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GOLDMAN TO CUT ABOUT 3,200 JOBS THIS WEEK
AFTER COST REVIEW p16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2023 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 505/2023

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: PetChem to divest 25% stake in Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah to state unit p5
BCorp confirms it is in talks with potential seller of licensed entity p10

Anwar arrives in Sabah, scheduled to meet state leaders on Monday night p14
WORLD: Asia stocks on track to enter bull market as China rally extends p17

Brazil capital reels after anti-Lula rioters storm Congress p20

Prasarana to allocate RM2.8 bil SHAHRILL BASRI/ THEEDGE
to improve train, bus services

Report on Page 5.

CJ URGES
COLLEAGUES
TO JUDGE
WITHOUT FEAR
OR FAVOUR

as attempts to
pressure judiciary
become more obvious

Report on Page 3.

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Ministry of Defence satisfied with latest
status of LCS project, says Mohd Hasan

LUMUT (Jan 9): The Ministry of De- Bernama 22% to 48% complete in terms of the
fence is satisfied with the latest status of installation of electrical and electronic
the littoral combat ship (LCS) construc- on Aug 4 last year, said the Government equipment, weaponry and some other
tion project, with one of the six ships ex- had paid RM6.083 billion to Boustead technical matters.
pected to be ready next year, said Defence Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd in a deal that
Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan. was allegedly signed via direct negoti- “I was informed that other ships take
ation, but not a single vessel had been two to three years to complete. Some
He said his visit to the Royal Malaysian delivered to date. need to be checked in terms of leaks,
Navy (RMN) base here on Monday (Jan artillery, and the ECU (the electronic
9) found that overall, the construction of On Oct 2 last year, former defence control unit). We hope that all previous
the ships, which would be implemented minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun problems will be resolved.This includes
in stages according to suitability, was on Hussein was reported as saying that the the issue with middlemen, which is al-
schedule. construction of the LCS project would most resolved, where from now on we
resume as soon as negotiations end (in will directly deal with vendors only.
“For the first ship, it is now 70% [com- December 2022).
plete]. There is only one more block to “There are also some who ask why we
complete, and it won’t take long. The Asked about the status of the other continue with this LCS project [despite
engine, propeller, and gearbox have been ships, Mohamad said they are currently the ongoing economic uncertainty]. My
installed. Only the electrical equipment answer is simple. Matters pertaining to
and weapons [are yet to be installed]. national sovereignty and defence cannot
be compromised.You can say whatever
“I am confident that this first ship will you like, but the Ministry of Defence
be ready in 2024, before undertaking sea- remains focused on this,” he explained.
water testing and being commissioned,”
he told a press conference after the visit. Meanwhile, Mohamad said all 39
blocks of housing quarters for members
Mohamad was previously reported of the Malaysian Armed Forces and civil
as saying that the Ministry of Defence servants in the area would be upgraded
would realise the construction of the LCS in stages for the comfort of the residents.
project for the RMN to strengthen the
defence of national waters. Monday’s programme was also at-
tended by Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri
Mohamad said he would continue the Mohd Reza Mohd Sany and Ministry
efforts implemented by the Ministry of of Defence secretary general Datuk Seri
Defence, the Malaysian Armed Forces, Muez Abd Aziz.
the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the
Ministry of Economy as well BERNAMA
as the Armed Forces Fund
Board (LTAT) in realis-
ing the completion of the
LCS.

He also said that
he had consulted the
MOF, the Ministry of
Economy and his min-
istry so as to be able to
explain the actual situ-
ation of the LCS issue.

The Public Accounts
Committee, in its report

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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PUTRAJAYA (Jan 9): Chief Justice Tun CJ urges colleagues This, she said, is because the target au-
Tengku MaimunTuan Mat has highlight- to judge without dience covers every possible sector.
ed attempts to intimidate or otherwise ex- fear or favour
ert improper pressure on judges presiding as attempts to “It is of utmost importance that our judg-
public interest cases in the past year. pressure judiciary ments be easily understood by the public as
become more their impact in shaping the law of the nation
Speaking at the launching of the Official obvious is long-lasting. Not only that, the judgments
Legal Year 2023, she said these attempts we write reflect our competence and dili-
are a direct affront to the rule of law and BY HAFIZ YATIM gence in carrying out the duties of our office.”
judicial independence. theedgemarkets.com
“The grounds of judgment written by
“They certainly deserve condemnation Tengku Maimun added it was better that a judges can be accessed online by the public.
and indeed many have spoken out against judicial decision is unpopular but sound in law Such ease of access, I hope, translates into
them in strong terms. It is very mischievous and fair on the justice of the case, than for it to better comprehension of the judicial func-
for anyone to try to tarnish the image of the be popular but decided based on an ulterior tion. In this regard, I urge members of the
courts and bring it into disrepute through motive to meet a certain extraneous objective. public to read judgments in their entirety
unfair, biased and oftentimes unenlightened before forming an opinion and subjecting
criticism, simply because they happen to not “The former unpopular decision stands the judiciary to any form of vilification.
like particular decisions,” she added. the test of time while the latter crumbles
to dust at the earliest opportunity, but not At a press conference after the launch,
Tengku Maimun noted these attempts to before wreaking havoc along the way.This, the CJ was also asked about criticism of
pressure judges are becoming more obvious. history has taught us well and we ought to the judiciary and replied that some of the
learn from it rather than foolishly repeat comments made are to the extreme and
She reminded judges that they have to re- it,” she urges. not objective, constructive and does not
main committed in deciding on a case with- highlight intellectual discourse.
out fear and favour, without ill-will or motive, Also present at the function were Chief
without any external or internal pressure, Judge of Sabah and Sarawak,Tan Sri Abang She felt that some of the comments were
and without regard to personalities. Iskandar Abang Hashim, Federal Court, made due to political sentiment.
Court of Appeal and High Court judges,
“As long as every judge remains com- the Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun “While I appreciate the support given to
mitted to these principles, and united in and Malaysian Bar president, Karen Cheah. the judiciary, I would like to reiterate that
applying these maxims, the judiciary is Writing clear and concise judgment whatever cases, including those involving
confident that judicial independence will Tengku Maimun also reminded judges to leaders, are decided based on the law.These
be upheld,” she added. ensure that their grounds of judgment are are the cases which normally resulted in it
clear, coherent and concise. [the decision] being widely criticised.
She further urged judges to make de-
cisions and write judgments premised on “Even I myself have received death
the law, and not on the notion of wanting threats. Aside from that, the support re-
to seek popularity. ceived by the judiciary, namely from the
Bar and others have been extraordinary.
“We write to keep the public abreast of My advice on those who criticise is to un-
the judicial function and not to seek vali- derstand the structure and the law process,
dation from the public or from any other understand it. If you don’t understand it,
quarters. If a judge decides a case prem- ask someone who understands it (before
ised on anything other than the law and/ criticising it),” she said.
or facts, then he makes a decision that is
not sound in law. And in which case, the Tengku Maimun said that some of the
Judge fails to uphold judicial independence ongoing criticism of the judges shows that
and the rule of law,” she warned. the critics do not understand the process.

PUTRAJAYA (Jan 9):The vacancies in the CJ:Vacancies of prime minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,
posts of Court of Appeal president, Chief superior court Tengku Maimun said both.
Judge of Malaya, two Federal Court judges judges would be
and nine Court of Appeal judges are ex- “Some of the names were done pre-
pected to be filled soon, said Chief Justice filled soon viously (with Ismail) and some with the
Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat. current PM (Anwar). There has been a
BY HAFIZ YATIM meeting with the Rulers Conference where
Tengku Maimun said the names of theedgemarkets.com they considered several papers to fill va-
the candidates had been forwarded to the cancies at the various levels.
prime minister and also the Conference to the Rulers Conference last November.
of Rulers for determination and approval. “The judiciary feels that the posts would “What I cannot tell is I do not know
how many of the names went up and
Presently, Chief Judge of Sabah and be filled in soon,” she said at a press con- [were] approved, and how many vacan-
Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang ference after officiating the launch of the cies will actually be filled. But there will
Hashim is the acting Court of Appeal pres- Official LegalYear 2023. be some appointments and replacement
ident, and Federal Court judge Datuk Mo- of the vacancies soon,” she added.
hamad Zabidin Mohd Diah is the acting When asked whether the names were
Chief Judge of Malaya. given to the previous prime minister, Da- The CJ said there are two vacancies in the
tuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, or the 10th Federal Court following the retirement of
Tengku Maimun said the Judicial Ap- Federal Court judges Puan Sri ZalehaYusof
pointments Commission (JAC) has been and Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Mohd Salleh.
sending names to the Prime Minister’s De-
partment for consideration and consulta- The CJ was asked on the vacancies of
tion, and the names were also brought up the superior court judges which result in

CONTINUES ON PAGE 4

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

HOME

Malaysia and BERNAMA
Indonesia
The comments by
agree to fight Indonesian President
discrimination Joko Widodo (right)
against palm oil followed a meeting
with Prime Minister

Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim, who was
making his first
overseas trip since
being elected in

November.

BY HERU ASPRIHANTO, JOHAN PURNOMO, The European Union plans to phase the Borneo island.
STANLEY WIDIANTO & ROZANNA LATIFF out palm-oil based fuels by 2030 because “We hope the development of the cap-
Reuters of perceived links to deforestation.
ital will bring greater benefits to the wid-
BOGOR, Indonesia (Jan 9): Indonesia During their bilateral meeting, Anwar er region, including Sabah and Sarawak,”
and Malaysia, the world’s biggest produc- and Jokowi signed eight memorandums he said.
ers of palm oil, agreed on Monday (Jan 9) of understandings covering shipping, Read also:
to work together to fight “discrimination” export-import financing, green energy, Anwar: Malaysia welcomes development
against the commodity after a meeting be- the development of the battery industry, of Nusantara
tween leaders from the countries. which they said they hope would deepen
cross-border trade and investment. Exim Bank Malaysia inks MOU with
The comments by Indonesian Presi- Indonesian counterpart to strengthen
dent JokoWidodo followed a meeting with The leaders also discussed the develop- cooperation in investment, financing
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, ment of Indonesia’s planned new capital, opportunities
who was making his first overseas trip since Nusantara, with Anwar handing over 11
being elected in November. letters of interest from Malaysian compa- Reneuco: LOI in Indonesia is
nies related to possible investment in the non-binding
Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, said new city, located in the Indonesian portion
the two countries would “fight discrimina- of the Borneo island.
tion against palm oil”, and “strengthen co-
operation through the Council of Palm Oil The new capital could boost regional
Producing Countries” to address concerns. development, Anwar said, with Sabah and
Sarawak located in the Malaysian part of

FROM PAGE 3 “In other words, we would not achieve Court of Appeal president, the Chief Judge
the objective of having the appointment of of Malaya as well as the Chief Judge of Sa-
problems in empanelling quorum to hear the judiciary independent from the execu- bah and Sarawak, along with the Federal
cases on appeal at the Court of Appeal and tive if the existing provision which requires Court, Court of Appeal and High Court
Federal Court. the process of consultation with the prime judges, is made by the Yang di-Pertuan
minister remains,” she said. Agong on the advice of the PM.
Tengku Maimun said the positions were
supposed to be filled earlier but there had This, she added, is to avoid the public Last November, to ensure the independ-
been a glitch. She did not reveal what the perception who may want the non-partic- ence of JAC in carrying out its responsibil-
glitch involved was. ipation of the executive in the real sense. ities, the Rulers Conference proposed that
the appointment of five out of nine members
Normally, there are 14 Federal Court She added that is not her personal view of the JAC not be made by the PM.
judges including the top four of the judici- but the view given when asked by the spe-
ary, and 33 Court of Appeal judges as stip- cial task force that was set up to probe “Instead, it should be given to several
ulated in the Federal Constitution. former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy other institutions such as the Malaysian
Thomas’s book. Bar, Sabah Law Society, the Advocates As-
Support proposal PM does not appoint sociation of Sarawak and the Parliamenta-
five JAC members “The judiciary was required by then ry Select Committee,” Tuanku Mukhriz,
On the Rulers Conference’s suggestion that to give its feedback [on] issues which had who chaired the Rulers Conference, said.
the appointment of five members in the JAC been raised by the (TommyThomas) task
not be determined by the prime minister, force and among the proposals [was] the Last month,Tuanku Mukhriz also pro-
Tengku Maimun said the issue had been dis- improvement in the appointment of judges. posed that the JAC Act be incorporated as
cussed before the Rulers Conference and the part of the Federal Constitution to ensure
Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, “In response to that proposal, we had the independence of the judiciary.
Tuanku MuhrizTuanku Munawir. in fact suggested there should be amend- Read also:
ments made to the Federal Constitution Chief Justice says it’s Najib’s prerogative
“We welcome any suggestion and im- as well so that the suggestion of the com- to file bid with UN
provement to the judiciary. We feel that if mittee is given effect to,” she added.
the Judicial Appointments Commission Act Establish judicial academy for superior
[needs] to be amended or improved further, Presently, under the JAC, the PM can court judges, to ensure independence of
the provision [on] the appointment of judg- propose five names to be appointed to the judiciary, says CJ
es as enshrined in the Federal Constitution commission that oversees the appointment
needs to be scrutinised so that the appoint- of superior court judges (High Court, Court
ment of the judges proposed by JAC and of Appeal, and Federal Court judges).
the Federal Constitution is done in tandem.
Under Article 122B of the Federal Con-
stitution, the appointment of the CJ, the

