CEOMorningBrief FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024 ISSUE 701/2024 theedgemalaysia.com [ between us ] there’s a newfound camaraderie Be the first to know. Safwan - 017 229 8583 Syed - 010 223 3542 www.simedarbyproperty.com Scan for more product information MODERN BIOPHILIC HOMES COMING SOON TO THE CITY OF ELMINA This serves as an invitation to obtain responses and registrations of interest from the public only and is not treated as an offer for sale. All information and perspective(s) contained in this advertisement, including visual representations, sketches, images, illustrations, renderings or photographs, depicting lifestyle, amenities, designs, materials, furnishings, plans or art drawings, are artist’s impressions/conceptual only and should not be relied upon as representations, express or implied, of the final detail of the actual completed unit at Elmina Ridge. The developer reserves the right to modify, revise, or withdraw any or all of the same at in its sole discretion and/or as recommended by the consultants and/or as required by the relevant authorities without prior notice. Whilst care has been taken to ensure accuracy and completeness of all written contents and drawings in this advertisement, the developer provides no warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of such information and excludes liability for any matters arising from reliance of all or any part of such information to the extent permitted by law. The information and perspective(s) contained in this advertisement are not to be taken as part of the terms of the sale and purchase between the purchaser and the developer. The sale and purchase agreement shall form the entire agreement between the purchaser and the developer.
CEOMorningBrief FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024 ISSUE 701/2024 theedgemalaysia.com US INFLATION ACCELERATES, TEMPERING CASE FOR FED TO CUT RATES p22 Report on Page 3. HOME: Anwar: Opposition lacks strength to move no-confidence motion in Parliament p5 Serba Dinamik’s listing status now up for grabs p6 Prolintas obtains RM2.7 bil financing to restructure four highway concessions for IPO p6 SC charges company director with money laundering involving over RM160 mil p8 WORLD: OpenAI in talks with CNN, Fox and Time to license content — sources p20 Report on Page 2. Malaysia inks MOU with Singapore for Johor-S’pore Special Economic Zone Daim claims his wealth could have rivalled Malaysia’s richest if he didn’t join politics
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 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] Malaysia inks MOU with Singapore for Johor-S’pore Special Economic Zone JOHOR BAHRU (Jan 11): Economy minister Rafizi Ramli has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore’s minister of trade and industry Gan Kim Yong to formalise the cooperation of both countries on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ). The signing was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. Under the MOU, Malaysia and Singapore will work towards enhancing cross-border flows of goods and people as well as strengthen the business ecosystem within JS-SEZ to support investments. However, the scope and area of the JSSEZ are not immediately clear. Both sides also agreed to work towards a full-fledged agreement on the JS-SEZ and provide an update to the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, which will be held sometime in 2024, according to a joint statement by both prime ministers in October 2023. The previous 10th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat was held in Singapore in October 2023, the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Malaysia and Singapore will also work on several initiatives that will build towards the JS-SEZ, including a one-stop business/ investment service centre in Johor to facilitate the application processes for Singapore businesses to set up in Johor, adoption and implementation of a passport-free QR code clearance system on both sides, and the adoption of digitised processes for cargo clearance at the land checkpoints. Besides that, the two countries are also exploring the possibility of co-organising an investors forum to gather feedback on the JS-SEZ from Singaporean and Malaysian businesses and facilitate Malaysia-Singapore renewable energy cooperation in JS-SEZ. The idea for a JS-SEZ was first mooted by Rafizi after a meeting with the Johor state government at Iskandar Puteri HOME BY EMIR ZAINUL theedgemalaysia.com Read also: Agreement finalising Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone to be signed by year end — state exco member Anwar, PM Lee witness historic RTS Link ‘connected’ between Malaysia and Singapore Govt confident RTS Link ready for operation on Jan 1, 2027 Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone must be free from political interference, says SERC in May last year. Following that, a special task force was formed between the two countries to undertake a feasibility study for the establishment of JS-SEZ. Both prime ministers expressed their satisfaction with the ongoing cooperation under the purview of the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) at the 10th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in October 2023 and agreed to jointly develop the JS-SEZ. Malaysia and Singapore are each other’s second largest trading partners, with bilateral trade growing 18.9% year-on-year to S$153 billion (RM534.15 billion) in 2022. Singapore was also Malaysia’s top source of foreign direct investment (FDI), contributing 20.5% to Malaysia’s total FDI in 2022. Earlier, the two prime ministers attended the ceremony to commemorate the completion of the connecting span between Singapore and Malaysia for the RTS Link viaduct. When completed, the RTS Link will connect the Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru and the Woodlands North station in Singapore, with a peak capacity of up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction. It is expected to be fully operational on Jan 1, 2027. Separately, the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) said the formation and realisation of JS-SEZ will bring massive opportunities and advantages to Iskandar Malaysia as an investment destination for foreign and domestic investors and businesses. “This zone, plus the Special Financial Zone in Forest City, will not only contribute towards the region’s new cumulative investment target of RM636 billion by 2030 but will have a major spillover effect on the holistic development in Iskandar Malaysia which includes the social and environmental aspects,” it said in a statement. Malaysia currently has several investment corridors, which is a type of SEZ, including the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), Iskandar Malaysia under IRDA, the North Corridor Economic Region (NCER) under the North Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), the Sabah Development Corridor and the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy. From left: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the signing of the memorandum of understanding to formalise both countries' cooperation on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone ZAHID IZZANI/THE EDGE
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said that his decision to join the government from 1984 to 2001 and serve the country came at “a great financial loss” to him and his family. The octogenarian, who led the Council of Eminent Persons under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018 to 2019, said that roughly one year after he joined the Cabinet in 1984, he was directed to liquidate his investments in public listed companies and United Malayan Banking Corporation (UMBC). “At that point, my liquid assets stood at over RM750 million. If I had put that amount into an S&P 500 index fund in 1984, the value today would be over RM42 billion,” said the former finance minister in his affidavit to support a judicial review application which he, his family and their company Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd had filed challenging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) action to freeze their accounts and subject them to investigation. “If I had stayed in business and done nothing to actively grow these assets, the value of my liquid stock holdings alone would be worth over RM50 billion today. That is my personal cost today in my decision to join the government. “As the numbers above show, my decision to join the government and serve my country came at great financial loss to myself and my family,” said Daim without revealing his current net worth. A net worth of RM50 billion, which is equivalent to US$10.7 billion based on the current exchange rate, would have made Daim to the top of the country’s richest persons, based on Forbes’ calculations. Robert Kuok’s net worth is at US$10.4 billion, while banking tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan is worth US$10 billion. Daim was appointed as the finance minister in 1984 until he resigned in 1991. He was later appointed as a minister with special functions in 1998, and later reappointed as minister of finance I in 1999. He has not held any public office since his resignation about 22 years ago in May 2001. BY TARANI PALANI theedgemalaysia.com Daim claims his wealth could have rivalled Malaysia’s richest if he didn’t join politics A lawyer, developer and banker Although he remained elusive regarding his total net worth in the court documents, Daim did refer to his wealth in bits and pieces. According to the court documents, the 85-year-old said that he went into the business field in 1969, and founded property development company Syarikat Maluri Sdn Bhd along with other shareholders. If I had stayed in business and done nothing to actively grow these assets, the value of my liquid stock holdings alone would be worth over RM50 billion today. That is my personal cost today in my decision to join the government.” The company was responsible for developing Taman Maluri and Taman Bukit Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, which cover over one square mile of the capital city. “At today’s valuation, the land alone would be worth over RM26 billion,” he said. He was also the owner of two banks — the Malaysian French Bank, and subsequently UMBC (which is part of RHB Bank Bhd now). “I also had controlling or substantial interests in many public listed companies, such as Sime UEP (now the Sime Darby group), Guthrie, TV3, Maybank, Consplant, Cold Storage and Nestlé Malaysia, to name a few. My 10% stake in Nestlé Malaysia is today worth approximately RM3 billion,” he said. Daim said he was a fairly successful businessman prior to joining the Cabinet in 1984, where his involvement in business was the subject matter of a plethora of books and articles. He stressed that he had always owned assets and properties overseas since the 1970s — through legitimate business activities — long before his foray into politics in the 80s. Before venturing into the business field almost five decades ago, Daim was a lawyer. He was appointed as the president of the Sessions Court in Muar, Johor, and later joined the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) as a deputy public prosecutor. He left the AGC to join private practice, subsequently establishing his own firm, now known as Daim & Gamany, in 1968. Apart from Daim, the other applicants for the judicial review were his wife Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid, their four children, namely Asnida, Md Wira Dani, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin, Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, as well as the Ilham Tower, which was seized by the MACC last month. They named the anti-corruption agency and the public prosecutor as respondents in the legal action where, among others, they are seeking a declaration that the agency has no reasonable cause to investigate them for an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. CONTINUES ON PAGE 4 BERNAMA
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s family and their company Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd (ITSB) has filed a judicial review application to challenge the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission’s (MACC) action to freeze their accounts and subject them to investigation. Daim, whose full name is Che Abdul Daim Zainuddin, along with his wife Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid, Daim’s four children and ITSB, which owns the namesake tower in Kuala Lumpur, filed the judicial review application on Wednesday (Jan 10) at the High Court through Messrs Tommy Thomas, the law firm of former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas. They named the graftbuster and the public prosecutor as respondents. In their application, they sought permission to pursue a declaration that the MACC has no reasonable cause to investigate Daim, his family members, or his nominees and agents for an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, 2001 (AMLA). In addition, they are seeking to pursue a declaration that if any charges are to be instituted by the public prosecutor against Daim or his family members, such charges would be unconstitutional and void, as they alleged they would not receive a fair trial following the delay of some 22 years in instituting them, and this infringed their right to personal liberty under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution. They also sought to pursue a declaration that the 66 notices issued by the MACC against them are unlawful and unconstitutional. Besides this, they sought an order of certiorari against the commission and its officers to quash all investigations on them as per the 66 notices issued on them. In addition, they sought a prohibition Ex-AG Tommy Thomas’ firm represents Daim and family to challenge MACC probe BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com order directed against the commission to cease all further investigations on their family, and a mandamus (remedy) order against the MACC that all documents, files, papers, properties, assets and monies seized from their investigation be returned to Daim and his family members within seven days of the court order. Furthermore, they sought that the varRead also: Daim slams MACC’s probe against him as a deeply disturbing abuse of power MOHD IZWAN/ THE EDGE FILEPIX Tan Sri Tommy Thomas ious notices (66 notices) issued by the MACC on June 7, 2023, pursuant to Section 44(1) of AMLA or any variations by the MACC are to cease to have any effect from Sept 5, 2023. They also filed a mandamus order against the MACC to cause the revocation of the notices and cause the release and return of all of Daim’s and his family members’ assets, bank accounts, and other related company accounts that were frozen, and that all of their assets and vehicles at their Taman Melawati home be released. Daim and his family members also sought general and exemplary damages against the MACC, and upon leave being granted, they also want the MACC to refrain from issuing further notice on them. Their application for leave is scheduled to be heard before High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh next Tuesday (Jan 16). Prior to this, in May last year, the MACC announced that it was probing a former senior minister, and it was later revealed that the person who was being investigated was Daim, and that the investigation was pertaining to a UEMRenong deal. Last month, the MACC announced that it had seized the Ilham Tower owned by Daim. Na’imah and his two sons had their statements recorded by the MACC on Wednesday. Daim himself had issued a statement earlier this month denying any wrongdoing to warrant him being subjected to MACC investigations. Na’imah was said to have been quizzed for nine hours, where prior to being interrogated by the MACC, she said that her husband was being persecuted for his wealth and success and that being a successful businessman was not a crime. They are also seeking a declaration that any charges brought by the public prosecutor against them would be unconstitutional and void. They claimed that they would not receive a fair trial, following the delay of some 22 years in instituting any charges, which infringes on their right to personal liberty under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution. Following the seizure of the 60-storey tower, the MACC released a statement saying that it opened an investigation paper in February 2023 based on information from the Pandora Papers, referring to the massive leak of millions of documents in 2021 exposing hidden wealth and tax avoidance of the past and present leaders across the globe. Daim in turn had denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation “nothing short of a political witch-hunt” against him and his family, a stance which he repeated in his affidavit. “I further believe that the MACC and its officers, agents and servants have in their investigation and conduct against us since February 2023 unreasonably taken into consideration the fact that [Datuk Seri] Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia since Nov 24, 2022, perceives me as a political foe. Even prior to becoming [the prime minister, he had] insinuated that action would be taken against me once he came into power,” Daim said. The application for leave for the judicial review is set to be heard by High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh next Tuesday (Jan 16). FROM PAGE 3
