8/14/2019 Thesun 2009-08-25 Page16 Ijm to Launch Projects Worth Rm1bil

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business16 theSun | TUESDAY AUGUST 25 2009

Petronas Gas posts lowerpre-tax prot for Q1KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas Bhds pre-tax

prot for the rst quarter ended June 30, 2009 fellto RM354.298 million from RM388.728 million in thesame quarter last year.

In a statement, Petronas Gas said revenuedeclined to RM785.559 million from RM796.699million previously. Earnings per share fell to 13.59sen from 14.94 sen in the same quarter last year.

Moving foward, Petronas Gas said that whilerevenue prospect for gas processing and transmis-sion business would depend on demand for gas aswell as upstream gas production levels, the marginfor the processing and transmission business wouldnot be impacted as any variation in the cost of gaswould be passed through.

It said the prospect for the utilities business,however, would depend on the pace of economicrecovery as any variation in gas price would bereected in the pricing to customers. Bernama

Blue Archipelago to operateRM150mil shrimp farmPETALING JAYA: PJ Blue Archipelago Bhd, a localshrimp aquaculture company, will operate aRM150 million processing farm in Setiu, Tereng-ganu soon.

Chief executive ofcer Dr Shahridan Faiezsaid the company, which operates a shrimpfarm in Kerpan, Kedah, would emerge a directseller of the seafood once the 1,000ha farmcommences operations.

He said the new farm is expected to contrib-ute RM100 million in revenue to the companysbottomline by June next year. The Kerpan farmcurrently sells fresh shrimps to third partyprocessors.

It harvests about 1,500 tonnes of premiumblack tiger shrimps, annually, he told reportersafter a seminar on the outlook for the US shrimpand seafood market yesterday. Bernama

Peugeot wins InternationalEngine of the Year awardKUALA LUMPUR: The International Engine of theYear award in the 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre category hasbeen won by the 1.6-litre, four-cylinder direct injec-tion turbo-charged petrol engine designed by PSAPeugeot Citroen in cooperation with BMW Group.This was announced in a statement yesterday byNasim Sdn Bhd, a member of the Naza group ofcompanies and the franchise holder of Peugeotautomobiles in Malaysia.

The 1.6-litre Peugeot 308 VTi, 308 Turbo and308 GT available in Malaysia are all equippedwith variants of this award-winning, best-in-classengine, said Nasim chief executive officer SMNasarudin SM Nasimuddin.

The award was judged by an international panelof 65 motoring journalists from 32 countries, andthis was the third year in a row it was won byPeugeot. Bernama

Oil rises in Asian trade oneconomic recovery hopesSINGAPORE: Oil prices rose in Asian tradeyesterday, bolstered by improved investorsentiment amid widespread hopes for a globaleconomic recovery, analysts said.

A weaker US dollar was also a factor behindthe surge in oil prices, they said.

New Yorks main contract, light sweetcrude for October delivery, gained 38 cents toUS$74.27 (RM259.95) a barrel. Brent North Seacrude for October delivery advanced 15 centsto US$74.34. AFP

Lower pre-tax prot forHong Leong IndustriesKUALA LUMPUR:Hong Leong Industries Bhdreported a lower pre-tax prot of RM88.71 mil-lion for the nancial year ended June 30, 2009compared with RM332.70 million posted in thesame period last year.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009,the Hong Leong Group subsidiary registered asharp lower pre-tax profit of RM29.41 millionversus RM80.86 million chalked up in the pre-ceding years corresponding quarter.

The company, in a statement to Bursa Ma-laysia, attributed the weak performance to thecompanys semiconductor business which wasreeling under the global economic crisis.

Revenue for the current year to date waslower at RM2.68 billion from RM3.10 billionregistered previously. Bernama

Germany wants GM talks on

Opel this week: BerlinBERLIN : Germany wants a meeting with GeneralMotors in Berlin this week to discuss the fate of Opel, a government spokesman said yesterdayas he played down talk of transatlantic tensionsover the issue.

Our aim is to organise this week a meeting inBerlin with a representative from General Motorsboard, spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regulargovernment brieng.

