14  theSun | WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 2009

business

Zeti upbeat on bond market

KUALA LUMPUR: Signs of
optimism have started to emerge
in the bond market, Bank Negara
Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti
Akhtar Aziz (pix) said yesterday.
She said the recent narrowing
of spreads between benchmark
issuances and triple A-rated pa-
pers indicated that risk aversion
has now eased.
“In the primary market, new
corporate bond issuances have
increased by about 40% to RM28.4
billion in the second quarter of
this year,” Zeti said at the launch
of AmBank’s Malaysia Corporate
Bond Handbook here.
In the secondary market, the
recent average daily trading
volume has also increased by
more than 50%, she said.
Zeti said that demand for
higher-yielding securities was
also beginning to rise ahead of the
recovery in the global economy.
In addition, due to prospects for
an earlier recovery in Asia, global
investors in the current uncertain
international environment will
increasingly be looking at Asian
financial markets for investment
opportunities, she said.
“This trend is already being
observed through the substantial
inflow of funds dedicated for
emerging markets since the mid-
dle of April this year with an esti-
mated average inflows of US$144
million per week compared to the
net outflow recorded in the early
part of the year,” she added.
This positive trend enhanced
the opportunity for Malaysia to
further expand its bond market,
according to Zeti.
Today, the Malaysian bond
market is the largest in the Asean
region, accounting for nearly 90%
of the gross domestic product
(GDP), she said.
“Financing through the bond
market by the corporate sector
now accounts for 58% of their total
financing compared to 33% prior
to the Asian financial crisis.”
She said with the advent
of new financing instruments
and supporting infrastructure,
trading activity in the secondary
market has also increased by
more than three-fold, with the
trading volume now amounting
to RM516 billion. – Bernama

EON Bank to form briefs

strategic joint ventures
KUALA LUMPUR: EON Bank Group is
actively in talks with various companies
to form strategic joint ventures on an
exclusive basis.
Head of Consumer Banking Michael
Lor said this would allow the bank
to develop products and propositions
which were now highly expected among
customers.
“We hope to leverage through either
an equity stake, insurance company or
a strategic joint venture with exclusive
partners,” he told reporters after the com-
pany entered into a partnership agree-
ment with UniAsia Life Insurance Bhd to
launch “Wealth Planner”, an innovative
savings and insurance plan.
Lor added that the group was also
reviewing its entire bancassurance
strategy as there are vast potential for
further growth.
“We expect to achieve a non-interest
income of between 25 and 30% over the
next 3 years.
“At present, the bank’s non-interest
income was about 20%,” he said.
On Wealth Planner, Lor said EON
Bank was targeting over 6,000 customers
for the product which would translate
into new deposits of RM75 million by
year-end.
He said unlike the conventional fixed
deposit, the Wealth Planner savings and
insurance plan guaranteed interest rate
returns of 5%, per annum, and a guar-
anteed 5% annual cash back on the sum
assured.
For a deposit of RM50,000, a depositor
would accrue returns of RM1,275 against
RM500 earned on the same sum in a
normal fixed deposit savings account.
The Wealth Planner promotion be-
gins today and will end on Dec, 31 2009.
– Bernama
Hong Leong’s pre-tax profit up
KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Bank Group posted
a 12% higher pre-tax profit of RM1.13 billion for its
financial year ended June 30, 2009 from RM1.01
billion the year before.
The bank’s after-tax profit grew 22% to RM163
million from RM905 million previously.
Managing director and chief executive Yvonne
Chia said the bank gave a resilient performance
in spite of the challenging environment, facing a
depressed macro-economic climate that saw the
country’s first quarter gross domestic product con-
tracting by 6.2%. “We exceeded analysts’ consensus
with growth coming from personal financial services
and wholesale banking,” she told a media briefing on
the bank’s results.
The bank’s subsidiary, Hong Leong Islamic Bank’s
pre-tax profit jumped to RM100 million from RM87.6
million and will be paying its maiden dividend for the
financial year just ended. – Bernama
MMC posts lower profit for Q2
KUALA LUMPUR: MMC Corporation Bhd has
reported a reduced pre-tax profit of RM185.174