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Prasarana Prasarana to “For the Kelana Jaya route in the last
Malaysia Bhd will spend a total of RM2.8 allocate RM2.8 bil three or four years, it has not been able to
billion to improve train and bus services, to improve train, be fully upgraded, and I admit that there
replacing train equipment and increasing are weaknesses from the maintenance as-
the number of trains and buses. bus services pect of this route, but the solution is that I
have obtained permission from the board
Prasarana president and group chief ex- Bernama of directors and the MOF to upgrade the
ecutive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah route as soon as possible,” he explained.
said the provision given by the Ministry of route which often had service disruptions
Finance (MOF) and Ministry ofTransport was also affected due to the order being sent He said Prasarana started improve-
involves the entire public transport service late to the operator. ments since the pandemic started in 2020
under the management of Prasarana fol- to increase the number of users of public
lowing high demand among city residents. “Currently, the issue we are facing is the services that is decreasing.
service that needs to be upgraded, and the
“If it is seen that improvements are supply of spare parts that is affected. Last year, the daily average num-
needed, we need to replace the equipment ber was 720,000 passengers and of that
as soon as possible, and increase the num- “Our order for train replacements at the number, 520,000 were rail service pas-
ber of trains, which is not sufficient for beginning of last year could not be delivered sengers, while nearly 200,000 were bus
the time being,” he said in the programme at the appointed time in August 2022, but passengers.
“Jendela Fikir: Membina Pengangkutan will only be received in January and May
Public Bersama” broadcast by Bernama this year,” he said. “This was still less when compared to
Radio on Monday (Jan 9). the era before the pandemic, where the
He said the almost 25-year-old Kelana number of daily passengers was very high
Mohd Azharuddin said the Covid-19 Jaya route should have been fully maintained with 1.2 million passengers.
pandemic had affected the global supply in the last three or four years, but only the
chain, and Prasarana is no exception to Ampang route was improved. “With the improvements that are cur-
the issue. rently underway, whether for rail or bus
services, we expect to be able
In fact, he said the replace- to increase the number of
ment equipment needed for passengers like before the
trains on the Kelana Jaya pandemic,” he added.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Petronas PetChem to pipeline assets and supply of natural
Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) has divest 25% stake gas contracts by Sabah Energy Corp
inked a heads of agreement to sell a 25% Sdn Bhd (SEC), which makes SEC the
stake in its wholly owned Petronas Chem- in Petronas largest domestic supplier and transporter
icals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd (PCFSB) Chemicals of natural gas in Sabah. These acquisi-
to SMJ Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned Sabah Fertiliser Sabah tions signify the increased participation
state government company. to state unit of Sabah state GLCs (government-linked
companies) in the oil and gas industry,”
The divestment is part of the group’s BY SYAFIQAH SALIM she added.
strategic efforts to position itself as a theedgemarkets.com
preferred partner in shaping and imple- At Monday (Jan 9)’s close, PetChem
menting efforts by PetChem to sustain partner, where they will be playing a key shares settled five sen or 0.6% lower at
and grow the petrochemicals business in role in PCFSB’s growth, while providing RM8.35 each, with some 5.74 million
Sabah, it said in a stock exchange release. added value to the state’s gas resources,” shares traded. At this price, the group had
PetChem managing director and chief ex- a market capitalisation of RM66.8 billion.
PCFSB was established in 2011 to ecutive officer MohdYusri MohamedYu- Read also:
construct, own, and operate an integrated sof commented in a separate statement. Granting power to Sabah is the ‘first
ammonia and urea production complex in baby step’ to fully realise MA63
the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park SMJ CEO Dr Dionysia Aloysius Kibat National Registration Dept to store
in the municipal district of Sipitang, Sa- said the stake acquisition will give Sabah 150 million physical records kept since
bah. It is the largest single train ammonia greater revenue-sharing in the oil and gas 1869 in digital form, says minister
and urea plant in Southeast Asia, and is industry in the state. Companies not complying with
designed to produce 1.9 million metric Employment Act changes, MTUC says
tons per annum of ammonia and urea. “This is in addition to the recent ac-
quisition of selected downstream gas
The completion of the divestment is
expected to be in 2023, subject to con-
ditions precedent in the agreement being
met, noted PetChem.

“We value the opportunity to further
contribute to the development of Sa-
bah. We welcome SMJ as our strategic

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Malaysia likely to see weaker GDP growth
of 4.1% on high-base effect, weakening

external environment in 2023, says SERC

BY CHESTER TAY BNM OPR vs global peers
theedgemarkets.com
Policy rate (%)
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Malaysia’s econo-
my is set to go through a “slow and normalisa- End-2021 Rate hikes/cuts (basis points) since end-Dec 2021 End-Dec End-Dec
tion” growth of 4.1% this year, down from an 2022 2023F
estimated 8.5% last year, reflecting largely the
normalisation of technical high-base effects and 0.00- United States +425 +75 4.25- 5.00-
a weakening external environment, according 0.25 Fed, FFR
to Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC). 2.00 4.50 5.25
0.25 Philippines
The research house’s executive director -0.50 BSP, ORRF +350 +50 5.50 6.00
Lee Heng Guie said moderating exports, nor- 1.00 United Kingdom
malisation of domestic demand, inflation and 4.00 +325 +50 3.50 4.00
high cost of living, and the lagged effects of 3.50 BOE, BR
interest rate hikes will weigh on domestic 1.75 Euro Area +250 +75 2.00 2.75
economic growth. 0.50
3.80 ECB, DF +225 +25 3.25 3.50
“The interplay of a weakening external South Korea
environment, the new Government’s mac- +225 +25 6.25 6.50
ro-narratives, domestic inflation, and interest BOK, BR
rates will ultimately shape Malaysia’s eco- India +200 +50 5.50 6.00
nomic growth outlook for 2023,” he told re-
porters at a briefing on the SERC Quarterly RBI, RR +100 +50 2.75 3.25
Economic Tracker report. Indonesia
BI, 7D RRR +75 +50 1.25 1.75
Globally, Lee foresees a “mild and shallow” -5 -15
recession in advanced economies like the US Malaysia Changes in 2022 Changes in 2023F 3.65 3.60
and Europe, but this is likely to be mitigated by BNM, OPR
China’s reopening,after the world’s second larg-
est economy ditched its zero-Covid-19 policy. Thailand
BOT, 1D RR
“China is a wild card to watch.We forecast a
4-5% growth for China in 2023, and a cautious China
start in the first quarter as infection cases surge PBC, 1Y Loan I/R
exponentially, before going up slowly after that.
What the [Asean] region lacks now is an influx -50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
of Chinese tourists,” he said.
Sources: Various of cials and market consensus and Socio-Economics Research Centre
Although global central banks are expect-
ed to slow down their pace in raising interest this year from the estimated 11.0% last year, domestic product (GDP) this year by cutting
rates, Lee does not foresee any of them piv- which was driven by post-pandemic pent-up development expenditure, versus the 5.8%
oting back to rate cuts this year, as inflation demand, coupled with various government budgeted in the original Budget 2023 tabled
is still far from central bankers’ targets. cash flow assistance measures like Employ- in October last year.
ees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals and
“Global inflation rates likely will cool loan repayment moratoriums. Lee cautioned that it is important for Ma-
throughout the year of 2023, but the laysia to address fiscal sustainability issues, as
cooldown period will be long and slow. We With such assistance coming to an end, the country is facing a shrinking surplus for
don’t think any central bank will cut interest Lee said consumer spending growth is likely federal government operating expenditure.
rates this year,” he said. to migrate to a more sustainable level.
“Persistent high deficits and growing debt
SERC forecasts that Bank Negara Ma- “The good news is that labour market con- can trigger investors’ concern towards fiscal
laysia would raise its overnight policy rate ditions improved to 3.6% at end-October solvency. If there are twin deficits in both
by an additional 50 basis points this year, 2022, with an increasing labour participation [the] operating and overall [federal govern-
bringing the benchmark interest rate to its rate nearing pre-pandemic levels,” he said. ment budgets, it] could undermine investors’
pre-pandemic level of 3.25% to safeguard confidence in the Government’s financial dis-
macroeconomic stability. On inflation, Lee noted that the consumer cipline management,” he said.
price index seemed to have peaked in the third
The research house expects headline in- quarter last year, and is likely to moderate Malaysia’s debt service charges to revenue
flation to range between 2.8% and 3.3% this further in 2023, following stable commodity ratio stood at 16.3% in 2021, before falling
year, easing from an estimated 3.5% last year. prices and a gradual move towards a targeted to 15.1% last year, but it is expected to surge
subsidy mechanism in Malaysia. to 16.9% in 2023, exceeding the 15% thresh-
As inflation and high interest rates eat into old of international best practices, said Lee.
consumer purchasing power, Lee said private “With the Government focusing on tack-
consumption is expected to moderate to 5.9% ling the impact of inflation and higher cost of Lee noted that the Federal Government’s
living on low- and middle-income households, direct debt stood at RM1.07 trillion or 62.8%
we expect targeted subsidy rationalisation to of GDP as at end-September last year, a re-
be implemented at a measured pace,” he said. cord-high level.

Govt may aim for lower deficit in “By end-2023, it is projected to be around
Budget 2023 65% of GDP, with statutory debt at 63% at
As the bloated subsidies raise concern about end-2023.To ensure a smooth implementa-
the Federal Government’s fiscal sustainability, tion of the 12th Malaysia Plan, the Govern-
Lee foresees that the upcoming retabling of ment may extend the statutory debt limit of
Budget 2023 on Feb 24 to continue to focus GDP in the medium term,” he said.
on fiscal consolidation. Read also: Ringgit appreciates against US
dollar at close on China’s reopening
He expects the Government to aim for a
smaller fiscal deficit of 4.5%-5.0% of gross

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): GDB Hold- GDB to resume boasted an estimated gross development
ings Bhd, the main contractor of the 8 work on 8 Conlay value of RM5.4 billion and would feature
Conlay mixed development, will now re- the world’s tallest “twisted” twin tower res-
sume work on a part of the project as it after receiving idence, amid speculations that it had not
has received partial payment from the pro- partial payment been paid. KSK Land, meanwhile, refuted
ject owner, Damai City Sdn Bhd, a unit from KSK Land claims that the group was having financial
of KSK Land Sdn Bhd. issues and told The Edge in July 2022 that
unit it remained “financially strong with suffi-
The project was previously delayed as cient resources to ensure the completion
GDB suspended work due to payment BY SYAFIQAH SALIM of the 8 Conlay project”.
issues. theedgemarkets.com
In October 2022, GDBSB sued KSK
In a statement, GDB said it would re- ings, while at the same time creating sustain- Land to recover RM120.69 million that
sume façade work on Tower A, and that able value for our shareholders,” said GDB the construction firm claimed was the sum
full work on the project will resume in managing director Cheah Ham Cheia. owed by Damai City. In its writ of sum-
early April 2023, provided Damai City mons and statement of claim filed at the
meets the agreed terms and settles the In August 2022, GDB, via its unit Grand High Court here, GDBSB contended that
outstanding amounts as scheduled. Dynamic Builders Sdn Bhd (GDBSB), KSK Land was also in breach of its obliga-
served a suspension notice to Damai City tions under the corporate guarantee.
“With the requisite conditions fulfilled and halted all works on the project, which
and uplifting of suspension of works togeth- GDB, via GDBSB, secured the RM1.25
er with the forthcoming issuance of the Ar- billion contract in 2020 from Damai City
chitect Instruction, we will remobilise and to complete the 8 Conlay project.
recommence façade works forTower A of 8 Read the full story
Conlay pursuant to the terms of agreement.

“We aim to continue reinforcing our
track record for premium high-rise build-

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Despite Ma- Henry Butcher registering double digit growth with the
laysia’s residential property market being Malaysia: Local highest expansion recorded in Q3 — is
expected to face some headwinds this year, residential market expected to face more challenges in 2023,
Henry Butcher Malaysia is confident that will not be much such as a substantial rise in prices of goods
the market is not likely to reverse gears impacted in 2023 and services, shortage of staff, an increase
along its current recovery path. in the supply of retail floor space with the
BY RACHEL CHEW completion, and the impending comple-
According to the annual property mar- theedgemarkets.com tion of a number of new malls.
ket report titled “HB Perspective. Malaysia
Property Outlook 2023” released by Hen- ZAHID IZZANI/THE EDGE Nonetheless, the lifting of travel restric-
ry Butcher Malaysia on Monday (Jan 9), tions after China relaxed its Zero Covid
the property consultant firm reckons that governance (ESG) issues and in response, policy is good news for the retail segment,
the residential property market is expect- more new office buildings will adopt de- as it could result in an increase of tourist
ed to face some headwinds and challeng- signs which will comply with ESG require- arrivals to the country, which in turn could
ing conditions in 2023, and will probably ments in order to attract such tenants,” the lead to more footfalls and sales recorded
register a slight slowdown in its pace of property consultant firm said. by malls in the main cities visited by the
growth. However, it is not likely to have Chinese tourists.
big impacts on its recovery path. On the other hand, the retail property
segment — which recorded a strong recov- “Overall, the retail property sector
“Some international economists have ery in 2022, with retail sales performance should continue to see an improvement
predicted a global recession to happen in in 2023 but the pace of growth could be
2023 and if their predictions come true, affected by the global recession, depend-
Malaysia’s economy will be impacted and ing on its severity and duration, if it does
this will ultimately affect the property mar- happen as predicted by some economists,”
ket negatively. However, local economists the firm said in the report.
believe that Malaysia will not enter a reces-
sion, although the rate of growth is expect- Commenting on the industrial property
ed to slow down,” Henry Butcher Malaysia segment, Henry Butcher Malaysia said it
said in the report. was the best-performing segment in 2022
and is likely to continue its good perfor-
Meanwhile, concerns of an oversupply mance in 2023, thanks to the overall im-
of office space in the KlangValley will con- provement in economic sectors.
tinue in 2023.The imminent completion
of a number of mega office projects in the “All economic sectors have now been
coming one- to two years will worsen the allowed to open and this will permit busi-
oversupply situation. nesses, including manufacturers and logis-
tics operators to resume normalised op-
“The looming oversupply situation may erations, while international borders have
lead to some developers rethinking about opened up and international travellers are
their new office projects and shelving or allowed into the country without having
deferring them. [Moreover], multinational to go for any Covid testing or quarantine.
and local companies have placed increasing This will ease and facilitate business, as
importance on environmental, social and well as leisure travel,”the firm said.

TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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BCorp confirms templating a major potential acquisition CSH Alliance Bhd Sen
it is in talks with involving a licensed entity which is gov- 15
potential seller of erned by BNM under the Financial Ser- Vol (mil)
licensed entity vices Act 2013 (FSA)”. 1200

BY IZZUL IKRAM BCorp, which was referring to an ar- 12 sen
theedgemarkets.com ticle in the latest issue of The Edge Ma- 1000
laysia weekly entitled “Berjaya Corp eyes
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Berjaya Corp controlling stake in MCIS Life”, did not 800 10
Bhd (BCorp) confirmed on Monday (Jan name the potential seller nor the compa-
9) that it is in talks on acquiring a company, ny to be potentially acquired, in its filing. 600
after The Edge reported that BCorp could 400 6 sen 5
be eyeing a controlling stake in life insur- “BCorp will make the necessary an-
ance company MCIS Life Bhd. nouncement in compliance with BNM 200
and Bursa Securities’ rulings upon the
The group informed Bursa Malaysia signing of the definitive agreement with 0 0
Securities in a filing that it is “in the midst the seller of the licensed entity,” it said. Jan 7, 2022 Jan 9, 2023
of negotiation with a potential seller of
a licensed entity, subject to approval of MCIS Life Bhd is a subsidiary of Source: Bloomberg
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)”. South Africa-based Sanlam Ltd.
CSH Alliance rises
This, it added, is in line with its re- Citing sources, The Edge Malaysia, in up to 22% after
cent announcement that “BCorp is con- it’s latest issue on Jan 9, reported that
BCorp has been in negotiations with obtaining electric van
South Africa-based Sanlam Ltd since manufacturing licence
last year to buy the latter’s entire 51%
stake in MCIS Life.
Read the full story

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): AmInvest- AmInvestment BY SUFI MUHAMAD
ment Bank Bhd aims to achieve at least a Bank aims theedgemarkets.com
15% growth in trade value for its foreign
investing services in the next three years. 15% growth in KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): CSH Alliance
foreign investing Bhd shares rose as much as 33% to close at
This is against the backdrop of a part- a five-month high of six sen on Monday (Jan
nership with EquitiesTracker International services via 9), after obtaining a manufacturing licence
Sdn Bhd to jointly launch the Singapore EquitiesTracker for commercial electric vans.
stock market educational campaign as a val-
ue-added service for AmInvestment Bank’s deal At 9am the group opens at five sen be-
clients for its foreign investing services. fore reaching a high of 5.5 sen by 9.24am,
BY JUSTIN LIM a 22% increase from its last closing price of
AmInvestment Bank chief execu- theedgemarkets.com 4.5 sen on Friday.
tive officer Tracy Chen Wee Keng quot-
ed findings from the bank’s equity re- education and market outlook for stake- At market close, its share price was at six
search team and said that over the past holders, namely clients and the sales force. sen — the highest since August 2022 — with
six months, they found that investors a market capitalisation of RM82.9 million.
have started to invest overseas as a hedge Stakeholders will be introduced to the
against the depreciating ringgit. latest EquitiesTracker Singapore (ETSG) The group also gained a trading volume of
Tool, with AmInvestment Bank being the 113.70 million shares, making it the second
“We believe that the stability of the first broker in Malaysia to subscribe to most active company on Bursa.
Singapore dollar is a strong justification this tool for the benefit of its stakeholders.
for investors to consider investing in the On Jan 6, its wholly-owned subsidiary Al-
Singapore stock market. By launching the Powered by complex algorithms, the liance EV Sdn Bhd obtained the manufactur-
Singapore stock market educational cam- Singapore stock selector tool is the fun- ing licence for the assembly of commercial
paign, we are convinced that we will see damental gateway to and provides full electric vans — namely the BYD T3 compact
at least a 15% growth in trade value for coverage of information on all Singapore van — with BYD Malaysia, the Malaysian
our foreign investing services in the next stocks, such as price data, screeners, and arm of China’s BYD Company Ltd.
three financial years,” Chen said during analytics, including comprehensive real
the launching ceremony. estate investment trust analytics and com- The group is now applying for an approved
parison tools. permit from the Ministry of InternationalTrade
“Our record in November 2022 and Industry (Miti) and other approvals from
showed that out of the total traded val- Read the full story relevant authorities to bring in the complete-built-
ue of RM171 million attributed to foreign up (CBU) units of BYD T3 into Malaysia for
investing services, trades on the Singa- distribution purposes before the set-up of the
pore stock market ranked fourth with a local assembly plant inTanjung Malim, Perak.
total traded value of RM25.7 million, or
15% of foreign investing services trades,” Earlier in March 2022, the group had an-
she added. nounced Alliance EV’s venture into the EV
market by signing a memorandum of under-
The Singapore stock market education- standing with BYD Malaysia.
al campaign consists of an in-depth stock
In May,Alliance EV acquired 55 acres of land
inTanjung Malim for the local EV assembly which
resides within the Automotive Hi-TechValley.

FA 190x275mm The Edge CEOMB.pdf 1 03/01/2023 5:15 PM

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M
Y
CM
MY
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CMY
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NEWS IN BRIEF

Perak Corp gets new CEO Citaglobal inks deal with Indonesian state-owned firm for battery energy
projects
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Perak Corp Bhd KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Citaglobal Bhd (formerly known as WZ Satu Bhd) has inked
has finally appointed a new chief executive a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the proposed development of a battery
officer (CEO), nearly four months after cell manufacturing plant and battery energy storage system (BESS). In a statement
Zainal Iskandar Ismail resigned from the on Monday (Jan 9), the company said the MOU with PT Industri Baterai Indonesia or
debt-ridden company. The new CEO, Rosmin Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) shall remain in effect over the next one year. IBC
Mohamed, was previously employed by the was established by four Indonesian state-owned enterprises (PT Aneka Tambang Tbk,
group’s substantial shareholder Sime Darby Mining Industry of Indonesia, Perusahaan Listrik Negara and PT Pertamina), with the
Property Bhd, said Perak Corp in a stock vision of maximising Indonesian natural resources through the development of battery
exchange filing. Perak Corp is 52.27%-owned electric vehicles and the battery industry ecosystem in Indonesia. — by Syafiqah Salim
by the Perak State Development
Corporation, and 6.13% by Sime Darby Read the full story
Property. Rosmin, 52, has over 30 years
of experience in project development AEM opens new RM65 mil AWC enters MOU with Indonesian
and management, regional development, manufacturing plant in Penang investment firm
marketing and sales, operations optimisation KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Engineering
and customer satisfaction improvement. BUTTERWORTH (Jan 9): Singapore-based services company AWC Bhd has entered
He joined Sime Darby Property Malaysia in AEM Holdings Ltd, a semiconductor test into a memorandum of understanding
June 2018 as the senior vice-president for solutions provider, has opened its new (MOU) with an Indonesian company to
Malaysia Vision Valley project. In November RM65 million manufacturing plant in jointly explore investment opportunities in
2020, he was given a new role and Penang. AEM Microtronics (M) Sdn Bhd renewable and green energy in Malaysia.
responsibility to lead the Special Economic chief executive officer Chandran Nair The Indonesian company, PT Bintang Timur
Zone Division in Sime Darby Property. said the manufacturing plant, spanning Investama, is engaged in consulting, financing
— by Chester Tay 365,000 square feet (sq ft) located at and investments in that country with an
the Prai Industrial Park, includes an issued and paid-up share capital of US$5
BTM Resources’ rights issue 10% assembly area, a quality assurance million (RM21.88 million). — by Hailey Chung
undersubscribed section, warehouse and a research and
development lab. “Previously, we had a BNM international reserves up at
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Wood processing 30,000 sq ft plant in Bayan Lepas, which US$114.6 bil as at Dec 30
firm BTM Resources Bhd’s six-for-one rights was good for the time, and now we are on KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Bank Negara
issue at eight sen each, with free detachable a much larger scale. Thus, we decided to Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose
warrants, has been under-subscribed by expand our plant by moving to Prai. “This to US$114.6 billion (RM501.72 billion) as at
10.19%. In a bourse filing, the Terengganu- new plant will enable AEM to tap into Dec 30, 2022, from US$110.3 billion as at Dec
based company said it received total valid the region’s growth opportunities while 15, according to the central bank. “The reserves
acceptances and excess applications for connecting with existing and potential level has taken into account the quarterly
921.57 million shares of the 1.03 billion customers,” he told the reporters at the foreign exchange revaluation changes. The
rights shares available under the issuance, plant’s opening ceremony officiated by reserves position is sufficient to finance 5.2
translating to an under-subscription of Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow months of imports of goods and services, and is
104.59 million rights shares. Based on the here, on Monday (Jan 9). Chandran said one time the total short-term external debt,” it
921.57 million rights shares subscribed for the facility would create more than 200 said in a statement. — theedgemarkets.com
at eight sen apiece, BTM Resources will job opportunities in various fields such as
raise RM73.73 million in proceeds, versus engineering, supply chain and more. Read the full story
RM94.71 million under the maximum — Bernama
scenario which would have seen 1.18 billion
rights shares subscribed for. — by Izzul Ikram

Read the full story Read the full story Read also:
Foreign funds kicked off 2023 with net
EP Manufacturing to sell EV motorbikes in Indonesia, Vietnam inflow of RM72.3 mil, MIDF says
Radium Development gets SC’s nod to
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): EP Manufacturing Bhd has formed a partnership with two list on Main Market
foreign companies to sell two-wheel electric vehicles (EVs) in Indonesia and Vietnam. The Managepay to jointly launch securities
group said its wholly-owned subsidiary, EP Blueshark Sdn Bhd (EBSB), has entered into a trading mobile app in Malaysia
master agreement with Averte Global Pte Ltd and Blueshark Group Ltd for the purpose MGRC partners SIRIM to explore
of capturing the e-motorbike business opportunities in the two countries. Averte is a projects in medical, biotech fields
Singapore-based green products and services provider, while Blueshark is a Hong Kong-
based two-wheel EV manufacturer, EP Manufacturing said in a bourse filing. It said that
Averte and Blueshark may form a joint venture company Averte Blueshark Asia Ltd to
purchase an initial 23,000 units of the e-motorbike from EBSB in 2023, and not less than
two million units over the five-year term of the agreement. “The proposed collaboration
will be funded via internally-generated funds and/or proceeds from equity and/or debt
financing in future,” the filing said, adding that the deal is expected to contribute positively
to EP Manufacturing’s revenues in the next five years. — by Izzul Ikram

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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Tenders Analysts see the following themes: i) strong domestic
and awards for the Mass Transit Rapid 3 possible delay in and overseas execution track records; ii)
(MRT3) may be slightly delayed from ear- MRT3 awards potential front runners for sizeable MRT3
lier expectations in the first quarter of 2023 and tenders to packages; iii) beneficiaries of asset restruc-
to the later part of the first half of the year turing/monetisation; and iv) aggressive
(1H2023), said CGS-CIMB Research. late 1H2023 strategies to grow the renewable energy
recurring income base.
In a note on Monday (Jan 9), the re- BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
search house said three diversified con- theedgemarkets.com Gamuda (“add”: target price or
tractors, namely Gamuda Bhd, IJM Corp TP: RM4.69) remains as the research
Bhd and Malaysia Resources Corp Bhd Both CGS-CIMB and HLIB kept their house’s top pick, as its regionalisation
(MRCB), are of the collective view that “neutral” rating for the construction sector. strategies are well ahead of other con-
the MRT3 project would proceed. tractors, while IJM Corp (“add”: TP:
CGS-CIMB maintained its “neutral” RM2.15) is seen as a sector big-cap
However, it said, most companies did sector rating, but still prefers stocks with laggard, with an asset monetisation or
not discount the possibility that the pro- special dividend angle.
ject may be subjected to minor reviews
or refinement in costing, and in the worst HLIB, on the other hand, said its cu-
case, it could be slightly delayed. mulative 2023 earnings forecasts for the
sector see growth at a muted 2.8%.
“IJM Corp and MRCB have, via their
own consortiums, submitted bids for all “Despite this, sector valuations are
three civil works packages, while Gamu- undemanding at 12.3 times forward
da is vying for one tender for the largest price-earnings (five-year mean), and 0.6
underground portion,” said CGS-CIMB. times price-to book value (-1 standard de-
viation in the five-year range).
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment
Bank (HLIB) Research said the much-an- “Our top picks are Gamuda (“buy”;
ticipated MRT3 civil contracts ultimately TP: RM4.15) and Sunway Construc-
did not materialise in December due to the tion Group Bhd (“buy”;TP: RM2.06),
15th general election. Post election, it not- due to their lower reliance on domes-
ed, there are uncertainties over the timing tic public infrastructure spending,” it
of mega infrastructure rerating catalysts. added.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Malaysia’s Aviation However, Maybank IB does not expect
aviation sector is set for profitability in sector set for many Chinese visitors to return to Malay-
2023 as passenger traffic continues to re- profitability sia in 2023 due to China still battling its
cover, with jet fuel prices easing and air- in 2023, says Omicron wave, the requirement for nega-
fares remaining high, said Maybank Invest- Maybank IB tive PCR tests before returning to China,
ment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB). and AirAsia Malaysia not having returned
Bernama all of its aircraft to service yet.
However, the investment bank has re-
vised downward its projection on passen- As for low-cost carrier Capital A Bhd, “Going forward, we assume that Capital
ger (pax) traffic handled by Malaysia Air- which operates AirAsia, Maybank IB ex- A’s AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Philip-
ports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to an average pects the number of passengers to have pines will restore all their flights to China
of 78% of pre-Covid levels in 2023, with continued recovering towards the end of by 2024 but assume that MAHB’s Ma-
domestic traffic at 85% and international last year, driven by the return to service laysian operations will welcome only 1.3
traffic at 70% due to the slower-than-ex- of 140 aircraft compared with 103 at end million Chinese visitors or two-thirds of
pected return to service of AirAsia’s air- of the third quarter of 2022. pre-Covid levels in 2024.
craft in Malaysia.
“In 2023, we expect Capital A’s number “The latter is because Malaysia Airlines,
It had previously expected MAHB’s pax of passengers to recover to 78 per cent of Batik Air Malaysia, and AirAsia X all cut
traffic to average 90% of pre-Covid levels 2019 levels, driven by the return to service their fleet size during the Covid-19 pan-
in 2023, with domestic passenger traffic of its entire fleet of 200 aircraft by end- demic. Thus, it will not be easy to fly the
fully recovered and the international seg- 2023,” it said. previous 2.0 million Chinese visitors from
ment hitting 80% of the pre-Covid levels. 2019 to Malaysia so soon,” it explained.
The investment bank reckons that the main
“In the long term, we expect domestic challenge for the Malaysian aviation sector in Maybank IB has maintained its “buy”
pax traffic to continue to be driven not just 2023 is returning aircraft to service after be- recommendation on both MAHB and
by the return to service of AirAsia Malay- ing left idle during the Covid-19 pandemic. Capital A.
sia’s aircraft but also by the expansion of Read also:
service by MYAirline. Another catalyst for the Malaysian avi- HLIB stays positive on tourism-related
ation sector in 2023 is the reopening of beneficiaries as China opens borders
“MYAirline aims to expand its fleet size China’s borders which could add fuel to
to 50 in five years. Similarly, internation- the recovery momentum. TA Securities: Amway to benefit from
al pax traffic will continue to be driven margin expansion amid firm ringgit,
not just by the return to service of AirAsia robust sales
Malaysia aircraft but also by the return of
foreign airlines to Malaysia,” Maybank IB
said in a research note.

