Giants of business

Malaysian Business, Oct 1, 2005

TANJONG PLC

TANJONG'S wholly owned unit, Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP), was the

money-spinner for T Ananda Krishnan in his early years as a businessman in

the late 1980s. PMP later assumed management of the National Stud Farm.

From its main business in the management of racing and the numbers

forecast totalisator, the group diversified into power generation via the

acquisition of independent power producer Powertek Bhd, as well as into

entertainment, property investment and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Tanjong, with three power plants in its stable with a total capacity of

1,490 megawatts, has been expanding quite aggressively in foreign markets,

particularly in its power generation division. It is now in talks to buy

two power plants with total capacity of 1,366MW in Egypt from Electricite

de France, the state-owned and world's largest utility group.

The group is part of a consortium led by Marubeni Corp that won the bid

for a 40% stake in a water and power project in Abu Dhabi, United Arab

Emirates, and has invested in Tropical Islands Resort in Berlin, Germany.

Its LPG operation is based in China. Other ventures include a 4% stake in

National Transcommunications Ltd and NTL Digital Ltd in the United Kingdom

and a 24.5% stake in a gaming venture in Moscow.

For FY05, Tanjong posted a group net profit of RM392.3 million or 97.9

sen a share on the back of RM3 billion in sales. The company is forecast

to achieve earnings per share of 83.9 sen for FY06.

MAXIS COMMUNICATIONS BHD

T. ANANDA Krishnan's telecommunications arm is the country's largest

telco, enjoying a market share of 50% or some 6.6 million customers as of

March this year. The company has made a strong impression among investors

since it was listed in 2002, giving good dividend yields and capital

appreciation. Maxis is expected to pay a dividend of 50 sen a share in

FY05.

Research houses are still bullish on the overall telco industry, with

total subscribers growth seen at 20%-25%. Growth is likely to be boosted

by lower access charges and pre-paid packages and lower prices of

handsets. However, the price war among the operators would put a pressure

on margins.

Maxis aims to be a regional leader by 2010 and has charted its expansion

plans over the next two years. Earlier this year, it acquired a 51% stake

in PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler, a GSM cellular operator in Indonesia, for

RM380 million. This purchase may not be as promising due to the changing

telco landscape in that country. As a start-up, Natrindo involves a long

gestation period. Maxis is also targeting other areas in India and

Indonesia to capitalise on the two countries' large population and low

penetration rate.

Maxis chalked up a group net profit of RM1.6 billion or 64.9 sen a share

on a turnover of RM5.7 billion for FY04. It is projected to post earnings

per share of 71.8 sen for FY05.

ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS PLC

ASTRO has enjoyed the monopoly of being the sole pay-TV network for the

past eight years. The launch of the second pay-TV operator, MiTV Corp Sdn

Bhd, last month will start the competition for market share between the

two. MiTV, however, is not expected to encroach into Astro's turf in the

initial stages of its operations but competition is seen to intensify

later.

With 55 channels including 15 locally initiated channels on offer, Astro

has garnered 1.6 million subscriptions representing 31% of the nation's TV

households. The company plans to increase the number of channels to 100

with the scheduled launch of Measat 3 later this year. Churn, or the

number of customers who left the service, was at 9% in January this year

compared with 10.5% in September 2004 during the smart card swap exercise.

Besides pay-TV, Astro is also involved in radio, interactive content,

Malay film production, publication, animation and talent management,

library licensing and distribution, publication in Hong Kong and content

development in the Philippines. It has expanded its pay-TV operations to

Brunei and Indonesia. Astro intends to take up a 51% stake in a joint-

venture pay-TV operation in Indonesia. The company also owns the Shaw

Brothers library comprising 760 films from the late 1950s to 1990s.

Astro reported a group net profit of RM124.5 million or 6.5 sen a share

for FY05 on a turnover of RM1.7 billion. OSK Research has projected the

group to post a net profit of RM194 million for FY06.

MEASAT GLOBAL BHD

MEASAT Global groups the satellite operations of T Ananda Krishnan under

Binariang Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd. It started operations in 1996 and has

provided reliable satellite solutions to customers across the Asia- Pacific

region.

With rights to 16 orbital slots around the world, Measat owns and

operates two satellites, Measat-1 and Measat-2, and is slated to launch

its third satellite later this year. The group has secured commitments

from a number of prominent international broadcasters to lease capacity on

Measat 3. Measat supports Astro's direct-to-home (DTH) service and DTH

services in Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In line with its expansion, Measat plans to increase connectivity of its