Malaysia News Highlights for Friday

• Malaysia share prices opened lower on Friday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index down 2.25 points to 1784.98.

• CIMB Group Bhd yesterday announced several key leadership appointments, including the appointment of Tigor M. Siahaan as president director of CIMB Niaga.

• Lee Swee Kiat Group Bhd has received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia after its share price jumped 9.52% yesterday.

• Yinson Holdings Bhd, via its indirect wholly-owned unit, Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte Ltd (YPWA) has secured a US$780 million (RM2.88 billion) term loan facility with five major banks to part finance its project in Ghana.

• Quill Capital Trust (QCT), which yesterday received shareholders' nod for the acquisition of Platinum Sentral from Malaysia Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) for RM740 million, aims to double its total assets value to RM3.2 billion within the next one to two years.

• Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research expects Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to cut its policy rate by 25bps by the third quarter of 2015, as the central bank shifts its monetary policy focus to growth and away from inflation.

• The federal government's debt position remains manageable and is categorised as a moderate-indebtedness country, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

• Bursa Malaysia Securities has cautioned investors for the trading in Wintoni Group Bhd securities following a sharp spike in its share price. The regulator said investors should made known of Wintoni's response to the UMA query, that it was not aware of any corporate development or explanation that could give rise to the unusual trading.

• Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has priced a US$5 billion (RM18.5 billion) multi-tranche offering comprising a US$1.25 billion 5-year sukuk and US$750 million 7-year, US$1.5 billion 10-year and US$1.5 billion 30-year conventional notes.

• The intra-Asean trade which has been on an increasing trend over the years is expected to surpass the global average by 2% to 3% this year, said Minister of International Trade and Industry.

• Malaysia's industrial production index (IPI), which grew anuary 2015 IPI growth of 7% in January from 3.7% a year ago, is expected to be commendable for the first quarter of 2015 to cushion the impact of economic uncertainty.

• The Saudi-based oil exploration and services company PetroSaudi International (PSI) has today dismissed as inaccurate online criticisms of its former joint venture with the Malaysian strategic development company, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).