LAPORAN SIAPA DAN YANG MANA BETUL?

Cuba anda teliti tiga laporan yang sumber asalnya dikatakan dipetik dari Bernam.com tetapi kandungan serta maklumat pentingnya berbeza. Bagaimana boleh berlaku? Yang pasti laporan berbahasa Inggeris berbeza penekanannya berbanding dengan laporan dalam bahasa Melayu. Setuju atau tidak?

Laporan dipetik dari Bernama.com

Laporan dipetik dari sun2surf edisi 25 jun 2009

Petronas net profit down 13.9%

KUALA LUMPUR (June 25, 2009): Petronas Group recorded another year of satisfactory performance for the financial year ended March 31, 2009, registering an increase of 18.4% in revenue to at an all time high of RM264.2 billion.

However, the group's pre-tax profit fell 6.7% to RM89.1 billion, while net profit fell 13.9% to RM52.5 billion.

Petronas president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Hassan Marican said stronger group revenues were driven by both higher sales volume as well as LNG prices.

Notwithstanding lower profit, however, the group declared higher dividend of RM30 billion, 25% higher than previous year.

Hassan said Petronas plans to maintain capital expenditure (capex) for its current financial year ending March 31, 2010, at US$12 billion (RM42 billion).

Speaking to reporters after announcing the group's results, he said that 60% of the amount will be utilised for domestic operations and the remaining 40% for international operations.

For the financial year just ended, the group increased its capex to RM44 billion from RM37.6 billion.

During the year, the group reinvested 21.1% or RM21.9 billion of its profit before taxation, royalty and export duties.

The reinvestment was significantly lower compared to other major oil and gas companies.

However, Hassan said that Petronas sees 35 to 40% of its profit as a comfortable level for the reinvestment.

The reinvestment is necessary to ensure the group's sustainable operations and to generate future revenue and profit, he said.

On overseas expansion, Hassan said the group was looking to strengthen its presence in the countries that it was already operating.

As at March 31, 2009, Petronas was involved in various activities along the oil and gas value chain in more than 30 countries worldwide.

Asked about the speculation concerning his successor, Hassan said: "There are always speculations on my successor. I think that question needs to be addressed to the government."

He said under his employment contract, his term will end in February next year. -- Bernama

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FEDERATION OF MALAYSIAN MANUFACTURERS' RECOMMENDATIONS

The Federation Of Malaysian Manufacturers Selangor Branch in collaboration with Selangor State Investment Centre Bhd held a Dialogue Session with YAB Dato' MB Selangor and all the ADUNs.

In a paper presented during the session entitled "IMPACT OF RECENT FUEL PRICE INCERASE ON INDUSTRIES IN SELANGOR" the representative from the Federation drove home the points:

Impact On Transportation Costs

• Transporters (Conventional cargo transportation i.e lorry operators as well as Container haulage transportation i.en Hauliers like Kontena nasional, MISC haulage etc) have increased their charges citing the increase in fuel prices,
• Average transportation cost hike is between 40% - 60%,
• Average contribution of logistics costs to total manufacturing costs is 20 %,
• Impact of hike in fuel costs to overall logistics costs is about 1%.
  

Impact on Other Forms of Transportation:

1. Factory Bus Transportation- Factory bus Operators have requested for increase in bus fares between 30% - 50%,

2 Staff Travelling Reimbursement/Allowance

• General Incerase of 10% - 15% on staff mileage claims
• 40% increase for fixed transport allowance

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Reduce import duties of Cars
2. Abolish Road Tax
3. Encourage Use of natural Gas Vehicles (NGV)
4. Encourage development and Use Of hybrid cars
5. Improve Public Transport System
6. Encourage Sales of Euro 4 Diesel
7. Extend Fleet card to all Commercial Vehicle
8. Standardize Road Tax of Lorry Operators with Hauliers
9. Encourage Use of Multitrailers.

We would like to add 2 more: viz Increase subsidy for Fuel and abolish toll for highways.

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129 VOTES TO 78: HADI LIKENED MP'S TO RUBBER STAMPS

Government attempts to "reduce deficits" whilst continuing with "expansionary" and "extravagant" projects like ECER, IDR, Sarawak Core Corridor Of Renewable Energy etc. At least what the government can do is to revise the costing if possible trimming and cutting corner here and there if not scrapping them all together. The revenue of PETRONAS from the sale of petroleum is increasing, not at all reduced.

