Local investors that will buy shares of Malaysia’s largest mobile-phone carrier include the nation’s biggest pension fund, the Employees Provident Fund, the person said, declining to be identified. Maxis, run by billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan, will start marketing the sale on Oct. 23, the person said.

Maxis’s IPO will raise more than double the previous record in Malaysia, set by Petronas Gas Bhd’s offering in 1995. Maxis was among the country’s four biggest companies by market capitalization before Krishnan, 71, took it private in 2007 in a RM16 billion (US$1.7 billion) transaction.

Only the Malaysian operations of Maxis are included in the IPO, the person said. The company aims to complete the offering by mid-November, the person said.
Catherine Leong, a Maxis spokeswoman, declined to comment. Azlan Zainol, chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund, was unavailable for comment, according to his secretary.

Maxis plans to sell as many as 2.25 billion shares in the offering, it said in a draft prospectus published last month, without disclosing how much money would be raised. The Kuala Lumpur-based company will reserve 174.8 million shares for the public and customers, with the rest going to institutional investors and indigenous ethnic groups, according to the draft prospectus.

CIMB Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser for the offering while Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joint global coordinators and book-runners.

Maxis had 11.4 million mobile-phone subscribers as of June 30, giving it a 40 per cent market share in Malaysia, according to the initial prospectus. The company reported RM4.24 billion ringgit of revenue in the six months to June 30.

Maxis first sold shares in Malaysia in 2002. Before the company was taken private in June 2007, it was valued at about RM40 billion on the Malaysian stock exchange. (Bloomberg)

Logo - Pacific Mutual

Petaling Jaya, 1 October 2009 – Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd, one of the leading investment management companies in Malaysia, has announced the following income distributions for five of its Funds for their financial year/interim period ended 30 September 2009:

Pacific Premier Fund – 4.00 sen per unit
Pacific Income Fund – 3.30 sen per unit
Pacific Focus18 Fund – 3.00 sen per unit
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.38 sen per unit
Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund – 0.10 sen per unit

This translates to the following distribution yields for investors based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of the respective Funds prior to the distribution:

Pacific Premier Fund – 5.58 %
Pacific Income Fund – 5.80 %
Pacific Focus18 Fund – 5.48 %
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.75 %
Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund – 0.10 %

“Our equity funds, the Pacific Premier Fund and Pacific Focus18 Fund, have achieved a total return of 24.70% and 11.91% respectively for the one-year period ended 29 September 2009, a decent achievement given the volatile market conditions both locally and abroad over the past year. In fact, our maiden fund, the Pacific Premier Fund, which has gone through three major economic and financial crises, inclusive of the Asian Financial Crisis and the Tech bust, still achieved a total return of 130.74% since its inception in 1995. This adds to our on-going testament and investment philosophy of consistent above-average performance over the long term,” says Gary Gan, General Manager, Business Development & Marketing of Pacific Mutual.

Gan continues, “We are also proud that our balanced fund, the Pacific Income Fund, besides achieving a commendable total return of 98.53% since its inception in 2000, has also emerged as the best fund for the Malaysian Ringgit Balanced category at the Morningstar 2008 Fund Awards (Malaysia) this year.”

“Our money market fund, the Pacific Cash Fund, has performed equally well in the past year achieving a total return of 3.14% for the one-year period ended 29 September 2009. The Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund has generated decent returns in spite of the very low interest rates scenario at the time it was launched earlier this year,” says Gan, adding that the consistent and stable performance over time, the hallmark of Pacific Mutual’s investment style, has made the regular income payouts possible and hence, benefiting the investors of the five Funds.

Pacific Mutual now manages a total of 21 Funds, including seven global Funds and three wholesale Funds. The Company also manages private mandate funds under its asset management business. As at end September 2009, Pacific Mutual manages RM1.83 billion on behalf of its unit trust investors and private mandate clients.

KUALA LUMPUR: Unit trust fund product manufacturing and distribution must be kept separate to ensure that independent advice is given in an unbiased manner to help investors make informed choices, said AmInvestment Bank Group funds management division chief executive officer (CEO) Datin Maznah Mahbob.

The products on offer must also extend across various asset classes, from equities, bonds and commodities as well as provide investors with the option of investing abroad or locally, she said.

