It signed a franchise agreement with Myanmar Bakery on Tuesday (May 3), which will allow Myanmar Bakery to hold the master franchise to operate BreadTalk outlets in Myanmar.

The first outlet is expected to open in Yangon by early 2017 in one of the shopping centres owned by the Shwe Taung Group. Myanmar Bakery is part of Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Taung Group, which owns an extensive network of real estate businesses in Myanmar.

The deal marks the first food and beverage venture in Myanmar for the Shwe Taung Group and is also BreadTalk’s maiden foray into Myanmar.

“With a growing middle class and rising retail consumption, there are immense growth opportunities for BreadTalk in Myanmar,” said Mr Tan Aik Peng, chief executive officer of BreadTalk’s Bakery division.

“The Singapore team is working closely with the Shwe Taung Group to understand the Myanmar market and we promise an exciting line up with BreadTalk’s first boutique bakery in Yangon.”

He added that BreadTalk was confident that they will “introduce a new lifestyle of bread appreciation” to Myanmar’s burgeoning middle class.

BreadTalk operates close to 800 outlets across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand.

The Shwe Taung group of companies is a conglomerate involved in real estate, construction and engineering, infrastructure, hotels, entertainment, trading and investment. It also operates the Junction Centre group of shopping centres, which include malls in Yangon and in Naypyitaw, the country’s administrative capital.

The group is also behind the upcoming Junction City, which is an integrated development in downtown Yangon which will comprise a lifestyle shopping mall, an office tower and a five-star luxury hotel scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2017.

Southeast Asia’s largest bank posted a 5 per cent drop in net profit for the period to S$1.2 billion (US$886.4 million).

Excluding the one-time gain in the same period last year when DBS sold a property, net profit rose 6 per cent – a record first quarter.

The bottom line surpassed the S$1.04 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Revenue, or total income, rose 5 per cent to S$2.87 billion, as net interest income grew 8 per cent to S$1.83 billion, on the back of better net interest margin and bancassurance.

DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta told a press briefing the bank said it would benefit substantially this year from a year-on-year net interest margin improvement, and this would come in the early part of the year.

He added: “We indicated the value of the bancassurance deal with Manulife would start kicking in very early. It’s not just the amortisation of the one-time fee that we get, it’s also performance-related income.”

DBS gets US$1.2 billion from Canada’s Manulife in a 15-year distribution deal that started on January 1. He added that the access fee of US$1.2 billion will be amortised equally every quarter, over the 15 years, giving a S$27 million uplift every quarter, based on 2015 results.

DBS Bank had a better first quarter than its two smaller rivals – OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB) – which performed below market expectations.

OCBC Bank posted a 14 per cent drop to S$856 million in first-quarter net profit, below the S$899 million average forecast; UOB’s first-quarter net profit was a 4.4 per cent dip to S$766 million, just shy of a S$767 million forecast.

At DBS, loans inched down 1 per cent in constant-currency terms to S$274 billion. A 23 per cent drop in trade loans was offset by a 3 per cent rise in non-trade loans from corporate borrowing, and a 13 per cent rise in local housing loans.

He said the loans book faced stronger headwinds than expected.

Net interest margin rose 16 basis points to 1.85 per cent, in line with higher Singdollar interest rates.

The non-performing loans ratio grew slightly to 1 per cent, while specific allowances rose 6 per cent to S$170 million, in line with DBS’ expectations.

Despite greater risk aversion in the quarter, non-interest income dipped 2 per cent to S$1.03 billion, which DBS said was comparable to the quarterly high a year ago, “when financial market activities were boosted by favourable central bank policy actions”.

Net fee income was up 3 per cent to S$574 million, but trading income was affected by volatility in the financial markets, falling 12 per cent to S$315 million – owing to lower treasury customer activity.

On the other hand, wealth management fees rose 5 per cent to S$176 million, as bancassurance income soared 63 per cent to S$98 million.

Total expenses grew 7 per cent to S$1.27 billion. DBS said this was a “further deceleration in year-on-year cost growth from 10 per cent in the previous quarter, and 14 per cent in the first three quarters of 2015”.

The reasons behind the smaller increase in cost were a slower growth in headcount and more efficient operations.

