Multi-Purpose Holdings (MPHB) to list its non-gaming business on Bursa Malaysia stock exchange

(MPHB closing price today (23.6.2012) was RM 2.93)

The Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB) group will demerge its gaming and financial services business into two independent entities.

It said on Wednesday the existing MPHB would hold the gaming business while a special purpose vehicle would hold substantially the financial services businesses and the group's other investments.

MPHB said the proposed demerger would see MPHB selling its assets and liabilities to another unit SPV Capital to be satisfied by new shares in the SPV and/or cash to MPHB.

Under the second stage, MPHB would sell all its SPV Capital shares to the MPHB shareholders.

SPV Capital would then be listed while MPHB would also remain listed.

MPHB would then change its name to incorporate the word "Magnum" to better reflect the core business of the new MPHB Group, which is gaming.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Updated on 24.5.2012- More information on the corporate exercise

Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB) will inject its non-gaming assets into a special purpose vehicle (SPV Capital) and list it on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The non-gaming assets include financial services business held under Multi-Purpose Insurans Bhd, stockbroking operated by A A Anthony Securities Sdn Bhd and hotel investments.

The assets' net book value are estimated to be RM941.4 million as at end-2011.

MPHB said in a statement yesterday it is planning to split its gaming business, operated by Magnum Corp Sdn Bhd, and its non-gaming assets to create two separate entities.

The gaming business will remain listed under MPHB, while the non-gaming assets will operate under SPV Capital.

MPHB managing director Datuk Surin Upatkoon said the non-gaming assets, including the liabilities, will be transferred to SPV Capital via the issuance of new shares and/or cash.

As part of the proposed demerger and listing, MPHB will make an offer for sale (OFS) for all its shareholdings in SPV Capital to entitled shareholders at a price to be fixed later.

MPHB will then distribute all the net proceeds from the OFS via a capital repayment.

Surin said the demerger will allow MPHB to position itself as a "gaming-dividend" stock with a sustainable dividend payment policy of at least 80 per cent of its profit annually.

This, however, is subject to the gaming business' prospects, growth or expansion, and adequacy of reserves.

He said the exercise will also provide a platform for both MPHB and SPV Capital to separately pursue different and more tailored business strategies.

"It offers MPHB's shareholders the choice to partake in the financial services and other investments by investing directly in SPV Capital while concurrently preserving their holding in MPHB, which would be dividend-centric," Surin explained.

At the group's shareholders meeting yesterday, director T. Vijeyaratnam said that with the assets demerger, MPHB will become a pure gaming player.

"Gaming is our principal business ... the direction of the group will be much clearer now," he said.

For its fiscal year 2011, MPHB posted a net profit of RM482.03 million on revenue of RM3.54 billion, of which Magnum had contributed around 75-80 per cent and more than 80 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, AmResearch Sdn Bhd said spinning off the non-gaming assets is a faster way of selling off the assets, compared to looking for a buyer and then negotiating on the pricing.

The firm has maintained its "buy" call on MPHB due to potentially higher dividend payouts.

MPHB closed two sen higher to RM2.93 yesterday.

Source: www.btimes.com.my

Natural Rubber surplus expected to widen to 469,000 tons this year from 50,000 tons in 2011 due to slowing demand from Europe and China - The Rubber Economist

Supplies of rubber, used in tires and gloves, are set to exceed demand in the second half, reversing a shortage and pressuring prices as growth slows in Europe and China. Futures fell the most in two weeks.

Output may top consumption by 400,000 metric tons in the six months to December after a seasonal deficit of 150,000 tons in the first half, said Chris Pardey, chief executive officer of RCMA Commodities Asia, a Singapore-based trading company. A surplus will persist through 2014, said Prachaya Jumpasut, managing director of industry adviser The Rubber Economist.

A drop of raw latex falls from a rubber tree. Natural rubber consumption is set to expand 3.4 percent to 11.3 million tons this year, while production climbs 3.2 percent also to 11.3 million tons, according to Lekshmi Nair, senior economist at the International Rubber Study Group.

