In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, PBB said it had on March 24 received the approval in relation to its acquisition of the remaining 50% equity capital in VID Public Bank (VPB), the 50:50 joint venture bank with Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

Effective April 1, VPB will become a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary of PBB. Under the terms of the foreign-owned bank licence, PBVN has been granted a term of operations of 99 years.

“The 100percent foreign-owned bank licence granted to PBB is a significant milestone in VPB’s 24-year banking journey in Vietnam. PBB was one of the first to set-up a joint venture bank in Vietnam in 1992, and VPB has been operating profitably since its incorporation.

“Currently, VPB has seven branches in Vietnam located in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Danang, Binh Duong, Hai Phong, Cho Lon and Dong Nai,” founder and chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said.

He said the Vietnamese economy had recorded commendable growth, with the GDP growth in 2015 at 6.68%, the highest in recent years. He added that PBB was committed to continuing its support of the efforts and initiatives of the Government of Vietnam in the economic growth and financial development of Vietnam.

“Public Bank Vietnam will continue to focus on retail banking business in order to serve a wider reach and spectrum of customers in Vietnam, especially SMEs lending which is the engine of growth for the country.

“In addition, Public Bank Vietnam will provide a convenient platform for the Malaysian business community to conduct business operations in Vietnam,” Teh said.

He added that the issuance of the 100percent foreign-owned bank licence to PBVN would strengthen PBB’s regional presence in Indo-China.

Sources said the exercise for the sale of an equity stake began last year and would involve selling up to 49% per cent equity at a price of around RM85mil, valuing Jaya Grocer at RM173.5million.

Initially, the deal had involved an option of sale of up to 100% of the company, with the seller initially looking for a price of around RM200mil, another source said.

Among the other PE firms which were initially interested included Navis Capital Partners and the Abraaj Group.

Sources said Jaya Grocer, which is owned by Trendcell Sdn Bhd and which has 16 outlets, posted an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of RM18million in financial year 2015 (FY15). This means that if the deal is valuing Jaya Grocer at RM175mil, it is giving the supermarket chain an Ebitda multiple of slightly less than 10 times. Jaya Grocer had yet to reply to queries from StarBiz as at press time.

Sources said the sale was being conducted through an open bid system by Deloitte on behalf of Jaya Grocer.

Jaya Grocer started in 2007 with its first outlet in Jaya 33 in Petaling Jaya. Now, there are 16 outlets mainly in the Klang Valley such as in The Intermark, Empire Shopping Gallery and KLIA2.

Based on Trendcell’s accounts obtained by The Star, the company reported a profit after tax of RM1.05million on the back of revenue of RM283.08million for its FY14 ended June 30, 2014.

This gives it a profit after tax margin of a mere 0.37%. The company has total assets of RM77.87million.

Jaya Grocer was founded by the Teng family, who are also the founding family of Giant Hypermarket and the well-known TMC (Teng MiniMarket Centre) in Bangsar.

The family sold the Giant chain to Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm group in 1999 for an undisclosed sum.

The Teng family also runs Pasaraya Hero, which it started in 2010. The family still owns the TMC store. It is unclear if the current sale process includes these supermarkets.

PE firms have been displaying a strong interest in consumer-related businesses. Navis, for example, had invested in Village Grocer (a competitor of Jaya Grocer) and the Big Group (that runs Ben’s Independent Grocer) and is said to be in talks to buy the Oriental Group of restaurants – a Malaysian-Chinese fine dining group.

Meanwhile, Creador is also an investor in convenient store chain 7-Eleven (M) Holdings Bhd and in soon-to-be-listed Bison Consolidation Bhd, the owner of the myNEWS.com press and convenience chain store. Bison is listing at a price earnings (PE) multiple of 25 times its FY15 earnings, while 7-Eleven is currently trading at a historical PE multiple of around 30 times.

The land concession agreement for the black ginger plantation project and establishment of the Lao-Korea Black Ginger Development Joint Venture State Co., Ltd was signed on Wednesday in Vientiane between Vientiane Planning and Investment Department, Sangthong district, and the concerned Korean companies.

In attendance were Department Director Phoukhong Bannavong, Sangthong district Deputy Governor Buakham Sisongkham, President of Lao-Korea College Sole Co., Ltd Lee Jung Hwan and KRD-Kingdam of Herb Co., Ltd Director Jin Hang Suk.

According to the agreement, the Lao government will hold a 20 percent share and the Korean investors will hold an 80 percent share.