For those economists in the government, petrol as a commodity is inelastic in terms of supply, demand and cost. No matter how high one INCREASES the price, the demand does not decrease proportionately since it is almost a basic necessity. In the face of higher fuel price, people still has to travel, eat, use electricity and what- not. Perhaps well- to- do folks will think twice before buying higher capacity luxury vehicles to add to their stable but ordinary citizens still have to get a family car in order to get by. Has anyone tried to get a taxi or a bus in times of emergency or if one is in a hurry?

Now the real and core issue is our elected representatives in Dewan Rakyat, about 129 of them all, have become so callous, care-less, heartless, voiceless, merciless, non-empathetic, non-sympathetic, robot-like and rubber stamps MPs........


For discussion on "Fiscal" and "monetary" policies

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FUEL PRICE INCREASES IN TANDEM WITH THAT OF ELECTRICITY TARIFF

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IS THE PRESENT OIL PRICE SUSTAINABLE?

At last the secret is out. We don't have to wait till August this year. The pump price for petrol and diesel is up by 41%. Thanks a million to the BN Federal Government for speedy and timely decision to come to the aid of millions of Malaysian. Make sure you bring the price back down again mercifully if the world crude oil price happened to come down gracefully. The present price hike of 78 cents for petrol price is NOT written on STONE mind you, so please reverse your decision when the time comes.

Rocketing oil price is a bubble May 28/08

Forexmentor.com Forex Trading Price Action

George Soros contends that speculators are the major culprits behind the current oil ‘bubble.’ Oil recently reached a record high of US$135 a barrel, with wide ‘speculation’ that US$200 was within reach.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, he asserts that some of the rise could be attributed to the weak U.S. dollar, ebbing Middle Eastern supply, and record Chinese demand, but pins a chunk of the blame on speculators. He calls the market a ‘bubble,’ given the parabolic shape of price.

His comments should not be taken lightly, as he is the world’s most prominent hedge fund investor. First it was stocks, then housing, and now oil. Tulips next?

This commentary brought to you by Peter R. Bain Wednesday, May 28/08, at www.forexmentor.com, where you will always find a brilliant strategy for trading the forex.

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BETWEEN THEORIES AND PRACTICE

In Business School, the Professors and the lecturers taught us that before one embarks on any new ventures or projects, there should be several studies preferably conducted by external consultants. Market research, feasibility studies, business research and whatever you care to call it, is the standard practice in business. You just cannot go by gut feeling or intuition alone especially if it involves many stakeholders. The same thing applies to government agencies and departments. In the face of scarce resources, only research can answer certain pertinent questions. Without proper research one is cooking the figure and plucking the numbers out of the thin air.

Now, the article below is taken from NSTonline relating how a Professor Danny Quah, based in London claims that Malaysian public can afford another 40-sen hike in the price of petrol. Where does he get the figure? Has he never heard of the term " spiral effect" or "cascading effect" in relation to any increase in the price of petrol? How do goods get transported from one place to another? Machines and equipment run on water or diesel? Generators and turbines in Power Stations owned by TNB and the Independent Power Producers run on solar or diesel? People go to work mainly by bicycle, on foot or petrol or diesel-run vehicles?

If the cost of production or supply of goods and services have gone up due to an increase in petrol and diesel prices, would that increase be born by the end users like you and I. If the cost of production or provision of staple foods have gone up as a direct result of the increase in petrol or diesel, would there be an automatic increase in the price of that particular goods? You help me answer that questions.

The Economic Planning Unit staffs should come out of their cocoons and air-conditioned office and venture outside to ascertain the economic condition of the average Malaysian. The Central Bank or BNM must perform surveys and research on the fields.

As revision, the GDP per capita figure is a measure of the average income of a country's citizen. In other words, it shows how much in proportion a country's GDP each person would have if GDP were divided equally. GDP does not show how income is distributed- the disparity in income between the rich and the poor. Even though it shows average income, it does not show whether Mr Citizen and Mrs citizen lead a fulfilling lives and what their buying powers are.

Let you be the judge of his luncheon talk and some of readers comment.

Expert: Economy can bear 40-sen rise in petrol price

by Chong Pooi Koon

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia can raise petrol prices by 30 to 40 sen a litre in the short term without hurting economic growth, an expert with the London School of Economics and Political Science said.

Malaysian-born Professor Danny Quah, department head at the UK institution, said over the longer term, fuel subsidies should be done away with because it hid the true cost of this scarce and non-renewable energy, and discouraged better use of resources.

"The economy can withstand an increase of petrol prices by 15 to 20 per cent, or 30 to 40 sen, a litre. But the government has to quickly move with a direct compensation system."

Quah said fuel subsidies should be removed in stages to let society adjust to the more expensive petrol.

