The EDGE - 18 August 2023

CEOMorningBrief FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2023 ISSUE 622/2023 theedgemalaysia.com PAHANG EXCO JOHARI HARUN AMONG 10 DEAD AS PRIVATE JET CRASHES IN BANDAR ELMINA, SHAH ALAM p2 Report on Page 4. Maybank, RHB Bank hit record highs as banking stock rally gathers steam HOME: Tech sector in the red on Bursa p5 Puncak Niaga to sell three plots of land in Ijok at a loss for RM306 mil cash p6 Lawyer Mansoor Saat denies being on the lam, says being persecuted by MACC p12 WORLD: China escalates battle against yuan bears with fixing guidance p17 PAP lawmaker leaves Grab months after public outcry p20 Anwar: Stop soliciting, giving commissions for development projects Report on Page 3. THE EDGE FILE PHOTO

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF published by ( 2 6 6 9 8 0 - X ) tel . 603-77218000 Level 3, Menara KLK, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6, Mutiara Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia publisher + ceo . Ho Kay Tat editor-in-chief . Kathy Fong chief commercial officer . Sharon Teh chief operating officer . Lim Shiew Yuin editors . Jenny Ng . Tan Choe Choe Lam Jian Wyn to contact editors: [email protected] to advertise: [email protected] the edge ceo morning brief Read from desktop or mobile device. You can print in A4 to read. Set print mode to fit or shrink oversize page. to get on emailing list [email protected] Pahang exco Johari Harun among 10 dead as private jet crashes in Bandar Elmina, Shah Alam KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Ten people have been killed as a small private jet crashed near Bandar Elmina, Shah Alam in Selangor on Thursday (Aug 17), including Pahang state executive councillor Datuk Johari Harun, according to Bernama. The news wire, quoting Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, wrote that the aircraft — a Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) with the registration number N28JV — was carrying six passengers and two flight crew when it crashed into the road and hit a car and motorcycle coming from Bukit Jelutong heading towards the Guthrie Highway. All died on impact. He said the aircraft was flying from Langkawi to Subang, with landing clearance given at about 2.50pm. “However, two minutes before landing, the plane lost control and hit a motorcycle and a car as it crashed on the road,” he was quoted as telling reporters at the scene. The Fire and Rescue Department took 10 minutes to put out the fire, and all the bodies of the victims, believed to be in their 40s and 50s, have been found and would be sent to Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) Klang for a post-mortem. The cockpit voice recorder, a part of the black box of the crashed plane, have also been found. Following the crash, Young Syefura Othman, DAP Member of Parliament for Bentong, posted on social media that she was saddened by the loss of her colleague Johari Harun, who was the assemblyman of Pelangai, a state constituency within the parliamentary seat of Bentong. “I am very sad about this loss. Just two days ago, I was with the late Datuk Seri Jo discussing the development in Bentong and Pelangai that would be planned later,” she posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. His demise was also confirmed by Pahang state assembly speaker Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin, who uploadBY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com HOME was operated by Jet Valet Sdn Bhd, which departed from the Langkawi International Airport at 2:08pm for the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. “The first contact made by the aircraft with the Subang Air Traffic Control Tower was at 2:47pm and landing clearance was given at 2:48pm. At 2:51pm, the Subang Air Traffic Control Tower observed smoke originating from the crash site but no mayday call was made by the aircraft,” said CAAM chief executive officer Datuk Captain Norazman Mahmud. According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Jet Valet’s shareholders are Datuk Sulaiman @ Muhamed Helmi Mohd Ilyas and Mohamed Ilyas Pakeer Mohamed, who each own 50% equity interest in the company. Meanwhile, Jet Valet has confirmed receiving a report on the incident and pledges to give its full commitment and cooperation in the investigation. “Currently, Jet Valet could not confirm any other details officially including the loss of lives as it is awaiting confirmation from the authorities. All latest information and developments will be announced from time to time,” the company was reported as saying, based on a statement. The exit and entry to the Elmina Interchange in both directions from the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) have been temporarily closed following the incident. Read also: Elmina plane crash victim Johari was successful businessman turned politician Agong visits Bandar Elmina private jet crash site PM, Minister extend condolences to families of Elmina air crash victims ed two pictures of him and Johari on his official instagram account, while praying for the late exco and Umno Bentong chief, according to Bernama. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), which confirmed the crash earlier via a statement, the aircraft BERNAMA

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Following the conclusion of the state elections, Malaysia’s focus should be on medium-term fiscal sustainability, as its fiscal consolidation has lagged behind that of its regional peers — against the backdrop of a generous subsidy programme. In a note on Thursday (Aug 17), HSBC Global Research said the revised Budget 2023 unveiled by the government in February expects a fiscal deficit of only 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, almost on a par with pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels. However, most Asean economies have already moved forward with consolidation plans to bring their fiscal positions back to pre-pandemic levels, it said. “While the plan targets a fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP, we await more concrete measures to achieve fiscal sustainability from the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan in September, and Budget 2024 in October,” said HSBC. Three weeks ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim unveiled a 10-year economic plan titled “Madani Economy: Empowering the People”, with the road map laying out a number of ambitious goals for the country to facilitate its economic transformation. The Madani Economy outlined in the plan that Malaysia should become one of the world’s 30 largest economies, which will require a return of growth to the “6% club” — from 4% to 5% — with the plan particularly emphasising the importance of promoting trade, especially the promising semiconductor sector. According to HSBC, Malaysia has gained significant market share in certain semiconductor segments over the years — most clearly reflected in parts of the Lagging behind peers, Malaysia should focus on mid-term fiscal sustainability — HSBC KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the practice of soliciting and giving commissions in the implementation of any development projects, including housing, to be stopped immediately. He said the government had never prevented any company from conducting its operations and earning profits, and the practice of giving commissions to any minister or political party for that purpose should not continue to persist. “If the company is making profits, [there would be] no problem, but don’t cut RM10 million or RM15 million [in the company’s profits] just for a minister or any political party as practised before. This is what damages [the system]. I understand many would be angry with me for addressing this issue, but everyone knows. Just ask the developers in the federal territories. “Am I right, or am I wrong? Am I exaggerating, or am I telling the truth? Without exception, everybody would say yes, and that has been the practice, and we have done so. We have to stop this nonsense,” Anwar said when launching the Residensi Wilayah, Residensi Prihatin Madani and Madani Hawkers Centre ground-breaking ceremony at Desa Tasik Sungai Besi here on Thursday (Aug 17). He said that it is better for the “commission allocation” to be returned to the people by implementing more balanced development projects, including housing for low-income groups, or more organised markets and hawker centres. As for the nation’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, which is growing rapidly and driven by development, the prime minister said the unity government had set the condition that Anwar: Stop soliciting, giving commissions for development projects B e r n a m a BY SYAFIQAH SALIM theedgemalaysia.com in the construction of new housing projects, development must be balanced in order to make it a caring Madani capital city. He said this is to ensure that the people, especially the low-income groups, would not be left out of mainstream development. At the same time, he said the government and the private sector will continue playing an important role in ensuring more affordable housing for the groups. In order to further increase the livability of the city, Anwar said open spaces and green areas around housing projects need to be created or maintained, so that they do not just become urban forests. Developers should also create a systematic market or hawker centres for the convenience of the people, he said. “I want to see a huge shift, that in a year or two, Kuala Lumpur will be well known as as a city with good landmarks, big hotels and clean stalls, and beautiful in its own way,” he added. The Residensi Wilayah and Residensi Prihatin Madani is a housing project on a 1.4-hectare land offering 1,010 units of affordable houses to first-time buyers from the targeted groups in the middle 40% and bottom 40% household income groups. Also present at the project’s ground-breaking ceremony were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh. integrated circuit (IC) sub-sector, with a surprising spike in its market share, approaching 45% in just “a year’s time”. “This is also partly the reason why Malaysia’s exports have remained more resilient than those of others in a year — in a severe global trade downturn. Despite not being immune to global headwinds, Malaysia’s increasing world share and its ability to produce a large number of automotive chips have equipped it to weather trade storms in a ‘softer’ manner. “However, Malaysia’s ambition does not stop here. The plan aims for Malaysia to climb up the high-value chain, such as focusing on IC design,” it said. In addition to the economic plan, Malaysia also unveiled a road map to accelerate the energy transition, with an ambitious goal of generating 70% of energy supply from renewables by 2050, compared with less than 5% today. “With such ambitious goals, all eyes are on specific strategies and concrete measures to support Malaysia’s economic transformation. After all, implementation is key. We await more clarity and details in subsequent releases, including the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 and Phase 2 of the National Energy Transition Roadmap,” HSBC added. SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The rally in Malaysian banking stocks is gathering steam with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and RHB Bank Bhd leading the pack, both of which hit record highs this week. Attractive valuation, relatively steady outlook plus weightage on the FBM KLCI have made the banks the main beneficiary of the renewed foreign interest in Bursa Malaysia, according to analysts contacted by The Edge. The rally started in July, fuelled by stronger inflow of foreign investment funds, said Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) analyst Chan Jit Hoong, noting that the soft ringgit and cheap valuation have attracted some foreign interest. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said most banks are considered blue chips, hence they tend to be the choice when foreign investors return to the local market. Their defensive nature and regular dividend payment are also key factors drawing investors’ interest, Thong said. Dissipating concerns about a possible systemic fallout following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and Credit Suisse in Europe, which had dragged down the banking stocks in the first half of the year, has helped fuel the banking stock rally. Another banking analyst said asset quality and earnings growth are also tailwinds. He expects further upside of 5% to 10% on banking stocks from the current level. “For one, asset quality has not been as bad as initially anticipated post-pandemic, while global economic conditions have also not fallen off the cliff, as initially expected. “On the business front, conditions are fair, which should see steady earnings growth [among banks],” said the analyst, noting that another catalyst is the writeback of large provisions that banks made in recent years. Banks made massive provisions in 2020 and 2021 in view of the unprecedented Covid-19 health crisis that halted economic activities globally, expecting it to also bring along a severe economic slowdown. Adjusting interest rates and governments’ expansionary fiscal policies worldwide have helped steer the global economy away from a deep recession. The banks are due to release their quarterly earnings for the April-June period this month. Analysts expect them to deliver a stronger set of results on a year-on-year basis, because of the absence of the prosperity tax (cukai makmur). However, HLIB’s Chan expects bank’s earnings growth to be muted compared with the immediate previous quarter of 1Q2023, given net interest margin (NIM) contraction as banks sacrifice margin for loan growth and rising cost pressures. Bounce back from recent lows The share price of Maybank, the largest listed company on Bursa Malaysia by market capitalisation, soared to a record high of RM9.03 on Tuesday (Aug 15) from this year’s low of RM8.26 in March. It closed at RM8.97 on Thursday, valuing the bank at RM108.12 billion. Analysts’ consensus target price stands at RM9.26, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BY CHESTER TAY & JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com Maybank, RHB Bank hit record highs as banking stock rally gathers steam There were 12 ‘buy’ calls on Maybank, seven ‘holds’ and two ‘sells’, with target prices ranging between RM8 and RM10.30. RHB Bank also marched to a record high of RM5.75 on Wednesday (Aug 16). It finished at RM5.67 on Thursday, giving it a market cap of RM24.3 billion. CIMB Group Bhd has climbed 19% from the low of RM4.81 in early June to a high of RM5.73 on Wednesday. The rise in share price added RM9.8 billion to its market cap. It closed at RM5.64 on Thursday, giving it a market cap of RM60.15 billion. Meanwhile, Public Bank Bhd has gained 10.3% from its year’s low of RM3.78 to RM4.16 on Thursday, while Alliance Bank Bhd was up 14% from its low of RM3.14 to RM3.60 and AMMB Holdings Bhd increased 14% from RM3.37 to RM3.85, valuing it at RM12.75 billion. Malayan Banking Bhd 0 20 40 60 Aug 17, 2022 Aug 17, 2023 8 9 10 Vol (mil) RM RM8.97 RM8.39 Source: Bloomberg CIMB Group Holdings Bhd 0 20 40 60 80 100 Aug 17, 2022 Aug 17, 2023 4 5 6 Vol (mil) RM RM5.64 RM5.19 Source: Bloomberg RHB Bank Bhd 0 5 10 15 20 Aug 17, 2022 Aug 17, 2023 5.0 5.5 6.0 Vol (mil) RM RM5.67 RM5.46 Source: Bloomberg Public Bank Bhd 0 20 40 60 80 100 Aug 17, 2022 Aug 17, 2023 3 4 5 Vol (mil) RM RM4.16 RM4.47 Source: Bloomberg

