The Edge 25/03/21

WHICH GOVERNMENT-LINKED INSTITUTION
GETS THE MOST DIVIDENDS FOR 4Q20? p6

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 157/2021

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: In landmark decision, apex court rules hoteliers cannot use 10% service charge
to help pay minimum wage p2

Gamuda seeks trading suspension pending announcement p4
Dutaland is developing a 5-acre recreational park in Hartamas, say sources p9
WORLD: Chip shortage turns repair of Japan factory into national effort p18

Malaysia’s biodiesel
mandate ‘almost a
disgrace’, says leading

palm oil analyst

Report on Page 3.

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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PUTRAJAYA (March 24): In a landmark In landmark of service. It does not envisage monies that
judgement today that could have far-reach- decision, apex are collected for the benefit of the employ-
ing repercussions beyond hotels, the Fed- ees being utilised by the employer to offset
eral Court ruled today that hoteliers can- court rules its own liabilities,” she said.
not use the 10% service charge paid by hoteliers cannot
customers to meet the minimum wage re- use 10% service She said it is illegal for hotels to com-
quirement, and instead must pay their em- charge to help pay plain about rising costs, and use the ser-
ployees the charges collected in addition minimum wage vice charge to assist them to meet their
to their salaries. payment obligations.
BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM
Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, in a sum- theedgemarkets.com “It is not open to the hotel to complain
mary of her judgement to the press, said that its costs have increased several-fold
the 10% service charge “does not belong on whether hotels could use the service and then go on to insist that a contrac-
to the hotel” and as such, should go to charge to top up any amount below the tual benefit in the form of service charge
the employees. minimum wage, in relation to employ- be appropriated and utilised to assist it,
ees earning less than RM1,000 in basic in meeting its mandatory statutory pay-
“Service charge, being monies collect- monthly pay. ment obligations. That would run awry
ed from third parties, does not belong to of both the NWCCA 2011 and MWO
the hotel. When it is paid by a custom- The hotel had appealed to the Court 2012,” she said.
er as part of the bill, ownership in those of Appeal, but was dismissed on July 31,
monies does not vest in, or transfer to the 2017. She concluded that minimum wages
hotel,” she said. comprise the quantum of monies deter-
“Those monies at all times belonged to mined by the government as the minimum
“Ownership of the monies is immediate- the eligible employees. It is in that context sum of money to be paid as a wage under a
ly transferred and lies with the employees that the Court of Appeal likened the top- contract of service or collective agreement.
who are eligible to receive those monies.” up structure or the clean wage system as
amounting to asking the employees to pay Nallini was interpreting two questions
She said the hotel simply has the task themselves from their own monies. of law put before the court:
of collecting this money, but keeps it sep-
arate from the hotel’s funds. “Wages, by their very definition, envis- 1) Whether under the NWCCA 2011
age monies belonging to the employer be- hoteliers are entitled to utilise part
Thus, the hotels hold the charges col- ing paid to the employee under a contract or all of the employees’ service
lected “effectively in trust for the eligible charge to satisfy their statutory ob-
employees to be distributed on a specific ligations to pay the minimum wage.
date as provided for in their contracts”.
2) Whether having regard to the NWC-
“This is further evidence of a lack of CA 2011 and its subsidiary legisla-
transfer of ownership of these funds,” she tion, service charge can be incorpo-
added. rated into a clean wage or utilised
to top up the minimum wage.
Justice Nallini said the hotel acts as a
“fiduciary” or “trustee” who holds the Both questions were answered in the
money for employees until it is distrib- negative and the appeal was dismissed by
uted to them. the court.

“It follows that as the monies did not, Malaysian Association of Hotels chief
at any point in time, belong to the hotel, executive officer Yap Ling Seng told th-
there is no entitlement in law for the hotel eedgemarkets.com that this judgement will
to appropriate and utilise those monies to affect all industries that practise the service
meet the statutory obligation created by the charge model of tipping.
National Wages Council Consultative Act
2011 (NWCCA 2011) and the Minimum In Malaysia, there is no compulsory tip-
Wages Order(s) from 2012–2020 (MWO ping. However, the 10% service charge is
2012),” she said. imposed on all bills to customers for ser-
vices rendered.
Nallini was giving her judgment in a
civil appeal between Crystal Crown Ho- The service charge was introduced in
tel and Resort Sdn Bhd and the National lieu of tipping to ensure a fairer distribu-
Union of Hotel, Bar & RestaurantWorkers. tion of tips to all working staff.