At the same time, the money saved from providing the subsidies needed to be transferred back to help the poor quickly and effectively.
"Those affected most by the move should also be made to understand that they will be compensated in other forms.

"You'll have to get people used to the idea, in particular that they are going to be compensated by transfers or other kind of direct payments once these subsidies come off.

"It's obvious that once these subsidies come off, prices will rise. For the very poor, goods that are expensive but are essential will place them in dire straits.

"So the government should get people used to the idea that as the subsidies are progressively dismantled, people will see compensation for that," he said.

He said inflation would stabilise after a while, although consumer prices may spike immediately after the subsidies were removed.

"In the short term, shocks can hit the system. A removal of subsidies may raise inflation to five to six per cent in that particular year, but it will not be an on-going inflation," he said here yesterday after giving a luncheon talk to LSE alumni.

He earlier held discussions with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

It is understood that the government has consulted Quah on the different aspects of inflation, the problems of subsidy and the ways to reduce poverty. Quah said the government was studying how best to remove petrol subsidies without hurting the poor. Social unrest in countries like Indonesia also suggested that this issue be dealt with care.

Oil prices reached another record of US$135 (RM472) per barrel last week. Fuel subsidies are expected to cost the government RM56 billion this year.

Reader's Comments Daniel, Kuala Lumpur: I agreed with Professor Danny Quah. This will also make M'sian to be more selective when buying a new car. Modern cars are more fuel efficient & less harmful to the environment. Cars 20 years or older should be discourage to be on the road. bernard kuching: Instead of a general increase of the 3 different types of petrol that could affect people of all the social classes can we have more differentiated petrol type ie premium for luxury cars, above 2000cc, above 1600cc, above 1000cc, big bikes and other bikes. Just like the toll fares. The question is the infrastructure needed to address the different prices. The public and private sectors seem to have common finishing office hour ie. 5pm. Different closing hour will save the country a lot of petrol and also oil subsidy. Police help at this hour will help ease traffic and directly save petrol when traffic is moving smoothly. Build more bicycle lanes with trees lining them....,oil is finite and the future scenario is not so good. David, Sabah: Yes! The world's oil will no longer be able to sustain the needs at this rate, inevitably, use of oil will increase until it is no longer sustainable, even if oil is still available after 2020. What we have to learn here is that we need to find other alternatives like fusion power plants, solar or other sustainable resources, and use them, for instance, we could use more electric transports, like trains (Maglev's) light rails, etc. All of these electric transport systems are available today, some even for many years already, the future is with sustanable energy and resources, if we ( or even the world ) can spend so much for new warfare technologies, then why can't we divert some of these funds for the development of our future. Like Bernard of Kuching says, oil is finito! GONE!, but it's still not too late to pool our brains together to solve this problem, do not wait till it is too late! Nadura Kamarulzaman: Scientists should research on other alternative method of transportation using the solar power or electricity. khu, kedah: The idea is good, but under the current political situation, some people heat up this issue. Some will believe that the government is not protecting, them especially the middle-income group. ben, btu: Gov should encourage the people to use lpg now. uk: Doubtless, it will have a domino effect on all commodities. Let's do away with the road tax to compensate for the increase of 30/40 cent. In this way, people will see that they have been compensated and this will avoid social unrest like Indonesia. It could work well and prove to be a win/win situation. sptay, penang: Agreed, remove all subsidies. Remove all taxes on cars, spare parts, remove road tax for all vehicles except those above 1.6 litres to discourage high consumption of that non-renewable, climate altering fuel and subsidise all public transport including taxis. Edward, KL: Amid all the furore over fuel prices Malaysians have forgotten one thing. We pay huge excise duty for cars, far more than we can consume in fuel subsidies. An