DANAVEST

(Business Times) PACIFIC Mutual Fund Bhd has teamed up with Singapore-based Lion Global Investors Ltd to launch a growth fund that invests predominantly in equities and equity-related securities of companies listed in China.

(Bernama) Next Bike Sdn Bhd, the sole importer and distributor for Ducati motorbikes in Malaysia, expects to sell 120 Ducati bikes this year from 85 units sold last year.

(Business Times) MALAYSIA’S value of manufacturing sales fell by 25.5 per cent year-on-year in March, as 80 industries (69 per cent) out of 116 industries covered in the survey posted lower sales. Total manufacturing sales stood at RM36.6 billion, from RM49.1 billion billion the year before.

(Business Times) PLUS Expressways Bhd (5052), Malaysia’s biggest toll road operator, plans to sell about RM600 million worth of of Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, to repay maturing debt. CIMB Investment Bank Bhd is helping the Kuala Lumpur-based company sell Musharakah sukuk in an offer that may close as soon as today, PLUS corporate affairs general manager How Seet Ming said in a phone interview yesterday.

(Business Times) Malaysian October 2008/September 2009 palm oil output is likely to reach only 17.8 million tonnes Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast yesterday.This was down from its previous estimate of 18.0 million tonnes.

(Business Times) THE government has set a June deadline to conclude talks of restructuring the water services in Selangor, which is three months later than the original deadline of March this year.

(Bernama) Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd is cautiously optimistic of growth this year due to the current global economic downturn and change in consumer consumption pattern, its managing director Sullivan O’Carroll said Monday.

(Bernama) A total of RM30.3 million has been allocated by the government to renovate and upgrade in stages the existing facilities of the Puduraya bus terminal here, Second Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said.

(Bernama) Media Prima Radio Networks (MPRN) announced Tuesday that its Hot FM radio station continued to score pole positions while Fly FM took a 70 percent leap in listener growth.

(Bernama) Celcom Malaysia Bhd, the country’s leading blackberry provider, targets to double the figure of 16,000 BlackBerry users recorded as of last year, by the middle of this year.

(The Edge) SBC Amanah Takaful Sdn Bhd, the Islamic insurance arm of HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd, doubled the collection of premiums to RM30 million in the last six months from RM15 million in the preceding six-month period.

(The Edge) Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd plans to invest about RM3.05 billion in the Microsoft DreamSpark programme as part of its commitment to develop human capital among local students. The programme will enable more than 870,000 students to gain access to world-class products from the Microsoft portfolio, said Microsoft Malaysia’s managing director Yasmin Mahmood.