It believes that the airport operator will
break even in the fourth quarter of 2022.

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M’sian Bar Hailing the law as “historic” then prime Anwar arrives in
cautions of possible minister Datuk Seri Ismail SabriYaakob said Sabah, scheduled
it aims to ensure political stability and pre-
abuse to anti- vent the country from undergoing a nev- to meet state
hopping law with er-ending state of political crisis. leaders on
politicians finding
‘creative’ loopholes However — merely weeks after GE15 — Monday night
in mid-December there was an exodus of
in post-GE15 four MPs and 15 assemblymen from Sabah Bernama
landscape Bersatu, prompting observers to note that
the anti-party-hopping law will be tested. KOTA KINABALU (Jan 9): Prime
BY TARANI PALANI & HAFIZ YATIM Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
theedgemarkets.com The four MPs contested as Gabungan arrived at Terminal 2, Kota Kina-
Rakyat Sabah candidates and questions have balu International Airport here on
PUTRAJAYA (Jan 9): While the Malay- arisen whether they risk their seats being va- Monday (Jan 9) night after a two-
sian Bar is heartened by the passing of the cated if they are found to have broken the law. day official visit to Indonesia.
anti-hopping law, it has cautioned against
politicians who may use “creative ways” to Furthermore,over the weekend,Sabah was His plane arrived at 9.41pm, and
circumvent the current law. once again embroiled in some political tur- he was greeted by Sabah Chief Min-
moil.According to news reports, beleaguered ister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who
Speaking at the opening of the Legal Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said he is also Gabungan Rakyat Sabah
Year 2023 on Monday (Jan 9), Malaysian was still the state’s chief minister as he claimed (GRS) chairman.
Bar President Karen CheahYee Lynn said he had received the support of 44 Sabah state
the recent constitutional amendments were assemblymen, including from GRS, Pakatan Entrepreneur Development and
meant to deal with “straightforward chal- Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN). Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon
lenges” in the political scene at that time. Benedick, who is also United Pro-
His statement comes after Sabah BN gressive Kinabalu Organisation
But, Cheah added the political scene has chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (UPKO) vice-president, Parti Sol-
evolved post-15th general election (GE15) insisted that the current state government idariti Tanah Airku (STAR) presi-
and warned that politicians may find new can no longer exist and that the position dent Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan,
loopholes and could potentially abuse the of chief minister held by Hajiji has been and PartiWarisan secretary general
existing law. dissolved with Sabah BN’s action of with- Datuk Loretto Padua Jr were also
drawing support from the state government present.
Citing the situation in Sabah as an exam- last Friday.
ple, Cheah said, “Since [the GE15], we have Bar moots raising retirement age of The prime minister and Dep-
seen creative ways in which politicians cir- judges uty Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr
cumvent the current frame of the anti-hop- In her speech, Cheah had also suggested Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also
ping law.We are now faced with an entirely that the retirement age of judges be raised Umno president, are scheduled to at-
new conundrum with far more complex is- from 65 to 70. tend an event with Sabah state lead-
sues such as those hopping within a coalition ers at a hotel here on Monday night,
of parties at one spectrum to a coalition of She noted that many countries have set before departing for Kuala Lumpur.
parties on the other end of the spectrum.” the retirement age at 70 and in some coun-
tries there were suggestions to increase the On Friday, Sabah Barisan Na-
Cheah added that even prior to the intro- retirement age from 75 to 80. ` sional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri
duction of the relevant amendments, the Bar Bung Moktar Radin announced
had reached out to the Minister in the Prime “The Malaysian Bar urges the government that Sabah Umno and BN had re-
Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament to make constitutional amendments to give tracted their support to Hajiji due
and Law, highlighting possible abuses that effect to this important reform,” she said, to loss of confidence in his position
could arise from resignations and expulsions. as chief minister and over a breach
She said this reform will strengthen the in an agreement between BN and
Cheah suggested amendments to the law judiciary and “retain the nation’s talent”. Perikatan Nasional (PN).
to address the complexity of the current
political landscape. Responding to this suggestion, Chief Jus- The following day, however, five
tice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said BN assemblymen stated their sup-
“We advocate legislative amendments to that although there was no collective dis- port for Hajiji and are among the
be made to address the complexity of new cussion on the matter, there was no harm 44 assemblymen who Hajiji claims
situations brought to the forefront after GE15 in looking into it. support him to remain as chief min-
— to clarify and to counter possible abuse, so ister and the head of the state gov-
as to create a credible democratic process and “We have not discussed the retirement ernment.
a stable government,” she said in her speech. age for the judges.There is no decision taken
collectively, but I suppose there is no harm The Sabah state assembly has
In July,the Dewan Rakyat passed the amend- in exploring the matter. 79 assemblymen, including six ap-
ments to the Federal Constitution to prevent pointed members.
Members of Parliament from party-hopping. “If some judges feel that the current age Read also: Five Sabah BN state
The anti-hopping law came into force in Oc- is the ideal age, [they] can always retire early reps deny having plans to form new
tober last year, a few weeks before the GE15. without waiting for the mandatory retire- party
ment age,” she said.

Cheah also suggested a Judges Remu-
neration Tribunal to revise the salaries and
allowances of judges.

Read also: AGC moots BM translation to
replace English text as authoritative version
of Federal Constitution

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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Former Gold- Roger Ng given Ng’s lawyers sought a discharge
man Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa DNAA while amounting to acquittal
was given a discharge not amounting to an At a previous case management last year,
acquittal (DNAA) by the High Court on Malaysian court Zaki also informed the court that Ng would
Monday (Jan 9). awaits conclusion most likely be in the US until 2024 to fa-
of his American cilitate the appeal process, which would
Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin take about a year.
granted the DNAA after the prosecution trial
asked for it. Jamil then said that postponing Ng’s
BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM criminal trial in Malaysia until after Feb-
Deputy public prosecutor Zaki Asyraf theedgemarkets.com ruary 2024 would be “too long” and told
Zubir, in making the submission for the the prosecution to get instructions from
DNAA, told the court that the reason for BLOOMBERG the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC)
it was that Ng is still awaiting sentencing on how to proceed with the matter.
in the US. A DNAA means that former Goldman Sachs
banker Roger Ng is discharged from the charges With this, at the case management on
A DNAA means that Ng is discharged for the time being, but he can be prosecuted with Monday, the AGC, represented by Zaki,
from the charges for the time being, but said that it wanted a DNAA because it
he can be prosecuted with the same charge the same charge again. intended to charge and carry on with the
again. case when Ng is back in Malaysia.
Ng is facing four counts of violating the
Ng was found guilty of bribery and CMSA, namely abetting Goldman Sachs “We have clearly stated that we want to
money laundering charges in relation to in the sale of notes and bonds belonging to carry on with this case. [But] because the
the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) 1MDB subsidiaries by omitting material in- DOJ (US Department of Justice) is taking so
scandal in the US last year. formation and publishing untrue statements. long, we are asking for a DNAA,” Zaki said.

In April this year, Ng — the only Gold- He is charged under Section 370(c) of However, Ng’s Malaysian lawyer Datuk
man Sachs banker to go to trial over the the CMSA, which carries a punishment of Tan Hock Chuan argued that the case has
1MDB scandal — was convicted on all up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine been hanging over the head of the court
three charges by an American jury. He fac- of at least RM1 million, upon conviction. for four years now.
es up to 30 years in prison.
Among material facts allegedly omitted “The court has the right to grant [either]
He was found guilty on two counts of in these bond issuances was the fact that a discharge amounting to an acquittal or a
conspiring to violate the US Foreign Cor- fugitive financier LowTaek Jho (Jho Low) DNAA….We are asking for an outright dis-
rupt Practices Act in relation to 1MDB by was the principal controller and interme- charge because this case has been hanging
bribing government officials in Malaysia diary of 1MDB. over the court’s head for four years,” he said.
and Abu Dhabi through bond offerings
that Goldman Sachs handled. After a brief deliberation, Jamil allowed
the DNAA requested by the prosecutors.
He was also convicted on a charge of
conspiracy to launder money, following “They (the prosecution) said that they are
a trial that spanned almost two months. trying to go through with the charges against
the accused. It is fitting that a DNAA be
The former banker had pleaded not guilty granted. I rule that the DNAA be given for
to all charges, and his lawyers have said that all four charges in the case,” he said.
he would be appealing against the conviction.
Although Ng is charged with abetment with
The sentencing is now most likely to Goldman Sachs,the charge against the US finan-
be given in February. cial institution was dropped in September 2020,
after it agreed to a US$2.5 billion (RM10.9 bil-
For the trial before Jamil, Ng is facing lion) financial settlement with Malaysia.
charges under the Capital Markets and
Services Act 2007 (CMSA).

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): A company Four charged Both men pleaded not guilty when
chief executive officer, two company direc- for scamming charges were read out to them before judge
tors and a company owner were charged at PenjanaKerjaya Rozina Ayob.
the Sessions Court here for making false to claim Perkeso
claims with and misappropriation of the One of Hazzri’s charges was read before
Employment Recruitment Incentives Pro- funds judge Suzana Hussin together with the charge
gramme (PenjanaKerjaya) funds for their of Ilham Diya Enterprise’s owner Nor Rizan
respective companies. BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM Zakaria, who was was also charged with the
theedgemarkets.com same offence for claiming RM110,800.
NVDSTechnology Sdn Bhd CEO Md
Zaidi Muhammad was charged under Sec- ly Haz Printing and Lan Trading & Con- Both of them pleaded not guilty to the
tion 24(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corrup- struction Co — made the false claims on charges. Bmine Enterprise director Mu-
tion Commission (MACC) Act for submit- behalf of both his companies, to the tune hammad Asyraf Omar had pleaded not
ting names of people or persons who do of RM61,300 and RM15,000 for Lan, and guilty to charges of claiming RM9,100 for
not work with the company as employees RM25,900 for Haz Printing. himself using the same modus operandi.
to claim the funds from the Social Security
Organisation (Perkeso) scheme. The total amount involved in all the
charges comes up to RM565,760.
Zaidi had claimed as much as
RM343,660 by submitting the false claims. All the alleged offences were commit-
ted in 2021.
Mohamed Hazzri Mohamed Amin — a Read the full story
director of two separate companies, name-

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Goldman to cut about 3,200 jobs
this week after cost review