Speaking to The Edge Financial Daily on the sidelines of an Asian capital markets conference here last week, Maznah said the current practice among some of the larger fund management players to control the distribution of their own products prevented investors from receiving impartial advice on the products.

“For example, the agent might encourage the investors to invest in high-risk products as the fees for these products are higher compared to low-risk products. Some of the agents do not even disclose the whole range of products available to investors.

“This would not be the case if the distributor is totally independent of the product manufacturer,” she said.

She said many of the defensive low-risk products gave decent returns to investors, but these products were sometimes not offered to investors as agents found the fees to be too low for their liking.

Maznah also said trailer fees should be standardised to benefit investors as a whole, as with the present system of varied fees structure, the selling agent had better incentives to push expensive products onto investors rather than what would actually be to the benefit of the buyer.

A trailer fee is added on to the annual service fee and paid to brokers periodically as an incentive not to switch investors to other funds.

Among the charges found on AmBank Group’s website are the entry and/or exit fee that cover the cost of establishing unit trust holdings, and commissions payable by the manager to its licensed distributor.

There are also ongoing fees and expenses, clustered as management expense ratio, which include the fees for the manager and trustee, and trust expense. Other applicable charges are switching fee and transfer fee.

When asked if regulatory changes should be made to prevent expensive products being sold to investors due to the current situation, Maznah said the present structure was governed by the industry players themselves and not by government regulations.

“Although the fees are set by the industry, the commissions for distributors are negotiated. In reality, the distributors end up getting the lion’s share of the fees,” she said.

Maznah also alluded to the limitations on local investors utilising their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings, in the sense that the prevailing regulations do not allow them to invest in foreign unit trust products.

“The flow of retail funds into the unit trust industry is low due to factors like this,” she said.

The annual gross dividend income for AMBVTF was 9.14 sen per unit while AMBETF earned 9.03 sen per unit, a statement from Permodalan Nasional Bhd said here on Monday.

AMBVTF is an equity fund which gives focus to capital growth through investments in securities traded at a lower price than their actual worth.

As for the AMBETF, it is a mid to long-term equity fund which aims at income through investments in syariah based entities.

AMB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of PNB.

The dividend income will be reinvested as additional units in the respective accounts of unitholders of the funds.

A statement on the dividend and warrant distribution will be sent out by latest October 31 to unitholders of the AMBVTF and AMBETF. – BERNAMA

PUBLIC Bank Bhd launched the PB Templeton BRIC, a structured investment product, offering investors the opportunity to capitalise on the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) economies.

Managing Director Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said the PB Templeton BRIC provides an annual variable coupon of up to three per cent for the first three years of the investment.

“At maturity, the potential is unlimited enhanced return based on the average performance of the underlying asset performing above 110 per cent,” he said.

The investment provides customers with immediate access to invest in equities in the fast-growing developing economies of BRIC in order to capitalise on the growth potential of their economies.

The BRIC countries accounted collectively for about 30 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook January 2008.

The outlook for the BRIC economies remains positive due to their relatively strong fundamental characteristics and faster growth compared to their developed counterparts.

The accumulation of foreign exchange reserves also puts the BRIC countries in a much stronger position to weather external shocks.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the Chinese and Indian markets continued to record exceptionally robust growth rates. Brazil and Russia are likely to benefit from increasing global demand for commodities.

The key reason for investing in the BRIC markets is their long-term growth potential especially since these countries are now at a relatively early stage in their development, Public Bank said.

“The investment is suitable for investors who are seeking potentially higher returns compared to the current fixed-deposit rates without taking undue risk on their wealth if the investment is held to maturity and for those seeking to diversify their investment portfolio into emerging markets,” Tay said.

The Templeton BRIC fund is managed by world renowned investment manager, Franklin Templeton Investments, which is one of the largest investment management companies in the world.

The investment is for a three-year nine-month period via Floating Rate Negotiable Instruments of Deposit and is 100 per cent capital-protected in Malaysian ringgit if held to maturity.

The product is available from today till Oct 2, with a minimum investment of RM65,000, with multiples of RM5,000 thereafter. – BERNAMA

(The Edge) MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (MEASAT) today announced the successful lift-off of the LandLaunch launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan carrying the MEASAT-3a satellite into orbit.