Earnings per share for the quarter was S$1.92, up from S$1.84 a year earlier, while net book value was S$16.39 per share as at March 31, up from S$15.82 as at December 31.

Gupta said: “At current levels of the interest rates and foreign exchange, we will continue to get a net interest margin uplift for the next several months and certainly, into the third quarter of this year.’’

DBS shares closed seven cents higher at S$15.35.

(US$1 = S$1.35)

“We will fix it … it will be fixed. We (also) have to grow after that and move forward. It has to be better, better and better,” Bellew said at a media briefing organised by French-Italian aircraft manufacturer Avions de Transport Regional (ATR).

“I am here eight months, and I have never a moment of doubt about this,” he added.

Bellew, however, would not share how much work is still left to be done to fix the airline, which reported its first profit in February this year after several years of losses and suffering two air disasters in 2014.

“It is a bit early … but there are numerous examples that we are starting to see progress,” he said, adding that “we need to improve our sales, that is part of what we are doing right now, and things are improving quite rapidly. A lot of operational things are coming together quite well, on-time performance and we are getting much better at delivering bags on time”.

“Our aircraft are going through a massive process of refurbishment. We are also doing a complete overhaul of the (Airbus) A330, changing the processes, and our first heavy maintenance for the A380 has begun,” Bellew said.

He was appointed executive director nearly two weeks ago after CEO Christoph Mueller decided to resign due to a change in personal circumstances. Mueller will leave MAS in September this year.

Bellew, when asked to describe his first few days on the job as the new executive director, said, “Not much has changed. This is a 24/7 hour/day business. It has not altered my day-to-day job, although with a few extra responsibilities. It has been busy and good fun,” he added.

Bellew comes armed with over 30 years of experience in the airline and tourism industries.

As for the A350 aircraft, he said four would arrive in the third quarter of 2017, initially plying the region and later some will be deployed for the London route, which is the only European destination that MAS flies directly to now.

“As for the A380 aircraft, we need it till the middle of 2018 at least, and there are no immediate requirements after that,” he said.

Yesterday, he announced that ATR would increase its spares to the value of RM70mil. MAS provides maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in the region for the ATR planes. There are three other players providing MRO services for ATR planes in the country.

MAS has also hammered out a joint venture to set up a centre for the overhaul and repair of turboprop propeller blades for the region with US-based Aircraft Propeller Services (APS).

To Bellew, these two new initiatives are a “great opportunity” and a huge boost to fixing MAS, as these ventures will help the airline generate jobs, revenue and profits.

The tie-up with APS is the first out of Europe and the Americas and can cater to all the 370 ATR planes operating in the region.

Since it involves the engineering units, Bellew believes there is a need to redeploy and retrain its workforce and hire young engineers, mostly for jobs in Sabah and Sarawak.

MAS will embark on a plan to send some of its engineers to Europe and New Zealand for training.

“We will take on third-party works sometime in the second half of next year for the ATR (MRO business). For minor works, we will be ready by the fourth quarter of this year,” Bellew said.

MAS has 30 ATR aircraft in its system plying 35 routes, used by Firefly and MASwings. Eight more are on order, whose delivery dates have yet to be decided.

It has carried four million passengers and Bellew believes the tourism potential in both Sabah and Sarawak has not been fully exploited, as he feels “we have only scratched the surface”.

He said the ATR aircraft would remain an important component to MAS although there are no plans to buy more aircraft. The priority is to push for higher loads and expand to newer points.

The airline will look to change its seats in the third quarter of this year for the 30 ATR planes to save fuel cost and for better flexibility.

Norway-based multinational telecommunications provider Telenor Group has expressed interest to team up with SMC, rekindling an interest originally communicated even before the talks with Telstra was pursued.

“They called me,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang told the Inquirer when asked about Telenor’s interest. Ang added, however, that he was still “thinking about it” and reiterated that it was also possible for SMC to pursue the long-planned telecom foray on its own.