The companies will encourage farmers in Yainachalern village in Sangthong district to grow black ginger on an area of 20 hectares of the project and sell it to the Lao-Korea Black Ginger Development Joint Venture State Co., Ltd for processing into ginger products and sale both domestically and abroad.

The concerned companies were granted a 30 year land concession, with the companies to invest an initial 8 billion kip (about US$1 million) for the black ginger plantation.

The companies will plant black ginger in Yainachalern village as a model project and we plan to expand the project into other districts in the northern provinces of Laos in the future, said Lee Jung Hwan.

“We have Korean ginseng and it is a very popular herbal supplement in Korea; there are many health benefits of black ginger that many people may not know about.”

So we decided to invest in the black ginger plantation in Laos for domestic supply and also to sell abroad, he said.

Lee Jung Hwan added that this project will help contracted farmers in the project to obtain jobs and generate income for their families.

Ahmad Fuaad, who is currently chief operating officer (COO) (finance and corporate) of DRB-Hicom Holdings Bhd, has been seconded to helm the national car-maker.

He has been on the board of Proton as a non-executive director since 2013. Prior to joining DRB-Hicom, he was the chief financial officer of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd.

This secondment was one of several internal reorganisations of several key management positions within companies under DRH-Hicom that were announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, Proton’s current CEO Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah shall lead DRB-Hicom as COO of the group in the areas of automotive distribution and defence effective April 1.

Abdul Harith has led several companies under the group, namely, DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd, Motosikal Dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd and Automotive Corp Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

DRB-Hicom has also seconded its COO of automotive distribution manufacturing Datuk Md Radzaif Mohamed to be Proton’s deputy CEO effective April 1. Radzaif has been on the board of Proton as non-executive director since 2013.

Radzaif began his career with DRB-Hicom in 2004 as COO of HICOM-Teck See Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn Bhd. DRB-Hicom also announced the transfer of Shamsuddin Mohd Yusof – who is the COO of Hicom Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (HAMM) – to Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd as the group COO effective March 14.

HAMM general manager of operations Ismail Pandak, meanwhile, has been appointed as the acting COO of HAMM effective March 14.

DRB-Hicom group managing director Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar said the movement of internal talents is consistent with the group’s policy to constantly develop capabilities to allow the DRB-Hicom group of companies to always maintain fresh perspectives to steer the group under the current challenging and competitive business environment.

DRB-Hicom is a conglomerate with core businesses in the automotive, services and property, asset and construction sectors.

It has more than 90 active companies in its stable and over 60,000 employees group-wide.

The furniture business is just one of the sectors facing a labour skills problem, said the Director of Somboune Furniture Somboune Phimmasone.

“We have many carpenters working with furniture and wood manufacturers around the country but their skills are low compared to international standards,” Somboune told Vientiane Times yesterday.

However the country still has many quality carpenters who are operating by themselves from their residences or rented premises, she added.

While many carpenters have good knowledge on theory sometimes their practical skills are lacking due to a dearth of activity.

Many carpenters in the country have received training and exchanged experience with carpenters inAsean and the region but many others have had no such opportunities as yet, she explained.

The government, in cooperation with the private sector, is taking high responsibility to improve Lao labour skills to equal international standards by organising training courses and competition events.

The government has also received assistance funds from international organisations in developing Lao labour skills and increasing capacity among government employees.

Some furniture manufacturers welcome local people to learn at their companies to assist in providing job opportunities in the community.

Despite the perceived shortcomings, Somboune assured that Lao carpenters are able to make standard wood products according to customers’ orders.

Most foreign traders purchasing wood products in Laos are from China and Vietnam.

Funding is also a main factor to develop Lao products for export to foreign markets as modern equipment and technology development requires funding for investment, Somboune noted.

Despite the fact that labour skills in Laos are comparatively low, modern technology and equipment can go a long way to making up the shortfall.

Most wood products at the Somboune Furniture Factory comprise of windows, tables, chairs, wardrobes, beds and decorative ornaments.

Generaly speaking, her products are for the domestic market as it is still difficult to enter foreign markets, Somboune said.

Raw material is currently not a problem because there is still a sufficient supply but the prices are quite high, she added.

SKKMigas head Amin Sunaryadi said his office had held a meeting with both investors shortly after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced the chosen development scheme for the project. He asked Inpex to adjust its plan of development (POD), including the time frame.