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): JAG Capital Holdings Bhd’s mandatory general offer (MGO) for KUB Malaysia Bhd is not due to any valuation issues, according to Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani. JAG is controlled by Johari, who is a shareholder with a 98.75% stake. On Tuesday (Jan 9), JAG raised its stake in KUB to above the 33% threshold, triggering the MGO. JAG said it does not intend to keep KUB’s listing status should it secure 90% of all KUB shares. “We announced earlier to buy over Central Cables Bhd (CCB). Because of the share issuance, we triggered the GO (general offer), so I have to do the GO. I can’t cancel the deal. So we have to proceed. The advisers say we have to do the acquisition and GO concurrently,” he said on the sidelines of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2024. He also stressed that the corporate exercise had been announced prior to his appointment as minister. “We have to be fair to the shareholders because they know the impact on the deal before my appointment [as the Plantation and Commodities Minister], so we have to proceed with the exercise. Nothing more than that,” he added. Johari Ghani: Takeover offer for KUB not due to company being undervalued ISKANDAR PUTERI (Jan 11): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday that the opposition does not have the strength to move a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament, and is just using propaganda to deceive its supporters. He said this is evident as the opposition had yet to move any no-confidence motion in the one year the Madani government had been in power. “They (the opposition) have not done it (moving a no-confidence vote) for a long time. It’s one year already. Every day, we have been kept waiting. “So, we are not bothered about that. I don’t think they have the strength to carry this (the no-confidence motion), apart from indulging in propaganda to deceive their supporters, so that they would not lose their spirits,” Anwar told reporters after a meet-and-greet session with the prime minister at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas here. He said this when asked whether the opposition would dare to move a no-confidence vote against him after Pasir Gudang Member of Parliament Hassan Abdul Karim suggested that the opposition submit such a motion if they are serious about Anwar: Opposition lacks strength to move no-confidence motion in Parliament Bernama BY SYAFIQAH SALIM & LEE WENG KHUEN theedgemalaysia.com testing the legitimacy of the prime minister. On Wednesday, Hassan “reminded” the opposition to immediately submit a motion of no-confidence against the Tambun MP if it wants to test the support for the prime minister before the first meeting of the third session of the Dewan Rakyat begins on Feb 26. “Yes, that is an appropriate view (Hassan’s view). Otherwise, every day, people keep looking for this (the statutory declaration), the Dubai Move or other moves. Now, it is proven that all this is just ‘politics of anxiety’ among those who have run out of capital. “My advice to Cabinet ministers and government leaders in general is to focus on developing the country. For 2024, our focus is on national development and economic strength,” Anwar said. Asked whether more “big sharks” would be arrested for corruption, the prime minister said it is up to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). “That is the MACC’s work, but I do not want the people to treat this as a small matter. Anyone who is innocent need not worry, because there will be proper investigations, and prosecution will be conducted if there is solid evidence,” he said. Last November, KUB proposed to acquire an 86.65% equity interest in CCB from JAG Capital to venture into the power cable manufacturing business, for a purchase sum of RM119.42 million, to be satisfied via the issuance of 199.04 million new shares in KUB at 60 sen per share. Upon completion of the acquisition, KUB would extend an MGO to acquire all of the remaining CCB shares at RM2.60 per share to be satisfied either wholly in cash amounting up to RM18.4 million in total or via the issuance of new shares in KUB, also at an issue price of 60 sen per share. However, on Jan 9, KUB announced that the acquisition of CCB would be done via the issuance of redeemable convertible preference shares (RCPS) to JAG Capital. These RCPS can be converted into new ordinary KUB shares on a one-for-one basis. KUB’s net profit for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) surged 96.3% to RM7.35 million from RM3.74 million a year ago, largely driven by the encouraging performance from the liquefied petroleum gas division and a gain from disposal of assets of RM2.8 million. At 3.15pm, shares in KUB were trading one sen or 1.7% higher at 59.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM331.1 million. In the past one year, the counter is up 11.3%. SHAHRIN YAHYA/THE EDGE ZAHID IZZANI/THE EDGE
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME Prolintas obtains RM2.7 bil financing to restructure four highway concessions for IPO Serba Dinamik’s listing status now up for grabs BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com BY CHOY NYEN YIAU theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Once the darling of the local stock market, oil and gas services provider Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, whose shares have been suspended from trading a year ago while the company is undergoing liquidation, is seeking white knights to participate in its restructuring exercise. “Interested parties are invited to submit their expression of interest to participate in the restructuring of Serba Dinamik (in liquidation) and to amongst others, assume the listing status of the company or to facilitate a reverse take-over of the company,” according to a copy of an advertisement prepared by its liquidator PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia (PWC) to seek for such interested parties that was sighted by The Edge. “An information pack containing details of the company can be purchased at RM500,” it added. The closing date for the submission is March 29, 2024. Serba Dinamik’s stock has been suspended from trading since Jan 18 last year, after it failed to submit its annual report for FY2023 on time. Till now, it has yet to issue the report. Its request to extend the deadline for the submission till Jan 15, 2024 has been rejected by Bursa Malaysia. Meanwhile, the company has been classified as a cash-strapped Practice Note 17 (PN17) company since January 2022, after its external auditors Nexia SSY PLT expressed a disclaimer of opinion on the company’s audited financial statements for the 18-month financial period ended June 30, 2021. The group’s troubles started in May 2021, when its external auditor at the time, KPMG, flagged issues involving the group’s transactions and receivables that amounted to at least RM3.5 billion, followed by a probe by the Securities Commission. Its shares were also suspended by Bursa Securities at the time, who directed the company to reveal the findings of a special independent review conducted by Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (EY Consulting) into the company, following KPMG’s revelations. In response, Serba Dinamik sued KPMG for alleged negligence and breach of duties, sued EY Consulting to block it from revealing the findings, and sued Bursa, claiming it had overstepped its bounds. Subsequently, four of its top executives, including group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, were charged with furnishing false statements to Bursa over a revenue figure of some RM6 billion. The four, however, were later discharged and acquitted after sending a representation letter to the Attorney General’s Chambers. They only had to pay a total RM16 million in compounds. Following the audit-saga-turned-legal-tussle with its auditors and regulator, the group has been dogged by financial troubles. For the 18 months ended June 30, 2021 (FY2021), the group made a net loss of RM185.37 million on revenue of RM8.61 billion. The group then recorded a whopping net loss of RM1.09 billion in FY2022 as revenue dropped to RM1.35 billion. Its annual net loss then jumped to RM1.3 billion in FY2023 as revenue shrank further to RM403.23 million. In its first quarter of FY2024 that spanned July-September 2023, the group reported a net loss of RM80.67 million, down 23% from the RM104.6 million it incurred a year ago as it recorded lower expenses and finance costs. Revenue, however, fell 93.6% to RM13.75 million from RM213.58 million. In January 2023, the courts allowed a petition filed by six financial institutions to wind up Serba Dinamik and its subsidiaries over debts totalling about RM5 billion — the largest insolvency case in the courts — while a liquidator from PWC was appointed by the court to undertake the winding up of the group. In December last year, Bursa reprimanded Serba Dinamik and 10 of its directors for breaching market listing requirements, saying there had been “a serious dereliction of duties” among them that resulted in corporate governance failures, particularly in ensuring proper and timely disclosure of material information and compliance with the regulator’s directive. Fines ranging from RM355,200 to RM1.38 million were imposed on each of them. Mohd Abdul Karim and executive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed Faisal were each fined RM1.38 million. KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Prolintas Managers Sdn Bhd, wholly owned by Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), has successfully obtained RM2.7 billion worth of financing to restructure four highway concessions it owns, paving the way for the listing of the respective concession companies. The Prolintas group obtained the Tawarruq Asset Financing from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd, according to a joint statement from the two entities on Thursday. Prolintas said the financing is pivotal for the restructuring of the four highway concessions, namely the Ampang–Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Lebuhraya Kemuning–Shah Alam (LKSA), and the Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK). “The Prolintas group has embarked on a concession restructuring initiative to ensure the sustainability and affordability of the highways, presenting lower rates to travellers through an extension of the concession period. This restructuring also lays the foundation for the listing exercise involving the concession companies,” it said. The IPO plan involves placing the concessionaire companies of the four highways into a business trust — the first listed highway trust in the country. This was revealed in a draft prospectus that the Prolintas group put up on the Securities Commission Malaysia’s website in the fourth quarter of last year. The Edge reported back in June that the IPO plan — mooted since 2017 — was back on track. In November, The Edge further reported that the listing was expected to raise up to RM1.5 billion for Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), the ultimate owner of the highways, valuing the proposed highway trust at an estimated RM3.5 billion, which would make it the largest listing in recent years. CONTINUES ON PAGE 8
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT VIRTUAL TALK 2024 Chief Judge The Edge Malaysia Best Managed and Sustainable Property Awards (BMSPA) Au Foong Yee Editor Emeritus, The Edge Malaysia Members Of the Judging Panel The Edge Malaysia Best Managed and Sustainable Property Awards (BMSPA) Chris Tan Managing Partner Chur Associates Anthony Lee Tee Accreditated Building Inspector and Trainer Architect Centre Sdn Bhd Datuk NK Tong President REHDA Malaysia 9.30AM — 11.30AM 9.30AM — 11.30AM From Hero to Zero: Buying Ill-Designed Strata Commercial Property JANUARY 19, 2024 FRIDAY A Legal Nightmare Chris Tan Managing Partner Chur Associates Maintenance Horror Anthony Lee Tee Accreditated Building Inspector and Trainer Architect Centre Sdn Bhd Datuk NK Tong President REHDA Malaysia Anthony Lee Tee Accreditated Building Inspector and Trainer Architect Centre Sdn Bhd Chris Tan Managing Partner Chur Associates Moderator Au Foong Yee Editor Emeritus, The Edge Malaysia Fireside Chat Costly to Judge a Book by its Cover RegisteR Now At https://myevents.theedgemalaysia.com First come, First served basis * Terms & conditions apply. Datuk NK Tong President REHDA Malaysia Anthony Lee Tee Accreditated Building Inspector and Trainer Architect Centre Sdn Bhd Chris Tan Managing Partner Chur Associates Moderator Au Foong Yee Editor Emeritus, The Edge Malaysia Fireside Chat Beauty is Only Skin Deep How to Destroy Your Housing Property Value Get it Right from the Start! Chris Tan Managing Partner Chur Associates Myths vs Reality Anthony Lee Tee Accreditated Building Inspector and Trainer Architect Centre Sdn Bhd JANUARY 20, 2024 SATURDAY
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME SC charges company director with money laundering involving over RM160 mil BY TARANI PALANI theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) on Thursday slapped a company director with 17 money-laundering charges amounting to more than RM160 million. Chin Wai Lan, who turns 50 this year, was charged before two separate Sessions Courts, where she pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to all 17 charges. The single mother of two was accused of receiving about RM164,587,103 of unlawful proceeds in her bank account or through accounts of companies for which she was a director of at the material time. A total of six companies were mentioned in the charge sheets, namely New Straits Ventures Sdn Bhd, SC Wealth Planner Sdn Bhd, Pinetree Field Sdn Bhd, Pixelvest Sdn Bhd, Quarters Venture Sdn Bhd, and Quarters Capital PLT. Some of the offences were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, while some were framed under Section 4(1)(b), read together with 87(1)(a) of the same Act. All the offences, which were allegedly committed between 2020 and 2022, are punishable under Subsection 4(1) of the same Act. If found guilty, Chin faces a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the alleged offence or RM5 million, whichever is higher. Chin was charged with nine charges before Sessions Court judge Datin Sabariah Othman who set bail at RM7 million, with two sureties, for her to surrender her passport to the court, and to report to the SC once a month. For the eight other charges before Sessions Court judge Azrul Darus, the court set similar bail conditions but with one surety. Prosecution says accused a flight risk During proceedings on Thursday, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Muhammad Izzat Fauzan told the court that this was a non-bailable offence. However, he acknowledged that it was the court’s discretion whether to grant bail. In making their case for no bail, the prosecution argued that Chin was a flight risk, as she was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday, en route to Singapore. Muhammad Izzat told the court that SC officers informed the accused of a warrant for her arrest early Wednesday morning. About three hours later, Chin had purchased a one-way flight ticket to Singapore. “She was informed by SC officers that they had an arrest warrant for her at about 7am. And around 10am, she purchased a Malaysia Airlines ticket to Singapore [which was to depart in the afternoon]. If this is not a flight risk, I don’t know what is a flight risk,” the DPP said, adding that the prosecution was concerned that Chin would abscond. Chin’s counsel Lee Keng Fatt argued for a lower bail, saying that the purpose of bail was to ensure the accused’s attendance, and should not be a form of punishment. He argued that his client was a single mother who had to care for her children, ages 10 and 20, and her elderly father. Lee also informed the court that his client suffered several illnesses. Addressing the flight ticket to Singapore, the lawyer said that his client did want to leave the country, not to abscond, but to catch a concert in Macau. He also produced flight tickets to and from Hong Kong and the concert ticket. Lee also cited the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial, where former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was accused of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering of RM2.27 billion of the strategic development company’s funds. He argued that Najib was given bail at RM3.5 million. Arguing for a bail of about RM1 million for his client, Lee said that all are equal before the law. Muhammad Izzat, however, countered that the facts in Najib’s case and the present case differ. He added that there was still no explanation for the flight ticket to Singapore. Case management has been set for Feb 26. On Wednesday, the SC charged two individuals with committing 11 money-laundering offences involving over RM119 million. It is believed that the charges against Chin on Thursday are linked to this case. Citing sources, the paper wrote that the listing of PNB’s highway assets came about following the government’s approval for a change in shareholdings of the highways. The need to obtain the approval was what delayed the listing, it wrote. PNB declined to comment on the matter at the time. In Thursday’s statement, Prolintas group chief executive officer Datuk Mohammad Azlan Abdullah said the group is pleased to partner with Bank Pembangunan for the financing initiative, which “aligns with the government’s effort to ease the cost of living by reducing our toll rates”. “Bank Pembangunan’s financing will help us to continue enabling access to support economic development, restructure our debt to make it more feasible while continuing to offer enhanced urban connectivity and realising our mission to become commuters’ routes of choice,” he said. Bank Pembangunan group CEO Roni Abdulwahab said the bank’s partnership with Prolintas exemplifies its commitment to delivering impact capital for national development, and its counter-cyclical role in bolstering long-term sustainable infrastructure investment. “Given their integral role in the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road system, these highways play a crucial part in linking communities to satellite cities and economic hubs in the Klang Valley,” he added. FROM PAGE 6 THE EDGE FILE PHOTO