Raw rubber latex is collected in bowls. The surplus of rubber will probably widen to 469,000 tons this year and to 566,000 tons in 2013 from 50,000 tons in 2011, before falling to 194,000 tons in 2014 as price declines curb growth in supplies, said Prachaya from the London-based The Rubber Economist, who has studied the commodity for more than 30 years. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Futures have plunged 50 percent from a record in February 2011 as Europe struggled with its debt crisis and China expanded last quarter at its slowest pace in almost three years. Chinese vehicle sales dropped 1.3 percent in the first four months, the worst performance since 1998, according to industry data. Price declines will cut costs for tire makers such as Bridgestone Corp. (5108) and Michelin & Cie. and threaten farmer incomes in Thailand, the biggest producer and exporter.

“The market is still bearish because of Europe’s problems and as China’s economy slows,” said Kazunori Kokubo, managing director at Yutaka Shoji Singapore Pte., a commodities broker. The contract for October fell 3.9 percent today to 269.60 yen a kilogram ($3,395 a ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. That was the biggest drop for the most active contract since May 9.

Chinese Demand

The Chinese economy will expand 7.9 percent this quarter from a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey. That would be the sixth quarterly deceleration after an 8.1 percent expansion in the first three months. The drop in vehicle sales boosted inventories at automakers to the highest level in at least 16 months at the end of April, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

“Prices will react negatively to lower demand,” said Pardey who has traded commodities since 1985. Demand from China may be unchanged from last year at 3.8 million tons, he said, lowering an earlier forecast for 2 percent to 3 percent growth.

Futures rebounded 3.9 percent in the first two days of this week after Premier Wen Jiabao said China will focus more on boosting growth. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley predict interest rates will be cut to counter the slowdown. Germany will consider all ideas to spur Europe’s growth, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said May 21.

Thai Support

Prices were also supported after Thailand, which represents 33 percent of world output, said on May 18 it plans to buy more than 10,000 tons on the Tokyo and Shanghai exchanges to boost prices. The country reaffirmed a plan to drive prices to 120 baht ($3.82) a kilogram by buying from farmers, while saying it intends to push rates to 180 baht next year, deputy farm minister Nattawut Saikuar said last month.

The country will work with Indonesia and Malaysia to tackle the slump, Nattawut said last week, without giving details. The three nations represent about 70 percent of global supply.

“The Thai policy will continue supporting prices, probably until the end of the year,” said Chaiwat Muenmee, analyst at Bangkok-based broker DS Futures Co. “It may take a bit of time for the government to implement the plans but it sounds serious in taking action.”

Natural rubber consumption is set to expand 3.4 percent to 11.3 million tons this year, while production climbs 3.2 percent also to 11.3 million tons, the International Rubber Study Group said at a conference in Singapore today. Output may increase to 11.9 million tons in 2013, with demand rising to 11.8 million tons, the organization said last month.

The surplus will probably widen to 469,000 tons this year and to 566,000 tons in 2013 from 50,000 tons in 2011, before falling to 194,000 tons in 2014 as price declines curb growth in supplies, said Prachaya from the London-based The Rubber Economist, who has studied the commodity for more than 30 years.

Source: www.bloomberg.com

MRCB quarterly earnings rose 2.5%, profitability growth depends on outcome from on-going negotiations with Government on EDL Expressway toll collection

(MRCB closing price yesterday (22.5.2012) was RM 1.60)

Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd's (MRCB) earnings rose 2.5% to RM22.15mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 from RM21.60mil a year ago, mainly due to higher expenses, despite the sharply higher revenue.

It said on Tuesday its revenue increased by 48.3% to RM328.62mil from RM221.49mil. Pre-tax profit rose 48.3% to RM35.6mil from RM24.0mil. Earnings per share were 1.6 sen compared with 1.56 sen.

However its expenses in Q1 2012 rose 41.7% to RM291.84mil from RM205.90mil.

“The higher profit for the current quarter was mainly contributed by recognition of progress profit of the ongoing property development projects at Kuala Lumpur Sentral and recurring rental income from the newly completed KL Sentral Park office,” it said.

