Planters urge government to help stabilise palm oil prices

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 - Malaysia's top plantation companies have suggested government incentives for industries to switch to palm bio-diesel as well as burning the oil as feedstock to generate power as part of initiatives to stabilise prices.

The proposals come in the face of excessive crude palm oil (CPO) supplies at a time of slowing demand and prices a third of their peaks.

Giving their full support for the government's initiatives to allocate RM200 million to replant 200,000 ha of ageing trees, the planters said factories and even fishermen - currently on diesel subsidies - could shift to CPO use with the right incentives.

"The more oil we can consume in the country, the greater the chances of stabilising the price of palm oil," said Kuala Lumpur Kepong chief Lee Oi Hian.

KL Kepong, along with IOI Corporation, Sime Darby, United Plantations, Felda Holdings and Boustead Holdings, produce about 60 per cent of Malaysia's total CPO.

Following a meeting of the players yesterday, the company heads told a media conference that despite the "very challenging period", they were still profitable at current CPO prices of around RM1,500 per tonne and
not in a 'distress situation'.

"We are still making profit although we may not like those profit figures," quipped Lee.

IOI executive chairman Lee Shin Cheng said he expected prices to recover and to average RM2,000 to RM2,400 next year.

Even so, with about two million tonnes of stock and prices close to breakeven point for the less productive planters, the companies with the backing of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board are looking to a RM500 million
price stabilisation fund to maintain prices.

One of the world's largest palm oil producers, Malaysia's annual output should hit an estimated 17.5 million tonnes, but global demand has shrunk in the economic downturn despite the vegetable oil's huge discount of up to US$250 per tonne to soya oil.

"The industry is asking if we can put part of the money available to support the price," Lee said of the RM300 million that remains of the fund, given that RM200 million would go towards replanting efforts.

Whether the government agrees to the suggestions, which have yet to be formally presented, remains to be seen - but national utility Tenaga Nasional has pointed out it is not feasible to use CPO as feedstock given
it would cost more than coal.

In February, the government plans to implement the use of blended bio-diesel fuel in government vehicles, and analysts estimate the production of the B5 biofuel with 5 per cent palm oil would remove 500,000 tonnes of palm oil annually when fully implemented in early 2010.

The planters who want fertiliser costs reduced by half said they would adjust costs by reducing the amount of fertiliser used. Fertiliser accounts for half the production costs but it has increased two-fold since the beginning of the year. - Business Times Singapore

Of oil palm, douches, insects and Tamil songs

YOU can always tell a planter's hands. They are big, calloused, wrinkled and very, very strong.

When I first shook hands with Datuk Leslie Davidson, a 77-year-old former planter, I was left with numb fingers before blood flowed into my right hand.

In an interview with Davidson and Mahbob Abdullah, his friend and former subordinate, both talked about their upcoming books.

Scheduled to be launched in early 2009, the books tell of their amusing and poignant experiences as planters in the tropics between the 1950s and the 1980s.

Davidson was also in Kuala Lumpur to receive the Merdeka Award from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his outstanding contribution to Malaysian people.
The Merdeka Award, a Petronas initiative co-founded with ExxonMobil and Shell, came with a trophy, certificate and RM500,000 cash.

Davidson's contribution could be attributed to efforts 30 years ago when he initiated efforts to get weevils, insects from Cameroon, to pollinate oil palm trees in Malaysia. Since then, the oil palm trees have been merrily producing more fruit bunches, making Malaysia the world's biggest palm oil exporter.

As Davidson sat himself down beside Mahbob, he said, "the Merdeka Award is actually a team effort".

I stole a glance at Mahbob. "My boss is right. Maybe the award money should be divided among team members, too," he said, and laughed, "there were thousands of us".

In chapter 10 of Mahbob's book titled "Planters Tales" and chapter 37 of Davidson's "East of Kinabalu", they tell how oil palm companies had to spend a lot of money to hire hundreds of workers just to manually harvest pollens from male flowers of oil palm trees to pollinate female flowers.

Teams of workers patrolled the estate daily searching for male flowers to collect the pollens. This was then issued to other teams who went around pollinating every receptive female flowers with hand puffers.

"Ironically, by trial and error, we found the ideal instrument for this delicate operation to be vaginal douches," he said.

When Davidson submitted orders for vaginal douches, Unilever headquarters in London was very surprised and immediately questioned if he was carrying out birth control programmes among his estate workers.

Davidson promptly replied, "Oh, quite the contrary, we're actually trying to increase fertility rates among the trees to get them bear more fruits".

While top management approved of the orders, Davidson was constantly reminded that Sabah estates' oil palm yields were lower than in Johor and Cameroon.

Undeterred and unconvinced by textbook knowledge which claimed that palm fruits were wind-pollinated and that heavy rain washes pollen away, Davidson arranged for more research to prove that pollination in West Africa was largely due to weevils which were not found in Malaysia.

Under Davidson's instruction, Dr Kang Siew Ming, Zam Karim, Dr Tay Eong Beok and Mahbob went to Cameroon to assess the work of Dr Rahman Anwar Syed, the entomologist who was assigned to study oil palm pollination by insects in Africa, especially the Elaieidobius kamerunicus specie.

"It ended up with the two ladies Dr Kang and Zam climbing the oil palm trees," Mahbob said.

Asked what he and and Dr Tay did while the ladies were up on the trees, Mahbob replied, "we stood underneath and made sure that they didn't fall down".

Jokes aside, Mahbob is most probably remembered among members of East Malaysia Planters Association for being the very persuasive money collector for the RM2 million weevils project.

The Unilever Group was the first to pay but Sabah Land Development Board was the biggest contributor.

Incidentally, the estates that Davidson and Mahbob used to work and live in Johor and Sabah are now owned by IOI Corp Bhd. To this day, the almost 70-year-old IOI Group executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng still makes his regular rounds at these estates.

Lee's talent in serenading Tamil songs to his oil palm trees may seem surprising to many but it reflected Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) requirement that all planters must be proficient in commonly-used languages at the estates.

Davidson recalled preparing for the Malay and Hakka language tests almost 60 years ago. At that time, the ISP examiner said, "You will find Hakka very useful in North Borneo," and asked, "Nyi thuk-ko-kai shu, han ki-tet mau? (Do you still remember your studies?)"

Davidson replied, "Yit pan ki-tet, yit pan mong-ki liau. (Half remember, half forgotten.)

The examiner liked what he heard and Davidson passed the Hakka test with flying colours.

Mahbob was also lucky. In his second book entitled "Planter Upriver", Mahbob told how he was slow to start learning Tamil but eventually aced the test.

At that time, Mahbob's contract as an assistant manager at Tanah Merah Estate in Tangkak, Johor, required him to pass the Tamil language test. He found a very patient tutor in Krishnan, an 18-year-old son of a worker. Also, Mahbob's love for Tamil and Hindi movies might have helped.

Asked if he is able to sing Tamil songs, he winked and smiled, "If Tan Sri Lee invites me to his estates, I certainly don't mind a duet".

Source here

Property groups find asset sales tough going

A SERIES of aborted divestments by Singapore property groups lately highlights the challenges of relying on asset sales in the current environment.

Last weekend’s edition of BT featured two stories on the same page, on Singapore’s two biggest listed property groups - CapitaLand and City Developments Ltd (CDL). Both are in the same boat, with their respective planned divestments of overseas assets not completed.

CDL’s London-listed hotel subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels announced that the agreement for the disposal of Millennium Seoul Hilton hotel to Korean group Kangho AMC Co had been terminated as the buyer was unable to finalise its financing arrangements amid the global financial turmoil.

CapitaLand’s 30 per cent-owned associate Inverfin Sdn Bhd, which owns Menara Citibank tower in KL, reported that the sale-and-purchase agreement for the sale of the office tower had been terminated as the buyer, IOI Corporation Bhd, did not pay the balance purchase price on the completion date.

There have also been instances of transactions of Singapore buildings not being completed. Ho Bee announced last month that its proposed $30 million sale of Frontech Centre, an industrial building in Bukit Merah, had fallen through. The buyer is understood to have been US fund group Angelo Gordon. BT also reported last month that Australian property fund manager Blaxland did not go ahead with completing its planned acquisitions of eSys Technologies’ building in Changi North and SH Cogent Logistics’ warehouse building in Penjuru Close in Jurong.

The pullouts reflect the difficult conditions for property investment sales, caused by several factors. Firstly, funding is tight. But even potential buyers with financial muscle may get cold feet or decide it simply makes more sense to walk away from their purchase now and forfeit the deposit, as sliding property values will present more attractive investment propositions in due time. There may also be other issues at play, such as exchange rate fluctuations. For instance, from a potential buyer’s perspective, the Aussie dollar’s 21 per cent depreciation against the Singapore dollar in the past three months would make purchasing Singapore properties less attractive.

Putting things in perspective, a seasoned property consultant said: ‘The current climate makes asset sales difficult, whether you’re selling an apartment or a shopping centre.’

Property groups will have difficulty selling assets even to their sponsored real estate investment trusts (Reits). With the stockmarket slide, Reits are trading at very high yields, which makes it difficult for them to make yield-accretive acquisitions. And the current tight funding environment affects Reits as well; their priority these days is refinancing existing debt instead of sourcing new debt for further acquisitions.

The situation is likely to continue for at least the new few quarters; that will have implications for Singapore’s property groups. Heavyweight CapitaLand has booked handsome profits from divesting assets in the past few years. In the past two years, the group has divested some $9 billion of assets - an exercise that has generated well over $1 billion in profits.

The group still has other assets that it could potentially divest, such as its industrial property portfolio here and even some of the office blocks held by its sponsored Reit CapitaCommercial Trust.

Prior to the global financial crash, CapitaLand would have had a high chance of success if it had continued on its path of asset disposals. Now, buyers are scarce and even those that are around would demand distressed sale prices (as cushion against further declines in property values after their purchase).

The trying financial climate will affect asset divestment strategies of even a heavyweight like CapitaLand. But at least it has stronger financial muscle to weather this storm even if it can’t make major divestments in the near future.

Smaller players are not in the same boat. Some companies burdened with heavy debt and which had been hoping to unload some of their properties to improve their balance sheets will be caught if they can’t sell their assets.

Hopefully, the malaise in the property investment sales market will not drag on too long.

Source : Business Times - 2 Dec 2008

IOI aborts Menara Citibank purchase

by Khalil Adis

IOI Corporation Berhad´s has aborted its proposed RM586.7 million acquisition of Menara Citibank, causing it to forfeit an earlier payment of RM73.4 million, the company has revealed in a statement.

The company cited the worsening global financial crisis as the reason why it has decided to call off the acquisition.

“Due to the recent sudden adverse developments in the global economic environment which have spread to this region and impacted negatively on business sentiments, the company has, after due and careful deliberations, decided that it would be in the overall best interests of the company and its shareholders not to proceed with the proposed acquisition,” IOI Corporation said in a statement.

