issue 184/2021 ceomorningbrief

MALAYAN CEMENT TO TAKE OVER YTL CEMENT’S CEMENT AND READY-MIXED CONCRETE BIZ IN RM5.16B DEAL p7

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HOME: Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases jump to 4,765 today, with record 39 deaths reported p2Maybank says Malaysian economic rebound on track but risk tilted to downside on MCO p10

WORLD: Major overhaul of WHO needed after failures, says Covid panel p16

US DoJ remits RM1.9b

in 1MDB-related funds back to Malaysia

Report on Page 3.

Public Bank’s years of

‘disciplined cost control practices’

pay off when the going gets

toughReport on Page 6.

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Note: Dear readers, there will be no CEO Morning Brief tomorrow (May 14) as we are taking a break for Hari Raya Aidilfitri.We will be back on Tuesday (May 18). For the latest news during the holidays, check out https://www.theedgemarkets.com/.

Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases jump to 4,765

today, with record 39 deaths reported

BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m


KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Malaysia re-ported a record high of 39 Covid-19 deaths today, while new cases rose sharply to 4,765 from 3,973 yesterday. The new cases are the highest since Jan 31 and the fourth highest since the virus first landed on Malaysian shores.

Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hish-am Abdullah said the jump in new cases was expected, and warned that daily infections could breach the 5,000 mark by mid-May.

Selangor contributed 2,082 new cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (540), Sarawak (405), Johor (348), Kelantan (297), Penang (259) and Kedah (226).

Malaysia’s coronavirus curve climbs again amid third infection wave

Sept 1, 2020 May 12, 2021

Daily new cases

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

4,1214,765

7-day moving average

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 453,222, while total deaths have risen to 1,761. The 39 patients who died in the 24 hours as of noon today were aged between 43 and 88 years, and included two foreigners. Of the new deaths, 10 were registered in Johor, eight in Kuala Lumpur, five in Selangor, three in Sabah, and two each in Kedah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Pahang. One death each was registered in Perak, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and Putrajaya.Meanwhile, 4,578 of today’s 4,765 cases were locally transmitted, including 461 cases involving foreigners. The seven imported cases, meanwhile, comprised five Malaysians and two foreigners.

A total of 3,124 Covid-19 patients were discharged today, raising total recoveries to 411,360, or 90.76% of total cases. Active cases now stand at 40,101.

Another 20 new Covid-19 clusters were reported today, raising total clusters identified in the country to 1,840. Of that, 1,378 clus-ters have ended, leaving 462 active clusters.

Twelve of the new clusters are workplace infections, while five involved the communi-ty. Of the remaining three clusters, one was from a high-risk group, another was linked to a religious group, and the third was linked to an educational institution under the Ministry of Education.

More Covid-19 cases of South African, Indian variants detected in MalaysiaKUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Another 14 Covid-19 cases of the South African vari-ant have been detected in Malaysia, along with a second case of the Indian variant.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the 14 cases of the South African variant were detected in Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.

These raised to 62 the number of cases of that variant discovered in Malaysia so far, he said in a statement.

Seven of these cases were detected from the Kampung Dolmis cluster, while anoth-er four were detected during close contacts’

screening. Of the remaining three, one case each was detected from the Bangkahulu and Bayan Cenderawasih clusters, and another one was detected from a person after being vaccinated.

As for the latest case of the Indian variant, Dr Noor Hisham said it again involves a for-eigner, who has since passed away.

He said the deceased arrived in Malaysia on April 7 and went through a Covid-19 test at the border, with two tests done on April 7 and April 12, both showing a negative result.

“However, he tested positive on April 21, when he was brought to the emergen-cy and trauma unit after displaying severe Covid-19 symptoms. His health declined and he passed away on May 1,” Dr Noor Hisham said. Read also: Emergence of new Covid-19 variants sees Malaysia facing more challenging third wave — PM Muhyiddin Click here China’s Sinovac shot found highly effective in real world study Click here

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/emergence-new-covid19-variants-sees-malaysia-facing-more-challenging-third-wave-%E2%80%94-pm

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/chinas-sinovac-shot-found-highly-effective-real-world-study


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has remitted some RM1.9 billion or US$452.36 million in funds related to 1Malaysian Develop-ment Bhd (1MDB) into Malaysia’s Asset Recovery Trust Account.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said so far, the account had re-ceived RM16.05 billion of seized and re-patriated 1MDB funds. The ministry add-ed that any balance in the trust account, which is under the custody of the Account-ant-General’s Department of Malaysia, will be used to primarily repay and service

1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC In-ternational Sdn Bhd’s remaining debts.

To date, the government has repaid RM12.4 billion of 1MDB’s debt and RM3.1 billion of SRC’s debt. The out-standing debt balance which is composed of principal and coupon, profit and interest of bonds, sukuk and term loans stands at RM39.8 billion for 1MDB and RM2.57 billion for SRC.


US DoJ remits RM1.9b in 1MDB-related funds back to Malaysia

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the current balance is sufficient to service 1MDB’s debt obligations for 2021 and 2022 only. He add-ed that this balance excludes the RM2.83 billion that will be received from AmBank Group and RM336 million from Deloitte.

“Negotiations are also currently ongo-ing with KPMG. Once all recovered funds in the Trust Account have been utilised, the government will still have to continue bearing the burden of servicing 1MDB’s debt obligations, which were backed by

The total of 1MDB’s remaining debts to be paid till maturity is RM39.8 billion, as follows:

DEBT PAYMENT YEAR 2021 YEAR(RM MIL) DATE 2024-2038* INTEREST INTEREST PRINCIPAL INTEREST PRINCIPAL INTEREST INTEREST PRINCIPAL

1MDB GIL Bond March 9 Paid 277.20 – 277.20 12,600.00 – – –1MELL Bond April 18 Paid 211.31 – – – – – –1MEL Bond May 11 Paid 220.13 7,350.00 – – – – –Sukuk IMTN May 29 143.75 143.75 – 143.75 – 2,156.25 143.75 5,000.001MDB GIL Bond Sept 9 277.20 277.20 – – – – – –1MELL Bond Oct 18 211.31 211.31 7,350.00 – – – – –1MEL Bond Nov 11 220.13 – – – – – – –Sukuk IMTN Nov 29 143.75 143.75 – 143.75 – 2,156.25 – –Total 996.14 1,484.65 14,700.00 564.70 12,600.00 4,312.50 143.75 5,000.00Total sumSource: Finance Ministry

39,801.74

YEAR 2022 YEAR 2023 YEAR 2039

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H O M E

Repayment of 1MDB’s debt obligation from 2017-2021 are as follows:

YEAR SHAREHOLDER ADVANCE/ SETTLED USING TRUST TOTAL INTERCO LOAN BY ACCOUNT FUNDS GOVERNMENT TO 1MDB

2017 6,559,749,304 Nil 6,559,749,3042018 1,654,579,375 Nil 1,654,579,3752019 914,070,262 791,407,799 1,705,478,0612020 507,000,000 1,274,121,732 1,781,121,7322021 220,130,000 478,248,754 698,378,754 9,855,528,941 2,543,778,285 12,399,307,226Source: Finance Ministry

SOURCE OF FUND/ AMOUNT

SRC’s remaining principal and profit amounts to be paid till maturity are RM2.57 billion, as follows:

YEAR PAYMENT INTEREST PRINCIPAL AMOUNT REMARKS DATE

2021 Feb 26 7,417,372.60 350,000,000.00 357,417,372.60 Paid March 29 7,962,250.68 350,000,000.00 357,962,250.68 Paid Aug 27 12,132,953.43 400,000,000.00 412,132,953.43 Sept 28 12,775,758.90 400,000,000.00 412,775,758.902022 Feb 28 15,849,172.60 400,000,000.00 415,849,172.60 March 28 24,002,630.67 585,015,247.72 609,017,878.39 2,565,155,386.60Source: Finance Ministry

Repayment of SRC loans’ principal and profit from 2014-2020are as follows:

YEAR AMOUNT

2014 153,644,009.292015 202,107,274.202016 212,998,345.392017 296,116,566.172018 500,869,531.052019 681,255,256.562020 1,052,275,957.15TOTAL 3,099,266,939.81Source: Finance Ministry

the government’s guarantee and letter of support when these debts were created.

“This recovery would not have been achieved without the excellent coopera-tion between the government of Malaysia and the US government, particularly with the DoJ. On behalf of the government of Malaysia, we would like to thank the US government and look forward to the con-tinued cooperation between us,” he added.

“The government’s current recovery ef-forts are focused on parties who have caused losses to 1MDB and SRC during the ex-ecution of their duties, whether through direct or indirect involvement in 1MDB and SRC’s various operations and transac-tions, as well as those who have wrongful-ly received SRC monies disguised as CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities.

“All those involved will be made fully accountable for the wrongdoing caused to the country through their involvement in 1MDB and/or SRC,” the statement read.

It was reported on Monday that 1MDB and SRC had filed 22 suits against sever-al entities to recover a total of more than RM96.6 billion.

The writs filed by 1MDB are against a total of nine entities — including two for-eign financial institutions — and 25 indi-viduals for various wrongdoing, including breach of contractual, statutory, common law and fiduciary duties; breach of trust; fraud; conspiracy to defraud; fraudulent misrepresentation; fraudulent breach of duties and trust; fraudulent concealment; fraudulent misappropriation; dishonest assistance in misappropriation of funds; negligence; knowing receipt; and unjust enrichment.

Meanwhile, the writs filed by SRC are against 15 individuals and eight entities

for various wrongdoing, including abuse of power, breach of fiduciary duties in public office, breach of trust, conspiracy, dishon-est assistance, fraudulent breach of duties, knowing receipt, misfeasance and wrongful conversion.

The entities being sued include former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, as well as former 1MDB chief executive officers (CEOs) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Hal-mi and Arul Kanda Kandasamy, as well as foreign banks Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Coutts & Co.

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F RO M PAG E 3


Wishing our Muslim readers

Selamat Hari RayaAidilfitri

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H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Business is all about strict cost control and risk management — even more so during these unprecedented times — and Public Bank Bhd’s prudence in both over the past decades is paying off, as the bank announced a record high quarterly profit this week.

In an interview with The Edge, Public Bank Bhd’s managing director and chief executive of-ficer Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said he believes that years of prudent risk management and disciplined cost control practices have enabled the banking group to build sufficient buffers to cushion the adverse impact caused by the pandemic.

“This culture was built over the years.. It wasn’t built overnight,” he explained over the phone.

He added that some of the prudent risk measures include controlling the banking group’s asset quality, in which he believed “is important”. “The quality of loan at the source, or in other words the origination of a loan, is more important than collection,” he noted.

Significant pre-emptive provision has to be also set aside for potential risk on asset quality, Tay said.

Tay acknowledged that Public Bank is not im-mune to the adverse effects of Covid-19, noting the 12% drop in the group’s pre-tax profit in the last financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20). The banking group also suffered the Day-1 mod-ification loss of RM498 million arising from the Covid-19 pandemic-related relief measures.

However, Public Bank bounced back quick-ly. The group achieved a record high quarterly net profit of RM1.53 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), up 15.11% from RM1.33 billion a year ago.

He highlighted the group’s sound funda-mentals that have been built and strengthened throughout the years for helping Public Bank navigate through these challenging times.

Public Bank’s cost–to-income ratio — always the gold star standard in the industry — stood at 31.8% for 1QFY21, significantly lower than the industry’s average of 42.8%.

“They have always been very vigilant on cost,” observed a banking analyst who covers Public Bank.

“Public Bank has imposed certain cost con-trol measures… but haven’t shared what these cost measures are. During normal times, the cost will grow 5% to 6% but under current cost control measures, the cost is growing only 3%,” the analyst added.

On top of its low cost-to-income ratio, Pub-lic Bank is also known for its asset quality. Its gross impaired loan ratio is at 0.4%, well below the segment’s 1.6%.

Not a fair weather friendTay attributed the strong set of quarterly earn-

BY JOYCE GOH t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

Public Bank’s years of ‘disciplined cost control practices’ pay off when the going gets tough

“In December 2020, further assistance via the Expanded Targeted Repayment Assistance was given by Public Bank to the customers who are in the bottom 40% income group (B40) where a three-month deferment of repayments or 50% reduction of existing monthly instal-ments was provided.”

“On top of this, the group also provided fund-ing assistance of more than RM3.4 billion to over 16,000 SME customers under the various special financing schemes initiated by the government and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM),” Tay noted.

Public Bank is not stopping there, he assured, noting that the group continues to engage with its customers to assist them and the result “has been very encouraging”.

“For instance, from 2018 to 2019, the group provided moratorium for more than 5,000 cus-tomers with about RM900 million worth of loans who were affected by floods.”

In 2020, apart from offering moratorium for Covid-19 pandemic-affected customers, the group continued to offer moratorium for more than 600 customers affected by floods, totalling over RM90 million.

“Year to date, Public Bank has so far offered moratorium to over 1,600 customers affected by floods with loans worth over RM370 mil-lion,” he said.

Tay added that Public Bank will ensure that its customers continue to have “access to new fi-nancing needs in the current challenging times”.

Improving loan repaymentsThe veteran banker, who has 60 years of experi-ence in the industry, observes the improvements in repayment trend in recent months.

This, he said, shows that many borrowers are gradually regaining their financial strength to meet their repayment obligations.

Sharing the loan moratorium statistics with The Edge, Tay said when BNM announced the six-month loan moratorium for all individuals and SMEs in 2020, about 30% of Public Bank’s customers continued to make repayments.

He assured that despite the improving re-payment trend, Pubic Bank’s TRA programme will remain open to customers facing financial difficulties.

“Ongoing engagement will continue and various flexible repayment packages will re-main open for applications. We are committed to continuing assist customers who are still fi-nancially impacted by the pandemic,” he said.

Read also: Public Bank’s record quarterly profit supports positive outlook on Malaysian banks — analysts Click here

ings figures to a recovering economy as many economic activities were already allowed to op-erate normally in 1QFY21.

Many customers of the bank are gradual-ly getting back to their feet again financially, according to Tay. But he stressed that Public Bank is always ready to “handhold them again whenever necessary”.

The improvement in the economy is greatly supported by the government and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) with their ongoing proactive policy support and guidance, Tay said.

“Policies such as the Home Ownership Cam-paign offering exemption of stamp duty, sales tax exemption on purchases of new vehicles as well as various financing schemes offered, such as the Special Relief Facility, Targeted Relief and Recovery Facility, Penjana SME Financing and others have all helped to put the whole econ-omy on a better footing than the earlier stages of the pandemic,” he noted.

“Without these proactive stimulus measures by the government and BNM, it will not be pos-sible for the financial institutions to sail through these turbulent times,” he added.

He also highlighted that Public Bank’s various financing and repayment assistance programmes have benefitted about 1.8 million customers.

Upon expiry of the automatic loan moratorium at the end of September 2020, Public Bank rolled out the Targeted Repayment Assistance (TRA) relief programme comprising a three-month loan moratorium for individuals who had lost their job due to Covid-19; while a reduction in instalment for at least six months was offered to individuals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which encountered reduced income.

Tay said that given the varying financial con-ditions of borrowers, “targeted repayment assis-tance will be more effective and suitable to cater to customers with different financial constraints”.

He noted as of to date, about 12% of the bank’s customers have applied for the TRA and more than 90% of these TRA customers are making re-payments in accordance to the rescheduled terms.

Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek

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H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Hong Leong Company (Malaysia) Bhd is no longer the ultimate shareholder of the 27% stake in Eco World International Bhd (EWI) owned by the Hong Leong group following an in-ternal restructuring.

Hong Leong Company and HL Hold-ings Sdn Bhd have ceased to be substantial shareholders of EWI, according to filings with Bursa Malaysia today. The reason cited was internal restructuring.

Hong Leong group’s 27% stake remains with GLL EWI (HK) Ltd.

According to its annual report for the financial year ended Oct 31, 2020 (FY20), GLL EWI (HK) is the group’s second-larg-est shareholder, with 648 million shares rep-resenting the 27% stake.

For its first quarter ended Jan 31, 2021 (1QFY21), EWI saw its net profit jump by more than 10-fold to RM56.03 million, from RM5.19 million a year ago, thanks mainly to profit recognition of the group’s Melbourne project.

Quarterly revenue swelled to RM303.28 million from RM51,000.

The group declared an interim dividend of one sen, to be paid on April 28. This is EWI’s maiden dividend since its listing in 2017. EWI said it delivered RM408 million sales in the first four months of the current financial year.

Sales in the first quarter totalled RM312 million, slightly in excess of RM100 million a month, which is similar to the rate record-ed in the previous first quarter.

Shares in EWI closed unchanged at 55 sen apiece, valuing it at RM1.32 billion. It saw 1.31 million shares done.

(The previous version of this article reported that Hong Leong Group had ceased to be a substan-tial shareholder of EWI. We regret the error.)

Hong Leong group moves 27% stake in Eco World

International from flagship company in

restructuring exercise

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): YTL Ce-ment Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Corp Bhd, today inked an agreement to sell its entire cement and ready-mixed concrete opera-tions in Malaysia to its 76.98%-owned sub-sidiary Malayan Cement Bhd, for RM5.16 billion in a cash and stock deal.

Under the agreement, Malayan Cement will acquire 12 companies under YTL Ce-ment. All of these companies have an es-tablished track record of operational profit, YTL Cement said in a statement.

Of the total consideration, which YTL Cement said is still subject to adjustments at the point of completion, RM2 billion will be settled in cash. Malayan Cement will then issue 375.5 million new shares to YTL Ce-ment to satisfy RM1.41 billion, and issue 466.7 million new irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS) for the remaining RM1.75 billion.

The new Malayan Cement shares and ICPS will be issued at RM3.75 per share/ICPS, which was also the price per share that YTL Cement paid for the acquisition of its 76.98% equity interest in Malayan Cement in 2019, which was premised on the potential synergies that would arise from the integration of businesses between the two groups.

YTL Cement’s shareholding in Malay-an Cement is expected to increase to ap-proximately 78.58% upon completion of the proposed transaction and the ongoing private placement of up to 85 million new Malayan Cement shares announced on April 15, 2021, assuming no conversion of the ICPS to be issued.

“Therefore, Malayan Cement will apply to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd for approv-al for a lower public shareholding spread of 20% in due course,” YTL Cement said.

It described the proposed transaction as a natural progression towards increasing the size of Malayan Cement’s cement and ready-mixed concrete businesses, bolstering prof-itability and value enhancement.

Malayan Cement to take over

YTL Cement’s cement and ready-mixed

concrete biz in RM5.16b deal

BY TAN SIEW MUNG t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m


“YTL Cement will consolidate similar operating businesses under a singular um-brella,” it said, adding the deal is expected to further improve operational efficiencies and business outcomes by leveraging shared expertise, experience and resources, and to eliminate overlapping functions.

The partial settlement of the considera-tion via shares and ICPS issuance is to ena-ble Malayan Cement to optimise its cash re-serves and gearing levels, YTL Cement said.

The strategic realignment will foster value creation for shareholders of Malayan Cement and allow investors to invest direct-ly on a focused basis in Malaysia’s leading building materials company, it said.

“This exercise will also significantly re-duce related party transactions (RPTs) and conflicts of interest between YTL Cement and Malayan Cement. The intention is also to improve governance across both groups and lower the administrative and compli-ance costs incurred through the monitoring and management of these issues,” it said.

Recall that Malayan Cement’s minority shareholders had previously in September 2019 blocked a resolution that mandat-ed the company undertake RPTs worth RM3.51 billion with YTL Cement, just three months after YTL Cement bought the controlling stake in Malayan Cement (then known as Lafarge Malaysia Bhd).

At the time YTL Cement said the setback was not due to the nature of the RPTS but because the deatils were not well explained. The RPTs were then reduced to RM1.87 billion and subsequently got the greenlight from shareholders in January 2020.

YTL Cement’s latest proposed trans-action with Malayan Cement is subject to approval by the latter’s shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting to be convened.

Malayan Cement shares closed 5 sen or 1.82% higher at RM2.80 today, valuing the group at RM2.38 billion. YTL Ce-ment is 98%-owned by YTL Corp, whose shares settled 1 sen higher at 69 sen to-day, giving it a market capitalisation of RM7.51 billion.


H O M E

BY JUSTIN LIM t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

E&O has no merger plans for now, says chairman Tee

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Property developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd does not plan to merge with any entities in the near term, including with construction player Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, ac-cording to the majority shareholder of both companies, Datuk Tee Eng Ho.

This is because there is no synergy to be derived by merging the two compa-nies at this juncture, said Tee, who is also co-founder and non-executive chairman of Kerjaya Prospek. Maybe this can be re-visited in the next five or 10 years, he said.

The same is true for Kerjaya Prospek Property Bhd (KPPB), another listed property development entity in which Eng Ho has stakes, as he feels these two companies serve different segments.

“KPPB is serving the mid-tier market property segment, not focusing on town-ship developments, while E&O is serving the high-end property segment. Hence, there is no synergy to be derived from merging these two companies,” he said.

Eng Ho, who was appointed as E&O’s chairman today after his private vehi-cle Amazing Parade Sdn Bhd bought a 10.89% stake in E&O from Sime Darby Bhd in March that raised its sharehold-ing to 42.71% from 31.82%, said this at a virtual press briefing about the changes in E&O’s board of directors today.

The stake buy also triggered a manda-tory general offer for the rest of the shares

in E&O that Amazing Parade didn’t own. The closing date for the takeover offer is next Tuesday (May 18). Amazing Parade’s shareholders are Eng Ho (25%) and his spouse Datin Toh Siew Chuon (25%), and Eng Ho’s brother Tee Eng Seng (50%).

Through Amazing Parade, Eng Ho holds a 55.2% stake in E&O as of May 11. Eng Ho also has a 71.16% stake in Kerjaya Prospek via Amazing Parade and Egovision Sdn Bhd as of Aug 28, 2020. He also holds 56.39% in KPPB via Java-wana Sdn Bhd as on April 13.

Together with his appointment today, E&O also announced three new independ-ent and non-executive directors, following the resignation of its previous chairman and six directors.

Separately, Kerjaya Prospek announced today that Eng Hoo has been redesignated as non-executive chairman from executive chairman previously, while his brother Tee Eng Tiong has been made chief executive officer and executive director.

It also appointed two independent and non-executive directors to replace the same number of people who have resigned.

MCO 3.0 a temporary blip for property and construction sectorsMeanwhile, Eng Ho said the reimposi-

tion of the Movement Control Order or MCO 3.0 will be a temporary blip for the property and construction sectors.

“Since the MCO started last week, property sales have dropped slightly. Also, there are some delays in construc-tion works, but the impact is not as sig-nificant as when the first MCO was im-plemented a year ago, when construction works were completely halted,” he said.

“Overall, there will be some impact to businesses, but not that bad as as long as the government allows us to continue running our businesses,” he added.

On the issue of rising steel prices, Tee said the margin of construction business-es will be affected.

“The way I see it [the uptrend in steel bars] will last until year-end. I do not think the uptrend in steel bars is sus-tainable.

“Whenever new contracts come in, we will adjust (our pricing) to new pric-es accordingly, so the margin squeeze will not be so badly affected,” he added.

Shares in Kerjaya Prospek closed one sen or 0.81% higher at RM1.24, bring-ing it a market capitalisation of RM1.54 billion, while KPPB ended unchanged at RM1, with a market cap of RM400 million.

E&O shares price also closed un-changed at 60 sen, giving it a market cap of RM874 million.


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Salcon Bhd said its proposed rubber glove busi-ness may be one of the major contributors to its revenue and net profit, and there-fore is seeking its shareholders’ approv-al for the proposed diversification at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be convened.

In a filing with the bourse, the water and wastewater engineering firm said it had completed the acquisition of the re-maining 10% equity interest in Nusantara Jasakita Sdn Bhd (NJSB), making the latter a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group.

Last November, NJSB had entered into a share sale agreement (SSA) with Gane-san Subramaniam to acquire 1.02 million ordinary shares or 51% stake in JR En-gineering and Medical Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd (JREMT) for RM28.56 million.

JREMT is involved in the business of manufacturing and trading of latex, nitrile and medical gloves.

It anticipates the glove business to im-mediately contribute to the group’s earn-ings amid the global demand for rubber gloves due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As per Bursa Malaysia’s Listing Re-

quirements, a company is required to ob-tain shareholders’ approval in a general meeting for any proposal that results in either the diversion of 25% or more of Salcon’s net assets to an operation which differs widely from its existing operations, or the contribution from such an operation of 25% or more to Salcon’s net profits.

“The board expects that the glove busi-

Salcon to seek shareholders’ approval for

glove venture, as it may become major revenue

contributor

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): AirAsia Group Bhd said today its wholly-owned subsidiary Asia Digital Engineering Sdn Bhd (ADE) had obtained the Civil Avia-tion Authority of Malaysia’s (CAAM) base maintenance approval, which allows ADE to offer aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services.

“With the approval, ADE will now not only perform regular line maintenance, but also base maintenance (hangar or C-checks) for AirAsia Group’s airlines, and will also be available to support third-party airlines for aircraft MRO,” according to budget airline AirAsia Group’s statement today.

ADE CEO Mahesh Kumar claimed in the statement that ADE is now poised to become not just the biggest MRO service provider in Malaysia, but also one of the biggest in ASEAN and beyond following the CAAM’s approval.

Mahesh said ADE always believes Ma-laysia should be the strategic hub for aircraft maintenance in the region and beyond to create jobs and economic benefits for the future.

“Based on demand, we are looking to expand our aircraft maintenance facilities and services at KLIA (the Kuala Lumpur International Airport), Johor and other air-ports in Malaysia by either utilising existing hangars or building new hangars,” he said.

“ADE has made great progress since it was launched in the midst of the pandemic in September last year. We are thrilled to

AirAsia Group subsidiary

gets Malaysian regulator’s approval to

offer aircraft maintenance

services

BY TRISTAN DIELENBERG t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

ness will trigger the threshold above in the immediate future, and therefore intends to seek the shareholders’ approval for the proposed diversification,” it said.

Previously, the group said the proposed acquisition comes with a profit guarantee of RM10 million a year for the coming three financial years ending Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) until FY23.

“With an annual production of over 336 million gloves from four single former pro-duction lines in their factory located in Zurah Industrial, Rasa, Hulu Selangor, JR is currently operating beyond its capacity,” said Salcon.

In order to cater to the spike in demand in specific export markets, the group is targeting to ramp up its production ca-pacity by an additional 12 lines to a total of 16 production lines within a year, at an estimated capital expenditure of RM150 million, to be funded via internally gener-ated funds and bank borrowings.

This will bring the group’s total annual production capacity to three billion pieces.

Salcon closed unchanged at 23 sen, giv-ing a market capitalisation of RM232.86 million.

expand our services now to support AirA-sia Group and other airlines in the region.

“AirAsia Group has been sending aircraft to other MRO operators for scheduled base maintenance, which will now be able to be serviced locally in Malaysia [and hence] delivering significant efficiencies, including reduced maintenance cost,” he said.

Globally, Mahesh said ADE had received approvals from the Directorates-General of Civil Aviation of India and Indonesia, and that ADE will continue to work with other aviation authorities in ASEAN as well as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for further approvals to offer MRO services.

He claimed that ADE’s operations are highly driven by big data and state-of-the-art digital technologies.

Being a fully integrated digital compa-ny, ADE strives for operational excellence through enhanced visibility, intelligence and decision-making enabled by data, accord-ing to him.

“By combining data from our daily oper-ations with other external data sources, we can provide our customers with the most comprehensive end-to-end solutions to meet their needs,” Mahesh said.

As at 11.53am on Bursa Malaysia today, AirAsia Group shares were traded down two sen or 2.42% at 84.5 sen, with a mar-ket value of about RM2.82 billion.

AirAsia Group has 3.34 billion issued shares, according to its latest quarterly fi-nancial report.

‘ADE will now not only perform regular line maintenance, but also base maintenance (hangar

or C-checks) for AirAsia Group’s airlines,’ says AirAsia Group in a statement today.

SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Yenher Holdings Bhd has obtained approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) to list on the Main Market of Bursa Ma-laysia, from which it hopes to raise funds for a manufacturing plant to expand its production capacity.

The animal health and nutrition prod-uct manufacturer and distributor’s initial public offering (IPO) will involve a public issue of 64.43 million new shares and an offer for sale of up to 41.76 million existing shares, altogether representing 35.40% of its enlarged issued share capital.

Under the public issue portion, 15 million shares will be made available for subscription by the public, with another 15 million shares allocated for eligible di-rectors, employees and persons who have contributed to its success. The remaining 34.43 million shares will be set aside for subscription by Bumiputera investors.

As for the sale of existing shares, 3.07 million shares will be placed out to Bumi-

Animal health products maker Yenher secures

SC nod for Main Market listing

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Maybank Investment Bank Bhd economists said today while the outlook of the Malaysian economy rebounding in 2021 is on track, the risk to growth remains tilted to the downside due to the latest round of the Covid-19-driven movement control order (MCO 3.0) enforced nationwide.

In a note today, Maybank Investment Bank economists Suhaimi Ilias, Dr Zamros Dzulkafli, Ramesh Lankanathan and Wil-liam Poh Chee Keong said they are keeping the research firm’s full-year 2021 economic growth forecast for Malaysia as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.1% for the time being.

“Review of our forecasts will be guid-ed by the dynamics of the pandemic and containment measures, vaccination pro-gress and input from our monthly GDP estimates. The official forecast is [within the] range of +6% to +7.5%,” they said.

The Malaysian economy registered a de-cline of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21) from a year earlier, supported main-ly by an improvement in domestic demand and export performance, particularly for electrical and electronic products, as the country contended with the impact of the MCO and continued closure of international borders to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Bank Negara Ma-laysia’s (BNM) statement yesterday.

“The Malaysian economy registered a smaller decline of 0.5% in 1Q21 (4Q20: -3.4%). On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy reg-istered a growth of 2.7% (4Q20: -1.5%),” BNM said.

Maybank says Malaysian

economic rebound on track but risk

tilted to downside on MCO

BY SYAFIQAH SALIM t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m


Today, the Maybank Investment Bank economists said the outlook of the Ma-laysian economy rebounding in 2021 is on track after a recession last year as real GDP’s year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction narrowed further in 1Q21 after shallowing in the second half of 2020 (2H20) from a slump in 2Q20.

“Furthermore, the base effect that boosted March 2021 GDP will continue to be at work, especially in 2Q21,” they said.

CGS-CIMB also sees downside risk to its full-year GDP growth forecast of 5.7%Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd economists Michelle Chia and Lim Yee Ping wrote in a note today that the research house still expects Malaysia to re-cord sequential economic gains for the re-maining quarters of 2021, although the ex-tended strict MCO and recurring waves of Covid-19 infections pose downside risk to its full-year GDP growth forecast of 5.7% for the country.

“We estimate each month of the MCO 3.0 to subtract 0.3 percentage point from headline GDP growth. In the interim, con-tinuing disbursements of fiscal measures, such as wage subsidies, cash transfers and credit facilities, are expected provide a par-tial buffer.

“In addition, i-Sinar withdrawals, which BNM estimates to contribute one to three percentage points to its baseline GDP growth forecast for 2021, began in March and will provide six months of cash flow relief to ap-proved EPF (Employees Provident Fund) members,” the economists said.

putera investors while the remaining 38.69 million shares will be offered to institu-tional and selected investors.

The plant it intends to build will be compliant with good manufacturing prac-tices. The proceeds to be raised from the IPO will also be used to buy new machin-ery and equipment, as well as for working capital.

“The SC’s approval is a significant mile-stone in Yenher’s journey to becoming a listed entity. We are optimistic that our expansion will go hand in hand with the listing, enhanc-ing our financial position and our corporate profile, which is in line with our objective of becoming a one-stop solution provider to our customers by offering them a wide range of animal health and nutrition prod-ucts coupled with our value-added services, for their livestock,” said Yenher managing director Cheng Mood Tat said.

RHB Investment Bank Bhd is the sole principal adviser, underwriter and place-ment agent for Yenher’s IPO and listing.

In a note today, Maybank Investment Bank economists kept their full-year 2021 economic growth forecast for Malaysia as measured by

GDP at 5.1% for the time being.

SAM FONG/THE EDGE


https://onlymencan.com/


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): RHB Research remained bullish on number forecast operators (NFOs) Magnum Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) de-spite the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0) that comes into force today, which could impact ticket sales.

In a note today, RHB Research an-alyst Loo Tungwye said the lockdown is expected to slow down the path to full ticket sales recovery for Magnum, as punters may exercise caution during this period and avoid going to crowded places.

He added that some may buy from illegal operators due to the ease of trans-action, and this may chip away some rev-enue from the legal NFOs.

“However, ticket sales should recov-er strongly under a normalised business environment, given the fairly inelastic nature of the business,” he said.

For the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21), the analyst said ticket sales hovered at 20% of pre-pandemic levels during MCO 2.0, when most outlets were tem-porarily closed from Jan 13 to Feb 15, although ticket sales were able to recov-er swiftly since outlets reopened on Feb 16 to around 80% to 85% of pre-pan-demic levels.

Based on its jackpot prize compila-tion, the research house estimates that Magnum’s 1QFY21 average jackpot ticket sales fell 18% quarter-on-quar-ter (q-o-q) and 32% year-on-year (y-o-y) despite a bigger average jackpot size.

Meanwhile, BToto’s average jackpot sales for the third quarter ended March 31, 2021 (3QFY21) is estimated to have fallen 29% q-o-q and 53% y-o-y, partly due to a lower average jackpot size.

Loo said the 3QFY21 prize payout could be higher as the Supreme 6/58 lotto game, with a RM48 million prize money, was won in early January 2021.

Post earnings changes, the research house lowered its target price on Mag-num to RM2.73, although it continues to like the stock for its attractive FY22 forecasted yield of 7.6%, with the coun-ter remaining as its preferred pick for being a pure-play NFO. It maintained its “buy” call on the stock.

BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

RHB remains bullish on NFOs despite potentially lower ticket

sales amid MCO 3.0

RHB Research is forecasting Magnum to record net profit of RM207 million for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2021, on the bank of RM2.39 billion in revenue, versus last year’s net profit and revenue of RM21 million and RM1.67 billion respectively.

Meanwhile, it cut its FY21 to FY23 forecasted earnings for BToto by 2.1%, 8.2% and 3.6% after lowering its ticket sales assumptions, with a lower target price of RM2.34.

For FY21, the research house expects BToto to post net profit of RM193 mil-lion, on the back of RM4.92 billion in revenue.

It maintained its “buy” call on the counter, backed by the attractive 7.9%

Analysts’ calls on Magnum, BToto Research house Magnum Bhd Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) Call TP Call TP

RHB Research Buy 2.73 Buy 2.34Maybank Kim Eng Buy 2.54 Buy 2.37Kenanga Investment Market perform 2.15 Outperform 2.45DBS Bank Buy 2.45 Buy 2.75CGS-CIMB Add 2.35 Add 2.35UOB Kay Hian Buy 2.35 Buy 2.46Affin Hwang Investment - - Sell 1.80TA Securities - - Buy 2.38Public Investment Bank - - Outperform 2.60Hong Leong Investment Bank - - Buy 2.40Source: Bloomberg

dividend yield for FY22 and FY23.“While MCO 3.0 is expected to dis-

rupt the ticket sales recovery, these are just short-term hurdles, especially with the rollout of vaccines. Once the vaccina-tion curve steepens and Covid-19 cases [lessen], we expect ticket sales to recov-er strongly under a normalised business environment.

“NFOs are known to be resilient and demand is fairly inelastic, even in a dull macroeconomic environment,” Loo said.

At 11.30am, Magnum fell one sen or 0.47% to RM2.10, giving a market cap-italisation of RM3.02 billion.

BToto dipped two sen to RM2.01, translating to a market capitalisation of RM2.74 billion.


H O M E

Khazanah lists US$1b bonds on Singapore ExchangeKUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s special purpose vehicle Dua Capital Ltd has listed its US$1 billion (about RM4.13 billion) bonds on Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.The bonds comprise a five-year US$400 million in nominal value sukuk due 2026 and a 10-year US$600 million in nominal value sukuk due 2031, Dua Capital said in a bourse filing. The lead managers and bookrunners of the bonds are CIMB Bank Bhd, Labuan Offshore Branch, DBS Bank Ltd, JP Morgan Securities plc, MUFG Securities EMEA plc, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC), KFH Capital Investment Company KSCC and Warba Bank KSCP. Khazanah said last week that the bonds were launched at an initial price guidance of 125 basis points (bps) over the five-year US Treasury yield and 150bps over the 10-year US Treasury yield. Proceeds from the issuance will be used for general investments, refinancing of borrowings and working capital requirements of Khazanah that are shariah-compliant. — by Tan Siew Mung/theedgemarkets.com

Cabnet to acquire 100% stake in CEE M&E Engineering Sdn Bhd for RM16mKUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Building management solutions provider CabNet Holdings Bhd is buying engineering services firm CEE M&E Engineering Sdn Bhd (CMESB) for RM16.29 million, cash, which would enable it to extend its business activities to include electrical engineering services from medium and low voltage to extra-low voltage as well as mechanical engineering services. In a bourse filing, Cabnet said it is buying CMESB from Murugesu Vindasamy, Tan Tian Yee and Kong Tze Senn. The deal comes with a two-year profit guarantee of RM4 million for the financial years ending Aug 31, 2021 and 2022. As at April 30, CMESB’s secured contracts amounted to RM78.28 million, of which the unbilled amount to be recognised as revenue is RM37.01 million. The contracts are expected to provide earnings visibility up to FY22, CabNet said. — by Justin Lim/theedgemarkets.com

Kossan Rubber founder’s brotherpasses awayKUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Glove manufacturer Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd said its managing director Tan Sri Lim Kuang Sia’s brother Lim Kuan Hwa has passed away. “The third brother, Lim Kuan Hwa, passed away on Sunday, May 9,” the group said in a WhatsApp message to The Edge. He was not on the board of Kossan, the group said. “The family appreciates the concern and would like to be given space and privacy in these trying times as they mourn the loss of a loved one,” it added. Kossan also clarified that its founder Kuang Sia, who is also the group’s managing director and chief executive officer, is well. There was some confusion earlier after a Facebook posting had wrongly stated that the Kossan founder had passed away. Kossan’s share price closed nine sen or 2.17% higher at RM4.24 today, valuing the group at RM10.82 billion. — by Tan Siew Mung/theedgemarkets.com

BLand disposes of 4.22% stake in BFood for RM27.6mKUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) has sold 15 million shares or a 4.22% stake in Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) over the past two days via direct business transactions for RM27.61 million or an average price of RM1.84 per share. Following the disposals, BLand and its subsidiaries hold 11.55 million BFood shares or a 3.25% stake. The net proceeds from the disposals will be used for working capital, BLand said in a bourse filing, adding the disposals also enabled it to cash out part of its investment in BFood. “There is no gain or loss arising from the disposal,” it added. BLand shares ended unchanged at 29 sen, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM1.45 billion. The counter saw 1.63 million shares traded. BFood shares rose four sen or 1.99% to close at RM2.05, valuing the company at RM785 million. Its trading volume today was 174,900 shares. — by Justin Lim/theedgemarkets.com

N E W S I N BR I E F

Palm oil joins global farm boom in new threat to food inflation

BY ANURADHA RAGHU B l o o m b e r g

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Palm oil is the latest product to be swept up in the global commodity rally, deepening concerns about food inflation that’s already at the highest in seven years.

The world’s most consumed edible oil, used in everything from chocolate to lipstick and soap, sprinted through RM4,500 a ton in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to climb 4% to the highest ever level.

Prices of farm crops from soybeans to wheat, corn and vegetable oils have soared at a time when industrial commodities have been climbing too, threatening to rekindle global inflation and spur increases in interest rates.

A United Nations gauge of world food costs climbed for an 11th month in April, extending its rally to the highest since 2014. The increases are squeezing consumer spend-ing power at a time when many around the world are struggling to cope with the Cov-id-19 pandemic, poverty and hunger.

The market is now closed for the Eid-al-Fitr holiday and reopens Monday. The price jump comes just as India, the world’s biggest importer of palm oil, is suffering from the globe’s worst health crisis because of Covid.

“Most Indian buyers are either on the sidelines or just buying hand-to-mouth due to high prices,” said Gnanasekar Thiagara-jan, head of trading and hedging strategies at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental. But palm is cheaper than soyoil and is a reason for strong exports from Malaysia despite weak seasonal demand.

Palm’s relative cheapness could lead to replacement of soybean oil. “There’s defi-nitely substitution happening in India and China as palm is the cheapest edible oil in the market,” said Paramalingam Supramaniam, director at Selangor-based broker Pelindung Bestari. “It’ll mostly take place in cooking oil. Products like instant noodles will remain unchanged.”

Benchmark palm oil futures climbed 4% to RM4,525 a ton, before closing at RM4,524 in Kuala Lumpur. That followed a rally in farm prices overnight when soy-beans burst through US$16 a bushel and soybean oil, a direct rival of palm, climbed to the highest since 2008. Crop prices have been rising because of weather damage and booming demand from China.


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Former Fed-eral Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram has said there is no conflict of interest in him representing law firm Wong & Partners and its partner Brian Chia Hock Gee against a US$1 billion suit filed against them by 1Ma-laysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

This comes after reports saying 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd had filed several civil suits to recov-er billions of dollars in losses suffered by the firms. Six suits were filed by 1MDB and its subsidiaries, while another 16 were by SRC.

One of the suits was against Wong & Part-ners and Chia for a sum of US$1 billion and payment of legal fees of RM664,821.21 for their alleged role in the fraud. The law firm had represented 1MDB in the past.

Wong & Partners in a statement on its website said Sri Ram and former presi-dent of the Malaysian Bar Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan were acting as counsels on the firm’s behalf.

Sri Ram is also acting as appointed pros-ecutor for the Attorney General’s Chambers in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore criminal trial against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for which he is charged with power abuse and money laundering involv-ing over RM2 billion of 1MDB funds.

Speaking to theedgemarkets.com, Sri Ram said there is no conflict of interest in this instance and that he has to defend

Chia as he is an important prosecution witness in the 1MDB-Tanore trial as well.

“There is no conflict. Brian is an im-portant witness for me in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial,” he said.

“He is a member of Wong & Partners and is the primary target for the suit. I have to defend him in both arenas,” said Sri Ram.

Wong & Partners said it is “very disap-pointed” by the decision of 1MDB to file a civil suit against the firm.

In its statement, Wong & Partners said its role in 1MDB was merely in an “advi-sory capacity” and that it had acted with the required degree of care and skill in carrying out its work.

“Following a comprehensive review of our work for 1MDB, and with the advice of our counsel — retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram and for-mer president of the Malaysian Bar Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan — we firmly believe that the plaintiff’s claim has no merit and no basis in fact and law.

“As such we will vigorously defend the firm and our lawyers against these baseless allegations,” the firm said.

Wong & Partners said that throughout its engagement by 1MDB, “the firm was instructed by the 1MDB board, manage-

BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM t h e e d g e m a r ke t s . c o m

Sri Ram says no conflict of interest in acting for Wong & Partners in 1MDB civil suit

ment, and/or individuals duly authorised to instruct on their behalf and acted with the required degree of care and skill”.

Ambiga has also confirmed with theedge-markets.com that she is indeed acting as counsel for Wong & Partners in this matter.

Najib, former Treasury secretary-gen-eral Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar, as well as former 1MDB chief executive officers Datuk Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi and Arul Kanda Kandasamy are among those who are being sued.

One of the six suits filed by 1MDB was against Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Ltd, Coutts & Co Ltd, JP Morgan (Switzerland) Ltd and two PetroSaudi companies for al-leged negligence, breach of contract, conspir-acy to defraud the company and dishonest assistance to defraud to the total amount of US$4.923 billion (about RM20.22 billion).

Also named in the suits were fugitive busi-nessman Jho Low, his father Tan Sri Low Hock Peng, sister Low May Lin and ac-complice Eric Tan Kim Loong from whom 1MDB is seeking a total of US$1.402 billion.

A suit was also filed against Najib’s step-son and Hollywood producer Riza Aziz. 1MDB is said to have sought US$250 million from The Wolf of Wall Street award-winning producer. 1MDB is claim-ing wilful blindness, reckless indifference and the need to investigate the source of Riza’s funds.

Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram

SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE


H O M E

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): The po-lice are conducting an investigation into a senior state police officer over allega-tions of misconduct and abuse of power, said Bukit Aman Integrity and Stand-ards Compliance Department (JIPS) director Datuk Zamri Yahya.

He said the investigation was being carried out following several complaints made against the senior police of-ficer.

“JIPS has be-gun a thorough and transparent investi-gation.

“Appropriate action will be taken if there is evidence leading to the existence of any miscon-duct and abuse of power by the individ-ual,” said Zamri in a statement today.

Zamri said the police would not pro-tect any senior officer, officer and po-liceman involved in any malpractice, misconduct and abuse of power.

Recently, a post that went viral on Facebook claimed that the senior officer was protecting gambling and smuggling syndicates as well as secret societies in the state.

Bukit Aman investigating

alleged misconduct,

abuse of power by senior officer

KUCHING (May 12): The Sarawak state election is not a priority of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government for the time being and it is focusing on efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, which is still a threat.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the priority is now containing Covid-19 as the disease had taken many lives in the state.

“The GPS government will give pri-ority to efforts to fight Covid-19. Other matters such as the state election could be [done] later when the situation permits,” he said in a message in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri tomorrow.

According to him, the increase in in-fections lately was worrying, with Sarawak becoming among the top states in terms of daily new cases in the past few weeks.

“The situation was quite [in] control be-fore this at two-digit levels but it has wors-ened, which is worrying to us. The SDMC (Sarawak Disaster Management Commit-tee) is receiving public criticisms,” he said.

However, Abang Johari is confident the criticisms would not break the spirit of members of the committee to continue doing their best to curb the spread of Cov-id-19, taking into consideration relevant data and factors.

According to him, the SDMC had taken measures to continue the enhanced move-ment control order (EMCO) in places with

Sarawak state election not the

priority now, says Abang Johari

B e r n a m a

B e r n a m a

infections in line with the policy “Trace, Test, Quarantine and Isolate”, which is more practical.

He said the Sarawak government would continue to obtain adequate vaccine sup-ply, including through negotiation and own procurement from suppliers, to complete immunisation in the state by August.

“Besides, the state government also needs to obtain the approval of the fed-eral government to gazette private hospi-tals as vaccination centres to expedite the immunisation process, especially in urban areas,” he said.

He said it would be the second time Ai-dilfitri is celebrated in a controlled manner, but he believes the constraints which all have to be go through would not weaken the determination of Muslims in the state.

“We understand the desire to celebrate the victory [after one month of fasting] with family members and friends, but with the spread of the pandemic, the teachings of the religion tell us to give priority to the safety of life and health,” he said.

Dr Mahathir apologises, ready to face the music for defying SOPs

B e r n a m a

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Moham-ad today offered an apology, saying that he is ready to face the music for defying the stand-ard operating procedures (SOPs) during a

programme in Langkawi last week.The Langkawi Member of Parliament

said he was informed that he had violated the SOPs by not recording his body temper-ature when entering Surau Tsunami Batu Arang in Kuala Teriang, Kuah for a Rama-dan aid distribution programme on May 8.

“This was an offence. It shouldn’t have been done. I am sorry for not complying with the SOPs. I will face the music ac-cording to the relevant law,” he said in his Facebook post.

He said the SOPs should be adhered to by everyone as it could help curb the spread of Covid-19.