“SKK concluded, after discussion, that Inpex and Shell have no plans to withdraw [as contractors] from the Masela block. They will remain in the block, but they need time to recalculate the onshore scheme,” Amin said during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

As for the liquid natural gas (LNG) plant’s location, he continued, Inpex and Shell would discuss the matter internally before sending a new work plan to the agency. “We have not discussed the location yet, as the decision was just made yesterday,” Amien said.

The Masela block is located in the Arafuru Sea, Maluku. The nearest islands are Selaru and Yamdena islands in the Tanimbar Islands, 180 kilometers from the block. Meanwhile, Wamar Island in Aru Islands is located 600 km from the block.

In the initial POD, a floating LNG plant was to be built to process gas from the block. The proposal, defended by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, was publicly denounced by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli, who supported an onshore plant to maximize regional development in the Maluku region.

Sudirman instructed SKKMigas to immediately follow up on the decision, ending the seven-month polemic, and to reassess the block development based on the scheme chosen by the President.

“I want to underline that [the construction of] this project will take eight to 10 years. It would be unwise to continue the polemic. There must be a reconciliation to let the investors get back to their work,” Sudirman said, adding that SKKMigas must increase communication with regional administrations.

Amin added that SKKMigas had also arranged a meeting with representatives of Pertamina and Inpex to discuss the possibility of the state-owned energy company joining the Masela project. “The meeting discussed a potential alliance. Masela requires a domestic market and Pertamina has a great capacity to address that,” he added.

The Masela project plan was developed after the signing of a production sharing contract in 1998. The first POD was approved by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry with total gas reserves of 6.97 trillion cubic feet (tcf). In 2013, new gas reserves were found, making a total of 10.73 tcf and leading to the POD revision.

In a statement, AXA Philippines noted that the 25-per cent growth in total premium income from P18.4 billion in 2014 was faster than the 19-per cent expansion posted by the entire insurance industry.

The joint venture between AXA and the Metrobank Group added that it improved its market share to 12.1 per cent in 2015 from 11.6 per cent a year ago.

“Both distribution channels of AXA Philippines showed equally strong increases in new business sales, measured in Annual Premium Equivalent (APE), reaching P4.76 billion in 2015, a 21-per cent increase from the year before. Two-thirds of sales came from the bancassurance channel, while the remaining third came from the agency channel,” it said.

AXA Philippines attributed the growth in the bancassurance business to “strong market growth in the first six months of single premium investment products.” Agency sales, meanwhile, were boosted by the new branches opened and the increase in the number of agents to 2,700 at end-2015, AXA Philippines said.

“In terms of total premium income, 66 per cent originated from single premium investment products, slightly above the market mix of about 55 per cent coming from single-pay, mainly as a result of the strong partnerships AXA Philippines has with Metrobank and PSBank as distribution channels. AXA’s growth rate for single premiums, however, was at par with the market,” it said.

Last year’s regular premium income also increased by a fourth to P7.8 billion. “Main contributors to this development were the second-generation unit-linked products, Axelerator and Life Basix, which are offered as solutions for education and retirement funding and at the same time offer protection. Another product that showed strong growth was the Health Max product, which provides financial support from medical costs arising from a diagnosis of any of 56 major critical illnesses, up to age 100,” AXA Philippines said.

It said a substantial increase in premium stream, assets under management and risk insured helped grow its 2015 net income by 13 per cent to P1.4 billion.

“By constantly transforming the organization and growing at a pace much faster than before, we will continue to focus on the needs of our customers, and anticipate how these needs have and will evolve, especially in this age of digital and data,” Rien Hermans, AXA Philippines president and chief executive, said.

“We look forward to an exciting 2016, especially as we enter the non-life insurance business with our planned acquisition of Charter Ping An,” Hermans added.

The amount of money allocated to help these enterprises to develop their models was nearly VND7 trillion (US$339 million), it said.

The programme was carried out under the Government’s Resolution No.14, which would as a trial provide loans to enterprises who had agricultural models that ran from production through processing to consumption, and applied high-tech methods to increase production.

The lending rates would be about 1 to 1.5 per cent lower than the normal annual rates. The interest rate would be 6.5 per cent for short-term loans, 9.5 per cent for medium-term loans and 10 per cent for long-term loans.

Enterprises would be eligible for loans of up to 90 per cent of their agricultural production project costs. In cases where they failed to demonstrate enough asset security as required, they could still get a loan based on the bank’s control of cash flow.

If the time for implementing the project was between 12 and 18 months, and each stage of production, processing, and consumption was estimated to be less than 12 months, enterprises would be eligible for the loan at this low interest rate if they committed to pay off part of the debt after every stage.

