All News

Smartphones a growing problem for networks

Posted February 18, 2010 - 10:22pm by RS Ringgitsavers

BARCELONA: The chief executive of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest mobile network operator, expressed the fears of many on Tuesday when he said Google Inc should not be allowed to dominate the mobile space, according to Reuters.

Vittorio Colao, speaking ahead of a keynote speech by Google's chief executive, told the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona that, instead of letting one group dominate, new business models needed to be created to cope with the demand operators are facing for data services.

Credit card alternatives on the rise

Posted February 18, 2010 - 10:03pm by RS Ringgitsavers

KUALA LUMPUR: The RM50 credit card service tax for principal cardholders and RM25 for supplementary cardholders is changing the landscape of cashless payment tools. Aside from being more aggressive in offering credit card-related perks, more financial institutions are marketing credit card alternatives that are exempted from such service taxes. 

PNB ANNOUNCED 5.20 SEN PER UNIT OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION FOR ASN

Posted February 17, 2010 - 11:02pm by RS Ringgitsavers

Kuala Lumpur :- Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has announced an income distribution of 5.20 sen per unit for Sekim Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) for the financial year end December 31, 2009.
 

The income distribution will involve a total payment of RM81.52 million compared to RM79.9 million paid for the financial year end 2008.
 

HSBC Amanah named best international Islamic Bank

Posted February 17, 2010 - 10:56pm by RS Ringgitsavers
HSBC Amanah named best international Islamic Bank
 

KUALA LUMPUR: HSBC Amanah has been named Best International Islamic Bank and Best Sukuk House by Euromoney magazine in its Islamic Finance Awards 2010.

HSBC Amanah Global Chief Executive Officer Mukhtar Hussain said that over the last 12 months, the bank had cemented its status as the premier cross-border provider of Shariah-compliant financial services.

Amanah Saham Didik income distribution at 6.3 sen

Posted June 26, 2009 - 7:34pm by RS Ringgitsavers
 
Prudent strategy enables it to provide competitive returns
 
KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) has announced an income distribution of 6.3 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Didik (ASD) for the financial year ending June 30.
 
Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the income distribution would involve a total payment of RM156.82mil, benefiting 224,729 units holders who collectively owned 2.83 billion units of ASD.
 

Chinese fund manager pays US$2.1m for a single lunch with billionaire Warren Buffet

Posted June 25, 2009 - 5:33pm by RS Ringgitsavers
 
OMAHA, Nebraska: It's extremely unlikely billionaire Warren Buffett would ever pay $2.1 million for lunch, because the Omaha investor prefers hamburgers and Cherry Cokes. 
 
But Chinese investment fund manager Zhao Danyang paid that much to dine with Berkshire Hathaway's chairman and CEO Wednesday as part of a charity auction.
 

Website teaches basics of credit management

Posted June 16, 2009 - 11:20pm by RS Ringgitsavers
 
Those who want to learn about basics of money management, now have a new avenue to turn to. Together with debt management agency AKPK, MasterCard has launched its e-Learning Center, an online consumer education resource on www.mastercard.com/sea/, to equip consumers with the fundamentals of personal finance management.
 

Temasek sold Barclays stake at a big loss

Posted June 4, 2009 - 8:40pm by RS Ringgitsavers
LONDON: Singapore state investor Temasek sold its stake in British bank Barclays Plc several months ago at a big loss, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.
  
After spending over £1bil on the shares in the last two years, unlisted Temasek may have lost over £800mil on the investment, according to calculations by Reuters.
 

Malaysia’s 40 richest see wealth decline 22% to US$36b

Posted May 29, 2009 - 11:57pm by RS Ringgitsavers
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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s 40 richest people saw their combined wealth reduced by 22% to US$36 billion (RM126 billion) from US$46 billion a year ago, according to the 2009 Forbes Asia Malaysia Rich List
 

Robert Kuok still Malaysia’s richest

Posted May 29, 2009 - 11:46pm by RS Ringgitsavers
But Forbes Asia list shows his net worth is down to US$9bil
 
KUALA LUMPUR: Robert Kuok, the Kuok Group patriarch, remains Malaysia’s richest with a net worth of US$9bil, down from US$10bil a year ago, according to the 2009 Forbes Asia Malaysia Rich List. 
 
Forbes said in a statement that Kuok had held the top spot every year since Forbes Asia began ranking the 40 richest Malaysians in 2006.
 

Hedge Funds Bet Most Since August on Commodities: Chart of Day

Posted May 29, 2009 - 11:29pm by RS Ringgitsavers
 
May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds are making the biggest bet in nine months that commodity prices will rise as the global economy rebounds from its steepest slump since World War II.
 

Explosive mobile broadband growth

Posted May 6, 2009 - 9:15pm by RS Ringgitsavers

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Penetration in Asia-Pacific breaches 50%

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile broadband penetration in the region is experiencing explosive growth with penetration having breached 50%.

According to Frost & Sullivan senior vice-president for information and communications technology (ICT) practice Nitin Bhat, the region is currently in its late growth phase where mobile penetration has breached 50% but broadband uptake remained limited.

Is this the time to increase prices?

Posted May 6, 2009 - 9:10pm by RS Ringgitsavers

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IT may be a coincidence that within two weeks, we have news of two sets of price increases even as the economy is not expected to improve anytime soon.

The first “salvo’’ was when banks decided to raise hire purchase rates on car loans. That impact is not expected to be widely felt as firstly, not everyone will be buying new cars and secondly, the margin of increase may not be very significant for those who can afford.

Perodua prefers standard interest rates for car loans

Posted April 30, 2009 - 7:16pm by RS Ringgitsavers

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RAWANG, April 30 — Malaysia’s second national car manufacturer, Perodua, prefers banks to impose standard rates for hire purchase loans for all of the company’s models.

Three more banks to lower base lending rate

Posted April 29, 2009 - 3:47pm by RS Ringgitsavers

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PETALING JAYA (Feb 3, 2009): Affin Bank Group will reduce its base lending rate (BLR) and base financing rate (BFR) by 65 basis points from 6.55% to 5.9% effective today.

Standard Chartered Bank group, likewise, will cut its BLR and BFR from 6.5% to 5.95% per annum, also effective today. Meanwhile, AmBank Group will lower its BLR by 55 basis points to 6% per annum, from 6.55%, effective Feb 10.