PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Dec 11

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)

-- Outgoing PM tables anti-corruption bill, judicial bill in bid to clean up countr's image.

Ta Ann Holdings (TAAN.KL) plans to spend up to 189 million ringgit in 2009, with most of the money going into oil palm plantations group managing director and chief executive officer Wong Kuo Hea said.

BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)

-- Three government bodies, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Selangor's Jabatan Kerja Raya and the Army, have started using biodiesel in their vehicles ahead of schedule, Commodities Minister Peter Chin said.

-- Property developer SP Setia Bhd (SETI.KL) reported weaker fourth-quarter and full-year results for fiscal 2008 as higher costs of fuel and materials eroded profits.

THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgedaily.com)

-- The Prime Minister unveiled two elements of his reform agenda in parliament yesterday, tabling a bill to fight corruption and another to make judicial appointments more transparent.

-- Global equities markets may have already started their path to recovery, indicating that economic recovery could be seen as early as the second quarter of next year, according to JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd chief strategist Adrian Mowat.

THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)

-- Ja'afar Abdul Rahman, the Yang DiPertuan Besar or ruler of Negri Sembilan, clarified yesterday that a recent case before the Special Court involving him and a bank was about a dispute over a banking transaction and not whether he had refused to pay a loan.

-- Textile and garment maker Axis Inc Bhd's (AXII.KL) debt restructuring scheme for loans totalling 150 million ringgit is on schedule and is expected to be completed by end-December, its CEO and group managing director Allan Aw Yuan Meng said.

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