MRCB said positive revenue growth was due to higher revenue recognition especially from its ongoing property development projects at Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

On the outlook, it expected to deliver another year of revenue growth, driven by on-going property development projects in Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

MRCB said the newly completed KL Sentral Park office was attracting encouraging interests with tenancy expecting to reach full occupancy by this year.

Other projects underway were CIMB Tower at Lot A, Shell Tower at Lot 348 and the integrated Nu Sentral retail mall, three office towers and one block of hotel at Lot G which were expected to be completed within this year.

On the Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL) in Johor Bahru, it said the highway was opened to traffic on April 1. Meanwhile, negotiations were on-going with the government for toll collection.

“However, the board remains cautious for the group to deliver profitability growth considering the uncertainty of commencement of toll collection from the EDL and the competitive construction industry with pressure of increasing material prices and tight labour market,” it said.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

China fast tracks approval for infrastructure projects to support its slowing economy

China will fast track approvals for infrastructure investment to combat a slowdown in the economy, a state-backed newspaper reported on Tuesday, showing how Premier Wen Jiabao's call for policies to support growth is being put into action.

The pace of investment in the likes of roads, bridges and real estate is running at its weakest in nearly a decade, April data showed, suggesting the world's second-biggest economy is heading for a sixth straight quarter of slowing growth.

To provide some support the government had asked for project proposals by the end of June, even for those initially earmarked for the end of the year, said the China Securities Journal, one of the country's top financial papers.

Citing government sources, the article said Beijing did not rule out bringing forward next year's projects, if it thought more investments would be needed to stimulate the economy.

"This would be the first concrete evidence that Premier Wen's comments are being put into practice," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, an economist at Credit Agricole-CIB in Hong Kong.

"Improved China growth would benefit all regional currencies, as their economies heavily depend on exports to China."

The newspaper also cited media reports saying the central government will speed up budget allocations to various construction projects, including highway construction.

News of Beijing's latest efforts to bolster growth lifted stock markets. Australian shares rose 1.2 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.1 percent as investors bought miners on the prospects of more sales to China.

Chinese infrastructure stocks outperformed, while benchmark copper prices rose to a one-week high.

To be sure, some economists say the slowdown does not warrant the mammoth 4 trillion stimulus China produced at the height of the global financial crisis when firms had axed some 20 million jobs as global trade ground to a halt.

The economy is stronger that it was then. Today's labor market is tight, wages are rising and employees are struggling for staff, conditions that could fuel inflation if Beijing loosened policy aggressively.

So the latest move by Beijing is another example of its "fine tuning" of policies to prevent the economy for slipping too quickly, they said.

HIGHWAYS, RAILWAYS, POWER

Wang Jun, an economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a government think-tank, said he expected the thrust of the investment to focus on highways, railways, nuclear power and thermal power plants.

"But it will be fine-tuning," Wang said. Indeed, the China Securities Journal said Beijing would focus on projects already under construction or ones that were halted due to funding shortages last year.

Economists also said they doubted the government would look at fresh investment projects. Instead, it would bring forward projects laid out under the national five-year development plan.

Premier Wen signaled Beijing's willingness to take action in remarks at the weekend.

"We should continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy while giving more priority to maintaining growth," he said in comments reported by state news agency Xinhua.

The China Securities Journal said that Beijing's move is partly aimed at offsetting the economic impact of a government-engineered slowdown in the property sector.

Wen reiterated at the weekend that Beijing would maintain a clamp-down on the sector. A series of controls on credit and purchases drove down housing prices in April for a second month in a row compared with year-earlier levels.

China bringing forward investment projects would also be welcome news for the world's mineral producers, particularly those in Australia.

The slowdown in China's economy has weighed particularly hard on the commodities market. Falling prices combined with escalating costs that have squeezed cash flow prompted big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to say they were reconsidering the pace of their long-term expansion plans.

However, Xstrata said on Tuesday it expected Chinese copper demand to pick up in the second half of the year and Brazilian miner Vale said it was selling iron ore to China about as fast as it can mine it.

Bringing forward investment projects would add to other evidence of government efforts to support the economy.

