Benalec set to win Johor job
Tee Lin Say The Star 10 Nov 11;
PETALING JAYA: Benalec Holdings Bhd, which has requested for its stock to be suspended pending an announcement, is close to securing a land reclamation project that will cover about 5,000 acres in Tanjung Piai in the southwestern tip of Johor, sources said.
The sources added that the contract was being awarded by the Johor government to Spektrum Kukuh Sdn Bhd and Spektrum Budi Sdn Bhd, both of which are 70:30 joint ventures between Benalec and certain individuals.
The blocks of land were divided into two parcels one in the southwest of Tanjung Piai measuring 3,485 acres while the other is in the southeast measuring 1,700 acres, the sources said, adding that Benalec was likely to announce the deal this week.
According to sources, Benalec will undertake a private placement soon to raise funds for the project. Benalec declined to comment when contacted by StarBiz.
The source said the parcel at the southwest of Tanjung Piai was some 17km or 9 nautical miles from the major petrochemical complex on Jurong Island in Singapore. That part of Tanjung Piai is also suitable to be a deepwater petroleum terminal facility, similar to what Dialog Group Bhd is developing in Pengerang, Johor.
“The anchorage in that area is deep and shielded from monsoon,” said the source.
Meanwhile, the land to be reclaimed in the southeast of Tanjung Piai may include a container port to serve Petroliam Nasional Bhd's planned RM60bil refinery and petrochemical integrated development complex in Pengerang.
Sources also said it was likely that Singapore's Jurong International, the master planner for Jurong petrochemical complex, would be appointed the master planner for the reclaimed land in Tanjung Piai.
Benalec is an integrated maritime construction company. Its main activities are land reclamation works, dredging and other services like marine structure and breakwater construction.
Benalec is working on several reclamation projects like Arab City in Malacca, Glenmarie Cove in Port Klang and dredging for the Kapar power station. Its contracts in hand are valued at about RM800mil.
Payment for Benalec's services comes in two forms cash or payment in kind where Benalec is granted some portion of the reclaimed land. The company is currently the largest “land manufacturer” in Malacca with an entitlement of some 1,360 acres. The bulk of this was secured in the form of payment-in-kind from Oriental Holdings Bhd for reclamation works done.
As at June, Benalec has reclaimed and sold 330 acres in Malacca. Out of the outstanding 1,030 acres, 270 acres have been reclaimed and already come with land titles.
AmResearch said in a report that the balance 760 acres would be reclaimed over the next four to five years. A major portion will consist of a sizeable reclamation contract in Klebang where works had commenced since March.
Recently, Benalec won a RM36.6mil contract to reclaim 60 acres on the coast of Pulau Konet, Alor Gajah, Malacca.
Benalec may get first offtaker for petroleum hub soon
Tan Lin Say The Star 12 Nov 11;
PETALING JAYA: Benalec Holdings Bhd is likely to secure its first offtaker for its proposed petroleum and petrochemical hub and maritime industrial park in the next few month, said analysts who attended the company’s briefing yesterday.
To fund its reclamation contracts, Benalec is likely to undertake a private placement next week.
On Thursday, the company announced that it had secured the rights to reclaim and own land in Pengerang and Tanjung Piai measuring 1,760 acres and 3,485 acres respectively from the Johor government.
The reclamation works are for the purpose of developing an integrated petroleum and petrochemical hub and maritime industrial park.
According to AmResearch, international consultants are likely to be appointed soon to undertake the various technical and feasibility studies for the project.
“The group endeavours to complete these studies within six months. It is also in discussions with the Johor government to expedite the land alienation process so that land titles can be received within one month from settling its land premium obligations,” said AmResearch in its report.
At the briefing, analysts were told that the projected gross development value (GDV) in Pengerang was RM3mil per acre while for Tanjung Piai, RM4mil per acre. This works out to a GDV of about RM19.22bil for the entire venture.
Reclamations in Pengerang will take 10 years while Tanjung Piai will take 10 to 20 years.
These projects are close to Jurong Island in Singapore that is presently the third-largest oil trading hub in the world. Benalec wants Tanjung Piai to complement the vibrant petrochemical hub on Jurong Island, which is already overcrowded.
“Construction works for Phase One are scheduled to commence by the end of second quarter 2012, as we expect the group to secure a major offtaker sometime soon,” said an AmResearch analyst.
In the immediate term, Benalec’s primary focus will be on the 2,000 acres under Phases One and Two in Tanjung Piai.
So far, only AmResearch has come out with an updated report on Benalec. It expects net profit to jump 51.4% to RM169.2mil on a 172.5% rise in revenue to RM659.2mil for the financial year ending June 30, 2013.
Benalec’s core activities are in marine construction (land reclamations), vessel chartering and marine transport. For the financial year ended June 30 (FY11), it registered a net profit of RM96.08mil and revenue of RM214.49mil.
Marine construction accounted for the bulk of its FY11 revenue, followed by vessel chartering and ship maintenance and shipbuilding.
Benalec finished 8 sen lower yesterday at RM1.35 on a volume of 13.65 million shares.
