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The Star Online: Business

Sarawak's Ibraco surges to all-time high
Naim on track to meet RM300mil property sales target
Tips on how to be a 'family-friendly' company

Sarawak's Ibraco surges to all-time high

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:08 PM PST

Published: Tuesday December 4, 2012 MYT 10:08:00 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak property developer Ibraco Bhd's share price surged to an all-time high of RM2.08 on Tuesday on news of a mixed property development in Bintulu.

At 9.51am, it was up 48 sen to RM2.08. There 49,600 shares done.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.86 points to 1,605.49. Turnover was 115.20 million shares valued at RM110.52mil. There were 99 gainers, 157 losers and 194 counters unchanged.

Starbiz reported on Saturday the company's two subsidiaries had teamed up with BDA Properties Sdn Bhd, a unit of Bintulu Development Authority.

The partnership was to develop two pieces of land totalling 11.53 ha in Kemena land district, Sarawak. They are collaborating to build a sewerage treatment plant with a land area of 2.35 ha on a portion of Lot 4895, Block 31 in Kemena land district.

Ibraco would also undertake a mixed development in Bintulu, which it described as an appropriate and strategic move to expand their market share in Sarawak.

Naim on track to meet RM300mil property sales target

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:42 PM PST

KUCHING: Naim Holdings Bhd is on track to meet its target of RM300mil in property sales this year.

Corporate marketing/investor relations senior director Ricky Kho (pic) said robust demand particularly in residential homes had helped the group's sales to hit RM287mil year to date.

Last year Naim sold 660 property units valued at RM218.8mil and, in the first 11 months of this year, it achieved sales of 620 units of higher value properties in Miri, Kuching and Samarahan.

"Demand for residential houses remains strong with high take-up rates," Kho said.

Naim's property developments include the flagship satellite township in Permyjaya in Miri, Desa Ilmu in Kota Samarahan and Riveria along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.

Naim's group pre-tax profit rose by more than 240% to RM30.6mil in the third quarter to Sept 30, 2012 from RM12.6mil in the previous corresponding period, while group revenue soared to RM133.4mil from RM94.4mil. Third quarter property revenue stood at RM57.8mil.

Kho said Naim would launch its integrated upmarket commercial and residential project at the old Bintulu airport in the first quarter of 2013.

The project, with a gross development value of RM2bil, will comprise high-rise residential condominiums, a street mall, a hotel and shopping complex.

Naim is also expected to launch phase one of a proposed RM300mil joint-venture mixed development project in Batu Lintang here next year.

Kho said Naim group's construction arm had secured close to RM650mil worth of contracts in the first 11 months this year, exceeding its target of RM500mil for the year. The contracts include two station packages for the My Rapid Transit (MRT) project worth RM412mil, the Murum hydro dam resettlement scheme and a road project.

The MRT project represents Naim's first foray into Peninsular Malaysia.

Asked when Naim would start work on the MRT station packages, Kho said its wholly-owned Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd was waiting for the handover of the project sites.

Meanwhile, Naim's 33.6%-owned associate Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd posted an impressive net profit of RM41.3mil in the third quarter.

Tips on how to be a 'family-friendly' company

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:38 PM PST

IN my previous article "Dilemma of Working Mothers in Corporate Malaysia", I encouraged working mothers to play a role in nudging and helping our employers to adopt policies and facilities to be a more family-friendly company. A few ladies have sent some encouraging notes to share their thoughts on this as well. Thank you.

I have personally put in some requests in my previous employments and had the opportunity to hear the heart of the employers concerning flexitime arrangement and company daycare among other issues. The good news is, most employers can empathise with working mothers but the transitioning into this new culture comes with a lot of financial, business and HR implications.

On a higher level globally, some companies are also making an effort to ensure gender diversity in their workforce, especially in the senior management. According to the McKinsey Woman Matter: An Asian Perspective research report this year, they identified 41 initiatives categorised under three main elements that should be present within a corporate ecosystem to support this initiative, namely Management Commitment, Women's Development Programmes and Collective Enablers. I will share this further in my next article.