Under a "proactive fiscal policy", central government spending rose 26 percent in the first four months of 2012 from a year earlier, more than twice the pace of revenue growth.

The last time spending outpaced revenues in the first four months of the year was in 2009 when China rolled out its big stimulus package to counter the global recession. Spending on transportation is up 84.5 percent in the first four months of 2012.

Industrial production growth weakened sharply in April from a year earlier and retail sales were lower than expected. Fixed asset investment rose 20.2 percent in the first four months of the year compared with the same year-earlier period, the weakest pace since December 2002.

After the disappointing April economic data was released, the central bank cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve for the third time since November.

China may also roll out a new round of subsidies for energy-saving home appliances as early as June, the China Business News reported last week.

A Reuters poll showed economists expect annual economic growth in the second quarter of the year to slow to 7.9 percent, the first slide below 8 percent since 2009. It would represent the sixth straight quarter when annual growth slowed down.

China's economic growth averaged more than 10 percent in the first decade of this century. But Wen has said China must embrace a slower rate of growth and political reform to keep the economy from faltering and to spread wealth more evenly in the country of 1.3 billion people.

Source: www.reuters.com

Axiata Group's quarterly net profit rose 3% to RM 565.6 million despite impact on foreign currency translation

(AXIATA opening price today (23.05.2012) was RM 5.38)

Axiata Group Bhd made a net profit of RM565.6mil or 7 sen per share for the first quarter ended March 31, 3% higher than the RM548.4mil or 6 sen per share for the same period a year earlier.

Revenue was also higher at RM4.26bil against RM3.94bil last year.

In a statement, the telco which has a regional footprint noted that positive trends continued across all of its operating companies during the quarter under review.

“Moving forward, we are confident of delivering profitable growth and driving differentiation through innovative digital services and products. The results of this quarter are certainly a step in the right direction,” president and group chief executive officer of Axiata Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim said in the statement.

In a traditionally flat quarter all its operating companies performed well, especially against the industry, with most recording the highest ever first-quarter results, Axiata noted.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 4% to RM1.8bil.

At constant currency, revenue and EBITDA growth would have been higher at 10% and 6% respectively, it said.

Likewise, profit after taxation and minority interests (PATAMI), excluding foreign translation impact, was up 19% to RM652mil.

In the statement, Axiata noted that regional mobile subscribers grew 24% year-on-year to over 200 million.

Celcom, its Malaysia unit, sustained momentum into the first quarter of the year, continuing to show positive revenue growth for the 24th consecutive quarter.

Revenue was up 10%, EBITDA increased by 5% while PATAMI was up 7% in the same period.

The quarter saw Celcom retain its leadership status in mobile broadband amidst increasing competition, with a total of 947,000 broadband subscribers.

Revenue from broadband grew 15% year-on-year, now contributing 11% to total revenue. Strong growth was seen overall in non-voice services, with advanced data (excluding SMS) now contributing 22% to revenue.

In Indonesia, unit XL's revenue increased by 9% year-on-year to 4.95 trillion rupiahs driven by a strong momentum in advanced data which grew 71%, SMS at 18% and voice of 4% year-on-year.

Its Sri Lanka unit, Dialog, recorded strong growth in revenue during the first quarter to register 12.9 billion rupees, a significant increase of 18% year-on-year.

EBITDA was also up 27% in the same period to 4.5 billion rupees. Profit after tax, however, was impacted primarily by the devaluation of the Sri Lankan rupee.

Group profit after tax normalised for the exceptional (non-cash) foreign exchange loss and one-off acquisition expenses were up 85% year-on-year.

In Bangladesh, Robi Axiata Ltd's revenue was up 27% while EBITDA rose 26% year-on-year.

Subscriber soared 40% with profit after tax improving by more than 100% to116 million taka.

In India, Idea Cellular Ltd finished the year strongly as the fastest growing Indian mobile operator with a 27% year-on-year revenue growth, nearly double the industry growth rate. Idea's financial year ended on March 31. EBITDA in the period remained steady up by 26%.

Commenting on the results, an analyst from CIMB Research said they were within market consensus.

