AmBank (M) Bhd is issuing five new European-style cash-settled structured call warrants over the ordinary shares of AEON Co.(M) Bhd (AEON), Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd (CARLSBG), Parkson
Holdings Bhd (PARKSON), QL Resources Bhd (QL) and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (SKPETRO).

In a statement today, Ambank said the warrants will be listed for trading on March 5, 2013, via the market making method, with issue size of up to 100 million each and tenures of approximately 12 months.

AmInvestment Bank Bhd Director/Head (Equity Derivatives), Ng Ee Fang, said this would be despite the current political uncertainty and consequent risk-off pervading the equity markets as Malaysia prepares itself for the much anticipated coming general election.

She said Malaysia’s fourth quarter 2012 gross domestic product growth powered on to surprise on the upside at 6.4 per cent year-on-year compared to average analysts’ estimates of only 5.5 per cent.

"The strong growth came on the back of resilient public and private sector investment as well as domestic consumption."

She said consumer spending continued to be robust, up 6.1 per cent y-o-y, driven by the government’s various cash assistance initiatives and a low unemployment rate.

"For AmBank's upcoming tranche of warrants, AmBank will be offering call warrants over consumer or consumer-related counters AEON, CARLSBG, PARKSON, QL, and SKPETRO," Ng added.

"Besides that, AmBank will also be offering a call warrant over SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd which is well positioned to secure further contracts overseas to add to its large domestic order book," she added.

"This offer is aimed at sophisticated traders who want to trade on the direction and volatility of AEON, CARLSBG, PARKSON, QL and SKPETRO," AmBank said.

It said the warrants have gearings ranging from 2.93 to 6.69 and are targeted at investors who want to enjoy leveraged exposure to the underlying stocks.

AmBAnk said all the five call warrants are priced at 15 sen each, with varying gearings -- AEON of 2.93 times, CARLSBG 4.08 times, PARKSON 6.25 times, QL 6.69 times and SKPETRO 4.78 times.

AmBank Group is one of the largest banking groups in Malaysia by market capitalisation and comprises AMMB Holdings Bhd and its subsidiaries AmInvestment Bank Bhd, AmInvestment Group Bhd, AmBank (M) Bhd, AmIslamic Bank Bhd, AmG Insurance Bhd and AmLife Insurance Bhd.

The group provides a wide range of conventional and Islamic banking and financial solutions.