IOI Corporation made agreements with the various vendors last August comprising Citigroup unit, Menara Citi Holding Company Sdn Bhd (50 percent), CapitaLand (30 percent) and Amsteel Sdn Bhd (20 percent).

It became unconditional on 31 October and the due date for payment of the balance of the purchase price was 11 November.

IOI Corporation then received a letter from the vendors´ solicitors dated 26 November, stating they were terminating the agreement with immediate effect. The sum of RM73.4 million paid earlier, together with accrued interest, was forfeited as liquidated images.

IOI Corporation said it is currently seeking seeking legal advice as to the propriety and quantum of the aforesaid forfeiture.

Plantation firms to buy more land

CPO price downtrend provides opening for expansion

PETALING JAYA: Cash-rich local plantation companies will actively expand their land bank within the next five years via acquisitions of green fields, existing oil palm plantations and distressed planters.

Analysts believe the current downtrend in the crude palm oil (CPO) prices would provide local planters the advantage in sourcing for more attractively priced plantation land in favourite locations like Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia.

The commodity boom over the past five years saw many tier-one and tier-two local planters accumulating healthy cash in the range of RM450mil to over RM1.4bil.

Of late, plantation giants like IOI Corp Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, which each has a cash pile of over RM1bil, have indicated strong intentions to progressively expand plantation hectarage.

Major planters like Kulim (M) Bhd, Hap Seng Plantations Bhd, IJM Plantations Bhd, Asiatic Development Bhd and Ta Ann Holdings Bhd are also in the midst of acquiring more land bank.

Jupiter Securities head of research Pong Teng Siew told StarBiz that plantation companies had not been actively paying out the best dividends, particularly last year.

“Many seem to be hoarding their cash to embark on new land bank acquisitions.”

Production gain is slow in production.

Said Pong: “Planters need to grow by acquiring more land bank and progressively undertake replanting activities with high yielding clones.”

He concurred that land bank acquisition was the major strategy of local oil palm planters.

In Sabah, plantation land can fetch up to RM15,000 to RM16,000 per acre currently compared with only RM5,000 per acre in the late 1990s.

Sarawak plantation land is even higher at RM18,000 to RM20,000 per acre.

As for Indonesia, the land price is about half Sabah’s prices.

Pong said the major obstacle faced by most Malaysian plantation companies in the republic was mainly the land ownership issue despite the availability of huge tracks of plantation land.

IOI Corp group executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng recently said the group was keen to acquire more land in Malaysia rather than Indonesia.

“Given the current market uncertainties, we prefer to increase our land bank in Malaysia but in Indonesia, we will continue with new planting efforts,” he added.

His view was shared by Hap Seng Plantations group managing director Edward Lee Ming Foo.

Lee was quoted recently as saying that Hap Seng Plantations was looking at expanding its acreage in Sabah, where most of its plantations are located.

Planters that are still gung-ho over Indonesia’s prospects include IJM Plantations and Sime Darby.

Sime Darby group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid said recently the group was eyeing green field plantations in Indonesia. It will also consider buying distressed plantation companies.

Memories My first replanting

We had an area of very old rubber.The area had been abandoned from tapping very much earlier.The stand was old rubber seedlings,many very huge trees and I estimated the stand per acre was slightly more than a hundred.

The inter-rows was in horrible state,full of wild grown wild rubber seedlings.The sized of these seedlings were beyond imaginations.Apparently the inter-rows were neglected long ago.For tapping they just cleared the tappers' path,that was all.

In 1971 we decided to replant it,So we called out for a reliable contractor.At that time rubber wood was in no demand.Many came the Boss himself selected one contractor and began cutting the trees in November 1971.

Unfortunately this contractors absconded after cutting down all the trees
for he feared he could not finish the contract on time.Lucky we did not over paid him.

We have difficulties finding a replacement so we decided to finish the job ourselves.So I took over.Initially I recruited another contractor to supply some chainsaw men to continue cutting the fallen trees into movable lengths.

Following I got some extra temporary workers recruited from nearby kampongs.We were fortunate because the estate was next to a Malay kampong.Most Javanese workers with one of them as headman.

So with them we roughly stacked the fallen wood onto the trunk.When the wood were drier we set fire to them just before we go home.Every day it was l like that.And I was with them from morning till evening.

As routine we re-stacked all the unburnt wood onto the huge trunk etc.and reburnt them,until all completely burnt off.By burning all the rubber wood like this we unnoticiably also destroyed all the wild rubber seedlings.

It took us nearly three months to completely cleared the field of 130 acs.,three months of hot sun and I was as dark as an all the Javanese workers.There was no doubt that the costs were high but we cannot help as we could not get another contractor to finish the job.

After this we plotted out the roads and also did lining for the replanting to Oil Palms.The roads were laid with laterites from our own hill.

We began planting in September 1972,with on set of the rainy seasons.Before we started planting we had a visitor,my Boss's friend,he came to see how we were planting.

I waited for him at the office and he came in his car.Thereafter I droved him to the replanting field.This guy on reaching the field rushed at the first palm planted by a worker earlier and began kicking it with his leather shoes.""See,no firm planting".

I was surprised at his action and said if I did not wait for him this would not have happened.I told him off because he was only a visitor.Anyway I told him if he wants my job he can have it.He kept quiet.

Later I learned that he was a Petrol Pump Owner (Mobil) in old Kelang Road.He was a pineapple planter.He later after this became Manager of Bidor Bahru Estate.To day he is a giant in the planting world.Like to know who? He is the shorty Lee Shin Cheng.Believe it or not.

We did an excellent job with our replanting and we completed it on time.The Boss was very pleased with it.

As for Mr.Lee I was told is still kicking lallang in his group of Estates.

Source here

Council To Spearhead ECER Development, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, June 14 (Bernama) -- The East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Development Council will spearhead implementation of the ECER master plan and play the main role in determining the direction, policy and strategy for its development.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in stating this Saturday, said the council, set up under an Act of Parliament, would also generate and promote economic and social developments as well as private sector investments in the region.

"The setting up of the council, as an authority, is important to ensure that the ECER master plan is implemented in an efficient and orderly manner," he said at the launch of the council here Saturday.

"With this, the policies, planning and implementation by all parties can be streamlined in an organised and comprehensive way for the welfare of the local people," he added.

Abdullah said besides promoting economic activities in the ECER, the council would also study the impact of development programmes to ensure that socio-economic development was being carried out in tandem.

He also said that to ensure the success of the ECER, he has appointed members from the highest level for the council with himself taking on the responsibility of chairman.

Other members included Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, he said.

Abdullah said to strengthen the council, he has appointed Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz as representatives of the federal government.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan has also ben appointed to represent the civil service, he said.

The Prime Minister named Petronas' president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican and IOI Corp's executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng as representatives of the private sector.

Abdullah said at the management and operations level, the council will be led by Datuk Jebasingam Issace John as the chief executive officer.

"He was involved in drawing up the ECER master plan and is supported by a team which is capable of carrying out the council's functions effectively," he said.

Abdullah said the council has a heavy responsibility to ensure that the ECER objectives are achieved."

As the chairman, I will ensure that the council acts efficiently, effectively and impartially," he said.

On progress of the ECER so far, Abdullah said he was satisfied with the ECER secretariat for its efforts in developing several projects and programmes.Among them is the setting of Centres of Excellence at five universities in the region, namely Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Darul Iman, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.

According to him, such centres are in line with the ECER objectives to encourage research and development, which can lead to related commercial industries coming up in the region.On the agriculture sector, Abdullah said several initiatives had started to be implemented.

Among them is the development of three agro valleys in Bachok-Setiu-Kuala Berang, Pekan-Rompin-Mersing and Kuantan-Maran areas, a herbal and biotech park in Gua Musang, Kelantan, and a fruit park in Lanchang, Pahang.

He said for the petrochemical sector, development of the Kertih Plastic Park had started and results were shown with an initial investment of RM50 million for factory and infrastructure.Abdullah said the government would continue to support the ECER by providing the optimum infrastructure.

He said the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan would look into the allocations for the infrastructure development of the ECER as well as the other economic regions.-- BERNAMA

Source here

IOI Properties confident Sentosa Cove condos can sell

UALA LUMPUR: IOI Properties Bhd is confident that its biggest high-end development in Singapore’s Sentosa Cove will be a success despite soaring crude oil prices and a softening property market in the republic.

Executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said the group had foreseen the market softening and construction costs rising when subsidiary IOI Properties (S) Pte Ltd and joint-venture partner Ho Bee Investment Ltd successfully tendered for a 5.3-acre 99-year leasehold land called Pinnacle Collection in Sentosa Cove in January for S$1.09bil (RM2.5bil).

The price is about 13.9% more than the reserved price of S$963mil.

“When we tendered for the land last December, the residential market in Singapore was consolidating. It’s good to have a correction as the market went up too fast, by 31%, last year,” Lee told StarBiz after shareholders approved the deal at an EGM yesterday.

Lee said what was more important was the land’s potential as it was the last piece of condominium land parcel in Sentosa Cove.

He said Sentosa Cove had three major attributes – a famous name; a seafront property that would attract many international high-net worth investors; and its location near the integrated resort-cum-casino development where the Genting group would be investing S$5.3bil.

“We believe the integrated resort will give Sentosa Cove a big boost when it (resort) is completed end-2009. We have timed our development (Pinnacle Collection) with the completion of the resort so that people can see the full potential of the place,” he added.

Lee said the group planned to build condominiums, priced about S$3,000 per sq ft.

Pinnacle Collection, to be launched next year, will have seven 18-storey blocks and a 20-storey luxurious condominium. It will have 280 apartments and penthouses of various layout and sizes.

“The average size (per unit) would be 2,500-3,200 sq ft. There will be private lift lobbies. It will cater to the international market,” Lee said, adding that besides Singapore, it would target investors from Indonesia, China, the Middle East and India.

It will have a total development cost of S$1.6bil and estimated gross development profits (before interest costs) of S$500mil.

To be completed in early 2012, it will be funded from sales proceeds, borrowings by joint-venture company Pinnacle (Sentosa) Ltd (IOI Properties and Ho Bee will have 65:35 ownership) and advances from shareholders. Sales will commence in mid-2009.

The Pinnacle Collection is one of two condominium parcels that flank the entrance of the marina leading to Sentosa Cove.

It is adjacent to the 3.6-acre leasehold Seaview Collection, which was successfully tendered by another IOI Properties subsidiary with Ho Bee in March 2007. Seaview Collection, a luxury condominium project comprising two eight-storey apartment blocks with 151 units, will be launched in the third quarter.

Source here

10-06-2008: IOI to delay project launches in Singapore

PUTRAJAYA: IOI Properties Bhd will wait for the next cycle to launch its property development projects in Singapore in view of the less-than-robust economic market, said its executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng.

However, he said construction work on the two projects — Seaview Collection and the Pinnacle Collection in Sentosa Cove — would go ahead as planned.

Speaking to reporters after the company’s EGM here yesterday, Lee said the time was not right to launch both the projects and “the next cycle will be higher than the previous cycle”.

