Petronas Dagangan seeks to buy assets

Petronas Dagangan seeks to buy assets
Published: 2011/03/31

Petronas Dagangan Bhd, controlled by Malaysia’s state oil and gas company, is seeking to acquire assets to strengthen its retail network, according to CIMB Investment Bank Bhd.

The company is debt-free and has a cash-pile of RM1 billion, Norziana Mohd Inon, an analyst at CIMB, wrote in a report today.

The stock’s price estimate may be upgraded, according to the report.

The stock climbed 1 per cent to RM15.76 at 9:30 a.m. local time, set to close at an all-time high. The shares have gained 35 per cent this year, set to be the best performer on the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index. -- Bloomberg



Read more: Petronas Dagangan seeks to buy assets http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110331092640/Article/index_html#ixzz1IBXcoDZv

Welcome to the World of Stock Arbitrage and Special Investment Situations

Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.  Teach a man to arbitrage and you will feed him forever.
- Warren Buffett

One of the great secrets of Warren Buffett's investment success has been his arbitrage and special situations investment.

With the advance of the Internet, brokerages started offering online trading at deep discounts from their full-service retail rates.  With the lower rates the world of stock arbitrage and other special situations are opened up to the masses.  Sitting alone with a computer and an online brokerage account with deeply discounted trading rates, an individual investor could compete in the field of arbitrage with even the most powerful of Wall Street firms.

Warren Buffett is probably the greatest player in the arbitrage and special situations game today.  Not because he takes the biggest risks.  Just the opposite - because he learned how to identify the bet with the least risk, which has enabled him to take very large positions, and produce results that can only be described as spectacular.

It was Warren's arbitrage investments that took a great investor and turned him into a worldwide phenomenon.  Professors Gerald Martin and John Puthenpurackal's study of Berkshire Hathaway's stock portfolio's performance from 1980 to 2003, they discovered that the portfolio's 261 investments had an average annualized rate of return of 39.3%.  Even more amazing was that out of those 261 investments, 59 of them (22.7%) were identified as arbitrage deals.  And those 59 arbitrage deals produced an average annualised rate of return of 81.28%.

In 1987, Forbes magazine noted that Warren's arbitrage activities earned an amazing 90% that year, while the S&P 500 delivered a miserable 5%.  Arbitrage is Warren's secret for producing great results when the rest of the stock market is having a down year.

With Warren's incredible arbitrage performance in mind, and the knowledge that the average investor now has access to institutional brokerage rates, it was high time that you took a serious look at the arbitrage and special situation investment strategies and techniques that produce Warren's mind-numbing results.

You must explore how he find the deals, evaluates them, and makes sure that they are winners. You will dwell into the mathematical equations and intellectual formulas that he uses to determine the probability of the deal being a success.   In Warren's world, certainty of the deal being completed is everything.  It is how the high probability of the event happening that creates the rare situation in which Warren is willing to use leverage to help boost his performance in these investments to unheard-of-numbers.  

Goldman Sachs says buy ringgit

Goldman Sachs says buy ringgit
Published: 2011/03/31

Goldman Sachs Group Inc says buy Malaysia’s ringgit against the US dollar on speculation the central bank will favor currency appreciation to help fight inflation.

The ringgit strengthened 1.3 per cent this quarter to 3.0256 versus the greenback as of 11:47 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, less than one sen short of a 13- year high of 3.0210 reached on March 25. A government report that day showed consumer prices rose 2.9 per cent last month from a year earlier, the fastest pace since April 2009.

The US bank recommended buying 12-month non-deliverable forwards, betting the contracts will rise 5.8 per cent to 2.9 per dollar from today’s rate of 3.0695, according to a research note today from Goldman Sachs’ currency analysts including London- based Thomas Stolper. A stop-loss order should be placed at 3.08 to guard against losses in the trade, it said.

“Inflation in emerging markets remains one of the most important themes in foreign exchange,” the report said. “We think Bank Negara Malaysia will respond primarily by allowing the ringgit to strengthen, a stance that is also supported by strong activity growth and a large balance-of-payments surplus of about 15 per cent of gross domestic product.”

Goldman Sachs revised its forecasts for the ringgit’s spot price in three, six and 12 months to 2.98, 2.90 and 2.85. -- Bloomberg


Read more: Goldman Sachs says buy ringgit http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110331144824/Article/index_html#ixzz1IAoDt51K


Comment:  Maybe this is the reason for the strong performance of the Bursa today.

Financial literacy vital to invest in complex environment

Wednesday March 30, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: Financial literacy is important to enable people to protect themselves in an environment that offers increasingly complex and sophisticated investment products.

Securities Industry Development Corp (SIDC) chief executive officer John Zinkin said some people needed to be guided on how to manage their money for savings and investments.

“They need to understand not just income and expenditure but also save, budget and invest. They have to understand the whole concept,” he told a media briefing yesterday.

Zinkin said different stages of life required different financial needs and SIDC’s financial literacy programme, Bijak Mengurus Wang (BMW), would cater to differ levels of learning.

He said the programme, aimed at creating knowledge and vigilant investors, had benefited 21,133 participants.

The programme teaches participants about smart money management, wise investing and how to spot scams.

To gauge the programme’s effectiveness, SIDC has recently engaged a third party to conduct an impact survey among 800 random participants.

The survey shows that 87.3% of the participants are now more vigilant when considering an investment, 85.8% have started implementing personal budget and 84.4% have started setting financial goals.

Zinkin said 88% of the participants had also set aside some money as force saving before spending their income every month.

More than half of the respondents have opted for automatic salary deduction facility to practice “pay yourself first”. Additionally, 46% of the participants had become investors for the first time after attending the programme.

This year, SIDC hopes to educate 5,500 people. The programme, which is free for all, is part and parcel of the overall effort by the Securities Commission (SC) to promote investor education.

For more information, visit www.sidc.com.my or www.min.com.my.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/30/business/8375425&sec=business

Wednesday March 30, 2011

Don't over-borrow

Plain Speaking - By Yap Leng Kuen

ALTHOUGH only two restrictions have been placed on borrowing for the purchase of a third or more homes and credit card eligibility, it does not mean that there won't be more to come.

In fact, consumers should be vigilant as Bank Negara is believed to be putting more intensive supervision on certain aspects of the property and personal loans sectors.

For example, the 5:95 property loan scheme offered by certain companies falls under this category of supervision.

Under this arrangement that was implemented during the market doldrums, only 5% downpayment was required for the purchase of a property with the rest of the financing in the form of a bank loan.

There was talk that the 5:95 scheme was mainly extended to affluent housebuyers but the bulk of the repayments are coming onstream this year. Hence, the monitoring of these repayments as well as pockets of borrowing that are still available under this scheme.

Personal loans form 15% of the total loans portfolio but due to the higher borrowing rates, extra care and discipline are required to guard against over-borrowing.

The extension of credit by non-bank institutions is also being monitored amidst lessons gleaned from countries suffering from high indebtedness.

Credit schemes extended by cooperatives and cooperative banks are likely to be scrutinised for affordability on the part of the borrowers.

Covering all aspects of household loans, the upcoming guidelines on lending and affordability represent part of the internal controls that are put in place to monitor the situation.

Under this surveillance, over-lending to single borrowers is discouraged.

In fact, the entire credit scenario is being assessed via a holistic package of policies and measures that cover prudential, intensive supervision, standards on banking institutions and consumer education.

Household indebtedness, at 75.9% of Gross Domestic Product at the end of last year, may be on the increase but indications are that it has not become destabilising.

On the contrary, wealth accumulation remains healthy with liquid assets forming 64% of financial assets while delinquency levels remain low - the non-performing loans for credit cards is at 2%.

Nevertheless, it is not a time to be sanguine especially when high energy and commodity prices pose risks to the economy.

Senior business editor Yap Leng Kuen views this an opportune time to remind everyone that “prevention is better than cure.''

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/30/business/8375253&sec=business

Poh Kong rises on Q2 profit gain

Poh Kong Holdings Bhd, a Malaysian jewelry maker, rose to the highest in almost six weeks in Kuala Lumpur trading after reporting a 27 per cent increase in second-quarter profit.

The stock climbed 3.4 per cent to 45.5 sen at 9:24 a.m. local time, set for its highest close since February 18. -- Bloomberg

Read more: Poh Kong rises on Q2 profit gain http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110330094154/Article/index_html#ixzz1I3dnWd3C

Recent Financial Results

Announcement Date		Financial Yr. End		Qtr	Period End		Revenue RM '000		Profit/Lost RM'000		EPS		NPM
29-Mar-11		31-Jul-11		2	31-Jan-11		170,484		9,524		2.32		5.59%
06-Dec-10		31-Jul-11		1	31-Oct-10		169,451		10,885		2.65		6.42%
28-Sep-10		31-Jul-10		4	31-Jul-10		131,906		7,789		1.90		5.90%
28-Jun-10		31-Jul-10		3	30-Apr-10		132,737		6,470		1.58		4.87%

Company

Particulars

Date announced

Ex-Date

To those registered by

To be paid on

Total for yr so far

Total for prev yr

POHKONG	F & F Single Tier Exempt 1.4¢	06-Jan-11	09-Feb-11	11-Feb-11	09-Mar-11	1.4¢	1.4¢
	F & Final Single Tier 1.4¢TE	20-Jan-10	05-Feb-10	09-Feb-10	09-Mar-10	1.4¢	1.4¢
	First & Final 6¢	15-Jan-08	25-Jan-08	29-Jan-08	18-Feb-08	6¢	6¢
	First & Final 6¢	15-Jan-07	13-Feb-07	15-Feb-07	09-Mar-07	6¢	6¢
	First & Final 6¢	20-Jan-06	13-Feb-06	15-Feb-06	09-Mar-06	6¢	5¢
	First & Final 5¢	30-Dec-04	19-Jan-05	24-Jan-05	09-Mar-05	5¢	–

POH KONG

F & F 1.4¢ single tier TE

09-Jan-09

22-Jan-09

28-Jan-09

06-Mar-09

1.4¢

4.44¢

Dividends Track Record of Esso Malaysia Berhad

Company

Particulars

Date announced

Ex-Date

To those registered by

To be paid on

Total for yr so far

Total for prev yr

ESSO	Final 12¢	23-Apr-10	27-May-10	01-Jun-10	21-Jun-10	12¢	12¢
	Final 12¢	10-Apr-09	02-Jun-09	04-Jun-09	22-Jun-09	12¢	12¢
	Final 12¢	07-Apr-08	29-May-08	02-Jun-08	20-Jun-08	12¢	12¢
	Final 12¢	20-Mar-07	30-May-07	01-Jun-07	20-Jun-07	12¢	12¢
	Final 12¢	20-Mar-06	30-May-06	01-Jun-06	20-Jun-06	12¢	12¢
	Final 12¢	15-Mar-05	30-May-05	01-Jun-05	22-Jun-05	12¢	12¢
	Final 24%	16-Mar-04	27-May-04	31-May-04	21-Jun-04	24%	20%
Esso	Final 20%	26-Feb-03	28-May-03	30-May-03	20-Jun-03	20%	20%
	Final 10%	28-Feb-02	28-May-02	30-May-02	20-Jun-02	10%	–

