LONDON: The strategic venture partnership between Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH) and commodities giant Louis Dreyfus was a closely calculated decision that considered all political and economic factors, said FGVH president and CEO Datuk Sabri Ahmad. The decision was reached after FGVH concluded that the French private holding company could synergise best with Felda's operations, Sabri said in an interview here yesterday. "Felda is strong in its up- and mid-stream activities. We are confident that the strategic venture partnership with Louis Dreyfus will enhance our downstream capabilities," Sabri said. Louis Dreyfus is involved in agriculture, oil, energy and commodities, specialising in global processing, trading, merchandising, as well as international shipping. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, the Russian wife of the previous chairman, is the current chairman of Louis Dreyfus Group and the largest shareholder via the Family Trust with a 65 per cent stake in the parent Louis Dreyfus Holdings. The day-to-day operation is run by Serge Schoen, a German. The global entity has had dealings in the past with many countries with Muslim-majority populations. The commodities unit generated 62 per cent of the holding company's 2010 revenue and about 80 per cent of its US$892 million profit. Today, 30 per cent of the rice market in Africa and 10 per cent of grains requirements in the Middle East and Africa is supplied by Louis Dreyfus, indicating an open partnership with both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. These avenues will be opened up for Felda to exploit following the agreement which was inked on Monday. The firm, founded in 1851, also has an established presence in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. Their commodities division has registered offices in Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. "We clearly see their role purely as providing commodities including food to the global population. "As a Malaysian firm, we must aim for a more globalised outlook and engage aggressively in global trade. This partnership will immediately open up new markets for our business expansion," Sabri said. FGVH is preparing to sell shares in what promises to be the world's second-largest initial public offering this year after Facebook, which was launched yesterday. Asked about the enormity of FGVH's IPO, Sabri said it was best "to remain modest about it". "All we want now is to remain focused on achieving the best deals and to always keep in check the interests of our settlers," he added. Louis Dreyfus said on Monday it agreed to take a minority stake in FGVH, adding that it was conditional on a successful June stock market float. It was reported that the firm will likely take a 2.5 per cent stake, worth close to US$150 million. -- BERNAMA

The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) is set to continue its bearish momentum next week as the eurozone debt crisis still weighs on the market. A dealer said the market is expected to be weak as investors are adopting a wait-and-see attitude due to concerns that Greece may exit the euro region. Price movements on the London Metal Exchange (LME) would continue to influence the KLTM, he added. "We don't expect the prices to rebound in the near term, in fact the downtrend that we saw last week would probably continue," the dealer added. This week, tin price on the KLTM dropped US$1,300 to US$19,300 per tonne compared with US20,600 per tonne previously. The weekly turnover increased to 170 lots from 159 lots with Japanese, European and local traders dominating the market. The price differential between the KLTM and LME narrowed to a premium of US$460 per tonne from US$590 per tonne previously. -- BERNAMA

The Malaysian rubber market is expected to continue its bearish momentum next week on anticipation of weakening demand for the commodity. Dealers said rising fears over the eurozone debt crisis and a slowdown in China's economy would continue to weigh on market sentiment. However the anticipation of tight supply might hold prices from falling further, they said, adding the performance of regional futures markets would continue to influence the local market. For the week just-ended, the rubber market was quiet on most days in tandem with the weak performance of rubber futures markets in the region. On a week-to-week basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 40 sen to 1,017.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk decreased 19.5 sen to 709.5 sen per kg. The unofficial sellers' closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 lost 35 sen to 1,015 sen per kg and latex-in-bulk dropped 17 sen to 708 sen per kg. -- BERNAMA

The crude palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to trade lower next week in the absence of positive factors, dealers said. Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said the market would enter a cool-down period with prices to hover between RM2,700 to RM2,800 per tonne. "External sentiment and the gloomy global economic situation including developments in the eurozone will continue to have an impact on the local CPO market," he said. He added the downtrend can be seen in almost all commodity markets, and palm oil is not spared. Throughout the week just-ended, the market was traded lower with prices moving between RM3,089 per tonne and RM3,226 per tonne. On Wednesday, Bursa Malaysia said volume rose to a historical high of 63,019 lots, surpassing the previous record of 48,741 contracts recorded on Nov 17, 2011. This was attributed to increased hedging activities resulting from the volatility and uncertainty seen in global financial and palm oil markets. June 2012 dropped RM179 to RM3,104 per tonne, July 2012 decreased RM177 to RM3,098 per tonne and August 2012 was down by RM169 to RM3,096 per tonne. The weekly turnover rose to 215,950 lots from 136,742 lots while open interest was lower at 117,052 contracts compared to 123,742 contracts previously. On the physical market, May South lost RM10 to RM3,320 per tonne. -- BERNAMA

