The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- I-Bhd seals deal for Malaysia's first interactive wax museum
- Airline sector said to be driving GDP
- Ranhill eyes RM753m IPO
| I-Bhd seals deal for Malaysia's first interactive wax museum Posted: ZHONGSHAN: Red Carpet@i-City, Malaysia's first interactive wax museum, is a step closer to completion after I-Bhd director Monica Ong sealed the deal with Zhongshan City Elephant Sculpture Art Co Ltd (ZCESA), which is designing and building the wax figures for i-City. ZCESA was represented by Zhao Xue Rong during the signing ceremony. Also present to witness the event were the Malaysian consul-general in Guangzhou Francisco Munis, I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, ZCESA president and chairman Liu Zhen and the project's creative design director Bernardo Munoz. Ong said i-City's leisure component currently drew about 90,000 people a week and it anticipated Red Carpet to add at least another 10,000 visitors a week after it opens in August. "Malaysia is very privileged to be the first home for these interactive wax exhibits that possess both voice and motion capabilities. "The technology is not new but the idea to combine it into one product is," she said. She added that I-Bhd's leisure segment had contributed RM32mil to the company's revenue last year and the company was expected to double the figure to RM64mil this year, with Red Carpet contributing significantly. "Red Carpet is the main attraction we are rolling out for Visit Malaysia Year 2014, although there would be several smaller projects in the works," Ong said, adding that the Tourism Ministry had been supportive and was already heavily promoting Red Carpet@i-City in its campaigns. Munoz was confident the project was the first of its kind in the world and he hoped to allow visitors to be involved with the exhibits in an environment that was sophisticated. "Red Carpet will stand out as a brand because it is unique. It gives people the opportunity to rub shoulders with their favourite celebrities and even take pictures and interact with them," he said. Ong added that various promotions would be offered for Red Carpet@i-City. She said tickets would be priced at RM80 for adults and RM40 for children. There will be a family package of RM180 for two adults and two children. To encourage Internet purchases, Ong said there would be an additional discount of 10% for purchases made online. She said the leisure segment contributed 50% of I-Bhd's revenue currently, but she expected the real estate segment to pick up in 2014. |
| Airline sector said to be driving GDP Posted: TOULOUSE: Premier short-haul airline operator Firefly Sdn Bhd sees the airline industry as a catalyst to continue driving Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth, on the back of increasing domestic flight traffic in Asia. "I see the airlines driving the GDP instead of the GDP growth driving the industry. Without us, the growth may not be as high," chief executive officer (CEO) Ignatius Ong told reporters at a briefing. Last year, Firefly recorded 1.7 million passengers. Ong was in Toulouse to sign the first delivery of one of the 20 new ATR72-600 turbo-prop aircraft the airline had purchased from Avions de Transport Regional (ATR). "We have been looking forward to this day for quite some time now. We are thrilled to finally receive our new aircraft. Our exclusive ATR72 fleet has allowed us to develop a unique high frequency network out of Subang, Penang and Johor Baru, which greatly benefits Firefly. "It has also benefited our Malaysian communities, the economy as well as the rest of the population in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle," he said at the handover ceremony at the ATR headquarters on Wednesday. Ong highlighted that the new aircraft would replace the existing fleet of 12 ATR72-500s. "The new aircraft would reinforce existing routes such as Johor, as well as service new routes like Johor to Pekan Baru, Sumatra, which would begin on Aug 1, 2013," he said. The first ATR72-600 plane's inaugural flight to Johor has been scheduled for July 12, 2013. "The purchase of this new aircraft is part of our growth and expansion plan as well as our continuous effort to serve customers better. ATR aircraft are unrivalled in terms of passenger comfort and environmental friendliness. This would further improve guest experience," he said. Ong is also considering expanding the airline's flight network to the Indochina region, into countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia. Ong said Firefly's expansion plans depended on where the airline operator placed its hubs. The Malaysia Airlines (MAS) subsidiary is currently operating from two hubs, namely Subang and Penang. It is also in the midst of establishing hubs in Johor and Kota Baru. New destinations would probably only be added from next year onwards, said Ong. Ong added that should the demand for Firefly flights increase in the next few years, Firefly may decide to continue using the ATR72-500 instead of replacing the whole ATR72-500 fleet with the ATR72-600 aircraft, which has the capacity to seat 72 passengers, to match the demand. "We have the option of keeping the ATR72-500s," he said. Meanwhile, Ong said he would jump at the opportunity if there were an option of buying a 90-seater aircraft from ATR. ATR CEO Filippo Bagnato said the aircraft manufacturer was currently checking the concept and configuration of establishing the 90-seater aircraft. "We have received a lot of demand for the 90-seater from South-East Asian and Latin American major operators," Bagnato said. However, the anticipated launch of the 90-seater next year would be subject to demand of at least 100 orders of the aircraft, as well as the approval of ATR's shareholders. Firefly expects to receive its second ATR72-600 by the end of the year, while the remaining 18 aircraft will be delivered in stages over the next six years. In December last year, MAS signed a RM3bil contract to purchase 36 new ATR aircraft for Firefly, including its sister company MASwings. Out of the total 36 aircraft, Firefly is taking 20 aircraft. Ong aims to keep Firefly's fleet young, ranging from an average age of three years to a maximum of six years, with the purpose of keeping aircraft maintenance low. |
| Posted: KUALA LUMPUR: Ranhill Energy and Resources Bhd is seeking to raise up to RM753mil in its upcoming initial public offering slated for July 31, mainly to retire debts and expand its water business in China. Currently, the water business contributes about 44% to the group's turnover, followed by oil and gas at around 37%. "We will focus on growing our energy and resources sectors which are our core sectors," president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad said at the company's prospectus launch. Ranhill Energy is offering up to 407 million shares priced at an indicative price of between RM1.70 and RM1.85. A total of 328.7 million shares will be offered to institutional investors. Cornerstone investors Lembaga Tabung Haji, Eastspring Investments Bhd, Hwang Investment Management Bhd and Corston Smith Asset Management Bhd have agreed to buy from Ranhill Energy an aggregate of 118.3 million shares. "The book building just started this morning, response has been good, it's been oversubscribed." The book building will close on July 15. Ranhill Energy's prospectus was supposed to be launched on June 28. However, the company took an additional week to include "additional disclosures" in its prospectus, said Rajiv Vijendran, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd managing director and regional head, equity capital markets. Maybank Investment is the principal adviser for this exercise and joint global coordinator, bookrunner, managing underwriter and underwriter with CIMB Investment Bank Bhd. Hamdan is making a comeback of sorts with the listing of Ranhill Energy. His main listed vehicle previously was Ranhill Bhd, which was listed in 2001 and later taken private in 2011. Its utilities arm, Ranhill Utilities Bhd, was also formerly listed prior to being taken private in 2008. The companies within Ranhill Energy are part of the previously listed Ranhill Bhd. Hamdan said the board intended to recommend a dividend payout of 60% of its net profit for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2014, translating into a yield of about 5%. In its latest concluded financial year to Dec 31, 2012, it made a net profit of RM285.7mil. In China, the company has a water and waste water treatment business, where it has signed memoranda of understanding to expand its capacity from its current 270 million litres per day by an additional 400 million litres per day. In Malaysia, Ranhill Energy has been granted an exclusive licence by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry to provide source-to-tap water supply services to end-customers in Johor. |
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