“We shouldn’t take this lightly. Again, I apologise for defying the rules,” he said.

BERNAMA

BERNAMA


W O R L D

MELBOURNE (May 12): The World Health Organization should be overhauled and given more authority to investigate glob-al disease threats, according to a review of the international Covid-19 response that found a myriad of failures, gaps, and delays allowed the coronavirus to mushroom into a pandemic.

While stopping short of assigning blame to any particular factor, the report released Wednesday by an independent panel co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Min-ister Helen Clark linked the severity of the global outbreak to deficiencies across gov-ernments, the WHO and other multilateral organizations, and regulations that guide official actions.

The panel also called for an agreement to waive vaccine patents, limited terms for WHO leaders, and an oversight body and legally binding treaty to bolster the preven-tion and response to future pandemics. The international system, the panel said, remains unfit to avoid another disease from spiralling into one matching Covid-19, which threat-ens to cost the world economy US$22 tril-lion by 2025.

“The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented,” former Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the panel’s other co-chair, told reporters over Zoom Monday. “This was partly due to a failure to learn from the past.”

In the first weeks of the pandemic, the WHO could have warned countries to assume that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was spreading among people as a precaution, according to the panel, which was estab-lished at the request of the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body, a year ago.

WHO also could have declared the outbreak in Wuhan, China, a public health emergency of international concern — the highest level of global alert — earlier by at least Jan 22, Clark said.

The role of the WHO and its direc-tor-general have been contentious from the early days of the pandemic as governments sought to understand how the virus emerged and was allowed to spread unchecked.

The United Nations agency came under blistering criticism from former US Pres-ident Donald Trump, who claimed it had coddled China, allowing it to conceal the origin of the virus, and threatened to with-hold funding.

The WHO was hindered by its regula-tions, which aren’t conducive to taking a

precautionary approach, according to Clark. The “slow and deliberate pace” with which information is treated under the Internation-al Health Regulations and the alert system used were out of step with a fast-moving respiratory pathogen and the swift availa-bility of information through digital tools and social media, the panel found.

WHO ‘hindered’The WHO should have the power to inves-tigate outbreaks speedily, with guaranteed rights of access and with the ability to pub-lish information without waiting for a mem-ber state’s approval, Clark said.

“Sensitivities about sovereignty cannot delay alerting the world to the threat of a new pathogen with pandemic potential,” she told Monday’s media briefing.

The elevation of the Covid-19 threat to WHO’s highest level of alert on Jan 30, 2020, failed to trigger an urgent, coordinat-ed, worldwide response, the panel found. It called for disease surveillance and alert systems to be overhauled to function at “near-instantaneous speed” to detect and verify signals of potential outbreaks.

‘Sowed distrust’Most countries failed to heed the warning, choosing to “wait and see,” rather than take firmer measures that could have contained the virus, Clark said, adding that February was “a month of lost opportunity.”

“For some, it wasn’t until hospital ICU beds started to fill that more action was tak-en — and by then it was too late,” she said. “There were also countries which devalued science, denied the severity of Covid-19, de-layed responding, and sowed distrust among their citizens — with deadly consequences.”

Although missed opportunities and fail-ure to act characterized much of the early response to Covid-19, the panel found ar-eas in which early action was taken to good effect: the rapid containment of the virus by some countries, including South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand, and the unprec-edented speed at which the virus genome was sequenced and vaccines were developed.

“Science delivered when the world need-ed it most, and the world benefited wher-ever there was open sharing of data and knowledge,” according to Johnson Sirleaf.

The Harvard-educated former banker said the WHO and the World Trade Organ-

BY JASON GALE B l o o m b e r g

Major overhaul of WHO needed after failures, says Covid panel

ization should help broker an agreement among major vaccine-producing countries and manufacturers on voluntary licensing and transferring vaccine technology to third parties.

IP rights“If actions do not occur within three months, a waiver of intellectual property rights under the Agreement on Trade-Re-lated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights should come into force immediately,” John-son Sirleaf said.

While manufacturing needs to be scaled up urgently, the panel called on wealthy countries with adequate vaccine coverage to commit to providing at least 1 billion dos-es no later than Sept 1 to 92 countries that lack adequate supplies, and to increase that to a total of 2 billion by mid-2021.

The panel also called for:• ThecreationofaGlobalHealthThreats

Council that will maintain political com-mitment to pandemic preparedness and response and hold actors accountable.

• APandemicFrameworkConventionwithin six months to address gaps in international regulations, and to clarify responsibilities between states and in-ternational organizations.

• Aspecialhigh-levelsessionoftheUnitedNationsGeneralAssemblytoagreeona political declaration on transforming pandemic preparedness and response.

• Strengtheningoftheauthorityandfi-nancing of the WHO, including by de-veloping a new funding model to end earmarked funds and to increase mem-ber-state fees.

• Aninternationalpandemic-financingfa-cility capable of disbursing US$5 billion to US$10 billion a year for preparedness and US$50 billion to US$100 billion in the event of a crisis.

• Asingle,seven-yeartermfortheWHOdirector-general and regional directors. “Covid-19 is the 21st century’s Cherno-

byl moment — not because a disease out-break is like a nuclear accident, but because it has shown so clearly the gravity of the threat to our health and well-being,” the report said. “It has caused a crisis so deep and wide that presidents, prime ministers and heads of international and regional bod-ies must now urgently accept their respon-sibility to transform the way in which the world prepares for and responds to global health threats.”


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WASHINGTON (May 12): US consum-er prices climbed in April by the most since 2009, topping forecasts and inten-sifying the already-heated debate about how long inflationary pressures will last.

The consumer price index (CPI) in-creased 0.8% from the prior month, re-flecting gains in nearly every major cat-egory and a sign burgeoning demand is giving companies latitude to pass on higher costs. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core CPI rose 0.9% from March, the most since 1982, according to Labor Department data on Wednesday.

The gain in the overall CPI was twice as much as the highest projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Sim-ilar to last week’s monthly jobs report, forecasters are struggling to get a han-dle on the rapidly reopening economy.

The report showed sharp increases in prices for motor vehicles, transportation services, and hotel stays as businesses hardest hit by the pandemic reopen more broadly and vaccinated Americans re-sume social activities and travel.

Treasuries fell on the inflation sur-prise, with the 10-year yield touching 1.66%, while S&P 500 futures remained lower.

The annual CPI figure surged to 4.2%, the most since 2008 though a figure distorted by the comparison to the pandemic-depressed index in April 2020. This phenomenon — known as the base effect — will skew the May fig-ure as well, likely muddling the ongoing inflation debate.

While Federal Reserve (Fed) officials and economists acknowledge the tempo-rary boost, it is unclear whether a more durable pickup in inflationary pressures is underway against a backdrop of soar-ing commodities costs, trillions of dol-lars in government economic stimulus, and incipient signs of higher labor costs.

BY READE PICKERT B l o o m b e r g

US consumer prices jump most since 2009, outpacing estimates

The core CPI measure, which was also biased higher by the base effect, rose 3% from 12 months ago. That was the largest since 1996. For the last year the annual core inflation metric had held below 2%.

Wednesday’s report offers insight into bubbling price pressures across parts of the economy. Wages have shown signs of picking up, and supply chain challenges have elongated delivery times and driven materials prices higher.

While challenging for producers, swelling consumer demand has also given firms more confidence that they will be able to pass along some of the new costs. If sustained, the production bottlenecks could pose a risk of an ac-celeration in consumer inflation.

Fed chair Jerome Powell has said the upward pressure on prices from the re-bound in spending and supply bottle-necks will have only a “transitory” im-pact on inflation, but many disagree. Bond market expectations for the pace of consumer price inflation over the next five years surged earlier this week to its highest level since 2006.

Reopening effectThe Labor Department’s data showed a 10% surge in the cost of used vehicles that accounted for more than a third of the increase in the overall CPI. New-ve-hicle prices also picked up.

Shelter costs, which make up a third of the overall CPI, jumped by the most in two years as rents and hotel stays ad-vanced. Prices at hotels and motels in-creased by the most on record, while airfares also posted the biggest gain on record — a reflection of a broader reo-pening of the economy.

Transportation services, which in-clude auto rental, car insurance, and public transportation, showed the larg-est increase since 1975.

Read also: China’s soaring factory costs send inflation signal to the world “China’s factories have spent months absorbing shocks, including soaring prices for raw materials, a scramble for semiconductors, and even the blockage of the Suez Canal.” Click here

Excluding the volatile food and energy

components, the so-called core CPI rose

0.9% from March, the most since 1982.

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(May 12): Moves by Apple Inc. and Goog-le that make it harder for brands to track billions of consumers are creating a mon-ey-making opportunity for advertising com-panies that were hit hard by the pandemic.

Google is phasing out third-party on-line tracking cookies and Apple is requiring app owners to ask for explicit permission to track users across other companies’ apps. The changes make it harder for companies to follow our every move online, so mar-keters are devising new ways for brands to find out what consumers are doing and pitch products to them.

It won’t threaten the tech giants’ status as gatekeepers to billions of consumers, a role that’s only growing as more economic activity shifts online. Yet it’s an opportuni-ty for ad agency groups such as WPP Plc, Omnicom Group Inc. and Publicis Groupe SA to reassert their relevance.

Caraway Home Inc., an online seller of kitchenware, expects the privacy changes will increase the cost of finding new cus-tomers on Facebook, and decrease the ef-fectiveness of its targeting.

A month ago, Caraway signed a deal with marketing tech firm Impact Tech Inc. to connect with bloggers and Insta-gram influencers. Impact’s platform will show Caraway how many sales it achieves when its products get a mention, and the kind of content that’s most effective — for example, whether an interior design blog drives more revenue than a blog focused on motherhood.

“As customer acquisition on Facebook gets more expensive as these changes roll out, this is set up to be one of the most powerful channels going forward,” said Josh Knopman, Caraway’s director of growth.

WPP is creating a new unit geared to helping clients better use first-party data. An early customer is Walgreens Boots Al-liance Inc., with WPP taking data from the retailer’s customer loyalty platforms to craft its media strategy.

Publicis is also seizing on Google’s cook-ie announcement by partnering with ad technology company The Trade Desk Inc. to offer digital identifiers that give consum-ers anonymity and the ability to manage privacy preferences, while still letting ad-vertisers see some of their online activity.

“Already in beta the adoption is really strong,” said Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk’s chief technology officer and co-founder. “That press release that Google made is the best thing that ever happened to us.”

Adtech firms that develop alternative tools to target consumers have seen a rise in demand, in particular contextual adver-tising companies that target ads based on the content of web pages, not who is view-ing them.

One such company, GumGum Inc., just raised $75 million from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That came with a $700 million valuation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Companies like BMW AG and Voda-fone Group Plc have turned to GumGum for help with recent campaigns. Head-phone-maker Bose Corp. worked with GumGum to market its earbuds for sleep on technology websites and target keywords like “night”.

“The industry over-used the cookie, clearly,” said GumGum Chief Executive Officer Phil Schraeder. “Contextual is a good alternative to cookies because it will be here to the end of time.”

Some in the industry say the changes will force companies to shift the way they engage with customers. For Cory Munch-bach, chief operating officer at first-party data firm BlueConic Inc. it’s going to re-quire a “fundamental rethink” by brands and publishers.

“This should be good for ad agencies,” said Matthew Bloxham, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “The heightened business complexity means their services are in greater demand from clients, and I think most of the agencies are seeing that.”

Apple, Google privacy shift helps ad firms recover from pandemic

BRUSSELS (May 12): Amazon on Wednes-day won its fight against an EU order to pay about 250 million euros (US$303 million) in back taxes to Luxembourg as Europe’s sec-ond highest court dealt a blow to the bloc’s crackdown against unfair tax deals for mul-tinationals.

In a separate case, French utility Engie however lost its appeal against an EU or-der to pay back taxes of 120 million euros (US$145.7 million) to Luxembourg.

The Luxembourg-based General Court said Amazon had not enjoyed a selective ad-vantage in its tax deal with Luxembourg.

“The Commission did not prove to the requisite legal standard that there was an undue reduction of the tax burden of a Eu-ropean subsidiary of the Amazon group,” the judge said.

The Amazon ruling is a setback for Euro-pean Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has aggressively used the bloc’s state aid rules to tackle sweetheart tax deals between multinationals and EU countries.

Vestager has a mixed record so far. The biggest setback was last year when the General Court threw out her order

to iPhone maker Apple to pay 13 billion euros (US$15 billion) in Irish back taxes.

The same court in 2019 rejected her order to Starbucks to pay up to 30 mil-lion euros in Dutch back taxes and also overturned an order demanding Belgium revoke a tax break that benefited 39 mul-tinationals including BP and BASF.

The EU competition enforcer however found court support for its order to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to pay back taxes up to 30 million euros to Luxembourg. The

Amazon wins court fight

against US$303m EU tax order, Engie loses

carmaker has appealed to the EU Court of Justice, Europe’s highest.

Vestager has successfully made Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium change their tax ruling practices, and spurred the Organisation for Economic Coopera-tion and Development (OECD) to aim for a global deal on how multinational compa-nies are taxed.

The European Commission in its 2017 ruling said the Grand Duchy spared the US online retailer from paying taxes on almost three-quarters of its profits from EU oper-ations by allowing it to channel profits to a holding company tax-free.

In its 2018 decision on Engie, the EU said the arrangement with Luxembourg au-thorities artificially reduced the company’s tax burden, which meant it paid an effec-tive corporate tax rate of 0.3% on certain profits in Luxembourg for about a decade.

The court sided with the Commission, saying the French utility had benefited from a tax advantage.

The cases are T-816/17 Luxembourg v Commission & T-318/18 Amazon EU v Commission.

BY FOO YUN CHEE R e u t e r s

BY WILLIAM SCHOMBERG & ANDY BRUCE R e u t e r s


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TOKYO (May 12): Former Nissan Motor executive Greg Kelly denied helping ousted boss Carlos Ghosn hide earnings, saying at his trial in Tokyo on Wednesday that his only goal had been to retain a chief exec-utive officer (CEO) who could have been lured away by a rival automaker.

Ghosn escaped to Lebanon in Decem-ber 2019 hidden in carry-on luggage on a private jet that flew out of Kansai Airport, while he awaited trial on charges of finan-cial wrongdoing, including understating his compensation in financial statements.

Kelly and Ghosn, who also denies the charges, have both said they are victims of a boardroom coup by former colleagues worried the latter would push through a merger between Nissan and Renault SA, its largest shareholder.

Taking the witness stand for the first time since his trial began in September, Kelly said, “I didn’t conspire with Mr Ghosn or other people,” according to a court pool report.

Dressed usually in a dark suit and red striped tie, Kelly has sat quietly through months of testimony from witnesses such as former CEO Hiroto Saikawa, former vice president in charge of legal affairs Hari Nada, and Toshiaki Ohnuma, an official who oversaw details of Ghosn’s compen-sation.

Prosecutors have used that testimony to accuse Kelly of being an accomplice in a scheme to hide ¥9.3 billion (US$86 mil-lion) of Ghosn’s earnings over eight years

through deferred payments.That was prompted by rules introduced

in 2010 by financial regulators to force company executives earning more than

In court, former Nissan executive

Kelly denies helping Ghosn hide earnings

(May 12): Japan’s parliament approved a law to set up a new Digital Agency as the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including stumbles in its vac-cine rollout, underscored the country’s need to catch up on technology.

The bill, which passed in the upper house Wednesday following approval in the more powerful lower house last month, establishes an agency aimed at bringing greater digitalization to ministries and ad-ministrative bodies. The Digital Agency, to be launched in September with an initial staff of 500, will also plan a nationwide shift of local government processes into the cloud and try to help facilitate digi-talization in the private sector.

From delayed cash handouts at the be-ginning of the pandemic last year to the low uptake of remote work and problems with online booking systems for vaccina-tion appointments, the virus has highlight-ed Japan’s difficulty in taking advantage of more efficient ways of working.

Many Japanese in recent days have struggled to access websites at local au-thorities to book appointments for coro-

Japan passes digital law as

virus underscores tech struggles

BY ISABEL REYNOLDS B l o o m b e r g

BY TIM KELLY R e u t e r s

¥1 billion a year to disclose their com-pensation.

Both Nada and Ohnuma, the head of Nissan’s secretariat office, agreed to co-operate with prosecutors and did not face charges.

Kelly, who has been on bail in Japan since his release from jail at the end of 2018, faces prosecution alone after Ghosn fled.

Kelly’s wife, Dee, who lives with him in Japan, has attended most court sessions, sitting in the public gallery near her hus-band and taking notes.

On Wednesday, Kelly also denied know-ing details of Ghosn’s remuneration before 2010, apart from being aware that Ghosn had cut the amount to keep it below the disclosure threshold.

He said Ohnuma was responsible for discussing compensation details and that any final decision was made by Ghosn.

If convicted, Kelly could face a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine of ¥10 mil-lion. Japan’s conviction rate is about 99%, but a ruling may not come until next year.

Ghosn also faces two separate breach of trust charges that he enriched himself at Nissan’s expense through US$5 million in payments to a Middle East car dealer-ship, and temporarily transferred personal financial losses to his employer’s books.

The trial of the American father and son, Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor, ac-cused of helping him escape, begins in Tokyo on June 14, after US authorities extradited the pair in March.

navirus vaccinations, contributing to a slow rollout that has irked the public and ranked among the slowest in developed nations.

Last year, many waited months for emergency cash handouts meant to help them weather the economic hit of the coronavirus pandemic, while the process went far more smoothly in places such as neighboring South Korea.

A survey published by broadcaster JNN on Monday found that support for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet fell to 40%, its lowest since he took office in September. More than 60% of respond-ents said they didn’t approve of the gov-ernment’s virus management and about three quarters didn’t think the government would meet its target of vaccinating those aged 65 and over by the end of July.

Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, urged a rethink of traditional clerical practices last year when he was prime minister, after the custom of hand-stamping paperwork was found to be hampering government targets for reducing the number of com-muters to rein in virus infections.

Greg Kelly

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SHANGHAI (May 12): BlackRock Inc has received a licence in China for a majority-owned wealth management venture, expanding its footprint in the country’s fast-growing asset manage-ment market.

The U.S. fund giant said on Wednesday its wealth management venture with a unit of China Construc-tion Bank Corp (CCB) and Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd can now start business.

The venture, 50.1% owned by BlackRock and 40% by CCB’s wealth management unit, will draw on Black-Rock’s investment expertise and CCB’s vast distribution network, the U.S. firm said in a statement.

BlackRock will “support China in building a sustainable ecosystem for investing,” Chairman and CEO Lau-rence Fink said in the statement.

“The Chinese market represents a significant opportunity to help meet the long-term goals of investors in Chi-na and internationally.”

China opened its massive financial sector last April as part of an interim Sino-U.S. trade deal.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the Chi-na Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), said in March that Chinese regulators welcome more foreign entry into China’s financial sec-tor, including the wealth management space.

Amundi has set up a wealth man-agement joint venture with Bank of China, and Schroders has applied to partner with Bank of Communica-tions (BOCOM) in wealth manage-ment.

BlackRock CCB Wealth Manage-ment Ltd, which received the licence from CBIRC, will expand BlackRock’s presence in China.

BlackRock already owns a mutual fund venture with Bank of China, and is setting up a wholly-owned mutual fund house in the country.

PAR IS (May 12): Danone, under pressure from investment funds over its returns, will sell a 9.8% stake in China Mengniu Dairy Co, the food group said on Wednesday.

China Mengniu Dairy has an equity market capitalisation of around HK$166 billion (US$21.4 billion) meaning a sale of Danone’s stake could reap around US$2.1 billion, based on latest market prices.

The French company, whose brands in-clude Actimel yoghurt and Evian water, said the sale would take place via an ac-celerated bookbuilding process.

Former Danone boss Emmanuel Faber was abruptly ousted as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) earlier this year fol-lowing clashes with some board members over strategy and calls from activist funds for him to resign over the group’s lacklustre

BlackRock expands China

footprint with wealth

management licence

Food group Danone to sell stake in China Mengniu Dairy

(May 12): Chinese policy makers signaled they may revive efforts to introduce a na-tional property tax, as surging home prices raise concerns over a widening wealth gap.

A trial of real estate tax reform was dis-cussed at a seminar held Tuesday by offi-cials from China’s ministry of finance, top legislature, housing ministry and taxation administration, according to a statement on the finance ministry’s website. The par-ticipants listened to opinions on the trial from local officials and some scholars.

The wording marks the first time Chi-nese policy makers mentioned a real estate tax trial, after years of pushing toward for-mal legislation on the levy, said Yan Yuejin, an analyst at E-House China Enterprise Holdings Ltd.’s research institute.

The move comes as authorities tack-le a jump in residential property prices and President Xi Jinping vows to address wealth disparities in the world’s sec-ond-largest economy. Real estate was the biggest driver of gains in household assets last quarter, overshadowing areas including financial investment, according to research by Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

“Official news on the seminar is a strong signal sent by the ministry of finance,” said Shi Zhengwen, a professor at China Uni-versity of Political Science and Law in Bei-jing. “China may roll out a trial in some cit-ies first, before finalizing legislation on the

tax. Starting a trial this year is very likely.”President Xi said last month that Chi-

na mustn’t allow the gap between the rich and poor to widen further, according to a speech published on the website of Qi-ushi Journal under the Chinese Commu-nist Party’s Central Committee. Residents “becoming well off together,” a concept more frequently mentioned by Xi in the past year, is a “major political issue,” in-stead of an economic one, he stressed in the speech.

A renewed fear of missing out on prop-erty gains has spread across China’s biggest cities since last year as people seek to pro-tect their wealth against inflation following the pandemic. Despite more meticulous curbs deployed by local authorities, home prices grew at the fastest pace in seven months in March.

A national tax on home ownership has long been seen as a key way to cool spec-ulation, while also running the risk of de-pressing market sentiment. China voiced the idea for the first time in 2013, before work on drafting the law began, but little progress has been made since. In 2018, Premier Li Keqiang said the government will press ahead with the tax, yet in 2019, officials were still refining the draft.

In March, the government again pledged to push forward with the legisla-tion as part of its new five-year plan cov-ering 2021 to 2025.

China signals renewed effort on property tax

B l o o m b e r g

R e u t e r s

BY SUDIP KAR-GUPTA R e u t e r s

returns compared with some rivals.French business paper Les Echos re-

ported this week that Antoine de Saint-Af-frique was the front runner to be named as Danone’s new CEO. Danone declined to comment on that report.

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LONDON (May 12): Britain’s pandem-ic-battered economy grew more strongly than expected in March as it gathered speed for a bounceback from its coronavirus slump of 2020, official data showed on Wednesday.

The 2.1% growth from February was led by the reopening of schools which, alongside Covid-19 testing and vaccinations, pushed up activity in the public sector and by retail-ers as consumers spent some of their lock-down savings.

There was also a burst of work in the construction sector ahead of the expiry of a tax break for homebuyers.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expect-ed monthly growth of 1.3% for the world’s fifth-biggest economy.

“Businesses and the government alike will feel this data marks a turning point,” Ana Boata, head of macroeconomic research at trade credit insurer Euler Hermes, said.

“With the ongoing easing of restrictions, confirmed this week by the prime minister, there’s hope that this could be the start of a long hot summer for British businesses.”

Over the first three months of 2021, when the country was under a third lockdown, gross domestic product shrank by 1.5%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Although a less severe hit than initially feared, Samuel Tombs, an economist with Pantheon Macroeconomics, said it meant Britain almost certainly remained the lag-gard among the Group of Seven (G7) rich countries for the fourth quarter in a row.

However, British gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) looked on course to grow by 5% in the April-to-June period “which should mean that the UK finally hands over the wooden spoon to another G7 economy”.

The Bank of England (BOE) said last week it expected the economy would recov-er quickly as the country speeds ahead with Europe’s fastest vaccination programme and coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Its forecast for 7.25% growth in 2021 would be the fastest since a Second World War rush to rearm although by compari-son GDP collapsed by 9.8% in 2020, its deepest slump in over three centuries.