IOI Property, through a joint venture with Ho Bee Investment Ltd, is developing the Pinnacle Collection, which comprises seven 18-storey blocks and one 20-storey block of luxurious condominiums, while Seaview is a luxury condominium development comprising two eight-storey apartment blocks.

The group has a total of 4,500 acres (1,821 hectares) of landbank in the Klang Valley and Johor. It also plans to develop 543 acres of land in Putrajaya into high-end bungalow lots and condominiums which would be launched next year.

On the issue of windfall tax which will affect IOI Corporation Bhd’s plantations division, Lee said the group was disagreeable to the tax as the industry was already paying cess to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, in addition to levies imposed in Sabah and Sarawak, apart from their subsidising of cooking oil.

“There is no country in the world where planters are subsidising manufacturers,” he added.

Last week, the government had announced the removal of the cooking oil stabilising scheme as part of the subsidy restructuring scheme and replaced with windfall tax.

According to Lee, IOI was also finalising a US$100 million (RM325 million) investment as part of its expansion plan in Rotterdam, Holland. IOI already owns a palm oil refinery of 85,000-tonne capacity and would build a 300,000-tonne capacity plant to process margarine.

On its previous proposal to buy six plantation companies in Sarawak which would have cost RM439.9 million, IOI’s group executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said the deal had fallen through due to technical issues.

“It is not about the price but title. Some pre-conditions cannot be satisfied,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to say if IOI would pursue the purchase of these plantations later. The six companies have a combined plantation landholding of 44,350ha, of which 30.4% or 13,500ha were planted with oil palm.

Source here

Projects in Singapore set to further boost group image

VENTURING into Singapore's luxury residential property market is set to enhance IOI Properties Bhd's brand and reputation as a quality home developer in Malaysia and Singapore.

IOI Properties executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor is excited about the company's two projects in Sentosa Cove that would pave the way for more ventures across the causeway over the next two years.

The two projects will be undertaken with its Singapore joint-venture partner, Ho Bee Investment Ltd, which is involved in four other projects in Sentosa Cove.

The Seaview Collection condo in Sentosa Cove will comprise two eight-storey blocks of 125 residences.

“We are confident that the projects will do well as there are no more land for condominium projects in Sentosa Cove.

“The 5.3-acre land parcel that we successfully tendered for in January is the final piece of condominium land to be launched by Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd,” Lee said.

He added that the acquisition of the land has just been concluded and it would be the site for its second project, The Pinnacle Collection, which is one of the two condominium parcels that flank the entrance of the marina leading into Sentosa Cove.

Lee said the scheduled completion of the Genting group's integrated resort development on Sentosa Island next year would spawn a greater demand for more quality homes in Sentosa Cove.

“Sentosa Cove, a world-renowned exclusive residential development, is now about 50% completed while another 20% of the projects are now ongoing. It has attracted many high net worth buyers from around the world,” Lee said.

The Pinnacle Collection, comprising a 20-storey block of 250 luxury condominium units, will be launched by the end of next year.

The Pinnacle residences will have an average built-up of 2,000 sq ft. The building designs for the project are still being finalised.

Meanwhile, the company's first project in Sentosa Cove, the Seaview Collection, will comprise two eight-storey blocks of 125 residences on 3.6 acres.

Construction will start in the third quarter of this year and the project will be launched for sale by the end of the year.

Analysts look at IOI Properties' venture into Singapore positively.

A recent CIMB Research note said that as the company's profits were the largest compared with other Malaysian developers, IOI Properties had no choice but to seek new avenues for growth to see a significant impact on its bottom line.

“We view positively its choice of joint-venture partner as Ho Bee has carved a niche in high-end residential development projects on Sentosa Island.

“IOI Properties is one of the few Malaysian developers with the balance sheet to take on Singapore-scale projects,” it said.

CIMB Research said although the Singapore property market was highly competitive, “values are significantly higher than in Malaysia”.

“Assuming an average selling price of S$3,000 per sq ft, the sales value of the Seaview Collection condominiums alone is a mind-boggling RM2.4bil, which is equivalent to a medium-sized township that would easily take 10 to 15 years to complete.

“The break-even cost for the condominiums is estimated at S$1,900 per sq ft,” it said.

The margins for the Pinnacle project should also be good as the break-even cost is around S$2,400 per sq ft while the targeted selling price should be closer to S$3,500 per sq ft, the research house added.

Source here

Oil palm companies to pay windfall tax from July 1

PETALING JAYA: The Government will impose windfall tax on oil palm companies starting July 1.

An analyst said under the Windfall Profit Levy Act 1998, a windfall levy would be imposed on crude palm oil (CPO) and crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) when the prices are in excess of the threshold of RM2,000 per tonne.

Under the proposed windfall tax framework, palm oil producers in peninsular Malaysia would be charged tax amounting to 15%, and 7.5% for Sabah and Sarawak.

At the same time, the Government is also abolishing the existing cooking oil cess from July 1.

However, the price of cooking oil will remain the same as it will now be subsidised by the windfall taxes.

The Government said plantation companies in Sabah and Sarawak were charged a lower windfall tax as they were already paying sales tax to their respective state governments.

OSK Research plantation analyst Alvin Tai said: ”The lower windfall tax is expected to be a positive move for plantation companies in Sabah and Sarawak. However, we expect the tax will have a slightly negative impact for companies in peninsular Malaysia.”

“The net impact of this move will be neutral but we remain overweight on this sector,” Tai said, adding that most plantation companies had exposure in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

A local plantation analyst said the imposition of the windfall tax would have minimal impact on the plantation industry.

“I don’t see it derailing profits, moving forward. Net impact on earnings would be minimal, given that the cess has been abolished at the same time.

“It (impact) also depends on the company. Big firms like IOI Corp Bhd which have diversified operations would be least affected while pure planters like IJM Plantations Bhd and Asiatic Development Bhd would be more affected,” the analyst said.

Under the new tax plan, companies in Sabah and Sarawak are expected to pay RM112.50 per tonne of CPO whereas their peninsular Malaysia counterparts would pay about RM225 for a tonne of CPO.

At the same time, all plantation companies would “save” about RM200 per tonne (at the current CPO price of about RM3,500 a tonne) with the abolishment of the cess tax.

This means companies in peninsular Malaysia would still have to fork out RM25 per tonne of CPO while those in Sabah and Sarawak would enjoy savings of RM87.50 per tonne.

Most companies contacted by StarBiz declined comment on the taxes, saying they needed time to study the tax framework before issuing any statements.

Source here

Lee’s son appointed IOI Corp ED

KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Yeow Seng, son of Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, was appointed executive director of IOI Corporation Bhd yesterday.

Yeow Seng joined IOI group in 2002 as special assistant to Lee. Prior to that, he was with the London and Singapore offices of a leading international financial services group. He is involved in corporate affairs and general management within the IOI group.

He has a direct interest of 1.14 million shares and indirect 2.4 million shares in IOI Corp, and indirect 233.54 million shares in IOI Properties Bhd.

Source here

Yeo’s departure seen having minor impact

PETALING JAYA: IOI Corp Bhd expects minimal disruption to its group operations following the resignation of group executive director Datuk Yeo How, which will take effect end-July.

A company spokesman said Yeo, had been instrumental in ensuring there was a strong management team and good corporate culture.

“Besides, group executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor, who oversees the group's operations, is also familiar with the areas covered by Yeo.

“Hence there should be minimal impact on group operations as his impending resignation had already been discussed awhile back,” she told StarBiz yesterday.

On Tuesday, IOI Corp announced Yeo would be leaving the group to pursue a new career. It was learnt Yeo could have accepted a job offer by a Singapore-based plantation group.

Credit Suisse Research said in a note to clients yesterday IOI Corp's valuation premium was affected on concerns over Yeo's departure.

It said the “delicate balance” between executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng's entrepreneurship and Yeo's good capital management and corporate governance would be affected. It downgraded IOI Corp to underperform from outperform and cut its target price to RM7 from RM10.

However, the IOI Corp spokesman described Credit Suisse Research's comment and inference as unfair to the company and Yeo for his efforts in putting systems in place over the years.

Other analysts said although there might be a momentary spike in the IOI's share price, it was unlikely to be permanently impacted by this news.

RHB Research Institute said any knee-jerk reaction in IOI Corp's share price should be temporary, given that there was no change in substantial share ownership and Tan Sri Lee was still the main driver of the business.

“Yeo's personal shareholding in IOI Corp is only 0.01% and less than 0.01% for IOI Properties Bhd, so we don’t expect any potential major selldown of Esos (employee share option scheme) shares,” it said in a report.

RHB Research said Tan Sri Lee would already have someone in mind to replace Yeo and a likely candidate would be Yeow Chor, his eldest sonwho has been on the board since 1996. It maintains its outperform call with a fair value of RM9.35 per share.

IOI Corp closed 10 sen down at RM7.10. It was the most active counter with 13.52 million shares done.

Source here

Lending a Bullish Hand

Malaysian Business
By Gurmeet Kaur

THANKS TO THE SPECTACULAR RISE IN COMMODITY PRICES, PLANTATION TYCOON TAN SRI LEE SHIN CHENG IS NOW FIRMLY ETCHED IN THE TOP THREE OF MALAYSIA'S RICHEST. From sixth position in last year's ranking, Lee is now Malaysia's third-richest tycoon, edging Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan to fourth place.

Benefiting from strong gains in the price of crude palm oil, Lee's flagship IOI Corporation Bhd has seen its share price rising to RM8 at the point of compiling this list, from RM3.70 a year ago. this means that as at Jan 18, 2008, Lee's wealth had doubled to RM14.94 billion.

Similarly, Lee's sons Datuk Lee Yeow Chor and Lee Yeow Seng have seen their net worth increase substantially this year.

On the whole, the share price boom on bursa Malaysia has swelled the collective net worth of Malaysia's 40 richest by 39.2% this year. In total they are worth RM162.66 billion, as against RM116.86 billion previously.

Over the last one year, the Kuala Lumpur composite index (KLCI) had marched to several highs and by Jan 18 had touched 1,439.49 points. This was up 26% from a year ago.

The market's bullish sentiment stemmed mainly from domestic factors given the lingering external uncertainties such as a potential slowdown in the United States and world economies. There was a return of foreign funds to the local bourse from fourth- quarter 2007 following the sharp appreciation of the ringgit against the US dollar.

Against this backdrop, the country's wealthiest had found new ways to increase their fortunes, some through mergers and acquisitions and others by venturing into new markets overseas.

But it should be noted that share prices on bursa Malaysia have since declined on worries of a us recession, hence wiping away some of the wealth netted by these tycoons.

Our 2008 richest Malaysians list sees 18 billionaires - four more than previously. There are two new faces in the top 10 of the list - Berjaya group's Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Amcorp Group's Tan Sri Azman Hashim, who take 8th and 10th spot respectively.

Tan and Azman were also the biggest wealth creators, in percentage terms, this year.

Like in previous years, the bulk of the wealth remains in the hands of the top 10 richest. Together, they account for RM133.70 billion or some 82.2% of the combined wealth of the 40.