Crystal Crown was seeking a judgement

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Describ- Malaysia’s Mistry, director of Godrej Internation-
ing Malaysia’s biodiesel mandate as “al- biodiesel mandate al Ltd, praised Putrajaya for zero-rating
most a disgrace”, leading palm oil analyst ‘almost a disgrace’, export duties on crude palm oil (CPO)
Dorab Mistry said the government is not last year.
“doing anything” to promote biodiesel. says leading
palm oil analyst “The Malaysian government does sen-
“I am afraid that (Malaysia’s) imple- sible things from time to time, and I spent
mentation of biodiesel is almost a disgrace. BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR the whole of last year complementing Ma-
There are individual areas where Malay- & WONG EE LIN laysia. I know that this decision was by your
sia has done brilliantly, and I am a great prime minister personally to completely
admirer of Malaysia. theedgemarkets.com exempt palm oil from all export taxes last
year, and that was a masterstroke.
“But on the implementation of biodiesel, Sarawak since September 2020 and is
you are riding on the back of Indonesia.You scheduled to be rolled out in Sabah in “At one sweep, he took away the ex-
are not doing anything to promote biodies- June 2021. port market from Indonesia and Malaysia
el, which is a sad fact,” Mistry said during became a thriving exporter,” said Dorab,
a question and answer session at the virtual Indonesia, meanwhile, has implement- noting that prices of CPO futures contracts
Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Con- ed a B30 biodiesel mandate, and plans on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are dictated
ference today. to raise it to B40 soon. by Malaysian palm oil stocks.

Malaysia’s B20 (biofuel with a 20% Mistry also expects Malaysia to “do
palm oil component) mandate for the the sensible thing” by bringing in foreign
transport sector has been delayed to De- workers in June or July to alleviate the
cember 2021 in Peninsular Malaysia. labour shortage in the country’s planta-
The mandate has been implemented in tion sector.

Palm oil prices
expected to

contract this year,
say analysts

BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR
& WONG EE LIN

theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Palm oil prices to reach US$950 and US$1,310 a 2021 CPO production is expected to come
analysts project crude palm oil (CPO) pric- tonne respectively. in below 19.5 million tonnes, with CPO
es to contract this year, saying a recovery futures trading at RM3,300 per tonne by
in supply combined with the performances In terms of production, he said global the end-2021.
of other vegetable oils will bear weight on production for palm oil will rebound by 3.2
the commodity. million tonnes for the October 2020-Sep- The EU’s CPO-Brent spread should
tember 2021 growing season, with Indo- drop from US$700 at the moment to
OilWorld editor and CEOThomas Miel- nesia’s output rising by 3.3 million tonnes around US$450 by 4Q21, based on 4Q21
ke expects prices to start declining in the Brent crude forecast of US$65 a barrel,
second quarter of 2021, but said the decline and Malaysia’s declining by Fry said.
will be moderate as long as stocks are low. 500,000 tonnes.
As for consumption, “The recovery in South East Asian CPO
“I’m convinced that until 2022, prob- global palm oil consump- output will lead to a slow rise in the Ma-
ably mid- or end of 2022, until vegeta- tion is expected to see a laysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) stocks,”
ble oil stocks, which are depleted at the slight recovery of less than he added.
moment, are being replenished to more one million tonnes during
comfortable levels. the growing season. For Godrej International Ltd director
Dorab Mistry, third month CPO futures
“Therefore, we are close to the peak Fry sees CPO futures on Bursa Malaysia can be expected to hold
or reached the peak already,” Mielke trading at RM3,300 on to the RM3,300 level until June.
said at the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ by year-end
Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Another analyst, LMC He said the price curve post-April and
Conference held virtually. International’s James May will be a downward curve with growing
Fry, said Malaysia’s weather being key for all vegetable oils and
Mielke expects the their performances from a price perspective.
prices of RBD palm
olein and crude palm CONTINUES ON PAGE 4
kernel oil (CPKO)

