TJ Ringkas: Man Kubur

DANA PENCEN MEMINANG MAS?

Nampaknya kerajan Umno akan menggunakan dana pencen (KWAP) untuk membeli 29% pegangan dalam MAS sebelum ia dihidangkan kepada syarikat penerbangan lain. Qantas pula kelihatan satu-satunya syarikat yang dijangka berminat untuk meminang MAS. Swissair, Air France dan KLM sudah tidak kepingin kerana MAS tidak menyakinkan.

Tajuddin yang menguasai 29% dalam MAS itu mengatakan beliau ingin menjual pegangannya melalui Naluri. Naluri sudah tidak mampu lagi untuk membela MAS yang kerugian itu.

Menurut akhbar Edge, KWAP menguasai 10.5% sebelum ia membeli lagi sebanyak 9.09% dari BIA pada kadar RM4 sesaham.

NASIB PEMEGANG SAHAM MINORITI

Rencana BTS agak panjang. Ia menyebut banyaksyarikat amat bergantung kepada bursa sahama untuk melunaskan beberapa hutang. Mereka tidak cuba untuk mengubah dan melakukan reformasi dalam syarikat.

Itulah yang berlaku dalam deal RHB-MRCB, Renong-UEM. Ia hanya akan meranapkan harapan pemegang saham minoriti. Sepatutnya syarikat-syarikat tersbut mencari jalan untuk memperbaiki kelemahan dan menjanakan keuntungan. Sikap orang atasan itu hanya akan membuatkan pemegang saham kecil-kecilan itu bertukar arah, sebagaimana bertukarnya sokongan para pengundi di Lunas.

From The Business Times, Singapore
11th December 2000

M'sia state pension fund to buy 29% MAS stake: report

Qantas said to be only foreign airline left as contender for a stake in the national carrier

[KUALA LUMPUR]

The Malaysian government will use its pension trust fund to buy a 29 per cent stake in Malaysian Airline System (MAS) before offloading it to a foreign airline, the Edge business weekly reported yesterday. Qantas meanwhile has reportedly emerged as the only contender for the MAS stake.

Tajudin Ramli, chairman of MAS, who holds the controlling 29 per cent stake through aviation firm Naluri has said he will sell the shares to the government first to meet one of the conditions when he bought into the airline six years ago.

Australia's Qantas Airways has emerged as the sole potential buyer of a stake in MAS after Swissair, Air France and KLM said they were not interested in buying into the Malaysian flag carrier. Bernama news agency reported on Saturday that Swissair was not in talks to acquire a stake in loss-making national carrier.

It quoted SAirGroup, the parent of Swissair, as saying in a statement issued in Zurich that the group was interested in expanding cooperation with MAS but was not negotiating to buy a stake in the Malaysian flag carrier. Swissair's statement comes hot on the heels of similar denials by Dutch carrier KLM and Air France.

Only Qantas has confirmed it was in talks to buy a stake in MAS but said no deal had been struck yet. Qantas was also exploring options to use Kuala Lumpur as an alternative to Singapore and Bangkok as its Asian hub.

Edge reported Malaysia's pension trust fund, Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen (KWAP) which owns 10.5 per cent in the national carrier, recently bought another 9.09 per cent or 70 million shares from Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) at RM4 a share. "The deal, which transpired off-market, was brokered by Kuala Lumpur City Securities (buyer) and RHB Securities (seller)," it said.

MAS shares closed at RM3.98 on Friday.

Mr Tajudin, in a separate interview with the New Sunday Times published yesterday, said MAS needed capital injection and conceded that Naluri did not have the capacity to raise the required funds. "The best thing to do is to get someone else who can put in or inject the funds required to make sure that the company continues to be profitable," he said. -- Reuters

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg

From The Business Times, Singapore
11th December 2000

The growing might of M'sian minority shareholders

Political climate, company problems forcing them to speak out

IT may well have begun with the political awakening, but Malaysia's minority shareholders have decided to flex their muscles and make their voices heard.

