BIMB still keen on Indonesia

Folks,

Few weeks back, I went to BIMB Holdings Bhd's extraordinary general meeting.

BIMB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji. The group also owns Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, Islamic insurance outfit Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd and investment firm BIMB Securities (Holdings) Sdn Bhd.

Initially, BIMB group managing director Encik Johan Abdullah refused to be interviewed, but then he agreed for a quick 5-minutes. He is a tough, no-nonsense man but a friendly person.

Among the questions I asked him was, "are you not unfazed and unperturbed by the proposed creation of mega Islamic bank in Malaysia?".

To this, he said that there is a lot of room for organic growth, and the group is "not fixated in numbers."

And furthermore, Johan also said that BIMB is keen to penetrate Indonesia, but the plan is preliminary with "nothing on the table."

I think that this will be a good move, given that BIMB may reap benefits from the large populations in the island country and the growing middle-class there.

Currently, two Malaysian banks are present in Indonesia - CIMB and Maybank.

RHB attempted to penetrate there, but pulled-out. But then, it does not have to worry as RHB is in the process of undergoing a tripartite merger with CIMB and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) which will create a banking giant in Malaysia with total assets worth RM614 billion.

It is worth noting too that some analysts have said that the banking environment in Malaysia has reached a saturated state.

Whether this is true or not, I leave that to you to judge.

But on a personal note, I think there is some truth in it, as there are quite a number of banks operating in a sizable market in the country.

Perhaps, further consolidation through merger and acquisition may excite the "somewhat dull" banking scene in Malaysia.

The Edge Financial Daily, Tuesday, Oct 28, 2014

Finally, Euro 5 fuel is here!

Folks,

It is heartening to note that Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd (BHPetrol), a subsidiary of conglomerate Boustead Holdings Bhd, has finally introduced Euro 5 fuel to Malaysian cars, today.

BHPetrol will sell the Euro 5 fuel at four of its stations in Johor: BHPetrol Pagoh South, BHPetrol Pagoh North, BHPetrol Tebrau 2 and BHPetrol Pasir Gudang 3.

"A further seven BHPetrol stations in Johor will be offering the high grade diesel within two weeks later," BHPetrol said in a media statement today.

BHP Petrol currently have 36 petrol stations in Johor.

The fuel will be sold at an initial price of RM2.30 per litre or 10 sen higher, as compared to RM2.20 liter of diesel sold currently.

The fuel is expected to cater for Malaysian vehicles, especially lorries and buses, that will enter Singapore.

This is because, Singapore’s National Environment Agency has introduced a law which will fine Malaysian vehicles for not using Euro 5 fuel with S$150 fines for first time offenders, and S$200 for second offence and S$300 for third and subsequent offences.

"The government has recently approved the sale of EURO 5 Diesel in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia for diesel-powered vehicles entering Singapore. This follows the Singapore government’s introduction of tighter Euro5 emission standard that went into effect from July 1, 2014.  Modern advanced diesel engine vehicles using Euro5 diesel will be able to meet the new standard and this is good news for the vehicles going to Singapore," BHPetrol added.  

On average, it is estimated that some 4,000 lorries and buses enters Singapore daily.

Euro 5 is touted to be clean, fuel efficient and more importantly, it emits less smoke thereby reducing air pollution.

To recap, I previously, on Friday (June 27, 2014), wrote about the issue of automotive fuel quality Euro 5 in Malaysia.

The article is shown below.

The Edge Financial Daily, Friday, June 27, 2014

Currently, our country is using Euro 3 fuel quality, while our neighbor in the south – Singapore –has already implemented Euro 5.

I will soon be following this issue with our state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on this issue, as I am sure that they would not want to be left behind.

After all, there are quite a lot of commercial vehicles – lorries, buses, trucks etc – spread across the country, and BHPetrol alone is not enough to cater nationwide, given their limited stations.

Petronas, meanwhile, operates more than 900 stations in the country.

I firmly believe that the country needs a better quality fuel, so as to reduce air pollution and at the same time, be on par with other advanced nation.

Thanks also to Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) for their relentless effort in bringing the country’s automotive standard to the next level.

They have indeed been vocal and aggressive, all in the name of “bettering” the automotive scene in Malaysia.