PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Aug 6

Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE STAR (www.thestar.com.my)

-- Finance companies are resorting to restructuring car loan repayments to help ease the burden of customers with heavy financial commitments, a senior manager of a prominent local bank said.

-- MMC Corp Bhd's (MMCB.KL) proposals to acquire Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd for 1.95 billion ringgit and general offer fo Aliran Ihsan Resources Bhd (ALIR.KL) at 90 cents a share were poorly received in the market on Tuesday.

NEW STRAITS TIMES (www.nst.com.my)

-- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called on the private sector to do its part to help people cope with higher prices.

-- The Anti-Corruption Agency will reopen its files on previous allegations of corruption in the construction of the Middle Ring Road 2, sources said.

BUSINESS TIMES

-- Shares of MMC Corp Bhd (MMCB.KL) has their biggest one-day tumble in almost 10 years, as investors were spooked by the hefty price it wanted to pay for an airport operator and a water treatment company.

-- Steep losses in plantation stocks helped push the market down on Tuesday as the falling palm oil price mirrored a worldwide selldown in commodities from crude oil to soyabean oil.

THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgedaily.com.my)

-- Falling crude palm oil (CPO) prices triggered a selloff of plantation stocks on Bursa Malaysia (BMYS.KL> on Tuesday, dragging the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index down by 20 points, analysts said.

-- Malaysian Industrial Finance Bhd (MIDF) has been approached by several parties interested in taking a stake in its investment banking arm MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd, MIDF group Managing Director Mohd Najib Abdullah Said.

THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)

-- Khazanah Nasional Bhd is keen to bond Idris Jala for another nine years as Malaysian Airline System Bhd's (MAS) (MASM.KL) managing director/chief executive officer but the former Shell Malaysia managing director is likely to opt for a shorter tenure.

THE SUN (www.sun2surf.com)

-- Faced with tough operating conditions brought on by skyrocketing fuel prices, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) (MASM.KL) on Tuesday unveiled a voluntary flexi employment scheme to manage cost, the company said in a statement.

-- MMC Corporation Bhd's (MMCB.KL) bid to acquire Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd could fuel a short-term negative impact amid softer consumer demand as well as a significant dilution in earnings per share arising from the exercise, said a research house.

UTUSAN MALAYSIA (www.utusan.com.my)

-- The government is setting up an Economic Council to counter problems arising from inflation and the current slowdown in global economy.

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