The new political consciousness has followed the sacking of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad two years ago. Some ethnic Malays, in particular, are disenchanted with the way Anwar was treated and showed their displeasure in a significant swing of votes away from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition at the last general election.

More recently, the Chinese community, which was instrumental in the ruling coalition retaining its two-thirds majority of seats in Parliament at the nationwide polls, have showed signs of unhappiness with the government over the issue of Chinese-language schools. That led to the recent shocking loss in the once-safe Lunas state constituency in the prime minister's own backyard in the state of Kedah. Ethnic Chinese voters, who held the balance of power in a multi-ethnic constituency, swung to the Opposition in the by-election there and handed the seat to the Opposition.

Like many unhappy voters, minority shareholders in Malaysian-listed companies have also shed their complacent past and become more militant. For example, when Maybank -- the largest bank in the country -- moved to purchase PhileoAllied Bhd under the country's forced merger of banks and finance companies into 10 so-called anchor banks, one corporate minority shareholder flexed its muscles.

Avenue Assets managed to force Maybank to improve the terms of its acquisition even though it owned less than 20 per cent of PhileoAllied.

Another example is Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd's vehement resistance to the restructuring scheme of Rashid Hussain Bhd, despite the latter's bid to please MRCB.

And minority shareholders have initiated action against Malaysian Plantation and MIDF over their respective restructuring plans.

This change in attitudes is stark after the boom years when shareholders enjoyed a cosy relationship with Malaysia Inc, and disturbing practices were brushed aside with a wink and a nudge.

The changed, and highly charged, political environment is not the only factor in forcing minority shareholders to speak out. Their emboldened attitude is also due to the mess at many listed companies despite the remarkable recovery of the Malaysian economy from its deepest recession in 1998.

The Malaysian government has resuscitated the economy through a c##ktail of measures such as capital controls, low interest rates and pump-priming measures. By erecting capital controls, the government managed to slash interest rates without much capital flight. At the same time, the government resorted to deficit spending to jumpstart the economy.

The measures have helped to turn the overall economy around. However, many companies have not moved as fast to resolve their high debt problems despite the more benign business environment.

Debt restructuring has been protracted owing to the general unwillingness of companies to bite the bullet. Many of them are still counting on a vibrant stock market to resolve their debt woes.

Furthermore, many companies have banked on their merchant bankers' financial wizardry to shift their debts around instead of unloading assets in the much-improved environment.

In the case of RHB, substantial shareholder MRCB is rightfully concerned that Rashid Hussain has not reduced the high gearing level of his ultimate holding company. Instead, the exercise is aimed at segregating the banking and stockbroking businesses to comply with the new regulatory guidelines. Regardless of the outcome of his proposed restructuring exercise, Mr Rashid must resolve the debt problems at RHB.

Another prime example is the juggling act at Renong Bhd and associate United Engineers Malaysia. In 1998, the companies embarked on a major fund-raising exercise by pledging the future earnings of toll-road operator Plus, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEM. Their excuse then: It would have been detrimental to shareholders if the companies had disposed of their assets at fire-sale prices then.

The economy and the stock market have since recovered but they have yet to sell their assets, as promised, to repay Plus. Instead, UEM is now in the midst of another exercise to assume Renong's responsibility in selling its pledged assets. Minority shareholders voted with their feet, sending UEM shares skidding. But they probably won't stop there. They are likely to voice their displeasure if they have to bear the brunt of corporate deals.

But they should avoid the flippant approach of minority shareholders of property company PJ Development who, at the company's annual general meeting, demanded free room-stays at its hotels in return for approving resolutions on directors' salaries.

Instead of settling for freebies, minority shareholders should press the management of companies to show results in turning loss-making companies around.

The key for troubled Malaysian firms is to undergo corporate reform and unwind their debts fast so they can concentrate on generating earnings. Otherwise, long-suffering minority shareholders will simply switch to other companies, just like the swing in votes to the Opposition.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg