshah

Zainal Amanshah answers your 10 questions.

Up close and personal with Timm Krohn

Germany’s Hasso-Plattner Institute COO believes that being innovative means being trained to be innovative.

Affin makes its move

PETALING JAYA: Affin Holdings Bhd’s resolve to explore a possible acquisition of a stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd seems to reflect an aspiration to become a bigger player, especially in the Islamic banking sector.

Affin Q2 net profit up on rise in income

PETALING JAYA: Affin Holdings Bhd saw its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, grow 4.9% to RM140.83mil from the previous corresponding period after reporting an increase in income.

M’sia enjoying gravity-defying boom

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s economy is enjoying a gravity-defying boom that is confounding sceptics, said The Financial Times.

FGVH denies talks with Sarawak Plantation

PETALING JAYA: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd said is it currently not in discussion with any party on acquiring a stake in Sarawak Plantation Bhd.

CEO buys stake in Bumi Armada

PETALING JAYA: Bumi Armada Bhd’s executive director and chief executive officer Hassan Assad Basma has acquired 2.5 million of the company’s shares via a call option agreement.

AirAsia X passenger growth rises 29% in second quarter

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd’s long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, has recorded a 28.9% passenger growth in the second quarter of 2012 from a year earlier for continuing routes.

Guan Chong won’t proceed with listing in Singapore

PETALING JAYA: Main Board-listed Guan Chong Bhd will not proceed with its secondary initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST) “for the time being.”

Analysts say JCY results disappointing

PETALING JAYA: Analysts are disappointed with JCY International Bhd’s recent quarterly results, and expect further margin contraction in the near future.

ABN buys Tamil newspaper

PETALING JAYA: The ABN Media Group has bought the nation’s fifth largest Tamil daily, Nam Naadu, for an undisclosed amount with an aim to expand its reach into local Indian market.

YTL receives award for environmental sustainability

PETALING JAYA: YTL Corp Bhd received an award honouring its achievements in sustainability in the regional category of the Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA) 2012 yesterday.

Non-power businesses and robust local economy should boost YTL

PETALING JAYA: Having just announced its full-year financial results, YTL Corp Bhd is said to likely sustain its positive earnings entering its new financial year buoyed by stable non-power businesses and robust domestic economy.

MPHB share offer a bargain, investors told

PETALING JAYA: HwangDBS Vickers Research sees a bargain in MPHB Capital Bhd’s offer-for-sale exercise and recommends investors to subscribe for MPHB Capital, as its offer price is at a 54% discount to its fair value of RM2.16.

Govt in talks to take over EDL

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is in the midst of negotiations to sell out the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) highway in Johor Baru to the Government, according to Kenanga Research.

Top rubber producers positive on measures

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have taken two measures that will withdraw a total of 450,000 tonnes of natural rubber (NR) from the market in order help the rubber price recover.

Brahim’s Q2 net profit down

PETALING JAYA: Brahim’s Holdings Bhd recorded a lower net profit of RM1.4mil for its second quarter ended June 30, compared with RM2.6mil in the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue rose to RM47.7mil from RM45.9mil previously.

Forex losses slash CCM Q2 net profit

PETALING JAYA: Chemical Co of Malaysia Bhd (CCM) reported a net profit of RM3.06mil for its second quarter ended June 30, 53.6% lower than a net profit of RM6.6mil in the same quarter last year.

MDV to offer three new innovative financing products

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV), a wholly-owned unit of Minister of Finance Inc, plans to develop and launch three new innovative financing products for the technology small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by year-end.

Bernas net profit down 60% on higher cost of imports

PETALING JAYA: Despite an increase of 12.63% in revenue, Padiberas Nasional Bhd’s (Bernas) net profit fell 60.4% in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year due to higher cost of imported rice and operating cost.

Dialog shareholders’ pact with CAO lapses

PETALING JAYA: Dialog Group Bhd announced its shareholders’ agreement with China Aviation Oil (S) Corp Ltd (CAO) has lapsed.

Companies & Strategies

1MDB muscles into power sector

THE entry of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) into the power sector will only intensify the already competitive bidding process for re-negotiations of power purchase agreements (PPA).

Alliance Financial Group to leverage on consumer and SME sector

STRIVING to cross-sell and retain its customers in a highly competitive financing market, Alliance Financial Group is kicking up a gear to drive more growth in the consumer and SME sector.

Resurgent demand for gloves

RUBBER gloves, the darling of investors a couple of years ago, fell out of favour last year when a combination of high costs, oversupply and a weak US dollar left a damaging impact on the sector.

Books

Snapshorts

Compiled by THEAN LEE CHENG

Foreign News

EC wants ECB to supervise all major euro banks

BERLIN: The European Commission (EC) will propose next month giving the European Central Bank (ECB) supervision over all of the eurozone’s major banks, Handelsblatt daily reported, citing commission sources.

Heineken, F&N in talks on higher bid

SINGAPORE: Heineken NV is negotiating with Fraser and Neave (F&N) about raising its US$6bil bid for full control of the maker of Tiger Beer and breweries in 14 countries as it fights against a Thai billionaire for its future in Asia.

More News: | Today | May 24 | May 23 | May 22 | May 21 | May 20 | May 18 |