Tuesday, April 24, 2012

News bits | 24 April 2012


Highlights of the day
§  Banking (Sector Update): Moderating growth and slightly overvalued (Maintain NEUTRAL) [download report]
Loans growth is moderating, net interest margins remain under pressure but impaired loans are unlikely to spike up.  Since end-November 2011, we have remained steadfast in our Neutral call on the sector, which has been borne out by the BM Finance Index appreciating in line with the FBMKLCI.  We are maintaining our Neutral call and HOLD recommendations, with downsides of 5-10% to our target prices.

Other reports
§  Newz Bits [download report]

Other Malaysian news
§  Media: Documents for DTTB available till end-April
§  Maybank: Eyes top position
§  MMC-Gamuda: Seals RM360m deal for MRT project
§  SapuraCrest-Kencana: To be suspended on 2 May
§  DRB-Hicom: On track to delist Proton
§  Berjaya Land: Courts Parkson
§  E&O: Purchases UK property for RM100m
§  Tanjung Offshore: Divests its marine services arm to Ekuinas
§  Fajarbaru Builder: Likely to bag LRT job
§  Aviation: KLIA2 on track to start operations next April
§  Building Materials: Japanese steel players want import duty review

Global news
§  Europe: Spanish GDP contracts for the second straight quarter
§  Europe: Dutch Prime Minister resigns in budget cuts row
§  Europe: Services, manufacturing shrink for third month
§  China: Manufacturing may contract
§  Indonesia: Foreign investment jumps
§  Taiwan: Industrial output declines fourth time in five months
§  Singapore: Inflation accelerates more than estimated to 5.2%


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