Telenor, which has been operating for 160 years, is seen keen on entering the Philippine market as part of plans to expand its Asian footprint. Elsewhere in Asia, which contributed 51 percent of its revenues in the first quarter, Telenor has businesses in Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Even before SMC entered discussions with Telstra, Ang had said that a number of foreign firms wanted to team up with SMC on the telecom venture, including Telenor. This was thus just a reaffirmation of Telenor’s interest to gain a foothold in the Philippines, one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

As a result of its acquisition of a string of telecom companies with unused spectrum in previous years, SMC enjoys a monopoly of the much-coveted 700MHz spectrum, described as one of the highest quality wireless frequencies capable of travelling longer distances, requiring fewer cell towers and enjoying stronger indoor penetration. The group also has a portfolio of 800MHz, 1.8GHz and 2.3GHz spectrums alongside 1,800 base stations in key cities.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom have a significant amount of high-frequency spectrums, challenging SMC’s ownership of the 700Mhz spectrum.

The potential launch of a new mobile phone service by a new player is seen rekindling a pricing war in the local telecommunication industry. Such heightened competition is seen to benefit consumers but curbs the profits of mobile phone operators.

Consumers have long complained about the very poor service of the Globe-PLDT duopoly in the local telecommunication sector and lawmakers have already conducted hearings to look into why Internet service in the Philippines was one of the slowest in the world.

For its part, SMC aspires to offer fast mobile broadband. Ang had said in earlier interviews that with a new player, Filipino consumers would benefit and other telecom players would be prompted to improve their services.

Outside of publicly listed Liberty Telecom Holdings Inc., SMC has other telecom interests through telecom holding unit Vega Telecoms Inc., namely Bell Telecommunications, Eastern Telecommunications and Express Telecommunications.

The new service will allow greater convenience, security and wide acceptance for payments as Visa is accepted at more than 36 million merchants and 2.4 million ATMs worldwide.

Public Bank Laos is the overseas branch of Public Bank Berhad, which is one of the largest and strongest domestic banking groups in Malaysia.

Speaking at the ceremony, Regional Head of Indo-China Operations Phan Ying Tong said “The number of medium and high net worth income earners has seen an increasing trend for the past few years and the launch of this Visa Issuing service by Public Bank Laos is very timely to cater to this market segment.”

“We believe this partnership will add value to the card payment network, provide greater convenience to customers and contribute towards the economic growth of Laos,” he said.

He noted that “Today marks an important milestone as the launch of the issuance of Visa Credit and Debit Card in Laos coincid es with Public Bank’s 50th anniversary this year.”

The issuance of Visa Credit and Debit Cards has positioned Public Bank Laos at the forefront of the card business which is also in line with the Bank’s ongoing initiative and commitment to promote more cashless transactions in Laos, Mr Phan added.

Meanwhile the Malaysian Ambassador to Laos Dato’ Than Tai Hing also extended his heartiest congratulations to Public Bank for these important additions to its range of products and services.

“Since its establishment 21 years ago, Public Bank Laos has grown from strength to stre ngth and now has a paid-up capital of almost US$50 million,” he said, adding that it has provided more than 100 direct employment opportunities to the people of Laos.

Currently the bank has a strong presence nationwide with its four branches namely in Vientiane, Sikhay, Savannakhet province and Pakxe district of Champassak province.

“In short, I dare say that Public Bank has taken a leading role in driving financial excellence in Laos,” the ambassador added.

Public Bank commenced its banking business in Laos in 1995. It is one of the leading commercial banks in Laos with a network of four branches. Public Bank Laos’ total current paid-up capital of US$48 million is one of the highest among the commercial banks in Laos.

A report by Singapore’s The Business Times said that the conglomerate was planning a S$300 million (US$223.85 million) deal with the United States-based private equity fund for the three properties.

Earlier in February, Sime Darby president and group chief executive Mohd Bakke Salleh had said that the company was planning to raise 1.8 billion ringgit by selling or leasing back its assets in Singapore and Australia.

He said the company had identified 13 assets in Australia and three in Singapore for the planned asset monetisation.

Sime Darby is targeting to reduce its gearing level to 0.54 times by the end of the financial year ending June 30 (FY16) from 0.61 times as at end-2015 through asset monetisation and its 3 billion ringgit perpetual sukuk (Islamic bond) programme.

In its second quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, the group reported that its total borrowings stood at 19.58 billion ringgit.