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME Ministry mulls including palm oil harvesting in TVET progs to cut foreign labour dependence Govt to look into further details before reviewing windfall profit levy, says Johari Ghani Higher exports may cut palm oil inventory level by 14.8% in 2024, says MPOB DG BY SYAFIQAH SALIM & LUQMAN AMIN theedgemalaysia.com BY SYAFIQAH SALIM & LUQMAN AMIN theedgemalaysia.com BY LUQMAN AMIN & SYAFIQAH SALIM theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The government will look into more details before reviewing the rate of the windfall profit levy (WPL) imposed on the palm oil industry, according to Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johani Abdul Ghani. “At present, there is no plan for us [to review the WPL]. But we are looking into the issues raised by industry players. They told us that the cost [of production] has increased and needs to be adjusted. “But this thing needs to be discussed further, and we need to look at the details of the cost later,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2024 hosted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on Thursday. In November last year, 15 palm oil groups including the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, the Palm Oil Millers Association, the National Association of Smallholders, the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association and the Sarawak Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association called on the government to review and reconsider the WPL imposed on the industry. They urged that the WPL’s effective price threshold for palm oil be raised. Currently, the WPL is levied on palm oil prices above RM3,000 per tonne in Peninsular Malaysia, and above RM3,500 per tonne in Sabah and Sarawak. The WPL on the palm oil industry has been in place since 1999, with periodic revisions of the levy rate and price threshold value. Notably, in January 2022, the government raised the levy rate for Sabah and Sarawak from 1.5% to 3%, equalising the rate to that of the peninsula. KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johani Abdul Ghani said his ministry is considering incorporating palm oil harvesting into technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign labour. He said the persistent issue of labour shortage in the palm oil industry had resulted in production losses and low yields, and this restrained palm oil production from reaching full potential in 2022 and 2023. “For instance, the freeze on the hiring of foreign workers resulted in a shortage of 55,000 workers in the palm oil sector in December 2022. So, the government is going to embark on TVET, specifically designed to train locals in harvesting. I am sure there are a lot of people who can be trained in our TVET stream,” Johari said when officiating at the Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2024 on Thursday. “Maybe we can start with a small group first, such as recruiting 40 to 50 individuals in one class, then get the industry experts in [the] palm oil industry, such as the MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board), to teach them how to harvest all kinds of palm trees. “If successful, our citizens can engage in harvesting, even those who are currently unemployed,” he explained. Looking ahead, Johari is optimistic about the outlook for the palm oil market, fuelled by expectations of robust palm oil demand from key export destinations, such as India, China and the European Union. The demand is further supported by interests in replenishing stocks to ensure food security and the overall viability of business activities, he said. KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Malaysia’s palm oil inventory level is expected to fall by 14.8% to 1.95 million tonnes in 2024, from 2.29 million tonnes in 2023, in anticipation of better exports, said Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director general Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir. “I hope we can export more [palm oil], and this will eventually bring down our stock. That’s why we believe that crude palm oil (CPO) prices can increase, averaging around RM4,000 this year,” he told The Edge on the sidelines of the Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2024 on Thursday. Malaysia recorded a high palm oil inventory level of 2.29 million tonnes in 2023, as exports shrank due to lacklustre demand from China. Meanwhile, plantation analysts said the high carry forward inventory level may not bode well for the CPO price performance in 2024. Ahmad Parveez added: “In 2018, we can see that when our CPO prices slowed to RM1,800, inventory was very high at around 3.2 million tonnes. Indonesia also did not have any real policy on the export of CPO, and that’s why we imported a lot, and our inventory level shot up. “But now, Indonesia just started implementing [the] B35 biodiesel mandate in the middle of last year. Their palm oil production may be affected, while their internal consumption may increase due to the biodiesel. “So I think that’s what gives us a niche opportunity in terms of [a] better market, and will eventually bring down our inventory scale,” he said. Read also: MPOC predicts CPO prices to average at RM4,000 per tonne in 2024 CPOPC to team up with other vegoil producers to address sustainability issues
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 10 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Warisan TC Holdings Bhd’s unit has been appointed as the sole and exclusive distributor of electric vehicles (EV) for the Chinese car manufacturer, GAC AION. In a bourse filing, Warisan said its wholly-owned subsidiary WTC Automotif (M) Sdn Bhd (WTCA) has entered into an agreement of distribution and service with GAC AION New Energy Automobile Company Ltd in respect of the appointment of WTCA as sole exclusive distributor of latter’s EV. Under the agreement, WTCA is responsible for importing, distributing, selling and performing after-sale services and spare parts and accessories for GAC AION’s EV cars in Malaysia. The agreement shall be effective for a term of three years. WTCA, which is principally involved in the assembly, distribution and sale of commercial and passenger vehicles, said the distribution and service agreement will provide an opportunity for the group to diversify its business activities by expanding the product range to the EV sector to cater for a diversified customer base. GAC AION is principally engaged in the research & development, manufacture, sales of electric vehicles, parts and components services in People’s Republic of China. The company was established in 2017 and is under GAC Group. GAS ION has manufacturing plants in China (Guangzhou and Changsha) and Thailand. Warisan said the agreement requires funding for working capital purposes and shall impact its gearing for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024). Warisan appointed Malaysia’s sole distributor for China GAC AION EVs KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Malaysia, which has attracted leading American multinational Tesla to set up its regional headquarters here last year, plans to woo more companies like the electric vehicle (EV) giant to set up assembly plants here. Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the endgame is to have the likes of Tesla build their plants in the country. Currently, many EV makers are procuring components from Malaysia “in the billions”, he said, adding that Malaysia is doubling down on the semiconductor industry to tap the growing EV market. “They want to realign the supply chain to ensure that the security and resiliency of (their) supply chain is there, so they are coming closer to Malaysia, and we are inviting many EV makers to come,” he said during an exclusive interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia aired on Thursday. He told the business news channel that the goal is for EV makers to expand their presence in the country, pointing out that Tesla is already one of Malaysia’s major charging station providers, while some of the largest Malaysian companies are also Tesla’s suppliers. Last month, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia has seen exponential growth in EV sales yearly and the government is optimistic the positive momentum would continue strongly, with more than 100,000 registered EVs recorded. The minister said he believes that EVs would be the catalyst for the growth of Malaysia’s manufacturing industry exports. Elaborating, he said electrical and electronics (E&E) products are a vital part in the EV supply chain. “Hence, there is a lot of potential in the new generation vehicles wherein more components, for example semiconductor composites, chip components in a typical car today or even a hybrid car, (are needed at) around 1,500 chips in one car,” he said. The National Investment Council (MPN), at its meeting recently, decided to set up a national semiconductor strategic task force (NSSTF) to allow the country to move up the value chain in the chips industry. In a statement, Tengku Zafrul said the decision was arrived at in light of the importance of the semiconductor industry, which contributed 45.4% (or RM593.5 billion) to MalayMalaysia to continue wooing global electric vehicle brands, says Zafrul Bernama sia’s manufacturing industry export revenue. “It is a platform specifically to develop the semiconductor ecosystem to attract strategic investments in the sector,” he said. NSSTF, to be chaired by Tengku Zafrul, is expected to further strengthen the sector, which currently contributes 13% to the assembly, testing and packaging activities of chips globally and 10% to the global semiconductor market. During the interview with CNBC, Tengku Zafrul also said the task force highlights the importance of the country’s semiconductor sector — which accounts for 7% of the country’s gross domestic product and half of its exports. He said the team will not only be looking at growing the semiconductor industry in Malaysia but will also seek to ensure there’s a “talent supply chain” in the country. “Malaysia needs 50,000 electrical and electronics engineers every year, of which we (have) a shortage,” he said. However, Malaysia is still in a good position to achieve the goal of growing its semiconductor industry. “The good thing about Malaysia is this industry started in early ‘70s. So, it’s been here 50 years. And the foundation is strong for us today to move up the value chain,” he added. Read also: Malaysia’s economy to benefit from higher demand for semiconductors, tourism in 2024, says Zafrul Read also: Firm operating Johor EV charging systems bay that caught fire had no licence — Energy Commission However, it said the agreement is not expected to have any material effect on its earnings per share and net asset per share for FY2024. As at FY2022, its net gearing ratio stood at 0.66 times, up from 0.51 times in FY2021. Warisan’s core business is rather diversified, comprising travel services, car rentals and distribution of construction equipment and machinery. It also distributes consumer products like Shiseido cosmetics and Wacoal lingerie. Warisan is a sister company of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, which assembles and distributes Nissan and Renault marques. Tan Heng Chew, president of both companies, holds 48.53% and 47.14% in Warisan and Tan Chong Motor, respectively, annual reports showed. On Thursday (Jan 11), Warisan closed down four sen or 3.85% at RM1, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM67 million. BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The country’s industrial production is expected to be on a growth trajectory in 2024, driven by recovery in exports, improved domestic demand and higher private investments. MIDF Research estimates IPI to grow at 3.7% in 2024, compared with an estimated 1.1% growth in 2023 as more robust global manufacturing activities and a turnaround in the electrical and electronic (E&E) market, resulting in increase in industrial production. Nevertheless, MIDF Research cautioned that the rise in geopolitical risks and weakening demand in advanced economies because of high interest rates will create uncertainties on the horizon. RHB Research concurs that IPI growth momentum will pick up in 2024 in tandem with rosier trade prospects and improved investment appetite. “Our sanguine view is predicated on three key catalysts: improved trade prospects, more signs of recovery in the global technology cycle and robust domestic economic activities,” said RHB Research in the report released on Jan 11. “We observe more evidence pointing towards a resurgence in exports by 1H2024 (first half of 2024) as outbound shipments have gathered steam since 4Q2023,” RHB Research added. Higher outbound shipments to key destinations, including China, the US and Singapore is evidence of export recovery, said RHB Research, noting that it has turned positive on the outlook of China in 2024. “We believe that Malaysia’s export performance will be supported by the recovery in China’s economy in 2024. We opined that Malaysia would be at the forefront to benefit from the recovery in China’s economy as key export products like E&E, machineries and equipment, and other manufactured goods command the lion’s share of trade in China’s import demand,” RHB Research commented. According to RHB Research, firm demand for E&E products will help lift the exports and manufacturing activities in upcoming months. “The E&E outbound shipments would be bolstered by robust demand for semiconductor and consumer electrical and electronics products amidst the re-acceleration of the global technology cycle. We continue to see higher E&E exports for Malaysia and regional Asean economies in recent months and the uptrend in global semiconductor sales,” they noted. IPI growth expected to gather steam in 2024 KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) has forecasted private consumption to moderate to 4.6% in 2024 from 5.3% in 2023, due to re-emergence of inflation risks, driven by new taxes and targeted subsidy rationalisation which is expected to take place in the second half of the year. SERC executive director Lee Heng Guie said while the labour market is expected to maintain full employment conditions with an unemployment rate of 3.3% in 2024 and real wage is expected to grow by 5%, consumers will remain cautious with their spending, particularly on necessities. “The gradual targeted subsidy rationalisation and new taxes may impact the [consumer] sentiments, for example [the increase from 6% to 8% in] the service tax. Even though it does not apply to restaurants and food, it applies to some of the logistics, karaoke services, underwriting such as car repairs and insurance. Consumer spending to slow in 2024 as inflation may reemerge; ringgit to strengthen against USD, SGD — SERC BY HEE EN QI theedgemalaysia.com BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com On top of that, RHB Research said higher domestic consumption and investment activities by 2024 are anticipated to support the manufacturing sector. “Investment appetite is improving, as indicated by higher capital goods imports and robust capital formation. “Further upsides on investment activities would emanate from business-friendly policies and incentives focusing on priority sectors like technology, tourism and agriculture, as well as those with export capacity coupled with the continuation of major infrastructure projects,” they said. Meanwhile, consumer spending is expected to increase in 2024 amid a tighter labour market and improved consumer sentiment, it added. In a statement on Thursday, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said Malaysia’s IPI registered a marginal increase of 0.6% year-on-year in November 2023, supported by modest expansion of 1.9% in the mining segment and 4.2% in the electricity sector. However, he said the manufacturing sector output shrank 0.1% after two consecutive months of growth. On a month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir said the IPI contracted 0.9% compared to 1.9% growth in October. “You have the low-value goods tax if you purchase items below RM500 online from overseas. There will also be a high-value goods tax of between 5% and 10% starting in May this year, so that will impact the high-end retail market spending,” he said at a media Malaysia’s inflation rate 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 2021 2022 2023E 2024F 2.5 2.5 2.8-3.5 3.3 (%) Sources: Department of Statistics Malaysia, Ministry of Finance, Socio-Economic Research Centre Jan-Nov +2.5% briefing on Malaysia’s Quarterly Economy Tracker (Oct-Dec 2023) and Outlook for 2024. Nevertheless, SERC remains cautiously optimistic about Malaysia’s economic outlook in 2024 with a forecasted gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.5% supported by the continuous growth in domestic demand and a recovery in exports. PATRICK GOH/ THE EDGE Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie CONTINUES ON PAGE 12 Read the full story
