Last call before the GE13 Poll......Let's get this over once and for all.....

Subdued Loan Growth in March

Loan growth slipped from 11.4% YoY in February 2013 to 10.6% YoY in March 2013, with the slippage in corporate lending being the primary cause of this. Much remains a waiting game for now, the sentiment has been somewhat dampened by the General Election and that there should still be a pick-up in momentum thereafter. 2013 loan growth forecast of 10.7% is maintained, along with our BUYS on AMMB, BIMB, RHB Capital and HLFG, in that OTHERS Maybank: Named world's 13th strongest bank. Maybank, Southeast Asia’s fourth largest lender, is the world's 13th strongest bank, according to Bloomberg Markets' June issue. Maybank is the new entrant in the magazine's list of the world's 20 strongest banks. Maybank now has 2,200 branch offices in 20 countries, after emerging stronger from the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis. Its rapid expansion overseas began with the purchase of a controlling stake in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia in 2008. (Source: Business Times) Nestle Malaysia: Plans MYR200m capex mostly on liquid drinks, confectionery expansion. Nestle (M) Bhd has earmarked more than MYR200m as capital expenditure (capex) to boost its operation in the current financial year. Last year the company spent about MYR160m as capex for the expansion of its culinary products and confectionery division. (Source: The Star) Daya Materials: Bags MYR199m job. Daya Materials Bhd has been awarded a EUR49.4m (MYR198.5m) contract by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, in relation to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between its unit Daya Oci Sdn Bhd and Cofely Axima. The contract is for the provision of full package relating to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) work. (Source: The Star) Oil & Gas: Cendor to be Malaysia's major oilfield. Petronas has converted the Cendor oilfield offshore Peninsular Malaysia from a marginal field into one of the country's biggest oilfields, with estimated recoverable reserves of over 200m stock tank barrels (MMstb), more than 16 times what was first discovered. It announced yesterday the successful drilling of Cendor Graben-2 appraisal well within Block PM304 offshore Peninsular Malaysia. The well was drilled to a depth of over 1,000 m and confirmed the presence of oil and some gas-bearing reservoirs. (Source: The Star) Oil & Gas: Petronas receives LNG shipment from Nigeria. Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas producer, received a cargo of liquefied natural gas at its Sungai Udang receiving terminal in Malacca, according to ship-tracking data. The Seri Bijaksana, with a capacity of 152,888 cu m, arrived on Wednesday in Malacca, according to ship transmissions captured by IHS Fairplay. Petronas is scheduled to start operations at its 3.8 million tonne-a-year Malacca terminal by mid-2013. (Source: Business Times) Infrastructure: M'sia, S'pore in final stages of Johor Baru-S'pore rail link plans. Malaysia and Singapore are in the final stages of their plans for the proposed rapid transport system (RTS) linking Johor Baru and the republic. The proposed alternative will be finally presented to the two governments, including the design, taking into account also the costing. Before the year-end, both governments will decide on the type of RTS to be implemented with the scheduled completion by 2018. (Source: The Star)