Bursa mauled in post election blues
by Tamimi Omar
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PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia lost RM86.16 billion in market capitalisation yesterday, probably the biggest single-day loss in its history, as the stock market took a mauling after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) performed badly in the general election.

The selling wave intensified after resumption of trading in the afternoon, sending the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) tumbling more than 10%, triggering the circuit breaker at 2.58pm.

The circuit breaker was triggered when the KLCI hit 1166.32 points, down 130.01 points or 10% of the index. It was the first time the KLCI triggered the breaker since it was introduced in March 2002.

The selling eased when trade resumed an hour later with the KLCI closing 9.5% or 123.11 points lower to 1,173.22. The KLCI hit a low of 1,157.47 yesterday.

The beating that the KLCI took was compounded by the higher- than-expected US unemployment numbers which caused Wall Street to close significantly lower last Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Index, already suffering from the effects of a credit crunch in the US, fell 1.22% or 146.7 points to 11,893.69 last Friday.

Regional stock markets also took a beating. Shanghai "A" Share Index skidded 3.59% or 154.22 points to 4,146.3, Korea's Kospi fell 2.33% to 1,625.17, Japan's Nikkei 225 decreased 1.96% to 12,532.13, while Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 1.04% to 2,836.59.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was the only bourse that bucked the trend, gaining 0.91% or 203.72 points to 22,705.05.

The ringgit declined against the dollar as it was quoted at 3.201 against the greenback at 5pm.

Dealers said foreign investors had yet to exit the country as liquidity in the market was still high but admitted they had very few places to put their money.

The companies that took the brunt of the selldown were the government-linked companies (GLCs), especially those affiliated to the Selangor state government. Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Perak fell to the a coalition of opposition parties in the polls.

Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) and Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor were the worst hit with the former falling RM1.74 to RM1.68 and the latter easing 30.5 sen to 42.5 sen. Pipe manufacturer Jaks Resources Bhd, which is linked to Kumpulan Darul Ehsan, the investment arm of Selangor, shed 38 sen to close at 62 sen.

Companies with projects in Penang were also hit. Equine Capital Bhd lost 50.2% to close at 71 sen while Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd lost 66 sen to close at RM1.27. UEM Builders, which is building the second bridge, shed 28 sen to close at 92 sen.

Analysts said the election results were good for the Malaysian capital markets in the long term as the selldown was only a knee-jerk reaction to news that the ruling coalition lost five states to the opposition and its two-thirds majority.

TA Investment Management Bhd (TAIM) chief investment officer Choo Swee Kee said Malaysia is on its way to becoming an even more attractive investment destination in the long term with the outcome of the election.

Choo said in the medium term, administrative uncertainties exist with regards to the ability of opposition parties to form and run state governments, as well as the fate of major construction and development projects awarded by the Federal government, particularly in Penang, Selangor and Kedah which would be most negatively affected.

"Their projects are most likely be reviewed by the new state governments," he said in a statement yesterday, citing IJM, Scomi and Gamuda as examples.

"Even certain utility companies such as Puncak Niaga and KPS, and Tenaga, which was looking at a tariff review, could be adversely affected," Choo said.

He said counters to look out for were telcos such as DiGi and TM and plantation stocks such as IOI Corporation Bhd, KLK and Asiatic.

http://203.115.192.58/cms/content.jsp?id=c...b99200-6a11d687[COLOR=blue]

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 11 2008, 05:36 PM

RESORTS 50,000 new ordinary shares of RM0.10 each issued. employees shares will listing on the market and be able to sell. there cost price is RM0.10 each only. Employee share option scheme.

additional 50,000 shares will be in the market to sell

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 12 2008, 02:08 PM

Employees will be cashing out their shares and hot holding them anymore. Probably not a good time to buy unless resort jacks up the price for them to sell at higher price else will be a sell down.

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 12 2008, 02:11 PM

Malaysia's opposition takes over in Penang

Malaysia's opposition was sworn in to power Tuesday in Penang, one of the nation's richest states, and swiftly announced plans to dismantle controversial race-based discrimination policies.

Lim Guan Eng, head of the Democratic Action Party, was appointed chief minister after a stunning performance in weekend polls which handed Penang and three other states to a three-party opposition alliance.

Lim immediately targeted the New Economic Policy, which was introduced in the early 1970s to bridge the wealth gap between the Muslim Malays who dominate the population and the ethnic Chinese who are successful in business.

"We want to run the state government administration free from the New Economic Policy that only breeds cronyism, corruption and systematic inefficiency," he told reporters.

"Instead, we advocate a stakeholders' economy for all, based on the principle of shared prosperity in an equitable manner," he said.

Lim said all government contracts would be conducted through an open tender system, unlike the practice of the previous administration. The new procedure takes effect immediately.

"To show transparency, information about the tender bids will be uploaded to an Internet portal for all to see," he said.

Lim also raised the prospect of scrapping a controversial 25 billion ringgit (7.8 billion dollar) development project on Penang island that was proposed by Barisan Nasional. Locals oppose the project out of environmental concerns.

The new chief minister said the project had aroused "much concern among the people in Penang" and that "scrapping it is definitely an option".

In a gesture of gratitude to voters, Lim cancelled all outstanding parking tickets and fines for illegal street vendors.

Penang, styled as Malaysia's "Silicon Valley", is home to the manufacturing operations of electronic giants like Intel and Sony and the only state to have a majority of ethnic Chinese voters.

Ethnic Chinese and Indian voters led the electoral charge against the coalition in weekend polls, depriving it of a two-thirds majority in federal parliament for the first time in four decades.

The minority communities were concerned about the rising "Islamisation" of Malaysia, and angry over the government's refusal to withdraw or reform the New Economic Policy, which they criticise as outdated and unfair.

http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.as...umentid=1285546

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 12 2008, 02:19 PM

did u guys notice that some of the warants is more expensive that the mother shares in term of the market price. eg IJM RM5.65 IJM-WB RM1.60 + conversion to mother share price of RM4.80 = RM6.40 (over price).

IJM-WB price should be RM0.80 in order to be tandem with the mother share price.

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 12 2008, 02:40 PM

IJM: Poll results may delay projects

SOME construction projects could be delayed after the ruling coalition's unexpectedly poor showing at weekend elections, builder IJM Corp said yesterday.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its heaviest election setback in the 50 years since independence, sparking worries that government policy could change and some building jobs be shelved.

Stocks of construction firms such as Malaysian Resources Corp, Gamuda and UEM World closed between 17 per cent and 34 per cent lower yesterday.

IJM shares lost 16 per cent to RM5.85.

"There could be at worst, at least some delays, in the way the job would be implemented, because you will realise there are five state governments which are now in opposition territory," chief executive Krishnan Tan said when asked how the election result could affect government building programmes.

"If you look at these people coming into power, most of them have got no administrative experience. So this is a learning curve, and in that context you could have a little bit of delay in them taking off."

He added: "As far as the federal government is still in control of the federal parliament, and a large proportion of government spending is actually federal spending, one would expect the major programmes will continue to take place."

The construction sector has been expected to be a key growth driver for the Malaysian economy after the government promised to spend billions of dollars to build energy, tourism and farming hubs throughout the country.

majority of the foreigners is selling IJM shares recents as can see at Changes in Substantial Shareholdings in IJM website

http://www.ijm.com/

Profit taking taking place.

Dow Index Value: 11,951.09
Trade Time: 4:04PM ET
Change: Down 194.65 (1.60%)
Prev Close: 12,145.74
Open: 12,146.39
Day's Range: 11,832.72 - 12,193.61
52wk Range: 11,508.70 - 14,280.00

Lowest day drop is at 11,832.72, A drop of -313.02 for the day

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 15 2008, 11:59 AM

A hiccup in rail deal
by Sharmila Ganapathy
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KUALA LUMPUR: A late bid by French power generation and rail transport giant Alstom for the installation of the electrification and signalling systems of the multi-billion ringgit railway double-tracking project between Ipoh and Padang Besar has potentially lowered the overall cost by a significant amount.

However, the bid, which was backed by a senior minister in the previous Cabinet, has caused uncertainty for the main contractors, a joint venture between MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd, and could further complicate matters in the huge construction job.