UK economy, gearing up for recovery, grew

more than expected in March

BY WILLIAM SCHOMBERG & ANDY BRUCE R e u t e r s

N E W S I N BR I E F

“Despite a difficult start to this year, eco-nomic growth in March is a promising sign of things to come,” finance minister Rishi Sunak said.

“As we cautiously reopen the economy, I will continue to take all the steps necessary to support our recovery.”

Britain’s economy remained 8.7% smaller than at the end of 2019. The BOE expects it will be back to its pre-pandemic size by the end of this year.

More reopening aheadPrime Minister Boris Johnson allowed non-essential shops to reopen and outdoor hospitality to resume in April in England and there have been signs that the economy ac-celerated in response.

Further relaxations are due to take place next week before the lifting of almost all re-maining restrictions in late June.

The ONS data showed Britain’s domi-nant service industry grew by 1.9% in March from February, its strongest growth since last August, while manufacturing and construc-tion also grew more strongly than expected by analysts in the Reuters poll.

Separate trade figures showed Britain im-ported more goods from non-EU countries than EU countries during the first quarter for the first time since records began in 1997.

The ONS warned it was too soon to say if this was the start of a trend or just short-term disruption.

“Exports of goods to the EU continued to increase in March and are now almost back to their December level,” ONS statistician Darren Morgan said. “However, imports from Europe remain sluggish.”

Business investment fell by almost 12% in the January-March period. The ONS said some companies brought forward invest-ment plans to late 2020 to avoid disruption caused by leaving the EU’s single market while others delayed plans for early 2021 to take advantage of a new tax break that launched in April.

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son isn’t so sure about Bitcoin(May 12): SoftBank Group Corp founder Masayoshi Son isn’t sure if Bitcoin is headed to the moon. Asked about the growing number of firms such as Tesla Inc that have invested in the cryptocurrency, Son was noncommittal. “There’s a lot of discussion over if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, what’s the true value or is it in a bubble — honestly speaking, I don’t know,” Son said at the tech and investing giant’s earnings news conference. However, Son added that the popularity of the cryptocurrency has made it into a platform that “can’t be ignored,” like diamonds or bonds, he said. “There’s no need to reject” the cryptocurrency either, he said. “We are always having such internal discussions,” he added. A growing number of global firms including Tesla, Square Inc and Japan’s Nexon Co have moved to purchase Bitcoin in recent months, with more starting to accept the cryptocurrency as a form of payment. While Japan was an early leader in Bitcoin acceptance, few firms have to date joined this trend. Of late, SoftBank has been placing some of its assets in “highly liquid” US stocks such as Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc. The firm today said it was holding such positions “in readiness for future investment opportunities.” — Bloomberg

US removes Xiaomi from government blacklist, parties to resolve litigationBENGALURU/SHANGHAI(May 12): The US Department of Defense will remove Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp from a government blacklist, a court filing showed. The filing stated that the two parties would agree to resolve their ongoing litigation without further contest, bringing to an end a brief and controversial spat between the hardware company and Washington. Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Earlier this year the US Department of Defense, under the Trump administration, designated the firm as a company with ties to China’s military and placed it on a list that would restrict US investment in the company. Xiaomi quickly responded by filing a lawsuit against the US government, calling its placement “unlawful and unconstitutional” and denying any ties to China’s military. In March, under the new Biden administration, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the blacklisting. — Reuters Read also: After US$260b slide, Alibaba aims to show worst is over Click here WEF still proceeding with Singapore meeting even as virus spikes Click here

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TOKYO (May 12): Masayoshi Son is now in the history books for delivering the larg-est-ever quarterly profit for a Japanese com-pany, but he is still having a hard time getting the respect he thinks he deserves.

SoftBank Group Corp on Wednes-day reported net income of ¥1.93 trillion (US$17.7 billion) for the three months end-ed March 31, with essentially all of that com-ing from Son’s successful investment in the newly public Coupang Inc. That is near-ly twice the ¥1 trillion tally from the next highest Japanese company, Toshiba Corp.

Yet, even as Son prepared to deliver the widely anticipated record results, his stock price suffered the steepest two-day dive in eight months. His shares have dropped 14% from their peak in March. Investors are skit-tish about whether SoftBank will keep buy-ing back its own stock and profiting from a global surge in technology shares.

In a presentation after results, Son ar-gued that investors are not giving him credit yet for the value he is creating at SoftBank. With holdings like Coupang and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the net asset value for the company is now north of ¥15,000 a share, he said, more than 60% higher than the current share price.

“In simple terms, they’re undervalued,” Son said, pacing a stage in Tokyo with a black turtleneck and matching black blazer.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment arm went from being the source of the biggest loss in SoftBank’s history a year ago to the main driver of earnings, with a ¥2.3 tril-lion profit in the March quarter. The rally in tech shares boosted Vision Fund profits to three consecutive records, raising the value of holdings in the likes of Uber Technolo-gies Inc and paving the way for public list-ings from start-ups such as Coupang and DoorDash Inc.

“Our profit and revenue are both meas-ured in trillions of yen, but just a year ago we had a record loss,” Son said at the briefing. “For SoftBank, profits and losses in trillions of yen are the new normal.”

What has really driven SoftBank shares though, has been its buy-backs. Beginning in March of last year, Son announced he would sell assets and repurchase ¥2.5 tril-lion of his own shares.

SoftBank has now spent all of the money it has allocated — and investors have been anticipating more buy-backs. But Son did not commit to further repurchases.

“Yes, we will consider buying back our own shares,” he said, stressing there are a

lot of factors that go into such a decision and it cannot just be deployed to prop up the share price.

Son tried to keep the attention on his start-up successes. Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce leader, contributed US$24.5 billion to Vision Fund’s profit in the fourth quarter. Auto1 Group SE, a German wholesale platform for used cars which went public in February, contribut-ed US$1.8 billion of the gains, while Uber posted a US$200 million loss. The Japanese conglomerate does not have to sell equi-ty holdings to book income, so most of its profits are unrealised.

“The discount SoftBank is trading at, around 30%, has widened again in recent months, but it’s a far cry from the gap that Son has railed against historically,” said Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Research in To-kyo. “I get his points, but the last two years have shown there can be extreme volatility in returns and little agreement on future prospects.”

Son has said that SoftBank could see be-tween 10 and 20 public listings a year. Grab Holdings Inc will go public in the US by July through the largest-ever merger with a blank-cheque company, valuing the South-east Asian ride-hailing and delivery giant at about US$40 billion. Its Chinese counter-part Didi Chuxing has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering that could value the company as high as US$70 billion to US$100 billion.

BY PAVEL ALPEYEV & TAKAHIKO HYUGA B l o o m b e r g

SoftBank CEO seeks respect to go with record US$18 billion profit

SoftBank had a portfolio of 224 compa-nies across three different funds as of the end of March.

Son did take a victory lap in touting his returns so far. He said that limited partners in the first Vision Fund now have a blended internal rate of return of 22%, compared with negative 1% a year ago. SoftBank’s own IRR for the fund is 39%, while its IRR for the second Vision Fund is 119%.

SoftBank also boosted the capital com-mitted to its Vision Fund 2 to US$30 bil-lion, up from US$20 billion.

“The problem facing SoftBank is that the good news is already out,” Atul Goyal, sen-ior analyst at Jefferies. “What is less visible are the potential losses on blue-chip public stock investments and derivatives. The neg-atives are pretty opaque and that’s where investors will be looking at during earnings.”

Son’s controversial programme of trad-ing options cost him during the quarter. The company posted a ¥33 billion derivatives loss in the period. While the overall profit in the asset management arm was ¥46 bil-lion in the period, the business still posted a full-year loss of ¥67 billion.

SoftBank held a total of US$19.9 bil-lion of “highly liquid” securities as of the end of quarter, including a US$6.2 billion investment in Amazon.com Inc, US$3.2 billion in Facebook Inc, and US$1 billion in Microsoft Corp. The operation is man-aged by its asset management subsidiary SB Northstar, where Son personally holds a 33% stake.

The investments were accompanied by derivatives that amplified exposure, a strat-egy that triggered a backlash from investors. The fair value of SoftBank’s futures and options positions came to US$1.6 billion at the end of March, compared with little over US$1 billion the previous quarter and US$2.7 billion the one before. Long call options on listed stocks have dwindled to US$1.6 billion from US$4.69 billion half a year ago and short call options on list-ed stocks declined to US$84 million from US$1.26 billion of value.

During his presentation in Tokyo, Son admitted to mistakes with start-ups, naming specifically WeWork, Greensill, and Kater-ra. But he argued that SoftBank’s successes have more than made up for such missteps. He said his attitude has not changed that much from a record loss a year ago to a re-cord profit now.

“I’m not overjoyed or depressed so easily, just stay calm,” he said.

Son argued that investors are not

giving him credit yet for the value he is

creating at SoftBank.

BLOOMBERG


W O R L D

(May 12): Lex Greensill told lawmakers that investors in loans packaged by his firm were aware of the risks and denied being a “fraud-ster” in his first public appearance since Greensill Capital collapsed into insolvency in March.

The former Morgan Stanley banker, who founded the eponymous firm in 2011, faced questions from the UK’s Treasury Select Committee, which is examining what les-sons should be learned from the demise of the lender.

Greensill told lawmakers that the vast ma-jority of loans it made were backed by real assets, even those tied to sales that hadn’t yet occurred.

“Every asset that we ever sold was correctly described and that information was prepared and made available to our investors, to our auditors and to our regulators,” 44-year-old Greensill told the committee on Tuesday.

Greensill said that it specialized in working capital finance, a humdrum form of lending where banks buy invoices from companies at a discount. The company also offered a more exotic form of financing it termed “future re-ceivables,” loans that were extended on the basis of the prospect of future invoices, and then insured. Such lending has a far higher risk profile than the funds that bought Green-sill products.

The collapse of Greensill has drawn in-tense scrutiny from Germany to Australia as its swift unraveling left investors facing several billion dollars in potential losses.

The firm, with the backing of SoftBank Group Corp and General Atlantic LLC, went from a small startup to a tech unicorn with an estimated US$7 billion valuation at one point.

It collapsed in March after a key insur-ance partner didn’t renew coverage on loans Greensill made to key customers, including British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance and West Virginia miner Bluestone Resources.

Greensill emphasized the role of the trade credit insurer, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, in the firm’s collapse while apologizing for exposing his company to concentration risks.

“It is deeply regrettable that we were let down by our leading insurer, whose actions assured Greensill’s collapse,” he said. “I bear complete responsibility for the collapse of Greensill Capital.”

Greensill also:• saidthatSanjeevGupta’sGFGAlliance

was not Greensill’s biggest customer by assets

• revealedGuptaatonepointheldsharesin

Greensill but sold them at the same price he’d bought them for as he became a big-ger customer of the lender

• saidGreensillCapitalowescounciltaxonits London offices

• acknowledgedhiscompanyhadanover-re-liance on insurance generally and had pur-chased too much from one particular in-surer

• blamedCovid,riskconcentrationandBa-Fin’s actions for Tokio Marine’s decision to withdraw its coverage

• saidformerUKPrimeMinisterDavidCameron wasn’t a director of Greensill, but regularly attended board meetings

• flaggedlastyearGreensillfundedUS$143billion of receivables, less than 20% of those were future receivables

• suggestedtheultimateformofsecuritythe lender had was bricks-and-mortar

At the end of 2020, Greensill was working with German regulator BaFin on a plan to reduce the concentration of risk to a single client at its Bremen-based banking unit.

Eventually, that made Greensill realize that the business was at risk, and led to the ap-pointment of restructuring advisers at the end ofDecember,hetoldthecommittee.

Tough talkGreensill faced often hostile questions from many of the panel members, especially those fromtheoppositionLabourParty.RushanaraAli accused him of running what amounted toa“Ponzischeme”thatsmackedof“fraud-ulent behaviour.”