(The Edge) Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), which posted its first operating loss in 2 1/2 years in the first quarter, does not have any staff layoff plan although the operating environment is increasingly challenging, according to its chairman Tan Sri Munir Majid.

(Business Times) THE Malaysian insurance industry is undergoing a transformation to provide a strong foundation for a more resilient and competitive industry in support of Malaysia’s economic development agenda. Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) assistant governor, Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim, said Malaysia has implemented the risk-based capital framework this year and new product regulations. He said these developments were part of a broader move towards introducing a more principle-based regulatory regime that would allow greater flexibility for insurers to compete and improve performance.

(Business Times) HONDA Malaysia Sdn Bhd is confident of achieving its sales target of 35,000 units of vehicles for this year despite the gloomy economic outlook. Its managing director and chief executive officer Toru Takahashi said as of May this year, the company had sold 17,313 units of vehicles.

(Business Times) MALAYSIA’S real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 4.4 per cent this year before recovering to 2.2 per cent next year and 5.3 per cent in 2011, the World Bank said in its report on the global economic situation.

(Business Times) SYARIKAT Takaful Malaysia Bhd (STMB), which has RM4 billion in assets, aims to be the largest takaful insurer in the country in terms of assets within two years. Group managing director, Datuk Hassan Kamil, said currently, STMB was in second position after Etiqa Takaful Bhd, which has 400,000 policyholders.

(Business Times) MALAYSIAN stocks have risen “too far, too fast” given that corporate earnings will shrink this year, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said in a strategy report. “The market rally has stretched valuations to levels unjustified by earnings growth,” Andrew Lee, an analyst at Maybank Investment, wrote in the report. “An economic and corporate earnings recovery is likely to be anemic.”

(Bernama) The country’s first fully-automated shipyard will be in operation at the Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas and Maritime Industrial Park here in 2013. It will be part of a RM4.8 billion project that comprises a fabrication and engineering yard, and marine repair and ship-building facilities on a 320-hectare site.

(Bernama) Sabah’s Rural Development Ministry has allocated RM370 million to implement five agropolitan projects to help farmers in rural areas. Its minister Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin said that this showed that the government was working towards improving the livelihood of the people, especially those in the rural areas.

(Bernama) The life insurance industry is still growing despite the discouraging economic condition, Life Insurance Association of Malaysia president Adnan Zain said. “The traditional life insurance business is showing a good development.

(Bernama) Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) will offer more than 70 travel fairs globally until 2010, its senior general manager, sales, Datuk Bernard Francis, said Monday. The airline will continue to aggressively push sales in the Asean region, South Asia, North Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Americas, and South Africa, he said.

(Bernama) A total of 44,736 projects worth RM4.2 billion have been tendered for implementation under the first economic stimulus package as of June 12 this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday. He said 13,365 projects worth RM1.5 billion had been completed involving small projects such as upgrading and repair works on rural roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.

(Bernama) Blue Archipelago Bhd will be exporting prawns to the European market with the setting up of a hatchery and processing factory at its farm here worth RM20 million this October. Its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Shahridan Faiez, said the processing factory will have the capacity to process 20 tonnes of fresh prawns a day.

(The Edge) Ingress Corporation Bhd said yesterday it had been unable to deposit RM25 million into an ijarah service reserve account (ISRA) in relation to its RM160 million sukuk al-Ijarah by the deadline. It had to deposit the amount into the ISRA latest Tuesday, which represents the remaining 50% of the sukuk’s first principal repayment of RM50 million that is due on July 9.

(The Edge) Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC) is on the lookout to expand its presence in Malaysia. “OCBC is always out looking for opportunities to grow our presence in this country. Definitely, with the recent liberalisation, the opportunities are even more interesting for OCBC as a foreigner,” said the banking group’s executive vice-president and head of group investment banking, George Lee.

(The Edge) PacificMas Bhd has found another interested party to acquire its insurance business and an application has been made to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to enter into negotiations, PacificMas non-independent director George Lee said.

(The Edge) Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) is buying a hotel called Sunway Hotel Hanoi from its sister company Sunway Holdings Bhd (Sunway) for US$17 million (RM60 million) cash.

(The Edge) Tamadam Bonded Warehouse Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Netz Toyota to establish a joint-venture company in Malaysia to enable the parties to develop service centres for automobiles in the country.

