PETALING JAYA: The first post-budget Malaysian Property Expo (Mapex), organised by the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Malaysia (Rehda) in Johor from Nov 8 to 10 registered a lower turnout. There were fewer foreign attendees, compared to the previous event in May. According to Mapex organising chairman and branch deputy chairman KK Wong, there was a good crowd, although smaller than the last expo. “Now, most foreigners have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach following the latest announcements in the recent budget, especially on the proposed price limit of RM1 million for foreign buyers,” he said. In addition to the hike in real property gains tax and the ban on the developer interest bearing scheme, Johor is set to increase the price limit and levy imposed on foreign purchasers. The levy is to be raised from the current RM10,000 to 2% of the sale price. Koh Moo Hing, branch chairman of Rehda Johor, believes that the Johor market in 2014 will continue to be s
KUALA LUMPUR: Scomi KMC Sdn Bhd, a member of Scomi Group Bhd, has been awarded a contract worth RM2.1 billion by Petronas Carigali to supply drilling fluids, barite materials, equipment and services for a five-year period beginning March 1, 2013.This confirms an earlier report by The Edge weekly that Petronas Carigali has picked Scomi over a few international names to get the lion’s share of the five-year contract under the RM8 billion to RM10 billion Pan Malaysia mega tender.In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Scomi Group said the contract award is expected to contribute positively towards the earnings and net assets per share of the company for the five financial years ending March 31 2013 to 2018.In 2006, Scomi received a much smaller five-year drilling fluids contract worth US$500 million (RM1.55 billion) from Petronas.Scomi Group recently underwent a restructuring exercise which saw the disposals of its stakes in Scomi Oilfields Ltd, Scomi Sosma Sdn Bhd and Scomi KMC
KLANG: Furniture maker Latitude Tree Bhd expects revenue from its Vietnam operations to grow by 10% to 20% this year, while its Malaysian business is expected to grow by 10%, on the back of slowing competition from China, said its executive director Lin Tzu Keng. Speaking to The Edge Financial Daily recently, Lin said Chinese exports, especially to the United States, were slowing as China shifted its focus to catering for growing domestic demand. Latitude Tree produces wooden bedroom, living and dining room sets for the export market. Some 90% of its products are sold in the US and the remaining 10% in Europe and the Middle East. Lin said its Vietnam and Malaysian operations would also benefit from negatives affecting Chinese furniture makers such as anti-dumping duties imposed on their bedroom sets in the US, import duties and rising labour costs. “In 2008, a lot of factories in China closed down which reduced capacity, but in May 2009 we saw orders come back and we worked to replen
Notable filingsFilings on April 9 showed Bioenergy Holdings Sdn Bhd disposing of 10.5 million shares in Asia Bioenergy Technologies Bhd (Asiabio) between April 3 and 7, effectively reducing its stake in the company to 53.6 million shares or 21.4% equity interest. Asiabio said last week that its investment company, Grand Inizio Bhd, had submitted an application to be listed on the Mesdaq Market. An April 10 filing revealed that Lau Kim Chew had ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Cocoaland Holdings Bhd following the sale of his shares in Leverage Success Sdn Bhd, which owns 79.7 million shares, or a 66.3% stake, in the company. According to the filing, Lau now holds less than 15% of Leverage Success. According to an April 8 filing, Singapore-based Arisaig Asean Fund Ltd disposed of 15.6 million shares in Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust, ceasing to be a substantial shareholder of the property trust. Arisaig had at one point owned 18 million shares, or 5.64% equity interest, in
KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has tapped former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) deputy governor Datuk Ooi Sang Kuang to the sit on the boards of its key banking and insurance units. Ooi’s appointments by OCBC came barely two months after he retired from his position as special adviser to BNM on Dec 31. Prior to being retained for a one-year tenure as the central bank’s special adviser, Ooi had served for eight years as BNM deputy governor from 2002 to June 2010. But now, Ooi sits on the OCBC’s 14-man board as an independent non-executive director following his appointment on Feb 21. Ooi was also appointed to the boards of OCBC Bank Malaysia Bhd and insurance operator Overseas Assurance Corp Malaysia Bhd, which is a unit of OCBC’s insurance arm Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. Ooi sits on the OCBC's 14-man board as an independent non-executive director. Aside from that, Ooi is presently the chairman of BNM’s subsidiary, Malaysian Electronic C