Germany, where around half of GMs 50,000employees in Europe work, had hoped for a deci-

sion last Friday from the US auto giants board onwhich of two offers for Opel it wanted to accept.

Berlin wants GM to accept an offer fromCanadian auto parts maker Magna backed bystate-owned Russian lender Sberbank, but theGM board is thought to prefer a bid from Brus-sels-based investment group RHJ International.

GMs board stopped short of making a deci-sion on Friday and did not say what the next stepswould be.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her

disappointment on Saturday, saying she hoped adecision would be made this week, but Wilhelmplayed down talk of any spat between Washing-ton and Berlin.

There are constant contacts with representa-tives of the US government ... parallel to the talkswith GM, Wilhelm said.

We have always managed to avoid any ten-sions in our transatlantic relations. The relationsbetween the two governments are good andunaffected. AFP

QL Resources proposes1-for-5 bonus issueKUALA LUMPUR: QL Resources Bhd has proposed abonus issue of 66 million new shares to be credited asfully paid-up on the basis of one bonus share for everyve existing shares held on an entitlement date to bedetermined and announced later.

In a ling to Bursa Malaysia, QL said the bonus issueaimed to increase the share capital to a level to betterreect its current scale of operations.

It also aims to reward its existing shareholders byenabling them to have greater participation in the equityof the company in terms of number of shares held, itsaid.

It said the liquidity and marketability of the shareswere expected to improve with a larger capital base.

QL said the future earnings per share would beproportionately diluted as a result of the increase in thenumber of shares arising from the issue.

The exercise is expected to be completed by the lastquarter of the nancial year ending March 31, 2010, itsaid. Bernama

IJM to launch projects worthRM1bilPETALING JAYA: IJM Land Bhd, the propertydevelopment arm of the IJM Group, plans to

launch about 20 projects worth over RM1 bil-lion during its current financial year endingMarch 31, 2010.

Chairman Datuk Krishnan Tan Boon Sengsaid the company still received strong take-up rate for its projects despite the economicslowdown due to its strategic locations.

In the last nancial year ended March 31,2009, the company launched property projectsworth RM600 million.

Speaking to reporters after the companysannual general meeting and extraordinary

general meeting, Tan said low interest rate andstrong liquidity in the banking sector attractedmore buyers.

The company currently has 5,300 acresundeveloped land worth RM18 billion to bedeveloped over 15 years covering Penang,Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, JohorBaru and Sandakan, Sabah.

On its RM500 million mixed development project in Changchun, China, Tan said the

project is expected to be launched next year.He said the company was also looking to

undertake property projects overseas by lever-aging on IJM Group track, which currently hasconstruction projects in Singapore, Australia,India and Vietnam.

For the financial year ended March 31,2009, IJM Land recorded a higher revenue of RM671.01 million compared with RM295.20million previously.

Its pre-tax profit rose to RM68.30 millionfrom RM54.89 million previously. Bernama

Dataprep eyeing ITprojects in AseanPETALING JAYA: DataprepHoldings Bhd, a consultingand technology services rm,expects to clinch informationand technology projects inseveral Asean countries byyear-end, given the upturn in

the industry.Its chief executive of-cer, Cheam Tat Inn, said thecompany was actively in talksto secure projects and wasworking closely with majorprincipals to expand its solu-tion offering business.

However, the companyhas not concluded any agree-ment yet.

We are looking at Indo-nesia, Cambodia, Middle East and China, Chiam told report-ers after the companys annualgeneral meeting yesterday.

The groups core businessis derived from outsourcingits managed services divisionwhich contributed about 90%of annual revenue.

For the nancial year endedMarch 31, 2009, Datapreps

revenue dropped 27% toRM54.2 million compared withRM74.3 million previously.

He anticipates the secondhalf of the current financialyear to be better as theeconomy was showing signsof having bottomed out.

We do see positive signs,this will translate into muchbetter results for the company,said Chiam, adding that thecompany is looking at strategicinvestments while continuingto focus on its core services. Bernama

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