The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- DiGi's RM900mil plan to boost coverage, but non-committal on P1 buy
- Pelikan rises to 18-month high on Europe market recovery
- KLCI lower in early trade, Tenaga falls
| DiGi's RM900mil plan to boost coverage, but non-committal on P1 buy Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PST SHAH ALAM: A DiGi.Com Bhd top executive said the telco will spend RM900mil this year to boost coverage, declining, however, to comment on speculation linking it to the possible acquisition of Green Packet Bhd unit Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1). Market talk is that DiGi and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) are among the parties said to be close to sealing a strategic merger and acquisition (M&A) deal with P1. P1 is 57% owned by listed Green Packet and owns valuable wireless spectrum. South Korea's SK Telecom is the second largest shareholder in P1 with a 26% stake. "We are interested in looking at different options and opportunities, but we won't be able to comment specifically on (our interest in) P1," DiGi's chief operating officer Albern Murthy said when queried by reporters at an event yesterday. TM was recently reported as saying that it was "open to talking to anyone" with regards to possible M&As. Green Packet is said to be interested in getting a strong local partner to boost its P1 services. "In the short term, the corporate exercise may be in the form of a cash or share-swap option that must be studied in detail, but in the long term, it would be very advantageous for either company to own P1," a telco analyst who declined to be named said. "For DiGi, because it has the least amount of spectrum space, it will be a boost, technically speaking," he added. Meanwhile, at the press launch event of its two new Internet packages yesterday, DiGi said it was planning to allocate up to RM900mil in capital expenditure (capex) in 2014 to sustain and strengthen its network position. Murty said the investment will be to increase its high-speed packet access and 3G coverage to 86% of the population, grow its long term evolution footprint to 1,500 sites, and expand its fibre network. He said the RM900mil allocation is the biggest amount planned in recent years. The telco has invested RM1.5bil in capex over the past two years. On its revenue targets, the company is targetting a 4%-6% increase in annual revenue in its financial year 2014 ending Dec 31. "Percentage-wise, subscriber base has not been growing very much with the levelling off in the industry, but we see much more growth in the frequency (of usage)," DiGi's chief marketing officer Christian Thrane added. The company launched its "best for Internet" proposition with two new plan options - a weekly prepaid mobile Internet package and an enhanced choice of postpaid smarphone plans - at the event. |
| Pelikan rises to 18-month high on Europe market recovery Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:14 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Pelikan International Corporation Bhd's share price rose by as much as 5% on Friday to 76.5 sen as it is seen as a local proxy to the recovery story that is happening in the European continent. At 11.03am, Pelikan was up three sen to 75 sen, which was its 18 months high with 5.71 million shares changing hands. However, the FBM KLCI fell 4.26 points to 1,834.43. Turnover was 578.74 million shares valued at RM457.31mil. There were 288 gainers, 284 losers and 293 counters unchanged. Pelikan, which derives most of its sales from the European continent, recorded its first pretax profit in three years for the financial year 2013 (FY13) of RM2.54mil in following the improved economic sentiment in Europe. It however still reported a loss of RM9.37mil in its FY13's fourth quarter, which was sharply lower from RM53.41mil in FY12. Earlier in 2014, Pelikan completed a reorganisation of its business in Germany and Austria through Herlitz PBS Aktiengesellschaft papier-Büro-Und Schreibwaren that saw it increase its existing effective interest of 70.92% based on the level of Pelikan's interest in Herlitz AG, the parent company of Herlitz PBS to 96.45%. "The premium of 3.9mil eruos (RM17.6mil) is predominantly based on the customer base, brand names of 'Herlitz' and 'Susycard' taken over," the company said in January |
| KLCI lower in early trade, Tenaga falls Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:18 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell in early Friday trade on mild profit taking after the strong finish the previous day with Tenaga Nasional the main drag on the index. At 9.04am, the KLCI was down 2.47 points to 1,836.22. Turnover was 67.93 million shares vaulued at RM39.17mil. There were 152 gainers, 66 losers and 145 counters unchanged. However, analysts expect the market sentiment to firm up following the positive performance in the US, and they expect the KLCI to remain buoyant above the 1,825 level. Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks mostly rose, lifting the S&P 500 to another record, after data had jobless claims falling to a three-month low ahead of Friday's monthly employment report. At Bursa Malaysia, BAT fell the most, down 24 sen to RM59.80 with just 100 shares done. Tenaga fell eight sen to RM12.04, giving up part of its previous day's gains. United Plantations fell 16 sen to RM24.20 and Kwantas three sen to RM2.25. However, TSH rose seven sen to RM3.33 on its recent strong financial results. Also lower in early trade was Public Bank foreign, down 10 sen to RM19.02 while glove maker Kossan lost eight sen to TM4.46 and Magnum three sen lower at RM3.05. Petronas Dagangan rose 30 sen to RM30.70 with 400 shares done. Hibiscus Petroleum rose 17 sen to RM2.27 and its warrants 14 sen to RM1.73 after it revealed that its oil exploration venture in Oman is making progress. Cahya Mata Sarawak continue to advance, adding 14 sen to RM8.80. |
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