Earlier in a note to clients, CIMB Research said first-quarter telco results should be mixed. It downgraded the sector on Monday from “overweight” to “neutral” following its recent downgrade of Axiata.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Integrated Healthcare Holdings (IHH) IPO Update: IHH Healthcare's S$ 2 billion Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital complex in Singapore on track for its July opening

Parkway Pantai Ltd’s (PPL) S$2bil Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital complex in Singapore is on track for its July opening after having recently received its temporary occupation permit from the Building and Construction Authority ahead of schedule.

It would be the fourth Singapore hospital under PPL, the largest private healthcare provider in the republic and a wholly-owned subsidiary of IHH Healthcare Bhd, formerly known as Integrated Healthcare Holdings Sdn Bhd, the companies said in a joint statement.

IHH managing director Dr Lim Cheok Peng said he believed the 333-bed premier facility would further strengthen the group’s leadership position in Singapore and the region.

The 14-storey complex will be among Singapore’s most ambitious and comprehensive medical facilities.

PPL Group chief executive officer and managing director Dr Tan See Leng sees it further raising the bar for Singapore’s healthcare system, including its appeal to both local private patients and the growing medical travel market.

Mount Elizabeth Novena will have 13 operating theatres – including hybrid operating facilities which allow less invasive surgery – and will focus on heart and vascular diseases, orthopaedics, neurosciences and general surgery.

There are also 254 co-located medical suites, with more than eight in 10 available for sale and PPL retaining the remainder for its own use.

Tan said there had been overwhelming demand for the suites.

“One hundred per cent of those available for sale have been taken up by medical specialists.

“We take this as a sign of the confidence the medical community has in the project,” he said.

Over 100 of these specialists who have purchased the suites will be practising there from the opening day, with the remaining 70 moving in by end-2012.

The hospital’s 333-single-bed-only wards include 37 deluxe wards, eight VIP rooms and three suites.

More than half, or 180 beds, are expected to be operational when the hospital opens, with the remainder ready in the second half of next year.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Maybank obtains investment banking licence from Hong Kong authorities to offer corporate advisory services such as initial public offering and equity offerings, merger and acquisitions and corporate restructuring in Hong Kong

(MAYBANK opening price today (23.05.2012) was RM 8.45)

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (MIB) has obtained an investment banking licence from the Hong Kong authorities.

According to MIB chief executive officer Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the Type 6 licence issued by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong yesterday for “advising on corporate finance” would allow the group to offer corporate advisory services such as initial public offering and equity offerings, merger and acquisitions and corporate restructuring in the country.

Prior to this, MIB’s operations in Hong Kong only had a full broker licence to conduct share-trading activities there.

The newly-obtained investment banking licence would complement Maybank group’s plan to expand in one of the most exciting financial markets in the world.

“The licence will open doors for us to penetrate the investment banking industry in Greater China,” Tengku Zafrul told StarBiz.

To date, only a handful of Malaysian financial institutions have investment banking operations in Hong Kong.

Besides the newly-licensed MIB, other Malaysian institutions allowed to operate investment banking and corporate finance in Hong Kong are CIMB group, through its investment bank arm CIMB Securities (HK) Ltd (formerly known as CIMB-GK Securities (HK) Ltd), and OSK Holdings Bhd.

Since its acquisition of a strategic stake in Singapore-based Kim Eng Holdings Ltd last year, MIB has been expanding its operations in the region. The group aims to become a leading regional financial powerhouse by 2015.

The group has been able to capitalise on rising opportunities as prominent international investment banks begin to scale back their operations because of uncertainties in the global economy.

As shortage of talent had long been a problem plaguing the investment banking industry, Tengku Zafrul said there was now a bigger pool of talent from which the group could source for its regional expansion.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) cancels LSG Sky Chefs-Brahim's minimum baseline revenue provision

(BRAHIMS opening price today (23.05.2012) was RM 1.15)

Brahim's Holdings Bhd said LSG Sky Chefs-Brahim's Sdn Bhd (LSGB) and MAS have mutually agreed to extinguish the minimum baseline revenue provision for the remaining duration of their contract until end of the year.