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 12 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Malaysia’s residential property market improved in the first nine months of 2023, with both transaction volume and value registering a year-onyear growth of 1.3% and 3.5% respectively, according to Knight Frank Malaysia. In its recently released “Real Estate Highlights 2nd Half of 2023” report, the international property consultancy highlighted that the overall residential property market is showing an uptick in both transaction volume and value, partly due to developers having enhanced the promotion of homeownership through collaborations with banks, offering post-sale services such as hassle-free fit-out, rental programmes and home care services. “Despite the inflationary pressures and elevated OPR (overnight policy rate), the residential property market appears to be moving in a positive direction, marked by increased sales volume, new property launches and successful completions. This is further supported by the government’s initiatives and incentives to encourage home ownership among the rakyat; and coupled with the recently relaxed criteria for the MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) Programme, the residential market maintains a cautiously optimistic outlook as it enters 2024,” said Knight Frank Malaysia senior executive director of research and consultancy Judy Ong in a media statement. During the review period, the industrial property market also recorded a higher sales value of 7.6%, albeit with a lower transaction volume of circa 4.6% on an annual comparison, indicating the sector remained relatively stable. Meanwhile, KL City office market continues to face pressure due to supply-demand imbalance in the first nine months of 2023, while the office markets in KL Fringe and Selangor exhibit resilience, characterised by steady leasing activities, particularly in prime locations featuring Grade A buildings. For the retail sector, Knight Frank Malaysia has revised the retail sales growth projection downward to 2.7% from 4.8%, due to the weakening spending power amid elevated inflation during the review period. Moving forward, Knight Frank Malaysia director of property management Yuen May Chee expects that the sales and service tax (SST) rate hike from 6% to 8% effective March 1, 2024, coupled with the Knight Frank Malaysia: Residential property market improved in first nine months of 2023 BY RACHEL CHEW theedgemalaysia.com introduction of the 5% to 10% luxury tax and restructuring of subsidies, may further dampen growth in the retail market. Up north in Penang, Knight Frank Malaysia executive director of Penang branch Mark Saw commented that the overall property market in the state was stable, with highrise residential properties recording better performance last year, while overall retail malls’ occupancy rate continued to improve; and office rental and occupancy levels of selected privately owned purpose-built office buildings having remained stable. In Johor, the asking rental rates for office space in Johor Bahru City Centre, Johor Bahru City Fringe and Iskandar Puteri remained consistent, while transaction for high-rise residential in the city had seen improvements, especially for projects nearby the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project. Commenting on the Sabah property market, Knight Frank Malaysia executive director of Sabah branch Alexel Chen said that the housing sector remains a buyer’s market, with condominium/apartment as a singular property type representing majority of the existing stock with circa 54,119 units. Chen highlighted that retail components of some key mixed-use developments in the city centre garnered popularity in their food and beverage (F&B) offerings during the review period. He also observed that several notable retailers in the country made their maiden entry into the Kota Kinabalu market, indicating a brighter outlook for the state’s retail segment going forward. This comes within Malaysia’s official forecasted GDP of 4.0% to 5.0% in 2024. For the first nine months of 2023, Malaysia recorded a GDP growth of 3.9%. SERC said export growth will be supported by a gradual improvement in global demand, a recovery from the downturn in the tech cycle, and an increase in demand for chips for electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and 5G technologies. Furthermore, the research house has projected an inflation rate of between 2.8% and 3.5% due to subsidy rationalisation, on top of currency risks and uncertainties linked to supply-related factors such as global commodity prices and geopolitical tensions. Ringgit expected to appreciate against USD, SGD in 2024 On the local currency, SERC has forecasted the ringgit to appreciate to the 4.40 level against the US dollar by the end of 2024. Lee said the US Federal Reserve will likely cut the federal funds rate to a range of between 4.50% and 4.75% in the second Sources: Department of Statistics Malaysia, Ministry of Finance, Socio-Economic Research Centre Malaysia’s private consumption (%) Growth (LHS) (%) 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023E 2024F 4.6 5.3 Jan-Sept +4.9 2011-2019: +7.1% pa -8 -4 0 4 8 12 42 46 50 54 58 62 Share of GDP (RHS) half of 2024, while Bank Negara Malaysia will likely keep the overnight policy rate at 3% throughout the year. “However, looking at the interest rates alone is not enough [for the ringgit appreciation]. There are also other factors. For example, the government must continue to implement structural reforms to assure investors that Malaysia will be better going forward. There are also prospects on corporate earnings, high-quality investments, job creation and income growth,” he added. Lee also expects the ringgit to perform better against the Singapore dollar in 2024 after the local currency had depreciated over 10% against the Singapore dollar in 2023. FROM PAGE 11
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 13 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME GenM’s continued fund injection into Empire leaves investors, analysts in dismay BY CHESTER TAY theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Investors appeared to be perturbed by Genting Malaysia Bhd, after the casino and hospitality group announced an additional equity injection of US$100 million (RM464.15 million) into its 49%-owned beleaguered US associate Empire Resorts Inc. Shares of Genting Malaysia came under pressure on Thursday morning, falling 3.5% or 10 sen to RM2.75, giving it a market capitalisation of RM16.33 billion as at 11.55am. Genting Bhd, which owns a 49% stake in Genting Malaysia, also declined by 10 sen or 2% to RM4.77, valuing the conglomerate at RM18.49 billion. However, Genting Plantations Bhd, in which Genting controls 55.4% interest, climbed 31 sen or 5.16% to RM6.32, being the second largest gainer across Bursa Malaysia, having a market capitalisation of RM5.67 billion. The stock was buoyed by the general uptrend in plantation counters, which likely followed news that crude palm oil (CPO) stockpiles have declined to a three-month low of 2.29 million tonnes in December. The Malaysian Palm Oil Council has projected that CPO prices will average RM4,000 per tonne in 2024, due to Indonesia’s rising domestic demand for the commodity, driven by usage for biodiesel and food, coupled with its flat production growth. Analysts were generally negative on the additional equity injection into Empire, which is widely viewed as financial aid rather than investment. Kenanga Research went on to downgrade its rating to “market perform” from “outperform”, with a lower target price (TP) of RM2.90 from RM3.07. “After this proposal, Genting Malaysia would have invested US$724 million in Empire and would be able to recognise 89.6% of Empire’s losses or profits, up from 76.3% previously,” said Kenanga. “We keep our financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) to FY2024 earnings intact as Genting Malaysia is essentially using its balance sheet to bolster an investment with 89.6% economic interest. “More importantly, we expect Empire’s operations to gradually normalise with profits to show over the next two to three years,” it said. Genting Malaysia on Wednesday disclosed that the latest capital injection will involve Genting Malaysia subscribing to 1,000 of Empire’s Series M preferred stocks. Empire plans to use the capital injection for working capital, and to pay off a US$58 million bank facility. “All in all, we are not positive of Genting Malaysia’s continuous injection of capital into Empire and believe that it will remain a loss-making unit in the near term,” said PublicInvest Research in a note on Thursday (Jan 11). The research firm maintained an “outperform” rating and TP of RM3 on Genting Malaysia. “To be sure, we do not look kindly on the most recent related party transaction (RPT) involving Empire. That said, it does appear to us that room for more RPTs involving Empire is narrowing,” said Maybank Investment Bank in a note on Thursday. While the investment bank lowers its estimate for potential further investment into Empire, Maybank kept its “buy” rating with higher TP of RM3.03 from RM2.93. “Investors should buy Genting Malaysia for its potential to win a downstate commercial casino licence [in the US] that may add 56 sen to our discounted cash flow-derived target price,” said Maybank. Breakdown of Genting Malaysia’s investment into Empire Resort Date Subscription to Empire’s preferred stocks US$ mil March 2020 Series G preferred stock 40.0 September 2020 Series L preferred stock 150.0 March 2021 Series L preferred stock 20.0 October 2021 Series L preferred stock 150.0 December 2022 Series F preferred stock* 100.0 January 2024 Series M preferred stock 100.0 560.0 November 2019 Bought 46% stake in Empire from Kien Huat 128.6 November 2019 Estimated costs to take Empire private 35.8 Total investment into Empire 724.4 *Bought from Kien Huat Realty III Ltd Source: Bursa Malaysia Source: Bursa Malaysia Genting Malaysia’s dividends (RM mil) 0 400 800 1,200 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022848.71,074.6 1,073.7 1,130.0 480.3 GENTINGMALAYSIA.COM
friday january 12, 2024 14 The E dge C E O m o rning brief home KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): EVD Bhd has announced the suspension of its executive director of operations Mah Seong Huak with immediate effect. The group, which provides information and communications technology system solutions for transportation systems, did not disclose the reason for the suspension. In a bourse filing on Thursday, EVD said Mah has been temporarily relieved from his operational duties in the areas of project management and engineering, project tender and budget, project system engineering and business development. The move will have no financial or operational impact on the group, it added. In a separate filing, EVD Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary, EVD Engineering Bhd Sdn Bhd (EVDE), has been served with three winding-up petitions arising from Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPPA) claims by subcontractors totalling RM1.59 million. The group said the winding-up petitions would come up for hearing on Feb 5 and Feb 26. “The board is currently investigating, sourcing, retrieving the relevant documents in respect of the suit and will make a further announcement to Bursa Malaysia Securities after procuring such documents,” said EVD. The group also announced that the Session Court has awarded judgment in default of appearance to North Line Sdn Bhd over a RM600,292 claim from the group. EVD did not provide other details about the case, but said it will make a further announcement on the matter after “the outcome of the internal enquiries, investigation, settlement with sub-contractors as well as further engagement with the company’s solicitors”. Shares in EVD closed 0.5 sen or 3.45% lower at 14 sen, giving the group a market capitalization of RM58.06 million. EVD suspends operations director, subsidiary served with winding-up petitions KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Rapid Synergy Bhd, YNH Property Bhd and Imaspro Corp Bhd — three stocks linked to prominent investor Datuk Dr Yu Kuan Chon — continued to dive on Thursday, with the three stocks ranking as the first to third largest losers of the day on Bursa Malaysia. Industrial mould manufacturer Rapid Synergy, which received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday (Jan 10) together with Imaspro, revealed in its UMA reply on Thursday that it is considering selling certain landed properties and subsidiaries. The proposed disposals are, however, still in the discussion stage. Hence, Rapid Synergy said its board believes that it would be more appropriate to release an announcement to Bursa Securities once the terms of the offers have been finalised and agreed upon by both parties. Imaspro, which manufactures agrochemicals and pest control-related products, said in a separate reply to Bursa that there are no corporate developments in the company that have not been previously announced that could account for the recent sharp drop in its share price. Both companies are also unaware of any rumour or report concerning their business and affairs, or any possible explanations that might have triggered the UMA. Rapid Synergy, which hit its limit down for the second consecutive day on Thursday, was the biggest loser of the day. Its share price slumped as much as RM4.90 or 29.9% to RM11.48, before easing to RM11.50 to close the day with a market capitalisation of RM1.23 billion. The group has lost more than half its market cap since last Friday, when it closed at RM25.92, after its share price dropped by 56%. Yu is the largest shareholder in Rapid Synergy, with a 22.8% stake. He is also the single largest shareholder in YNH Property Bhd, with a 32.58% stake. Rapid Synergy points to planned asset sale in UMA reply as the stock hits another limit down by Justin Lim theedgemalaysia.com by Sulhi Khalid theedgemalaysia.com Rapid Synergy Bhd 0 200 400 600 800 Dec 31, 2021 Jan 11, 2024 0 10 20 30 Vol (’000) RM RM11.50 RM9.95 Source: Bloomberg Imaspro Corporation Bhd 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Dec 31, 2021 Jan 11, 2024 0 2 4 6 8 Vol (mil) RM RM1.99 RM2.41 Source: Bloomberg YNH Property Bhd 0 2 4 6 Dec 31, 2021 Jan 11, 2024 0 2 4 6 Vol (mil) RM RM2.72 RM2.65 Source: Bloomberg YNH skidded 95 sen or 25.89% to close at its intra-day low of RM2.72, making it the second top loser on Bursa Malaysia. Bursa has also issued an UMA query to YNH Property on Thursday, as its shares plummet. At the time of writing, YNH Property has yet to reply to the regulator’s UMA query. Imaspro, in which Yu is the second largest shareholder in Imaspro with a 14.6% stake, was the third largest loser. While Imaspro saw some buying support in early trades that pushed it up 20 sen or 8% to RM2.70, the stock then dived as much as 85 sen to RM1.85 to erase all its earlier gains. It then pared some losses to close at RM1.99 — still down 51 sen or 20.4% from Wednesday’s close.
