DANAVEST

LOCAL
(Business Times) ALLIANZ Malaysia said it will continue to maintain growth this year by increasing new customers and selling more protection products. Its life insurance unit, Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd (Alim), saw new business premiums grow 25.4 per cent last year, giving the company a rise in market share to 7 per cent from 5.4 per cent. The company’s performance was far ahead of the 19.1 per cent growth the life insurance industry posted last year.

(The Edge Daily) CIMB-Principal Asset Management Sdn Bhd is targeting RM150million investments from customers for its CIMB-Principal China Recovery Structured Fund on improved economic climate in the third-largest economy in the world, said its chief executive J. Campbell Tupling.

(Business Times) PUBLIC perception of the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry remains low, even though its contribution to the country’s economy is significant. Despite being one of the major contributors to the country’s economy and generating a revenue of more than RM10 billion, many still have wrong ideas about the industry due to a lack of understanding of its business concept.

(The Edge) British American Tobacco (M) Bhd aims to repeat the same operating profit margin level this year despite the tough economic environment, said its managing director Jack Bowles. For FY08, BAT posted an operating profit of RM1.11 billion on the back of revenue RM4.13 billion. Net profit was RM812 million.

(Business Times) NATIONAL oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) with Oman to explore and sell natural gas there, strengthening its presence in Oman’s oil and gas industry. It inked the deal last Wednesday to explore and sell natural gas from Block 63 in Al Dhahirah and Al Dakhiliyah regions, covering an area of 3,709 sq km.

(Reuters) Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-20 rose 4.2 per cent to 754,129 tonnes from 723,770 tonnes shipped between March 1 and 20, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said today. Meanwhile, another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reported that exports rose 0.8 per cent to 747,575 tonnes.

(The Edge) The price of tin on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed at a four-month high yesterday on strong buying, especially from European traders, dealers said. They said the strong performance of tin on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had also spurred buying interest in the local market. The local tin price rose US$840 to US$12,080 (RM43,488) per tonne while the tin price on the LME surged US$650 to US$12,250 per tonne.

(Business Times) Low-cost carrier AirAsia is making huge expansion in Asia this year, flying to at least six more cities in India, Colombo in Sri Lanka and Taipei from either Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok. According to industry sources, the airline is expected to start the Kuala Lumpur-Taipei route in June and Kuala Lumpur-Colombo sector in August. Last week, AirAsia X launched the Kuala Lumpur to Tianjin flight and is planning to fly to Chengdu and Xian soon. Other cities in China served by AirAsia include Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guilin and Haikou.

(The Edge) CIMB Group has completed of its acquisition of 19.99% equity stake in China’s Bank of Yingkou Co., Ltd. CIMB said on April 20 the acquisition had made it the single largest shareholder in the largest commercial bank in Yingkou city. In March last year, CIMB Group announced plans to acquire the 19.99% stake for 348.8 million renminbi cash.

GLOBAL
(Yahoo! Finance) Bank of America Corp. warned of worsening loan default problems Monday even as it posted a first-quarter profit of $2.81 billion. Investors concerned about the banking industry’s health sent financial stocks and the overall market sharply lower.

(Yahoo! Finance) Oracle Corp. snapped up computer server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. for $7.4 billion Monday, trumping rival IBM Corp.’s attempt to buy one of Silicon Valley’s best known — and most troubled — companies. The deal would end Sun’s 27-year history as Silicon Valley’s brash independent and shake up the computing industry. It comes after a monthlong drama that entered its final chapter last week.

(WSJ) China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd. plans to raise nearly US$1.6 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering so far this year, people familiar with the situation said Monday. The company is selling 1.4 billion new shares in Hong Kong, or 25.9% of its enlarged share capital, at a range of 6.80 Hong Kong dollars to HK$8.80 each (88 U.S. cents to US$1.14), one person said. Zhongwang is Asia’s largest aluminum-extrusion manufacturer by capacity. It shapes the metal into different sizes and parts for industrial and transport-related businesses.

(Barron’s) In the latest sign of the depth of the downturn in the semiconductor equipment sector, Asyst Technologies (ASYT) today announced that it has filed Chapter 11. Asyst said it intends to begin “a disposition of its assets or other strategic alternative that will maximize value for all constituencies.” ASYT today is down 28.66 cents, or 78.5%, to 7.84 cents.

INDICES