KUALA LUMPUR: In an unprecedented move, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd (SDP) has increased the salaries of 37,000 of its estate and mill workers throughout the country, with each of them expected to earn an extra RM200 in basic salary effective July 1.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime property in Paris recorded the strongest price growth of all the cities monitored within the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index in 1Q 2011. Its prices rose by 22.2% in the year to March 2011, driven primarily by supply constraints and growing interest from overseas buyers, according to the inaugural index.

KUALA LUMPUR: UDA Holdings Bhd, burdened with the bumiputera social economic agenda, is banking on the redevelopment of the former Pudu Jail site as its saviour for the long-term survival of the company in the face of its depleting land bank and weak cash position.

KUALA LUMPUR: AEON Co (M) Bhd has proposed to acquire a 20.17-acre parcel of freehold agriculture land in Sungai Petani, Kedah, for RM36.02 million or RM41 psf.

The group had entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with vendor Asia Plywood Company Sdn Bhd for the land, it announced to Bursa Malaysia on Friday, June 3.

KUALA LUMPUR: TA Global Bhd has proposed to acquire a 121.14-acre tract of land in Hulu Selangor for RM73.87 million or RM14 psf, it announced to Bursa Malaysia on Friday, June 3.

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration wants to help more struggling Americans stay in their homes by reducing the amount they owe on their troubled mortgages, a top Treasury official said last Saturday, June 4.

PUTRAJAYA: S P Setia Bhd will redevelop the Sri Johor, Sri Pulau Pinang and Sri Melaka low cost apartments and the Taman Ikan Emas low cost homes in Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras in Kuala Lumpur at a total development value of RM2.8 billion.

S P Setia's Deputy President & Chief Operating Officer Datuk Voon Tin Yow said the first phase of the project would take off next month.

Singapore-based contractor-cum-property developer Sim Lian Group Ltd has seen early signs of success in its first foray into the Kuala Lumpur central business district.

UOA Development Bhd is ready to scale new heights with its upcoming listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. The company expects to launch its prospectus and complete its listing by June 2011.

Datuk Maznah Hamid and her husband Datuk Shaheen Mirza Habib are no strangers to the corporate world. Their company Securiforce Group, which they founded in 1980, is the largest security service provider in the country and has strong business ties with financial institutions.