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 15 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME NEWS IN BRIEF Borneo Oil ends gold mining ops in Pahang land as it scraps plan to buy concessionaire KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Sabah-based gold miner Borneo Oil Bhd has ended its gold-mining venture with Syarikat Ratna Pura Sdn Bhd (SRP) and Ricco Mining Sdn Bhd in Mukim Keratong, Rompin, Pahang, as part of plans to downsize its mining operations in the state. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, Borneo Oil said it has entered into a deed of cancellation and novation with Lum Har Chi @ Lum Kong Fatt, Lum Kong Sun and Zainab Mohd Taib (vendors) to acquire a 90% stake in SRP for RM1.8 million cash. SRP is the concession owner of a mining area measuring 194.22ha in Rompin, with a validity period of five years expiring on March 16, 2025. In March 2021, Borneo Oil, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Borneo Oil & Gas Corp Sdn Bhd, had signed a share sale agreement (SSA) with the three vendors to acquire the stake in SRP. Following the signing of the SSA, Borneo Oil and SRP had entered into a tripartite agreement with Ricco Mining in January 2022 to carry out mining works in the area. However, in Thursday’s filing, Borneo Oil said the termination and nullification of the SSA represent an opportunity for the group to recoup its costs. — by Kang Siew Li Malaysia-toSingapore contra lane to be activated at Sultan Abu Bakar Complex next week Bernama ISKANDAR PUTERI (Jan 11): A contra lane for traffic leaving Malaysia for Singapore will be activated at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex of the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) here next week, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook. He said the implementation of the contra lane would increase the number of service counters from 24 to 36, and help in dispersing land traffic between the two countries via the Second Link. “At the KSAB, there are 24 exit counters (Singapore-bound) and 24 entry counters (Malaysia-bound). Once we activate the contra lane, there will be an additional 12 counters or 50 per increase, bringing to 36 the number of exit counters. This is among the proposals made by the Johor government for peak-hour operations to ease travel and reduce congestion. “The peak-hour traffic for contra lane exit counters is on Sundays, when Singaporeans return to their country, unlike that for entry counters, which is on Fridays or Saturdays. Therefore, the implementation of this contra lane will not be a problem,” Loke told reporters after making a working visit to the KSAB here on Thursday. Also present was Johor Works, Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh. Asked about the foreign vehicle entry permit (VEP) control system and road charge (RC) on the contra lane, Loke said a mobile method would be used in the short term, before a permanent service is implemented by the end of the fourth quarter this year at the latest. “The VEP and RC are vital for storing the data of vehicles leaving the country via registered routes. The mobile method is the best way to resolve this issue, because at the moment, the exit contra lane does not have a permanent system. “What is needed for the implementation of the contra lane is approval from the JPJ (Road Transport Department), which is under the Ministry of Transport (MOT). We allow it on the condition that the technical issue is settled (the mobile method on the exit contra lane),” he said. Mohamad Fazli said the state government was thankful to the MOT for allowing the exit contra lane to be implemented at the KSAB. “Alhamdulillah, the minister has given his commitment to this initiative, with the use of the mobile method. I hope this initiative can improve the traffic flow on the Second Link. “The Second Link was mostly used by lorries, but after Covid-19 and an improvement in service efficiency, more people including motorcyclists are using this route,” he added. MCMC: Contact us for complaints about 5G access charges KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said subscribers can contact the agency if they have any complaints relating to charges to access the fifth-generation (5G) network. They may channel their complaints via the MCMC’s consumer redress portal at https://aduan.mcmc.gov.my, or by calling (1800) 188 030, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday. On Tuesday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil reiterated that telecommunications companies (telcos) would not impose additional charges for subscribers to access the 5G network. He said the chief executive officers of all telcos in the country had notified him of their decision not to impose extra charges for 5G access. The MCMC said Fahmi’s statement was in line with the government’s continuous efforts in “providing access to advanced telecommunications technology that is fair and equitable for all Malaysians”. The agency stressed that it is committed to ensuring that telcos do not impose extra charges for 5G access. On Tuesday, Fahmi announced that the country’s 5G network coverage had achieved 80.2% in populated areas as of Dec 31, surpassing the target of 80%. Following the achieved target, the government would announce the proposed shift to a dual 5G network model soon, the minister said. — by Sulhi Khalid Residents urged to be prepared to evacuate as heavy rain expected in Kota Tinggi KOTA TINGGIT (Jan 11): Residents in Kota Tinggi have been urged to be prepared to evacuate in case of flooding, as the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) predicts that the district will be hit by heavy rain this weekend. Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there are 65 flood hotspots in the district, and residents are advised to be vigilant and pay attention to weather forecasts issued by MetMalaysia to be better prepared. Saifuddin Nasution said he had received reports that there were residents in the area who were reluctant when directed to move to temporary relief centres by authorities during the flood in Kota Tinggi on Sunday. “Although those who did so were not many, I would like to advise them not to do so when the rescue teams arrive at their residences, because if the rescue teams have arrived, it means the rescue mission has already begun. “Evacuation orders are issued to prevent any safety risks and unforeseen incidents,” he said after inspecting the relief centres set up at the Kota Tinggi Vocational Hall and Dewan Kota Kecil Kota Tinggi here on Thursday. — Bernama
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 16 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): A former information technology (IT) training company manager was fined RM13,000 by the Sessions Court here on Thursday for submitting false documents to Social Security Organisation (Socso) to claim incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 Perkeso programme three years ago. Judge Suzana Hussin imposed the sentence on S Kamala Segaran, 48, after he pleaded guilty to the three charges and ordered him to serve three months in prison if he fails to pay the fine. According to all three charges, Kamala Segaran has been accused of using three false documents, which were the employee verification forms of the Hiring Incentive Programme, in the name of Tech Train Consultancy, to claim incentives under Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 Perkeso, amounting to RM9,500, when the “employees” named in the document were not employees of the company. All three offences were committed at Wisma Perkeso, Jalan Tun Razak in Kampung Baru here, between June 25 and Dec 21, 2021. The charge is under Section 471 of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 465 of the same Code, which provides for a maximum prison sentence of two years or a fine, or both. Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer Mohd Yasri Yahya asked for an appropriate punishment to teach the accused a lesson. Lawyer R Babu Naidu, who represented the accused, asked for a minimum fine on the grounds that his client is a single father supporting a six-year-old child, besides supporting his parents. Former firm manager fined for using false documents to claim Penjana incentives KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The Malaysian Bar informed the High Court here on Thursday that it wants to refer questions regarding its challenge on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) in his Yayasan Akalbudi case to the Federal Court for consideration. This was informed by counsel for the Bar, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, during proceedings before judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh here. However, Ambiga said the Bar has not filed these constitutional questions for the High Court to refer to the Federal Court under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act (CJA). Amarjeet then directed the Bar to file the questions on Jan 26 and fixed Feb 6 for case management of the matter before the registrar. Under Section 84 of the CJA, reference of constitutional questions by the High Court, an applicant can ask the High Court to consider the constitutional questions to be referred to the Federal Court. The Attorney General’s Chambers, represented by senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi and federal counsel Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman, however, informed the court that it would be objecting to the Section 84 application by the Bar. Zahid’s lawyers Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Guok Ngek Seong and Hamidi Mohd Noh also indicated they would be objecting to the Bar’s application. Prior to this, Hisyam sought leave (permission) from the court to address the court on and object to the Bar’s application for leave to initiate the judicial review. Ahmad Hanir also informed the court the AG is objecting to the judicial review on the grounds that the Bar has not passed the threshold for the merits of the application be heard and this follows the landmark decision of Datuk N Sundra Rajoo. The senior federal counsel said following the Federal Court’s decision in the Sundra Rajoo matter, the applicant must show prima facie evidence that the AG’s decision to offer DNAA was filled with illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety. He also said the AG had acted within its powers to withdraw the case before the judgement was given by the court. “The AG through the deputy public prosecutor has given 11 reasons for their withdrawal and this was based on the representation letter sent by Zahid,” he added. Ahmad Hanir said the Bar has to also show the unreasonableness of the AG’s decision in arriving at the decision. He added that the Bar has failed to show this in its application to seek judicial review and hence leave to grant the judicial review should be dismissed. On Wednesday, The Edge reported that Zahid is also opposing the Bar’s application on the grounds that the civil court should not enter into the realm of jurisdiction of the criminal court. The deputy prime minister also raised the issue that the Bar does not have the locus standi (legal right) to raise the judicial review and it acted as a busy body in raising the issue when it had not raised any issues on past DNAAs given to other personalities. Zahid granted DNAA last September On Sept 4 last year, the High Court had granted Zahid a DNAA for 47 charges related to criminal breach of trust, corruption, and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, after the prosecution informed that the AG’s Chambers sought to halt proceedings against Zahid to scrutinise new evidence. The Bar, in an application filed on Dec 2, 2023, named the AG and Zahid as respondents. The association is seeking an order annulling the AG’s decision and a declaration that it is null and void, asserting that it exceeded the jurisdiction and authority granted to the AG. The Bar is also requesting a mandamus (prohibition) order instructing the AG to act in accordance with the law, including prosecuting Zahid again if deemed appropriate, as per Section 254A of the Criminal Procedure Code. It is also seeking an order compelling the AG to provide information and documentation justifying the decision to apply for a DNAA against Zahid. The Bar contends that the AG acted beyond jurisdiction and that the decision was unreasonable and irrational. Malaysian Bar wants to pose constitutional questions regarding Zahid’s DNAA to apex court BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com Bernama
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD China voices concern over chip curbs in call with US commerce secretary South Africa accuses Israel at World Court of genocidal acts in Gaza BY STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG, ANTHONY DEUTSCH & TOBY STERLING Reuters BY DEBBY WU Bloomberg South Africa contends that Israel has transgressed Article Two of the (Genocide) convention, committing acts that fall within the definition of genocide. THE HAGUE (Jan 11): South Africa accused Israel on Thursday of subjecting Palestinians to genocidal acts at the opening of hearings at the top UN court, on a case brought against the devastating Israeli military campaign in Gaza. In the case brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, South Africa demanded an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian enclave. “South Africa contends that Israel has transgressed Article Two of the (Genocide) convention, committing acts that fall within the definition of genocide. The actions show a systematic pattern of conduct from which genocide can be inferred,” Adila Hassim, advocate of South Africa’s High Court, told the ICJ. South Africa points to Israel’s sustained bombing campaign which has killed over 23,000 people in the small, densely populated Gaza Strip, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel has said that South Africa’s case is baseless. Israel launched all-out war after a cross-border rampage on Oct 7 by militants of Gaza’s ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage back to Gaza. The ICJ is hearing South Africa’s arguments on Thursday, and Israel’s response to the allegations on Friday. It is expected to rule on possible emergency measures later this month. The court will not rule at that time on the genocide allegations — those proceedings could take years. The ICJ’s decisions are final and without appeal, but the court has no way to enforce them. With the politically charged case attracting global attention, supporters of both sides of the case planned marches and rallies in The Hague. Thousands of pro-Israel protesters marched in freezing temperatures in the city centre early on Thursday, carrying Israeli and Dutch flags, and posters with images of people taken hostage by Hamas. Heavy police presence made sure the pro-Israel march and a pro-Palestinian march were kept separate. Gabi Patlis, a native of Tel Aviv who now lives in the Netherlands, said it was painful to hear Israel accused of genocide. “Especially after 7 October — we were the ones that were attacked,” he told Reuters at the rally. Israel says allegations baseless The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Israeli forces launched their offensive after Hamas fighters carried out a lightning attack across the border, in what became the deadliest day in Israel’s 75-year history. Since then, the offensive has laid much of the densely populated Gaza Strip to waste, and nearly all of its 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes at least once, causing a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel has denied the genocide accusations as baseless and accused Pretoria of playing “advocate of the devil” for Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media platform X (previously Twitter): “I want to make a few points absolutely clear: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population”. In its court filings, South Africa cites Israel’s failure to provide food, water, medicine and other essential assistance to Gaza, where Hamas seized power in 2007, two years after Israel ended a 38- year occupation. South Africa and Israel are both parties to the convention, which obliges them to not commit genocide and also to prevent and punish it. (Jan 11): A senior Chinese official has raised concern with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo over US measures to limit China’s access to advanced chipmaking technology, highlighting a contentious area in relations between the two countries. China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao expressed “grave concerns” in a call with Raimondo on Thursday over the US move to pressure ASML Holding NV to expedite the halt of some lithography machine exports, the Chinese agency said in a statement. Raimondo’s department is responsible for implementing US export controls. Dutch firm ASML canceled shipments of some of its high-end products to China at the behest of the US, weeks before export bans on those machines were due to come into effect, Bloomberg News has reported. In his call with Raimondo, Wang also raised the issue of current efforts by her department to survey American firms across industries to determine how deeply reliant they are on Chinese-produced chips. US officials are considering imposing tariffs on low-priced chips from China, Bloomberg News has reported. Washington’s measures are tailored to prevent China’s military from accessing advanced technology, officials argue, but those sanctions are also making business harder for Chinese companies seeking to build on the latest available technology. The exchange on Thursday was only the second time that Wang and Raimondo’s communications were made public since her visit to the Asian nation in August. While she was on that trip, Huawei Technologies Co launched the surprising Mate 60 Pro handset running on an advanced made-in-China chip that sanctions were meant to prevent. Raimondo expressed her displeasure with the timing, and vowed to take the “strongest possible” action to protect US national security. Read the full story
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD SINGAPORE (Jan 11): Investors are bracing for a volatile reception to Taiwan’s election on Jan 13, with added focus on the island’s chip sector, after China said the poll was a choice between “peace and war”. In an election-packed 2024, Taiwan will be the first major economy to vote as it holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, pitting the three main parties, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), against each other. Both the TPP and KMT have pledged to re-start dialogue with China if they win the presidency. China claims Taiwan as its own territory despite strident objections from Taipei and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Beijing’s control. The election comes under the dark clouds of escalating tensions with China, keeping investors jittery, with Taiwan also the main flashpoint in US-China tensions. Despite these jitters, Taiwan’s stock market soared last year, gaining 27% last year, its strongest yearly performance since 2009, and foreign investors pouring in US$3.45 billion in Taiwan equities. Here are some scenarios and how markets are likely to react: Ruling DPP wins presidency, loses parliament majority A DPP victory is likely to lead to what some investors say will be a shortterm sell-off in Taiwan stocks and Taiwan dollar, with a risk-off environment Scenarios: Markets gird for volatility as Taiwan heads to vote BEIJING/TAIPEI (Jan 11): China on Thursday said it hopes the majority of Taiwanese “make the right choice” ahead of pivotal elections, warning of the “extreme danger” of Taiwan’s ruling party presidential candidate Lai Ching-te in triggering cross-strait conflict. Taiwan holds a pivotal presidential and parliamentary election on Saturday that is being closely watched internationally amid geopolitical tensions. China has not publicly nominated a preferred candidate or specified what the right choice is. Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the China’s Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, said in a statement that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Lai is a “Taiwan independence worker” and that if he came to power he would further promote separatist activities. “I sincerely hope the majority of Taiwan compatriots recognise the extreme harm of the DPP’s ‘Taiwan independence’ line and the extreme danger of Lai Ching-te’s triggering of cross-Strait confrontation and conflict, and to make the right choice at the crossroads of cross-Strait relations,” the statement cited him as saying. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has cast the island’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday as a choice between peace and war across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has repeatedly warned any attempt to push for Taiwan’s formal independence means conflict. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty assertion. Earlier this week, Lai said in a press conference that he would maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Straits and pursue peace through strength if elected, remaining open to engagement with Beijing under China warns Taiwan ruling party presidential candidate is dangerous BY RYAN WOO & JAMES POMFRET Reuters BY ANKUR BANERJEE Reuters the preconditions of equality and dignity. Referring to Lai’s comments, Chen said Taiwan independence is “incompatible with peace” in the Taiwan Straits. Both the DPP and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party parties support Taiwan’s sovereignty but offer different views on the island’s relations with China. The KMT argues that both Taipei and Beijing belong to one single China but each can interpret what that means under something called the “1992 consensus”, a tacit understanding reached between the thenKMT government and China in 1992. On Thursday, the KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, told reporters that he wouldn’t touch the issue of reunification during his term of office if elected, while maintaining the status quo and encouraging exchanges with China. weighing on chip and tech stocks. Taiwan is a major manufacturer of chips used in everything from cars to smartphones and fighter jets and is home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. Shares of TSMC, Asia’s most valuable publicly listed company, surged 32% in 2023. The focus after the election will be on MSCI’s broadest gauge of Asian tech stocks outside Japan along with US chipmakers Intel, Nvidia, Micron as well as the broader PHLX semiconductor index. Some investors might buy the dip. A manager of a Taiwan-based fund house, which oversees T$18 billion (US$578.61 million) of client assets in Taiwan stocks, sees any selloff as a buying opportunity for TSMC and other chip-related and AI shares. The fund manager declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter and regulatory restrictions. On Thursday, the KMT's presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, told reporters that he wouldn't touch the issue of reunification during his term of office if elected, while maintaining the status quo and encouraging exchanges with China. REUTERS Read the full story
