The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2013 06:22 PM PST LION Diversified Holdings Bhd shares dropped to a low of 24.5 sen on Dec 19, last year, the worst level since April 1, 2009 amid extended correction process. Thereafter, they rebounded slightly before turning range-bound on bargain hunting interest alternated with light selling, undergoing a period of consolidation. Based on the daily chart, the prevailing trend of this stock remained bearish, but Lion Diversified appears to have bottomed out and the shares are currently in the midst of building a base, probably for recovery. Perhaps, it is about time investors start taking up a position, while prices were trading at an attractive level. Elsewhere, the daily slow-stochastic momentum index is ticking up. Its oscillator per cent K curved up from the neutral zones and climbed above the oscillator per cent D to trigger a short-term buy yesterday. Also on the rise, the 14-day relative strength index improved significantly over the past several days, up from the 30 points level earlier on Tuesday to close at the 60 points line yesterday. In addition, the daily moving average convergence/divergence histogram had indicated a bullish convergence pictogram and on the verge of triggering a buy signal. On the back of an improving technical landscape, Lion Diversified shares are poised to strengthen in the short-term. If they can overcome the important 200-day simple moving average, resting at 29.5 sen and charged forward to penetrate the 32 sen upper strong overhead barrier, the outlook would be more apparent. Concrete floor is pegged at the recent lows of 24.5 sen. ● The comments above do not represent a recommendation to buy or sell.
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| Posted: 25 Jan 2013 06:22 PM PST REVIEW: In spite of a firmer Wall Street the previous Friday, Bursa Malaysia started out the week little changed, with the FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) easing 0.08 point to 1,676.36 in initial deals. Market sentiment was frail in early trade and quickly turned worse on lack of support for no apparent reason. A steadier performance in the Asia-Pacific region, which saw Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index scaling a fresh 19-month peak was not helping. Consequently, blue chips were the hardest hit. Elsewhere, second and lower liners joined the selling spree and with no sectors being spared; the key index succumbed to tremendous stress to settle down 40.81 points to 1,635.63 in a sea of red on Monday. Overnight, US markets were shut for Martin Luther King Day and US President Barack Obama taking the oath of office to start his second four-year term in Washington. Though European stocks rose, with investors nibbling "undervalued" sectors and most regional markets tracing out a similar trend, shares on the home front staged another wild move to the downside the next day, as spilt over selling thronged the floor. Apparently, the FBM KLCI gapped down a huge 8.63 points to 1,627.00 at the opening and very quickly violated the important 200-day simple moving average (SMA), losing another 33.51 points or 2.1% in early business. The overall sentiment was decisively bearish, with blue chips topping the decliners board, but just when it appeared defenceless and in great danger of suffering another major breakdown from the 1,590.67 points level, which is the base of the previous short-term rally, some funds emerged to seek value buys. Obviously, their actions helped the key index bounce off the ebb but it was not good enough to send it back above the flat line. At the close, the local bourse still shed a moderate 6.97 points to 1,628.66 on Tuesday. Then, the Dow and crude oil prices extended their upward thrust after the one-day break. Taking the cue from a steady US markets overnight, the local bourse overcame a minor hiccup and staged a relief recovery. However, the upside was capped, as there was a clear sense of caution, with a generally mixed performance in Asian equities weighing on the local sentiment. In range-bound session, the major index recouped 6.59 points to 1,635.25 in mid-week. Bursa was shut for a public holiday on Thursday. When it resumed trading after the one day break, the local bourse continued to mend, but the momentum was checked by late profit-taking activity. In lacklustre trade, the FBM KLCI notched up a minor 1.88 points to 1,637.13 yesterday. Statistics: Week-on-week, the principal index dived a hefty 39.31 points, or 2.3% to 1,637.13 yesterday, compared with 1,676.44 on Jan 18. Total turnover for the four-day holiday-curtailed week amounted to 5.285 billion shares worth RM8.151bil, against 6.414 billion units valued at RM7.976bil changed hands during the regular previous week. Technical indicators: The oscillator per cent K and the oscillator per cent D of the daily slow-stochastic momentum index firm after flashing a short-term buy at the oversold area on Tuesday. Likewise, the 14-day relative strength index climbed from an oversold reading of 14 on Tuesday to end at the 30 points level yesterday. In stark contrast, the daily moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) histogram was flirting sharply below the daily signal line to stay bearish. It had triggered a sell on Jan 14. Weekly