Alliance DBS Research said if the deal were to go through, the most significant impact would be the resulting positive cash flow.

The research house said it would also result in the reduction of the company’s net debt-to-equity position, possibly below its forecast 0.4 times for end-FY16.

“While Sime has yet to divulge further details on this news piece, the details brought up indicate that there may yet be further talks on the other property assets it intends to spin off.

“The group could also opt for a full disposal vis-a-vis a stake divestment,” it said in a report.

Alliance DBS said the net book value for the three properties amounted to 220.8 million ringgit, based on its annual report for FY15.

“Pending further development on the matter and details from management, we maintain our forecasts and rating,” it said.

The research house has a “hold” rating on the group.

According to the Singapore Business Times report, the latest deal to sell the Singaporean properties involves the Sime Darby Centre at 896 Dunearn Road, the Sime Darby Enterprise Centre, an industrial building along Kilang Road, and the Sime Darby Business Centre at 315 Alexandra Road.

It says Blackstone plans to buy 75 per cent of the properties, and Sime Darby entities located there may lease back the space once the deal is completed.

It said the highest value would be for the Sime Darby Centre, which is an office and retail development on freehold and 999-year leasehold land parcels with an 1.8 plot ratio.

The other two properties sit on Business 1-zoned sites with 2.5 plot ratios, with a remaining lease of about 40 years.

The report added that these three properties, combined with another two properties owned by the company in Singapore, could be worth over S$500 million.

Sime Darby has been under pressure to reduce its gearing following the acquisition of debt-funded New Britain Palm Oil Ltd for 6 billion ringgit in March 2015.

The acquisition caused the group’s gearing ratio to balloon to 60 per cent at the time.

The company raised over 5 billion ringgit cash from banks and topped up 1 billion ringgit from internal funds for the asset.

Later, in August last year, StarBiz reported that Sime Darby was looking at an 6 billion ringgit rights issue to raise funds.

However, the proposal reportedly did not have the blessings of Sime Darby’s controlling shareholder, Permodalan Nasional Bhd.

In March this year, Sime Darby issued 2.2 billion ringgit in Islamic debt papers at a final yield of 5.65 per cent.

The plantation heavyweight issued the sukuk wakalah (agency arrangement) offering with a 10-year perpetual non-call tenure, which was oversubscribed by 1.8 times.

In early April, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) withdrew all of Sime Darby’s ratings upon the company’s request.

This was after S&P had lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on the conglomerate in February, downgrading it to BBB+ from A- with a negative outlook.

Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings had also previously downgraded Sime Darby’s debt ratings.

(US$1 = 3.91 ringgit; US$1 = 1.34)

Chief executive officer Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said that he maintained a single-digit container volume growth forecast for the port opeator due to the challenging global economic outlook.

“It would be too hasty to predict based on one quarter as economic factors are still volatile,” he said. Westports’ net profit for the first quarter ended March 31 soared 42.3 per cent to 171.1 million ringgit (US$43.72 million) from a year ago, as ongoing expansion and modernisation of port operations in Klang boosted its cargo-handling capacity.

The sharp increase in profit was also contributed by a one-off gain from a disposal of investment securities, higher container tariff since November and cheaper fuel costs.

Revenue for the port operator jumped to 464.7 million ringgit for the quarter under review from 398.7 million ringgit in the previous corresponding quarter.

The group handled a total container volume of 9.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during its financial year ended Dec 31, 2015. This represents an 8 per cent year-on-year growth. Its total utilisation rate last year was 83 per cent.

Maybank Investment Bank (IB) predicted that the volume growth momentum could slow in March as there were more “blank sailings” reported.

“We expect Westports’ throughput to slow ahead, considering China’s weakening import-export data and softer world trade growth,’ it said in a recent report.

With Westports shares trading at a 23.6 earnings multiple, Maybank IB said Westports’ valuation was higher than the global average of 20 times and slightly above its own historical mean of 22 times.

“We think this reflects its solid financials (high margins and return on equity) and strong operational performance,” Maybank IB said.

UOB KayHian, meanwhile, has assumed an ultra-conservative 1 per cent container growth comprising 3 per cent for transhipment and 7 per cent for gateway, but the research house container yield projections for this may be deemed too bullish at an implied 14 per cent growth.