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): S P Setia Bhd’s share price closed at 85.5 sen on Thursday (Aug 17), its highest in about 15 months, despite the real estate developer’s announcement a day earlier of a 46% drop in its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023). The last time the counter closed above 85.5 sen was in May last year, when it closed at 91.3 sen. At 85.5 sen, S P Setia’s share price has gained 8.23% or 6.5 sen from Wednesday’s closing price of 79 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of about RM3.47 billion. Earlier, the stock opened at 77.5 sen, its lowest for the day, before hitting as high as 88.5 sen. S P Setia was the fifth most active stock on Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, with a trading volume of 79.57 million shares. According to Bloomberg, seven research firms had target prices (TPs) ranging from S P Setia hits 15-month high despite drop in 2Q earnings KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The technology index saw several companies perform lower on Bursa Malaysia, amid reports that global smartphone shipments are poised to fall to their lowest in a decade, as economic uncertainties in China and elsewhere persist. In a note late Wednesday (Aug 16), CGS-CIMB Securities maintained its “underweight” call on the semiconductor sector, saying that its current risk-reward is unappealing. Companies in the sector, including Unisem (M) Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd and ViTrox Corp Bhd, were among the top losers on Thursday. Unisem shares closed 16 sen or 4.73% lower at RM3.22, from RM3.38 the day prior, with a market capitalisation of RM5.19 billion. Trading volume stood at 1.66 million, higher than 209,000 shares on Wednesday. On July 27, Unisem reported that its net profit plunged 88.4% to RM23.93 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), compared with RM205.86 million a year earlier, due to lower sales volume on softer market demand. Its share price fell to RM3.07 the following day, after closing at RM3.20 on July 27. As of Tuesday, the counter had pared its losses at RM3.40. Meanwhile, Pentamaster shares declined by six sen or 1.11% to RM5.35, from RM5.41 on Wednesday, valuing the company at RM3.81 billion. Trading volume was mild at 1.84 million shares, from 1.08 million shares the day prior. The company reported better net profit, which rose 23.2% to RM23.65 million for 2QFY2023, from RM19.20 million a year ago, on the back of higher revenue and a better product mix. Similarly, Mi Technovation also fell two sen or 1.26% to RM1.57, from RM1.59 a day earlier, with a market capitalisation Tech sector in the red on Bursa BY SUFI MUHAMAD theedgemalaysia.com BY HAILEY CHUNG theedgemalaysia.com of RM1.41 billion. It saw 969,100 shares change hands. Its net profit rose 21.8% to RM22.73 million for 2QFY2023, from RM18.67 million a year earlier, mainly underpinned by favourable foreign currency exchange. Bucking the trend, ViTrox closed seven sen or 0.89% higher at RM7.90, versus RM7.83 on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM7.47 billion, with 606,849 shares traded. The group saw its net profit drop 26.7% to RM37.66 million for 2QFY2023, from RM51.35 million for the corresponding quarter a year ago, as revenue shrank amid still languishing customer demand. Less-than-appealing risk-reward Overall, CGS-CIMB maintained its “underweight” rating of the semiconductor sector, adding that the sector’s current risk-reward is unappealing, due to limited room for upside earnings surprises, while valuations are demanding. The research house said in its note that given the recent run-up in technology stocks, the market is of the view that the industry is on the verge of an inflection, with expectations of a strong recovery into the second half of 2023. It noted that a meaningful industry recovery may happen only in 2024, as the current inventory glut could take some time to reverse. 68 sen to RM1.20 for S P Setia. Four firms had a ‘buy’ or ‘outperform’ call on the stock, followed by two ‘hold’, and one ‘underperform’. S P Setia’s net profit dropped to RM43.06 million for 2QFY2023, from RM80.09 million for 2QFY2022, as increased finance cost and foreign exchange losses offset the group’s higher gross profit, which grew by 13%, while revenue declined 7.4% to RM942.72 million from RM1.02 billion. In a note, TA Securities Holdings Bhd, with a TP of RM1.05 for S P Setia, said the management had expressed confidence in achieving its FY2023 sales target of RM4.2 billion. “We believe this is achievable, considering that year-to-date property sales of RM2.05 billion (excluding land sales) had made up 49% of the target, with RM498 million in pending bookings awaiting conversion to sales and anticipated launches worth RM2.7 billion in Malaysia during the second half of 2023,” it said. Besides the sales target, TA Securities highlighted S P Setia’s pivotal objective in 2023, which is to reduce its net gearing. Analysts’ recommendations Firm Recommendation Target price (RM) Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd Underperform 0.68 AmInvestment Bank Bhd Hold 0.76 Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd Hold 0.77 RHB Research Buy 0.93 Public Investment Bank Bhd Outperform 0.95 TA Securities Holdings Bhd Buy 1.05 Maybank Investment Banking Group Buy 1.20 Source: Bloomberg CONTINUES ON PAGE 6

friday A UGUST 18, 2023 6 The E dge C E O m o rning brief home KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd is selling three parcels of leasehold land in Selangor for RM306.07 million cash, to monetise its assets as part of the group’s “broader strategic thrust of sustainable value creation” for its shareholders. The group is expected to record a net loss of about RM22.4 million from the disposal, which requires the approval of shareholders as well as the state authority’s approval for the transfer of the land’s ownership, its bourse filing showed. The sale price for the plots is based on RM43 per square feet (psf) (and RM20 psf for 20,234.3 square metres of buffer zone in one of the plots), which represents a discount of RM2 psf from the fair value of the lands as at Dec 31, 2022. Puncak Niaga and its wholly owned Puncak Niaga Management Services Sdn Bhd (PNMSSB) have entered into three conditional sale and purchase agreements (SPA) for the disposal of the plots, which have a combined size of 672,089 sq m. The treated water supplier said two of the three parcels of land will be sold to Alpha Galaxy Sdn Bhd (AGSB), with the remaining one to Alpha Galaxy 1 Bhd (AG1B). Both AGSB and AG1B are controlled by one Abdul Hamid Bawal. The group intends to use proceeds from the disposal to repay bank borrowings and future investments, for use as general working capital, besides paying off expenses from the disposal as well as taxes. As at March 31, 2023, Puncak Niaga’s total borrowings stood at RM1.19 billion, which comprises RM218.8 million of short-term borrowings and RM966.57 million ong-term borrowings. The disposal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2028. Puncak Niaga’s shares dipped one sen or 2.9% to close at 33.5 sen on Thursday (Aug 17), for a market capitalisation of RM148.23 million. The counter has risen 45.65% year-to-date. Puncak Niaga to sell three plots of land in Ijok at a loss for RM306 mil cash KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): VS Industry Bhd said four NEP Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd officials were found guilty of contempt of court on Thursday (Aug 17) for failing to comply with an inspection order in relation to a dispute between the two companies. VS Industry, along with its executive chairman Datuk Beh Kim Ling, had initiated the legal action in the High Court in January last year, seeking an inspection of NEP’s accounting records by an auditor approved by the group and Beh. The NEP officials found guilty are its directors Lim Chang Huat, Lim Chee Kon and Chow Chun Pooi @ Chow Chan Leong, and general manager Kong Kian Huat, said VS Industry in a bourse filing, adding that they will be sentenced on Aug 24. VS Industry had in 2016 acquired a 20% stake in NEP, which is known for its ‘Diamond’ brand of water filtration system products, for RM60 million. VS Industry signed an agreement with Chang Huat and Chee Kon on the rights, duties, liabilities and obligations of the shareholders in relation to the management and operation of NEP and its subsidiaries. According to VS Industry, NEP had failed to fulfill various obligations, including not holding annual general meetings for the financial years 2021 and 2022, as well as not filing audited accounts for the same periods. In June 2022, the High Court granted VS Industry and Beh an inspection order. This order required NEP to open its accounting records for inspection by the group’s auditor and to provide all accounting records for the auditor to make copies. However, NEP allegedly did not fully comply with this order. VS Industry and Beh filed another suit last month, seeking an order for NEP to be wound up based on claims of oppression of minority shareholders. VS Industry’s share price closed unchanged at 93 sen on Thursday, valuing the company at RM3.6 billion. Court has found four NEP Holdings officials guilty of contempt of court, says VS Industry by Syafiqah Salim theedgemalaysia.com by Anis Hazim theedgemalaysia.com “S P Setia aims to further decrease its current net gearing of 0.55 times (compared with 0.64 times in the first half of 2022). This will be achieved primarily through repatriating funds from overseas projects, liquidating non-strategic land, and clearing the unsold inventory. “Despite having already realised over RM1 billion from non-strategic land monetisation this year, the management remains committed to additional land monetisation to strengthen its financial position and pursue future growth opportunities,” the firm said. TA Securities added that the property sector is currently witnessing a resurgence in investor optimism with the upbeat sentiment likely to persist, due to anticipations such as Bank Negara Malaysia’s overnight policy rate (OPR) hike cycle nearing its end, and the potential implementation of more favourable policies aimed at facilitating homeownership for both locals and foreigners. As for Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB), the research firm expects S P Setia’s finance cost to stabilise with the OPR hikes likely over, as the group continues its efforts to pare down debt. “The group’s net gearing (including redeemable convertible preference shares) improved slightly in 2QFY2023 to 78.7%, from 79.8% in 1QFY2023,” the firm said in a note, maintaining its ‘hold’ call on S P Setia, with a higher TP of 77 sen from 53 sen. “We expect further improvement in subsequent quarters, due to proceeds from the handover of its Australian projects, as well as proceeds from land sales to Mah Sing Group Bhd and Scientex Bhd totalling RM940 million. “Over in the UK, the Bank of England hiked interest rates by another 25 basis points to 5.25% on Aug 3. Given the rising mortgage rates and elevated inflation in the UK, we continue to see a challenging landscape for the Battersea [Power Station] project,” HLIB said. from Page 5 S P Setia Bhd 0 20 40 60 80 Apr 21, 2022 Aug 17, 2023 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 Vol (mil) RM/sen 85.5 sen RM1.21 91.3 sen Source: Bloomberg Highest since May 24, 2022’s closing price

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Shares in AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) on Thursday (Aug 17) closed at 17.5 sen — the lowest since their closing price of 16.6 sen on April 6, 2020 — after Bursa Malaysia rejected the company’s application for another extension of time to submit its regularisation plan to the relevant authorities. At 17.5 sen, the counter had dipped 56.25% or 22.5 sen from Wednesday’s closing price of 40 sen, making it the seventh top loser on the local bourse, with a market capitalisation of RM136.59 million. The stock struggled to perform after it opened at 17 sen, swinging between 16.5 sen and 24.5 sen amid heavy trade, ending the day as the fourth most active stock on Bursa, with a trading volume of 95.04 million shares. The drastic fall in the share price of the information and communications technology software services provider had prompted Bursa to suspend proprietary day trading (PDT) and intraday short selling (IDSS) of its securities. Short selling under PDT and IDSS will only be reactivated at 08.30am on Friday. On Wednesday, Awantec said its application for another extension of time had been rejected, as the company had not demonstrated to the satisfaction of Bursa Securities any material development towards the finalisation and submission of its regularisation plan. The company, formerly known as Prestariang Bhd, had to submit a regularisation plan after it was classified as an affected listed issuer in January 2021, following the termination of the membership of its wholly owned subsidiary Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd in the Microsoft Partner Network by Microsoft. Awantec was also issued a show-cause notice by Bursa, where it is required to provide written representations within five market days from Wednesday to explain why its securities should not be suspended from trading and delisted. In response to Bursa’s rejection of its application, Awantec in a statement on Thursday said it is confident that its transformation journey into the cloud business, guided by its software and services, and talent segments, will continue to drive business growth. “We remain committed to our investment in the 3Ps — people, partners and products and services — throughout our journey. These principles underpin our growth strategy and future success. “The board and the management team wish to assure all shareholders, stakeholders, and the public that the company is working towards an appropriate reply to the above matters, and to remain listed, with an appeal to Bursa over our regularisation plan,” Awantec said. According to Bloomberg, Awantec’s largest shareholder is Affin Hwang Multi-Asset, with a 13.12% stake (103.39 million shares), followed by Areca Dynamic Growth (13.06% or 102.93 million shares), Eco Cloud Assets Sdn Bhd (10.10% or 79.58 million shares), and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (7.26% or 57.19 million shares). Awantec plunges to lowest since April 2020 after failing to get more time to submit regularisation plan KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) expects car sales in August will be higher than July’s 1.7% growth from June, due to new model launches and National Day promotional campaigns by several car companies. The association made the forecast after announcing that Malaysia’s new vehicle sales, or total industry volume (TIV), continued its upward momentum and grew to 63,676 units in July from 62,593 units in June. The July TIV was also an increase of 27.5% from 49,934 units in July 2022, according to MAA in a statement on Thursday (Aug 17). “The slightly higher TIV of July 2023 was due to normalisation of the automotive supply chains and fulfilment of bookings received for new model launches recently,” it said. MAA sees August car sales topping July’s 1.7% m-o-m growth with new launches, National Day promos BY HAILEY CHUNG theedgemalaysia.com BY HAILEY CHUNG theedgemalaysia.com The total industry production (TIP) in July was 66,862 units, up 15.2% from 58,051 units in June, and 28.4% more than the 52,061 units reported in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, TIV rose 12.6% to 429,807 units from 381,680 units in the same period last year, while TIP grew 16.1% to 429,397 units from 369,994 units. Both TIV and TIP growths were mainly supported by passenger vehicles. Unit TIV January to July 2023 vs 2022; trend by month TIV 2023 TIV 2022 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July 78,894 47,765 63,544 63,103 62,593 63,676 50,162 73,250 57,606 50,663 63,631 49,934 45,063 41,533 Source: MAA 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 AwanBiru Technology Bhd 0 100 200 300 400 500 Aug 16, 2019 Aug 17, 2023 0.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 Vol (mil) RM/sen 17.5 sen 38.7 sen 16.6 sen Source: Bloomberg *Lowest since April 6, 2020

