AS1M-Dismal /Subscription Performance

The Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS 1 Malaysia) has attracted 244,117 investors who have subscribed 3.40 billion units in the equity income fund.

He said three billion units, of RM1 each, reserved for the Chinese saw a take-up rate of 89 per cent.

The RM10 billion fund, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on July 31, 2009, is open to Malaysians aged 18 and above on a quota basis whereby 50 per cent of the shares are allocated for Bumiputeras, 30 per cent Chinese, 15 per cent Indians and the remaining 5 per cent to other groups.

Axiata's Comeback

Axiata posted better-than-expected net profit for 2009. It reported a fourth-quarter net profit of 558.28 million ringgit ($164 million), compared to a net loss of 515.25 million ringgit in the year-ago period.Full-year net profit more than tripled to 1.65 billion ringgit, exceeding the average forecast of 1.365 billion ringgit by 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Its Malaysian unit Celcom is the No.2 mobile phone brand and the biggest wireless broadband services provider in the country.Axiata also owns the “Hello” brand in Cambodia, the “Aktel” brand in Bangladesh and the “Dialog” brand in Sri Lanka.In Indonesia, it operates the “XL” brand via 86 percent-owned XL Axiata, Indonesia’s third-largest mobile phone operator.

Among its local rivals, DiGi operates only in Malaysia and Maxis Berhad houses just Maxis Communications’ Malaysian operations, making Axiata the only listed telecommunication company in the country that offers investors regional exposure.

Shares of Axiata have outperformed rivals so far this year with a 13 per cent gain. DiGi, controlled by Norwegian telecom firm Telenor, has gained 3 per cent and Maxis was up 2 per cent.

Controlled by Khazanah Nasional, the investment arm of the Ministry of Finance, Axiata has 120 million mobile subscribers across Asia.

“Key risks continued to be faced by our operating companies include increasing competition and regulatory challenges,” said Axiata.

Zhang ZiLin:Chinese Beauty

 

ZahgZi Lin

MRCB: Hitting the Billion Mark!

Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is confident of registering RM1 billion in revenue for the first time this year (2010) with significant improvement in profitability.

This will be achieved in view of its ongoing active progress works in Kuala Lumpur Sentral and its order book, said its Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Razeek Hussain, in a statement today.

The group will continue to intensify its efforts to achieve economies of scale and innovative value engineering to improve performance in the coming years, he said.

MRCB posted a pre-tax profit of RM46.492 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009 against a pre-tax loss of RM42.155 million in the previous financial year.

The positive performance was attributed to the overall improved operational results mainly from its engineering and construction division.

Revenue for the year rose to RM921.616 million from RM788.552 million previously.

MRCB has recommended a first and final dividend of 1.0 per cent or 1.0 sen per ordinary share less 25 per cent tax, amounting to approximately RM10.3 million.

So, MRCB has started paying dividends again. I do hope they will keep it that way from now on!

Flipping Fantastic: Themes, Valuesand Viewpoints

What are the messages that you got after reading this short story,"Flipping Fantastic"?

If you should look closely,these are the themes that comes to light.

• Learning to be self reliant-independence.
• The importance of  being self-assured-self confidence
• Sense of responsibility - to take care of another that may need assistance
• Telling the truth-do not hide feelings-learn to be open,to share and to be supportive

So what about the values that we can discern from the story?

• One must plan one path in life and be brave to walk it
• One must be truthful to oneself and to loved ones
• One cannot be selfish at the expense of others' happiness
• One should learn to respect the wishes of others
• One must take note that different people have different interests

Interestingly the story is told from the first person viewpoint through the pages of three persons's diaries.

Flipping Fantastic: The Mother

Those who read Jane Langford's ,"Flipping Fantastic" will certainly be enamoured by Tristan's positivism and concerned about James' introvert nature.

Let us look at the character of their mother and how she influences both of her sons.

She is not a major character in the story but she is instrumental in providing relevant information so that we can understand the twins better.

Tristan tells us that his mother is strong and determined. His statement,"...that's mum for you,very determined" attest to this fact.

She is positive minded and very optimistic. She would not want Tristan to think lowly of his disability. She wants Tristan to be brave and have a positive outlook in life despite his physical shortcomings. This can be gathered from the words," I 'm only interested in what you can do."

She is a loving and caring parent and loves both her sons very much. She knows that James was shy,nervous and lack confidence but she does not say anything about it. She uses positive words to encourage him. When James did fumble his only line , she chooses to see James' bravery on stage and eggs him on by saying that he did wonderfully on stage. Even if she senses his stuttering, she will be the last person to comment on it negatively.

She is observant and understanding. During the summer holidays, she could observe the unhappiness of both of her boys. James is normally quiet by nature but not Tristan. That both were, worries her. She felt that she could have made a wrong decision by sending them to different schools.

When things turns out alright in he end, she knew she had made the right decision. From her action and decision,Tristan s to be independent and so did James.

In conclusion we can say that the twin's mother is practical and realistic and she knew the moment of truth for the two boys had arrived when they moved on to secondary school education. It was a hard milestone decision but her wisdom ruled the day!

Genting Berhad: Still a Good Buy

Maybank IB has put out their recommendation for Genting Berhad. That is: Maintain a buy at RM6.36 targetting a price of RM8.85. Maybank also expect a re-rating to be doen to Genting Berhad as they hold Genting Signapore at the entry price of S$0.33 cents,far below that of the current S$0.95 cents.

There was a good opening buzz at Genting’s integrated resort. Sentosa Island saw a 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) surge in visitors in the first two days of Chinese New Year. Some 142,000 people visited the island. The casino, where 270 tables, about half the total, were opened, attracted 35,000 people, reported Channel News Asia. Universal Studios, open for “sneak peeks” at a nominal SG$10/head (RM24) charge, was also reportedly very busy.

RWS achieved S$40 million in gaming gross in its first 36 hours of operation, according to a report by Inside Asian Gaming. Annualised, this works out to S$9.7 billion, well above the S$2.9 billion consensus forecast. Note that this number cannot be confirmed as management is “unable to disclose any numbers”.

RWS appears set to be fully operational by May. Universal Studios will fully open in mid-March, all 500 plus casino tables in four to six weeks and all 1,300 hotel rooms by April.

Genting Singapore reported its 2009 result last Friday. For the year, it generated S$491 million of revenue, down 22%, and reported a S$278 million net loss (2008: S$124 million net loss). However, that result is going to be treated as academic history as Genting Singapore will be far different this year following the opening of RWS. Maybank IB maintains their Genting Berhad forecasts pending release of its result on Thursday.

However, they do provide some caveats.

There is upside risk to their forecasts. FY10 earnings forecast used includes S$2.6 billion revenue and S$298 million net profit at GS. Annualised, the reported S$40 million casino revenue in the first 36 hours is a massive S$9.6 billion. Of course, the first day spike is unlikely to be sustainable.