http://www.btimes.com.my en Thursday, May 17, 2012, 06.43 AM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20120517000726/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20120517000726/Article/ Thu, 17 May 2012 00:07:27 +0800 Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, founder of the Country Heights group of companies, is embarking on new ventures, including building mini-hydro sets to supply power to rural areas. Lee is also looking at the possibility of transporting untreated water from Malaysia to developing countries like South Africa. To spearhead the development of the hydro sets, Lee's private investment arm, Solar LED Sdn Bhd, will spend RM5 million to set up a factory in Pajam in Nilai, Negri Sembilan. As a pilot project, the company plans to produce 100 mini-hydro sets, each capable of producing nine kilowatt (kw) of power. "Each hydro set will be able to supply power to three houses. Hopefully we will get the licence to supply power to rural areas," Lee told Business Times yesterday. Lee said Solar LED had signed a memorandum of understanding with Feng Jia University of Taiwan to study the viability of the hydro project. Solar LED is also in discussions with the university to conduct a study on how to channel water from Malaysia to developing nations. "The idea is to harvest rainwater and transport them overseas at a reasonable cost. We are still brainstorming. We are thinking of using tugboats to transport the water. "I am not looking at making billions of ringgit from these ventures. It is more on humanity grounds and for the future generations. I have 10 to 20 ideas, some of which will be implemented through private investments," he said. An established businessman and an innovative entrepreneur, Lee has more than 30 years of experience in residential, industrial park, hotel and leisure, commercial and recreation projects. Lee is the founder of Country Heights Holdings Bhd and the 625ha The Mines Resort City. He also sits on the board of Golden Horse Palace Bhd, Mines Excellence Golf Resort Bhd, Plentiful Gold-Class Bhd, Bluwater Developments Bhd and a few other private firms. http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20120517001215/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20120517001215/Article/ Thu, 17 May 2012 00:43:01 +0800 "They are having a board meeting tomorrow, followed by an analysts' meeting later in the day," a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. The RM40 million is the second interim dividend that JCY is paying in this financial year to shareholders. Earlier in the year, JCY paid RM40 million in cash dividend to shareholders. The company is expected to announce its results today. Business Times understands that JCY's net profit for the six months just ended should come in at about RM340 million. In the first quarter ended December 31, 2011, JCY's net profit surged more than 20-fold to RM162 million from RM7 million in the same period a year ago. The surge was attributed to flash floods in Thailand last year that caused havoc to hard disk-drive (HDD) component manufacturers based there. The situation had benefited JCY, whose operations were spared by the October floods, thus allowing the company to take up additional orders from HDD makers such as Western Digital Corp and Seagate Technology. JCY currently has 18 factories located mainly in Malaysia, China (Suzhou and Foshan) and Thailand. It employs some 18,000 people, of which 15,000 are in Malaysia. It is understood that at the analyst briefing, JCY will unveil plans for its operations in China.