PacificMas board accepts RM450m offer from OCBC Capital

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): PACIFICMAS BHD []’s board of directors has accepted the offer from OCBC Capital (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to acquire its units and subsidiaries for RM450 million.

It said on Friday the board except for the interested directors -- Datuk Ahmad Zahudi Salleh, George Lee Lap Wah, Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong and Wong Ah Wah and Tan Sri Nasruddin Bahari -- had resolved to accept the offer.

“Accordingly, the board (save for the interested directors and Nasruddin) does not intend to seek other alternative bids,” it said.

To recap, OCBC Capital had on Oct 17 proposed to acquire 100% of Pac Lease Bhd, PB Pacific Sdn Bhd, PacificMas Fidelity Sdn Bhd and PacificMas Capital Sdn Bhd and 85% in Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd.

The purchase consideration would be RM450 million to be satisfied by the payment of RM164.23 million cash on completion and RM285.76 million as the mount due and owing by OCSB to PacificMas payable at a later date.

OCBC Capital confirmed it has sufficient financial resources for the cash portion.

OCBC Capital is a unit of Singapore-listed Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd.

Banks lead KLCI higher in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Banks led the FBM KLCI up in early trade on Tuesday, Oct 25 but in relatively thin volume ahead of the holidays on Wednesday.

At 9.16am, the KLCI was up 5.27 points to 1,455.29. Turnover was 82.41 million shares valued at only RM42.09 million. Gainers beat losers three to one with 160 advancers to 58 decliners.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said that taking cue from the gains on Wall Street and European markets, the KLCI would probably extend its recovery.

“Nevertheless, the key barometer is unlikely to break through the immediate resistance hurdle of 1,475 anytime soon,” it said.

Maybank rose seven sen to RM8.32, Affin six sen to RM2.95 and HL Bank six sen to RM10.42.

Among PLANTATION []s, KLK rose 12 sen to RM20.70 and IOI Corp seven sen to RM5.10. Other gainers were PacMas, up 12 sen to RM3.70, F&N and DiGi 10 sen each to RM16.20 and RM31.68.

KLCI off day’s best as investors lock in gains

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed off their day’s best on Monday, Oct 24 as investors decided to lock in some of the gains as they awaited firmer news from the euro debt resolution at Wednesday’s summit.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up 11.19 points or 0.78% to 1,450.02, but off the day’s best of 1,462.06. Turnover was 1.24 billion shares valued at RM1.31 billion. Advancing counters beat decliners nearly three to one, with 556 gainers to 203 losers and 254 stocks were unchanged.

Among key regional markets, Reuters reported that the Hang Seng Index closed up 4.14% at 18,771.82. The China Enterprises Index of the top mainland companies listed in Hong Kong climbed 5.4% to finish at 9,717.65. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.29% at 2,370.33

Hong Kong shares recorded their best daily performance in two weeks on Monday, led by mainland energy and materials plays that suffered the brunt of recent bearishness on China, but gains came in low turnover, suggesting a lack of conviction.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.9% to 8,843.98, South Korea’s Kospi 3.26% to 1,898.32 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index 1.79% to 2,760.95.

At Bursa Malaysia, investors, which had been hammered by the volatile market sentiment, decided to be prudent and take profit after the sharp gains.

Lower priced shares and penny stocks attracted attention, pushing the turnover to new levels in recent weeks. Investors would want to await for solid confirmation of measures to resolve the euro debt crisis before putting in more money into equities.

Consumer stocks were among the top gainers, with BAT chalking up gains of 54 sen to RM44.98, Dutch Lady 34 sen to RM19.34, GAB 20 sen to RM10.64.

Genting rose 27 sen to RM10.02 with 2.98 million shares done while Genting Malaysia eight sen to RM3.75. The other top gainers were PacificMas, up 21 sen to RM3.58, LPI 20 sen to RM12.70 while among PLANTATION []s ChinTek added 17 sen to Rm8.21 and Batu Kawan 16 sen to RM15.50.

Surprisingly on the top losers’ list was HL Bank, down 22 sen to RM10.36 but HLFG gained 12 sen to RM11.40.