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Jan 11): Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the decision by US regulators to approve the country’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Ether rose 9% in the past 24 hours to US$2,585 (RM12,010) as of 7.11am on Thursday in London — a 20-month high — whereas bitcoin was little changed at US$46,070 after a more than 160% jump in the past year. The disparity hints that traders are betting ETFs investing directly in Ether are next in line to get the green light from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that the token has yet to reflect that outlook. In contrast, bitcoin already posted a months-long surge on optimism that approval for ETFs investing directly in the largest digital asset was on the way. That’s Ether jumps on bets token is next for ETF approval (Jan 11): US regulators for the first time approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest directly in Bitcoin, a move heralded as a landmark event for the roughly US$1.7 trillion (RM7.9 trillion) digital-asset sector that will broaden access to the largest cryptocurrency on Wall Street and beyond. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whose three-part mandate includes investor protection, authorised 11 funds to begin trading Thursday. The approvals also mark a rare capitulation by the SEC following opposition that lasted for more than a decade, ever since Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss first proposed a Bitcoin ETF in 2013. BlackRock Inc’s surprise application last June, followed by an appeals court ruling that called the denial of a different application “arbitrary and capricious,” triggered a blistering rally in the cryptocurrency as speculation that US regulators would finally give their blessing to the structure. The decision comes a day after a false post on the SEC’s X account claimed that the agency had approved the ETFs. The regulator subsequently said that the account had been compromised, causing the price of Bitcoin to fluctuate widely. Bitcoin rose less than 1% to US$45,729 following the approvals. The original cryptocurrency, which sank 64% in 2022, more than doubled in 2023 in large part because of speculation that the SEC would eventually approve ETFs that will allow investors to get exposure to the token in their traditional brokerage accounts instead of one of the crypto-native startups that have come under increasing government scrutiny following a SEC approves Bitcoin-spot ETFs in milestone for digital assets BY VILDANA HAJRIC & KATIE GREIFELD Bloomberg BY SIDHARTHA SHUKLA Bloomberg series of sector scandals and bankruptcies. Crypto proponents have for years argued that a so-called spot fund that invests directly in Bitcoin would be beneficial to investors and would help bring the industry closer to the more highly regulated world of traditional finance. It also suggests a sort of milestone of maturity for the relatively nascent industry, where skirmishes with regulators came to a climax after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire highlighted risks lurking in the industry. The landmark decision comes after Grayscale Investments won a key victory over the SEC. A federal appeals court had overturned the rejection of Grayscale’s application to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF. The court called the denial “arbitrary and capricious” because the commission failed to explain its different treatment of similar products. ETFs that hold Bitcoin futures were approved in 2021. Filings in 2023 from Wall Street heavyweights such as BlackRock, Invesco and Fidelity had some analysts suggesting the SEC could be more open toward a Bitcoin fund after years of failures to launch by various issuers. BlackRock, for one, has a near-pristine record in launching ETFs, and many saw its entrance into the race as a harbinger of an eventual debut. The approvals mark a rare capitulation by the SEC following opposition that lasted for more than a decade. led to speculation that the rally may be close to exhausted for now. “With Ether’s size, liquidity and existing CME futures, it has the attributes, using the now successful bitcoin model, that make a physical US ETF viable,” said Richard Galvin, a co-founder of Sydney-based crypto asset manager DACM. ETF-based staking Ether is the token of Ethereum, the crypto sector’s commercially most-important blockchain. Investors can earn rewards by pledging Ether tokens to help operate the blockchain, a process called staking. Harnessing this payout is technically complicated, but Ether ETFs could stake their holdings, which may add to the appeal of such products for investors, Galvin said. Ether staking currently pays out the equivalent of 4.3% annually in the form of more coins. The hype over bitcoin ETFs contributed to Ether underperforming its larger rival in 2023. At the start of this week, the ratio of Ether’s price relative to bitcoin was at the lowest since 2021. The ratio has since ticked higher, courtesy of Ether’s recent bump. Read the full story
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 20 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Jan 11): OpenAI is in talks with CNN, Fox Corp and Time to license their work, according to people familiar with the matter, in a growing effort to secure access to news content to build out its artificial intelligence (AI) products while facing allegations it’s ripping off copyrighted materials. The start-up behind ChatGPT, a tool that lets users quickly crank out text, code and other content with simple prompts, is seeking to cut deals with numerous producers of news, video and other digital media that can be used to make the AI chatbot more accurate, relevant and up to date. OpenAI is also battling lawsuits alleging copyright infringement. OpenAI is discussing licensing articles from Warner Bros Discovery Inc’s CNN that it can use to train ChatGPT and also feature CNN’s content in OpenAI’s products, according to one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters. CNN and Fox are negotiating not just around licensing text, but also video and image content, the people said. CNN and Fox declined to comment. Time chief executive officer Jessica Sibley said in a statement that the publisher “is in discussions with OpenAI, and we are optimistic about reaching an agreement that reflects the fair value of our content”. OpenAI’s talks with the three publishers have not previously been reported. OpenAI told Bloomberg News last week that it’s talking to dozens of publishers about licensing deals, but did not cite specific companies. These partnerships are key to OpenAI’s future, as it’s balancing the need for updated, accurate data to develop its models with public scrutiny about where that data is sourced from. One of the companies the AI start-up had been in talks with, The New York Times, sued OpenAI and Microsoft late last month for using the publication’s articles without permission. In response to a request for comment on publisher talks, a spokesperson for OpenAI pointed to the company’s recent blog post, which referenced “continued collaboration with news organisations”. “Our goals are to support a healthy news ecosystem, be a good partner, and create mutually beneficial opportunities,” OpenAI said in the blog post on Monday, pushing back at the Times’ lawsuit. The company said it had “pursued partnerships with news organisations” to train its AI systems on “non-publicly available content”, and show “real-time content with attribution” in ChatGPT. OpenAI said it’s in discussions with the News/Media Alliance, a trade group which represents over 2,200 media outlets worldwide, “to explore opportunities, discuss their concerns, and provide solutions”. The AI start-up has also been in conversations with Gannett, News Corp and IAC, according to recent reporting from The New York Times. Some other large media companies are prepared to enter talks with OpenAI. “We have had prior dialogue with a wide range of developers, including OpenAI, which we expect may now transition into commercial discussions about the use of our journalism to build and power their products,” Guardian News & Media, which publishes The Guardian, said in a statement. OpenAI recently inked a multi-year licensing deal with Politico’s parent company Axel Springer SE for tens of millions of dollars, Bloomberg previously reported. In July, OpenAI announced an agreement BY SHIRIN GHAFFARY, GRAHAM STARR & BRODY FORD Bloomberg OpenAI in talks with CNN, Fox and Time to license content — sources with the Associated Press for an undisclosed amount. Not all big publishers are rushing into negotiations with OpenAI, however. The Washington Post has not been in talks with OpenAI in recent months, according to a spokesperson for the publisher. One media executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said their company is considering taking legal action against OpenAI, similar to The New York Times. A key concern for publishers is compensation. The Information previously reported that OpenAI had offered publishers US$1 million (RM4.65 million) to US$5 million a year to license their articles. That range is considered too low for certain top publishers, according to people familiar with the matter. Some media companies are open to a range closer to what Axel Springer received, one of the people said. One media executive, who asked not to be named to discuss private matters, was sceptical that a productive agreement could be reached with AI companies until the courts clarify how copyright law applies to generative AI. Some in the industry are also calling on US Congress to step in. On Wednesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing about the oversight of AI in journalism. During the hearing, Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch urged Congress to issue rules saying that copyrighted content must require a licence to be used for commercial generative AI. “Current-generation AI tools have been built with stolen goods,” he said. Several people familiar with media negotiations also stressed the importance of how OpenAI will feature publisher content, and how much traffic would be referred back to media sites to increase their audience. OpenAI has said that one of the goals of its negotiations is to display real-time content from publishers with attribution. The stakes are high for OpenAI to maintain access to copyrighted works. In a submission this month to the UK’s House of Lords, OpenAI said “it would be impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials”, given how much online content is protected by copyright. “Limiting training data to public domain books and drawings created more than a century ago might yield an interesting experiment,” the company said, “but would not provide AI systems that meet the needs of today’s citizens.” OpenAI is in discussions with the News/Media Alliance, a trade group which represents over 2,200 media outlets worldwide, “to explore opportunities, discuss their concerns, and provide solutions. BLOOMBERG
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Jan 11): Nasdaq Inc is throwing its weight behind technology that protects against financial crime as the demand to stop sophisticated, bad actors rises, according to chief executive officer Adena Friedman. “We are investing in the technology in a very significant way,” Friedman said at the Consumer Technology Association conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The anti-financial crime business is also Nasdaq’s fastest growing business, up roughly 20% year-over-year, she said. Nasdaq is enhancing its anti-crime offerings using artificial intelligence, which can predict and speed up the process of identifying criminal behaviour, and routing out bad actors in the industry, she said. The firm is working with banks, other exchanges, and brokerage firms that can use the software to eliminate threats. “This is just the next leg of our growth,” Friedman said. In her tenure as CEO since 2017, Friedman has helped evolve Nasdaq beyond its roots as an exchange. Over time, it’s shifted its resources into offerings with more predictable revenue streams as opposed to relying solely on income from trading and market volatility. Last year it closed its largest acquisition ever, buying software provider Adenza to help transform the trading and markets firm into a fully-fledged financial-services company. In a wide-ranging interview, Friedman also commented on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that came earlier on Wednesday. Nasdaq is among a number of exchanges that filed to list the new product on their venue. The ETF offering is regulated and liquid, which provides more access to Bitcoin without directly owning it, she said. “It opens the door for more accessibility for that particular asset class,” Friedman said. More broadly across capital markets, Friedman expects to see a “more vibrant” Nasdaq invests in fighting financial crime using AI technology (Jan 11): Alphabet Inc’s Google is laying off hundreds of staff working on its digital assistant, hardware and engineering teams, as it sustains a drive to cut costs. The affected workers included those working on the voice-based Google Assistant and at the augmented reality hardware team. Employees in the company’s central engineering organisation also got hit by cuts, the company said. The reductions come as Google’s core search business feels the heat from rival artificial-intelligence (AI) offerings from Microsoft Corp and ChatGPT-creator OpenAI. On calls with investors, Google executives pledged to scrutinise their operations to identify places where they can make cuts, and free up resources to invest in their biggest priorities. “Throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organisational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.” Workers at the search giant have been on edge since January of last year, when parent Alphabet said it would cut about 12,000 jobs, more than 6% of its global workforce. That sent shock waves through Silicon Valley. But the company continued to make smaller trims over the course of 2023, including lay-offs within teams focused on recruiting, news products and the Waze mapping app. While the large round of cuts in January 2023 was telegraphed by Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai, this year’s reductions have been communicated by lower-level leaders, such as vice-presidents and human resources, according to a current employee and a former worker. Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams BY JULIA LOVE & DAVEY ALBA Bloomberg BY KATHERINE DOHERTY & ED LUDLOW Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc also laid off hundreds of staff in its Prime Video and studios business this week, raising questions about whether another major round of lay-offs is underway in Silicon Valley. Semafor first reported the lay-offs to the Google Assistant team, while 9to5Google first reported the reorganisation for hardware. Affected staff have begun receiving the news and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions elsewhere within Google, the company said. The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents some of its employees, criticised the job cuts in a statement posted to the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter,” the group said. “We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!” backdrop for initial public offerings in 2024. “We’re cautiously optimistic,” she said. Last year Nasdaq beat out its rival the New York Stock Exchange for the most number of listings, in an overall muted year for dealmaking. Friedman said activity could pick up, even as the cost of capital remains high. “There are some great companies looking to get out,” including in the biotechnology sector, she said. Artificial intelligence may also come into play, with some companies demonstrating how they are leveraging the technology, using it as a way to differentiate their business. Read also: Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO expects no China challenge on US$14 bil Juniper Networks deal Amazon has not offered remedies to EU concerns over iRobot deal TikTok, LVMH work on plan to limit fake items sold on app REUTERS
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 22 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD LONDON (Jan 11): Big investors are tearing up market play books for 2024 based on timing an expected recession and interest rate cuts, as the world economy proves surprisingly resilient. They are turning lukewarm on government bonds and away from big tech shares to bargain-hunt for stocks in sectors long hit by fears of a downturn that has yet to materialise. A blazing bond rally that began in October has stalled as strong data including last week’s US jobs numbers shake expectations for rapid monetary policy easing. And while red hot stock markets remain vulnerable to any collapse in rate cut bets, some money managers believe sustained economic growth will buoy up small-cap shares, banks and cyclicals and could sweep cautious money back into equities. “The surprise this year is probably that (economic) growth comes in once again,” said Evan Brown, head of multi-asset strategy and portfolio manager at UBS Asset Management. Brown favours mid-sized US stocks outside big tech and European banks. He prefers stocks to bonds. Market gospel has long been that with borrowing costs at a 22-year high in the US and a record peak in the eurozone, businesses would struggle and unemployment rise, prompting central banks to quickly ease policy. And the growth outlook has undoubtedly weakened: the World Bank on Tuesday forecast the global economy is heading for its worst half-decade performance in 30 years, while Germany — Europe’s biggest economy — is having a bumpy start to the year. But with US employment strong and consumer sentiment in Europe improving, the outlook is less dire than feared. The US economy confounded expectations to grow 2.4% last year and is seen expanding 1.2% in 2024, a Reuters poll showed, while the eurozone is expected to have grown 0.5% in 2023. “The footprints of money will guide you into the (stock) market instead of waiting on the sidelines worrying about this recession we never had and might not have for some time,” said Ken Mahoney, president of Mahoney Asset Management. Pictet Wealth Management CIO Cesar Perez Ruiz said that with economic data holding up, low-valued businesses worldwide would become takeover targets. He was tempted to hunt for such bargains in the UK’s mid-cap FTSE 250 index, he said. Money markets now predict roughly 140 basis points (bps) of US rate cuts this year, compared with 150 bps in December, a revision that has boosted the dollar. “We are expecting a soft (economic) landing rather than an outright recession and the Federal Reserve (Fed) to be much more conservative in cutting rates than the consensus believes,” Federated Hermes chief equity strategist Philip Orlando said. Bond blues Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields are trading at around 4%, down from 5% in October. Germany’s 10-year Bund yield fell below 1.9% in December, capping its best quarterly performance since 2012, before rebounding to about 2.2%. Pictet’s Perez Ruiz said his last trade before going on holiday in late December was to sell some of his 10-year Bunds because rate-cut euphoria was exaggerated. He has a neutral stance on US Treasuries. Euro area inflation rebounded to 2.9% in December. Economists forecast data on Thursday will show a core measure of US inflation moderated to 3.8% in December. Some analysts say that is still too high for significant monetary easing, especially as Red Sea supply disruptions threaten another global inflation spike. Jason Da Silva, global investment strategy director at London-based Arbuthnot Latham, said he would need more evidence of inflation nearing 2% before turning bullish on Treasuries. Read the full story Read also: US Treasury yields flat until June, fall in second half — poll Investors are moving on from the recession that ‘never was’ (Jan 11): US inflation accelerated at the close of 2023, challenging market expectations the Federal Reserve (Fed) will soon start lowering interest rates. The consumer price index (CPI) increased 3.4% in the year through December, the most in three months according to government figures. On a monthly basis, it also rose by more than forecast. The CPI excluding food and energy rose 0.3% in December from a month earlier. On an annual basis, the so-called core measure increased 3.9%. Economists favour the core metric as a better gauge of the trend in inflation than the overall CPI. The Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showed increases in shelter, electricity and motor-vehicle insurance. Used-car prices increased for a second month, defying expectations for a decline. Despite the pickup, the figures capped a year in which inflation broadly eased without doing much damage to the labour market, setting the stage for the Fed to lower borrowing costs this year. Officials’ latest economic projections showed they expect three rate cuts in 2024, though policymakers have pushed back against market expectations that the first reduction could come as soon as March. Treasury yields and the dollar rose, while stock-index futures fluctuated after the report. Fed officials next meet at the end of this month. US inflation accelerates, tempering case for Fed to cut rates BY MOLLY SMITH Bloomberg BY NAOMI ROVNICK Reuters BLOOMBERG