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Magnum Bhd’s net profit jumped 65.29% to RM43.64 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), from RM26.4 million a year earlier, mainly contributed by the group’s gaming division. Earnings per share rose 3.04 sen from 1.84 sen. Quarterly revenue grew 11.4% to RM537.11 million from RM482.14 million in 2QFY2022, also driven by the gaming division, said the numbers forecast operator (NFO) in a filing on Thursday (Aug 17). Magnum said its gaming revenue during the quarter also grew by 11.4% or RM55.1 million to RM537.1 million, despite a drop in the number of draws to 40 from 42 in 2QFY2022. “The increase was due to improved net sales per draw, especially the 4D Jackpot game, where there was a strong jackpot run during the current quarter,” it said. Magnum 2Q net profit up 65% on higher gaming earnings, declares two sen dividend Bintulu Port gets 12-month extension to continue operating Sarawak’s main LNG port BY ANIS HAZIM theedgemalaysia.com BY SYAFIQAH SALIM theedgemalaysia.com Plenitude buys second hotel in Seoul for RM114 mil BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Plenitude Bhd, which owns 10 hospitality assets, is acquiring its second hotel in South Korea for 32 billion won (RM114.3 million), in a bid to expand its footprint there. The company said its first hotel in that country, Travelodge Myeongdong Euljiro, has been registering an occupancy rate of above 80% and an average daily rate of more than 90,000 won (RM320) since January. Hence, it believes the second hotel will enhance its business in South Korea and achieve economies of scale in operations, especially given that the two hotels are located just 450 metres away from each other in the Seoul metropolitan area. “The acquisition of the hotel will be a continuation of the company’s diversification of its regional risk in its hospitality business,” said Plenitude in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday (Aug 17). The 13-storey hotel the company is buying is currently leased to MD Hotel Co Ltd and operates as Staz Hotel MyeongDong 2. Constructed in 1990, the 174-room midscale hotel was renovated in 2014. Plenitude said it is buying the hotel through its 51.6%-owned indirect subsidiary Plenitude Koi Pte Ltd (PKPL) and 70.6%-owned indirect subsidiary Bizcentre Capital Pte Ltd, from MODE Tour Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Incorporated. MODE Tour REIT is engaged in the operation of real estate development and management business listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. Plenitude noted that under the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act of South Korea, a real estate fund is required to have at least two beneficiary certificate (BC) holders. Therefore, PKPL and Bizcentre will subscribe for 50% each of the BC of Capstone General Private Investment Trust No 40 (accredited) (CGPI Trust), a REIT which was established for the purpose of the acquisition. Plenitude’s effective indirect ownership of the CGPI Trust will be 61.1%. The company said the acquisition, which is expected to be completed by Oct 6, will increase its gearing ratio to 0.23 times from 0.21 times, for the financial year ending June 30, 2024. Gaming pre-tax profit for the quarter rose to RM60.5 million from RM39.8 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher gaming sales, coupled with lower prize payout and operating expenses. For the cumulative six-month period, Magnum’s net profit rose 37.98% to RM59.42 million from RM43.06 million in the previous January-June period, as revenue increased 10.16% to RM1.08 billion from RM983.19 million. Magnum declared a second interim dividend of two sen per share, payable on Sept 13. On prospects, the group is cautiously optimistic on its gaming business performance for the second half of FY2023, with the hope that it will remain promising following the continued growth trend of all its products in the past six months, notably the 4D Jackpot and Magnum Life games. Shares in Magnum finished two sen or 1.71% lower at RM1.15 on Thursday, valuing the group at RM1.65 billion. More on corporate earnings: Sunway REIT’s 2Q NPI rises 9%; declares 4.62 sen DPU Berjaya Assets narrows losses in 4Q and FY2023 Lower sales volume drags Formosa Prosonic’s 2Q profit down by 19% KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd has secured an extension from the government to continue operating the Bintulu Port, Sarawak’s main port for liquefied natural gas (LNG), for 12 months. The group, via its wholly owned Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB), has inked a second interim agreement with the Ministry of Transport and Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) to continue operating the port from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. This follows the initial notification in April on the Cabinet’s approval for BPSB to continue operating the port for an interim period of 12 months, according to Bintulu Port’s filing on Thursday (Aug 17). “The second interim agreement formalises the aforementioned 12-month extension and provides an option for a further six-month extension thereafter,” it said. Last December, BPSB entered into an initial interim agreement with the government and BPA to continue the operations of Bintulu Port for an interim period of six months, which expired in June. The government had previously granted approval in principle for BPSB to continue operating Bintulu Port for a period of 30 years, subject to the terms and conditions to be agreed upon by the parties. “Negotiations on the new terms and conditions are still ongoing, and the parties are expected to conclude them within this interim period,” said Bintulu Port. The State Financial Secretary of Sarawak is the largest shareholder of Bintulu Port, with a direct 26.67% shareholding, and an indirect 13.04% held under its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Equisar Assets Sdn Bhd (13.04%), the group’s annual report showed. Petroliam Nasional Bhd is the second largest shareholder with a 28.5% stake. Read the full story

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 10 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): A total of 1,010 affordable housing units, dubbed Residensi Wilayah and Residensi Prihatin Madani in Desa Tasik Sungai Besi here, will be offered to the middle 40% and bottom 40% household income groups (M40 and B40), especially those who cannot afford to buy their own homes. Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), in a statement on Thursday (Aug 17), said the development of the Residensi Wilayah project on a 1.4-hectare site will include 910 housing units, with a built-up area of 902 sq ft or 908 sq ft, and priced at RM300,000 per unit. “Meanwhile, Residensi Prihatin Madani comprises the development of 100 housing units, with a size of 902 sq ft, and is priced at RM200,000 per unit,” it said. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim officiated the Residensi Wilayah, Residensi Prihatin Madani and Madani Hawkers Centre ground-breaking ceremony here. Also present were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh. According to DBKL, the Madani Hawkers Centre will also be built next to the Desa Tasik Sports Complex on a 0.17- acre plot, complete with parking facilities, a prayer hall, and a spacious dining hall. Residensi Wilayah will be offered to applicants who are at least 21 years old, have a gross monthly income of less than RM10,000 (for single applicants) or RM15,000 (for married applicants), and were born, work, or live in Kuala Lumpur. Residensi Prihatin Madani is one of the initiatives under the Malaysia Madani concept to provide affordable homes to the M40 and B40.“Priority will be given to applicants who were born, reside in, or work in Kuala Lumpur and do not own a home,” the statement said. DBKL hopes that the development of affordable housing will enable low-income earners to own a comfortable home at a reasonable price. DBKL to offer 1,010 affordable homes to M40, B40 PETALING JAYA (Aug 17): Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) president Datuk NK Tong suggested that banking institutions consider implementing cross-subsidies to help homebuyers own affordable homes. Speaking at a Rehda 1H2023 media briefing on Thursday (Aug 17), Tong said this may help to address the issue of unsold properties among local developers. “Just as developers have cross-subsidised affordable housing, perhaps financial institutions can be encouraged to look at cross subsidies to help finance affordable housing or set up a special fund or quota to give home loans to borrowers in lower income categories (B40 group),” he said. According to a survey by Redha, 53% of property developers have unsold completed residential units as at June 30, with 47% of these completed up to 12 months ago, while 31% were completed more than 36 months ago. Rehda’s survey of 148 developers found that end-financing loan rejection was the main reason attributed to the unsold residential units. However, Tong was optimistic that the issue of unsold residential units can be addressed via the government’s Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP). He said the SJKP will further drive homeownership among the people, particularly those in the B40 and M40 categories. “The enhancement to the SJKP, the introduction of the Madani housing scheme and the announcement by Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming on the proposed National Housing Fund are some of the efforts that we believe will yield positive results,” “We look forward to engagements with the government and related industry players so more details on these initiatives can be shared,” he added. Nga announced in late July that his ministry has proposed the establishment of a National Housing Fund to help B40 families buy their first home. Under the proposal that is currently in the planning stage, the government will provide a 10% down payment for B40 families to buy their first home. Rehda suggests banks consider cross-subsidising housing loans to B40 community BY ANIS HAZIM theedgemalaysia.com Bernama NEWS IN BRIEF Supercomnet set to transfer to Main Market on Aug 21 KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): ACE Marketlisted Supercomnet Technologies Bhd (Scomnet) has received approval from Bursa Malaysia to transfer its listing to the Main Market.In a statement on Thursday (Aug 17), the manufacturer of medical devices, cables and fuel tanks said the transfer is expected to take place on Aug 21. The company will be transferred to the Main Market under the ‘Health Care’ sector, while its short name ‘SCOMNET’ and stock code ‘0001’, will remain unchanged. “In April 1999, Supercomnet became the first company to be listed on the ACE Market. At that time, the group’s market capitalisation was RM144.08 million. Scomnet’s market capitalisation has since risen by more than sevenfold to RM1.06 billion,” the company said. In a previous filing with Bursa Malaysia, Supercomnet said the transfer signifies the company’s growth, profitability and financial strength as it has met the profit track record requirements for the transfer. Shares in Supercomnet closed down two sen or 1.46% at 1.35 sen on Thursday, valuing the group at RM1.06 billion. — by Anis Hazim Dayang Enterprise’s Pan Malaysia maintenance job gets extension KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Integrated oil and gas service provider Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd’s Pan Malaysia contract with Hibiscus Oil and Gas Malaysia Ltd to provide maintenance, construction and modification services has been extended by another one year and five months until Dec 31, 2024. The original contract duration was for a period of five years expiring July this year, with an option to extend for a one-year period. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday (Aug 17), Dayang said its wholly-owned subsidiary Dayang Enterprise Sdn Bhd had agreed on an amendment and extension of the provision of the Pan Malaysia maintenance, construction and modification contract with Hibiscus Oil and Gas. No contract value was given, as the actual value would ultimately depend on work orders being received by Dayang. — by Kang Siew Li SUPERCOMNET.COM.MY