Thomas Mielke

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Con- Gamuda pave its way into Australia’s construction
struction giant Gamuda Bhd has request- seeks trading scene.The track record will help strength-
ed for a suspension in the trading of its suspension en the company’s future prospects for ten-
shares tomorrow, pending a material an- ders,” said UOB Kay Hian.
nouncement. pending
announcement The research house understood that
“The structured warrants relating to Gamuda’s 60%-owned SRS Consortium
Gamuda will also be suspended at the same BY SYAFIQAH SALIM has complied with all conditions needed
time,” the group said in a filing. theedgemarkets.com for the environment management plan ap-
proval, adding that Gamuda is expecting
The suspension request has drawn Gamuda Bhd RM formal approval once the Movement Con-
attention to the group’s participation in RM3.70 trol Order is over.
Penang’s Transportation Master Plan, as 4.5
well as the previous government’s plan to 4.0 March 24, 2021 Gamuda returned to the black for
take over Gamuda’s intra-city highway 3.5 the first quarter ended Oct 31, 2020
concessions, which currently appear to 3.0 with a net profit of RM109.28 million,
have been shelved. 2.5 from a net loss of RM17.34 million in
2.0 the preceding quarter. Quarterly revenue
Gamuda was also in the news earlier was down 17.54% from RM926.52 mil-
this month, when it was announced that Jan 2, 2020 lion in 4QFY20.
the group and its joint venture partner
John Holland were among the three con- Source: Bloomberg On a year-on-year basis, the quarterly
sortia shortlisted to undertake the tunnel- net profit was down 37% from RM173.61
ling works for Sydney metro railway line’s RM8.3 billion/RM6.8 billion), and the M6 million in 1QFY20, while revenue declined
GreaterWestern Sydney-Western Sydney highway project (contract value estimate: 30.28% from RM1.09 billion.
International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Air- RM7.8 billion).
port package. On Aug 27 2018, Gamuda had accept-
“We believe securing its first contract ed the offer from Pengurusan Air Selangor
UOB Kay Hian Research, in a note on in Australia will be crucial for Gamuda to Sdn Bhd for RM2.55 billion cash to ac-
March 9, said the contract is conservative- quire its 40%-owned associate company
ly estimated to be around RM8 billion. Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings
Bhd (SPLASH).
“This is the third project in Austral-
ia that Gamuda has been shortlisted for. The group said the board of directors
The work would involve constructing 11 of its 80%-owned GamudaWater Sdn Bhd
kilometres of twin metro railway tunnels, and SPLASH had accepted the offer.
including station boxes’ excavations.The
contract should be awarded by end-21, SPLASH is a wholly-owned subsidi-
with the first of four boring machines ex- ary of Splash Holdings, in which Gamu-
pected to be in the ground by mid-23,” da owns a 40% stake, while Kumpulan
the research house noted. Perangsang Selangor Bhd owns 30%.

Gamuda has also been shortlisted for Shares of Gamuda closed five sen or
the railway line’s Central/Western Tun- 1.33% lower at RM3.70 today, giving the
nelling package (contract value estimate: group a market value of RM9.3 billion. It
saw some 949,800 shares transacted.

FROM PAGE 3 consumers and hence demand for palm Ltd, said soft oil prices will help to support
will be challenged by high prices,” Mistry palm oil prices, but this would be depend-
He added, however, that the con- said, adding that Indonesia and Malaysia ent on the various performances of the
tract has the potential to bottom out at are laggards when it comes to biodiesel im- other vegetable oil complexes.
RM2,700 from July onwards. plementation.
Indonesian Palm Oil Association
According to him, in the short term He added that compared with its his- (Gapki) vice-chairman Togar Sitanggang
supply and demand will be tight for palm torical prices, palm oil is expensive. It is forecasts CPO prices in 1H21 to be at
oil, but there will be a gradual ramping up only competitive against soft oils, and that US$1,000 to US$1,150 per tonne.
of the comoodity’s production. is because soft oils are super expensive in
his view. He expects Indonesian CPO produc-
Mistry is forecasting global palm oil tion to be at 49 million tonnes in 2021, up
supply to increase by three million tonnes ‘Soft oil prices will help support palm 4.18% from 47.03 million tonnes in 2020.
in the 2020-21 Growing Season, from the oil prices’
2.5 million tonne contraction in the 2019- Pakistan-based Westbury Group’s CEO, He also expects Indonesian overall palm
20 season. Rasheed Janmohammed, said palm oil fu- oil exports to increase 10.5% to 37.56 mil-
tures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives have lion tonnes from 34.01 million in 2020.
For 2021, Mistry trimmed his estimate already gone up too much, resulting in de-
for Malaysia’s palm production to 19.6 mand rationing. Togar said that based on current prices
million tonnes from 20 million tonnes and export levies charged by the govern-
earlier, while he has also cut Indonesia’s He is forecasting CPO futures to trade ment, Indonesia has enough money for its
estimated palm oil output to 48 million between RM3,600 and RM3,800 a tonne biodiesel fund, but noted that any changes
tonnes from 49 million tonnes. in 2Q21, and between RM3,200 and in the market situation would require fast
RM3,400 from July onwards responses from the republic’s government.
“Normally, that would be bullish... but Read also: Plantation associations oppose
we are seeing some pretty horrific demand Ryan Chen, business director for oil and sector’s inclusion in HRDF Act Click here
disruption in the market because of high softseeds at Cargill Investments (China)
prices.

