Berjaya Group Shares-A Tsunami of Sellers

One look at the board and you would see Berjaya Group shares gravitating down in price every trading day. so what is happening?

Anyone care to tell?

Look at the doyen in the group-Sports Toto. In its history, it is always a range-bound share floating between RM4.50 to RM5.00. Now look at it. It is in the teens above RM4.00. Dividends paid is still okay but why it is looked at with so much disdain these days for it to break the RM4.50 mark?

BJ Land though priced at about the RM4.30 price level is a counter that is too tightly held or interest is just not there in spite of the share split and bonus. Is it because some of its so-called grand projects are not coming through.. The one of most concern is the project to shift the Selangor Turf Club facility from Sungai Besi to Salak Tinggi. That has gone down for sometime as the PR government is still looking at the plans. Until we receive a whisper on that, BJ Land has to seek other exciting games to play.

BJ Corp has seen the best of times when the Ascot Game licence was in the offing for sports betting. With the failure to secure that licence, prices spiral downwards. Then after off-loading BJ Retail, it has sunk below RM1.00. I think it may go down further at this rate if BJ Roosters gets listed. True it will be cash rich and could become the war-chest for Vincent to play his games in 2011. Or is the General elections around the corner?

BJ Retail, newly listed is facing a slew of sellers every day? I wonder who is selling. Is Vincent cashing out while Berjaya Sampo is picking it up for cheap, benefiting Vincent either way? Looks like it as a majority seller must be in the market. Until the bleeding stops, BJ Retail will be in this price stupor.

BJ Media is another poor thing. After giving dividend-in-specie to its shareholders with the sale of THE EDGE business paper, the price of this stock started going south from 65 sen. Today it is about 40 sen though it surprisingly showed new life picking up 6 sen in today's morning session.

BJ Asset is also suffering from the same malaise. From a sprightly move to the 70 sen level given the better returns on number forecast operations in Sarawak, the occupancy of Berjaya Times Square and sale of  some condominiums, it has succumbed to selling pressure and has moved back close to the 50 sen level. How sad!

So, Vincent-where is the beef?

Or are you cashing out just like Bob Kuok,Ananda, Francis and Kok Thay?

That Special School Without Students

By Debra Chong from Malaysia Insider has a telling story which will bring out the guffaws.

Let us read on.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — The nation’s first school for pregnant teens — dreamt up by Melaka Chief Minister  Ali Rustam is slated to open its doors today. Sadly there is a ghost of a chance to find any students there.

Obviously there was interest when the idea was mooted so claimed certain quarters. However,  
Melaka State Islamic department (Jaim) director, Sulaiman Harmain Shah, has this to say now. “We’ve had a few people calling up to ask,”  he said as he is is in charge of the management of the state-run private school in Jasin named “Sekolah Harapan” (School of Hope).

“But no one has registered to be a student yet,” he admitted to The Malaysian Insider in a recent phone interview.

Sulaiman quickly added that enrolment into the school was not automatic and candidates were required to first attend an interview with the state Islamic department.

The interview was necessary to determine, among others, if the schoolgirl in question was a genuine case, whether she had the support of her parents or had been disowned and required housing, Sulaiman explained.

The religious head also disclosed that the school may not be fully ready for its first intake today, with the premises still undergoing a makeover from its previous incarnation as office suites.

“It’s still under renovation. The dormitory is complete. We have a dormitory that can accommodate 12 people,” Sulaiman said.

Apart from the physical aspects of the school, the Islamic department only has a few religious teachers on its faculty.

Other teachers will be hired “part-time” as and when needed, Sulaiman said.

“It will be like a tuition centre,” he added.

Mohd Ali had first announced his idea to set up a dedicated school for pregnant teens in July, with the thought that it could help cut down incidents of newborn babies being dumped, setting off a national debate on the need for such a school and on the reasons behind it.

The education ministry has refuted the need, pointing that its regulations allows all girls access to schooling regardless of whether they are pregnant or married.