Absent from this year's list is Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong of Genting Group, whose demise last year at age 90 marked the passing of one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs. We did not incorporate Lim's wealth in our survey as we have no knowledge of how his 33.3% stake in the family's private holding company, Kien Huat Realty Sdn Bhd, has been distributed.

Lim's stake is valued at RM6.14 billion. In 2007, he was worth RM9.67 billion and ranked fourth.

This year we have decided to include Singapore-based hotelier Ong Beng Seng. Ong controls Singapore-listed Hotel Properties Ltd that co-owns a portfolio of properties in the region, including Hotel Concorde Kuala Lumpur and the franchises for hard rock cafe and Planet Hollywood. He is now increasing his business presence in malaysia with the construction of a US$265 million four seasons hotel and apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian partners.

Ong's wealth is estimated at RM1.74 billion, catapulting him to 14th spot. Besides Ong, there are five other new faces.

Of the 34 old names on the list, 30 are enjoying larger treasure troves while four have had their wealth reduced.

Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok remains firmly entrenched at number one. With an additional RM25 billion to his wealth, it would appear hard for anyone to `dethrone' him in the near future. As of January, Kuok was worth a whopping RM58.11 billion.

Last year, the merger of PPB Oil Palms Bhd into Singapore-listed Wilmar International Ltd boosted Kuok's group's shareholding in the latter to 31%. After the exercise, Wilmar turned into a big-cap stock on the Singapore exchange with a market capitalisation of over US$13 billion. Kuok's wealth from Wilmar alone is worth some RM19.22 billion. The rest of his money comes mainly from Kerry Properties Ltd and Shangri-La Asia Ltd, both listed in Hong Kong.

Retaining the number two spot, T Ananda Krishnan's wealth, at RM19.62 billion, registers a negligible drop. This is largely because the market capitalisation of Astro All Asia Networks Plc had taken a beating on concerns over the performance of its overseas associates.

The bulk of Ananda's wealth still comes from Maxis Communications Bhd, which he took private in 2007. We calculated his stake in Maxis based on the price he had bought out its shareholders, ie, at RM15.60 a share.

Hong Leong group's quek, who made strategic investments in several companies last year, falls one notch to number four although his wealth has increased slightly. Quek, who has substantial minority interests in Kencana Petroleum Bhd, Petra Perdana Bhd and TMC Life Sciences Bhd, is worth RM11.09 billion.

At number five is Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, whose wealth has soared to RM8.55 billion, due in part to corporate restructuring and a buoyant stock market. Public Bank's founder and chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow comes in at six with RM8.06 billion.

Taking seventh place is Rimbunan Hijau Group major shareholder Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, who during the course of the year had bought directly into some of his listed companies. His wealth is up 59% to RM3.87 billion. Tiong is in the midst of merging his media concerns into Hong Kong-listed Ming Pao Enterprise Corp.

Similarly, at Berjaya Group, Tan Sri Vincent Tan has been increasing his direct stakes in some of his listed companies, probably a signal that things may be looking up for the group. It had recently undergone a restructuring exercise.

Tan's fortune is up two-fold to RM3.41 billion, which puts him as the ninth richest individual.

Berjaya Land Bhd saw a spectacular rise in its share price over the year, pegged largely on property development projects in Vietnam. More recently, Tan acquired 35.69% of Nexnews Bhd from Net Edge Online Sdn Bhd and Tong Kooi Ong. The deal raises Tan's equity interest to 88.35% in nexnews, which publishes The Sun daily.

Prior to this, Tan held a 31.7% direct stake in the media company. Nexnews will be a 54.6% subsidiary of Berjaya Corp Bhd after the purchase. Tong, who ranked 26th on our 2007 survey, did not make the cut this time around as the market capitalisation of his Canadian-listed Taiga Building Products Ltd had seen a steep decline.

Taking ninth place is Goh Tong's son Tan Sri Lim Kok thay of Genting Bhd, who has been pushing ahead with the group's international plans via expansions and acquisitions. Our count shows he is worth RM3.16 billion, up from RM2.6 billion previously.

A three-fold jump in fortune propels Amcorp Group's Tan Sri Azman Hashim to number 10. This comes on the back of a sharp rise in the market capitalisation of AMMB Holdings bhd despite the banker's reduced stake.

In 2007, Azman sold a 11.4% stake in AMMB to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), reducing Amcorp's interest in AMMB from 32.9%, which was a controlling stake, to 18.8%. The entry of ANZ as a strategic partner has boosted the shares of AMMB.

The patriarch of YTL Group, Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, has a net worth of RM1.55 billion but this is not enough to keep him in the top 10. He slips to 13th spot.

Other biggest wealth generators are individuals from plantations, oil and gas, property and construction. These were sectors that were `in vogue' or `in favour' last year.

The buoyant outlook on commodities has also benefited brothers Datuk Seri Lee Oi Hian and Datuk Lee Hau Hian. The duo from Batu Kawan Bhd are now billionaires with a net worth of RM1.30 billion each. Younger brother Datuk Lee Soon Hian, who was on our previous list, no longer has any stake in the family flagship company.

Sunway Holdings Bhd's Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah sees a 117% increase in fortune to RM1.49 billion, putting him in 15th place. Other individuals who saw significant jumps in their worth are datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad and Raja Datuk Seri Eleena Raja Azlan Shah.

Mokhzani, the major shareholder of Kencana Petroluem Bhd, netted RM993.33 million on the back of a play on oil and gas stocks. Similarly, a surge in the share price of Ranhill Bhd on the possibility of it discovering oil reserves in Indonesia had pushed the wealth of substantial shareholder Hamdan to RM855.32 million. Eleena, who has a 8.02% stake in construction company Gamuda Bhd, is valued at RM838.40 million.

On the other side of the spectrum, some personalities had a bad year. Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee-Chai, the founder of Top Glove Corporation Bhd, sees his wealth slide by 32% to under a billion in tandem with a steep fall in the company's share price. Analysts are concerned that its China operations and a weakening us dollar may affect earnings. Lim now stands at number 27, from 11 previously.

Corporate Malaysia's poster boy Datuk Tony Fernandes of AirAsia Bhd slips 11 rungs to 39th spot after his shares fell 17% on worries over the low-cost carrier's hedging policy. The company is also facing increasing competition from Malaysia airlines and Singapore's Tiger Airways. Another personality whose fortune has declined is Datuk Ahmad Sepawi of Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd.

Among the new entrants, Datuk Tony Tiah of TA Enterprise Bhd rode the wave of a resurgent stock market to clinch a place at number 30. Barred from holding any directorship for the last five years, he is back at TA as its executive chairman.

Datuk Seri Panglima Lau Cho Kun makes his debut at 34th spot, his wealth derived mainly from Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd and Malaysian Mosaics Bhd, while Datuk Lin Yun Ling, Managing Director of Gamuda, is at 35th place.

Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin comes in at 36. His flagship SP Setia Bhd has grown in market capitalisation to become one of the biggest property stocks on bursa Malaysia. Last on the list is Sabahan Kwan Ngen Chung of Kwantas Corporation Bhd, whose stock had surged 96% over the past one year.

Making way for these newcomers are Tunku Yaacob Tunku Abdullah of MAA Holdings, Datuk Tan Heng Chew of Tan Chong Motor Holdings and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun of AirAsia, apart from Nexnews' Tong Kooi Ong and Batu Kawan's Lee (Soon Hian). This is not to say these tycoons have become poorer, only that their counterparts have become richer.

With this year's economic climate expected to be challenging and the stock market bearish, we may see more diminution of paper wealth. But in true entrepreneurial spirit, many of these businessmen are likely to carry out corporate exercises which would unlock further the values of their companies and thereby keep their wealth intact, at least on paper.

WHO'S IN

ONG BENG SENG : Hotel Properties Ltd

DATUK TONY TIAH THEE KIAN : TA Enterprise

DATUK SERI PANGLIMA LAU CHO KUN : Hap Seng

DATUK LIN YUN LING : Gamuda

DATUK SERI LIEW KEE SIN : SP Setia

KWAN NGEN CHUNG : Kwantas Corp

WHO'S OUT

TUNKU YAACOB TUNKU ABDULLAH : MAA Holdings

DATUK LEE SOON HIAN : Batu Kawan

TONG KOOI ONG : Nexnews

DATUK TAN HENG CHEW : Tan Chong Motor Holdings

DATUK KAMARUDIN MERANUN : AirAsia

TAN SRI LIM GOH TONG : Genting (deceased, May 2007)

METHODOLGY

HOW WE ARRIVED AT THE WEALTH FIGURES

In this ranking, which is Malaysian Business' seventh survey of 40 Richest Malaysians, the wealth figures - as in previous years - are calculated based on the individuals' reported personal stakes in listed companies and private holdings that we can place a value on.

Cross-holdings and indirect stakes in subsidiaries are not included to avoid double-counting and overstating of wealth. Personal debt is taken into account only if it has been reported or made known in the annual statements.

The list is by no means a definitive compendium of the wealthiest in Malaysia. There are many who may be richer, with interests buried in inexplicable webs of companies or nominees, which makes tracing difficult.

1} ROBERT KUOK HOCK NIEN, 84

Chairman,

KUOK GROUP & KERRY GROUP

RM58.11 BILLION

THE RAPID URBANISATION AND industrialisation of Asian economies like China and India is accelerating the growth of high net worth individuals across the region. Malaysia's very own Robert Kuok is an example of that trend.

The Sugar King's fortune almost doubled in value in the past 12 months due to higher equity prices, making him by far the wealthiest local businessman in terms of asset value.

Kuok's billions are in fundamentally old-economy assets like property, hospitality, consumer edibles and shipping but are enough to give him a RM40 billion advantage over closest rival - if you can call it that - telecommunications magnet, T Ananda Krishnan. The media-shy billionaire's wealth figure accounts for almost two thirds of the top 10 and half of the total 40 top moneymen and women in this year's wealthiest list.

What glaringly sets Kuok apart from the rest is the multinational nature of his business interests - about 90% of that fortune is derived from his listed assets in financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong.

With the help of family and professional executives, Kuok's businesses empire operates across the globe. The operations are backed by size.

His 50, and counting, luxury Shangri-La hotel chain is expanding across Asia and the Middle East. Europe and America beckon.

The Kuok group's palm oil-based edible oils and fats business, now mainly under Wilmar International Ltd, is among the largest in the world. Wilmar is the largest palm oil-based biodiesel producer in the world.

With some analysts talking of a coming `super cycle' for commodity prices, Kuok's interest in the sector is well defined to capitalise on the event of such a possibility.

Kuok surprised the Hong Kong market last December when he tabled a cash offer of HK$2.37 billion or HK$2.75 per share to acquire the remaining 55.5% stake in his media group, SCMP Group Ltd. At the time of writing, the closing date of the offer was fixed at Feb 11, 2008.

Kouk had previously offered to take Kerry Properties Ltd private but failed as the price offered for the remaining shares was considered low by shareholders.

Rightly so, as the share price of the stock had almost tripled in the past two years then, before the global market sell-down last month. Kuok was however successful in taking his shipping arm, Pacific Carriers Ltd, private in Singapore a few years back.

Kuok's Malaysian interests have remained the steady performers they are known as, with flagship PPB Group Bhd the main asset in hand. The proposed Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in Kuok's home state of Johor could provide some opportunities for the local operations.

Even so, his insurance, telecommunications, shipping, waste and water- treatment businesses continue to grow.

- BY BHUPINDER SINGH

2} TATPARANANDAM ANANDA KRISHNAN, 69

Founder,

USAHA TEGAS SDN BHD

RM19.62 BILLION

T ANANDA KRISHNAN NOW HAS only three listed companies under his control following the privatisation of Maxis Communications Bhd in 2007, which took the market by surprise.

Ananda had bought out shareholders of the mobile phone company at RM15.60 a share in one of the country's largest corporate transactions. At that price, Ananda's 47.1% stake in Maxis gives him a wealth of RM14 billion, out of the total RM19.62 billion he is estimated to be worth as at Jan 18, our cut-off point for this survey.

However, this hardly changes his wealth level in the rankings as shares of Astro All Asia Networks Plc and Measat Global Bhd have underperformed.

Astro shares have declined some 45% in the last one year on concerns over the performance of the company's overseas operations. During the period, its tranche of foreign shares also experienced all-time lows. Astro has said it does not expect its Indonesian and Indian operations to report good earnings in the near term owing to one-off costs such as added spending on content.

Astro's volatile earnings and undervalued share price have fuelled speculation that Ananda would be taking the pay TV operator private next, the same reasons given for the move to privatise Maxis in May 2007.

Interestingly though, soon after the privatisation of Maxis, Saudi Telecom Co emerged as a strategic shareholder in Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd - the vehicle that Ananda used to buy out Maxis. It is still unknown if the entry of Saudi Telecom was part of the plan for Maxis' privatisation, although Maxis officials have said that is not the case. They hold the view that if not for the privatisation, Saudi Telecom would not have come in as a strategic partner.

Still, Ananda must be praised for giving a handsome premium to buy out Maxis shareholders, possibly the highest premium in any of the recent privatisations. And what Ananda essentially did was to raise bonds to finance the privatisation move, effectively taking Maxis out of the equity market and into the bond market - a clever thing to do considering that Maxis is going through a period of high capital outlay in its overseas markets of India and Indonesia.

Maxis will be re-listed on Bursa Malaysia when it is ripe for a listing, Maxis officials have said.

Measat too found 2007 an equally tough year. Its financial performance was negatively impacted by the mismatch of Measat-3's revenue and its finance and depreciation costs associated with the satellite, which started operations early last year.

On the bright side, Measat's earnings are expected to recover this year with its continued expansion of the direct-to-home customer base on Measat-1R. Measat-1R is scheduled to be launched by end-2008 and will facilitate its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. - BY GURMEET KAUR

3} TAN SRI LEE SHIN CHENG, 69

Group Executive Chairman,

IOI CORPORATION BHD

RM14.94 BILLION

THANKS to the biodiesel craze and rising crude palm oil prices, plantation magnate Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng sees his wealth more than double from RM6.6 billion to RM14.9 billion this year. His ranking also jumps from number six previously to three.

As research house Credit Suisse puts it, `If crude palm oil prices are going up, every plantation stock is going to go up.' And so, not surprisingly, IOI Corp's share price in January 2008 has more than doubled since December 2006, bringing its market capitalisation to RM48.66 billion.

Lee's wealth is derived mainly from his 76% stake in Progressive Holdings Sdn Bhd, the holding company for his IOI Corp flagship. He also has a 0.77% personal stake in IOI Corp. His sons Datuk Lee Yeow Chor and Lee Yeow Seng are also on our list this year, at number 11 and 12 respectively.

What makes the elder Lee special is the way he made his wealth. He started business by selling ice cream on a bicycle, but with hard work and perseverance went into plantations and propelled his IOI Group into one of the largest oil palm plantations in the world, as well as among the most efficient.

These days, Lee takes a more sedate approach to the family business. Some analysts say he leaves most of IOI Group's day-to- day management to eldest son Yeow Chor. Nonetheless, Lee is consulted on every important development, like the group's recent foray into the United States.

Besides business dealings, Lee is a board member of Universiti Putra Malaysia, adviser to the KL & Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a council member of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), and member of the Malaysia-China Business Council.

Additionally, he is widely known via his foundation, Yayasan Tan Sri Datuk Lee Shin Cheng, for providing scholarships to needy students in the country.

- BY KEITH YIU

4} TAN SRI QUEK LENG CHAN, 65

Chairman,

HONG LEONG GROUP

RM11.10 BILLION

TAN SRI QUEK LENG CHAN SEES HIS wealth increase from RM10.3 billion last year to RM11.1 billion this year. However, he is knocked down from third place to fourth by plantation king Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, whose fortunes have more-than-doubled on record palm oil prices.

Still, RM11 billion is nothing to pooh-pooh at. Quek has proven himself a maverick at diversification. While building up a formidable financial empire, he has his fingers in several lucrative pies - property development, oil rigs, biotechnology and gaming, to name a few.

In April 2007, Quek bought 4.52 million shares in Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG), fuelling talks that he was planning on taking the group private. Currently, the tycoon and shareholders aligned to him own about 79% of HLFG. In October 2007, Quek signed a conditional share sale subscription agreement for Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) to acquire a 19% stake in China's Chengdu City Commercial Bank, in a RM877.5 million deal that is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year.

With a HLB branch already in Singapore and Hong Kong, this acquisition will pave the way for Quek to tap into the promising financial services sector in China.

His 65%-owned (via Singapore-listed GuocoLand Ltd) property company, Guocoland Malaysia Bhd, saw its share price shoot up by 180% to RM2.94 last year, making it among the best-performing stocks on the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index. GuocoLand Ltd itself will be pumping US$1.3 billion into a property project in Beijing in a run- up to the 2008 Olympic Games; it plans to double its investment in China to US$5.4 billion to tap the country's growing demand for homes.

Quek has also emerged as a significant shareholder in oil and gas fabricator Kencana Petroleum Bhd, which was listed in December 2006 by executive chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir. Other acquisitions last year include a 15.43% stake (via Associated Land Sdn Bhd) in Mesdaq-listed fertility services provider TMC Life Sciences Bhd, and about 10% of Multi- Purpose Holdings Bhd from gaming firm Magnum Corp Bhd.

Just last month, Quek's Guoco Group upped its stake in British casino, bingo and online betting company Rank Group Plc from 3.17% to 3.09%, a move that seems to suggest he is eyeing a bid for the group. Guoco already has a stake in Galaxy Mega Resort - a flagship development with 269,000 sq ft of gaming space and 1,500 hotel rooms - which is scheduled to open later this year in the Cotai peninsula of Macau.

Quek also owns the Mayfaira Claremont casino in London, and his British- based Thistle Hotel chain holds 25 of the 89 casino licences awarded in Britain. The next casino king, perhaps?

- BY JOANNA SZE

5} TAN SRI SYED MOKHTAR ALBUKHARY, 57

Founder,

ALBUKHARY FOUNDATION

RM8.55 BILLION

THE TYCOON GOT SOME 87% OF his wealth from his flagship MMC Corp Bhd, where he holds a 51.8% stake through his private vehicle, Indra Cita Sdn Bhd. The remainder was derived from eight other listed companies including Tradewinds Corporation Bhd (RM459.95 million), DRB-Hicom (RM236.32 million), Bernas (RM135.40 million), Aliran Ihsan Resources (RM149.54) and Padini Holdings (RM121.18 million).

Analysts say MMC Corp would retain its stable outlook this year and `continue to see strong growth coming from its Middle East developments although profits from Saudi Arabia will take two to four years to roll in'.

Recently, the company signed an agreement with the BinLadin Group and a Chinese aluminium smelter to build an aluminium smelter and power plant at Jizan Economic City in Saudi Arabia. Construction of both smelter and power plant is expected to commence in first-half 2008 at a cost of US$2 billion. MMC Corp has completed the acquisition of 20% in the development of the third container terminal in Jeddah port.

Back home, the company has formally secured the double track rail project from Ipoh to Padang Besar worth some RM12.5 billion, to be completed over 60 months. The project is no longer a private finance initiative (PFI) but will be a straight lump-sum contract from the government. It has also announced the disposal of its Butterworth- Kulim Highway to PLUS for RM134 million.

MMC Corp's wholly owned subsidiary Johor Port has also awarded a RM18.5 million contract to Integrated Marine Works Sdn Bhd, which is a 51% owned subsidiary of Seaport Terminal (Johore) Sdn Bhd, which owns 51.8% of MMC Corp (Seaport Terminal is wholly owned by Indra Cita).

Apparently, Integrated Marine Works is the only company approved by the government to conduct dredging works for all major ports within Malaysia. There is a possibility that it will be injected into MMC Corp. If this happens, analysts say the impact to MMC could be tremendous given the huge potential for port dredging works in Malaysia over the next five years.

In September last year, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai World to develop its 911-hectare Seaport Worldwide Land in Tanjung Bin, Johor into a maritime centre with a gross development value of RM16 billion.

This year, Syed Mokhtar's eyes seem set to focus on Jizan but we could be hugely mistaken to say that his company has no more growth plans for Malaysia. A person of his stature could still surprise on the upside.

- BY JOHANNES RIDU

6} TAN SRI TEH HONG PIOW, 78

Chairman,

PUBLIC BANK BHD

RM8.06 BILLION

TAN SRI TEH HONG PIOW IS ONE of two billionaire-bankers on this year's 40 Richest list (the other is Tan Sri Azman Hashim), with a net worth of RM8.06 billion, up from RM7.55 billion last year.

Teh, who owns 24.20% of Public Bank Bhd and 44.28% of insurance player LPI Capital Bhd, has a net worth of RM7.55 billion. He is richer by RM1.45 billion from the year before, thanks to an increase in the share prices of both the companies.

Teh's gross dividend from Public Bank the last two years has topped more than RM400 million per annum, which works out to more than RM1 million a day!

Not bad for a former bank clerk.

While Public Bank is the country's second-largest lender, it's not resting on its laurels, setting its sights on regional markets. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Cambodian Public Bank, for example, opened its ninth branch in December and is targeting to be the largest lender in Cambodia, having more than doubled its loans portfolio within the past year.

Teh also seems to be aggressively expanding the bank's mutual fund and insurance business. Public Mutual has been launching about a fund a month, for the past four months, targeting investments in the Southeast Asian and Asian markets.

It has also signed a 10-year alliance with the ING Group as part of its strategy to grow its RM15 million insurance business by 10 times over the next five years, in the local and Hong Kong markets.

To add to its already bursting showcase of awards, Public Bank was named Best Bank in Malaysia 2007 by British-based financial publication Euromoney; and Best Domestic Bank in Malaysia, for the sixth time, by Hong Kong-based Asiamoney magazine. It was also the recipient of the Malaysian Business Corporate Governance Award 2006 for the fifth consecutive year, in recognition of its good corporate governance practices.

As a bank for the public, the financial institution also practises corporate social responsibility, having made several donations last yearto, among others, the National Heart Institute Foundation, the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia and the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Police Club. Recently, it contributed RM1.5 million to TAR College to establish the TARC-Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow Student Loan Fund.

- BY JOANNA SZE

7} TAN SRI TIONG HIEW KING, 71

Executive Chairman,

RIMBUNAN HIJAU GROUP

RM3.87 BILLION

THE wealth of timber tycoon Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King has increased almost 60% in the past 12 months. During the course of the year, Tiong bought directly into Ming Pao Enterprise Corp Ltd, Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd, EON Capital Bhd and Rimbunan Sawit Bhd, as well as increased his direct stake in Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd.

Though these direct stakes were still under 1% each, accumulatively they account for quite a substantial sum. Some counters in his stable of companies had also seen increases in their share prices. Rimbunan Sawit gained 39.4% to RM2.64 per share and EON Capital surged 57.6% to RM2.08. Tiong's unlisted timber concerns have been valued at RM2 billion for the purpose of our calculation.

Tiong is also hailed as the `Rupert Murdoch' of the Chinese media world. The proposed merger of the three media companies under his control - Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd, Sin Chew Media Corp Bhd and Ming Pao Enterprise Corp Ltd - will create the largest Chinese media group outside mainland China and Taiwan.

The merger is slated for completion by mid-year now that shareholders of all three companies had given their approval. A new board of directors for the merged entity, comprising members of the three companies, will be appointed, probably by March. Tiong will assume the position of executive chairman of the enlarged entity.

Sin Chew will have primary listings in Malaysia and Hong Kong. The dual primary listing will be carried out via a reverse take- over of the Hong Kong-listed Ming Pao. The latter will emerge as the new holding company in Sin Chew, Nanyang and the existing business of Ming Pao. The enlarged group, post-merger, is anticipated to expand its global markets into Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia as well as venture into television and radio.

Ming Pao already has a stable of newspapers and magazines in various countries. Its Hong Kong daily Min Pao is the fourth best- selling newspaper in that market. Ming Pao, also available in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver and Toronto, enjoys a stronghold in the Chinese communities there.

Locally, Tiong has a monopoly of the Chinese language newspaper market, with about 90% market share, via his control of Sin Chew, which publishes Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily, and Nanyang Holdings, which has Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press.

Having cornered the nation's Chinese language newspaper market, Tiong reportedly plans to launch a local English daily early this year in Sarawak, and maybe take it nationwide eventually. Tiong already has an English daily in Papua New Guinea, The National, which started in 1990.

It is believed that the venture may not involve any of his local listed media companies, though Nanyang has had an English language daily licence for the past 12 years.

Tiong has over the past two decades worked on a global scale to erect a diversified business empire spanning six continents. His Rimbunan Hijau group, which started as a timber company in 1975, now has not only timber exporting and timber processing businesses, but had expanded to cover finance, media, IT, mining, aquaculture, agriculture (oil palm plantation), reforestation, trading and property development.

Its overseas timber operations in Papua New Guinea is the largest in that country and it has interests in logging operations in Russia as well. In addition, the Tiong family has a number of business interests and investments in Australia.

- BY YVONNE CHONG

8} TAN SRI VINCENT TAN CHEE YIOUN, 56

Chairman,

BERJAYA GROUP

RM3.41 BILLION THE wealth of Tan Sri Vincent Tan has more than tripled since January 2007, ranking him among the 10 richest Malaysians this year. The increase was mainly due to the spectacular gains in the market capitalisation of listed Berjaya group companies, coupled with larger direct stakes he now holds in these companies.

The share prices of Berjaya Corp Bhd (BJCorp) and Berjaya Land Bhd (BJLand), which had been sub-RM1 in recent years, started picking up slowly towards the end of 2006. The upward momentum accelerated in the third quarter of last year.

Since Jan 19, 2007, BJCorp's share price has shot up to RM1.41 from 25.5 sen; while BJLand registered an even more amazing growth of 681% to RM6.25 from 80 sen. Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BJToto) was also popular among investors, gaining 14.13% from RM4.60 to RM5.25.

Meanwhile, Tan has steadily increased his direct interest in BJCorp from 2.1% (as at Jan 11, 2007) to a whopping 28.78% as at the year's end. Over the course of the year, he had also increased his direct stakes in BJLand to 4.49% and BJToto to 5.36%, from 4.18% and 4.74%, respectively.

The investment community had shunned the group as a whole since the late 1990s due to the string of inter-company loans from subsidiaries to parent companies within the group, the most notorious being the RM1 billion that BJToto advanced to its immediate parent company BJLand.

Recognising that Berjaya had scarce goodwill among fund managers and investors, Tan has been trying to build confidence in the group. He recently met up with fund managers and analysts and confidently announced that there would be no more bad news from the group.

Could these share price gains perhaps be an indication that the efforts are starting to bear fruits?

For the past two years, Berjaya had been undergoing a group restructuring exercise to improve its fundamentals, especially at the BJCorp level. Berjaya Group Bhd was taken private in 2006. And last year, good cash flow generating companies Cosway Corp Bhd and Berjaya Capital Bhd were also taken private, in June and August respectively.

Analysts agree that as a group, Berjaya has improved and will further move in the right direction if it sells off lesser performing assets. It is also trying to build another Berjaya in Vietnam. Though it has no track record outside of Malaysia and has little success in its overseas investments, Tan seems confident BJLand will make it in Vietnam.

He is also particularly bullish about Cosway, which he says is successful in Hong Kong and Taiwan and will spread its wings to India, South Korea and Japan. While the dust has yet to settle, Tan made another move that set the market abuzz - the consolidation of the ownership of Nexnews Bhd under BCorp and himself that sparked market talk that a sale of the publisher is in the works. BJCorp last month acquired 35.69% of Nexnews, making it a 54.6%-owned subsidiary. The stake purchase also raised Tan's direct and indirect equity interest to 88.35% in Nexnews.

- BY YVONNE CHONG

9} TAN SRI LIM KOK THAY, 56

Executive Chairman,

GENTING GROUP

RM3.20 BILLION

SINCE WE INTRODUCED THE MB 40 Richest Malaysians survey in 2001, our list has always prominently featured the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, the founder of Genting Group, in one of the top five positions. Last year, he was ranked fourth, with a fortune valued at RM9.67 billion.

Lim was the epitome of the Malaysian Dream. In the 1930s, he set sail to Malaysia with nothing more than the shirt on his back and a few dollars in his pocket. Prior to his death last year, Lim had controlled a sprawling business empire encompassing gaming, plantations, property, power generation, oil and gas exploration, and hospitality.

Today, his son Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay has taken over the mantle of the Genting Group. The transition from father to son appears seamless as Kok Thay had taken control of the day-to-day management of Genting Group since 2000.

Some analysts suggest that Kok Thay is now grooming his nephew Justin Leong. Educated at Harrow and Oriel College, Oxford, and having spent four years working with Goldman Sachs, Leong is the first of Lim's grandsons to have gone into the family business.

As at the time of writing, public documents on the current shareholding structure of Kien Huat Realty, the holding company for most of the Genting group of companies, were unavailable. We thus calculated Kok Thay's wealth using last's year shareholding structure as well as tracing corporate developments over the year.

This year, the tycoon's wealth has catapulted to RM3.2 billion from RM2.6 billion previously, although his ranking has slipped one notch to number nine.

Since the passing of his father, Kok Thay has pushed ahead with the group's international plans. In December, Resorts World said it would increase its Sentosa integrated resort investments from S$5.2 billion to S$6 billion due to rising building costs and more attractions being added.

Kok Thay may also change the wealth direction of his family. In November, JPMorgan Chase pointed out that Genting could raise its value by 61% by selling non-gaming units like the property, oil and gas, and energy businesses. Though this may seem speculative, it could eventually make Genting into a pure gaming company, some analysts say.

This year, Kok Thay may even take Genting Group to Hadong-gun City in South Korea, marking the group's first foray into that country. Under South Korean law, foreigners who invest over US$500 million are allowed to operate casinos, though they have to be exclusive to non-citizens. CIMB Research reckons this could be Genting's newest gem, and Asia's newest gaming hub after Macau.

- BY KEITH YIU

10} TAN SRI AZMAN HASHIM, 68

Executive Chairman,

AMCORP GROUP BHD

RM2.87 BILLION

THE BIGGEST JUMP IN WEALTH this year goes to Tan Sri Azman Hashim, making him the new billionaire and pushing him 12 rungs up to number 10.

The seasoned banker's net worth has grown 4.4 times from just RM656.20 million last year, thanks to surging investor appetite for AMMB Holdings Bhd's shares, which is 18.09% owned by his privately held company AmCorp Group Bhd.

At the time of writing, the company's market capitalisation was RM9.44 billion.

AMMB contributed RM2.11 billion or 73.5% to Azman's wealth. The rest came from AIGB (RM347.80 million), RCE Capital (RM221.06 million), ECM Libra (RM168.67 million) and Mesdaq counter MCM Technologies Bhd (RM26.13 million).

The reason for the strong appetite for AMMB shares could be the increasingly stronger presence of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) in the banking group's management.

It is learnt that ANZ, which is now AMMB's second-largest shareholder with a 14.1% stake, is gradually incorporating new strategies into the AmBank group. This effort is expected to translate to profit contribution over a period of 12 months.

Analysts say AMMB's hire-purchase portfolio would be reviewed and streamlined with the aim of improving profitability. It is also understood that the bank has reviewed its credit card business and is awaiting execution of strategies.

AMMB has also announced the establishment of AmG Insurance to undertake AmAssurance's general insurance business. It is widely speculated that AMMB is keen to split the AmAssurance life and general business into two entities.

AMMB has also completed its second tranche of corporate non- performing loans (NPLs) with cash proceeds of RM103.2 million. Analysts say the disposal would enable the company to increase cash flow and improve its net margin and profitability by using the proceeds from the NPL sale for new lending activities.

Last year Azman said AMMB was keen to buy another bank, but recently he sang a different tune saying, `the idea is quite a distance away now'.

Personally, 2007 has been quite a tragic year for Azman. He lost his mother Zabedah Shahid, 89, who died of kidney failure in March. In October, he lost his eldest son Shahaz Hashim, 43, who died following a heart ailment.

Azman launched his career in banking with Bank Negara Malaysia in 1960. He served in Malayan Banking Bhd and Kwong Yik Bank Bhd before moving to the AmBank group.

- BY JOHANNES RIDU

11} DATUK LEE YEOW CHOR, 42

Executive Director,

IOI CORPORATION BHD

RM2.33 BILLION

12} LEE YEOW SENG, 29

Special PA to Group CEO,

IOI CORPORATION BHD

RM2.30 BILLION

AS THE SONS OF IOI CORPORAtion Bhd doyen Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, Datuk Lee Yeow Chor and Datuk Lee Yeow Seng represent the continuity of the Lee family business into the second generation.

Not unlike a young Shin Cheng in the 1970s and 1980s, his sons have brought new ideas into the IOI Group and taken it further in the new millennium.

Yeow Chor is credited with bringing IOI Properties to Singapore. The group now has a residential development project in Sentosa Cove and expects to start more development projects in the republic over the next two years.

He is also expanding into other countries, with an oil palm refinery in the United States and plans for more plantations in Indonesia.

Both Yeow Chor and Yeow Seng's wealth are derived from their stakes in holding company Progressive Holdings Sdn Bhd, which owns 39.26% of IOI Corp.

As the eldest son, Yeow Chor has an additional RM30 million wealth from his larger personal stake in IOI Corp. He controls a personal stake of 0.09% in IOI Corp while Yeow Seng has 0.01%.

Following the biodiesel craze, IOI's share price has more than doubled since December 2006. Aside from palm oil, IOI Corp also manufactures oleochemicals and specialty oils and fats and is active in property development and investments.

- BY KEITH YIU

13} TAN SRI YEOH TIONG LAY, 78

Executive Chairman, YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM1.75 BILLION

THE PATRIARCH OF THE FORMIdable YTL Group, Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, sees his net worth increase 12.6% from RM1.55 billion the previous year. However, this is not enough for him to retain his Top 10 placing, putting him in 13th place. Still, RM1.75 billion is not too bad a sum for someone who could very well be retired.

The family company was founded by Yeoh's father, Yeoh Cheng Liam, in 1955. Yeoh, a chartered builder, grew the company in the 1960s and 1970s before handing over the reins to his children, led by eldest son Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping.

Today, flagship YTL Corporation Bhd is one of Bursa Malaysia's largest conglomerates, boasting a track record of 55% compounded growth since its listing in 1986, with four other listed subsidiaries involved in sectors such as power generation, property, cement and technology.

The younger generations of Yeohs are determined to bring the family business empire to even greater heights, with a target US$100 billion in market capitalisation by 2020. (Currently, the group has a combined market capitalisation of about RM30 billion, or about US$9 billion).

`The company has a great history and strong foundation to work towards becoming a strong company,' said Francis in a recent interview. `The people in the early days, who understood the value of the brand, were able to continually grow the business year-in- year-out in revenue and profits, and to continue to pay dividends.'

Financial year ended June 30, 2007 was the 23rd consecutive year that YTL Corp declared dividends to its shareholders, and record ones at that - three interim dividends of 15% each, a final dividend of 5% and a restricted offer for sale of one ordinary share of RM0.50 in YTL Power International Bhd, at an offer price of RM1, for every 10 YTL Corp shares.

That same year, net profit for the group grew 20.5% to RM1.4 million, from RM1.2 million last year. Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2007 rose 46% to RM224.6 million from RM154.1 million a year earlier.

Last month, Yeoh was conferred the `Order of the Rising Sun, Goldrays with Neck Ribbon' by the Emperor of Japan in recognition of his efforts in promoting economic cooperation between Malaysia and Japan. YTL Corp was the first Malaysian (and non-Japanese Asian) company to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1996, while Yeoh is also an active member of the Malaysia Japan Economic Association.

Yeoh has been honorary life president of the Master Builders Association Malaysia since 1988, and is the past president and life member of the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors' Association.

- BY JOANNA SZE

14} ONG BENG SENG, 62

Co-founder and Managing Director,

HOTEL PROPERTIES LTD (SINGAPORE)

RM1.74 BILLION

THE SECRETIVE YET FLAMBOYANT Ong Beng Seng is new in this year's list. He was excluded in previous lists due to his residency in Singapore and the fact that his operations were mainly located there. But of late he has been increasing his investments in Malaysia with his Malaysian business partner Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Syed Nasir.

Ong was born into a wealthy family in Malaysia but the family moved to Singapore in 1950 when he was four years old. But he remains a Malaysian. Ong quickly displayed a talent for making money and by the early 1970s had earned his first fortune in a business selling shipping insurance. In 1975, Ong joined his tycoon father- in-law, Peter Fu Yun Siak, in Fu's company Kuo International.

Recognising the potential for entering the property market, Ong formed Hotel Properties Pte Ltd in 1981 to lead Kuo International's acquisition of hotels and other properties. The year after, the company went public in Singapore, changing its name to Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL).

From just two hotels back in 1991, Ong's flagship company HPL grew to a stable of 19 hotels with nearly 4,000 rooms in eight countries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, HPL Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd and Concorde Hotels and Resorts (M) Sdn Bhd, the group provides hotel management services to a number of hotels in the region.

The HPL group also develops prime, luxurious residential properties, mostly in Singapore, as well as rental and sales operations on completed residential properties and commercial units.

Through its associated companies, HPL holds franchises to operate Hard Rock Cafes in Asia (excluding Japan) and owns nine Hard Rock Cafes in the region, including the one in Kuala Lumpur. It also sells and distributes Haagen-Dazs ice cream in Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, it owns Planet Hollywood Malaysia.

HPL-managed hotels in Malaysia include Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Concorde Hotel Shah Alam, Lakehouse Cameron Highlands and Casa del Mar, Langkawi. HPL is expecting to open Malaysia's first Hard Rock Hotel in Penang this year.

Most of Ong's business dealings in Malaysia are through partnership with Syed Mohd Yusof, who also looks after the business interests of Selangor's Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Most publicised of the trio's venture is the construction of a US$265 million Four Seasons hotel and apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur, next to the Petronas Twin Towers. The venture, under Venus Assets Sdn Bhd and on Ong's privately owned land, will be one of the largest construction projects in the city.

Meanwhile, Ong's wife Christina is one of Asia's style icons, the chatelaine of a fashion empire that includes ownership of the licences for Jil Sander and Issey Miyake in Asia, Giorgio Armani in Australia, and Donna Karan in Britain. Forbes listed Christina Ong as 36th in its Singapore rich list, with a net worth of S$150 million.

It is difficult to estimate the Ongs' total worth as most of their lucrative franchises, and some luxury properties, are held via privately owned companies such as the Como Resorts & Hotels and Club 21.

Club 21 operates 200 fashion stores worldwide and Ishop, which claims to be Asia's largest Apple reseller. Como owns several luxury spas and hotels in various countries.

Through holding company Challice Ltd, the Ongs control Britain's Mulberry Group Plc with 59.6% ownership. Mulberry makes and sells high-end accessories, and select women's and men's apparel.

Through private holding company 98 Holdings Pte Ltd, Ong holds 51.23% of Singapore-listed Natsteel Ltd. Natsteel's principal activities are in manufacturing and trading of building products, lime, industrial chemicals and spreader crane, property and resort development, and investment holding.

- BY YVONNE CHONG

15} TAN SRI JEFFREY CHEAH FOOK LING, 62

Chairman,

SUNWAY GROUP

RM1.49 BILLION

THE WEALTH OF TAN SRI JEFFREY Cheah has more than doubled to RM1.49 billion, thanks to impressive gains in the share prices of Sunway Holdings Bhd and Sunway City Bhd (SunCity). Sunway shares had surged 144% to RM1.71 while SunCity gained 69.23% to RM4.40.

The group sees strong prospects going forward, especially with the restructuring exercise of Sunway Infrastructure Bhd (SunInfra) completed. Sunway Holdings is close to divesting its 36.16% stake in loss-making SunInfra to bondholders, marking the exit of the group from the highway concession business altogether.

SunInfra, through Sistem Lingkaran-Lebuhraya Kajang Sdn Bhd (SILK), has a concession to collect toll at the RM1.25 billion, 37km highway in Kajang until 2037. But poor traffic volume has affected toll collection.

Sunway has successfully expanded its construction materials, quarrying and property development business abroad. Half the earnings of Sunway Holdings for the financial year ending June 30 are expected to come from overseas, especially Singapore, India, China, Vietnam, Trinidad and Tobago. Its construction, quarry and building materials divisions also stand to benefit from the Ninth Malaysia Plan while the supply of construction materials to Singapore will also boost earnings.

The Sunway story started in 1974 when Cheah founded a tin-mining company, the SungeiWay Enterprise, with a paid-up capital of RM100,000. Today, Sunway is a thriving conglomerate with total shareholders' funds of around RM1.5 billion.

The group's flagship project - the multi-billion ringgit Bandar Sunway development - has received awards and international recognition as a tourism landmark. Sunway describes the development as an engineering miracle that transformed 323 hectares of disused and derelict mining land into an integrated, self-contained resort township surrounded by lush greenery.

In line with the Sunway credo for excellence, the group recently garnered the prestigious sixth placing, the first for any Malaysian company, on the Hewitt-Fortune-RBL Top Companies for Leaders 2007 - Asia Pacific.

- BY YVONNE CHONG

16} DATUK YAW TECK SENG, 70

Founder,

SAMLING GROUP

RM1.39 BILLION

ALTHOUGH DATUK YAW TECK Seng's ranking slips three notches, his equity worth has improved by some RM300 million over the past year. Last March, the Miri-based timber tycoon took Lingui Developments Bhd private and relisted it under Samling Global Ltd on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The listing was well received but Samling Global's share price has gone on a free fall since last July, losing a third of its value at the time of writing, over concerns for the outlook for the group. If not, the wealth figure of the Yaw family, held mainly through holding company Samling Strategic Sdn Bhd, would have been much higher.

The man leading Yaw's integrated timber, development and plantation interests is his eldest son Yaw Chee Ming. Both men are known to keep a low profile. Samling has some four million hectares of forest resources spread across Malaysia, Guyana and New Zealand. The group's main markets for its timber and related products are China, Japan and India.

Yaw's plantations business under Glenealy Plantations (Malaya) Bhd is working to grow its planted acreage via acquisitions and sub- licensing deals.

Construction and property development however will also be an area Samling is set to expand in. The group has hotels in Sarawak and is involved in development projects such as the land reclamation project in Miri, after which the place will be developed with commercial and residential properties. The group portfolio of construction and development projects could expand further within the Sarawak Regional Corridor of Development.

- BY BHUPINDER SINGH

17} DATUK SERI LEE OI HIAN, 58

Non-Independent, Non-Executive Chairman,

BATU KAWAN BHD

RM1.304 BILLION

18} DATUK LEE HAU HIAN, 55

Managing Director,

BATU KAWAN BHD

RM1.301 BILLION

DATUK Seri Lee Oi Hian, eldest son of the late rubber baron Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng, is just RM3 million richer than his younger brother Datuk Lee Hau Hian. Their younger brother Datuk Lee Soon Hian, 51, who was on our list last year, no longer has a stake in the family flagship company Batu Kawan Bhd, which owns 46% of plantation giant KL Kepong Bhd.

The two brothers derived some 97% of their wealth from Batu Kawan, which they collectively own 48% of through their private vehicle, Wan Hin Investments Sdn Bhd. At the time of writing, Batu Kawan had a market capitalisation of RM5.19 billion.

