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New Deposit Insurance Limit At RM250,000

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Effectively today (31st December 2010), the deposit insurance limit will be increased to RM250,000 per depositor per bank, announced Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM). Below is the summary of the said announcement:- The new PIDM Bill 2010 has been passed in Parliament. The limit of RM250,000 will protect 99% of retail depositors in full. Under the new Bill, foreign currency depositors will now enjoy deposit insurance protection. The enhanced financial consumer protection package also includes the expansion of PIDM's mandate to include the administration of the Takaful and Insurance Benefits Protection System (TIPS). Licensed insurance companies and registered Takaful operators will automatically become member institutions of PIDM. PIDM was given the powers to intervene in or resolve troubled insurer members and ensure prompt payments to claimants. PIDM is Malaysia Government agency, mandated by Parliament, to protect depositors against the loss of their funds in the...

The Electrifying TENAGA (Nuclear, USD, Tariff)

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Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the national power producer of Malaysia, would embark on nuclear power in the next few years. Given the sensitivity of such issue, Malaysia government has again hinted that there are plans to construct nuclear power plants in the country to fulfill boost up the electricity capacity. Example of Nuclear Power Plant According to theStar recently, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin said Malaysia plans to build two nuclear power plants with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) each and commencement of operations in 2021-2022. This is part of the country's overall long-term plan to balance its electricity generation mix. The two nuclear plants would represent 9% of peninsular Malaysia's existing power generation capacity of 21,817 MW. This is necessary for the country given that the peninsula's power reserve margin will drop from 44% currently to below 20% by 2016 while the 1,600MW Bakun undersea cable project has been dis...

What's Ahead in 2011?

2010 was not all bad, by any stretch. Probably the best news of all was that problems that have been swept under the rug(s) for generations have now surfaced and are regular conversation topics. It is now quite apparent that the Western economies' love affair with entitlements may be coming to an end. They now know, as they should have known earlier, that there is simply no way these entitlements are affordable. That discussion is now front and center. That's good. Public employees are finally coming under scrutiny as virtually every one of the 50 states in the United States faces bankruptcy under the weight of the benefits that have been promised to these public employees. Teachers, for one, have long been showered with guaranteed job security and extremely generous pension and health care benefits. All of these public employee benefits are now in play. Unions are in the middle of this because almost all of union organizing successes in recent years has been in the publ...

Petronas Carigali will be the Largest IPO ever?

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Petronas Caragali Sdn Bhd, the exploration unit of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), may be listed on Bursa Malaysia next year and it is expected to attract a large number of foreign funds. "The mother of all initial public offerings (IPO) next year will be Petronas Carigali. We need companies like this to make Bursa attractive," said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd senior vice president and head of research, Zulkifli Hamzah.   Petronas officials could not be reached for comment. Zulkifli said analysts have been told by Bursa officials of a possible IPO for Petronas Carigali. OSK Research head Chris Eng said Petronas Carigali should be the largest IPO ever in Malaysia, with a potential market value of close to RM150 billion . This would eclipse current leader Malayan Banking Bhd, with a market value of RM62 billion as at yesterday. PETRONAS E&P Business Quick Facts Malaysia’s hydrocarbon reserves stand at 20.18 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) with an average pr...

Brighter outlook for Glove Sector?

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Yesterday, Adventa (Malaysia's 5th largest glove manufacturer) surprisingly reported 4Q10 net profit of RM11.8 million, up 50.8% year-on-year. According to RHB research, the results were above expectations, mainly because of of a deferred tax write back of RM5.6 million. Excluding the differed tax write back, FY10 net profit would have been RM30.2 million. Advent's range of products However, profit before tax was lower due to a time lag as only about 70%-80% of the higher costs incurred as a result of rising latex prices and the weakening of the USD against MYR were passed on to customers --- OSK research. To sweetened the announcement, Adventa also declared a final tax-exempt dividend of 7 sen, which translates into a net payout of 30% and net yield of 3.6%. Indicating a revival of Glove counters? As all of the glove counters are in the red this year, experiencing a whopping 30%-40% drops, Adventa's result sure will catch the eyes of investors again. But, Finance Malay...

Top 3 Commodity Picks for 2011

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Forget about supply and demand issue of commodity, everyone knows the main mover now is Emerging Market, especially China. As long as US economy not yet recovered, China was expected to continue its great appetite to consume commodities globally. Not for its consumptions, but mainly because of China's currency management. China, already the largest creditor of US by holding USD which was slipping with a series of quantitative easing programs, would definitely forced China to diversify its holding elsewhere. However, China would hand-picking according to its own local demand. As such, Finance Malaysia forecasts those commodities which were used heavily in construction , infrastructure , production will continue to perform in 2011.   Top pick #1: Palladium One in four goods manufactured today either contain platinum group metals or the platinum group metals play a major role during their manufacturing process. Palladium was used in many electronics including computers, mobile phones,...

Super BIG Xmas gift for KNM

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After a long suffering period, KNM investors can be very joyous coming this Christmas celebration with another good news announced today. In a statement after trading hours, KNM announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, KNM Process Systems Sdn Bhd (KNMPS), had landed a RM2.19 billion job in the United Kingdom. The contract is for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of works towards the development of an 80MWe gross capacity energy from biomass and waste recycling centre project known as EnergyPark Peterborough . Duration of the contract is about 4 years. KNM drive into Renewable and Clean Energy Sector... This mark another important milestone for KNM to venture into renewable energy sector, which is so popular in this energy-hunting world. This came as a surprise to investor because KNM had never been in that sector, and even surprising us was the multi-billion value contract. Illustration of EnergyPark taken from Peterborough Community Website The projec...