Government investment arm Khazanah might be relieved to get rid of its 42.7 per cent stake in Proton, but did it get a good deal in the process? Continue reading »
Feb 012012
Jan 162012
Khazanah’s sale of its 43 per cent stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom will close an unhappy chapter for the government’s foray into the production of a so-called ‘national car’. Continue reading »
Jul 102010
Pos Malaysia has pushed through a hefty tariff hike from 1 July, but is such a sharp rise justified?
The standard mail (up to 20g) tariff has shot up from 30 sen to 60 sen while the rate for letters weighing up to 50g soars from 40 sen to 70 sen.
More and more folks in urban areas now rely on email and social networking tools; so this move will hurt the rural folks and others without internet access the most. Snail mail accounts for 62 per cent of Pos Malaysia’s revenue.
As one outraged reader wrote to The Star:
The new tariff is absolutely ridiculous as the quantum of increase is simply preposterous. Calculations show that the increase in tariff ranges from a low of 20% to a high of 100%. Of all the categories, six of them have increased by between 50% and 70%, while seven others have gone up by over 70%. In fact, three of them are up by 100%.
The thing is, does Pos Malaysia really need to raise its tariffs now? Continue reading »
Nov 032008
The first 5 billion ringgit question is of course related to state investment company Valuecap. That’s the RM5 billion taken from our EPF money to be used by Valuecap to “invest” in the stock market.
But Malaysian Insider raises a new question. It claims that Valuecap owes its three shareholders RM5.1 billion, which is due to be repaid in February 2009.
This debt, in the form of interest-bearing unsecured bonds, raises questions over plans for the Employees Provident Fund to lend RM5 billion to Valuecap to invest in the stock market.
In March 2003, Valuecap borrowed RM5.1 billion from shareholders Khazanah, Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen and Permodalan Nasional Bhd to invest in the stock market. At the time, world stock markets were bracing for a looming war in Iraq which followed on the September 2001 attacks on the US.
Valuecap’s bonds were due to be repaid in February 2006, but the company was given another three years to this coming February. At the end of 2006, the three shareholders each held RM1.7 billion in these bonds, according to documents obtained by The Malaysian Insider.
Since these debt instruments were not listed and are not tradeable, the three shareholders are probably still holding these bonds today.
Recently, the government proposed that EPF lend Valuecap RM5 billion to invest in the stock market. In view of its impending obligation to repay its shareholders, however, questions arise over whether the loaned funds will be used to redeem the bonds.
As at the end of 2006, Valuecap’s investments were valued at RM4.8 billion. Since then, the stock market has lost 21 per cent of its value. If Valuecap’s investments have tracked the stock market, these could be worth RM3.8 billion currently.
Then there is Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua’s call on the Finance Ministry and Khazanah to explain their involvement in Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which lost RM1 billion last year. This is compounded by the alleged loss of RM5.17 billion that Khazanah Nasional is said to have invested in the semiconductor wafer manufacturer since 1994, reports Malaysiakini.