Shares on Bursa Malaysia are likely to dip further amid persistent worries over the global economy, analysts said. They also expected more local bearishness on the weakening ringgit and commodities -- the ringgit, oil and CPO (crude palm oil) prices are down 2.2 per cent, 3.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively -- due to negative external factors. These were attributed to growing fears over the eurozone breakup, following the new European politics with anti-austerity parties forming post-election governments. Affin Investment Bank Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan expects the local bourse to test the psychological 1,500 support level. He said the market remains uncertain on concern that Europe's debt crisis was deepening with the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to halt lending to Greece banks and Spain following Moody's ratings downgrade of 16 Spanish banks. Meanwhile, investors remained fearful that a Greek exit from the euro will increase contagion across the continent's financial system, he said. On the flip side, Nazri said despite all the worries about the eurozone, opportunities have appeared within the market as the global market tumbles. He said global central banks stand ready to launch a monetary stimulus package if conditions warrant it as well as further intervention by the ECB to calm markets. "Any news by the ECB to engage in direct and large-scale quantitative easing to stem the euro crisis is likely to push the market higher," he said. Nazri also said that ample local liquidity and positive local themes such as the upcoming mega flotation exercises like Felda Global Ventures Bhd and impending project news flow such as RM15 billion North Malay Basin will cushion market decline in the near term. For the week just ended, the market was lower, pressured by weaker external sentiment. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI declined 51.86 points to 1,532.46. The Finance Index dropped 442.83 points to 13,730.49, the Industrial Index eased 112.35 points to 2,681.1 and the Plantation Index decreased 535.69 points to 8,104.51. The FBM Emas Index dipped 408.38 points to 10,444.55, the FBM ACE Index was 314.31 points lower at 4,228.37, the FBM Mid 70 Index eased 577.62 points to 11,302.36 and the FBM T100 Index decreased 381.93 points to 10,273.85. Total weekly volume fell to 5.768 billion shares valued at RM8.262 billion from 6.033 billion shares worth RM6.45 billion. The Main Market turnover increased to 3.89 billion worth RM7.97 billion from 3.702 billion valued at RM6.073 billion previously. Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 1.3 billion worth RM215.75 million from 1.544 billion shares valued at RM272.771 million. Warrants decreased to 522.02 million units worth RM63.62 million from 767.848 million units valued at RM96.247 million. -- BERNAMA

The ringgit is expected to be vulnerable to further downtrend, and may hit the 3.15 level against the US dollar next week, on escalating concerns over the eurozone debt crisis, dealers said. This is amid deepening financial stability in the eurozone with concerns that the possibility of Greece exiting from the eurozone due to political uncertainty could cause catastrophic consequences to the global economy. During the week, the ringgit fell most among Asian currencies, on weakening outlook of the global economy as China, the second largest world economy, faced slower foreign direct investment. China is a major trade partner for Malaysia. Elsewhere in Asia, currencies were also oversold as investors shunned risky assets, with no strong concrete sign yet of a resolution to the eurozone debt crisis. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was sharply lower against the US dollar at 3.1350/1380 from 3.0690/0720 last Friday. The ringgit was also sharply lower against the Singapore dollar at 2.4615/4648 from 2.4528/4562 last Friday. The local currency was sharply lower against the yen at 3.9528/9581 from 3.8386/8443 last Friday. The ringgit was sharply lower against the British pound at 4.9508/9568 from 4.9472/9530 last Friday. The ringgit was sharply lower against the euro at 3.9777/9824 from 3.9719/9767 last Friday. -- BERNAMA