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Insurtech platform Ouch! has introduced its first digital takaful product, Pusara Pro, which is targeted at young Malaysians that are mainly uninsured or underinsured. The product marks Ouch!’s formal entry into the takaful market as the first digital takaful operator in Bank Negara Malaysia’s Regulatory Sandbox. In a statement, its chief executive officer Shazy Noorazman said as an insurtech platform looking to shake up the insurance or takaful space, the group is determined to eliminate one of the industry’s greatest hurdles — the claims experience and processing times. “The swift 24-hour turnaround for compassionate claims is our commitment to our participants so that we can help provide crucial financial support for families during the incredibly challenging, immediate aftermath of losing a loved one,” he added. Pusara Pro has a 24-hour compassionate benefit claims payout, which it claimed is the first of its kind in Malaysia across both conventional and takaful markets. With the launch of Pusara Pro, Shazy expects to drive the takaful business growth further and reach a wider audience group. By leveraging technology and eliminating middleman costs, Shazy said the team is able to keep an estimated 20% lower contribution rate than the market average. Hence, Pusara Pro is a cost-effective option for young Malaysians, especially those just starting out with basic life protection. Ouch! enters market as first digital takaful operator in BNM sandbox KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Debt-ridden Perak Corp Bhd, a 52.9%-owned subsidiary of the Perak State Development Corp, will jointly develop four pieces of land in Hulu Bernam Timor, Muallim, Perak, with ARX-YSC Sdn Bhd, a private limited company engaged in construction, property consultancy services and real estate activities — nearly four years after the two companies signed a joint venture agreement (JVA). In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday (Aug 17), Perak Corp said it had on Wednesday entered into a supplemental agreement to the JVA entered into on Sept 10, 2019 with ARX-YSC to vary certain terms of the JV. ARX-YSC director Ivan Ang Ri Xiang holds a 52% stake in the company while another director Yu Swee Ching owns the remaining 48%. Under the JVA, they plan to subdivide the land into 124 individual titles for industrial use and/or other uses to be mutually agreed to by both parties. Perak Corp owns the leasehold land whose term expires in May 2108. Spanning a total of 424.7 acres, the four pieces of land are currently vacant. One piece of land is currently charged to CIMB Bank Bhd for a loan facility granted to Perak Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary PCB Taipan Sdn Bhd. The loan sum payable to CIMB is estimated at not more than RM38 million. The other three pieces of land are free from any encumbrances. Perak Corp had acquired the land in November 1997. The original cost of investment was RM41.82 million, while the net book value of the land as at end-December 2022 was RM46.94 million. Perak Corp said independent valuer Messrs Firdaus & Associates had valued the land at RM117.45 million as at Dec 31, 2022 based on the market value basis. The forced sale value of the land is valued lower at RM82.21 million. Perak Corp, ARX-YSC to jointly develop land in Perak four years after JV agreement Under the JVA, Perak Corp is to provide the land for the proposed development, which will take five years to complete. ARX is to develop the land. Perak Corp is also entitled a profit share to be calculated based on RM9.50 per sq ft to be calculated based on net land area as stated in all the subdivided individual titles to the subdivided units or lots. However, the 20% of the net profit is only payable to Perak Corp if the sale or sub sale for any land or subdivided unit or lot is more than RM9.50 per sq ft. Notwithstanding this, Perak Corp’s JVA entitlement is subject to a minimum total profit share of RM129.5 million to be calculated based on RM7 per sq ft to be calculated based on the land’s total gross area of 424.76 acres. Meanwhile, Perak Corp explained that the JVA was signed in September 2019 at a time when the group was threatened by potential legal actions due to the potential defaults in various loans and borrowings by Animation Theme Park Sdn Bhd — the operator of the now-defunct Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) theme park in Meru Raya, Ipoh — and Perak Corp. theedgemalaysia.com BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com Read the full story The Ouch! team. Read the full story

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 12 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Lawyer Mansoor Saat, who is currently wanted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), has denied that he is on the run from the authorities, adding that he left the country lawfully. In a statement on Thursday (Aug 17), Mansoor said that the MACC’s press release on Aug 7 seeking information on his whereabouts had painted him in the wrong light, and revealed that the commission allegedly knows his whereabouts, as he had made this known to one of the investigating officers. “I am not a fugitive. I am also not on the run. The investigating officer of the MACC, despite knowing the truth, has sought to cast aspersions on my integrity. My leaving the country, which was done lawfully, is being turned against me as a sign of guilty conduct. I reject that false narrative with all the forces at my disposal,” he said. He added that the MACC officer knows his whereabouts. Mansoor, who is a director and shareholder of NERS Sdn Bhd, together with former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s son-in-law Datuk Seri Muhammad Adlan Berhan are currently overseas, and they are both under investigation by the anti-graft agency. They are under investigation into alleged misappropriation of millions of ringgit in funds related to the registration, recruitment and biometric storage of data of foreign workers for a ministry. Mansoor said in the statement that he will return to Malaysia to face prosecution, but will not do so if he is persecuted, adding that he is mulling legal action against the MACC. He said he was called by the MACC in mid-March. “I was told that my assistance was required in an investigation into alleged bribery of government officers in relation to the change of the receiving account for the concession proceeds from the Home Ministry to NERS’s operation account inBY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM theedgemalaysia.com Bernama Lawyer Mansoor Saat denies being on the lam, says being persecuted by MACC stead of to the scheduled and sanctioned project account,” he said. He clarified that he had cooperated fully with the MACC, which took three days to question him. “The MACC did not show to me any evidence to support the allegation of bribery or corrupt practices. During the threeday investigation, a senior officer of the MACC came to me, and persuaded me to transfer NERS’ shares registered in my name to a new shareholder of S5 Systems Sdn Bhd, NERS’ operating company at the material time,” he said. “It was impressed upon me that if I agree to the transfer, my ordeal would be over. “A few days after the investigation, I received a letter drafted by S5 for me to effect the transfer of my shares in NERS to S5. “It is obvious that what I am going through now is caused by my refusal to transfer the shares,” he claimed. He explained that the MACC officer then told him that his offence was that he had authorised the change of the receiving account for the concession proceeds from the company’s project account to the company’s operation account, and the subsequent transfers of the money from the operation account. Read the full story Stop making excuses, come back and face investigation, MACC tells Muhyiddin’s son-in-law, company director KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki told former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s son-in-law and a company director being sought to assist in its investigation to just return to Malaysia, and stop making excuses. The media earlier reported that the MACC is seeking Datuk Seri Muhammad Adlan Berhan and Mansoor Saat, a lawyer, director and shareholder of NERS Sdn Bhd, to assist in an investigation into alleged corrupt practices related to the registration, acquisition and storage of biometric data of foreign workers at a ministry. “I am firm on my stance. The two of you — just come back and face any investigation, and stop making excuses. I don't want to hear it. “Maybe people do not like what I am saying, but this is me,” Azam told reporters after the Merdeka Executive Forum: Best Governance in the Public Sector on Thursday (Aug 17). On Aug 9, Adlan, through his lawyer, said he will definitely return to Malaysia as soon as possible to answer all questions, and assist the MACC with any investigation, as long as elements of threats and persecution against him are eliminated. Mansoor also dismissed allegations he is on the run, and said he left Malaysia legally to attend to business matters and had cooperated with the MACC, which knew his whereabouts. Read also: Muhyiddin’s son-in-law denies MACC claims that he is a fugitive ‘The two of you — just come back and face any investigation, and stop making excuses. I don't want to hear it,’ said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki. I am being harassed relentlessly by officers of the MACC, with threats of vilification and character assassination.” BERNAMA

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 13 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF Dame Christiana Figueres Co-host of “Outrage+Optimism” & Former UN Climate Chief The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg Premier of Sarawak Datu Haji Sharbini Suhaili SAREF Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer Sarawak Energy Eddie Rich Chief Executive Officer International Hydropower Association Dr. Nuki Agya Utama Executive Director ASEAN Centre for Energy Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi Chairman Sarawak Energy The Honourable Dr. Haji Hazland bin Abang Hipni Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Sarawak The Honourable Datuk Haji Julaihi Haji Narawi Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Sarawak 6-7 September 2023 Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Regional Net Zero and Sustainable Communities Renewable Energy Development and Interconnections SAREF 3.0 SUSTAINABILITY & RENEWABLE ENERGY FORUM Register at Supported by Powered by *Correct at time of publication. The Organiser reserves the right to amend any part of the event format, agenda or programme if necessary, at any time. Join us at Featuring Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik President & Group Chief Executive Officer PETRONAS Sponsors Content Partners Platinum Gold Panel Sponsor Silver Airline Partner Mobility Partner

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 14 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The main issue in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial pertaining to former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo is her involvement in the scandal, and not her previous employment. The prosecution contended this in reply to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to recuse presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, where Najib is on trial over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds. “The issues pertaining to Loo’s involvement in 1MDB started sometime in the year 2011 as evidenced from testimonies of witnesses in [this trial] especially [former 1MDB chief executive officer] Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi. “What becomes [an issue] in this trial is the role played by Loo in the affairs of 1MDB from 2011 onwards, and not her past employment in Messrs Zain & Co between 1998 and 2008,” the prosecution said in their written submission. In asking for the court to dismiss the exPM’s application, the prosecution contended that there is no nexus (connection) between the issues in this trial and the past employment history that Sequerah and Loo share. During submissions on Thursday (Aug 17), deputy public prosecutor Kamal Bahrin Omar also argued that there was no real danger of bias, and that the defence lacked evidence to support this claim. BY TARANI PALANI & TIMOTHY ACHARIAM theedgemalaysia.com Prosecution: No connection between issues in 1MDB-Tanore trial and judge’s employment history with Jasmine Loo What becomes [an issue] in this trial is the role played by Loo in the affairs of 1MDB from 2011 onwards, and not her past employment in Messrs Zain & Co between 1998 and 2008.” Kamal noted that the firm did not do any work for 1MDB. He also said that there was no personal friendship between the judge and Loo. Furthermore, he highlighted that there was also no prior link between the judge to 1MDB. Najib’s application, filed on Aug 14, comes after Sequerah’s disclosure last month that he had worked with Loo more than a decade ago. Sequerah had said that they were partners in the law firm when the judge was still a practising lawyer 10 to 15 years ago. The judge started in the firm as a legal assistant in 1996 until 2000. He was then made partner in 2001 and was in that position until June 2014. He joined the judiciary and was elevated to the Court of Appeal in January this year. Loo, a central figure in the 1MDB scandal, fled Malaysia in 2018 and was a wanted person by the authorities. She was reportedly arrested by Malaysian police on July 7 this year. Her lawyers have said that she surrendered herself and intends to help Malaysia recover 1MDB assets. In gist, Najib’s defence team is seeking for the trial judge’s recusal and to disqualify him from hearing the matter further, or from making any further ruling with regards to the case. In the event that the application is allowed, they will also seek a court order for the trial be nullified and for the ex-PM to be granted a discharge and acquittal, or for the matter to be tried afresh with a new High Court judge, or that the trial continues before a new judge. Shafee: There is real danger of bias Earlier during submissions, Najib’s defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued that there is real danger of bias should Sequerah continue to hear the matter. Shafee argued that Loo had to be called as a witness or at the least offered as a possible witness for the defence. He added that even if Loo was not called to testify in the trial, she is still an important player who had a role in the matrix of the case. The court, he argued, had to make a value judgement, particularly in relation to the documents that were prepared by Loo, which has been cited by other witnesses in this trial. The senior lawyer questioned if such a determination could be made. He argued that Loo’s name had been mentioned during the proceedings for at least 656 times over the course of 167 trial days. Shafee added that Loo’s contribution to the 1MDB scandal was substantial and not minimal, given her role in attempting to legalise fraudulent documents. In this trial, Najib faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. Sequerah is to deliver his decision on the matter on Friday (Aug 18). Datuk Seri Najib Razak's (centre) application comes after Sequerah's disclosure last month that he had worked with Loo more than a decade ago. SAM FONG/THE EDGE