(Jan 9): Goldman Sachs Group Inc is em- by Sridhar Natarajan its workforce at the time, and top executives
barking on one of its biggest rounds of job Bloomberg elected to forgo their bonuses.
cuts ever as it locks in on a plan to eliminate
about 3,200 positions this week, with the The bank is also poised Sharing the pain
bank’s leadership going deeper than rivals to unveil financials tied to The latest cuts represent an acknowledge-
to shed jobs. a new unit that houses its ment that even businesses that outper-
credit card and installment- formed this year will have to take the pain
The firm is expected to start the process lending business, which as well for a firm-wide performance that’s
mid-week and the total number of people will record more than $2 going to miss targets set for shareholders in
affected will not exceed 3,200, according billion in pretax losses, the a year of expense bleed.
to a person with knowledge of the matter. people said, asking not to
More than a third of those will likely be be identified discussing That performance miss was particular-
from within its core trading and banking ly evident in the new unit called Platform
units, indicating the broad nature of the private information. Solutions, whose numbers stand out in the
cuts. divisional breakdown.The more than US$2
money for companies have taken a hit across billion hit there is magnified by lending-loss
The bank is also poised to unveil fi- Wall Street, and a slump in asset prices has provisions, exacerbated by new accounting
nancials tied to a new unit that houses its eliminated another source of big gains for rules that force the firm to set aside more
credit card and instalment-lending busi- Goldman from just a year ago.Those broad- money as loan volumes grow as well as bal-
ness, which will record more than US$2 er industry trends have been compounded looning expenses.
billion (RM8.75 billion) in pretax losses, by the bank’s mistakes in its retail-banking
the people said, asking not to be identified foray where losses piled up at a much faster “There are a variety of factors impacting
discussing private information. rate than forecast through the year. the business landscape, including tighten-
ing monetary conditions that are slowing
A spokesperson for the NewYork-based That’s left the bank facing a 46% drop down economic activity,” Solomon told staff
company declined to comment. The cuts in profits, on about US$48 billion of rev- at year-end. “For our leadership team, the
in its investment bank are elevated by the enue, according to analyst estimates. Still, focus is on preparing the firm to weather
inclusion of the non front-office roles that that revenue mark has been buoyed by its these headwinds.”
were added to divisional headcount in re- trading division that will post another jump
cent years.The bank still has plans to con- this year, helping the firmwide figure notch Goldman reports its fourth-quarter re-
tinue hiring, including inducting the regular its second-best performance on record. sults on Jan 17.The cuts also come a week
analyst class later this year. before the bank’s traditional year-end com-
The final job reductions figure is signifi- pensation discussions. Even for those who
Under chief executive officer David Sol- cantly lower than earlier proposals in man- remain at the firm, compensation figures
omon, headcount has jumped 34% since agement ranks that could have eliminated are expected to tumble, especially within
the end of 2018, climbing to more than nearly 4,000 jobs. investment banking.
49,000 as of Sept 30, data show.The scale of
firings this year is also affected by the firm’s The last major exercise of this scale came It’s a stark contrast from last year, when
decision to mostly set aside its annual cut after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in staffers were getting showered with big bo-
of underperformers during the pandemic. 2008. Goldman had embarked on a plan to nus increases and a select few were even
cut more than 3,000 jobs, or nearly 10% of granted special payouts. At the time, Sol-
Slowdowns in various business lines, an omon’s US$35 million compensation for
expensive consumer-banking foray, and an 2021 put him alongside Morgan Stanley’s
uncertain outlook for markets and the econ- James Gorman as the highest paid CEO
omy are prompting the bank to batten down for a major US bank.
costs. Merger activity and fees from raising

reuters

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(Jan 9): Asia’s benchmark stock index was Asia stocks on Asia are also recovering amid indications
on track to enter a bull market, as China’s track to enter bull that the Federal Reserve will likely slow its
reopening and a weakening dollar lure in- market as China pace of interest-rate increases.
vestors back to the region.
rally extends “The US dollar is weakening, thus
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed pushing liquidity back to Asia Pacific mar-
as much as 1.9% on Monday, taking its by Youkyung Lee & Ishika Mookerjee kets,” said Banny Lam, managing director
advance from an Oct 24 low to more than Bloomberg at CEB International Investment Corp.
20%. Gauges in Hong Kong,Taiwan and “I believe it is a more sustainable rally as
South Korea led gains in the session, while Stocks in China have made a strong 2022’s dip and improving regional eco-
Japan was closed for a holiday. start to 2023 after being caught in a down- nomic outlook provide room for upside.”
ward spiral for much of last year, amid Markets at a glance
Strategists have predicted a better year concerns over the economic toll from virus ○ MSCI Asia Pacific Index up 1.7%;
for Asian equities after a dismal 2022, es- restrictions. Easing regulatory risks and ○ Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up
pecially as stocks in China, which carry the more support measures to revive the trou-
second-highest weighting in the regional bled property sector have lent an additional 1.9%; Hang Seng China Enterprises
gauge after Japan, turned a corner in No- boost to the market, helping the Asia rally. up 2%; Shanghai Composite up 0.6%;
vember, following the nation’s shift away CSI 300 up 0.8%;
from stringent virus curbs.The bull mar- A gauge of Chinese stocks listed in ○ Taiwan’s Taiex index up 2.6%;
ket milestone comes after the MSCI Asia Hong Kong climbed 2% on Monday, ○ South Korea’s Kospi index up 2.6%;
gauge tumbled nearly 40% from a peak taking its gain for the year to nearly 9%. Kospi 200 up 2.7%;
in early 2021. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd led a rally ○ Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 up 0.6%; New
in tech shares as comments by Guo Shu- Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 up 0.2%;
The Asian benchmark is up 3.7% so qing, party secretary of the People’s Bank ○ India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index up 1.4%;
far in 2023, beating the S&P 500 Index by of China, that a clampdown on the sector NSE Nifty 50 up 1.3%;
about two percentage points.That’s after is coming to an end likely gave traders fur- ○ Singapore’s Straits Times Index up
they both slumped about 19% last year, ther conviction. 0.8%; Malaysia’s KLCI up 0.9%; Phil-
their worst performance since 2008. ippine Stock Exchange Index up 1.8%;
Goldman Sachs Group Inc sees Chi- Jakarta Composite up 0.1%;
“The rally has been fast and furious, so nese stocks extending their rally on policy ○ Thailand’s SET up 0.7%;Vietnam’sVN
it is only natural to expect some profit-tak- pivots in areas including housing and inter- Index up 0.3%.
ing,” said Charu Chanana, senior strategist net regulation. Meanwhile, tech stocks in
at Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd. “There Read also: Morgan Stanley warns US
are also some risks to keep a tap on, such stocks risk 22% slump
as BOJ’s hawkish shift and company earn-
ings. But that being said, there is still room
for Asian markets to outperform global
peers in 2023.”

Crypto tops
stocks, gold in
NewYear gain
shadowed by

scepticism

by Joanna Ossinger &
Sidhartha Shukla
Bloomberg

(Jan 9): A cryptocurrency sector battered the possibility that central banks are closer to the 4% climb in Bitcoin so far in Janu-
by turmoil last year is showing some signs to calling time on rapid interest-rate hikes ary. “Selling momentum looks exhausted
of life early in 2023, posting bigger gains as inflation eases from very high levels. and there’s a better macro environment”
than other major asset classes including Some of that tentative relief has spilled but the token needs to scale key technical
stocks, bonds and gold. over into crypto, even as the threat of fur- levels like the 200-day moving average to
ther bankruptcies hangs over the industry trigger greater investor interest, he said.
The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital As- after FTX’s collapse.
sets 100 Index of top tokens is up some Some of the sharpest crypto gains lie
6% so far this month, exceeding advances “There’s a faint heartbeat — the pa- outside of the largest token Bitcoin. Sec-
of about 2% in global stocks, 1% in world tient’s not dead,” said Tony Sycamore, a ond-ranked Ether is up 9% so far this
bonds and 3% from gold, according to market analyst at IG Australia, referring
data compiled by Bloomberg. continues on Page 18

Global markets are taking heart from

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China id-19 restrictions and a property market news In brief
considering crisis. Special bonds are a key source of
record local debt funding for infrastructure, which econ- China tightens listing guidelines to
quota, wider omists expect will help fuel economic funnel funding to strategic sectors — FT
budget deficit growth of close to 5% or higher this year. (Jan 9): China’s stock regulator is set to
— sources stop local companies in certain sectors
Local governments have already been from listing on the country’s main stock
Bloomberg building up a massive special bond stock- exchanges, the Financial Times reported
pile to invest in infrastructure, with a on Monday, citing two capital markets
(Jan 9): Chinese officials are considering US$2 trillion maturity wall looming in bankers familiar with the matter. The
a record quota for special local govern- the coming years. China Securities Regulatory Commission
ment bonds this year, and widening the (CSRC) has informed bankers it has given
budget deficit target, as they ramp up At the same time, they’ve come un- some industries, including food and
support for the world’s second-largest der huge fiscal strain. Revenue from land beverage and Covid-19 testing companies,
economy, according to people familiar sales has plummeted, tax breaks were giv- a “red light” that stops them from equity
with the matter. en to businesses to help them cope with financing on Shanghai and Shenzhen main
the slowdown, while at the same time, lo- exchanges, the report said. The regulator
The authorities are discussing a spe- cal governments have had to boost spend- has also recognized a number of “yellow
cial local government bond quota of up to ing on Covid-19 testing and controls. light” sectors, which include apparel
3.8 trillion yuan (RM2.45 trillion), higher and furniture companies, where listing
than the previous record of 3.75 trillion Beijing has been using quasi-fiscal requests would come under scrutiny if
yuan, said the people, who asked not to measures, such as financing from state their growth relies heavily on debt for
be identified, because the talks are private. policy banks, to help meet demand for expansion, the report said. — Reuters
funding of infrastructure projects. Offi-
The annual quota limits the amount cial data released in November showed British PM Sunak said to have revived
of new bond sales that can be sold each that 740 billion yuan raised through pol- talks for Arm’s London IPO
year. However, last year was an excep- icy bank financing tools was invested in
tion, when the actual issuance of special infrastructure projects. BENGALURU (Jan 9): British Prime
bonds exceeded the original quota, be- Minister Rishi Sunak has revived talks with
cause local governments were allowed China’s fiscal shortfall is far bigger Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp regarding
to tap some of the unused quota from than the official deficit would imply.The a London listing for chip designer Arm
previous years. broad fiscal gap, which includes the budg- Ltd, the Financial Times (FT) reported on
ets for all levels of government, reached Monday (Jan 9). Sunak met Arm chief
Officials are also mulling a deficit tar- a record 7.75 trillion yuan in the first executive officer Rene Haas last month in
get of around 3% of gross domestic prod- 11 months of last year. Beijing had set a Downing Street and Masayoshi Son, the
uct for 2023, the people said.That would target for the official budget deficit for billionaire founder of SoftBank, joined
be higher than last year’s goal of 2.8%, the whole of 2022 at 3.37 trillion yuan. via video, the report said, citing people
yet smaller than 3.6% in 2020. familiar with the matter. The meeting
Government-linked economists have was described as “very constructive” by
The Ministry of Finance didn’t im- called on Beijing to expand the official two people briefed on the matter, and
mediately respond to Bloomberg News’ budget deficit by selling more general “positive” by another, the FT reported. Arm
request for comment. bonds to ease the debt pressure on local and SoftBank did not immediately respond
authorities. to Reuters’ request for comment. Son told
Beijing has pledged more fiscal and Read also: shareholders in June last year that he was
monetary support this year for an econ- China’s Dec new yuan loans seen in favour of a listing in the US, where most
omy emerging from three years of Cov- lower, but hitting record in 2022 of the British-based chip designer’s clients
are based, although he stressed that no
Controversial China diplomat Zhao decision had been made. — Reuters
shifted from high-profile role

from Page 17 Staking tokens Bitcoin and the gauge of top 100 digi-
Some crypto protocols seek to provide tal assets sank over 60% in 2022, hurt by
month. Solana, a token that shed al- easier and more flexible access to staking sharply tightening monetary policy and a
most all its value last year because of a rewards, and coins linked to them have series of blowups culminating in the un-
link to FTX’s fallen founder Sam Bank- surged. Examples include StakeWise’s ravelling of the FTX exchange, which owes
man-Fried, has added over 60% in the SWISE, which is up 113% in January, billions of dollars to customers.
early days of January. followed by Lido DAO (up 107%) and
Rocket Pool’s RPL (up 21%), according Trading volumes crashed and volatility
An upgrade of the Ethereum block- to data from CoinGecko. ebbed as investors fled, highlighting lin-
chain, crypto’s key commercial highway, gering worries about the risk of further
is also engendering optimism. The up- Bitcoin rose as much as 1.7% on bankruptcies in the contagion from the
grade, called Shanghai, may materialise in Monday and was trading at US$17,200 alleged fraud at FTX.
March. It will allow investors to withdraw (RM75,259) as of 7.48am in London, a Read also: Hong Kong stresses pro-cryp-
Ether they locked up to help operate the three-week high. Solana added about 19% to stance as industry reels 
network. The latter process is known as and Cardano 12%.
staking and earns rewards.

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Some ocean shipping rates collapsing,
but real price relief is months away

LOSANGELES (Jan 9):Prices in the most vol- by Lisa Baertlein “The American consumer should not be ex-
atile segment of ocean shipping are collapsing, Reuters pecting that this is going to lead to massive price
but top retailers likeWalmart and Home Depot relief.That’s just not going to happen,” said Ja-
should not expect relief until the spring contract reuters son Miller, associate professor of supply chain
renegotiation season, industry experts said. management at Michigan State University.
Stacked containers are shown as ships unload
Spot rates, which cover anywhere from 10% their cargo at the Port of Los Angeles in Los ‘Bottoming out’
to 40% of ocean container shipments and are Angeles, California. Carriers raised rates and reaped record prof-
considered a key indicator of the industry’s its during the pandemic shipping surge due
health, are in free fall as recession looms and the Major carriers like to a spike in demand for shipping services.
pandemic-fueled US import bubble deflates. Mediterranean Shipping Many carriers prioritized loads with higher
Co (MSC) and AP Moller- spot rates and bumped containers from over-
The cost to send a container from Asia to Maersk also are expecting booked ships, leading to an increase in the use
the United States on the demand-sensitive delivery of hundreds of of the spot market.
spot market has tumbled more than 80% new container ships, which
from its September peak above US$20,000 amplifies risk as carriers However, this trend began to shift toward
for a 40-foot container, according to freight already have more ships the end of last year due to a drop in the im-
booking platform Freightos. than they need to handle port of retail goods such as furniture, appli-
ances, and apparel.
Major carriers like Mediterranean Ship- shrinking demand.
ping Co (MSC) and AP Moller-Maersk also The chief executive of container shipping
are expecting delivery of hundreds of new At the same time, Maersk and other car- company Ocean Network Express, Jeremy
container ships, which amplifies risk as car- riers told investors they would continue to Nixon, said in December that short-term spot
riers already have more ships than they need prop up rates by cancelling voyages to match rates were “bottoming out.”
to handle shrinking demand. shrinking demand. They are also scrapping
small, old “rust buckets” to cut capacity. Meanwhile, long-term contract rates fin-
“There is sense of payback-time in the ished 2022 about 20% lower than the pandemic
market after the COVID years, where carri- That means shoppers will suffer from peak of more than US$8,000 per container, ac-
ers have been in absolute control,” said Peter higher prices a bit longer, experts said. cording to maritime consultancy Drewry,which
Sand, chief analyst at air and ocean freight expects contract rates to halve in 2023.That
rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. forecast would put rates at about $3,200, ver-
sus the pre-pandemic rate of around $1,500.
Nonetheless, top customers like Walmart,
Home Depot and Amazon.com will not nec- Several factors could support longer-term
essarily dictate terms during contract talks that contract rates, including upheaval from Chi-
typically happen around May, experts said. na’s COVID outbreak, war in Ukraine, and
high labor costs.
This is partly because shippers that move
thousands of containers every year want pre- Steve Schult, vice president for almond
dictable pricing. farming cooperative Blue Diamond Growers,
bets contract rates will not revisit pre-COV-
Big shippers “go into their buying season... ID levels.
wanting to know what their freight is going
to cost.They’re not interested in playing the “It’s kind of like inflation,” he said. “It
(spot) market” by shopping for lower rates, never really goes all the way back down.”
shipping expert John McCown said.