SiobhainMcDonaghaskedhimoutright:“Are you a fraudster?” and Angela Eagle said: “it looks increasingly like you were securitiz-ing invoices that didn’t really exist.” Greensill denied the allegations.

Earlier on Tuesday, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority told the committee it’s investigating Greensill.

The FCA’s Chief Executive Officer Nikh-il Rathi wrote in a letter that the regulator is “cooperating with counterparts in other UK enforcement and regulatory agencies” and working with German, Australian and Swiss authorities looking into Greensill entities.

The agency has oversight of some Greensill entities both under its anti-money laundering rules and through a separate regulated firm MirabellaAdvisersLLP,whichactedasarep-

BY LUCCA DE PAOLI , ALEX MORALES & JONATHAN BROWNING

B l o o m b e r g

Lex Greensill says his investors knew what they were buying

resentative for Greensill, but not directly on its supply chain financing, according to the letter. A representative for

Greensill declined to comment. Officials at Mirabella didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, formerPrimeMinisterandGreensill’slobbyistDavidCameronandtheBankofEnglandalsosent letters to lawmakers ahead of the hearing.

Cameron’s textsSunak wrote his team followed “normal” pro-cedures at all stages as Cameron lobbied the Treasury to allow Greensill to access the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Finance Facil-ity last year.

Sunak and Cameron released details of more than 150 calls, emails, text and Whatsapp messages and meetings relating to Greensill.

Greensill’s initial request was rejected be-cause of factors including the ineligibility of financial institutions, a plan to submit non-in-vestment grade assets, and use of some foreign currencies, Sunak said in the letter.

After Greensill was barred from accessing the program, Cameron texted Sunak to say the refusal was “nuts,” according to the doc-uments.Atthetime,healsocontactedPrimeMinister Boris Johnson’s senior aide and sent texts to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove to lobby for Greensill.

The government then investigated an al-ternative workaround that would have allowed eligible companies to access funds for supply chains via a special purpose vehicle managed by Greensill. It was abandoned because in-dustry experts found it ineffective, Sunak said.

TheformerPrimeMinisterwrotethathefirst became aware of Greensill’s problems in December2020followingacallhereceivedfrom the founder. Cameron will appear on the Treasury Select Committee on Thursday.

Read also: The property pitch that wiped out US$1b in investor money “The pitch was as compelling as it as was dramatic: A German-born son of a British army officer would transform old monasteries, historic military sites and castles into gleaming apartments. Potential investors would get double-digit returns after two to five years, with Germany’s reputation as a safe place to do business providing additional reassurance.” Click here

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/property-pitch-wiped-out-us1b-investor-money


M A R K E T S

Top 20 active stocks

World equity indices

Top gainers (ranked by %) Top losers (ranked by %)

Top gainers (ranked by RM) Top losers (ranked by RM)

NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET (MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL)

FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 211.6 -0.005 0.060 -90.77 382.3

GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 71.7 0.000 0.045 -50.00 77.6

MTOUCHE TECHNOLOGY BHD 65.6 0.005 0.285 -16.40 41.7

PERMAJU INDUSTRIES BHD 64.3 0.000 0.145 -17.14 110.9

TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 55.7 0.010 0.145 190.00 208.2

MINDA GLOBAL BHD 33.9 0.020 0.145 141.67 191.7

UCREST BHD 33.1 0.005 0.300 93.55 186.5

CAREPLUS GROUP BHD 29.1 0.050 2.410 17.86 1325.7

LKL INTERNATIONAL BHD 28.5 -0.005 0.355 -61.20 182.7

ADVENTA BHD 28.2 -0.030 2.160 41.18 330.0

PUBLIC BANK BHD 26.2 0.040 4.140 0.49 80360.3

SEALINK INTERNATIONAL BHD 22.2 0.000 0.300 57.89 150.0

DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 21.4 0.015 0.665 195.56 1578.9

TECHNA-X BHD 21.2 0.000 0.125 -21.88 244.1

PUC BHD 20.9 0.015 0.140 -12.50 124.4

SASBADI HOLDINGS BHD 20.8 0.015 0.210 40.00 88.4

SAPURA ENERGY BHD 20.7 0.000 0.135 8.00 2157.2

KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 20.2 0.005 0.075 -48.28 199.3

MALAYSIAN BULK CARRIERS BHD 19.3 0.000 0.720 33.33 720.0

XOX BHD 18.8 0.000 0.055 -50.00 216.4

Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg

NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL)

QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.430 30.00 778.6 43.00 82.9

TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 5.920 26.23 2724.4 649.37 267.0

EA HOLDINGS BHD 0.030 20.00 7490.1 0.00 152.2

MINDA GLOBAL BHD 0.145 16.00 33899.1 141.67 191.7

HENG HUAT RESOURCES GROUP 0.995 15.03 836.0 304.65 117.4

BIG INDUSTRIES BHD 0.840 13.51 6639.6 84.62 44.4

MAGNA PRIMA BHD 0.600 13.21 57.9 -31.82 199.6

FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 0.045 12.50 15507.5 -43.75 159.6

PUC BHD 0.140 12.00 20909.5 -12.50 124.4

ALCOM GROUP BHD 1.000 11.11 2868.0 68.07 134.3

PHARMANIAGA BHD 4.280 10.88 2945.5 -14.40 1120.1

KAMDAR GROUP M BHD 0.360 10.77 6770.5 35.85 71.3

TIGER SYNERGY BHD 0.060 9.09 4886.7 -50.00 88.1

DIGISTAR CORP BHD 0.060 9.09 1017.5 -34.10 51.2

INDUSTRONICS BHD 0.255 8.51 7524.7 41.67 63.8

INNITY CORP BHD 0.590 8.26 14.0 53.25 82.2

KEJURUTERAAN ASASTERA BHD 0.680 7.94 848.5 16.57 1150.4

KUMPULAN JETSON BHD 0.280 7.69 11495.2 12.00 65.1

IMPIANA HOTELS BHD 0.070 7.69 1028.5 -12.50 75.0

AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.07 7.69 446 -46.15 38.8


NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL)

EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.015 -25.00 190.0 -25.00 33.4

LAMBO GROUP BHD 0.015 -25.00 2395.8 -50.00 74.8

PRICEWORTH INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.015 -25.00 11509.1 -50.00 67.6

SAPURA RESOURCES BHD 0.530 -8.62 15.9 15.22 74.0

EKA NOODLES BHD 0.055 -8.33 499.8 -21.43 17.2

NOVA MSC BHD 0.115 -8.00 14340.9 27.78 132.3

GAMUDA BHD 3.300 -7.82 14642.2 -15.17 8294.6

FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 0.060 -7.69 211594.0 -90.77 382.3

ORION IXL BHD 0.060 -7.69 138.6 -25.00 51.4

BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.140 -6.67 3980.1 -54.10 87.6

ATTA GLOBAL GROUP BHD 0.535 -6.14 72.0 20.22 111.9

ENCORP BHD 0.255 -5.56 107.1 8.51 80.7

ARK RESOURCES HOLDINGS BHD 0.510 -5.56 84.8 75.86 32.3

OSK VENTURES INTERNATIONAL 0.460 -5.15 18.0 -6.12 90.4

UMS HOLDINGS BHD 1.910 -4.98 6.5 6.11 77.7

ANN JOO RESOURCES BHD 2.900 -4.92 3271.2 84.71 1566.3

IQ GROUP HOLDINGS BHD 1.010 -4.72 43.1 5.21 88.9

MR DIY GROUP M BHD 3.700 -4.64 9307.6 18.59 23223.4

ARTRONIQ BHD 0.435 -4.40 2450.7 -13.86 125.7

KYM HOLDINGS BHD 0.355 -4.05 121.2 1.43 53.2


NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL)

PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 19.100 -0.420 77.3 -10.75 18975.0

GAMUDA BHD 3.300 -0.280 14642.2 -15.17 8294.6

CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 21.860 -0.240 129.2 -5.94 6683.7

MR DIY GROUP M BHD 3.700 -0.180 9307.6 18.59 23223.4

ANN JOO RESOURCES BHD 2.900 -0.150 3271.2 84.71 1566.3

TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD 5.640 -0.140 2129.5 4.25 21283.7

IHH HEALTHCARE BHD 5.450 -0.130 8537.5 -0.91 47846.0

PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 8.100 -0.120 1568.1 9.02 64800.0

BURSA MALAYSIA BHD 8.200 -0.120 1243.3 -0.32 6636.3

SIME DARBY PLANTATION BHD 4.560 -0.110 5456.7 -8.19 31393.7

UMS HOLDINGS BHD 1.910 -0.100 6.5 6.11 77.7

KOTRA INDUSTRIES BHD 2.400 -0.090 16.4 -19.73 355.0

PANASONIC MANUFACTURING M’SIA 31.200 -0.080 2.1 1.30 1895.3

KOBAY TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.500 -0.080 72.0 88.28 450.4

PMB TECHNOLOGY BHD 5.510 -0.080 23.4 20.31 1133.8

PENTAMASTER CORP BHD 4.700 -0.070 2713.8 -6.93 3347.9

MISC BHD 6.730 -0.070 2731.3 -2.04 30041.0

IQ GROUP HOLDINGS BHD 1.010 -0.050 43.1 5.21 88.9

GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 5.200 -0.050 2492.2 14.29 6510.4

CHOO BEE METAL INDUSTRIES BHD 1.8 -0.05 370.4 9.09 235.3


NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL)

TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 5.920 1.230 2724.4 649.37 267.0

PHARMANIAGA BHD 4.280 0.420 2945.5 -14.40 1120.1

GENTING PLANTATIONS BHD 8.890 0.400 690.2 -8.67 7976.1

QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.430 0.330 778.6 43.00 82.9

PPB GROUP BHD 18.660 0.320 308.6 0.76 26545.7

NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 136.000 0.300 11.8 -2.09 31892.0

HONG LEONG BANK BHD 17.700 0.300 894.6 -2.75 38368.6

AJINOMOTO MALAYSIA BHD 15.880 0.280 4.1 -0.87 965.5

KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 22.500 0.240 293.7 -4.98 24267.5

FAR EAST HOLDINGS BHD 3.200 0.200 1.1 13.48 1900.3

PERUSAHAAN SADUR TIMAH M’SIA 4.270 0.200 27.1 9.49 551.2

LOTTE CHEMICAL TITAN HOLDING 3.380 0.180 7343.1 22.02 7682.7

HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 16.880 0.180 75.2 -6.53 19331.7

HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 24.880 0.180 128.1 8.08 7516.2

TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 5.350 0.170 12222.5 -12.58 42823.4

RHB BANK BHD 5.270 0.160 3412.1 -3.30 21132.9

MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 36.200 0.160 103.2 39.45 7200.1

DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES BHD 34.880 0.160 6.0 -6.99 2232.3

D&O GREEN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 4.100 0.160 7224.0 79.82 4834.1

SUPERMAX CORP BHD 4.770 0.140 13709.8 -20.63 12486.1


CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

(%)

CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

(%)DOW JONES 34,269.16 -473.66 -1.36

S&P 500 4,152.10 -36.33 -0.87

NASDAQ 100 13,351.27 -7.81 -0.06

FTSE 100 6,947.99 -175.69 -2.47

AUSTRALIA 7,026.20 -70.77 -1.00

CHINA 3,441.42 -0.43 -0.01

HONG KONG 27,910.60 -103.21 -0.37

INDIA 48,818.22 -343.59 -0.70

INDONESIA 5,938.35 -37.44 -0.63

JAPAN 28,028.89 -579.70 -2.03

KOREA 3,147.30 -62.13 -1.94

PHILIPPINES 6,236.40 -90.43 -1.43

SINGAPORE 3,124.30 -19.97 -0.64

TAIWAN 15,619.97 -963.16 -5.81

THAILAND 1,560.90 -18.03 -1.14

VIETNAM 1,253.52 -2.52 -0.20


CPO RM 4,524.00174.00 OIL US$ 68.53-0.02 RM/USD 4.1295 RM/SGD 3.1072 RM/AUD 3.2180 RM/GBP 5.8295 RM/EUR 5.0060

issue 184/2021 ceomorningbrief

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