The remainder of their fortune - about RM29 million each - came from their direct interest in KL Kepong, a top plantation stock on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of RM19.10 billion as at Jan 18, our cut-off point for calculation in this survey.

In November last year, KL Kepong acquired the entire equity interest of Shanghai Jinshan Jinwei Chemical Company Ltd, which manufacturers fatty amines, cationic surfactants and auxiliary materials for the cosmetics, detergent and tobacco industries. It also acquired chemical company Uniqema (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd earlier in September.

Lately, Batu Kawan and KL Kepong have been acquiring Indonesian plantation companies with huge land banks in East and Central Kalimantan.

There was a sharp decline in crude palm oil (CPO) prices in the third quarter of January. Analysts believe this was prompted by fears that slower US economic growth would slow demand for energy, including bioethanol. They, however, are still bullish about plantation stocks, with most maintaining CPO price assumptions of RM3,100 per tonne this year, RM2,800 next year and RM2,650 in 2010.

If that is true and the long-term outlook for CPO remains bullish, the brothers should still be on our list come next year.

- BY JOHANNES RIDU

19} TAN SRI FRANCIS YEOH SOCK PING, 54

Managing Director

YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM993.33 MILLION

20} DATUK MOKHZANI MAHATHIR, 46

Executive Chairman,

KENCANA PETROLEUM BHD

RM975.46 MILLION

DATUK MOKHZANI MAHATHIR falls short of just RM25 million to being a billionaire this year. Still, his fortune grew quite substantially from just RM654.9 million last year, thanks to a commendable performance by his flagship Kencana Petroleum Bhd, where he holds a 46.53% stake.

Kencana is one of the seven holders of major fabrication licences in Malaysia. This allows it to fabricate offshore platform topsides and jackets. It also has an engineering arm that gives it an added edge in securing more technologically demanding contracts.

Its current projects include jobs in Malaysia and overseas with exposure to the new gas field developments offshore Sarawak, Malaysia-Thai Joint Development Area and the Asia Petroleum hub.

The company's new venture will be drilling rig fabrication and rig ownership that it is entering through a new yard acquired in Lumut and also a joint venture with Thailand's Mermaid Maritime Pte Ltd. Kencana is likely to secure its drilling rigs charter contract by March this year, analysts say. The company, through its 100%- owned fabrication unit, Kencana HL, is building a tender assisted drilling rig for its 25%-owned associate Mermaid Kencana Rig 1. This drilling rig will then be supplied to its 60%-owned subsidiary, Kencana Drilling Sdn Bhd, once the lattersources a drilling contract.

The company started out in 1982 as a contractor for fabrication yards providing skilled and unskilled manpower. It was founded as Hin Loon Engineering. It began operations in 2000 at its Lumut Fabrication Yard where it fabricates structures related to offshore production plaftforms. It was awarded its first topside and jacket project from Murphy Oil in 2002 for the West Patricia field.

Mokhzani, who is the second son of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, loves motor-sports. He has been chairman of Sepang International Circuit Sdn Bhd since 2003. He graduated with a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1987.

He began his career as a wellsite operations engineer with Sarawak Shell Bhd in 1987 and later joined Tongkah Holdings Bhd in 1989, where he was appointed group managing director, a post he held till 2001. He was also chairman and group CEO of Pantai Holdings Bhd till 2001. He now sits on the board of Goldtron Ltd (Singapore), Kencana Capital Sdn Bhd and several private limited companies.

- BY JOHANNES RIDU

21} DATUK YEOH SEOK HONG, 49

Director,

YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM883.71 MILLION

22} DATUK YEOH SEOK KIAN, 51

Deputy Managing Director,

YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM881.58 MILLION

23} DATUK MICHAEL YEOH SOCK SIONG, 48

Director,

YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM878.85 MILLION

24} DATUK MARK YEOH SEOK KAH, 43

Director,

YTL CORPORATION BHD

RM862.97 MILLION

ONCE AGAIN, THE YEOH BROTHers make the list with an increased combined net worth of RM4.5 billion, from RM4.26 billion last year. This excludes their parents and sisters' share of the family fortune.

With Francis at the helm, each sibling is also actively involved in various areas of the group, with their children also emerging on the company front.

For the ambitious Yeohs, Malaysia is not big enough a market. As it is, approximately 48% of the group's revenue in 2007 came from its overseas operations.

It continues to be aggressively making its mark on the international business arena, especially in countries known for their transparency and stability such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, as well as emerging regional markets.

Managing director Francis has also hinted at the possibility of listing YTL Corp overseas to address the issue of its undervalued shares.

Utility arm YTL Power International Bhd's 33.5%-owned ElectraNet Pty Ltd owns and operates the power transmission grid for South Australia under a 200-year concession, and its wholly owned UK- based Wessex Water Ltd has been named as Britain's top water and sewerage company.

It also owns 35% of PT Jawa Power, which has a 1,200 MW power plant in Indonesia, and a 100% interest in its operating and maintenance company PT YTL Jawa Timur.

The group's newest luxury resort, Spa Village Resort Tembok, in Bali, Indonesia, commenced operations last year, while it will be jointly developing a RM270 million luxury resort in Koh Samui, Thailand, with Lehman Brothers Investments Pte Ltd.

Down in Singapore, the group recently won a tender to buy 50 condominiums en bloc for S$435 million (RM1.01 billion) cash - its third land acquisition in Singapore in the past two years (apart from the high- end Lakefront and Sandy Island residential development projects in Sentosa Cove).

While the local cement operations have benefited from improved operational efficiencies and increased selling prices, the group recently purchased Zhejiang Lin'an Jin Yuan Cement Co Ltd in China - the country's largest cement manufacturer with a 60% market share - in the Lin'an district of Zhejiang Province.

The group is also exporting its Starhill branding and mall- management expertise, beginning with a Starhill Gallery concept in Dubai, and then possibly London, Shanghai, Moscow, Jakarta, Oman and Abu Dhabi.

YTL has also won a RM1.03 billion government contract to clean up Malaysia's polluted rivers using its technology from Wessex, a step in its bid to expand its water-treatment business throughout Asia.

On the homefront, the group's construction arm is expected to further benefit from projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, while property development was boosted by government initiatives.

The first phase of d7, YTL Land's maiden commercial development in Sentul East, Kuala Lumpur, was snapped up within a day at its pre- launch sales.

Besides being a firm promoter of the arts and philanthropic causes, YTL

25} TAN SRI HAMDAN MOHAMAD, 52

President/Chief Executive,

RANHILL BHD

RM855.32 MILLION

THE FORTUNE OF TAN SRI HAMDAN Mohamad soared to RM855.32 million this year following a rally in the share price of Ranhill Bhd, the entrepreneur's flagship company. As at Jan 18, Ranhill shares had risen by 73% to push Hamdan up to 25th spot from 32nd previously.

Hamdan has a 9.94% direct stake in Ranhill and another 54.3% indirectly via his private holding company Ranhill Corporation Sdn Bhd and Lambang Optima Sdn Bhd.

A structural engineer by training, Hamdan has transformed Ranhill from a pure engineering company to one with three core businesses - utility (power and water), infrastructure and energy (oil and gas). Its power and utility units are both listed on Bursa Malaysia.

He is amongst the few Bumiputera businessmen to have successfully spearheaded Malaysian companies overseas. Out of the RM12.5 billion worth of projects it has in hand, 85% are foreign jobs.

These ventures span from Asia to North Africa and the Americas and are expected to keep Hamdan and his company busy for the next four to five years.

It is eyeing to penetrate other market overseas and have identified Russia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran as potential destinations.

With this huge order book, Hamdan is optimistic that Ranhill should be able to record about RM2 billion in revenue for the financial year (FY) ending June 30, 2008, and RM3 billion in 2009. Ranhill returned to the black in FY2007 with net profit of RM 116 million on the back of RM1.47 billion in revenue.

Last year it set the market abuzz when the company announced it may have found oil reserves at one of its wells in the Citarum PSC in West Java, Indonesia. With rising oil prices, any discovery would augur well for a company drilling for oil for the first time. And that would add another dimension to its diversified asset ownership and portfolio. And swell revenues too!

- BY GURMEET KAUR

26} RAJA DATUK SERI ELEENA RAJA AZLAN SHAH, 47

Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director,

GAMUDA BHD

RM838.40 MILLION

RAJA DATUK SERI ELEENA RAJA Azlan Shah is one of only two ladies that made it to this year's list. The barrister-at-law from Lincoln's Inn, London, currently runs her own legal practice. She was appointed to the board of Gamuda on June 1, 1992.

Via private investment arm Generasi Setia (M) Sdn Bhd and a small direct stake, Eleena holds 8.02% equity interest in Gamuda. The increase in Gamuda's share price has resulted in her wealth swelling by 78.65%, compared to last year.

Gamuda is a leader in turnkey and build-operate-transfer (BOT) civil engineering infrastructure and township development, with projects and investments in South East and Far East Asia, Indochina, South Asia and the Middle East.

Last month, Gamuda was named Euromoney's `Best Managed and Governed Company in Asia 2008' for construction services. It was cited as having clear and differentiated business strategy, strong execution and delivery, high dividend payout, good management accessibility and transparency in investor relations.

Gamuda is involved in many high profile jobs including the construction of the SMART tunnel in Kuala Lumpur. Together with MMC Corp, it was recently awarded the revived project to construct a double-track railway line from Ipoh to Padang Besar worth RM12.5 billion. The multi-billion project was shelved in 2003 as part of the government's initiative to narrow the budget deficit. MMC- Gamuda had also won the project back then, worth RM8.5 billion at that time.

Meanwhile, the group's wholly owned Gamuda Land Vietnam LLC is developing the RM10 billion Yen So Park integrated development project near Hanoi. The project includes the design and construction of a RM1.5 billion sewerage treatment plant, the biggest in Vietnam; and Vietnam's largest public park. Both are expected to be ready by 2010.

Gamuda will at the same location develop a new urban centre and residential township with a gross development value of RM8 billion over the next 8-10 years. The development is expected to start contributing strongly to group earnings from the current financial year ending July 31 onwards. Gamuda is said to be also eyeing another property project in west Hanoi.

Gamuda's earnings visibility is good as its RM11 billion order book underpins construction earnings up to the financial year-end 2012.

Eleena, who is the daughter of the Sultan of Perak, is also a director in KAF-Seagroatt & Campbell Holdings Bhd, in which she has some 15% interest, and Danau Permai Resort Bhd.

- BY YVONNE CHONG

27} TAN SRI DR LIM WEE-CHAI, 50

Executive Chairman,

TOP GLOVE CORPORATION BHD

RM787.25 MILLION

FOR THE FIRST TIME, TAN SRI DR Lim Wee Chai's wealth has taken a dive since the listing of Top Glove Corporation Bhd in 2002. He is only one of four Malaysian tycoons to see their wealth falling.

On the back of Top Glove's reduced market capitalisation of RM1698.5 million in 2008, Lim's wealth currently stands at RM787.25 million, down 32% year-on-year. The share price of Top Glove has fallen over 50% in the last one year.

Source here