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 15 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME PUTRAJAYA (Aug 17): A nine-member bench of Federal Court judges on Thursday (Aug 17) heard a Kelantan-born lawyer and her daughter’s challenge over the constitutionality of the Kelantan legislative assembly to enact a law on 20 shariah criminal offences, which was gazetted in 2021. The offences are also in the federal list namely the Penal Code. Lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, who hail from Kelantan and have relatives there, had last year obtained the Federal Court’s permission to proceed with the constitutional challenge under the Article 4(4) route. Article 4(4) stipulates that any challenge to a law to be declared as invalid can only be done if a Federal Court judge grants leave or permission. It is rare that a nine-member bench of the apex court hears cases related to constitutional matters. In Thursday’s proceedings, the bench was led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and consisted the top three members of the judiciary — Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli The rest of the bench comprised Federal Court judges Datuk Nalini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais. Top court hears duo’s challenge of Kelantan’s new law on shariah offences that overlaps with federal laws BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com Rosmah gets her passport to visit expectant daughter in Singapore BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com PUTRAJAYA (Aug 17): The Court of Appeal (COA) on Thursday (Aug 17) has allowed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s passport to be returned, for her to travel to Singapore to visit her daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib, who is expecting her third child. A three-member bench led by judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail granted the 71-year-old’s application following no objection by the prosecution, led by deputy public officer Poh Yih Tinn. The other two judges were Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azmi Ariffin. Rosmah, who was wearing an all blue outfit, immediately left the courtroom after her application was granted. She was represented by counsel Datuk Jagjit Singh, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader and Azrul Zulkifli Stork. This is the fourth time she has applied for the return of her passport to travel overseas after she was found guilty by the High Court on Sept 1 last year on three counts of graft in relation to the solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. The last time she was granted the return of her passport was in June. Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined an astounding RM970 million, which she is appealing. In the notice of her application, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said she intends to travel to Singapore from Aug 18 to 23, Aug 26 to Sept 6 and Sept 9 to Oct 31. On Aug 24 and 25, she is scheduled to attend her money laundering and income tax trial where she is facing 17 charges involving RM7.097 million before High Court judge Muniandy Kannyappan. She has also filed a representation letter to her money laundering charges, and the outcome is likely to be known on Aug 24. The COA has also fixed Sept 18 as case management for her appeal with regards to her conviction and sentence over the solar hybrid trial. It is said that Nooryana Najwa is expected to deliver her third child later this month. Nooryana Najwa is married to Kazakhstan national Daniyar Kessikbaye, and the couple now reside in Singapore. The two women’s challenge ultimately argues that the Kelantan legislative assembly did not have the powers to create these 20 shariah provisions in a state law, as it is the federal government instead which holds the powers under the Federal Constitution to make laws on such crimes. The 20 offences being challenged The 20 provisions of Kelantan’s Shariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 cover shariah offences of false claim (Section 5), destroying or defiling place of worship (Section 11), selling or giving away child to non-Muslim or morally reprehensible Muslims (Section 13), sodomy (Section 14), sexual intercourse with corpse (Section 16). Other provisions are sexual intercourse with non-human (Section 17), words capable of breaking place (Section 30), sexual harassment (Section 31), possessing false document, giving false evidence, information or statement (Section 34), consuming anything intoxicating (Section 36), gambling (Section 37), reducing scale, measurement and weight (Section 39). The duo are also challenging the executing transactions contrary to hukum syarak (Section 40), executing transactions via usury (Section 41), abuse of halal label and connotation (Section 42) offering or providing vice services (Section 43), preparatory act of offering or providing vice services (Section 44), preparator act of vice (Section 45), act of incest (Section 47) and middleman acting to solicit vice activities (Section 48). The two women were represented by Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Surendra Ananth. Malik Imtiaz said the 20 provisions in the state law show duplicity of criminal offences as some of these offences are already stipulated in the Penal Code, while legislation concerning falsehood is covered under Section 124I of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998. “Nowhere is it stated by the Kelantan government that the Federation does not have powers to enact the law,” he said. Read the full story SAM FONG/THE EDGE

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 16 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUCHING (Aug 17): Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar was on Thursday (Aug 17) sworn in as the acting Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, effective from Wednesday to Sept 17. Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud is currently recuperating overseas. The swearing-in ceremony was held in Astana Negeri Sarawak, and witnessed by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and Kuching High Court judge Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab. At the ceremony, Abang Johari also read the letter of appointment of Mohamad Asfia as the acting governor, signed by SHAH ALAM (Aug 17): The announcement on the appointment of the Selangor menteri besar will be made by the state palace, said Selangor Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari. Amirudin said his audience with Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Thursday afternoon (Aug 17) was to brief His Royal Highness on current developments in the state. “I had an audience with Tuanku as usual, enquiring about his health and discussing developments of the state’s economic achievements,” he told reporters in front of Istana Bukit Kayangan here. Asked whether the appointment of the new menteri besar was discussed, Amirudin said he was not at liberty to disclose everything. He also said questions about the menteri besar candidate list should be directed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, because the list was submitted by him. In the state elections on Saturday, the PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance won 34 seats in Selangor, while Perikatan Nasional took 22 seats. During the election campaign, Anwar named Amirudin as the Selangor menteri besar candidate should PH-BN win the polls. Mohamad Asfia appointed as acting Sarawak governor Palace to make announcement on Selangor MB appointment, says Amirudin KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) founder and adviser Tan Sri Vincent Tan and BCorp’s unit Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) have obtained a restraining order against Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor which prevents him from making similar defamatory remarks relating to the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) project. Tan’s counsel Chuar Kia Lin confirmed with The Edge that the Shah Alam High Court allowed the ex-parte injunction application earlier on Thursday (Aug 17). He also said that Sanusi’s legal team had already been served a copy of the order from the court. The lawyer said that the order is in effect until August 25. Sanusi’s legal team is allowed to submit a counter to the restraining order. The defamation suit, sighted by The Edge, was filed at the Shah Alam High Court on August 8 via Tan’s lawyers. Tan and BLand are seeking general damages, compensatory damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages. Apart from that, the lawyers have also filed an application for the High Court to issue an injunction to stop Sanusi from making similar remarks in the future. The lawyers claimed that Sanusi’s comments have “... pervaded and permeated into the (Tan’s) family circle, further aggravating the mental trauma suffered by him and his family”. They also said that Sanusi’s comments are vindictive and malicious. Tan, through his lawyers, claimed that Sanusi’s alleged defamatory comments imply that Tan is a corrupt person, corrupt businessman and a crony to the Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari. Tan claimed that the comments imply that he had benefitted directly or indirectly, or received for free a piece of 600-acre land from the Selangor state government. Tan further claimed that Sanusi’s comments imply that he had given benefits to the Selangor state government for the said land, and as such caused the state to incur losses of RM180 million. “The defamatory statements are completely untrue, extreme, vile and specious/ spurious and have no basis whatsoever,” it read. For the SMG project, the lawyers, in the writ, explained that a special purpose vehicle called Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd (LLBSB) had been formed through a joint venture between Selangor’s Menteri Besar Incorporated’s (MBI) subsidiary, Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (45%) and Berjaya Hartanah Bhd (55%) to, amongst others, clean and develop the Klang River. They explained that Tan and BLand never obtained or was never awarded any land measuring 600 acres valued at RM10 billion as alleged by Sanusi. “In actual fact, only several parcels of land totaling 103.6 acres were identified as feasible for development and granted approval for alienation to LLBSB by the Selangor state government with specific conditions,” the statement read. The statement clarified that BLand is the party that is required to raise funds to pay the premium based on market rate for the alienation of the 103.6-acre land to LLBSB. Vincent Tan obtains temporary restraining order against Kedah MB BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM theedgemalaysia.com Bernama Bernama assembly in 2000, was previously appointed as the acting Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak from Dec 1, 2019 to Jan 11, 2020. On Aug 3, Astana Negeri Sarawak urged the public not to be misled by unverified news and speculation about Abdul Taib’s health. The governor’s private secretary, Junih Salleh Ahmad, said that Abdul Taib’s condition had been improving, and he is currently recuperating overseas and will return home soon. Read also: Perak MB quashes talk on changes in state administration Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah. Mohamad Asfia, 75, who started holding the position of the speaker of the state

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): Daily outflows of overseas funds from Chinese stocks are on course to tie a record streak amid worsening sentiment on the nation’s economy and the government’s efforts to get it back on track. Foreign investors have sold over one billion yuan (RM636.6 million) worth of equities listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen via the trading link as of the midday break Thursday (Aug 17), headed for a ninth-straight day of outflows. That would tie the longest stretch of net selling since just after Bloomberg began tracking the data in December 2016. Foreign investors have sold more than 45 billion yuan of mainland China stocks over the latest nine days, nearly wiping out their recent buying spree amid hopes for new government measures after the key Politburo meeting. Lack of concrete policy action, weak economic data and fears of contagion from property-sector woes have sparked the Foreign funds flee China stocks in record selling streak (Aug 17): China ramped up its efforts to stem losses in the yuan by offering the most forceful guidance since October through its daily reference rate for the managed currency. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the so-called fixing for the yuan at 7.2076 per dollar on Thursday (Aug 17), compared with an average estimate of 7.2994 in a Bloomberg survey, the largest gap since October. The attempted boost for the currency comes as broad dollar strength, combined with evidence of China’s sluggish economy, helped push the onshore yuan towards a 16-year low on Wednesday. The PBOC’s move suggests it’s looking to limit yuan losses exacerbated by a surprise rate cut this week, which was aimed at supporting growth. Together with a selloff of US Treasuries, that intensified focus on the widening US-China yield gap and added more pressure to the yuan, dragging it to the bottom of emerging Asia’s currency rankings for the year. The onshore yuan fell 0.2% to 7.3132 in mid-morning trading on Thursday. It’s down almost 6% this year. The fixing “signals the desire of the PBOC for a more gradual move and against excessive volatility in foreign exchange, but the fixing can do little to stop the depreciation trend of the yuan”, said Redmond Wong, a market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets. So far this week, the central bank has sought to stem yuan drops with stronger-than-expected daily fixings and announced an additional bill sale in Hong Kong. The latter move helped tighten yuan liquidity in the offshore market, sending a measure of the currency’s borrowing cost China escalates battle against yuan bears with fixing guidance lion) of cash on a net basis through reverse repurchase contracts, following the near 300 billion yuan pumped in Wednesday, the largest since February. And this week, authorities asked some investment funds to avoid being net sellers of equities, according to people familiar with the matter. A key index of shares in Hong Kong, where a majority of the members are mainland firms, looked poised to enter a technical bear market on Thursday. For now, yuan bears seem to be sticking to their guns. One-month offshore dollar-yuan risk reversals, a gauge of demand for bullish call options over bearish puts for the pair, jumped to the highest since May this week. But others are cautious about chasing the weakness given the potential for more forceful steps from China. The central bank can follow up with more measures to stem losses, such as injecting dollar liquidity to onshore markets and making it more expensive for traders to short the currency in the forwards market, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. And despite its losses versus the dollar, the yuan has been performing much better relative to trading partners’ currencies. It has strengthened about 1% over the past month versus a basket of 24 exchange rates, according to a real-time Bloomberg replica of the CFETS RMB Index. “Authorities have always been against excessive yuan volatility, and letting go here would create unwanted volatility,” said Eddie Cheung, a senior emerging market strategist at Credit Agricole CIB’s Hong Kong Branch. “I expect a very gradual climb, as markets will be more sensitive to whether authorities take more action here to curb speculators.” Bloomberg Bloomberg The PBOC’s move suggests it’s looking to limit yuan losses exacerbated by a surprise rate cut this week, which was aimed at supporting growth. in Hong Kong to the highest in more than a year on Wednesday. Policymakers were also active in other markets. On Thursday, the PBOC added 163 billion yuan (US$22 billion or RM103.69 bilBLOOMBERG renewed selloff in Chinese equities. “Overseas investors are lowering their expectations for growth,” after recent data and amid “restrained” moves by the government to contain the property crisis, said Meng Lei, China strategist at UBS Securities. Meng maintains an estimate for total foreign inflow of 300 billion yuan this year. However, forceful and timely moves to loosen restrictions on buying property and offer fiscal support may be needed to drive inflows, he added. Read also: China’s yuan moves broadly consistent with fundamentals — state media China is headwind for US, global economy, Treasury official says BLOOMBERG