But the Melaka CM disputes the ministry’s statement and claims some principals have sent home students after they were found to be pregnant and leaving the teens at a loss on what to do next, which he linked to the spate of baby-dumping cases.

Mohd Ali has also highlighted that the phenomenon affects the Malays, the largest racial group in Malaysia, and carries with it a whole slew of social-religious consequences as the community is constitutionally Muslim.

His controversial idea for a “sekolah hamil” was cemented after the state approved the conditional marriage for minors, with some groups questioning if the “husbands” would be enrolled into the same campus and what subjects would be taught there.

“It’s only for the pregnant girls. Men have no problem. They can still attend school,” Sulaiman replied when asked if the “husbands” would also be attending the school.

Much about the school continues to be wrapped in a veil of mystery. The exact whereabouts of the school in Jasin is also confidential.

“We are trying to protect the girls. They are malu (ashamed),” Sulaiman defended.

He was also reluctant to disclose details but has described the school to be more of a spiritual, moral and educational shelter facility.

 Priority will also be given for pregnant Malay-Muslim teens, especially those who have been disowned by their parents and have nowhere else to go, Sulaiman added.

All 13 reported cases of baby-dumping this year have so far only involved the Malay community, police statistics show.

“This is a symptom of social ills among the Muslims… From experience, those who are pregnant seldom are interested to continue their schooling,” Sulaiman said.

This CM certainly has superb conceptual vision.

Let's give him our cheers, won't we when he should succeed  to recruit his first pupil?

Will Banks Cap Housing Loan Quantum?

Bank Negara Malaysia is thinking seriously of imposing a  loan-to-value ratio (LVR) for mortgages at 80 per cent to avert the risk of a potential property bubble in the country.

It is seeking feedback from banks on the possibility of doing so.

Currently, there is no fixed LVR. Banks usually lend up to 90 per cent of a house value, or even up to 100 per cent in some cases.

A banking analyst at a local research house thinks this is unlikley thta bank is going to support BNM's move as it will affect their profitability.

Still, BNM is likely to be mindful of this and if it feels that such a move is necessary to curb property speculation and a potential rise in non-perfoming loans, it may reach a compromise in that it may not slap the 80 per cent cap across the board, he pointed out.


"We believe that it is unlikely that BNM will enforce a strict capping of LVR across all residential property classes, but rather impose a restriction only on higher-end properties where the speculative element could be more apparent," OSK Research said in a note to clients yesterday.

Kenanga Research said it wouldn't be surprised if BNM implemented the 80 per cent cap on, at least, properties valued at more than RM500,000.

The central bank's concerns about a potential bubble are warranted, interest rate hikes this year, loan growth has remained robust while deposit growth has lagged, due in part to the channeling of retail deposits into property purchases.

Residential properties currently account for 26.6 per cent of total industry loans.

Still, OSK felt that it was not feasible to set a blanket enforcement on the LVR, pointing out that residential properties were considered one of the safer asset classes for banks to lend to, with promising growth prospects underpinned by the country's relatively young population.

As it stands, it is understood that most banks already have an internal risk control policy, limiting the LVR to 85 per cent for higher-end residential properties valued at more than RM700,000. Most banks also have a LVR cap of 85 per cent for non-residential properties.

OSK noted also that LVR was just one of several criteria that banks use in their credit scoring process. They also tend to look at the debt servicing ratio, location of property and the borrower's other financial backing.

Meanwhile, any mortgage restriction is also seen to be negative for the property sector. Kenanga Research said it is likely to downgrade the sector from a "trading buy" now if the restrictions are implemented as property transactions will fall since deposit requirements will basically double.

"If the LVR is official at 80 per cent for all borrowers, we see a negative impact on the property sector, especially on the low- to medium-end market as housebuyers will need more equity under the new scheme," said Maybank Investment Bank research.

For example, a housebuyer would need RM80,000 instead of RM40,000 as equity for a RM400,000 house. "This could cause a delay in purchasing decisions," it noted.

RHB Research, meanwhile, felt that first-time home buyers should be exempted from a higher down-payment ratio since the government has been encouraging home ownership.