(The Edge) Mudajaya Group Bhd unit Mudajaya Corporation Bhd has secured a RM19.89 million contract from Tune Hotels Sdn Bhd to design and build a seven-storey low-cost hotel in Johor Bahru.

(The Edge) Pembinaan Limbongan Setia Bhd (PLS) has received a letter of award from the Ministry of Public Works to design and build a RM188 million women’s and children’s ward block at the Seremban Hospital in Negri Sembilan.

(The Edge) The Employees Provident Fund Board acquired 5.98 million shares of MMC Corporation Bhd from May 28 to June 4. According to filings with Bursa Malaysia, the EPF acquired one million MMC Corp shares on May 28 and two million shares the next day. It went on to acquire 352,700 shares on June 1 and one million shares the next day and on June 4, it bought 1.628 million shares.

(Business Times) BUDGET airline AirAsia Bhd (5099) will start flights between Colombo and Kuala Lumpur on August 15, with daily direct flights between the two cities. It is offering promotional all-in fares from as low as RM99 one-way, which is only available online via the airline’s website at www.airasia.com.

(Business Times) MALAYSIA’S ringgit rose yesterday, snapping a six-day loss, on optimism investors will pump more funds into higher-yielding assets as a global financial crisis abates. The currency climbed from a two-week low after the government reported a smaller drop in industrial production than economists forecast and the US Treasury gave 10 banks approval to repay emergency funding.

(Business Times) THE Malaysia International Halal Showcase (Mihas) 2009 has generated sales of RM3.2 billion last month, indicating sustained business confidence among buyers and exhibitors despite the global economic downturn. With the prospect of economic recovery and outbreak of H1N1 contained, Mihas organiser Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) expects to see higher participation and sales for next year’s trade fair.

(Business Times) THE Securities Commission (SC) today issued revised guidelines to allow exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from recognised jurisdictions to be cross-listed on Bursa Malaysia. The revised guidelines, which come into effect tomorrow, are part of the ongoing efforts to enhance the depth and breadth of the capital market, the SC said in a statement.

(Business Times) THE Employees Provident Fund (EPF)’s investment income dropped 10.47 per cent to RM3.26 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, from RM3.64 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008. The decline is due to lower investment returns from both fixed income instruments and equities, said EPF in a statement in Kuala Lumpur, today.

(Bernama) The Inland Revenue Board says it has issued 10,550 replacement cheques for the cheques for which payment had been stopped. The cancelled cheques refer to refund cheques which have not been deposited or cashed, the IRB said in a statement Wednesday. It said taxpayers involved will be receiving the new cheques via post anytime from now.

(Bernama) Redza Safe Deposit Box Sdn Bhd has invested RM3.5 million to open its first branch in Seremban which offers 3,600 safe deposit boxes. The company, a subsidiary of Redza Security Sdn Bhd, plans to open its second branch in Klang, Selangor, within three months, followed by other branches in Penang and Johor Baharu this year.

(Bernama) Jia Yu Home Entertainment Sdn Bhd, a company owned by MSC Venture Capital has inked a co-production deal with two of China’s top television stations, Nanning TV and Changsa TV. The deal enables the Malaysian creative multimedia content company to enter the Chinese market.

(The Edge) Crude palm oil (CPO) futures continued its gains for a second day, tracking crude oil and soybeans as commodity prices rally in the wake of manufacturers rebuilding inventories in preparation for an economic rebound. CPO for August delivery on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 2.5% or RM65 higher at RM2,625 a tonne.

(The Edge) SilkAir, which commenced flights to Penang from Singapore yesterday, is working with Penang Global Tourism Sdn Bhd, the state government’s tourism promotion agency, to package Penang as a tourism destination. SilkAir chief executive Chin Yau Seng said the airline would focus on leisure packages, flying in to Penang from its various routes and those serviced by its parent company Singapore Airlines.

(The Edge) In a landmark deal covering multiple Asian markets, Merchant Solutions and Chinese bankcard association China UnionPay (CUP) have announced an alliance that enables thousands of merchants outside China to accept CUP debit and credit cards. In a statement yesterday, Merchant Solutions said it already enabled merchants in Hong Kong and Macau to accept CUP cards and the new agreement extended these services to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

(The Edge) ANALYSTS are pricing in the impact of a tougher economic landscape on national carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd for the current financial year (FY) ending March 2010. This comes against the backdrop of weaker demand for big-ticket items such as houses and cars.