NEW YORK: US stocks slumped on Friday as Facebook's keenly awaited market debut disappointed, adding to bearish sentiment about Europe's financial woes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 73.11 points, or 0.59 percent, to finish the day at 12,369.38. The SandP 500-stock index shed 9.64 points (0.74 percent) to 1,295.22. The tech-rich Nasdaq, where Facebook's shares began trading under the FB ticker, tumbled 34.90 points (1.24 percent) to 2,778.79. "US equities finished lower today after the highly anticipated IPO of Facebook could not sway investors' attention away from European debt issues," Charles Schwab and Co. analysts said. Facebook shares rose just 23 cents, a gain of 0.6 percent over its initial public offering price of US$38, amid record volume of more than 575 million shares. The IPO gave the world's biggest social network a dizzying value of US$104 billion. The California-based company raised US$16 billion, without taking into account an over-allotment option for the underwriters, making it the richest IPO after financial giant Visa in 2008, according to Renaissance Capital. But that was well below expectations for Facebook's much-hyped market debut, pushing the Dow and the SandP 500 into the red for a sixth straight day. The Facebook fizzle hammered the tech shares, including other popular social media companies. Trading was suspended twice on Zynga, which makes popular games used on Facebook and other platforms, as its shares plunged. Zynga closed 13.4 percent lower at US$7.16. Pandora slumped 7.1 percent, LinkedIn lost 5.7 percent and Groupon slid 6.7 percent. Hard disk-drive makers Seagate and Western Digital each lost more than six percent. A bright spot in the tech space was Yahoo!, up 3.7 percent on renewed rumours that it was close to a multibillion-dollar deal to sell half of its stake in Alibaba.com back to the Chinese online shopping portal. Key Facebook IPO underwriters also suffered. Morgan Stanley dipped 0.8 percent, Citigroup dropped 1.5 percent and JPMorgan Chase, also under pressure from a US$2 billion-plus trading loss, gave up 1.3 percent. -- AFP

AirAsia Bhd, which paid RM12.393 million to sponsor Queens Park Rangers (QPR)'s jerseys for away matches, has extended the partnership for the 2012/13 Barclay's Premier League (BPL) season. Under the renewed partnership, AirAsia is set to become the football club's Official Playing Kit Sponsor and Main Club Partner, with the airline's logo to appear on all QPR's playing kits for the whole duration of the 2012/13 BPL season, the airline said in a statement today. Meanwhile, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) paid RM10.296 million to become the Official Home Jersey Sponsor of QPR for one season from Sept 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012. -- Bernama

Landmarks Bhd today announced that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, PT Bintan Hotel Utama (BHU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with with Decennia Asia Pte Ltd. Under the MoU, BHU and Decennia are to explore investment opportunity in the integrated resort project undertaken by BHU and other Landmarks' subsidiaries on Bintan Island, said Landmarks in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. BHU, together with other Landmarks' subsidiaries, is undertaking the development of an integrated resort destination known as Treasure Bay, Pesona Lagoi Bintan on Bintan Island (TBB), it said. One of the developments undertaken by BHU is a multi-themed hotel development comprising two hotels and a commercial retail mall on land parcels totalling approximately 7,340 square meters. Decennia, a company incorporated in Singapore, meanwhile is a construction solutions provider specialising in commercial and residential projects. Meanwhile, Landmarks' wholly-owned subsidiary, Primary Gateway Sdn Bhd (PGSB), has also entered into a MoU with Skywave Air Pte Ltd. Landmarks said Skywave was developing a commercial seaplane operation that will include tourist destinations in the region, such as Singapore and Indonesia. The parties are desirous of co-operating with each other to extend the seaplane operation to TBB, it said. Both the MoUs provide the general basis for BHU and Decennia, and PGSB and Skywave to proceed with negotiations towards execution of formal agreements in relation to investing in the project, and cooperation in the commercial seaplane operation respectively, it said. Failing which, each MoU shall terminate automatically upon expiration of three months from the date of the MoU, or by mutual agreement of both parties. -- Bernama

Bursa Malaysia Bhd has appointed Datin Azalina Adham as Head of Strategy and Transformation, a newly created position to oversee the exchange's overall business strategy and transformation initiatives. The appointment is effective Jan 1, 2012. Bursa also appointed Jamaluddin Nor Mohamad as Head of Islamic and Alternative Markets effective May 14, to spearhead the expansion and development of Islamic products and services as well as bond markets and the Labuan Financial Exchange. "As the nation's primary economic driver, we are focused on building a world-class organisation that will deliver high-performance business results," Chief Executive Officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said in a statement today. Azalina began her career in Bursa Malaysia in 2001 and has held senior positions in the areas of business and investor development. She has more than 16 years of experience in the financial industry, including a senior position at Amanah Merchant Bank Bhd. Prior to joining Bursa Malaysia, Jamaluddin was Chief Operating Officer of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd and has over 25 years of experience in the banking industry in various capacities in Malaysia and abroad, including senior positions in Bumiputra Commerce Bank and Bank Simpanan Nasional. -- Bernama