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 23 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD LONDON (Jan 11): Global renewable energy capacity is expected to grow by two and a half times by 2030 but governments need to go further to achieve a goal of tripling it by then agreed at United Nations’ climate talks, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. In its annual renewable energy outlook report, the IEA said new capacity added last year increased by 50% from the previous year to 510 gigawatts (GW). That takes installed capacity to 3,700GW. Under current policies and market conditions, global renewables capacity is forecast to grow to a total of 7,300GW by 2028. To reach the 2030 goal agreed last year, it will require reaching at least 11,000GW. World governments agreed to triple renewable energy generation capacity by 2030 and move away from fossil fuels at the COP28 UN climate conference in Dubai last December. But no mechanism was agreed to finance the shift to clean energy in developing countries. The report said the biggest challenge to meeting the goal will be scaling up financing and deployment of renewables in most emerging and developing economies. “In the absence of any help for African and low-income countries in Asia and Latin America, they will not be able to reach their clean energy targets. That will be a fault line in reaching the 2030 goal,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, told Reuters. Over the past year, higher inflation and interest rates have also increased equipment and financing costs of renewables projects and policies have been slow to adjust to the new macro-economic environment. Insufficient investment in grids is also hampering faster deployment of renewables, as well as slow and bureaucratic permitting procedures and administrative barriers. Last year, China had the largest growth in renewables and is expected to account for nearly 60% of new renewable capacity by 2028. Read the full story (Jan 11): London mayor Sadiq Khan on Thursday will blame Brexit for costing the UK economy £140 billion (US$178 billion or RM828.58 billion), calling on the government to “urgently” rebuild relations with the European Union (EU) to stem the decline. Britain’s EU divorce has also meant there are two million fewer jobs nationwide than there otherwise would have been, including 290,000 lost positions in London, according to research by Cambridge Econometrics commissioned by City Hall that the Labour Party’s Khan will reference in a speech at Mansion House. Half of the total job losses are in financial services and construction. “The hard-line version of Brexit we’ve ended up with is dragging our economy down and pushing up the cost of living,” Khan will say, according to excerpts released by his office. “The cost of Brexit crisis can only be solved if we take a mature approach, and if we are open to improving our trading arrangements with our European neighbours.” While Khan’s excoriation of Brexit is in tune with the UK’s mainly Remain-voting capital city, it’s at odds with the more cautious line Labour leader Keir Starmer is trying to tread ahead of a general election expected in the second half of the year. A Remainer himself, Starmer is nevertheless seeking to win back the votes of Brexit-supporting former Labour voters in the north of England and the Midlands who switched to the Conservatives in the 2019 election. Starmer said in September there is “no case for rejoining the EU” or its single market and customs union. Starmer has also said he wants a closer relationship with the EU, but he tends to avoid referring to the negative effects of Brexit, which was backed by 52% of voters in the 2016 referendum that triggered Britain’s exit from the bloc. Britain’s economic output would have hit £2.34 trillion in 2023 if the nation had Brexit cost UK economy £140 bil, London mayor says remained inside the EU, 6% more than the £2.2 trillion it logged, according to Cambridge Econometrics. It predicted that the impact will worsen, shaving £311 billion off projected output in 2035 compared to a non-Brexit scenario, equivalent to a 10.1% hit. The analysis used historical data to predict how the economy of a non-Brexit “counterfactual UK” would have performed. The report also suggested London’s economy was £30 billion smaller than it would have been without Brexit. The average Londoner was £3,400 worse off in 2023 due to the vote, compared to the £2,000 estimate for the average Briton. Khan will use the report to make the case for addressing London’s post-Brexit labour shortages with an approach to migration that is “informed by evidence, not prejudice”, as well as pushing for new arrangements with the EU. “We urgently need to build a closer relationship with the EU,” Khan will say. “A new settlement would not only turbocharge our economy and help to raise living standards, but help to unlock the growth and prosperity we need.” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, dismissed the findings, telling reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday the International Monetary Fund’s forecast for UK economic growth is brighter than for many of its peers. “The UK has grown faster than Italy and Germany since the Brexit referendum in 2016, and faster than Germany since leaving the EU in 2020,” he said. BY IRINA ANGHEL Bloomberg The hard-line version of Brexit we’ve ended up with is dragging our economy down and pushing up the cost of living.” Renewable energy growth must accelerate to reach 2030 goal, says IEA BY NINA CHESTNEY Reuters REUTERS
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 24 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Jan 11): Global fund giant Loomis Sayles & Co is turning more positive on China’s battered real estate sector, saying recent debt restructuring arrangements are bearing fruit, and improved sentiment may result in a faster-than-expected bounceback. Investors who wait too long may miss out on the rebound, according to Matt Eagan, a fund manager at Boston-based Loomis Sayles, which oversees US$303 billion (RM1.41 trillion). Fellow asset manager Fidelity International also senses an opportunity, saying history shows investing in the surviving developers of a housing downturn can be very profitable. Both Loomis Sayles and Fidelity are backing up their views with cold hard cash. Eagan’s fund has been buying more bonds of distressed developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd, while one of Fidelity’s multi-asset funds managed in Singapore recently added a small position in China state-owned developer shares. “It’s bottomed here, but it’s still got a long way to go to recover,” Egan said in an interview last month. “Before it was easy to say: ‘I’m not even going to pay attention to it because it’s just a one-way bet down’,” but that’s no longer the case, he said. China can’t afford a complete meltdown in property markets, so officials are going to take further steps to revive the sector, said Eagan, who jointly manages the Loomis Sayles Global Allocation Fund that beat 97% of its peers last year. His current top pick is Sunac, which restructured its debt in November after defaulting on its dollar bonds in May 2022. “Sunac is trading at pennies on the dollar after the restructuring,” he said. “There’s a danger to not owning that, because it could triple or could even go up much higher.” Another attractive opportunity is Yuzhou Group Holdings Co, which said in late December it’s close to reaching an agreement with a group of creditors, he said. The stocks and bonds of Chinese real estate companies have been pummelled over the past four years, due to a toxic cocktail of unsustainable debt levels, slowing long-term economic growth, and spreading disinflation. A Bloomberg index of real estate owners and developer shares has tumbled almost 80% since the end of 2019, while a gauge of high-yield China dollar bonds dominated by developers slumped 45% over the same period. There have recently been a number of positive signs. This month alone, two major property developers and a large car dealer unveiled repayment plans for maturing debt. “The surviving firms will end up benefiting from industry consolidation, and eventually thrive when the cycle turns, with stock performance typically front-running the upwards turn,” said George Efstathopoulos, a money manager at Fidelity International in Singapore. “State-owned enterprise developers will eventually be well placed to benefit.” The Fidelity Global Multi Asset Growth & Income Fund holds a number of shares in Chinese developers including Longfor Group Holdings Ltd, China Resources Land Ltd, and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Fund manager who beat 97% of peers sees bottom in China’s property (Jan 11): China’s central bank pushed back against recent yuan weakness by setting its daily reference rate for the managed currency at the widest gap to estimates since November. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the so-called fixing at 7.1087 per dollar on Thursday, 609 pips stronger than the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey. That’s after the onshore yuan declined nearly 1% since the end of last year. The PBOC upped its support to defend against growing expectations for monetary easing in China, according to Ken Cheung, chief Asian currency strategist at Mizuho Bank Ltd in Hong Kong. “The fixing tool is set to remain in play for some time before the recovery momentum for the economy builds up,” he said. The PBOC has been supporting the yuan through its daily reference rate for the last seven months, as the wide interest-rate gap between the US and China favours the dollar, weighing on the local currency. The fixing limits the onshore yuan’s allowed trading range to 2% on either side. Thursday’s boost comes as potential policy easing by Beijing next week threatens further yuan weakness. Investors are waiting to see whether the PBOC will cut the rate on its medium-term loans on Monday or inject additional liquidity to the banking system though this facility to boost the economy. This week, a PBOC official told state media that the PBOC provides strongest boost to yuan via fixing since November nation may lower the amount of money banks must set aside as reserves to boost lending, according to a report by Xinhua. On top of that, China’s currency also faces pressure from local price data Friday, which is expected to extend deflation concerns. Toward the end of last month, the PBOC said in a monetary policy committee meeting that it will keep the yuan generally stable at reasonable levels and prevent excessive one-way moves. The offshore yuan gained 0.2% to 7.1718 per dollar Thursday while the onshore unit edged up 0.2% at 7.1611. Exacerbating the yuan pressure, China’s bond yields have slid toward multi-year lows amid the rate-cut bets while the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) meeting minutes last week suggested US rates will remain elevated for longer. “There is still some upside risk to the dollar-yuan,” which could test and break the 7.20 level, said Fiona Lim, a senior currency strategist at Malayan Banking Berhad in Singapore. “Afterall, PBOC seems to signal a clear intention to ease monetary policy while the Fed is not ready to do so at all.” Bloomberg BY TANIA CHEN & ALICE HUANG Bloomberg Read also: BOJ cautiously upbeat on wage outlook; market eyes January meeting BLOOMBERG Read the full story
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 25 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Jan 11): Years of harrowing losses have left Chinese stocks with a diminished standing in global portfolios, a trend that’s likely to accelerate as some of the world’s biggest funds distance themselves from the risk-ridden market. An analysis of filings by 14 US pension funds with investments in Chinese stocks show most of them have reduced their holdings since 2020. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System and New York State Common Retirement Fund, among the nation’s biggest pension investors, cut their exposure for a third straight year. What started out as a performance-driven exodus now risks becoming a structural shift due to a toxic combination of doubts over Beijing’s long-term economic agenda, a prolonged property crisis and strategic competition with the US. Money managers at some of the biggest pensions in the US and Australia said in interviews that the prevailing playbook for China is one of caution. “Foreign investors no longer fear leaving China out of their investment universe,” said Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at Dalma Capital Management Ltd. “We sense that international investors are just giving up trying to read China and will revert to a worldex-China opportunity set, hence resetting the benchmarks to MSCI World ex-China.” Some are exiting entirely. Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System in December told its staff to “divest from all of its current global public equity investment in China”. That came a month after the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board said it will exclude investments in Hong Kong, in addition to mainland China, from its US$68 billion (RM315.72 billion) international fund. It cited Washington’s increasing investment restrictions on China as a key reason for the decision. “China is a recurring discussion among US and global CIOs,” Chris Ailman, chief investor officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, said in an interview. “Some have cut their index weight in half to reduce their exposure and a few have dropped China from their emerging market index.” Calstrs’s decision is to “not be overweight nor underweight but index weight”, he said. His comments come as China’s share in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped to 23.77% as of end-December, the lowest since mainland stocks were added to the gauge in 2018. In the Asia Pacific Index, China now accounts for about 15%, down from 24% in 2020. A 2023 survey of 100 pension and sovereign wealth managers by London-based think-tank Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum found none of them have a positive outlook on China, or see higher relative returns. It’s a far cry from the late 2010s when the country’s economic ascent and manufacturing prowess made overseas investors eager for a slice of the booming market. If MSCI’s addition of A-shares showcased China’s global acceptance, its falling status speaks to that allure fast fading. Bloomberg analysed 13F filings by 271 American pension funds with assets over US$500 million. Among them, 14 had investments in US-listed Chinese stocks. Underscoring how Chinese markets are dropping off radars, their low valuations aren’t helping. The MSCI China Index has never been this cheap versus the S&P 500 when looking at forward earnings estimates, trading at a 56% discount. The estimated priceto-earnings ratio is below its five-year average. Australia’s second-largest pension fund, the A$260 billion (RM809.98 billion) Australian Retirement Trust, is wary of raising its China holdings beyond what’s needed to stay in line with performance benchmarks. “In public equities, we are just trying to make sure that we have a benchmark exposure and we do it in a way that doesn’t tie up liquidity unnecessarily,” said ART’s chief investment officer Ian Patrick. “It’s a big economy where valuations are challenged and so there’s definitely opportunity there.” He added the bigger question was how the global order plays out between China and the US, and other countries. As long-term investors shun China, the market risks becoming even more dominated by local traders — heightening volatility and scaring away global funds. The MSCI China Index has extended declines after capping BY ABHISHEK VISHNOI, AMY BAINBRIDGE & ELIYAHU KAMISHER Bloomberg China is fast losing its place as must-have in global portfolios a third annual loss. Money managers deem tensions with the US and Europe, the state’s grip over the private sector, and the economy’s downward trend as having permanently undermined its attraction. As China flops, investments excluding the country have prospered. The number of new EM equity-focused funds with no China exposure reached 19 in 2023, up from 15 in 2022 and just one in 2020, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Wall Street titans including Goldman Sachs Asset Management and BlackRock Inc have launched new EM ex-China funds earlier last year, while Robeco and Vontobel Holding AG have more recently joined the wave. In a landmark shift, assets held by the iShares ETF for EM ex-China surged to about US$8.8 billion from just US$164 million at the end of 2020, exceeding that of a China ETF. That’s not to say the whole world has turned its back on China. Its US$9 trillion market — the second-largest after the US — offers a trove of undiscovered firms that may deliver hefty gains. As HSBC Holdings plc strategists noted earlier this month, there has been increasing interest from investors based in the Middle East, offsetting the outflows from the US. Other Australian pension funds are taking a wait-and-see stance. AMP Investments, which currently has a slight underweight exposure, may change that in the coming years as China recovers, according to the fund’s chief investment officer Anna Shelley. Yet the pivot away from China may accelerate as positive catalysts are missing at a time when the Federal Reserve shifts toward monetary easing, raising the odds of higher returns in emerging markets that are sensitive to the global economic cycle. South Korea and India have so far seen a total inflow of more than US$550 million this year. Meantime, inflows into China via stock connect links have remained volatile after a record five months of outflows. “Although much of the pessimism around China seem currently reflected in valuations, investors seem reluctant to step in,” said Romina Graiver, a portfolio specialist at William Blair International Ltd., one of the early entrants into EM ex-China strategies. “Over the past years China has become more difficult to navigate due to an unpredictable regulatory environment and government’s prioritisation of politics over economics in the wake of Covid.” Read also: China’s policy dilemma: Is boosting credit deflationary? What started out as a performance-driven exodus now risks becoming a structural shift due to a toxic combination of doubts over Beijing’s long-term economic agenda, a prolonged property crisis and strategic competition with the US.
