PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - May 20
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)
-- The government is on the lookout for Malaysian students who may return from the United States for their summer break as the A(H1N1) influenza outbreak continues there, Deputy Health director-general Ramlee Rahmat said.
-- Officials from the Selangor and Federal governments will meet on Thursday to thrash out details and work towards completing the water restructuring in the state by end-June, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter China Fah Kui.
BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)
-- SP Setia Bhd (SETI.KL), the country's biggest property developer, said it has no plans to buy the three property companies under Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), its president Liew Kee Sin said.
-- Mobile operator Axiata Group Bhd (AXIA.KL), formerly known as TM International Bhd, said its first-quarter net profit fell by 89 percent mainly due to foreign exchange (forex) losses, higher finance cost as well as losses from Dialog, its Sri Lankan unit, Axiata chairman Azman Mokhtar said.
NEW STRAITS TIMES (www.nst.com.my)
-- The Barisan Nasional's decision not to contest the Penanti by-election will not backfire or cause it to lose popularity, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.
-- The govenrment has spent hundreds of millions of ringgit to set up 80 training centres to teach retrenched workers new skills and help them find jobs, Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said.
THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgemalaysia.com)
-- RHB Capital Bhd (RHB Cap) (RHBC.KL) showed a marginal growth in profits, partly due to some signifiant reclassification of its securities held-for-trading and also higher net interest income, RHB Capital said in a statement.
-- Port Klang Authority's general manager Lim Thian Shiang, who also oversees the management of the controversial Port Klang Free Zone, has resigned, sources said.
THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)
-- In line with the slowing economy, sales in the manufacturing sector from January to March 2009 fell 25.9 percent to 104.6 billion ringgit from 141.2 billion ringgit a year earlier, a telling sign of a sharp contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, the Statistics Department said in a statement.
-- Microsoft Corp is investing some 3.05 billion ringgit to develop the technology skills and spur innovation among the 870,000 tertiary students nationwide under its DreamSpark initiative, taking its investment in Malaysia to 3.5 billion ringgit over a six-month period, Microsoft said in a statement.
THE SUN (www.sun2surf.com)
-- Former Selangor chief minister Mohd Khir Toyo faces up to a year's suspension from the state legislative assembly for failure to attend a select committee hearing in March.
-- The total assets under management by Islamic financial institutions now exceeds $600 billion (2.1 trillion ringgit), said State Street senior vice-president Rod Ringrow.
** Looking for more information from local sources? Reuters Business Briefing has 13 Malaysian sources including Business Times Malaysia. For details of the product please call your local help desk (PHONE/HELP). ($1=3.510 Malaysian Ringgit)