Sunway Bhd announces that Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd has accepted a RM1.17 billion contract in relation to the proposed Sg Bulohand#8211;Kajang (SBK) Mass Rapid Transit Line, Package V4 project. The contract is for the construction and completion of viaduct guideway and other associated works from Section 17, Petaling Jaya, to Semantan Portal. Sunway Construction is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunway Holdings Sdn Bhd which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunway. In a statement today, Sunway said the construction period of the proposed project was 45 months. It said the project would contribute positively to the earnings of Sunway Group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2012 onwards. The proposed project is subject to normal construction risk of materials price fluctuation. However, with the past experience and expertise of Sunway Construction in construction projects in Malaysia, this risk could be mitigated at this juncture, it said. -- Bernama

Favelle Favco Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary, Favelle Favco Cranes (M) Sdn Bhd, has won contracts to supply cranes worth RM60.1 million to four companies. Among these contracts, one is from Shin Yang Shipyard Sdn Bhd for the supply of an offshore crane which is expected to be delivered by end of 2013. Another order is from Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd also for the supply of an offshore crane to be delivered by mid 2013. The other two buyers are Favco International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd which has made the order for a tower crane scheduled to be delivered this year, and Apache Energy Ltd for the supply of offshore crane expected to be delivered by mid 2013.-- Bernama

Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas said today it has signed a head of agreement with Japan's Itochu Corporation and Thailand's PTT Global Chemical Pcl to build two separate petrochemical complexes. Petronas said in a statement it will be the major equity holder for both the proposed joint ventures that are part of the RM60 billion refinery project in southern Johor state bordering Singapore. "With today's heads of agreement, Petronas has to date signed three of such arrangements for RAPID," Petronas said in reference to the Johor refinery project. Earlier on, Petronas signed a deal with German-based BASF for the production of speciality chemicals. - Reuters

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended lower today on renewed selling pressure in heavyweights and big capitalised stocks, dealers said. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 11.75 points or 0.76 per cent lower at 1,532.46, after hovering between 1,526.6 and 1,539.24 throughout the day. Dealers attributed the downtrend to the overnight slide on Wall Street and on European markets as US economic data disappointed. A gauge of future US economic activity fell in April for the first time in seven months while the cut in credit ratings of Spanish banks also spooked investors. "The local bearishness was also supported by the weak global equity with the FTSE All-World equity and the Euro falling to the lowest level for the year," Affin Investment Bank said. Its Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said earlier optimism that the US Federal Reserve would inject funds to repair the market fears, was overshadowed by the European Central Bank's reluctance to relax lending rules. "Given the strong risk fears, we are not surprised that selling pressure returned, following the adverse external developments," he told Bernama. Market breadth was negative with 702 losers and 130 gainers while 256 counters were unchanged, 450 untraded and 29 others suspended. Turnover declined to 1.06 billion shares valued at RM1.5 billion from 1.27 billion shares worth RM1.93 billion recorded yesterday. The Finance Index fell 116.97 points to 13,730.66, the Plantation Index dipped 60.11 points to 8,104.51 and the Industrial Index slid 13.96 points to 2,681.1. The FBM Emas Index fell 102.47 points to 10,444.55, the FBM Mid 70 Index shed 175.56 points to 11,302.36 and the FBM ACE Index lost 62.13 points to 4,228.37. -- Bernama

Motor vehicle sales last month dwindled to 47,736 units from 50,936 in the same month last year, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said today. The passenger vehicles segment recorded 41,436 units compared with 45,335 units in the same month last year, while commercial vehicle sales rose to 6,300 units from 5,601. MAA said 5,847 units were sold last month, 10.9 per cent lower than in March. "Rush for deliveries and invoicing by companies having financial year ended March 31 resulted in higher March sales," it said in a statement today. MAA said that Although consumer sentiments remain stable, tightening of the hire purchase loan approvals had resulted in longer leadtime for completion of sales process and had caused some slowdown in new vehicle registrations. In the first four months of this year, 186,280 vehicles were sold, down from 209,368 registered in the same period last year. Vehicle production in March increased to 44,828 units from 37,353 in the same month last year. Passenger car production rose to 39,634 units from 34,132 in April last year, commercial cars increased to 5,194 units from 3,221 in April 2011. MAA expects car sales to improve this month due to introduction of new models. -- Bernama