Traffic in Suez Canal normal after ship breakdown dealt with — SCA

DUBAI (Jan 9): Shipping traffic in the by Yusri Mohamed, Am al Abbas, lands-flagged bulk carrier, data from
Suez Canal was proceeding normally on Florence Tan, Alaa Swilam, trackers VesselFinder and MarineTraffic
Monday after tugs towed a cargo vessel showed.
that broke down during its passage through Mahmoud Mourad & Jonathan Spicer
the waterway, the Canal Authority said. Reuters It departed Ukraine's Chornomorsk
port on Dec. 25 bound for China with
The breakdown was expected to cause Authority (SCA) said in a statement. 65,970 metric tonnes of corn, according
only minor delays,with convoys of ships re- The Suez Canal is one of the world's busi- to the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination
suming regular transit by 11.00 local time Centre (JCC) overseeing Ukraine grain
(09.00 GMT), shipping agent Leth said. est waterways and the shortest shipping route exports.
between Europe and Asia.
The M/V Glory, which was sailing to The JCC, which includes represent-
China, suffered a technical fault when In 2021, a huge container ship, the Ever atives from the United Nations, Turkey,
it was 38km into its passage southward Given, became stuck in high winds across a Ukraine and Russia, said the ship had been
through the canal, before being towed by southern section of the canal, blocking traf- cleared to carry on its journey from Istan-
four tugs to a repair area, the Suez Canal fic for six days before it could be dislodged. bul after an inspection on Jan 3.

The M/V Glory is a Marshall Is-

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Brazil capital reels after anti-Lula
rioters storm Congress

bloomberg

by Peter Millard & Andrew Rosati
Bloomberg

(Jan 9): Brazil’s capital was recovering early Brazil’s bonds fell during the start of Euro- ter he tried to dissolve congress last month.
Monday from an insurrection by thousands pean trading on Monday,with the yield on dol- In Argentina, President Alberto Fernandez
of supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro lar-denominated notes rising five basis points is seeking to impeach the leader of the Su-
who stormed the country’s top government to 6.54%.An exchange-traded fund that tracks preme Court, after a series of clashes be-
institutions, leaving a trail of destruction and the MSCI Brazil Index fell as much as 2.4% tween the government and the justice.
testing the leadership of Luiz Inacio Lula da during early trading in London.
Silva just a week after he took office. State of alert
President Joe Biden called the storming Local governments across Brazil and big com-
Rioters ransacked congress, the presiden- “outrageous”, while leaders across Latin panies have implemented measures to avoid
tial palace and the top court in Brasilia on America and Europe were quick to pledge new episodes of violence. State-controlled oil
Sunday (Jan 8), hoping to trigger a military solidarity with Lula. On Twitter, Chile’s giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA is monitoring
intervention. It took hours for security forc- President Gabriel Boric characterised the security at its refineries to make sure it isn’t
es to regain control of the main government attacks as “unprecedented”, while Colom- exposed to protests, Jean Paul Prates, the in-
buildings. Hundreds of arrests were carried bia’s Gustavo Petro called on members of the coming chief executive officer, said on Sunday.
out through the night, but thousands of Bol- Organization of American States to convene
sonaro supporters remained in the area. and apply the democratic charter. Gleisi Hoffmann, the president of the rul-
ingWorkers’ Party, criticised the authorities
Lula, who was visiting a city destroyed by The unrest on Sunday follows months of in the capital for failing to prevent the civil
rains in the state of Sao Paulo, returned late protests in front of military installations by unrest. Lula said police who failed to con-
to capital to take stock of the situation. He de- Bolsonaro supporters who were demand- front protesters would be prosecuted.
creed federal intervention in the security of the ing an intervention to prevent Lula from
federal district, which will likely be confirmed returning to power after the runoff. In late Robert Muggah, co-founder of the Igar-
by Congress during an extraordinary session December there was a bomb scare near Bra- ape Institute, a think tank in Rio de Janeiro,
early on Monday. In a show of strength, he’s silia’s airport. More than a hundred buses called the riots the most significant threat to
likely to meet with the heads of congress and of Bolsonaro supporters arrived in Brasilia Brazilian democracy since the 1964 coup,
the top court, as well as state governors who ahead of the Sunday protests. and that it will be celebrated by many mem-
are expected to fly into Brasilia. bers of Brazil’s far right.
The former president, who left the country
“There’s no precedent for this in the history for the US to avoid taking part of the Jan 1 “They will treat this as a rallying call for
of our country,” Lula said in televised com- power transition ceremony, issued hours later future disruptions,” Muggah said. “Today’s
ments, vowing to prosecute the rioters.“We’re a half-hearted condemnation of the events. violent insurrection is a reminder that de-
going to find out who the financial backers are.” mocracy can never be taken for granted.”
“Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, are
In the early hours of Monday, top court part of democracy.But depredations and invasions Other experts said the riots are likely to
Justice Alexandre de Moraes criticized the of public buildings like we saw today,similar to the hurt the support for the far right as most
“despicable terrorist attacks on democra- acts done by the left in 2013 and 2017, are not Brazilians condemn violence.
cy” and ordered Federal District Governor within the rules,”Bolsonaro said onTwitter.— Jair
Ibaneis Rocha removed from office for 90 M Bolsonaro 22 @jairbolsonaro January 9,2023. Christian Lynch, a political scientist at
days, while his responsibility in the security the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said
breach is investigated. The events in Brazil also come at a time of Sunday’s events will do irreversible dam-
intense political volatility in Latin America, age to Bolsonaro’s movement, and that the
Moraes also gave police 24 hours to dis- a region known for its recurrent instability response from all branches of government
band Bolsonaro’s supporters who have been and social turmoil. In Peru, Pedro Castillo will be swift and unforgiving.
camping in front of military headquarters was ousted as president and swiftly jailed af-
across the country since the conservative “It will crush the legitimacy of the far
leader lost to Lula by a razor-thin margin right,” he said. “The system will bring an
in an election runoff on Oct 30. end to any tolerance for these people.”

Acts of vandalism
Protesters were draped in Brazilian flags and
wearing the yellow national jersey associated
with conservative politics when they flooded
into the country’s main government buildings
Sunday afternoon, in an event reminiscent of
the Jan 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol.

Some rioters broke windows, furniture
and carried out other acts of vandalism at
government headquarters, while others took
videos and selfies. Communications Minis-
ter Paulo Pimenta said several works of art
were damaged.

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(Jan 9): Relieved to have turned the page bloomberg many expect analysts will cut their estimates
on the worst year for stocks in more than further. If they do, that would make stocks
a decade, investors are finding that pricey Earnings remain appear pricier by lowering the denominator
share valuations and shrinking earnings still key risk for tech in the price-earnings ratio, potentially lead-
stand in the way of any swift bounceback stocks after worst ing to more selling pressure.
for BigTech. year since 2008
The S&P 500 tech sector still trades at
While price-earnings multiples have come by Ryan Vlastelica & Subrat Patnaik 20.1 times estimated earnings, above its 10-
down from their peaks during the pandemic, Bloomberg year average of 18.9, as well as the 17 mul-
many of the market’s biggest names contin- tiple of the S&P 500 overall. Apple remains
ue to look expensive. At the same time, the Microsoft, and Alphabet all remain in neg- above its long-term average, while Microsoft
profit outlook is weakening and the economy ative territory. is only slightly under its own. The two ac-
could be headed toward a recession as the count for about 11% of the overall weight
Federal Reserve aggressively raises interest A key test will arrive in coming weeks, of the S&P, and of the four biggest mega-
rates to combat inflation. as companies release results for the fourth caps, Alphabet is the only one to trade at a
quarter. Investors are concerned the reports discount to the overall market.
There are also risks to key businesses, and outlooks could underline how the back-
such as supply constraints for Apple Inc’s drop is weighing on demand, a factor that has Patrick Burton, a portfolio manager at
iPhone or weakness in online advertising for contributed to widespread layoffs at compa- Winslow Capital Management, said the mar-
Alphabet Inc and Meta Platforms Inc. A nies like Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce Inc. ket hadn’t yet priced in an earnings reces-
slowdown in business spending could mean sion, something he is confident will happen
weaker trends for cloud computing, a key Wall Street expects tech-sector earnings to this year.
driver at Amazon.com Inc. and a risk UBS fall 2.2% this year, compared with growth of
Group AG warned about in downgrading 2% for the S&P 500, according to Bloomberg “In this environment, investors are going
Microsoft Corp. Intelligence data.The consensus has dropped to be less forgiving of unprofitability, of slow-
dramatically over the past few months — at ing growth, and of weak earnings or guidanc-
The confluence of a weak backdrop and the end of September, tech earnings had es,” he said. “Big tech has been successful
shaky fundamentals suggests corporate earn- been forecast to rise 4.7% in 2023 — and for so long, but if you have a widely owned
ings, the primary driver of stock prices, could stock that is seeing decelerating growth, that’s
disappoint. Last week, profits at tech bell- a problem.Valuations are such that that any
wether Samsung Electronics Co dropped by bad news will be met with a selloff.”
the most in more than a decade.
Things have been looking up for investors
“The fundamentals of these compa- in Meta Platforms Inc, after last year’s 64%
nies are not improving, and at the margin share price fall.That drop cut the Facebook
they’re deteriorating,” said Nicholas Colas, owner’s price-earnings ratio to 12 from 28 a
co-founder of DataTrek Research, referring few years ago, making it one of the cheapest
to BigTech.“For growth stocks to work, you stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index. Dramatic
want to see improving fundamentals and cost-cutting measures, including eliminating
estimates, and we’re not seeing that right more than 11,000 jobs, have helped lift the
now, which makes it hard to argue for mul- stock 46% from its November low.
tiple expansion.” Read also: Value stocks to lure investors
during grim earnings season
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 33%
last year, its biggest annual drop since 2008.
While it is up less than 1% in 2023, Apple,

(Jan 9): Taiwanese lawmakers have passed Taiwan passes its tic chip production, in hopes of reducing
new rules that let local chip firms turn 25% chips act, offers a heavy reliance on Taiwan for advanced
of their annual research and development semiconductors and avoiding future sup-
expenses into tax credits, part of efforts to tax credits to ply disruptions.
keep cutting-edge semiconductor technolo- chipmakers
gies at home and maintain the island’s tech- To mitigate those concerns, TSMC is
nology leadership. by Debby Wu building new facilities in Japan and the
Bloomberg US, and is considering an additional site
Officials there have repeatedly said they in Germany.
will ensure the latest chip technologies re- massive incentives to build domestic sup-
main inTaiwan, a point that has been reaf- ply chains,Taiwan should bolster the global The new incentives should take effect
firmed by executives at Taiwan Semicon- competitiveness of its key industries,” Tai- sometime from 2023. Chip companies in
ductor Manufacturing Co and other local wan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said in Taiwan can also claims tax credits on 5% of
chip giants. While Taiwan’s assisted local a statement on Saturday. “The new rules the annual costs of buying new equipment
chipmakers in the past with infrastructure will help encourage Taiwanese companies for advanced process technologies, the min-
construction and other measures, the island to keep their roots here.” istry said in what’s been dubbed the local
is now stepping up its efforts. version of America’s Chips Act. Any cred-
Governments fromWashington to Seoul its earned, however, cannot exceed 50% of
Shares of TSMC and United Microe- have been offering incentives for domes- the total annual income taxes a firm owes.
lectronics Corp were up more than 4% in
Taipei on Monday, the first trading day after Procurement of equipment is the larg-
the announcement of the new rules. est cost in setting up a new chip plant. For
instance, ASML Holding NV’s essential
“As the United States, Japan, South Ko- extreme ultraviolet lithography machines
rea and the European Union are all offering now cost close to US$200 million apiece.

t u e s d a y j a n u a r y 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 22 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

The SNB expects an annual loss of news In brief
about 132 billion francs (US$143 billion
Central bank’s or RM624.39 billion), more than five times AstraZeneca to buy US-based
US$132 bil record the previous record, it said on Monday (Jan CinCor Pharma in US$1.8 bil deal
9) in preliminary results. The largest part
loss costs Swiss of this, 131 billion francs, stems from col- (Jan 9): AstraZeneca said on Monday
govt usual payout lapsed valuations of its large pile of holdings it has struck a deal to buy UUSS-based
in foreign currencies, accrued as a result of biopharmaceutical firm CinCor Pharma
by Bastian Benrath decade-long purchases to weaken the franc. Inc CINC.O for up to US$1.8 billion to
Bloomberg strengthen its pipeline of heart and
Positions in Swiss francs saw a valuation kidney drugs and grow beyond its
(Jan 9): Switzerland’s government will not loss of around one billion francs, while the mainstay cancer business. AstraZeneca
receive a payout from the Swiss Nation- SNB earned about 400 million francs on said it will pay $26 per CinCor share
al Bank (SNB) for 2022, as the central its gold holdings. in cash, or US$1.3 billion in total, a
bank projects the biggest loss in its 116- premium of nearly 121% to the stock’s
year history. It is only the second time since the SNB closing price on Friday. The offer also
was established in 1906 that it has to skip its includes a non-tradable contingent value
yearly payment to the federal government right of US$10 per share in cash payable
and Swiss cantons, forcing many of the 26 upon a specified regulatory submission
administrative districts to adjust their spend- of CinCor’s baxdrostat, which is being
ing plans. For 2021, the institution had paid developed to treat conditions including
out six billion francs. high blood pressure and kidney disease.
Including this, the offer represents a
Private shareholders will not receive a 206% premium to CinCor’s shares close
dividend for 2022 either. Unlike other cen- on Friday, Astra added. — Reuters
tral banks, the SNB is a publicly traded joint-
stock company, with about half the shares Read the full story
held by public-sector institutions and the
rest by companies and private individuals.