indicators continued to deteriorate, with the weekly slow-stochastic momentum index extending declines and and weekly MACD flashing a sell signal. Outlook: A breakdown, weakening sentiment and a couple of sell signals were highlighted here a week ago, a precursor of a market correction looming. However, the steep pullback of the market (a total of 74.32 points or 4.4% in two days) was really unexpected and scary, not only catching many people by surprise but also undermining their confidence. With more breakdowns appearing on the chart and the sighting of a "death cross" of the 14-day SMA against the 21-day SMA, as well as investors turning cautious, it seems the hopes of a traditional pre-Lunar New Year rally is dimming fast. Going forward, equities would be clouded by uncertainty in the short-term. Should there be a fresh sign of the bulls striking back in vengeance, it would be the FBM KLCI penetrating the 1,650 points hurdle. So, look out for that. The next upper resistance is resting at the 1,670-1,675 points band, followed by the 1,700 points psychological Technically, the daily/weekly MACDs are bearish, implying the local bourse may drift within a range at best until a new catalyst emerges. Current support is envisaged at 1,625 points. The lower floor is pegged at the 1,590.67 points, of which a crack would have a negative impact on the market direction.
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| Posted: 25 Jan 2013 06:19 PM PST LISTEN, listen, listen" has become a joke recently, but Kishore Ravuri believes in the Asian culture of listening. "Today everyone just wants to talk, on Facebook and elsewhere. It's important to bring back (the habit) that you must listen, think and (only then) speak," he tells StarBizWeek. Ravuri, who took over as CEO of Perception Management Sdn Bhd on Jan 1 from founder and veteran PR practitioner Dr Millicent Danker, says that if management doesn't know what their key staff are thinking about their leadership, it means they are not listening and just continue to talk in a vacuum. "If you listen, you can manage perception," he says. Public relations has too often been associated only with media relations. Ravuri believes PR should go beyond media and focus on engaging with multiple stakeholders. In fact, he prefers to describe Perception Management as "a stakeholder relations agency" although his business card still says "public relations & communication counsel". "It is not a secret that PR has become synonymous with media relations," Ravuri says. "All the serious PR practitioners and big credible brands do complain about this. Agencies complain that clients do not go beyond media, because even in the universities, it is taught that PR is anything that influences the potential image or reputation. It is defined as (reaching) multiple stakeholders, including employees, partners, and the government − anybody who impacts or touches your business," However, Ravuri, who hails from Mumbai and has worked in various countries, says in practice, PR agencies in Asia and globally are "being typecast into agencies that only deliver media conferences and media work, such as pushing out press releases without considering whether it's important or relevant." "The PR agencies may say that's what the client wants without realising it's the responsibility of consultancies to evolve over time and get clients to embrace and believe the benefits of engagement with multiple stakeholders beyond media," he says. Ravuri joined Perception Management as director of strategy and regional business in 2006 after meeting Danker, whom he viewed as one of the few "serious" PR practitioners in Asia and who shared her vision on tapping the potential of emerging markets. Danker, 62, has 36 years of PR experience both in-house as well as on the consultancy side, including at Tanjung plc, Petronas and Burson-Marsteller. "I joined because Perception Management was one of the few firms I had seen in Asia-Pacific or even globally that had been trying to capture that mind space with the clientele on managing stakeholder perceptions," Ravuri says. "Perception Management, when it was founded by Dr Danker, was so forward-looking that we knew this is where the potential is and this is what PR agencies should be doing. And we continue to promote it." The KL-based agency uses a strategic and scientific tool called Perception Wheel, which helps companies manage their reputation by taking an outside orientation, i.e. listening to the stakeholders. One of the wheel's components is a perception audit − a one-on-one qualitative audit which leads to the identification of the top 40 to 50 most influential stakeholders. According to Ravuri, 85% of its communication campaigns are multiple stakeholders-centric, not media-centric. "We don't abuse media and don't encourage our clients to abuse media. We ask clients to judiciously use media when they want to communicate to the mass audience with the specific objective of not just informing them but also helping them to learn something," he says. As an example, he says that for client Department of Standards Malaysia, it is not just sending out press releases and arranging media interviews but also helps to reposition it in the market by talking to the man in the street and to