example: The Honda Civic 1.8 costs RM113,800 here whereas it costs ~RM73,563 (unsubsidized) in Thailand. We'll call the difference to be RM40k. Fuel in the US costs USD3.76 per US gallon (unsubsidized). That works out to around USD1 or RM3.25 per litre. Petrol costs RM1.92 per litre here. The difference per litre = RM1.33. So, to recoup my excise duty and other random enrich the government taxes, i have to use 30075 litres of subsidized petrol. Let's assume 1 litre of petrol = 10km. If i drive 600km a month (10km to work, 10km back, 30 days), i use 60 litres of petrol a month. I would have to drive for 500 months, or 41.7 years before i get my excise duty back in subsidy. Do you think my Honda Civic can last for 41.7 years? In summary: All malaysians should remember - the government actually profits from us, the people, via excise duty vs fuel subsidies AS IT IS. And they want to make petrol more expensive. This is ridiculous. Give me an untaxed car. Then i will pay (gladly pay) full price for fuel Pengusaha bas minta naik tambang Oleh Amin Ridzuan Ishak Berita harian Online KUALA LUMPUR: Persatuan Pengusaha Bas Seluruh Malaysia (PMBOA) memohon untuk menaikkan kadar tambang bas ekspres dan bas berhenti-henti di seluruh negara sebanyak 100 peratus bagi menampung peningkatan kos operasi serta alat ganti. Presiden PMBOA, Datuk Ashfar Ali, berkata pihaknya sudah mengemukakan permohonan itu kepada Menteri Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi, Datuk Noh Omar, berikutan peningkatan mendadak harga diesel dan alat ganti. "Kali terakhir kerajaan mengumumkan kenaikan tambang bas ekspres dan bas berhenti-henti adalah pada 1 Mei 2005 sedangkan harga diesel sudah dinaikkan tiga kali, manakala kos alat ganti pula semakin bertambah," katanya pada sidang media, di sini, semalam. Mengikut cadangan PMBOA, tambang bas ekspres berhawa dingin di Semenanjung perlu dinaikkan kepada 15 sen untuk jarak satu kilometer (km) berbanding 6.5 sen setiap km kadar sekarang. Bagi perkhidmatan bas ekspres tanpa penghawa dingin pula, PMBOA memohon kenaikan tambang sebanyak 10 sen setiap kilometer berbanding 5.5 sen yang dikenakan ketika ini. "Bagi bas berhenti-henti berhawa dingin, kami meminta kenaikan tambang kepada RM1.50 untuk setiap km dan 20 sen bagi setiap km berikutnya berbanding kadar sekarang iaitu masing-masing 72 sen dan 7.2 sen. "Bagi bas berhenti-henti tanpa pendingin hawa, kami memohon tambangnya dinaikkan kepada RM1 untuk setiap dua km pertama dan 15 sen bagi setiap km berikutnya berbanding kadar sekarang iaitu masing-masing 48 sen dan tujuh sen. "Bagi laluan berbukit pula, kami memohon supaya dibenarkan caj tambahan sebanyak 20 peratus lagi daripada kenaikan itu," katanya. Ashfar berkata, bagi pengusaha di Sarawak, PMBOA mahu kadar tambang bagi bas ekspres berhawa dingin dinaikkan kepada 22 sen bagi km pertama berbanding 11 sen ketika ini di Sabah, ia dinaikkan daripada 10 sen kepada 20 sen untuk jarak yang sama. "Bagi bas ekspres tanpa penghawa dingin di Sabah, kadar kenaikan tambang yang dicadangkan adalah 15 sen bagi kilometer pertama berbanding 8.5 sen ketika ini. Bagaimanapun tiada jumlah ditetapkan untuk Sarawak," katanya. Bagi bas berhenti-henti tanpa penghawa dingin di Sarawak, pihaknya mencadangkan tambang lima km pertama dinaikkan kepada RM1.20 dan 15 sen bagi setiap km berikutnya manakala bagi yang berhawa dingin, masing-masing diminta dinaikkan kepada RM1.50 dan 20 sen untuk jarak sama. Di Sabah pula, PMBOA memohon tambang bas berhenti-henti berhawa dingin dinaikkan kepada RM1.50 bagi dua km dan 20 sen bagi setiap km berikutnya manakala yang tidak berhawa dingin, kadar dicadangkan adalah masing-masing RM1 dan 15 sen untuk jarak laluan sama. Selain itu, PMBOA memohon supaya kerajaan menaikkan 30 peratus kadar tambang bas mini daripada masing-masing 80 sen kepada RM1.10 untuk yang berhawa dingin dan daripada 70 sen kepada RM1 bagi yang tidak berhawa dingin. PMBOA turut meminta Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP) mengehadkan pemberian permit bas bagi mengelak ia menjejaskan lagi pendapatan pengusaha bas sedia ada. Ashfar berkata, pengusaha mendapati kenaikan tambang yang diumumkan pada 2005 bukan saja gagal membantu mereka meningkatkan keuntungan, malah tidak cukup untuk menampung kos operasi masing-masing. "Akibatnya, banyak syarikat yang terpaksa gulung tikar dan satu daripada langkah yang boleh dilaksanakan untuk mengatasi masalah itu ialah jika kerajaan membenarkan kami menaikkan kadar tambang perkhidmatan. "Kami bukannya mahu menyusahkan pengguna atau mengambil kesempatan daripada kenaikan harga minyak tetapi jika keadaan terus begini, kita bimbang tidak mampu memberikan perkhidmatan dan akhirnya ia akan membebankan orang ramai," katanya.

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