Earnings from the SNB’s operations do
not influence monetary policy. Final results
are due on March 6.

reuters

(Jan 9):The European Central Bank predicts ECB sees ‘very Indonesia workers plan protests
wage growth — a key indicator of where in- strong’ wage over emergency regulation on
flation is headed — will be “very strong” in growth ahead jobs law
the coming quarters, strengthening the case as more hikes JAKARTA (Jan 9): Thousands of
for more interest-rate hikes. planned Indonesian workers plan to hold protests
across the country on Saturday against an
A study of salary developments since the by Jana Randow emergency regulation signed by President
start of the pandemic shows underlying pay Bloomberg Joko Widodo to replace a controversial
growth has been “relatively moderate” and jobs law, the Labour Party chairman said
is currently close to its long-term trend, the ing — “and possibly at the one after that” on Monday. Workers will urge parliament
institution said Monday in an article to be — to avoid a wage-price spiral. to reject the regulation because its
published in its Economic Bulletin. contents hurt labour rights, said Said
Weaker economic growth is unlikely to Iqbal. The president, popularly known
Even so, “looking ahead, wage growth help much in the near term, particularly as as Jokowi, announced the emergency
over the next few quarters is expected to be a shortage of skilled labour encourages busi- decree last month to replace the 2020
very strong compared with historical pat- nesses to retain workers and pay them well. Jobs Creation law that the Constitutional
terns”, it said. “This reflects robust labour Court had ruled was flawed due to a lack
markets that so far haven’t been substantial- It will take several years for salaries to fully of public consultation. The Jobs Creation
ly affected by the slowing of the economy, adjust to recent shocks, according to ECB law revised more than 70 other laws
increases in national minimum wages and chief economist Philip Lane, who’s argued and was welcomed by foreign investors
some catch-up between wages and high rates that monitoring pay will form a large part of for cutting red tape in Southeast Asia’s
of inflation.” understanding the inflation trend. largest economy, but was controversial
because of the impact on labour rights
Price gains have exceeded the ECB’s 2% In its article, the ECB said “there are signs and environmental protection. —Reuters
goal for the past 1 1/2 years and surged above of stronger wage growth in services sectors”,
10% in late 2022.While inflation has since primarily in those lacking staff. Read the full story
come off its peak, an underlying gauge that
excludes volatile items like food and energy It also said that “beyond the near term,
hit a record high in December. the expected economic slowdown in the euro
area and uncertainty about the economic
With forecasts showing 2% inflation will outlook are likely to put downward pressure
be elusive until end-2025 and trade unions on wage growth”.
pushing for generous compensation packag-
es, the ECB has delivered an unprecedented
series of rate increases that took the deposit
rate to 2% last month.

President Christine Lagarde has flagged
another half-point hike at February’s meet-

t u e s d a y j a n u a r y 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 23 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

Ex-Citi banker Michael Klein
expected to lead nine-figure payday

in Credit Suisse deal

(Jan 9): Credit Suisse Group AG is close by Dinesh Nair, Sridhar Natarajan cerns. But the Swiss bank needs someone
to an agreement to buy Michael Klein’s & Eyk Henning to stem defections and turn the dealmak-
advisory boutique after several rounds of Bloomberg ing unit around to attract other investors
tense negotiations, according to people and free up Credit Suisse’s capital.
briefed on the talks. bloomberg
Klein is a veteran dealmaker who once
As part of the expected agreement Michael Klein is a veteran dealmaker who ran Citigroup’s investment bank and has
that’s been hashed out in recent days, once ran Citigroup’s investment bank and advised on many of the biggest global
the bank will value the firm founded by has advised on many of the biggest global transactions.
the incoming head of its First Boston
spinout at around a few hundred million transactions. Mark Klein, Michael’s brother and an
dollars, said the people, who asked not executive and stakeholder at M Klein &
to be identified as talks are private. The Credit Suisse, seeking Co, is likely to join First Boston as part
Swiss firm engaged Deutsche Bank AG to draw a line under of the deal, the people said, which could
to provide a fairness opinion, two of the years of losses and raise further questions about corporate
people said. scandals, is carving out governance. And private-equity owner-
its dealmaking businesses ship would be complicated by the fact
Credit Suisse, seeking to draw a line under a storied brand that one of the new company’s major
under years of losses and scandals, is and tapping ex-Citigroup business lines will be leveraged finance,
carving out its dealmaking businesses un- Inc banker Klein to which involves lending to those firms.
der a storied brand and tapping ex-Citi- try to return them to
group Inc banker Klein to try to return their former glory. Credit Suisse First Boston will be a
them to their former glory. An agree- partnership model, with key employees
ment can turn the focus for Klein to re- said Klein abstained from some votes having a level of ownership. The Swiss
cruiting star dealmakers and talking with on the topic. bank plans to maintain a majority stake
potential investors.The bank is gauging initially, but may move to a minority
interest from private equity firms to take Klein stepped down from Credit Su- share or pursue an initial public offer-
stakes or fund specific businesses such as isse’s supervisory board to become CEO ing for the unit, a person familiar with
leveraged finance, the people said. designate of CS First Boston as part of the matter said at the time of the an-
the bank’s major strategic revamp in Oc- nouncement in October.
The deal is expected to allow M Klein tober. But there remained the hurdle that
& Co shareholders to take an eventual he had his own advisory firm, thus the Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koern-
stake in First Boston using proceeds from unusual move by Credit Suisse to buy it er said the bank has already secured a
the sale, the people said. Klein and top in order to bring him on board. commitment from an unnamed inves-
executives at the Swiss bank clashed in tor for a US$500 million injection into
recent weeks over issues including the Shareholders who were just tapped in the business, which is expected to house
value of the boutique, with the two sides a US$4 billion (RM17.5 billion) capital the bank’s capital markets, advisory and
at one point hundreds of millions of dol- raise may raise questions over the firm leveraged finance business. Credit Su-
lars apart on its value, the people said. spending nine figures buying an ex-board isse has planned for CS First Boston to
member’s company to bolster a business initially have about US$4 billion of eq-
The parties achieved a breakthrough it’s spinning off over profitability con- uity, according to a person with direct
last week after discussions between top knowledge of the deliberations.
Credit Suisse executives and Klein, and
the tensions are said to have eased in re- Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Moham-
cent days, one person said. While hag- med bin Salman is one investor weigh-
gling over price is a part of any transac- ing whether to put about US$500 mil-
tion, the negotiations give an insight into lion into the vehicle, other people with
Klein’s importance to CS First Boston knowledge of the matter said last month.
and its effort to become an independ- Other investors may include former Bar-
ent firm. clays Plc chief executive Bob Diamond’s
Atlas Merchant Capital, the people said,
Representatives for Credit Suisse and asking not to be identified as the delib-
Klein declined to comment. erations are private. It’s unclear whether
the Crown Prince’s interest would come
Credit Suisse executives have been in a personal capacity or through oth-
aiming to avoid more turbulence in a er investment vehicles in the Kingdom.
complex reshaping while holding the line
on a deal that carries potential conflicts, The Saudi National Bank, 37% owned
the people said.The Swiss bank already by the nation’s sovereign wealth fund,
faced questions when Klein, a member was an anchor investor in Credit Su-
of the board committee that decided to isse’s capital raise and now holds a near
carve out CS First Boston, was appoint- 10% stake in the firm, making it the top
ed to run it. The firm’s chairman has shareholder.

t u e s d a y j a n u a r y 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 24 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

news In brief

Over 800,000 UK households to those already reeling from soaring prices Oil jumps 3% on demand optimism as
see mortgage rates double in 2023 of energy and other goods. Including China’s borders reopen
households on variable deals, a total of LONDON (Jan 9): Oil extended gains on
(Jan 9): Over 800,000 UK households four million UK homeowners are exposed Monday, rising more than 3% after China’s
will see their mortgage rates more than to rate rises this year, the BOE said in move to reopen its borders boosted the
double this year as they come off low December. Banks and building societies outlook for fuel demand and overshadowed
fixed-rate deals, adding to the pressure have raised their mortgage offers because global recession concerns. The rally was
on living standards. In total, more than the BOE raised interest rates from 0.1% part of a wider boost for risk sentiment
1.4 million fixed-rate borrowers will in December 2021 to 3.5% last month supported by both the reopening of
have to renew their mortgage in 2023, to tame double-digit inflation. Rates are the world’s biggest crude importer and
with 57% currently on deals of less than expected to reach between 4% and 4.5% hopes for less-aggressive increases to
2%, according to an Office for National this year. — Bloomberg U.S. interest rates, with equities rising
Statistics (ONS) analysis of Bank of and the dollar weakening. Brent crude
England (BOE) data. The average variable Read the full story was up US$1.96, or 2.5%, at US$80.53 a
rate mortgage is currently 4.41% and barrel by 1450 GMT, while US West Texas
fixed-rate deals start at around 5%. A Read also: UK credit card rates reach Intermediate crude rose US$2.10, or 2.9%,
typical fixed-rate mortgagor faces a £250 record in new blow to consumers to US$75.87. “If recession is avoided, global
(RM1,331) increase in their monthly oil demand and demand growth will remain
payments if their deal expires this year. reuters resilient,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker
The hit will squeeze incomes further for PVM, adding that developments in China
Rolls-Royce rides ongoing luxury were the main reason for Monday’s gains.
Meta oversight board okays posts demand to sales record in 2022 “The gradual reopening of the Chinese
saying ‘death to’ Iran’s leader LONDON (Jan 9): Rolls-Royce on Monday economy will provide an additional and
reported record sales last year despite an immeasurable layer of price support,” he
(Jan 9): Meta Platforms Inc’s Oversight average price tag of around US$534,000 said. The rally followed a drop last week
Board has overturned the decision for its luxury cars and a drop in Chinese of more than 8% for both oil benchmarks,
to remove a Facebook post using the demand, with orders stretching into 2023. their biggest weekly declines at the start of
slogan “death to Khamenei” to criticize The British carmaker, which began as Rolls- a year since 2016. — Bloomberg
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Royce in Manchester, England nearly 120
Khamenei, saying it did not violate a years ago and is now owned by Germany’s Read also: China issues second set of
rule barring violent threats. The board, BMW, said that it sold 6,021 cars in 2022, 2023 oil import quotas, up from 2022
which is funded by Meta but operates up from 5,586 in 2021, which was also a
independently, said in the context of the record year. Rolls-Royce’s sales were led Thailand U-turns on Covid
“broader social, political and linguistic by the Americas, with the U.S. remaining vaccination rule for visitors
situation” in Iran, “death to” should be its top market with around 35% of sales. BANGKOK (Jan 9): Thailand has
understood as “down with”, according In China, the carmaker’s second-largest rescinded an entry policy announced at
to a write-up of the decision. The slogan market, coronavirus-related lockdowns led the weekend requiring visitors to show
“marg bar Khamenei” is commonly used to a “single-digit drop” in sales. But CEO proof of a Covid-19 vaccination, its health
as a criticism of the political regime Torsten Müller-Ötvös said in an online minister said on Monday, citing sufficient
rather than a threat to the Ayatollah’s presentation that this decrease was offset immunisation levels in China and globally.
safety, the board determined. The board by growth in other markets. “Our order Anutin Charnvirakul said checking
said Meta should do more to respect book stretches far into 2023 for all models,” evidence of vaccinations was inconvenient
freedom of expression and permit the use Müller-Ötvös said. “We haven’t seen any and a panel of heath experts had agreed
of rhetorical threats. They said this case slowdown in orders.” Rolls-Royce said that to withdraw the new rule, which was
shows how the failure to do so silenced pre-orders for its fully-electric Spectre, announced on Saturday by aviation
political speech aimed at protecting due to go on sale at the end of 2023, had authorities ahead of an expected deluge
women’s rights. — Bloomberg exceeded all of its expectations. — Reuters of visitors from China, where Covid-19
cases have surged. Anutin said those not
Read the full story vaccinated would also be granted entry
without restriction. “Showing proof of
bloomberg vaccination would be cumbersome and
inconvenient, and so the group’s decision
is that it is unnecessary,” Anutin told
reporters. — Reuters

Read the full story

Read also:Thai premier joins new party
to retain power after next election

T U E S D A Y J A N U A R Y 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 25 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

WORLD

Baltic Exchange shipping updates

A weekly round-up of tanker and dry bulk market (Jan 6, 2023)