the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). "Other channels could be breakfast roundtables, conferences, forums, communiqus, and community outreach programmes. We have been very different and that's why we continue to attract big clients that see the value and benefits of multiple stakeholder engagement," he says. Perception Management may be a small specialist agency but it has attracted many government-linked companies as well as public listed corporations. Its clients have included Mimos Bhd, Pantai Hospital KL and Klang, Prudential Assurance, Tropicana Medical Centre, Iskandar Investment Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, Sunway City Bhd, Affin Investment Bank, Malaysian Agrifood Corp, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and SME Corp. The 17-year-old agency's move over the last five years towards becoming a stakeholder relations and management consultancy, "a very niche area," has done wonders to its revenue per employee, "We have a staff of 15, but you'll be amazed to know that our topline is the same as what it used to be when we had 35 people in 2002-2003," Ravuri says. The consultancy achieved a 20% growth in revenue last year. "For 2013, our year-on-year target is conservatively set between 15% and 20%. This is in keeping with the industry potential as well as the maturing communications landscape," he says. While the Economic Transformation Programme is in full-swing implementation, Perception Management hopes this year to attract companies in the identified priority sectors, as it sees an opportunity to communicate the "change or the transformation" to their agents and beneficiaries. "We can help the industry share positive stories in a compelling manner, helping position Malaysia and its progressive, innovative and successful programmes," he says. Ravuri, who started out as a trainee copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather in India, has been in the PR industry for 12 years. Besides India and Malaysia, he has also worked in Oman, Singapore, Vietnam, Zambia, and Ghana. "Even when I was at Ogilvy, I felt very strongly about the stakeholder relations part. I don't see any inadequacy in the curriculum in Malaysia. They teach PR as what it should be. But when the graduates come out to the industry, they do not get the right orientation," he laments. "A lot of global PR agencies want to do it and they do have the capability to do it, but they pitch for the clients' business, they would be satisfied by saying This is what the client wants'." He says that his personal observation as a foreigner is that most of the stakeholder engagement for Malaysian companies happen at a very senior level, either the CEO, chairman or board. "I don't think the people who are actually designing the communications − the corporate communication department or marketing units designing the advertising campaigns − are in touch with what the stakeholders want and what are their expectations unless the management is cascading (the information) down. "The advertising or PR campaigns may not address the issues, so the company will continue to say things which people either may not believe or look at with scepticism," he says. With Ravuri taking over the CEO position, Danker, who alternates between Malaysia and England on high-level projects, is positioned to grow UK-based training services company Mentor Communication Resources, another member of the Perception Management group. Mentor, which has been in operation for 18 years, complements Perception Management's work. It is not just a training provider that does presentation skills or soft skills workshops, but also coaches senior leaders on articulating the messages and positioning their brand, company, products, services or even themselves impactfully. "We (Mentor) have regional assignments from time to time, and we also support Perception's clients in their coaching needs and communication skills development especially at director and board level," Danker says. Danker has been doing business in the UK since the 1990s when she founded Perception Management International there. Incidentally, she is the only Malaysian PR practitioner with approved-trainer status obtained from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, UK. Is Danker planning to secure UK companies as Perception's clients? "Some discussions are going on at the moment. We have two prospective clients from the UK who are planning to come to Malaysia with some big projects," Ravuri says. He paints a bright future for the PR industry. Lately, PR has become a function at CEO and board levels, he says. "They're taking more interest because they think it is a credible platform to engage with stakeholders. In the last five to six years in Malaysia, companies are revisiting their budgets in public relations (to increase the amount) so I feel there is a lot of potential going forward. "The future of PR is all about multiple stakeholder management and not just media management. Our appeal to the industry has always been Dare to think beyond media and don't abuse media. I feel proud because I think it is very difficult to find another PR agency that can stand its ground and pull away the clients from media and give them a bit more value."
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