“This is because we anticipate most of the 15 per cent tariff hike effect to be factored into 2016 earnings,” it said.

On the impact of the upcoming shipping alliance dubbed the Ocean Alliance with a combined volume of 15 million TEUs, Ruben said it was too early to gauge but that Westports would try its best to service them.

Thus, Westports has yet to factor in the expected growth volume that may trickle down to its shores from this new alliance.

“The ocean alliance, once approved, will start operating in the second quarter of next year. We believe the alliance will operate on a dual hub-strategy.

“We are focusing our efforts on making sure that we can service this alliance as best as we can. On how we could benefit from this new pact, it really depends on how the Ocean Alliance alligns its services,” said Ruben.

Westports is currently the regional hub for the Ocean Three Alliance, which comprises CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Lines and United Arab Shipping Co.

Cosco Container Lines and Orient Overseas Container Line currently use PSA Singapore while Evergreen uses the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

The hotel joins the Dusit Residence Dubai Marina as the second property launched in the Emirate with local partner Al Masar Holdings.

Located in the TECOM district of Dubai facing Sheikh Zayed Road, the 237-room property caters to both business and leisure travellers. The hotel is located directly next to Dubai Internet City Metro Station, with major leisure and business destinations such as Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai international Airport, Dubai Marina and Dubai Mall within easy reach. Popular attractions including Marina Beach, Jumeirah Beach and Wild Wadi Water Park are also nearby.

A shop assistant who declined to be named said the mini fans, sold from 6.90 ringgit (US$1.80) apiece, were popular all-year round due to Malaysia’s tropical weather.

“Of late, people have been asking for the manual handheld ones due to the reports about the battery-powered ones exploding. I’ve not personally received any complaints about such incidents.

“The mini fan that exploded could have overheated or the battery could have malfunctioned,” he said.

He was referring to an incident last week involving a primary school pupil in Seberang Prai who injured his right wrist after a mini fan he was using exploded.

A relative reportedly said that the boy had brought the gadget to school due to the hot weather.

A sales assistant at another stall selling a similar variety of handheld fans said sales had been good with more than 10 sold daily.

“The stock comes from China. I’ve been selling it for more than 10 years and it is a very popular item.

“The hand-cranked one is also popular and sold for about 10 ringgit depending on the model,” he said.

(US$1 = 3.91 ringgit)

The Vientiane-Bangkok flight will be the airline’s second connection between Laos and Thailand after its success ful Luang Prabang-Bangkok route.

The latest addition continues to offer AirAsia’s low fares, strong on-time record and comfortable 180 seat Airbus A320 airplanes.

Seats are available at a promotional fare starting at 320,000 kip one way from today until May 8 for travel from July 1, 2016, to May 22, 2017.

Director of Commercial for Thai AirAsia, Mr Santisuk Klongchaiya, said Thai AirAsia received very strong positive feedback from its first connection between Laos and Thailan d with the flight achieving an average load factor of 80-85 percent.

The response prompted the airline to immediately add a second connection with the Vientiane-Bangkok sector now allowing for travel to Bangkok Don MueangInternational Airport, from which visitors can easily reach t he heart of Bangkok.

“We would like to thank the Lao people for welcoming AirAsia so warmly. We are a low fare airline that aims to make travel easy and convenient in order to stay true to our motto, ‘Everyone can Fly’,” Mr Santisuk said.

“At the same time we prioritise service, being on time, offering a range of destinations and above all, safety. We are confident that our new Vientiane-Bangkok route will be as well received as that of Luang Prabang-Bangkok as Vientiane has great potential in trade, investment and tourism with a unique local culture that is attractive to travellers,” he added.

The new route means easier travel from Laos to Thailand, from which travellers can access connecting flights to Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Singapore, Yangon and over 100 more throughout Asia and Australia.

AirAsia currently flies direct from Vientiane to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) three times a week with the route maintaining a load factor of over 80 percent throughout 2015.

The new Thai AirAsia (code FD) Vientiane-Bangkok flight will be available daily seven days a week starting from July 1.

Promotional fares displayed are one-way fares, inclusive of airport tax and fees. Promotional fares are limited, and terms and conditions apply.