16
business
KLCI 978.64 10.06
STI 1,859.98 16.57
Hang Seng 15,214.46 336.01
SCI 2,463.95 2.61
Chrysler rescue
talks rev up as
deadline looms
DETROIT: Negotiations to save Chrys-
ler have shifted into high gear with the
teetering automaker, its creditors, Italy’s
Fiat and the US Treasury scrambling to
thrash out a viable restructuring deal
before an end-April deadline.
The Treasury Department, in the
latest back-and-forth on slashing the
carmaker’s debt, countered to banks
and other lenders late Wednesday with
a proposal that they accept 22% of the
US$6.9 billion (RM25.12 billion) they
are owed, plus a 5% stake in Chrysler,
the Wall Street Journal reported citing
people familiar with the matter.
That was up from an earlier Treas-
ury proposal that creditors receive 15%
of the debt and no Chrysler stock -- an
offer rejected by the lenders.
Chrysler’s creditors, led by four
major banks that have received tens of
billions of dollars in US bailout funds,
had countered that with a proposal to
receive 65% of the debt, plus 40% of
Chrysler and a seat on the board, the
daily reported.
They also asked Fiat, Chrysler’s
potential Italian partner, to invest cash
in the US firm.
Fiat had agreed in principle to pro-
vide Chrysler with technology, but the
Italian carmaker apparently has been
reluctant to pump cash into Chrysler,
with which it has just eight more days
to seal a pact before the US auto giant
faces liquidation.
Democratic Representative Gary
Peters of Michigan, home state of the
flagging US auto industry, said Chrys-
briefs
AirAsia X flies to Taipei
from July
KUALA LUMPUR: Low-cost airline AirAsia will
fly to Taipei from July 1, with five direct flights
weekly. The flights will be operated by AirAsia’s
long-haul carrier affiliate, AirAsia X.
Attractive low fares, from RM101 one-way, are
being offered for the new Kuala Lumpur-Taipei
route. The booking period is from today to May 3
for travel between July 1 and Jan 31, 2010.
“Taipei is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle to
our oriental network strategy. We are extremely
excited over the potential of this route,” said
AirAsia regional head of commercial, Kathleen
Tan in a statement yesterday. – Bernama
YTL to invest RM2.5bil in
mobile internet network
KUALA LUMPUR: YTL e-Solutions Bhd will
invest RM2.5 billion in the roll-out of a na-
tionwide mobile internet network to cater to
14 million customers, its managing director
Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh said yesterday.
First trial of the service will take six to
eight months with full nationwide roll-out
in 14 months, he told reporters after a sign-
ing ceremony between YTL e-Solutions and
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd yesterday.
YTL e-Solutions’ unit Y-Max Infra Sdn
Bhd yesterday tied up with Samsung for
theSun | FRIDAY APRIL 24 2009
Nikkei 8,847.01 119.71
TSEC 5,875.24 10.87
KOSPI 1,368.80 12.78
S&P/ASX200 3,743 74.80
market summary
APRIL 23, 2009
Prices higher on
improved sentiment
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher yester-
day on improved sentiment with strong interest seen in
plantation, property, and information and communica-
tions technology (ICT) related stocks, dealers said.
They said that sentiment was spurred by the gov-
ernment’s decision on Wednesday to remove the 30%
bumiputra equity condition in 27 service sub-sectors
ler’s creditors – major banks JP Morgan with immediate effect,
Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and At close, the KLCI rose 10.06 points or 1.04% to
Morgan Stanley, plus other investors 978.64 after opening 0.37 of a point higher at 968.95
– have not bargained in good faith. in the morning.
“This is not a serious counter-offer. “The government’s decision has helped to lift interest
These debt holders were offered fair among the investors locally which we believe is a move
market value for their debt, and the in the right
banks have responded by asking for a INDICES CHANGE direction with
windfall,” said Peters. FBMEMAS 6,463.28 +79.87
a bigger pie and
“It is extremely disappointing that COMPOSITE 978.64 +10.06 more share for
while other stakeholders have agreed to INDUSTRIAL 2,231.09 +10.82 all,” one of the
work with President (Barack) Obama to CONSUMER PROD 299.11 +0.94 dealers said.
advance Chrysler’s restructuring, finan- INDUSTRIAL PROD 74.07 +1.70 The overall
cial institutions that have already taken CONSTRUCTION 188.32 +3.33 market re-
billions of dollars in taxpayer support TRADING SERVICES 131.78 +1.61 mained posi-
FINANCE 7,455.51 +84.88 tive as buying
are refusing to do the same,” he said.
PROPERTIES 602.55 +17.23
Peters added that the offer was an PLANTATIONS 4,957.08 +25.78
momentum
affront to taxpayers and “the many MINING 299.91 UNCH continued from
thousands of Chrysler employees and FBMSHA 6,762.73 +69.01 W e d n e s d a y,
retirees whose livelihoods hang in the FBM2BRD 4,139.24 +69.59 helping to
balance of the outcome of these negotia- TECHNOLOGY 12.47 +0.12 sustain the key
tions.” TURNOVER VALUE
index in posi-
Michigan’s Congressional delegation tive territory,
and Governor Jennifer Granholm are 1.366bil RM1.276bil he said.
attempting to use their political influ- Gainers out-
ence to keep both Chrysler and General numbered losers by 554 to 128 while 170 counters were
Motors intact. unchanged, 390 untraded and 35 others suspended.
The state’s eight Democratic Leading the actives, KNM Group rose three sen to
congressmen and the senators met 56 sen, TA Enterprise-WB edged up 1.5 sen to 2.5 sen,
with White House chief of staff Rahm Lion Industries advanced 11 sen to 99.5 sen, UEM Land
Emanuel and Obama’s chief economic rose six sen to RM1.01 and Lion Diversified was 3.5 sen
adviser Larry Summers on Wednes- higher at 46.5 sen.
day at the White House to discuss the Among the gainers, Hwa Tai Industries surged 30 sen
ongoing restructuring of Chrysler and to 62.5 sen, Kulim gained 25 sen to RM5.55, Krisassets
GM. Holdings went up 21 sen to RM2.80 and Opcom Holdings
Chrysler also still has to reach a new added 13.5 sen to 58.5 sen.
agreement with both the United Auto Of the heavyweights, Sime Darby rose five sen to
Workers and Canadian Auto Workers RM6.45 and Maybank edged up eight sen to RM4.40
ahead of next week’s deadline. – AFP while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM7.20. – Bernama
the implementation of a nationwide mobile Revenue also declined by 1.5% to
internet network. RM1.006 billion from RM1.021 billion pre-
Under the agreement, Samsung will
provide a comprehensive WiMAX network
viously due to lower sales volumes which
eroded gains from higher net pricing and
solution, including base stations, end-to-end improved product mix, BAT Malaysia said in
information technology multimedia service a statement yesterday. – Bernama
solutions and a range of mobile Internet de-
vices. Samsung will also supply the world’s Australia approves revised
first WiMAX-enabled handset. – Bernama
OZ Minerals-Minmetals deal
German economy to shrink SYDNEY: Australia yesterday approved a
revised takeover offer from China’s Minmetals
6%: Institutes for debt-laden miner OZ Minerals worth A$1.21
BERLIN: Germany’s economy is poised to billion dollars (RM3.14 billion).
shrink by a record 6% this year, a group of top Treasurer Wayne Swan last month scuttled
economic institutes said yesterday, the latest in the first bid on national security grounds
a series of dire predictions for Europe’s largest because it included Prominent Hill copper-gold
economy. mine in South Australia, which is located near a
As the economy nosedives, jobless lines are military rocket testing range.
set to grow, the institutes added, with more But Swan said yesterday he had accepted
than one million jobs lost this year – a statistic a revised offer.
sure to be on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mind OZ Minerals, which had previously warned it
five months before a general election. faced receivership if the deal was knocked back,
Nor is the world’s top exporter likely to see
an improvement any time soon. The institutes
welcomed the approval. – AFP
predicted that the recession would continue Mizuho Financial plunges
into 2010, with the economy contracting by
0.5% next year and unemployment rising to just deep into the red
below five million. – AFP TOKYO: Japan’s second-largest bank Mizuho
Financial Group Inc. said yesterday it suf-
BAT records lower Q1 fered an estimated net loss of ¥580 billion
(RM21.47 billion) in the past financial year
pre-tax profit to March.
KUALA LUMPUR: British American Tobacco (Ma- Mizuho, which made a net profit of ¥311.2
laysia) Bhd has recorded a lower pre-tax profit billion (RM11.58 billion) in the previous year,
of RM272.783 million for its first quarter ended has been badly hit by the global financial
March 31, 2009, compared with RM285.142 crisis and losses on toxic mortgage-backed
million in the same period last year. securities. – AFP