UPDATE 3-Malaysia Airports-GMR group win Istanbul airport

(Reuters) - ANKARA, July 9 - A consortium of Malaysia
Airports Holdings , India's GMR Infrastructure
and Turkey's Limak clinched the rights to Istanbul's
second airport on Monday with a 1.9 billion-euro bid.




The winning bid -- which does not include 18 percent value
added tax -- beat offers from four other consortiums of foreign
and local players in a tender lasting more than 12 hours, said
Mete Arslan, chairman of Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defence
Industries .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Malaysian Bonds Will Gain This Year on Currency Bets, RHB Research Says

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian government bonds will
extend gains this year as overseas funds buy them on speculation
the currency will strengthen, said RHB Research Institute.

Investors should purchase 10-year bonds as they will return
more than shorter-dated securities as the so-called yield curve
flattens, said Ray Choy, head of debt market research at the
institute, a unit of RHB Capital Bhd, the nation's fourth-
largest banking group said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Finmeccanica mulls buying Japanese high-tech firms

(Reuters) - TOKYO, June 29 - Italy's Finmeccanica SpA
is interested in buying Japanese high-tech companies
to boost its presence in Japan, expecting growth in both the
economy and defence sector in one of its key Asian markets, its
chief executive officer said on Friday.




Finmeccanica, an Italian aerospace and defence company, also
said it would set up a branch in Tokyo next spring to help it
access the market for future opportunities. The company has
offices in other Asian countries, China, India and Malaysia, but
not yet in Japan.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Petronas Profit Rises 7.7 Percent on Higher Output, Crude Oil Price Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's
state oil and gas company, said full-year profit rose 7.7
percent after it increased production overseas and sold oil at
higher prices.

Net income in the year ended March 31 climbed to 46.4
billion ringgit ($13 billion) from a restated 43.1 billion
ringgit a year earlier, Petronas, as the company is known, said
in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today. Revenue gained 10 percent
to 184.1 billion ringgit.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Malaysia's MISC Postpones $750 Million Bond Sale on `Market Volatility'

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's MISC Bhd., the world's
biggest owner of liquefied natural gas tankers, postponed a
planned dollar-denominated bond sale because of ``market
volatility,'' according to an e-mail sent to investors today.

MISC, a unit of national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd.,
hired Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG to sell $750 million of
10-year bonds, an e-mail sent to investors earlier this week
showed.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Palm Oil Drops in Asia After Exports Slow, Argentina Forecasts Large Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures on the Malaysia
Derivatives Exchange, which trades the benchmark contract, fell
for a second day on concern over falling exports and a forecast
rise in supply of soybeans, which can be used as a substitute.

Shipments from Malaysia, which with Indonesia produces
almost 90 percent of global output, fell 11 percent in the first
25 days of June from the previous month, Intertek Malaysia said.
Argentina, the third-biggest soybean producer, may have a record
harvest, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said on June 22.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysia's Inflation Rate Probably Rose in May From Lowest in 2 1/2 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's inflation probably
accelerated in May amid rising food and commodity prices, after
holding at a 2 1/2-year low the previous two months.

The consumer price index rose 1.6 percent from a year ago,
following 1.5 percent gains in March and April, according to the
median forecast of 20 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The
inflation report is due tomorrow at 5 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Malaysian Palm Oil Price Rises on Renewed Demand After 12 Percent Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian palm oil futures rose,
recovering from a two-day decline of 12 percent, on sustained
demand for cooking oil and alternative fuel.

Global vegetable oil consumption is expected to rise 4.1
percent in the year ending September 2008, driven by increases
in China, India and the European Union, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture said in a report yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Petronas, Sudan Have Sought Engineering Bids to Build Oil Refinery

(Bloomberg) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's
state-owned oil company, and its counterpart in Sudan are
awaiting engineering bids to build a refinery in Port Sudan, the
Malaysian company said.

The plant, a joint venture with Sudan's national oil
company, would process 150,000 barrels a day, Hassan Marican,
chief executive of Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, said at the
Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur today. In August
2005, Petronas said the plant would process 100,000 barrels a
day, without giving the cost of the project. Marican wouldn't
comment today on the change in the proposed scale.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Soybeans Rise to 35-Month High in Chicago on Record Palm Oil; Wheat Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Chicago soybean futures rose for a
second day to a 35-month high on speculation demand for the
oilseed may reduce global stockpiles for food and biofuel use.
Wheat and corn futures also gained.

