The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Bumi Armada’s green project
- S&P: Eurozone woes still main threat to Asia-Pacific
- Banks lead KLCI lower in early trade
| Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:21 PM PDT KEPONG: As part of its corporate social responsibility, Bumi Armada Bhd has sponsored RM107,000 for a carbon offset conservation programme with the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), a first of its kind in the country. The contribution will cover the carbon credits from the conservation of carbon stored at Field 11, a 5.6ha forest site within FRIM's campus, for the next five years. Field 11 has the capacity to store 3,938.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. Bumi Armada chief executive Hassan Basma said oil & gas outfits were usually seen as heavy carbon-emitting businesses and that this was a way to alleviate the carbon footprint. "In the oil & gas industry, we are allegedly accused of heavy carbon emissions whether from the floating production, storage and offloading vessels or the refineries," he said at the signing of a collaborative agreement with FRIM here yesterday. Present at the signing were FRIM director-general Datuk Abdul Latif Mohmod and Malaysian Forestry Research and Development Board chairperson Hajah Nancy Shukri. Hassan said that apart from making the environment cleaner and greener, such initiatives also created jobs making them worthwhile projects. Among the other Bumi Armada environmental intiatives are tree-planting, fuel efficiency in its operations and using low-emission sulphur fuels and liquefied natural gas. Carbon offset programmes allow individuals, corporations or countries to reduce their carbon emissions by offsetting, reducing or displacing carbon dioxide in another place. |
| S&P: Eurozone woes still main threat to Asia-Pacific Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:14 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The continuous deterioration in eurozone economies will remain as the main threat for Asia-Pacific sovereign credit worthiness in the coming year, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) said. In a report entitled Asia-Pacific Sovereigns: A Bit Of Stability In The Sea Of Uncertainty, the rating agency said risks of instability were still substantial, despite the more decisive actions shown by eurozone policymakers. S&P credit analyst Kim Eng Tan said reforms that address fundamental imbalances in the currency union were still in the early stages of implementation. "If investors perceive that European politicians are losing the willingness to continue with reforms or if major policy mistakes occur, it may send another financial and economic shock across the world," he said in the report. Of the 22 rated sovereigns in the Asia-Pacific, S&P raised the credit ratings on the Philippines and South Korea during the past six months and revised the outlook on Vietnam to "stable" from "negative". The upgraded two sovereigns were due to their credit support improved sufficiently to offset weaker growth prospects in the next few years, Tan said. He said Asia continued to register moderate economic growth despite the intensifying global economic uncertainties. India was the only Asia-Pacific sovereign to see a negative rating action during the period; the outlook was revised to "negative" from "stable". He said S&P does not expect the positive trend of rating changes of the past six months to continue in the coming 12-18 months. Meanwhile, economic conditions in the developed world and elsewhere remain weak and uncertain. "Where credit metrics are already weak in their rating categories, policy mistakes or hesitance could drag sovereign ratings down," he said. Apart from that, another round of unconventional monetary easing in the United States also brings additional risks to some Asia-Pacific economies. Credit growth has been strong in parts of the region over much of the past decade. These economies include Australia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore, with some of them, real estate prices have also risen significantly in the period, he said. "If inadequate policy responses to additional monetary easing from abroad fuel further financial leverage, the risks to economic and financial stability could mount, and that could damage sovereign credit worthiness," Tan added. - Bernama |
| Banks lead KLCI lower in early trade Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:13 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Banks led the FBM KLCI lower in early trade on Thursday, in line with the cautious regional markets, tracking the overnight losses on Wall Street. At 9am, the KLCI was down 3.2 points to 1,656.20. Turnover was 9.42 million shares valued at RM4.54mil. There were 55 gainers, 37 losers and 83 counters unchanged. Analysts said they expected the FBM KLCI to slip a few points on continued concerns of global economic growth which weighed on the performance of major equity markets as the International Monetary Fund issued a warning about the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis and uncertainty over Spain and Greece. Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks fell sharply with the S&P 500 declining 8.92 points, or 0.6%, to close at 1,432.56. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.56 points, or 1%, to close at 13,344.97, dropping for a third trading session. Hong Leong Bank fell the most, down 10 sen to RM13.80 with 900 shares done while CIMB shed seven sen to RM7.71. Among the telcos, Axiata fell two sen to RM6.61 and DiGi one sen lower at RM5.44. PetChem fell five sen to RFM6.37, DRB Hicom three sen to RM2.34 and BAT two sen to RM61.14. |
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