To remain competitive, some of these forward looking companies have started exploring different ways to attract, retain and develop working mothers. In Malaysia, it is reported that 47% of respondents are actively looking into implementing these initiatives, compared to a 38% Asia average. That's an encouraging finding. On a separate note, Citibank Malaysia impressed me with its Citi kids, an employee-focused daycare near its office. But let's talk about crche and daycare another time.

For a start, as we pool our resources and support to cordially create a more family-friendly workplace, let me share one initiative under the Enabler category in the research that is practical and has relatively low impact on financial investment, operations and business risk nursing rooms.

A facility that can cut cost

Malaysia along with many other countries and healthcare professionals encourage babies to be breastfed for at least six months, mainly to strengthen their immune system. In most cases, healthier babies translate into less resources spent on sick babies from mothers taking days off from work to care for their child(ren) to medical and insurance claims for the unwell child. Not to mention the focus and productivity of the mothers.

Cigna, an American-based health insurance company launched a Working Well Moms Program and saw a savings of US$300,000 in annual healthcare expenses for breastfeeding mothers and their children. The programme also reduced absenteeism among breastfeeding mothers.

Lacking at our workplace

I have seen and heard stories of how mothers had to use their office room, covering the windows with blankets/papers for privacy to pump. Some mothers go through the inconvenience of using a colleague's or superior's room or a meeting room to do so, only when it's available. If well planned, these mothers will need to pump 2-3 times a day. Then comes the worry of storing the milk to ensure it doesn't spoil.

My personal experience as a new mother saw many of the shortcomings in this area too from almost having to use a washroom cubicle to express milk to avoiding storing them in the cafeteria fridge with uncooked meat. I am so thankful for a kind colleague in another department who offered her meeting room for my use whenever it is unoccupied. Bare necessities

For a basic nursing room, Massachusetts Institute of Technology recommends a room size of a minimum 4 ft x 5 ft equipped with a door that locks from the inside, electrical outlet, good lighting and ventilation, comfortable chair, a small table, "occupied" sign for the door, wastepaper basket, sink (in the room or nearby), refrigerator and a coordinator for room usage. For larger multi-user rooms, partition are included as part of the amenities. Such a setup can be used over the years by new returning mothers. Talk about return on investment! This space can be an infrequently-used room, storage area, pantry or vacant office.

Task force

The National Business Group of Health (NBGH) shares in its "Investing in Workplace Breastfeeding Programs and Policies" which recommends a list of company stakeholders who can potentially contribute to a task force setting up a nursing room(s). The list includes those from:

Human resource specialist

Facilities management

Current and previous breast feeding employee

Representative staff from a variety of department

Pregnant employee

Finance department; and

Public relations

And a member of the senior management who can provide insight into merging business needs with employee concern.

Among the first things this task force can look into, according to NBGH, includes examining company's existing policies regarding support services for breastfeeding employees, if any. The team can then proceed to identify the number of employed women of childbearing age, number of pregnancies among employees annually, breastfeeding rates of employees (if known), current turnover rate among women who take maternity leave and current rates of absenteeism among new mothers and fathers.

Following that, it can look into policies for milk expression break, construction of nursing room and gaining buy-in from other employees.

In the long run, HR should be able to review company absenteeism and turnover rates periodically to track the potential impact of the programme.

With positive result from the tracking and evaluation, it will be a great platform to gain management support and commitment to be a family-friendly company.

A 20 sq ft nursing room is a simple low cost and low risk support from the employer which goes a long way in creating company loyalty, saving costs, branding as an employer of choice for women talents and, most importantly, playing your role in building a family-friendly Corporate Malaysia!

Elisa is a working mother and leads the Talent Assessment division in Leaderonomics. She strives to give her best at her work and to her family. She believes that with enough voice and support, employers will begin to consider taking steps towards a more family-friendly company.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 3 Disember 2012