Soybeans, which are crushed into meal for high-protein
livestock feed and into oil for food and industrial uses, rose
after palm oil futures in Malaysia jumped for a third day to a
record on signs of sustained demand from China and India, the
biggest consumers of the vegetable oil.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysia to Ease Rules on Overseas Retailers in Bid to Woo Wal-Mart, Metro

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia is preparing to ease
restrictions on foreign hypermarket operators to persuade Wal-
Mart Stores Inc. and Metro AG to invest in the Southeast Asian
nation's 60 billion ringgit ($18 billion) a year retail industry.

``I've been trying to entice people, even Wal-Mart and
Metro,'' Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Shafie
Apdal said in an interview. ``We like competition, it's good for
the consumers.'' Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has
indicated it's interested in setting up stores in Malaysia and
the ministry is talking to Germany's Metro, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Malaysia Palm Oil Futures Climb to Record on Supply Concern, Rising Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia rose to
an all-time high amid concern that supplies in Southeast Asian
producing countries may not be enough to meet surging export
demand as well as domestic market needs.

Palm oil for August delivery, the most actively traded
contract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, rose 23 ringgit,
or 0.9 percent, to a record 2,624 ringgit ($772) a metric ton. It
traded at 2,623 ringgit at 11:08 a.m. local time.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysia's Exports Probably Recovered in April as Commodities Demand Rose

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's exports probably resumed
growth in April after falling the previous two months, as demand
for the country's electronics and commodities exports improved.

Overseas sales grew 4.1 percent from a year earlier, after
declining 4.3 percent in the previous month and 2.8 percent in
February, according to the median forecast of 13 economists in a
Bloomberg survey. The trade ministry is due to release the data
in Kuala Lumpur at 12:01 p.m. on June 4.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Malaysia Shares Have Record Winning Streak on Ringgit, Palm Oil, Economy

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia stocks, Southeast Asia's
most expensive, are the only ones in Asia that have risen for 11
straight months. The rally may have further to run as rising
government spending and wages lift earnings.

``We're a lot more bullish than some people on Malaysia,''
said Hugh Young, who oversees $35 billion as managing director
at Aberdeen Asset Asia Ltd. in Singapore. ``The market may not
be cheap, but we're bullish on what's happening in that
market.'' The firm this year added to its stake in Bumiputra-
Commerce Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-biggest bank, and owns
stock in British American Tobacco Bhd., the nation's biggest
cigarette maker.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Parkson Retail May Pay 7.25 Percent Yield on Its Five-Year Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Parkson Retail Group Ltd., China's
second-largest department-store operator by market value, may pay
yield of as much as 7.25 percent for its second dollar-
denominated bond sale in less than seven months, according to an
e-mail sent to investors.

The company, owned by Malaysia's Lion Group, plans to price
the five-year $125 million of securities to yield from 7.125
percent to 7.25 percent, the e-mail shows. That's at least 62.5
basis points, or 0.625 percentage point, lower than its $200
million debut bond sale in November.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Malaysian Ringgit Is Little Changed; Government Says It Accepts Strength

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's ringgit was little changed,
holding at the strongest since February 1998, after the government
said its strength remains in line with economic fundamentals.

The local currency added to a nine-week rally as buying by
global investors helped lift the nation's benchmark stock index to
a record close yesterday. An 8 billion ringgit ($2.36 billion) pay
package for civil servants will help spur economic growth this
year, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Asian Currencies Gain, Led by Ringgit, After China Boosts Yuan Flexibility

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies climbed on
speculation the region will allow gains after China widened the
yuan's daily trading band, which may lead to faster appreciation.

The Malaysian ringgit rose to a 9 1/2-year year high and the
Philippine peso touched the strongest in six years after the
People's Bank of China May 18 also raised interest rates and
ordered banks to put aside more money as reserves. Faster gains
in the yuan may benefit the region's exports because it makes
China's goods more expensive to overseas buyers.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Malaysian Ringgit Leads Asian Currency Rally; China Widens Trading Bank

(Bloomberg) -- The Malaysian ringgit, which ended a
fixed exchange rate within an hour of China in July 2005, rose to
a 9 1/2-year high, leading a rally in Asian currencies after China
widened the yuan's trading band and raised interest rates.

The yuan will be allowed to move as much as 0.5 percent
either side of a daily fixing rate against the dollar, up from 0.3
percent, the People's Bank of China said in a statement in
Beijing. The central bank also raised interest rates for a fourth
time in the past year and ordered banks to put aside more money as
reserves as it tries to cool the economy and cut a record trade
surplus that has strained ties with the U.S.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News