The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Microsoft finalising CEO candidates
- Malaysian Resources Corp falls to lowest since April
- Meltdown unresolved, Tepco wants to restart plants
| Microsoft finalising CEO candidates Posted: NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp has narrowed its list of external candidates to replace Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to about five people, including Ford Motor Co chief Alan Mulally and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, according to sources familiar with the matter. The world's largest software maker also has at least three internal candidates on its shortlist, including former Skype CEO Tony Bates, who is now responsible for Microsoft's business development, and Satya Nadella, the company's cloud and enterprise chief, the sources said. Despite the shortlist, the process could still take a few more months, the sources said. In August, Ballmer said he would retire within 12 months. The names of other candidates could not be learned, but the search committee is interviewing executives from a wide range of sectors, including life sciences and consumer, the sources said. Microsoft declined to comment on the process and on behalf of the internal candidates. A Nokia representatives could not be reached immediately for comment late on Tuesday. "There is no change from what we announced last November. Alan remains fully focused on continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan. We do not engage in speculation," Ford spokesman Jay Cooney said Investors have pushed Microsoft's board in recent months to look for a turnaround expert, such as Mulally and Computer Sciences Corp CEO Mike Lawrie, to succeed Ballmer. Some investors have also suggested to the board that co-founder Bill Gates should step down from his role as chairman, saying he stands in the way of radical reform at Microsoft, which has lost ground to Apple Inc and Google Inc in mobile computing. Gates has not indicated any intention of stepping down. Investors are concerned that, with both Gates and Ballmer up for re-election to Microsoft's board, they will retain their influence over the company. Members of the CEO search committee have continued to speak with dissenting shareholders in trying to delicately balance their demands, according to sources familiar with the conversations. Activist shareholder ValueAct Capital Management was offered a board seat by Microsoft in August. Several sources said the investor will also be given the same access as the board to the final five candidates – Reuters. |
| Malaysian Resources Corp falls to lowest since April Posted: KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) fell to the lowest since April 2013 in the absence of any strong re-rating catalysts, except the recent R32.5mil power installation project. At 10.41am, it was down one sen to RM1.38. There were 728,7000 shares done at prices ranging from RM1.37 to RM1.38. The FBM KLCI fell 3.65 points to 1,803.82. Turnover was 914.50 million shares valued at RM588.69mil. There were 233 gainers, 320 losers and 278 counters unchanged. In late October, MRCB secured a RM32.5mil project to install an overhead electricity transmission line from Pantai Siring to Pulau Besar in Malacca. Financed by the state government of Malacca and Tenaga Nasional, MRCB's subsidiary bagged the contract under its construction & engineering division, Transmission Technology Sdn Bhd with its JV partner, Ketara Teknik Sdn Bhd to build the unique transmission line. |
| Meltdown unresolved, Tepco wants to restart plants Posted: TOKYO: Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear station, will propose restarting another of its atomic plants next July in a new business plan to be released in December, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday. The indefinite closure of the firm's Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world's biggest nuclear plant, has saddled it with high fossil fuel costs as it flounders with a fraught clean-up at the Fukushima Daiichi station, which had three reactor meltdowns after a quake and tsunami in 2011. The company, known as Tepco, is rewriting a business revival plan following US$27bil of losses from the disaster, which included restarting reactors at the Kashiwazaki station northwest of Tokyo as a central element. But it faces an uncertain future as the government has threatened to split it up. Tepco will outline to its creditors as early as mid-November projected incomes and expenditures based on the revised restart plan to get approval for a new loan worth 300 billion yen (US$3.04bil), the Yomiuri said, without citing sources. The restructuring plan will list July 2014 as the target restart for the No 6 and No 7 reactors at Kashiwazaki, as well as plans to restart the No. 1 and No. 5 reactors at the plant, the Yomiuri said. In its earlier plan, Tepco had hoped to restart the first unit from April this year. The utility in September filed an application to restart two of the plant's seven reactors. But the regulator Nuclear Regulation Authority has said Tepco needs to prioritise cleanup efforts at the Fukushima plant before working to restart Kashiwazaki. A Tepco spokesmen told Reuters that the company had not finalised the plan, adding that a restart date remained uncertain due to ongoing safety assessments and the need for local government backing. Even if Tepco wins approval from regulators, it faces high hurdles as the local governor, who can block the restart, has said the utility must give a fuller account of the Fukushima disaster before restarting Kashiwazaki. Japan plans to start up 14 new gas and coal-fired power plants by the end of 2014, allowing a switch away from pricey oil, as Tokyo struggles with the shutdown of nuclear reactors and energy imports drive a record trade deficit – Reuters. |
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