"We wish to state that in the past three financial years (FYE 2009 to FYE 2011), it has not been necessary for the provision on the minimum baseline revenue to take effect, as MAS' catering requirement at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang Airport has well exceeded this baseline figure," it said.

In a statement released yesterday, the company said the catering agreement between LSGB and MAS remained intact and Brahim's remained confident of the prospects of the in-flight catering business.

Brahim's signed an agreement with LSG Sky Chefs (through LSG Asia GmbH) on Monday for the purchase of LSG Sky Chefs' (LSG) 49 per cent stake in their joint-venture company, Brahim's-LSG Sky Chefs Holdings Sdn Bhd (BLH), for RM130 million cash.

The deal is aimed at further increasing its footprint in the business.

LSGB, a subsidiary of BLH, is the principal in-flight services provider at KLIA and Penang International Airport and currently serves 36 international airlines.

Source: www.btimes.com.my

Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA): All Malaysian exports to Australia will be tariff-free from 1 Jan 2013 onwards

The tariff for all Malaysian products entering Australia will be eliminated once the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA) comes into force on Jan 1, 2013, after both countries have completed their necessary domestic procedures.

On its part, Malaysia will progressively liberalise duties for 10,295 tariff lines or 99 per cent of its goods by 2020.

This is the first FTA that Malaysia will be getting immediate tariff elimination on all products from an FTA partner, said Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mustapa Mohamed at a press conference after signing the MAFTA with Australian Minister for Trade and Competitiveness, Dr Craig Emerson, here today.

Mustapa pointed out that under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zeland Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), Australia committed to eliminate all tariffs only by 2020.

Malaysian producers and exporters will be in a better position to compete in the Australian market especially for items such as iron and steel products, plastics, apparel and clothing and wood products as Australia imposed 5-10 per cent duties on some of them, he said.

MAFTA is the sixth bilateral FTA for Malaysia after similar agreements with Japan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Chile and India.

The MAFTA talks began in May 2005 and were concluded on March 30, 2012 after 11 rounds of negotiations.

There was a pause in negotiations in 2006 with both parties focusing on the AANZFTA, and resumed in August 2009, but the real momentum picked up in March 2011 when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak met with his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard and they agreed to conclude negotiations within a year.

Among the 357 tariff lines that Malaysia will progressively eliminate by 2020 are fruits, chemicals and chemical products, automotive vehicles and upstream iron and steel products.

Another 87 tariff lines, comprising products which are sensitive to Malaysia, are in the exclusion list, and these include weapons, tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

In the services sector, Malaysia offers up to 100 per cent foreign equity holdings in private higher education by 2015.

Mustapa pointed out that in higher education, there are three Australian branch campuses in Malaysia including Monash University which has Australian ownership of 45 per cent.

In the telecommunications sector, Malaysia will allow Australian companies to own 100 per cent equity for Application Service Provider licences, and 70 per cent for network service provider and network facility provider licences.

He said Australia owns 51 per cent of network services provider Reach Bandwith Sdn Bhd.

In the financial sector, Malaysia allows Australian companies up to 70 per cent equity in insurance company and investment bank as well as corporate advisory and financial planning companies.

In investment advisory companies, Malaysia allows Australian companies to own 100 per cent equity.

Malaysia also allows a higher number of Australian expatriates with senior managerial and specialist skills in the banking, insurance and capital market sub-sectors.

Meanwhile, Australia's offers cover a commitment to allow Malaysian participation in hospital services and hospital support services, and to facilitate Malaysia's participation in providing traditional and complementary medicine services (Malay massage, homeopathy, Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine).

In addition, Malaysia and Australia have agreed to undertake economic cooperation in automotive, tourism, agriculture, e-commerce and clean coal technology programmes.

The text of the MAFTA as well as schedules of goods and services offers are available on the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's website at www.miti.gov.my

Overall, Mustapa expects significant improvement in bilateral trade and investment between Malaysia and Australia.

He pointed out that last year trade volume between the two countries increased 11 per cent to US$12.4 billion, and by 28 per cent in the first quarter of this year alone.

