Comments On The Budget

Much of what's there is already out there already, so nothing really new.

Oil & Gas - Uzma looked interesting on Friday, may be a big beneficiary for the small company.

Housing for first home buyers - OK, good move.

Public transportation - This will be a key mover and shaker.

PNB 100 storey tower, hmm ... sounds like over reaching here.

Finance - More prop traders, that is just institutionalizing what some heavy hitting stockists are already doing, whats new?

Khazanah and EPF getting PLUS is very good. It also paves the way to set a benchmark to acquire the other tollways. Litrak will be upgraded.

The two mega projects that could capture the most attention from investors would be the RM12bn high-speed rail project and the RM2.5bn WiMAX rollout. For leveraged exposure to WiMAX, YTL e-Solutions’ fee arrangement with YTL Power appears quite attractive. YTL Power will roll out WiMAX nationwide on 18 Nov.

It will provide free service to 400,000 university students for usage within their campus for a limited time. YTL e-Solutions will be paid an annual fee of RM75m and a 10% share of revenue above RM500m for its WiMAX licence. Fees will flow directly to the bottomline.

YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, which is gearing to launch its WiMAX-based services on Nov 18, is expected to sign an agreement with US-based Sezmi TV for a new personalized digital television content offering on its network. The agreement will give YTL Comms exclusive rights to offer hybrid TV services, comprising traditional TV, on-demand and Internet content to Malaysia and the Asian region. It may take YTL Comms a year to roll out the services in Malaysia. The overall cost of bringing digital TV on its network to TV screens and also extending services to the region may be whopping RM1b to RM2b.