The Edge has learnt that the Alstom bid has lowered the bidding price of the coveted signalling system subcontract by as much as RM900 million or 30% compared to the joint bid by the initial frontrunners Balfour Beatty Plc and Siemens AG.

While the depressed bid price is good for the Gamuda-MMC consortium and the double-tracking project as a whole, it is not healthy as it is learnt that Alstom was knocked out in the pre-qualification process, leaving only Balfour Beatty and Siemens to fight for the job.

"Because the Alstom bid was backed by the minister and it came after the pre-qualification process, the contractors could be forced to re-open that part of the tender. The main problem is competition risk as the contractors cannot afford delays. Any cost due to delays would have to be borne by the contractors themselves," said a source.

Gamuda and MMC were awarded the 392-km Ipoh to Padang Besar double-tracking project on a design-and-build basis for a lump sum price of RM12.49 billion.

Sources said Alstom had initially put in a bid but did not get past the pre-qualification process. Only Siemens and Balfour Beatty were short listed and the two decided to make a joint proposal for the job instead of competing with each other. Subsequently, Alstom came back into the picture via the assistance of a prominent local businessman and a senior Cabinet minister.

It is learnt that the matter was brought up in the Cabinet and subsequently the main contractors were told to re-consider the bid. Subsequently, the price of the electrification and systems job, which was initially estimated at RM2.8 billion, came down. The portion of the job is the largest in the entire project.

The railway job is being handled by Alstom's unit based in Singapore while the Malaysian branch is more concentrated on the power sector.

Malaysian-based Alstom Power Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd country president Saji Raghavan confirmed that the company had put in its bid for the northern double-tracking project in August.

"We have bid for one of the largest projects, the northern double-tracking and we are pushing the subject like any other bidder and hopefully we'll know the results sooner than later," he said, declining to elaborate.

The meddling of the senior minister in the project amidst the current political scenario does not do much to lessen complications for the main contractors. State governments in Perak, Selangor, Penang and Kedah where the entire double-track railway runs through, have fallen into the hands of the opposition, causing speculation that the project may face implementation risk and delays.

In January, The Edge Weekly wrote that the UK-based Balfour Beatty, Germany-based Siemens, Westinghouse Rail Systems Ltd (also from the UK), Italy's Ansaldo STS SpA and Alstom were eyeing the signalling system portion of the project.

Ironically, while Alstom and Balfour are hotly competing for the northern double-tracking project here, they have been known to work together globally. Last October, the two companies pooled resources to form a 50-50 joint-venture company called Signalling Solutions Ltd, drawing on the signalling systems experience of both companies to cater to the railway signalling markets in the UK and Ireland.

http://203.115.192.58/cms/content.jsp?id=c...b99200-6467f8ff

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 18 2008, 12:33 AM

last min windows dressing, but closing going down again. CI up 7 points but closing drop back to up only 2.49 points. someday traders selling eg tenaga reach rm7 last few min but close rm6.80 . genting as well. some force selling or day trading selling.

Price from the buyer and seller jump a few bid as can see. Probably jacking price up to unload stocks. Their is still selling at a heavy volume.

This post has been edited by ankw: Mar 18 2008, 05:16 PM

MRCB mum on fate of Penang monorail project
by Sharmila Ganapathy
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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is keeping mum on the status of the Penang Monorail project, believed to be in danger of being shelved following the change of government in Penang.

"This is probably the wrong platform to ask that," MRCB group managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said in response to questions by reporters if the project was taking off as planned.

He was speaking after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between MRCB and Cisco Systems (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to deploy Cisco Connected Real Estate Solution (CRE) in MRCB's future property developments.

MRCB was awarded a letter of intent for the monorail project by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd in January. Its consortium partners are Penang Ports Sdn Bhd and Scomi Group subsidiary MTrans Transportation Systems Sdn Bhd.

Following the Democratic Action Party's (DAP) recent coming into power in Penang, the jury is still out on whether the monorail project will take off, as the federal government is funding it.

http://203.115.192.58/cms/content.jsp?id=c...b99200-fd2ef679