CAPESIZE

The decline in the first week of the year could continue until after the Lunar New rea via Prince Rupert for a round voyage
appeared to be no surprise to the market Year, but only time will tell. In the Atlan- with wood pellets in the low US$7,000s.
due to the lackluster activity and seasonal tic activity was seen from the US Gulf, a CLEAN
headwinds since the holiday season. The 57,000-dwt fixing a trip to the Mediterra- The Middle East Gulf has been tested hard
average rate of the Capesize 5 timechar- nean at US$18,000. Elsewhere, a 56,000- this week with fixing being conducted off
ter (5TC) routes had its sharpest fall on dwt was fixed from the Mediterranean to market and fixing levels on 2023 flat rates
Tuesday, losing almost 30% from the last West Africa at US$10,000. Little action yet to be seen on the LRs. On the MRs,
publishing day 10 days ago. Later in the was seen from South America and rates WS355 has been reported on subjects for
week the market continued falling but at remained under pressure. Asia also saw aTC17 run at the end of the week on 2022
a slower pace and finally lifted US$70 on downward pressure and again pressure flat rates — converting to approximately
Friday to close the week at US$12,543. focused on the readily available amount of WS275 on 2023 flats.
Compared with the same period last year, open tonnage. A 61,000-dwt fixing for a
the 5TC is about US$7,000 or 35% low- trip from Kwangyang to the Arabian Gulf West of Suez, LRs have been notably
er in value. Whilst the Atlantic remained at US$8,000. Meanwhile, a 53,000-dwt muted this week with hardly any fixtures
quiet, the west Australia to Qingdao trade open CJK was heard fixed for an Indone- reported in the open market.TC16 has lost
was priced below mid US$7s throughout sian round voyage at US$3,000. It remains an incremental 7.87 points to WS253.63
the week. Demand and cargo enquiry next to be seen how long it will take to absorb and TC15 dropped US$41,000 holding
week will determine which direction the excess tonnage. in the mid US$4,900,000s.
Capesize is taking before the fast approach- HANDYSIZE
ing Lunar NewYear. Sentiment remained negative, despite a The UK-Continent MRs have had
PANAMAX return for many after the holiday season, just enough activity to keep the rates sta-
Following the Christmas holidays the with further losses in both basins. East ble.TC2 held at aWS point or two below
Panamax market began sedately across Coast South America has seen levels tum- WS200 and TC19 hovered around the
the board, followed by rates coming un- ble due to a lack of enquiry with a 32,000- WS215-217.5 region.
der pressure from the outset. Downward dwt fixing from Fazendinha to the Eastern
pressure came from a lack of demand in Mediterranean at US$11,000. Meanwhile, The Handymax market in the Mediter-
both basins all week, forcing cheaper levels a 38,000-dwt fixed Santos to Morocco ranean has been in freefall this week, very
to be conceded by owners.The Atlantic did at US$15,250. In the Mediterranean, a little enquiry has led theTC6 index to fall
witness some improved South America ac- 36,000-dwt fixed basis delivery Canakkale by 57.82 points to WS234.06. Up on the
tivity, but with excess tonnage count rates to the Caribbean with an intended cargo UK-Continent TC23 remains steady at
drifted throughout the week. Following a of steels at US$7,500 for the first 40 days WS250 at the time of writing.
weak end to 2022 higher ballaster count and US$10,000 for the balance. An un-
from Southeast Asia only compounded to named handysize vessel was linked with The US Gulf MR markets has suffered
the weaker market. And, with Asia mas- fixing a cargo of sulphur from the Baltic the hardest this week, A widely report-
sively unsupported, the immediate outlook to Casablanca at US$8,000, but further ed USG/Caribs fixture at £550,000 has
appeared very bearish — US$8,000 was details had yet to emerge. In Asia, activity led the TC21 index down to that level.
agreed on an 82,000-dwt delivery China was also limited. A 30,000-dwt fixing from TC14 has also lost 12.5WS points to end
for a NoPac round trip. Consequently, Aps South East Asia to China at US$5,100 up at WS112.33 and TC18 came down
and ballast bonus deals were the norm ex and a large handy was rumoured to have to WS186.67 (-18.66). The MR Atlantic
EC South America to Far East, with var- been placed on subjects from South Ko- Triangulation Basket TCE lost US$962
ying rates depending on dates. However, from US$29,257 to US$28,295.
US$16,500 + US$650,00 was agreed a few
times for index types/dates. Period activity Read the full report
included a scrubber fitted 81,000-dwt de-
livery China fixed for five to eight months
at US$16,250.
ULTRAMAX/SUPRAMAX
The first week back for many after the hol-
idays gave little cheer to owners as both
the Pacific and Atlantic regions suffered
with limited fresh enquiry and an abun-
dance of prompt tonnage.The general feel-
ing amongst many players that this trend

T U E S D A Y J A N U A R Y 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 26 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

MARKETS

CPO RM 4,117.0065.00 OIL US$ 81.132.56 RM/USD 4.3743 RM/SGD 3.2818 RM/AUD 3.0298 RM/GBP 5.3176 RM/EUR 4.6684

Top 20 active stocks

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

CITAGLOBAL BHD 203.60 -0.005 0.340 17.24 643.7

CSH ALLIANCE BHD 113.70 0.015 0.060 50.00 82.9

SERBA DINAMIK HOLDINGS BHD 83.90 0.000 0.010 0.00 37.1

L&P GLOBAL BHD 72.10 0.060 0.570 0.00 319.2

CYPARK RESOURCES BHD 55.20 0.005 0.655 39.36 501.4

NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 53.80 0.040 0.415 33.87 74.4

HONG SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 49.60 0.015 0.165 -25.00 842.9

VELESTO ENERGY BHD 49.30 0.010 0.160 6.67 1,314.5

SWS CAPITAL BHD 44.70 0.030 0.355 20.34 97.7 World equity indices

ARTRONIQ BHD 39.90 0.015 0.820 15.49 269.2

BERJAYA CORP BHD 37.80 0.025 0.330 10.00 1,842.6 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

RGB INTERNATIONAL BHD 34.80 0.010 0.200 11.11 308.2 (%) (%)
DOW JONES 33,630.61 700.53 2.13 INDONESIA 6,688.27 3.71 0.06
DS SIGMA HOLDINGS BHD 32.60 0.015 0.635 0.00 304.8

XOX BHD 31.40 0.000 0.020 33.33 101.0 S&P 500 3,895.08 86.98 2.28 JAPAN 25,973.85 153.05 0.59

BSL CORP BHD 30.90 -0.010 0.155 19.23 43.0 NASDAQ 100 11,040.35 299.13 2.78 KOREA 2,350.19 60.22 2.63

MN HOLDINGS BHD 30 -0.025 0.27 -3.57 110.4 FTSE 100 7,689.21 -10.28 -0.13 PHILIPPINES 6,790.24 122.27 1.83

TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 29.2 -0.025 0.87 -3.87 6966.4 AUSTRALIA 7,151.33 41.73 0.59 SINGAPORE 3,305.67 28.95 0.88

KNM GROUP BHD 28.8 0 0.045 -10 165.4 CHINA 3,176.08 18.45 0.58 TAIWAN 14,752.21 378.87 2.64

SILVER RIDGE HOLDINGS BHD 26.80 0.015 0.195 44.44 38.6 HONG KONG 21,388.34 396.70 1.89 THAILAND 1,691.12 17.26 1.03

PROGRESSIVE IMPACT CORP BHD 25.9 0 0.275 5.77 180.2 INDIA 60,747.31 846.94 1.41 VIETNAM 1,054.21 2.77 0.26

Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg

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

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

CSH ALLIANCE BHD 0.060 33.33 113,707.9 50.00 82.9 PEGASUS HEIGHTS BHD 0.005 -50.00 5,900.0 -50.00 54.1

EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.020 33.33 4,121.8 0.00 60.9 COMPUGATES HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 -33.33 20.1 0.00 45.8

FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 0.020 33.33 5,923.0 0.00 127.4 SUNMOW HOLDING BHD 0.610 -32.22 10.0 -32.22 142.7

MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.020 33.33 6,327.2 -20.00 48.4 PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 0.015 -25.00 73.9 0.00 28.6

METRONIC GLOBAL BHD 0.025 25.00 1,095.1 25.00 38.3 ALAM MARITIM RESOURCES BHD 0.020 -20.00 1,572.1 -20.00 30.6

FITTERS DIVERSIFIED BHD 0.110 22.22 12,061.0 29.41 66.9 XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 0.020 -20.00 562.1 -20.00 42.3

HEXTAR TECHNOLOGIES SOLUTIONS 29.280 20.59 320.1 71.63 3766.8 DFCITY GROUP BHD 0.360 -18.18 0.1 -6.49 38.0

SOUTH MALAYSIA INDUSTRIES 0.795 18.66 795.9 30.33 166.9 G3 GLOBAL BHD 0.025 -16.67 1,370.2 -16.67 72.6

LIEN HOE CORP BHD 0.355 18.33 12.0 2.90 118.0 ZEN TECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.030 -14.29 25,580.8 50.00 24.3

PUC BHD 0.035 16.67 17,917.1 0.00 60.2 BTM RESOURCES BHD 0.095 -13.64 4,815.6 11.76 16.2

SERSOL BHD 0.250 16.28 11,399.6 8.70 149.5 SCOMI ENERGY SERVICES BHD 0.045 -10.00 100.0 -18.18 21.1

PDZ HOLDINGS BHD 0.040 14.29 1,497.1 0.00 23.3 PERMAJU INDUSTRIES BHD 0.045 -10.00 219.8 0.00 87.2

KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.045 12.50 23,711.3 12.50 29.2 TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 -9.09 21,357.0 -9.09 171.2

SAUDEE GROUP BHD 0.045 12.50 10,193.9 0.00 51.3 ECONFRAME BHD 0.865 -8.95 8,772.4 -4.42 281.1

L&P GLOBAL BHD 0.570 11.76 72,129.1 0.00 319.2 MN HOLDINGS BHD 0.270 -8.47 30,049.9 -3.57 110.4

MGB BHD 0.530 11.58 5.0 1.92 313.6 INFRAHARTA HOLDINGS BHD 0.115 -8.00 106.4 -8.00 36.7

SECUREMETRIC BHD 0.100 11.11 411.4 0.00 57.7 CITRA NUSA HOLDINGS BHD 0.060 -7.69 148.0 -7.69 43.2

SC ESTATE BUILDER BHD 0.050 11.11 46.6 11.11 53.7 TFP SOLUTIONS BHD 0.060 -7.69 380.0 -7.69 35.1

TWL HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 11.11 4,777.9 42.86 199.2 GREEN PACKET BHD 0.06 -7.69 3795.8 9.09 118.8

NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.415 10.67 53,841.4 33.87 74.4 CHUAN HUAT RESOURCES BHD 0.450 -7.22 12 -7.22 75.9

Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg

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

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

HEXTAR TECHNOLOGIES SOLUTIONS 29.280 5.000 320.1 71.63 3,766.8 SUNMOW HOLDINGS BHD 0.610 -0.290 10.00 -32.22 142.7

MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 31.160 1.160 172.4 8.34 6,197.6 KESM INDUSTRIES BHD 6.720 -0.260 23.80 -4.27 289.1

AJINOMOTO MALAYSIA BHD 14.160 0.460 84.2 8.26 860.9 KOTRA INDUSTRIES BHD 6.100 -0.200 52.60 -7.58 902.8

PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 22.700 0.400 168.7 -1.30 22,551.4 CHIN TECK PLANTATIONS BHD 8.440 -0.200 5.50 -1.40 771.1

ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD 14.600 0.380 158.8 3.11 2,598.4 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 24.760 -0.180 237.80 -1.75 7,479.9

BLD PLANTATION BHD 10.300 0.310 6.0 0.39 963.1 RIVERVIEW RUBBER ESTATES BHD 3.380 -0.110 29.80 -6.71 219.2

MISC BHD 7.490 0.280 856.6 -0.13 33,433.5 KLUANG RUBBER CO MALAYA BHD 3.900 -0.100 2.00 -1.52 242.6

PETRONAS GAS BHD 17.280 0.280 255.5 0.93 34,192.5 APB RESOURCES BHD 1.390 -0.100 1,502.50 -7.33 154.1

HONG LEONG BANK BHD 20.680 0.240 911.2 0.58 44,828.4 ECONFRAME BHD 0.865 -0.085 8,772.40 -4.42 281.1

HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.860 0.240 100.6 1.40 21,599.3 BINTULU PORT HOLDINGS BHD 4.810 -0.080 5.60 0.21 2,212.6

AEON CREDIT SERVICE M BHD 12.780 0.240 36.9 1.59 3,262.8 DFCITY GROUP BHD 0.360 -0.080 0.10 -6.49 38.0

MALAYSIA AIRPORTS HOLDINGS 6.950 0.210 6,676.0 5.95 11,531.4 UMW HOLDINGS BHD 3.550 -0.080 828.40 2.31 4,147.4

UNITED PLANTATIONS BHD 15.380 0.180 59.2 0.52 6,356.6 APOLLO FOOD HOLDINGS 3.850 -0.070 17.50 -0.26 308.0

GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.870 0.170 1,224.3 0.62 6,101.3 IMASPRO CORP BHD 5.750 -0.070 13.50 -1.71 460.0

DIALOG GROUP BHD 2.580 0.160 4,560.5 5.31 14,557.8 TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD 5.230 -0.070 2,852.80 -3.15 19,983.9

VITROX CORP BHD 7.760 0.160 136.8 1.44 7,330.5 SIGNATURE INTERNATIONAL BHD 2.400 -0.070 723.80 2.13 695.6

MASTER-PACK GROUP BHD 2.410 0.140 114.5 2.55 131.6 RAPID SYNERGY BHD 16.020 -0.060 10.40 0.38 1,712.5

KLCCP STAPLED GROUP 6.890 0.140 25.9 2.68 12,438.7 PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 8.350 -0.050 5,739.70 -2.91 66,800.0

FAR EAST HOLDINGS BHD 3.700 0.130 2.8 0 2,197.2 GUAN CHONG BHD 2.400 -0.050 242.00 0 2818.8

SOUTH MALAYSIA INDUSTRIES 0.795 0.125 795.8 30.33 166.9 SUNGEI BAGAN RUBBER CO (M) 3.35 -0.05 0.5 -0.59 222

Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jan 9, 2023 Source: Bloomberg