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): Once again during the hopedfor year of the bond, investors in Treasury debt are looking at losses as long-maturity yields approach their 2022 highs. The year-to-date return from US government notes and bonds as measured by the Bloomberg Treasury index was -0.13% through Tuesday (Aug 15). The loss was poised to deepen on Wednesday as 10- year and 30-year yields reached the highest levels this year after the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) last meeting flagged the risk of additional rate increases. The US economy’s surprising resilience in the face of Fed rate increases totalling more than five percentage points over the past 18 months, combined with expectations for increased quantities of Treasury debt over the coming quarter to plug bigger federal deficits has prompted investors to demand higher interest rates. That erodes the value of notes and bonds sold at lower rates earlier in the year. “Policy is biased to keep a tighter stance for longer,” said Ed Al-Hussainy, a rates strategist at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Additionally, “we probably have room to take out some easing priced in”. In the market for inflation-protected Treasury debt, the 10-year real yield exceeded 1.9%, a new high since 2009. Insulated from the effects of inflation, real yields represent the risk-free rate of return investors demand. Upward pressure on real and nominal yields from strong economic growth is being exacerbated by growth in the supply of Treasuries as the Fed sheds some of its holdings, necessitating larger auctions to the public. In the minutes released on Wednesday, some Fed officials were noted to have said that the process could continue alongside eventual rate cuts. Increased borrowing in the form of bigger Treasury auctions “will be captured via term premium, especially real rates, as the Treasury market’s 2023 gains vanish as long-dated yields rise (Aug 17): The US 30-year mortgage rate rose to 7.16% last week, matching the highest since 2001 and crimping both sales and refinancing activity. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose seven basis points to 7.16% in the week ended Aug 11, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data out on Wednesday (Aug 16). The gauge of home-purchase applications slipped for a fifth-straight week to the second-lowest level since 1995. The latest jump in borrowing costs presents a fresh headwind for the housing market, just as the sector had been showing signs of finding its footing. The impact from high mortgage rates is twofold: it restrains demand and keeps many Americans who are sitting on lower mortgage rates from listing their homes. A lack of homes listed for sale are also pushing prices higher, with recent price gains helping the US housing market erase the roughly US$3 trillion (RM13.95 trillion) it lost in value during the past year’s slowdown, according to Redfin Corp. Price gains coupled with higher rates are squeezing affordability even more. “Many households that would like to move are trapped right now,” said James Knightley, ING’s chief international economist. “Consequently housing supply has fallen just as rapidly as housing demand, hence why prices have stabilized and are moving higher again in several areas.” Higher rates could exacerbate inventory issues as owners seeking to move confront the prospect of giving up much lower rates. About nine in 10 owners with mortgages have interest rates under 6%, according to Redfin. The Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation through higher interest rates led to a rapid US mortgage rate climbs to 7.16%, matching highest since 2001 BY READE PICKERT Bloomberg BY LIZ CAPO MCCORMICK & MICHAEL MACKENZIE Bloomberg deterioration in the sector last year, dragging down economic growth. Existing-home sales have remained tepid amid limited supply, but new-home sales have rebounded, supported by more available inventory. The pickup in the housing market has fueled more optimism among economists that the US may be able to avoid recession. Another report on Wednesday showed new-home building rose last month, and applications to build single-family homes advanced to the highest in more than a year. But separate data on Tuesday showed homebuilder sentiment fell for the first time this year on concerns about higher borrowing costs. While lean inventory has generally encouraged more home construction, higher mortgage rates may mean builders have to offer more incentives to lure prospective buyers. Mortgage News Daily, which updates more frequently, put the 30-year rate at 7.26% on Tuesday. The MBA’s gauge of refinancing applications fell 1.9%, a fourth-straight decline. The overall measure of mortgage applications fell 0.8%. The survey, which has been conducted weekly since 1990, uses responses from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The data cover more than 75% of all retail residential mortgage applications in the US. cost of funding rises to take down all this debt”, said George Goncalves, the head of US macro strategy at MUFG. The Fed last month raised the policy rate to 5.25%-5.5%. Swaps referencing future Fed meeting dates continue to anticipate rate cuts in 2024. However, the amount of easing priced in has been reduced to about a percentage point. With regard to Treasuries, the Fed via its quantitative tightening is allowing up to US$60 billion (RM278.91 billion) a month roll off its balance sheet. Ten- and 30-year Treasury yields rose to the highest levels since October on Tuesday after stronger-than-anticipated July retail sales data challenged expectations for Fed rate cuts beginning next near. Read also: Global yields march to 15-year highs even as investors pile in Summers sees 10-year yields averaging 4.75% in coming decade Read the full story The latest jump in borrowing costs presents a fresh headwind for the housing market, just as the sector had been showing signs of finding its footing.

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): Excess savings US households built up during the pandemic will probably be exhausted in the current quarter, according to research from the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of San Francisco, removing a key support for consumer spending that has boosted the US economy this year. “Our updated estimates suggest that households held less than US$190 billion (RM882.83 billion) of aggregate excess savings by June,” San Francisco Fed researchers Hamza Abdelrahman and Luiz Oliveira said in a blog post published on Wednesday (Aug 16) on the bank’s website. “There is considerable uncertainty in the outlook, but we estimate that these excess savings are likely to be depleted during the third quarter of 2023.” Earlier this year, Abdelrahman and Oliveira published research estimating US$500 billion of excess savings remained on household balance sheets as of March 2023, after peaking at US$2.1 trillion in August 2021. But revisions to government data since then have changed the picture. grow at a solid pace.” By most accounts, excess savings accumulated during the pandemic have helped the US economy continually defy forecasters’ expectations for a downturn this year, even as the Fed has embarked on the most aggressive cycle of interest-rate increases in several decades. In their July 25-26 policy meeting, central bank officials acknowledged the impact, while also suggesting that the dynamics could soon fade, according to minutes of the gathering published on Wednesday. “Tight financial conditions, primarily reflecting the cumulative effect of the committee’s shift to a restrictive policy stance, are expected to contribute to slower growth in consumption in the period ahead,” the minutes said. “Participants cited other factors that are likely to lead to, or appear consistent with, a slowdown in consumption, including the declining stock of excess savings, softening labour market conditions, and increased price sensitivity on the part of customers.” Americans have almost depleted excess savings, Fed study shows WASHINGTON (Aug 17): The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to a still tight labour market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 239,000 for the week ended Aug 12, the Labor Department said on Thursday (Aug 17). Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 240,000 claims for the latest week. Claims surged in the week ending Aug 5, with applications in Ohio accounting for a big chunk of the increase. The state has previously experienced fraudulent filings, leading most economists to shrug off the rise in claims. Although the labour market is slowing, with job gains in July the second smallest since December 2020, conditions generally remain tight. The unemployment rate is at levels last seen more than 50 years ago. There were 1.6 job openings for every unemployed person in June. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July 25- 26 meeting published on Wednesday showed that while policymakers acknowledged “signs that demand and supply were coming into better balance,” they “judged that further progress toward a balancing of demand and supply in the labour market was needed, and they expected that additional softening in labour market conditions would take place over time.” The US central bank has since March 2022 raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25% to 5.50% range. Most economists believe the Fed’s fastest rate hiking cycle in more than 40 years is likely over, given the recent moderation in inflation. Labour market resilience is underpinning the economy, by driving retail sales and homebuilding. Economists have dialled back their forecasts for a recession this year, and are increasingly warming up to the idea that the Fed could guide the economy to a “soft landing.” The claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed business establishments for the nonfarm payrolls component of August’s employment report. Claims rose slightly between the July and August survey period. Data next week on the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, will offer more clues on the health of the labor market in August. The so-called continuing claims increased 32,000 to 1.716 million during the week ending Aug 5, the claims report showed. At current levels, continuing claims are still low by historical standards, indicating that some laid-off workers are experiencing short spells of unemployment. (Aug 17): Most financial firms aren’t assessing their portfolio exposure to nature-related risks with the same urgency they use to measure climate impacts, a shortcoming that could lead to higher costs, litigation and a hit to reputations, according to a new report. Only 20% of financial companies measure their exposure to nature-related risk compared to the 85% who calculate their potential vulnerability to climate impacts, according to the report by CDP, which helps companies disclose environmental impact. The analysis was based on disclosures made to the non-profit last year by more than 550 banks, insurers and asset owners representing about US$8 trillion (RM37.1 trillion) in market capitalisation. “Consideration of nature is not yet a priority for most” finance firms, said CDP. They “remain largely blind to the risks.” Read the full story US weekly jobless claims fall as labour market remains tight Banks ‘largely blind’to portfolio risk posed by nature loss Reuters BY ALASTAIR MARSH Bloomberg BY LAURA CURTIS Bloomberg “The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently revised its previous estimates to show household disposable income was lower, and personal consumption was higher than previously reported for the fourth quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2023,” the pair said in Wednesday’s blog post. “The combined revisions brought down the bureau’s measure of aggregate personal savings by more than US$50 billion. In addition, second-quarter data indicated that household spending continued to

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 20 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD Singapore receives six applications for presidential election Bungalows, cars seized in Singapore’s billion-dollar swoop on money laundering (Aug 17): A Singapore lawmaker initially appointed to run Grab Holdings Ltd’s government relations department has left the tech firm, months after a public backlash over potential conflicts of interest forced the company to move her to a different role. Tin Pei Ling from the ruling People’s Action Party said in a LinkedIn post Thursday (Aug 17) that she will be joining a fintech startup, without naming the company. She said she will work in strategic partnerships and business development, helping the startup expand into Asia-Pacific markets. Ride-hailing and delivery firm Grab drew public criticism when it said in February it had hired Tin as government liaison. It moved her to a different role days later. While members of parliament are allowed to hold private sector jobs in the city-state, Tin’s appointment drew much debate online. “It has been an invaluable experience for me at Grab, as it was an opportunity for me to return to the private sector, to broaden my horizons, hone new skills and allow me to make a contribution in a different way,” Tin said in the post. Tin entered politics more than a decade ago and was elected to parliament under a team led by former prime minister and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. As one of the youngest candidates running at that time, Tin came under scrutiny and criticism for her age and political inexperience. During the latest election, she triumphed at the polls, winning 71.7% of the votes in her district, among the highest candidate reelection margins. Tin “made valuable contributions here supporting key projects and investments,” a Grab spokesperson said. “We fully support Pei Ling’s aspiration to take on a more front-facing role and look forward to her continued championing of tech innovation in Singapore.” PAP lawmaker leaves Grab months after public outcry BY OLIVIA POH Bloomberg BY YOOLIM LEE Bloomberg BY XINGHUI KOK Reuters REUTERS (Aug 17): Singapore received a total of six applications for certificates of eligibility to run in the country’s presidential elections, according to a statement from the Elections Department. Four individuals have publicly declared their intention to run for the role. They are: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a former deputy prime minister; former chief investment officer of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ng Kok Song; George Goh, a local businessman and former non-resident ambassador to Morocco; and former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian. Singapore plans to hold the elections on Sept 1 if more than one candidate is contending for the post. SINGAPORE (Aug 17): Singapore’s police said they had seized S$1 billion (US$734.32 million or RM3.43 billion) in assets from a gang of foreigners laundering proceeds from organised crime, including plush bungalows in the most sought-after addresses, bundles of cash, luxury cars, jewellery, handbags and gold bars. In one of its biggest money-laundering cases, police said 400 officers fanned out across Singapore on Tuesday (Aug 15), and launched simultaneous raids on residences across the city state, from the Orchard Road shopping belt to the resort island of Sentosa. The raids on at least nine locations netted assets totalling a staggering S$1 billion, police said. These included 94 properties, bank accounts with S$110 million, 50 vehicles, stacks of cash amounting to more than S$23 million, hundreds of luxury handbags and watches, fistfuls of jewellery, and two gold bars. At least 10 foreigners aged between 31 and 44 were arrested, including one man who jumped out of the second-floor balcony of his bungalow in a tony neighbourhood, and was found hiding in a drain. The man, a 40-year-old Cypriot national, sustained injuries in the fall and was taken to the hospital. From his home, police seized cash amounting to more than S$2.1 million, four bank accounts with more than S$6.7 million and ownership documents of 13 properties, and five vehicles with an estimated value of more than S$118 million. The other arrested people included citizens from China, Cambodia, Cyprus and Vanuatu. One woman was among them. Twelve people were assisting police in their investigations, while another eight were wanted. Police said all those in the case were foreigners, and were linked to each other. A police statement said the group was suspected to be laundering proceeds from overseas organised crime, including scams and online gambling. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it takes this case seriously, and had contacted the financial institutions, “where the potentially tainted funds had been identified”. David Chew, the director of commercial affairs at the police force, said Singapore had “zero tolerance” for being used as a safe haven for criminals or their families, and for banking facilities to be abused. “Our message to these criminals is simple — if we catch you, we will arrest you. If we find your ill-gotten gains, we will seize them. We will deal with you to the fullest extent of our laws,” said Chew. Singapore has in recent years seen an influx of foreign money. Latest figures from the central bank show that total assets under management in Singapore rose 16% in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion, compared with a global increase of 12% to US$112 trillion the same year. Read also: Singapore’s July non-oil domestic exports contract by 20.2% y-o-y mainly due to declines to EU 27, Taiwan, China