Proton posts higher Q1 profit
KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd
has reported a pre-tax profit of RM64.379
million for its first quarter ended June 30,
2009, up 9.7% from RM58.700 million in
the same quarter last year.
The profit was achieved over an 8%
increase in revenue of RM1.852 billion
against RM1.708 billion previously.
In a statement, the national car-
maker said the better performance was
contributed by a better product mix even
though there was a smaller decline in
car sales by two percent compared with
the total industry volume (TIV) which
had contracted by 11% during the same
period.
The strong sales from newly launched
Proton Exora had helped the group to
increase its market share to 31% of the
TIV in June, while improving its product
mix.
For the first six-month period to June
30, Proton sold a total 69,977 units of ve-
hicles which accounted for 27% of TIV.
Proton’s chairman Datuk Mohd
Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said the results
have shown that group’s efforts to enter
a new segment of the local car market
had produced a desired outcome.
He said the Exora recorded a total
order of 8,000 units up to Aug 15 and
has been receiving positive response in
Indonesia following its recent launch.
During the period under review,
Proton’s revenue had seen growth despite
the decline in sales volume by 2% to
39,327 units as against 39,888 units sold
in the same quarter last year.
Nadzmi said Proton’s first quarter
performance was also slightly better
than its loss before tax of RM374 million,
incurred in the preceding quarter which
included an exceptional impairment
of property, plant and equipment and
investory write-down totalling RM360
million. – Bernama
million, down 39.5%, for its second quarter end-
ed June 30, 2009, from RM306.253 million in the
same quarter last year. The profit was achieved
over a bigger turnover of RM2.165 billion against
RM1.992 billion previously. – Bernama
Lower H1 profit for ESSO M’sia
KUALA LUMPUR: Esso Malaysia Bhd has recorded a
13.87% lower pre-tax profit of RM180 million for its
first half ended June 30, 2009, from RM209 million
in the previous corresponding period.
The company’s revenue was also down 46.03%
at RM3.4 billion from RM6.3 billion previously due
to lower product prices, it said in a statement yes-
terday. – Bernama
Lower pre-tax loss for Transmile
KUALA LUMPUR: Transmile Group Bhd has
posted a lower pre-tax loss of RM42.785 million
for its first half ended June 30, 2009, a 37.65%
improvement from its loss of RM68.621 million
in the same period last year.
Its revenue, however, fell 56.2% to RM74.045
million from RM169.128 million previously, it said
in a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Manufacturing sales up 6.7% in June WCT chalks up lower profit in Q2

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s manufacturing
sales value increased 6.7% or RM2.46 billion
to RM39.3 billion in June compared with the
preceding month.
When compared with last year’s cor-
responding month, it decreased 25.5%
or RM13.5 billion from RM52.7 billion, the
Statistics Department said in a statement
yesterday.
It said the sales value in May was a re-
vised negative 25.6% year-on-year to record
RM36.8 billion.
The department said the month-on-
month increase in the sales value in June
when compared with the preceding month
was generated by the growth in the sales
value of 80 industries out of 116 covered in
the survey.
The five major industries whose sales
value increased were refined petroleum
products (16.5%), electronic valves and tubes
and printed circuit boards (16.7%), computer
and computer peripherals (6.9%), semi-con-
ductor devices (4.4%), and television and
radio receivers, sound or video recording
or reproducing apparatus, and associated
goods (8.3%).
The decline in the sales value in June
compared with the corresponding month
of last year was the result of the drop in the
sales value of 75 industries out of 116 under
the survey. – Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: WCT Bhd reported RM70.5 million
or 15.9% in lower group pre-tax profit for the second
quarter ended June 30, 2009, from RM83.9 million
chalked up in the corresponding quarter last year.
Turnover, however, rose 25% to RM1.2 billion against
RM942.2 million previously. – Bernama
Century’s Q2 profit up 56.7%
KUALA LUMPUR: Century Logistics Holdings Bhd
has posted a net profit after minority interest of
RM3.9 million for its second quarter ended June
30, 2009, up 56.7% from RM2.5 million in the
same period last year. This was on the back of
a 37.7% rise in revenue to RM47.0 million from
RM34.1 million, said in a statement yesterday.