Dividends Track Record of Guan Chong Berhad

Company

Particulars

Date announced

Ex-Date

To those registered by

To be paid on

Total for yr so far

Total for prev yr

GUANCHG	First Interim 3¢	31-Jan-11	18-Feb-11	22-Feb-11	08-Mar-11	3¢	7.625¢
	Fifth Interim 4¢	18-Nov-10	01-Dec-10	03-Dec-10	21-Dec-10	10¢	2.75¢
	Fourth Interim 2¢	09-Aug-10	24-Aug-10	26-Aug-10	02-Sep-10	6¢	2.75¢
	Third Interim 1.5¢	30-Jun-10	13-Jul-10	15-Jul-10	22-Jul-10	3.5¢	2.75¢
	Second Interim 0.25¢	22-Apr-10	10-May-10	12-May-10	19-May-10	1.75¢	2.75¢
	First Interim 0.5¢TE+0.75¢	24-Feb-10	16-Mar-10	18-Mar-10	26-Mar-10	1.25¢	2.75¢
	Third Interim 1.5¢	25-Nov-09	14-Dec-09	16-Dec-09	28-Dec-09	2.75¢	0.5¢
	Second Interim 0.75¢ TE	25-Aug-09	11-Sep-09	15-Sep-09	29-Sep-09	1.25¢	0.5¢
	First Interim 0.5¢ TE	18-Feb-09	04-Mar-09	06-Mar-09	16-Mar-09	0.5¢	0.5¢
	First Final 0.5¢ TE	27-Nov-08	16-Dec-08	18-Dec-08	29-Dec-08	0.5¢	2.504¢
	Final 0.5¢ TE	26-Jun-08	14-Jul-08	16-Jul-08	25-Jul-08	2.875¢	4.3¢
	Second Interim 2.375¢	19-Nov-07	06-Dec-07	10-Dec-07	24-Dec-07	2.375¢	4.3¢
	Second Interim 2¢ TE	28-Oct-07	18-Nov-07	22-Nov-07	01-Dec-07	3.3¢	–
	Final 1.3¢ TE	30-May-07	10-Jul-07	12-Jul-07	20-Jul-07	4.3¢	4.3¢
	Third Interim 1¢ TE	21-Nov-06	11-Dec-06	13-Dec-06	22-Dec-06	3¢	4.3¢
	Second Interim 1¢ TE	29-Aug-06	14-Sep-06	18-Sep-06	28-Sep-06	2¢	4.3¢
	Final 1¢ TE	25-May-06	10-Jul-06	12-Jul-06	20-Jul-06	4.3¢	–
	Second Interim 2¢ TE	28-Oct-05	18-Nov-05	22-Nov-05	01-Dec-05	3.3¢	–
	First Interim 1.3¢ TE	15-Jun-05	01-Jul-05	05-Jul-05	18-Jul-05	1.3¢	–

Dividends Track Record of Petronas Dagangan

Company

Particulars

Date announced

Ex-Date

To those registered by

To be paid on

Total for yr so far

Total for prev yr

PETDAG	Interim 30¢+ Sp Interim 10¢	25-Nov-10	09-Dec-10	13-Dec-10	28-Dec-10	40¢	60¢
	Final 30¢+Special 15¢	02-Jul-10	03-Aug-10	05-Aug-10	24-Aug-10	60¢	45¢
	Interim 15¢	23-Nov-09	07-Dec-09	09-Dec-09	23-Dec-09	15¢	45¢
	Final 33¢	03-Jul-09	05-Aug-09	07-Aug-09	26-Aug-09	45¢	45¢
	Interim 12¢	25-Nov-08	10-Dec-08	12-Dec-08	24-Dec-08	12¢	45¢
	Final 33¢	01-Jul-08	01-Aug-08	05-Aug-08	26-Aug-08	45¢	30¢
	Interim 12¢	29-Nov-07	14-Dec-07	18-Dec-07	28-Dec-07	12¢	30¢
	Final 20¢	15-Jun-07	01-Aug-07	03-Aug-07	23-Aug-07	30¢	20¢
	Interim 10¢	30-Nov-06	15-Dec-06	19-Dec-06	28-Dec-06	10¢	20¢
	Final 15¢	29-Jun-06	16-Aug-06	18-Aug-06	08-Sep-06	20¢	20¢
	Interim 5¢	23-Nov-05	12-Dec-05	14-Dec-05	23-Dec-05	5¢	15¢
	Final 10¢	30-Jun-05	17-Aug-05	19-Aug-05	09-Sep-05	15¢	40¢
	Interim 10¢	08-Nov-04	30-Nov-04	02-Dec-04	20-Dec-04	10¢	40¢
	Final 20¢	29-Jun-04	05-Aug-04	09-Aug-04	23-Aug-04	40¢	30¢

Pet Dagangan	Interim 20%	20-Nov-03	10-Dec-03	12-Dec-03	22-Dec-03	20%	30%
	Final 10%	12-Jun-03	22-Jul-03	24-Jul-03	11-Aug-03	30%	40%
	Interim 20%	28-Nov-02	18-Dec-02	20-Dec-02	08-Jan-03	20%	40%