Solexel Inc, a closely held U.S. solar-panel maker that uses silicon gas to manufacture its wafers, received US$25 million to build a pilot plant in California, according to an executive. New investor Gentry Venture Partners led the financing, which is the first close of Solexel's Series C round, Mark Kerstens, the company's chief sales and marketing officer, said today by telephone. SunPower Corp, the U.S. solar-panel maker that's 66 percent-owned by Total SA, also was a new investor and participated with existing backers Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Technology Partners and DAG Ventures LLC, he said. The pilot is intended to test Solexel's manufacturing process with larger equipment that would be used in a factory planned in Malaysia, according to Kerstens. "We have already proven that the technology works on the smaller tools," he said. "We will be building out manufacturing capacity to prove scalability." Solexel, based in Milpitas, California, makes its solar cells using silicon gas instead of growing silicon ingots in furnaces and slicing them into wafers like other companies, according to Kerstens. Those processes are more expensive because more silicon is required and about half of it is wasted, he said. "We do away with the traditional process of a polysilicon plant," Kerstens said. "We deposit a gas and we grow every wafer individually, and we can therefore control the thickness," he said. Malaysia Factory The technology produces cells that are "ultra thin" and more efficient at converting light to electricity than conventional photovoltaic materials, Kerstens said. He wouldn't say what the manufacturing capacity of the pilot will be or when production is expected to begin in Malaysia. Solexel's 100-acre (405 hectares) site at Senai Hi-Tech Park in southern Malaysia may accommodate a factory capable of making 1 gigawatt of solar panels a year, Kerstens said. It will be developed in stages, beginning with a 200 megawatt-a-year production line that may cost US$275 million, he said. The entire project may require an investment of US$930 million, Solexel said when it was announced in August.

Firefly passengers who choose to change their flight date or time after having paid for their seats can now do so through the Prepaid Change Fee. The airline introduced today the new product which offers savings for passengers. Community airline Firefly in a statement said the Prepaid Change Fee was RM40 for making changes on domestic routes and RM50 for international, and can only be purchased from the airlines website when making flight bookings. It said without purchasing the Prepaid Change Fee, passengers would have to pay RM70 for changes to flight dates or time on a domestic route and RM100 for international. Chief Executive Officer Ignatius MC Ong said :"We understand unexpected events may happen, resulting in passengers wishing to change their date or time of travel. "We expect the take up to be mainly from business travellers as this segment is most likely to change travel plans should meetings be rescheduled or cancelled," he added. He said passengers who chose to exercise the option of changing a flight date or time, would have to contact Firefly's Call Centre at +6 03 7845 4543 to do so. This must be done not less than 48 hours prior to scheduled flight departures. Ong also said they may have to pay a difference in fares, if the new flight costs more.--BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) Chairman Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh has been elected a member of the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). He will be part of the governing body of IOSCO that is responsible for leading the direction and process of standard-setting and decision-making on policy issues affecting global capital markets. In addition, he was also appointed the Vice-Chairman of the Emerging Markets Committee (EMC), comprising 86 jurisdictions, at the IOSCO's 37th Annual Meetings and Conference in Beijing, China, the SC said in a statement her today. In remarks at the opening session of the Annual Conference, Ranjit said that global securities regulators must address key issues affecting capital markets, with a view to ensuring that they achieve the appropriate balance for the growth of their capital markets in an environment of stability and market integrity. He said Malaysia's part in shaping the international financial architecture was a critical one, and imperative to the positioning of its capital market as a leading capital market centre, including in the area of Islamic finance.and#8236; At the meeting, it was agreed that the SC would host a Roundtable on Islamic capital markets, between the IOSCO and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in Kuala Lumpur this September. The IOSCO is the world's most important forum for securities regulators and its members regulate more than 90 percent of the world's securities markets. As the leading international policy forum and standard-setter for securities regulation, IOSCO plays a key role in setting international standards for securities regulation, identifying issues affecting global markets and implementing policies to meet those challenges.and#8236; The Annual Conference and Meetings was also attended by several Central Bank Governors as well as market regulators from Asian countries. -- BERNAMA

Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd, a maker of tin cans, declined 1.1 per cent to RM1.87, headed for its lowest close since Nov 8. First-quarter profit fell 11 per cent from a year earlier to RM27.2 million, the company said in an exchange filing. - Bloomberg

JobStreet Corp, an interactive marketing services provider, dropped 4.2 per cent to RM2.30, bound for its steepest decline since Dec 19. First-quarter net income fell to RM10.4 million (US$3.3 million) from RM11.3 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. - Bllomberg