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD BRUSSELS (Aug 17): The European Union said on Thursday (Aug 17) it had launched an investigation into whether Indonesia was circumventing EU duties on imports of biodiesel originating in the country by going through China and Britain. The EU is Indonesia’s third-largest destination for palm oil products and an important market for its biodiesel, which is made from palm oil, while Indonesia is the world’s biggest palm oil producer. The EU’s probe followed an initial request from the European Biodiesel Board. “The request contains sufficient evidence that the existing countervailing measures on imports of the product concerned are being circumvented by imports of the product under investigation,” the European Commission said in the EU’s official journal. “A change in the pattern of trade involving exports from Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China and the United Kingdom to the Union has taken place following the imposition of the existing countervailing measures,” it added. Indonesia’s trade ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, Indonesia requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute consultations with the EU over the EU’s imposition of duties on biodiesel imports from Indonesia. Asked about this situation, a European Commission spokesperson told reporters that the EU was confident its duties on Indonesia were in full compliance with WTO rules and that the EU was ready to discuss the matter with Indonesia. Trade relations between the EU and Indonesia have been strained by the bloc’s move to limit imports of commodities linked to deforestation, which is expected to curb EU imports of palm oil from top suppliers Indonesia and Malaysia. As well as biodiesel, palm oil is used widely in food and cosmetics. Germany, meanwhile, earlier this year asked the European Commission to investigate biofuel shipments from China amid industry concerns that imported biodiesel declared as being based on recycled feedstock may contain cheaper oils. EU to probe if Indonesia circumventing biodiesel import duties BANGKOK (Aug 17): Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party on Thursday (Aug 17) gained support from a rival military-backed party, potentially boosting it in its bid to form a government ahead of a prime ministerial vote in parliament next week. The United Thai Nation Party or UTN, the party that fielded former coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as its prime ministerial candidate in the May election, said on Thursday that it will help Pheu Thai form a government. Prayuth, who is currently caretaker prime minister, first came to power in a coup against a Pheu Thai-led government in 2014. “United Thai Party will join the government with Pheu Thai,” UTN spokesman Akaradej Wongpitakroj told reporters on Thursday. “We agree to join in order to move the country forward together,” he said. Thailand has spent more than five months under a caretaker government after the leader of the election-winning Move Forward party was blocked twice by conservative and pro-army opponents in his bid to become prime minister. Move Forward’s former ally, the second-placed Pheu Thai party, earlier this month took over efforts to form a government. Previous Pheu Thai governments, backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family, were ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014, when the party’s interests clashed with the country’s powerful old money elites and royalist military. Pheu Thai is set to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin for prime minister in a vote scheduled for next Tuesday and needs the support of more than half the bicameral legislature — including the military-appointed Senate. The party has managed to gather the support of 13 other political parties but it will need some support from the unelected Senate. MANILA (Aug 17): The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.25% for a third straight meeting on Thursday (Aug 17), saying it needed to balance the need to support economic growth while keeping inflation in check. While the risks to inflation were tilted to the upside, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Eli Remolona, said the central bank “recognised the challenging outlook for economic growth.” “Given these considerations, the Monetary Board deemed it appropriate to maintain monetary policy settings to allow a moderation of inflation even as authorities continue to assess the emerging risks to the inflation outlook,” Remolona said after chairing his first policy meeting as governor. The BSP’s decision to extend its policy pause followed data last week showing the domestic economy grew at its slowest annual pace in nearly 12 years in the second quarter, due to a contraction in government spending and weaker domestic demand. All but one of the 20 economists in a Aug 7-14 poll by Reuters expected the central bank to leave its overnight borrowing rate unchanged. One predicted a 25 basis point rate hike. The peso, which hit its weakest level since November on Monday amid concerns about China’s faltering economic growth, weakened 0.1% to hit 56.57 against the dollar after the central bank decision. Read the full story Read also: Australian pension fund says rates may stay elevated until 2025 New Zealand’s central bank governor says recession is bare minimum to tame inflation Pheu Thai gain backing from rival party to form government Philippine central bank keeps rates steady, but ready to resume hikes if needed Reuters BY NEIL JEROME MORALES & ENRICO DELA CRUZ Reuters Reuters

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 22 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): China’s internet regulator is reaching out to foreign firms, including Walmart Inc and PayPal Inc, to discuss ways to navigate Beijing’s new data-security rules, an effort to reassure multinationals worried about their ability to operate in the world’s No 2 economy under the latest regulations. Officials of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) met with executives of dozens of international firms to ease their concerns about the new data regime ahead of a final November deadline for implementation, people familiar with the matter said. Regulators took questions, offered guidance on how to adhere to the rules, and acknowledged the challenges of clinching approvals for overseas transfers of sensitive information, said the people, asking not to be identified talking about a private meeting. They discussed creating a fast-approval mechanism for routine transfers, as well as a curated “white-list” for data categories or even specific companies, one of the people said. The new data laws have sparked widespread anxiety at foreign firms, and triggered drastic changes in a handful of cases. The law firm Dentons split off its Chinese operations this month, while Morgan Stanley shifted more than 200 technology developers — about a third of its tech cohort — out of mainland China. Beijing’s new rules give President Xi Jinping’s administration the power to shut down or fine companies that leak or mishandle sensitive information. Penalties include fines and suspensions. Every company in every industry with Chinese operations has to figure out how to navigate the data laws, because the penalties for non-compliance can be so severe, said Carolyn Bigg, the head of DLA Piper’s data privacy and cybersecurity teams in Asia. “Your systems will be blocked in China, or you will not be able to carry on transferring Chinese personal data outside of China if you do not comply,” she said. “This is not just compliance for compliance’s sake.” The new data laws are intended to exert control over the valuable information that powers the economy and future technologies, but have come under fire for disrupting the free flow of information that multinationals need to operate globally, drive research and devise long-term strategy. Read the full story Chinese officials meeting with foreign firms to ease data law fears — sources (Aug 17): President Joe Biden’s plan to limit certain investments in China may prove a boon for US intelligence agencies. Companies planning to invest in sensitive Chinese technology such as semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence would have to share details with the government, according to an executive order Biden signed last week. In the process, it would provide economic intelligence on China that’s eagerly sought by US spy agencies. “It was a lot of carrots. Now the stick is coming out,” Deborah Curtis, a partner at Arnold & Porter and the Central Intelligence Agency’s former deputy general counsel for litigation and investigations, said in an interview. Any new information that investors eventually are required to produce will help the US intelligence community retool its traditional targets for spycraft, including a focus on new technologies that could represent a threat to national security, Curtis said. “Those walls have to come down because the new weapons of mass destruction are high technology,” she said in an interview. “It’s no longer going to be, ‘Hi, it’s nice to meet you, we’d love for you to share this information with us.’ It’s going to be, ‘There’s a civil penalty if you don’t.’” The Treasury Department declined to comment, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn’t respond to requests for comment on the intelligence implications of the executive order. China is evaluating the executive order’s impact and will take “necessary” actions after its review, Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman Shu Jueting said during a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday (Aug 17). The order on “outbound investment”, issued last week, was narrower than expected in its scope and vague on many of its details. The Treasury Department issued a rough road map, opening the way for rules that probably won’t be final until next year. The proposed rule assures affected companies that information they provide will be shared “only to the extent necessary for national security purposes, and subject to appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements.” Holden Triplett, a former FBI official and co-founder of Trenchcoat Advisors, said that “the competition between the US and China is squarely in the economic sphere”. “That means private companies — whether they like it or not — are intimately involved in that competition,” he said in an email. “The new EO is another layer Biden’s China investment rules mean more data for US spies to tap of protection for the US, by ensuring that US companies are not unwittingly undermining US national security.” Regardless of how narrow the outbound investment rules end up, it will give intelligence agencies more information on “where US companies were investing, and even more importantly which Chinese companies were seeking US investment would be extremely valuable”, said Triplett, who once led the FBI’s offices in China. Venture capital and private equity firms that invest directly in early-stage Chinese companies have sought to make the case to the government that those investments are walled off from their US operations and have sought to narrow the scope of the executive order. “It is the companies’ worst nightmare,” Curtis said. “Not only are they going to be made to disclose this cutting-edge amazing stuff they’re doing but who they’re doing it with, what they’re doing it for, who’s involved.” It’s opening a new chapter in the complex, and sometimes prickly, relationship between US intelligence agencies and the private sector. “They sometimes see things before we do, and we need to learn from them,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in April in remarks to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They don’t necessarily put it into the broader context, which is something we can do, and help them to actually discern from the information what’s happening in certain spaces that may be useful.” BY DANIEL FLATLEY Bloomberg BY SARAH ZHENG Bloomberg

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 23 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): Global smartphone shipments are headed for their worst year for over a decade as prolonged economic uncertainties in China and beyond are hurting consumer spending. Shipments are expected to drop 6% year-over-year to 1.15 billion handsets in 2023, according to the latest Counterpoint Research estimate, due to a deteriorating Chinese economy struggling with deflation and disappointing demand in the US. “Asia is one of the major hurdles to positive growth, as headwinds halt the economic turnaround anticipated for China,” the report said. In North America, “consumers are hesitant to upgrade their devices, pushing replacement rates for the US and globally to record highs.” Apple Inc is seen as relatively wellplaced to weather the downturn, however, as its iPhone is set for a significant upgrade cycle in the latter half of the year. While Chinese brands like Xiaomi Corp and Oppo have to compete for customers with every new device, Apple benefits from hundreds of millions of users who will only upgrade within its hardware ecosystem. “So far this year it’s been record low upgrades across all carriers,” said Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint research director for North America. “The iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers. And with that big iPhone 12 installed base up for grabs promos are going to be aggressive, leaving Apple in a good spot.” China is dragging smartphone market to worst year in a decade (Aug 17): The Chinese shadow banking giant whose liquidity crisis has fanned fears about financial contagion is planning to restructure its debt and has hired KPMG LLP to conduct an audit of its balance sheet, people familiar with the matter said. Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co hired KPMG in late July to review its balance sheet amid a worsening liquidity crunch, said the people, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The Beijing-based company plans to restructure debt and sell assets after the review in order to repay investors, the people said. The company manages more than one trillion yuan (US$137 billion or RM640 billion) of assets. It wasn’t immediately clear how many products Zhongzhi has defaulted on and whether the company has sufficient assets to cover the shortfall if liquidated, said the people, adding that any restructuring process will likely be lengthy. Zhongzhi has suspended payments on nearly all its products, the people said. The Chinese firm didn’t respond to emails asking for comment, while calls to KPMG weren’t answered. Zhongzhi, one of the country’s largest private wealth managers, is the latest financial giant to face the prospect of failure as the fallout from a deepening property slump spreads. Country Garden Holdings Co, which was previously the nation’s biggest property developer, is on the brink of default after sales plunged and it failed to meet an initial deadline to pay coupons on dollar bonds. In a sign that Chinese authorities are worried about potential contagion, the banking regulator has set up a task force to examine risks at Zhongzhi. While little known outside China, Zhongzhi is among the biggest players in the country’s US$2.9 trillion trust industry. Many trust products are backed by real estate projects run by troubled developers such as China Evergrande Group. One Zhongzhi-backed trust company, Zhongrong International Trust Co., has missed payments on dozens of products and has no immediate plan to make clients whole. Zhongrong has 270 highyield products totalling 39.5 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion) due this year, according to data provider Use Trust. Market selloff The crisis in the shadow banking system is worsening a selloff in Chinese financial markets, which are already under pressure from disappointing economic data and the slumping property market. While the nation’s top leaders have vowed to boost domestic consumption and support the private sector, they have yet to announce any new stimulus measures. Adding to the stress, Chinese local corporate bond defaults are running at the highest levels since the beginning of the year. China’s troubled US$137 bil shadow bank plans debt restructuring, taps KPMG B l o o m b e r g BY VLAD SAVOV Bloomberg Read also: Japan exports fall for first time since 2021, stoking concerns about outlook Hong Kong rental market boosted by Chinese taking up top talent pass visas While little known outside China, Zhongzhi is among the biggest players in the country’s US$2.9 trillion trust industry. Many trust products are backed by real estate projects run by troubled developers such as China Evergrande Group. The MSCI China Index fell 0.8% on Thursday morning in its fifth day of losses. The offshore yuan is approaching a record low against the greenback. China’s trust industry pools savings from wealthy households and corporate clients to make loans and invest in real estate, stocks, bonds and commodities. According to Bloomberg Economics, the trust sector’s exposure to real estate is about 2.2 trillion yuan, or 10% of total assets as of the end of 2022. Zhongrong is the ninth-biggest trust, with about 600 billion yuan in assets. Pressure is building on President Xi Jinping’s government to cap the contagion risks and prevent social unrest. About two dozen people protested outside Zhongrong’s office in Beijing this week, a notable show of public outrage in a country with little tolerance for dissent. Zhongrong products paid out as much as 7% in annual interest, appealing to mostly wealthy individuals and companies who bet they would be safe investments as Chinese stocks and real estate prices tumble. In a video clip of the protest seen by Bloomberg News, a woman angrily asks: “Why doesn’t the company pay us back?”