A representative of the State Bank of Vietnam said that the bank, together with the ministries of agriculture and rural development, and science and technology, had chosen 28 enterprises in 22 cities and provinces to join the programme.

As many as eight banks have committed to give financial support to enterprises totaling more than VND5.6 trillion (US$263 million). The two-year trial of the programme will be completed this May.

Explaining the disbursed amount of money of VND7 trillion (US$339 million), an increase of VND1.4 trillion (US$62.7 million) compared to the initial amount committed to enterprises, the representative said that some enterprises had asked to expand their production during the implementation of the programme.

It set up a unit – Challenge Ventures – six months ago with a budget of $20 million to invest in online companies and enable the firm to expand its e-commerce strategy.

So far, Challenge Ventures has already invested $10 million in several start-ups, including mobile wallet firm Xfers and on-demand delivery service Zyllem.

But another $100 million in cash and banking facilities is available for use to expand the firm’s e-commerce strategy.

Chief marketing officer Loo Pei Fen said: “Every investment that we make today, every thing we do now, is related to our e-commerce strategy.”

Investments in online start-ups let Challenger learn more about e-commerce in areas such as customer support and fulfilment – key for a successful online store.

Challenger also plans to open buying offices in South Korea, Japan and the United States in the next three to five years. It has a buying office in Shenzhen, which is being expanded to include a warehouse.

These offices will source for products for its house brand Valore for sale on hachi.tech.

Challenger’s e-commerce strategy took on a greater urgency last year when Funan DigitaLife Mall announced it will shutter its doors finally on June 30.

Loo Leong Thye, Challenger’s chief executive who started the business in 1982, had considered e-commerce about six years ago when news first broke that the mall – where Challenger has its 50,000 sq ft flagship store – will make way for another building.

In recent years, changing consumer buying behaviour, coupled with manpower challenges and high rental costs, convinced Loo that e-commerce is the right way forward.

Said Loo Pei Fen: “Our Funan store stocks about 10,000 different products. But there’s no way a physical outlet can carry more inventory than an online store. Customers are already going online to check for products and do price comparisons. We can’t burrow our head in the sand and do the same things we’ve always been doing.”

E-commerce is a great initiative to enable Challenger to transform itself, added Loo, who is Loo’s daughter.

“In the next three to five years, we expect 50 per cent of Challenger’s revenue to come from hachi.tech,” she added.

In fiscal year 2014, Challenger’s revenue hit about $355 million.

Loo stressed that Challenger will retain its physical stores because some customers find it more convenient to buy from a store.

Customers who choose to buy online can collect their purchases at the store or have them delivered. Online buying can also be done at the stores.

“This frees up space at the stores because we won’t need cashier stands. We don’t need as many staff and more space is freed up for us to sell more products,” she added.

Hachi.tech aito be an online tech and lifestyle marketplace. In addition to tech products, it may also list others such as electric sewing machines and yoga mats.

It also wants to sell services like network installation and software downloads. This differentiates it from Challenger, with about 50 outlets, which will continue to be a tech retail store. Its current online store, challenger.com, will become a repository of product information when hachi.tech goes live next month. Challenger customers can also access this website to check their loyalty points.

Being a “physical” retailer for more than 20 years, the Challenger management had to learn what makes an online store tick.

Loo went online shopping.

He bought groceries from Singapore e-grocer Redmart and used Uber car service.

Loo, who has been buying online for many years including clothes for her children, checked out the best practices in various areas, like customer support, on different online companies.

“E-commerce is not an easy business. It takes my team just seven days to open a new outlet but an online store has many more elements to deal with,” explained Loo.

The portal, she said, must be easy to use and filled with the right content, yet must not be cluttered with too much information. Promotions and discounts must also be included in a way that is not intrusive to how people surf the portal.

“What I’ve learnt is that no website is ever complete. Websites need to evolve every few months to keep it fresh and to keep up with customer buying patterns.”

Loo, Challenger’s chief executive, selected the name “hachi” as it means “eight” in Japanese. In Chinese, “eight” sounds like prosperity.

To attract online customers, hachi will give more loyalty points – between five times and 30 times more. For every 1,000 points collected, $10 can be used to offset the next purchase.

Customers can also buy online and pick up at its six stores located in Sun Plaza, Jem, VivoCity, Nex and Tampines One. Customers can also collect at Challenger in Funan until the store closes on June 30.

In preparation for clearing out its stocks from Funan, Challenger will be holding sales from next month. Customers can expect discounts of between 10 and 80 per cent.