On the investment side, he said realised Australian investments in Malaysia's manufacturing sector totalled US$773 million at the end of 2011, while Malaysian investments in Austrlia totalled US$4.3 billion.

Source: www.bernama.com.my

Facebook shares plunged 11% on second day trading to end at $ 34.03

Facebook shares sank 11 percent in the first day of trading without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors down almost 25 percent from where they were Friday and driving others to switch back to more established stocks.

Facebook's debut was beset by problems, so much so that Nasdaq said on Monday it was changing its IPO procedures. That may comfort companies considering a listing, but does it little for Facebook, whose lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, had to step in and defend the $38 offering price on the open market.

Even so, one source said Morgan Stanley's own brokers were at one point "ranting and raving" about glitches that left unclear what trades had actually been executed.

Without a fresh round of defense, Facebook shares ended down

$4.20, at $34.03, on the Nasdaq. That was a decline of almost 25 percent from Friday's intra-day high of $45 a share.

"At the moment it's not living up to the hype," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, adding that some people may have decided to hang back and buy the stock on the decline.

"Look at the valuation on it. It might have said 'buy' to a few people, but boy it was awfully rich," he said.

The drop in Facebook's share price wiped more than $11 billion off of the company's market capitalization -- it became a sufficiently interesting pop culture story that even gossip website TMZ did a brief item Monday morning.

Volume was again massive on Monday, with nearly 168 million shares trading hands, making it by far the most active stock on the U.S. market. Nearly 581 million shares were traded on Friday.

The drop was so steep that circuit breakers kicked in a few minutes after the open to restrict short sales of the stock, according to a notice from Nasdaq.

EMOTIONAL TRADING

"One of the things that we are seeing in Facebook is a lot of emotional trading, in that over the weekend much of the media coverage was negative, and that could be weighing on investors' decisions to get out of the stock," said JJ Kinahan, TD Ameritrade's chief derivatives strategist.

Shares of other one-time Internet darlings fell in lock step with Facebook before rebounding on their own merits, with Yelp and Groupon rising. Zynga and LinkedIn fell, though.

The news was not all bad, though, as the Nasdaq rose 2.46 percent. High-profile tech stocks rose sharply, with Apple up 5.8 percent and Amazon 2 percent higher.

FuturePath's Lesh said some investors took money out of Apple to buy Facebook, and now could be going right back in to Apple given the lackluster performance of Facebook thus far.

By mid-afternoon on Monday, though, there were indications that investors might be coming back in to Facebook. The stock was well off the lows of the morning, and some market players saw an entry point forming.

"We see 38 percent of the ideas on Facebook are short and 62 percent have a more long bias," said Tim Murphy, general manager for the Americas at TIM Group, which transmits and tracks equity trade ideas from 750 brokerage firms for institutional investors globally. "Brokers are saying to their clients there is a good opportunity here."

NASDAQ CHANGES

Still there was a long list of questions -- ranging from whether the underwriters priced the shares too high to how well prepared the Nasdaq was to handle the biggest Internet IPO ever -- and few easy answers.

"It was just a poorly done deal and it just so happens to be the biggest deal ever for Nasdaq and they pooched it; that's the bottom line here," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.

Nasdaq said Monday morning the changes it was making would prevent a repeat of what happened Friday, when glitches prevented some traders from knowing for hours whether their trades had been completed.

The exchange also said it would implement procedures to accommodate orders that were not properly executed last week, which could ultimately lead to compensation for some investors.

"It doesn't instill confidence for clients. Talk about trying to convince them it isn't a casino," one Midwestern financial adviser told Reuters on Monday.

Separately, a source said Morgan Stanley's brokerage arm still had a "large number" of share orders from Friday that were not confirmed, which it was working to resolve.

A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment on the share price issue.

Some financial advisers, who might have been furious last week at getting left out, were counting themselves lucky by Monday that they did not get their clients involved.

"By pure luck I failed to talk it up with a lot of clients because I didn't think I would be able to get much," said one Raymond James adviser, who sought, and received, only 500 shares for one client.

"I basically told people they weren't going to get any, and luckily, it proved to be a bust," the adviser said. - Reuters

Source: www.thestar.com.my