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 24 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 17): Citigroup Inc added over 15,000 wealth clients in the Asia-Pacific region, as the US bank extends it push into money management and that business shows signs of recovery. The customers were taken on during the first half of the year, according to a spokeswoman for the New York-based firm. In the second quarter, new clients grew 36% from the prior year, and Asia-Pacific wealth revenues ticked up 4% from the previous quarter, she said. Citigroup is jostling with rivals UBS Group AG, HSBC Holdings plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co for a larger slice of wealth revenues in Asia-Pacific. The region is home to about US$55 trillion (RM255.56 trillion) in financial wealth, second only to North America, according to a Boston Consulting Group report. Citigroup merged its consumer wealth and private banking units in 2021, and chief executive officer Jane Fraser has been doubling down on wealth, after exiting retail franchises in some markets. The Wall Street firm is bringing back Andy Sieg from Bank of America Corp to run its global wealth division, and last year hired a team from Credit Suisse Group AG in Hong Kong, as part of its Asian build-out in its Hong Kong and Singapore hubs. Citigroup adds thousands of wealth clients in Asia-Pacific in global push ARENDAL, Norway (Aug 17): Norway’s sovereign wealth fund made a profit of 1,501 billion crowns (US$143 billion or RM655.4 billion) for the first half of the year, partly due to the growth of US tech companies and their development of artificial intelligence. The US$1.4 trillion fund’s holdings in tech companies jumped by nearly 39% in the period, with Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia as the stocks contributing the most, helping to drive the fund’s 10% overall return. Chief executive officer Nicolai Tangen told Reuters the strong return came as a surprise for such a large fund given “a pretty worrisome backdrop”, with high inflation and geopolitical tensions. It was partly due to AI becoming mainstream from previously being seen as “something with potential”, said deputy CEO Trond Grande. “Now we are seeing that potential being realised and that is being priced in the stock markets of these companies,” Grande told Reuters. That has also led the fund, the world’s single largest stock market investor, to recently reduce its overweight investment position in major tech companies. Asked whether he was concerned about a possible crash in tech stocks, Tangen said: “We are always conscious and worried about the biggest exposures of the fund. Now they are in the tech sector. Therefore we monitor that very thoroughly.” Tech is the largest sector among the fund’s equity investments, representing 11.9% of the its total value at end-2022, its data showed. The fund is also urging companies it invests in to develop and use AI responsibly. Looking ahead, Tangen said the fund expects it will be difficult to reduce inflation worldwide, not least due to a new phenomenon — inflation fuelled by climate change. Global warming is lowering food harvests, and thus increasing food prices, and reducing productivity since some workers are unable to work in the middle of the day in some countries. “The new thing here is the link between climate (change) and inflation and therefore between climate and financial markets,” Tangen said. The fund, which invests the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil and gas production, owns on average 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide. It also invests in bonds, unlisted real estate and renewable energy projects. (Aug 17): Bankruptcy declarations in the European Union reached the highest level since 2015 in the second quarter of this year, driven by increases in the accommodation and food services sectors, the bloc’s statistics agency Eurostat said on Thursday (Aug 17). The number of wound up companies in the April-June period was 8% higher than the previous quarter, marking a sixth consecutive increase, Eurostat said. Registrations of new businesses edged down in the same period, but remained higher than in 2015-2022, the agency added. While all sectors of the economy recorded an increasing trend in bankruptcies, accommodation and food services were the most affected, with a 24% increase from the previous reading. Companies going out of business in the transportation and storage sectors were up 15% on the quarter, while in education, health and social activities the increase was 10%. The number of bankruptcy declarations was also higher than pre-pandemic levels, with the exception of the industry sector, which recorded a 12% decline from the fourth quarter of 2019, and the construction sector, which recorded a 3% decline, Eurostat said. Read also: Norway central bank raises rate to 4.0%, eyes September hike Dutch economy enters recession as inflation bites Norway wealth fund makes US$143 bil profit as AI surge lifts tech Bankruptcies in the EU highest since 2015, Eurostat says BY GWLADYS FOUCHE Reuters Reuters BY DENISE WEE Bloomberg BLOOMBERG PEXELS

FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023 25 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF MARKETS 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) HONG SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 558.63 0.005 0.065 -70.45 332.0 AIMFLEX BHD 152.62 0.015 0.220 46.67 323.2 UEM SUNRISE BHD 96.34 0.020 0.630 147.06 3186.8 AWANBIRU TECHNOLOGY BHD 95.04 -0.225 0.175 -53.33 137.9 SP SETIA BHD GROUP 79.57 0.065 0.855 42.50 3488.6 HANDAL ENERGY BHD 73.48 -0.035 0.135 -12.90 36.0 MALAYSIAN RESOURCES CORP BHD 63.02 -0.005 0.425 44.07 1898.7 SAPURA ENERGY BHD 61.40 0.000 0.055 57.14 878.8 BAHVEST RESOURCES BHD 57.82 -0.020 0.365 19.67 452.5 SIME DARBY PROPERTY BHD 53.49 0.030 0.675 50.00 4590.6 EKOVEST BHD 49.08 0.000 0.450 32.35 1213.1 WIDAD GROUP BHD 47.59 0.000 0.435 1.16 1347.0 ISKANDAR WATERFRONT CITY BHD 44.26 0.025 0.505 87.04 465.2 EASTERN & ORIENTAL BHD 40.34 0.020 0.455 10.98 697.0 CLASSITA HOLDINGS BHD 38.94 -0.010 0.065 -82.19 80.1 ADVANCE SYNERGY BHD 37.87 0.000 0.140 -20.00 354.1 VELESTO ENERGY BHD 35.12 -0.005 0.230 53.33 1889.6 MY EG SERVICES BHD 34.18 0.000 0.815 -5.42 6035.4 PDZ HOLDINGS BHD 33.78 0.000 0.030 -25.00 17.4 PESTECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 32.65 -0.035 0.255 -17.74 251.1 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) SC ESTATE BUILDER BHD 0.050 66.67 8,354.0 11.11 53.70 AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.015 50.00 139.0 -40.00 32.5 IQZAN HOLDING BHD 0.030 50.00 10.0 -14.29 6.7 METRONIC GLOBAL BHD 0.015 50.00 225.0 -25 23 SEACERA GROUP BHD 0.275 34.15 26,993.4 71.88 171 G3 GLOBAL BHD 0.025 25.00 2,411.5 -16.67 94.3 XOX NETWORKS BHD 0.030 20.00 185.0 0.00 34.1 CHINA OUHUA WINERY HOLDINGS 0.060 20.00 0.1 -7.69 40.1 FITTERS DIVERSIFIED BHD 0.040 14.29 299.1 -42.86 93.7 KOMARKCORP BHD 0.040 14.29 992.5 -27.27 46.2 KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.040 14.29 155.2 0.00 26.0 INDUSTRONICS BHD 0.045 12.50 336.1 -40.00 31.8 JADI IMAGING HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 11.11 2,611.0 -41.18 70.0 ARB BHD 0.100 11.11 6,889.9 -20.00 121.7 CUSCAPI BHD 0.205 10.81 14,921.1 -8.89 193.7 GOPENG BHD 0.370 10.45 1.1 -7.50 149.3 AVILLION BHD 0.055 10.00 217.1 -31.25 62.3 I-BHD 0.275 10.00 3,527.0 -1.79 510.6 APPASIA BHD 0.115 9.52 1,575.9 9.52 122.0 HONG SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 0.065 8.33 558,632.4 -70.45 332 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) AWANBIRU TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.175 -56.25 95,037.5 -53.33 137.9 NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.250 -43.82 28129.43 -19.35 44.8 NEXGRAM HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 -33.33 220 -85.71 6.5 GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 0.010 -33.33 120.0 -50.00 21.1 JOE HOLDING BHD 0.010 -33.33 107 -50.00 30.6 MLABS SYSTEMS BHD 0.015 -25.00 500 -25.00 21.7 HANDAL ENERGY BHD 0.135 -20.59 73,476.5 -12.90 36.0 ALDRICH RESOURCES BHD 0.025 -16.67 81.0 -16.67 27.8 MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.025 -16.67 981.2 -50.00 34.5 REACH ENERGY BHD 0.030 -14.29 85.0 -33.33 63.9 TECHNODEX BHD 0.065 -13.33 2,422.5 -35.00 54.8 CLASSITA HOLDINGS BHD 0.065 -13.33 38,940.3 -82.19 80.1 QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.070 -13.01 5.3 -18.94 62.0 GREEN PACKET BHD 0.035 -12.50 609.2 -36.36 69.8 PESTECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.255 -12.07 32,655.0 -17.74 251.1 EDELTEQ HOLDINGS BHD 0.475 -11.21 8,191.5 0.00 253.0 DIVFEX BHD 0.120 -11.11 10,800.4 41.18 89.5 IMPIANA HOTELS BHD 0.085 -10.53 4,808.1 -5.56 51.6 VIZIONE HOLDINGS BHD 0.045 -10.00 210.7 -18.18 92.1 PERMAJU INDUSTRIES BHD 0.045 -10.00 1,441.7 0.00 87.4 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 131.500 -0.800 36.2 -6.07 30,836.8 HEXTARTECHNOLOGIES SOLUTIONS 27.680 -0.760 26.7 62.25 3,561.0 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 27.200 -0.400 105.8 -5.42 5,410.0 PERUSAHAAN SADUR TIMAH 3.650 -0.350 62.4 -16.86 471.2 CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 20.460 -0.320 482.7 -10.58 6,255.6 PPB GROUP BHD 15.740 -0.300 536.4 -9.75 22,391.7 AWANBIRU TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.175 -0.225 95,037.5 -53.33 137.9 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 22.500 -0.200 1,021.7 0.63 24,264.8 NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.250 -0.195 28,129.4 -19.35 44.8 AEON CREDIT SERVICE M BHD 11.540 -0.180 201.4 -8.27 2,946.3 HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.280 -0.180 194.4 -1.72 20,935.1 QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.070 -0.160 5.3 -18.94 62.0 UNISEM M BHD 3.220 -0.160 1,661.2 16.67 5,194.1 MISC BHD 6.970 -0.150 3,663.9 -7.07 31,112.3 SIME DARBY PLANTATION BHD 4.310 -0.140 2,833.5 -7.31 29,806.7 PETRONAS GAS BHD 16.960 -0.140 771.2 -0.93 33,559.3 IOI CORP BHD 3.890 -0.130 4,923.8 -3.95 24,132.4 YNH PROPERTY BHD 4.890 -0.130 105.6 15.6 2584.3 CHIN TECK PLANTATIONS BHD 7.650 -0.120 13.2 -10.18 698.9 DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES 21.360 -0.120 11.9 -29.37 1,367.0 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 26.580 0.480 203 5.48 8029.8 FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 25.560 0.380 54.3 18.44 9374.9 PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 20.460 0.120 25.1 -10.66 1242.9 ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD 15.820 0.120 11.8 11.72 2815.5 SCIENTEX BHD 3.900 0.110 1400.1 21.12 6049.1 CENTRAL GLOBAL BHD 2.150 0.100 1710.4 137.6 339.2 KECK SENG MALAYSIA BHD 4.530 0.090 231.7 26.54 1627.6 IOI PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 1.520 0.090 16428.5 43.4 8369.3 TEO GUAN LEE CORP BHD 1.170 0.080 11.2 6.36 97.7 VITROX CORP BHD 7.900 0.070 606.8 3.27 7468 SUNWAY BHD 1.920 0.070 19644.6 18.52 9512.9 SEACERA GROUP BHD 0.275 0.070 26993.4 71.88 171 PLENITUDE BHD 1.050 0.070 64.1 7.14 400.6 PIMPINAN EHSAN BHD 1.480 0.070 10.0 18.40 102.3 KHIND HOLDINGS BHD 2.700 0.070 1.2 -12.9 113.5 SP SETIA BHD GROUP 0.855 0.065 79570.3 42.5 3488.6 WESTPORTS HOLDINGS BHD 3.490 0.060 4,965.9 -8.16 11,900.9 SARAWAK OIL PALMS BHD 2.560 0.060 705.3 -1.54 2,279.1 EUROSPAN HOLDINGS BHD 1.380 0.060 36.7 22.12 61.3 ASIA FILE CORP BHD 1.920 0.060 112.3 10.34 372.7 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 Source: Bloomberg CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) DJIA * 34,783.94 18.20 0.05 S&P 500 * 4,404.96 0.63 0.01 NASDAQ 100 * 14,826.58 -49.89 -0.34 FTSE 100 * 7,356.88 -41.28 -0.56 AUSTRALIA 7,146.00 -49.17 -0.68 CHINA 3,163.74 13.61 0.43 HONG KONG 18,326.63 -2.67 -0.01 INDIA 65,151.02 -388.40 -0.59 INDONESIA 6,900.54 -14.56 -0.21 JAPAN 31,626.00 -140.82 -0.44 KOREA 2,519.85 -5.79 -0.23 PHILIPPINES 6,364.97 -45.12 -0.70 SINGAPORE 3,196.75 -16.83 -0.52 TAIWAN 16,516.66 69.88 0.42 THAILAND 1,528.81 9.25 0.61 VIETNAM 1,233.48 -9.78 -0.79 Data as compiled on Aug 17, 2023 * Based on previous day’s closing Source: Bloomberg CPO RM 3,927.004.00 OIL US$ 84.761.31 RM/USD 4.6543 RM/SGD 3.4205 RM/AUD 2.9864 RM/GBP 5.9209 RM/EUR 5.0610