(The Edge) As China is recovering from the global economic slump, CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd has launched the CIMB Islamic Greater China Equity Fund, its second fund in the year, to invest in high-growth sectors including the industrial and consumer sectors. These sectors are expected to benefit from the recovery in China’s economy, mainly driven by the government’s economic stimulus packages totalling US$585 billion (RM2.04 trillion), according to CIMB-Principal chief executive officer J. Campbell Tupling.

(The Edge) CIMB Bank Berhad has received the Securities Commission’s approval for its proposed bonds totaling RM5 billion (or its foreign currency equivalent) in nominal value. Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd (BCHB) said on June 2 that the corporate exercise involved the Tier 2 subordinated bonds programme and proposed Tier 2 junior sukuk programme.

(The Edge) Mamee-Double Decker (M) Bhd has proposed to acquire Charmille Pte Lte, which has a controlling 60% interest in the development of an oil palm plantation in central Kalimantan, from Golden Seed Holding Ltd (GSH) at an undisclosed price. Mamee-Decker said yesterday its sub-subsidiary Rosedale Investments Pte Ltd had signed the sale and purchase agreement with GSH on Monday.

(The Edge) HwangDBS Investment Management Bhd (HwangDBS IM) has declared an interim income distribution of one sen per unit for its flagship global feeder and income type fund, the HwangDBS Global Property Fund (GPF), for the financial period ended May 31, 2009.

(The Edge) Green Packet Bhd has subscribed for an additional 699,991 shares in its 90%-owned subsidiary Packet One International Pte Ltd (P1i) for S$699,991 (RM1.68 million) cash. Green Packet said yesterday P1i had also issued 200,000 shares and 99,999 shares fully paid to Telnet Technologies Sdn Bhd and Tang Pen San, respectively.

(Business Times) EON Bank is targeting 50,000 account holders with deposits amounting to RM400 million this year for its newly launched SaveMonthly Account deposit product. EON Bank Group’s consumer banking head Michael Lor said with the new product, account holders will enjoy higher interest rates on their deposits compared with conventional saving accounts.

(Business Times) Malaysian firm Weststar has abandoned a deal to buy LDV, the British van maker said today. “The directors of LDV Group have been forced to reapply for administration to protect the assets of the business,” LDV said in a statement. “This is due to the fact that essential funds required to maintain the business and workforce as a going concern are not being made available.”

(Business Times) HICOM-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd is banking on the Cruze 1.8 sedan passenger car, to be launched in the third quarter of this year, to boost sales in Malaysia. “It will be launched in late July or early August,” said its chief executive officer Sanjeev Garg at a media briefing in Petaling Jaya today. He said the car would be brought in from South Korea.

(Bernama) Sime Darby Bhd has targeted over 10,000 households in townships developed by the group for its energy efficiency initiative. The first activity under the initiative called “Switch” is the energy-saving bulb programme, which involves the exchange of old incandescent bulbs for the new energy-saving ones.

(Bernama) Despite General Motors (GM) entering bankruptcy protection in the United States, its Southeast Asia operation is going ahead with future expansion, including exploring plans to open a manufacturing plant in Malaysia. Steve Carlisle, president of General Motors Southeast Asia Operations and Chevrolet Sales Thailand, said there was no specific plan at the moment but the company would continue to explore the possibility of setting up the plant.

“This increase is again required to meet the steady and constant stream of applications for its units”, its chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said in a statement here today.

The initial units offered for subscription was 400 million units. It was increased to 600 million units in early 2008, he said.

Ho said the fund invests up to 98 percent of its net asset value in Chinese companies, with a market capitalisation of at least US$1 billion (US$1.00 = RM3.47).

He said these companies have business operations in China and listed on the international stock exchanges of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, the U.S., London and Singapore.

“The fund excludes investing in Chinese companies listed on the domestic A-share market,” he said.

The attraction of China as an investment destination has not been diminished by the global financial crisis as recent economic data coming out of China have shown indications of recovery and its economy was bottoming out, he said.

“The fund is well attuned to this and capitalises on this recovery and growth opportunities of the China market,” he said.