YTL Ind offers to buy YTL Cement

YTL Industries Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTL Corp Bhd, has made a conditional share exchange offer to acquire the entire equity interest and all outstanding irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks in YTL Cement Bhd.

The offer would be through the issuance of ordinary shares of 10 sen each in YTL Corp at an issue price of RM1.42 each.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, YTL Corp said the relatively low trading activity on YTL Cement shares did not present shareholders with the necessary platform to maximise the value of their investments in YTL Cement via a continued listing on Bursa Securities.

The proposed offer is a viable way to provide YTL Cement shareholders more liquidity for their investment in YTL Cement shares by exchanging for YTL Corp shares.

The YTL Corp stock was suspended today with its price at RM1.45.--Bernama



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KLKepong expands Crabtree biz into China

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) is expanding its Crabtree & Evelyn business into China via wholly-owned subsidiary Crabtree & Evelyn (Hong Kong) Ltd.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, KLK said Crabtree & Evelyn (Hong Kong) has incorporated a new wholly-owned subsidiary namely, Crabtree & Evelyn (Shanghai) Ltd in China.

Crabtree & Evelyn (Shanghai) with a registered capital of one million renminbi will undertake the sale of Crabtree & Evelyn products in China. -- Bernama



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PNB chief says still awaiting SC nod for S P Setia takeover

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): Permodalan Nasional Bhd is still waiting for the Securities Commission’s approval in its takeover of property developer S P Setia Bhd.

PNB's chief executive officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said: “We have submitted it to the SC, we are now waiting for the SC’s approval.”

He was speaking to reporters after announcing the income distribution for its unit Skim Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd for 2011.

To recap, PNB had on Sept 28 served a takeover notice on S P Setia after its shareholding reached 33.16% or 590.502 million shares.

PNB offered RM3.90 per share, which based on the last traded price of RM3.50, was a 40 sen premium. PNB also offered to acquire the remaining warrants at 91 sen per warrant. This was 45 sen or 97.8% above the last closing price of 46 sen before the offer was made.

S P Setia subsequently rejected the offer, stating it fundamentally undervalued the company and it then decided to seek a competing offer from other interested parties to make an offer to purchase the company's shares. However, it did not receive any competing offers for the stake in the company.

On a separate matter, when asked whether PNB had any interest in joining the race to take over PROTON HOLDINGS BHD, he did not comment but said PNB had a stake in UMW HOLDINGS BHD.



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KL shares lower in cautious trade

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia turned lower at midday today in cautious trade.

The FBM KLCI fell 0.68 of a point to 1,465.54. Dealers said the local bourse moved in line with weaker sentiment in key regional markets.

Meanwhile, key equity indices on the Wall Street ended mixed last Friday as Fitch Ratings lowered France's credit outlook.

"Trading volume to taper off ahead of Christmas and going into the new year in anticipation of investors taking a break," said OSK Research in a research note.

The Finance Index fell 31.399 points to 13,127.19 and the Plantation Index rose 1.69 points to 7,865.8 and the Industrial Index rose 1.19 points to 2,650.71. The FBM Emas Index declined 4.26 points to 10,050.23, the FBM Mid 70 Index added 3.81 points to 11,064.39 and the FBM ACE Index fell 29.74 points to 4,103.51.

Losers led gainers by 403 to 201 with 249 counters traded unchanged. Turnover stood at 886.79 million shares worth RM458.08 million.

Dutch Lady lost 78 sen or 3.2 per cent to RM23.66 on profit taking. For the actives, Utopia rose 1.5 sen to 11.5 sen, Wijaya-Wa fell 3.5 sen to 41 sen and Astral Supreme gained 1.5 sen to 22.5 sen.

Among heavyweights, Maybank declined one sen to RM8.20, Sime Darby was flat at 8.96 and CIMB was down one sen at RM6.99. -- Bernama



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Atis group MD gets SC’s exemption from mandatory takeover of Nadayu

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): ATIS CORPORATION BHD [] group managing director Chen Khai Voon and parties acting in concert in the takeover of Nadayu PROPERTIES Bhd, will not have to make a mandatory takeover offer.