FRIDAY JANUARY 12, 2024 26 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 305.47 0.000 0.020 -20 102.2 TWL HOLDINGS BHD 139.66 -0.010 0.040 33.33 197.5 MINETECH RESOURCES BHD 110.00 -0.005 0.220 51.72 341.6 SARAWAK CONSOLIDATED 86.26 0.040 1.120 19.79 717.1 WIDAD GROUP BHD 82.20 0.000 0.490 1.03 1,517.3 VELESTO ENERGY BHD 76.30 0.010 0.255 10.87 2,095.0 SMTRACK BHD 72.27 0.000 0.055 10.00 67.3 ISKANDAR WATERFRONT CITY BHD 62.45 -0.055 0.875 19.86 806.0 EKOVEST BHD 61.69 -0.020 0.545 11.22 1,616.1 CAPITAL A BHD 61.02 -0.055 0.735 -10.91 3,127.1 LEFORM BHD 57.07 0.000 0.485 10.23 718.3 SARAWAK CABLE BHD 52.68 -0.080 0.305 -18.67 121.7 UEM SUNRISE BHD 51.66 -0.020 0.950 16.56 4,805.6 EASTERN & ORIENTAL BHD 51.32 0.070 0.750 30.43 1,378.8 GENTING MALAYSIA BHD 45.18 -0.170 2.680 -0.37 15,189.5 YTL POWER INTERNATIONAL BHD 39.75 -0.010 3.370 32.68 27,304.3 XOX BHD 36.33 0.000 0.015 0.00 75.8 MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 36.02 0.000 0.115 21.05 35.1 PERDANA PETROLEUM BHD 35.60 0.010 0.215 7.50 477.4 KNM GROUP BHD 35.17 0.000 0.095 5.56 384.2 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) PEGASUS HEIGHTS BHD 0.010 100.00 300.0 100.00 108.2 MAGNA PRIMA BHD 0.760 52.00 4,103.4 85.37 303.4 COMPUGATES HOLDINGS BHD 0.015 50.00 264.5 0.00 82.5 XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 0.035 16.67 3,531.0 40.00 74.1 LAMBO GROUP BHD 0.035 16.67 1,135.0 75.00 53.9 KEY ASIC BHD 0.075 15.38 18,368.0 25.00 104.9 IVORY PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 0.080 14.29 978.0 0.00 39.2 INNITY CORP BHD 0.480 11.63 0.1 0.00 66.9 VSOLAR GROUP BHD 0.195 11.43 14,801.1 -13.33 31.4 CLASSITA HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 11.11 10,214.6 11.11 61.6 MERCURY SECURITIES GROUP BHD 0.845 10.46 26,936.7 21.58 754.6 EASTERN & ORIENTAL BHD 0.750 10.29 51,321.0 30.43 1,378.8 BLD PLANTATION BHD 10.980 9.80 40.4 -0.18 1,026.6 AVILLION BHD 0.060 9.09 642.0 20.00 68.0 TIMBERWELL BHD 0.570 8.57 50.3 7.55 50.8 PARLO BHD 0.130 8.33 5,423.6 13.04 78.1 LEADER STEEL HOLDINGS BHD 0.520 8.33 997.5 14.29 80.4 FRONTKEN CORP BHD 3.580 8.16 10,089.1 10.49 5,631.0 REKATECH CAPITAL BHD 0.070 7.69 10.0 7.69 41.4 PDZ HOLDINGS BHD 0.07 7.69 27277.2 40 41.2 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 0.010 -33.33 3,235.0 0.00 59.2 RAPID SYNERGY BHD 11.500 -29.79 452.5 -59.62 1,229.3 CME GROUP BHD 0.025 -28.57 34,802.3 -16.67 25.8 YNH PROPERTY BHD 2.720 -25.89 2,827.5 -36.00 1,437.5 SARAWAK CABLE BHD 0.305 -20.78 52,677.1 -18.67 121.7 IMASPRO CORP BHD 1.990 -20.40 3,057.8 -48.04 159.2 BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.020 -20.00 2,514.0 0.00 40.7 MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.020 -20.00 4,774.2 -20.00 29.4 TWL HOLDINGS BHD 0.040 -20.00 139,655.6 33.33 197.5 SENTORIA GROUP BHD 0.075 -16.67 11,449.5 -16.67 46.0 G3 GLOBAL BHD 0.030 -14.29 22,174.4 20.00 113.2 SC ESTATE BUILDER BHD 0.030 -14.29 164.3 -14.29 32.2 BARAKAH OFFSHORE PETROLEUM 0.035 -12.50 311.7 0.00 35.1 BOX-PAK MALAYSIA BHD 0.790 -11.73 160.1 -11.73 94.8 BSL CORP BHD 0.040 -11.11 2220.0 -11.11 77.3 WMG HOLDINGS BHD 0.095 -9.52 20.0 -5.00 42.2 GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 0.195 -9.30 7,928.1 -13.33 41.2 THRIVEN GLOBAL BHD 0.105 -8.70 1,287.9 0.00 57.4 TFP SOLUTIONS BHD 0.055 -8.33 448.8 0 32.2 SINMAH CAPITAL BHD 0.110 -8.33 640.0 4.76 43.2 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) RAPID SYNERGY BHD 11.500 -4.880 452.5 -59.62 2,501.4 YNH PROPERTY BHD 2.720 -0.950 2,827.5 -36.00 1,513.0 IMASPRO CORP BHD 1.990 -0.510 3,057.8 -48.04 1,744.0 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 119.800 -0.200 104.7 1.87 278.4 GENTING BHD 4.680 -0.190 15,282.5 1.30 56,800.0 GENTING MALAYSIA BHD 2.680 -0.170 45,186.0 -0.37 960.0 PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 6.880 -0.120 4,084.1 -3.91 20,802.9 LYSAGHT GALVANIZED STEEL BHD 2.390 -0.110 10.0 7.66 3,415.5 BOX-PAK MALAYSIA BHD 0.790 -0.105 160.1 -11.73 104.0 PRESS METAL ALUMINIUM 4.820 -0.080 7,375.8 0.21 657.9 KELINGTON GROUP BHD 2.260 -0.080 1,913.9 4.15 6,145.6 SARAWAK CABLE BHD 0.305 -0.080 52,677.1 -18.67 6,104.5 CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 19.180 -0.080 96.2 -0.52 270.4 CRESCENDO CORP BHD 2.660 -0.070 246.1 14.66 1,392.7 SHANGRI-LA HOTELS MALAYSIA 2.180 -0.070 2,273.0 -1.36 3,679.8 UNIMECH GROUP BHD 1.800 -0.070 34.0 1.69 75.4 DIALOG GROUP BHD 2.010 -0.060 7,168.2 -2.90 3,273.9 KOBAY TECHNOLOGY BHD 1.250 -0.060 5,144.3 -6.02 298.5 GENETEC TECHNOLOGY BHD 2.160 -0.060 2,933.5 -8.47 107.4 APM AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS BHD 2.810 -0.060 65.0 12.4 549.3 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) BLD PLANTATION BHD 10.980 0.980 40.4 -0.18 1,026.6 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 24.200 0.480 225.8 0.25 7,310.8 GENTING PLANTATIONS BHD 6.300 0.290 5,813.8 10.92 5,652.1 FRONTKEN CORP BHD 3.580 0.270 10,089.1 10.49 5,631.0 MAGNA PRIMA BHD 0.760 0.260 4,103.4 85.37 303.4 DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES BHD 23.880 0.180 15.2 3.11 1,528.3 FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 28.640 0.140 104.1 1.70 10,504.5 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 22.400 0.120 849.7 2.66 24,157.0 BINTULU PORT HOLDINGS BHD 5.600 0.110 4.7 8.95 2,576.0 TA ANN HOLDINGS BHD 3.610 0.110 843.8 -1.37 1,590.1 SUNGEI BAGAN RUBBER CO MALAYA 4.410 0.110 119.6 35.69 291.9 PPB GROUP BHD 14.700 0.100 514.1 1.52 20,912.2 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 28.100 0.100 104.2 -0.35 5,589.0 ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD 19.280 0.080 109.5 4.56 3,431.2 MERCURY SECURITIES GROUP BHD 0.845 0.080 26,936.7 21.58 754.6 MALPAC HOLDINGS BHD 1.150 0.070 20.2 13.86 86.3 DAYANG ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS 1.820 0.070 5,622.5 13.75 2,107.1 SIME DARBY PLANTATION BHD 4.420 0.070 2,458.1 -0.90 30,567.5 APB RESOURCES BHD 2.540 0.070 250.4 -1.93 281.6 EASTERN & ORIENTAL BHD 0.750 0.070 51,321.0 30.43 1,378.8 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 Source: Bloomberg CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) DJIA * 37,665.75 -29.98 -0.08 S&P 500 * 4,792.85 9.40 0.20 NASDAQ 100 * 16,829.27 36.23 0.22 FTSE 100 * 7,651.76 -2.80 -0.04 AUSTRALIA 7,506.03 37.57 0.50 CHINA 2,886.65 8.95 0.31 HONG KONG 16,302.04 204.76 1.27 INDIA 71,721.18 63.47 0.09 INDONESIA 7,219.96 -7.33 -0.10 JAPAN 35,049.86 608.14 1.77 KOREA 2,540.27 -1.71 -0.07 PHILIPPINES 6,613.73 67.62 1.03 SINGAPORE 3,201.41 21.45 0.67 TAIWAN 17,545.32 79.69 0.46 THAILAND 1,408.24 -5.28 -0.37 VIETNAM 1,162.22 0.68 0.06 Data as compiled on Jan 11, 2024 * Based on previous day’s closing Source: Bloomberg CPO RM 3,787.00-7.00 OIL US$ 78.331.53 RM/USD 4.6440 RM/SGD 3.4914 RM/AUD 3.1166 RM/GBP 5.9163 RM/EUR 5.0917