Atis said on Monday that Chen and the parties were given the exemption by the Securities Commission in a letter dated Dec 16 from the mandatory takeover offer of Nadayu (formerly MUTIARA GOODYEAR DEVELOPMENT BHD).

They had earlier submitted an application to the SC to seek for an exemption under paragraph 21.1, Practice Note 9 of the Malaysian Code on Take-Overs and Mergers 2010.



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KLK expanding Crabtree & Evelyn biz into China

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD [] has set its sights on expanding its Crabtree & Evelyn business, which focused on body and home products, into China.

The company said on Monday its unit Crabtree & Evelyn (Hong Kong) Ltd had incorporated a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Crabtree & Evelyn (Shanghai) Ltd in China.

"Crabtree & Evelyn (Shanghai) Ltd with a registered capital of 1.0 million renminbi will undertake the sale of Crabtree & Evelyn products in China," said KLK.



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N. Korean leader’s death rattles Asian mkts, but KLCI only slightly affected

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): The death of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il that was announced by the reclusive republic’s state television on Monday rattled already jittery Asian markets worried over the eurozone debt crisis.

Seoul shares extended their fall to nearly 5% on Monday after North Korea's state television reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had died on Saturday, according to Reuters.

Trading on Bursa Malaysia was also choppy with the FBM KLCI struggling to stay in positive territory. At the mid-day break, the FBM KLCI was down 0.93 point to 1,465.39. Market breadth was negative with 403 losers and 201 gainers, while 249 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 886.79 million shares valued at RM458.08 million.

The ringgit weakened 0.05% to 3.1793; crude palm oil futures for the third month delivery rose RM6 per tonne to RM2,990, crude oil shed 63 cents per barrel to US$92.90 and gold lost US$10.25 an ounce to US$1,588.70.

At the regional markets, South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.54% to 1,774.81, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.57% to 2,167.68, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 2.47% to 17,833.42, Taiwan’s Taiex lost 2.03% to 6,647.26, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.65% to 2,615.26 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 1.12% to 8,307.81.

On Bursa Malaysia, Dutch Lady fell 78 sen to RM23.66, F&N lost 36 sen to RM18, Carlsberg 27 sen to RM8.39, KrisAssets and Batu Kawan fell 26 sen to RM5.62 and RM17.10, LPI Capital and GAB fell 20 sen each to RM13.20 each respectively, while JT International and United PLANTATION []s lost 16 sen each to RM6.78 and RM18.34.

Utopia was the most actively traded counter with 69.97 million shares done. The stock rose 1.5 sen to 11.5 sen.

Other actives included Wijaya, JCY, Versatile, Flonic, Kurnia Asia and Boustead.

Gainers at mid-day included Nestle, Amway, Petronas Gas, Boustead, Far East, NSOP, Gamuda, Perstima, KLK and Suiwah.



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KL shares open marginally higher

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI edged up 1.17 points to 1,467.39 after opening at 1,466.78.

Dealers said investors remained cautious due to mixed performance on Wall Street last Friday as Fitch Ratings lowered France’s credit outlook.

Fitch Ratings also put Spain, Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, Ireland and Cyprus on a “Rating Watch Negative” review, which is expected to be completed by end-January, dealers said.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said the Malaysian bourse might trade with a downward bias today towards its immediate support level of 1,445.

The Finance Index dropped 18.83 points to 13,139.76, the Plantation Index surged 1.32 points to 7,865.43 and the Industrial Index perked up 5.87 points to 2,655.39.

The FBM Emas Index was up 11.67 points to 10,066.16, the FBM Mid 70 Index jumped 31.39 points to 11,091.97 and the FBM ACE Index declined 0.06 of a point to 4,133.19.

Gainers led losers by 105 to 72 while 117 counters were unchanged.

Turnover stood at 112.34 million shares worth RM40.909 million.

Among the active counters, Wijaya Baru Global-Wa added half a sen to 45.5 sen, Astral Supreme rose 1.5 sen to 22.5 and Kurnia Asia was flat at 60.5 sen.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.20, CIMB was unchanged at RM7.00 but Sime Darby rose two sen to RM8.98. -- Bernama



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