“Palm is traditionally the oil for poorer

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Which government-linked institution
gets the most dividends for 4Q20?

BY SULHI KHALID GLICs No of Percentage DPS for Total
theedgemarkets.com shares holdings quarter ended dividend
Dec 2020 received
KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): Based on (mil) (%) (RM) (RM mil)
the list of top 10 companies in Malaysia’s
government-linked investment companies Khazanah Nasional 3,518.53 69.56 0.00
(GLICs) portfolio (in terms of holdings size), UEM Sunrise 242.47 41.93 0.33 80.26
six GLICs are expected to receive a total divi- TIME dotCom 37.46 0.05 168.56
dend of RM2.76 billion for the fourth quarter Axiata Group 3,371.24 33.21 — 0.00
of 2020 (4Q20) based on their shareholdings. Malaysia Airports Holdings 551.03 27.22 0.05 129.91
CIMB Group Holdings 25.77 0.58 849.95
Khazanah Nasional Bhd Tenaga Nasional 2,700.81 21.57 0.08 60.94
Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasion- Telekom Malaysia 1,465.43 9.65 — 0.00
al Bhd stands to reap a total dividend of Bioalpha Holdings 0.55 — 0.00
RM1.29 billion — the highest among GLICs Malaysia Building Society 812.53 0.53 — 0.00
— based on data compiled by The Edge. Lotte Chemical Titan Holding 107.20
Employees Provident Fund 65.39 — 0.00
Khazanah,which announced a dividend of Malaysia Building Society 37.02 42.54 0.10 170.58
RM2 billion to the Malaysian government in RHB Bank 9.11 35.95
2020, reported a net profit of RM2.9 billion Malaysian Resources Corp 20.01 — 0.00
last year despite the challenging economic Bermaz Auto 4,561.05 17.86 0.01 2.90
environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tenaga Nasional 1,705.80 17.57 0.58 590.91
Globetronics Technology 1,581.54 17.23 0.03 2.79
Notably, from the top 10 companies in Axiata Group 16.75 0.05 79.01
its portfolio,Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) IJM Corp 232.33 16.70
has paid the most dividend to Khazanah, Telekom Malaysia 1,018.81 16.64 — 0.00
amounting to RM849.95 million. Sime Darby Plantation 0.08 47.27
Permodalan Nasional 111.46 0.05 62.09
TNB — in which Khazanah holds Duopharma Biotech 1,580.18
25.77% equity interest — declared a fi- S P Setia 46.66 0.06 19.77
nal single-tier dividend of 18 sen per share Axis Real Estate Investment 606.55 26.22 — 0.00
and a special single-tier dividend of 40 sen MNRB Holdings 630.25 13.57
per share for the fourth quarter of financial Velesto Energy 1,145.52 12.15 0.02 4.42
year 2020 (4QFY20) ended Dec 31, 2020. Malayan Banking 4,561.05 — 0.00
Sime Darby 1,705.80 7.5 — 0.00
Telecommunication group Axiata Group BIMB Holdings 1,581.54 7.27
Bhd is expected to deliver RM168.56 mil- Amanah Harta Tanah PNB 232.33 6.13 0.39 319.48
lion to Khazanah through its second interim UMW Holdings 1,018.81 5.07 0.06 25.02
dividend of five sen in its 4QFY20 while Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan 111.46 5.06
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd will be paying Axis Real Estate Investment 630.25 4.36 — 0.00
a total of RM129.91 million to Khazanah LBS Bina Group 1,580.18 — 0.00
from its interim dividend of 4.8 sen. CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust 606.55 0.04 2.04
Bursa Malaysia 1,145.52
Meanwhile,TIME dotCom Bhd andTel- Petronas Gas 178.00 12.34 0.02 4.00
ekom Malaysia Bhd will be handing over Inari Amertron 181.33 11.62 — 0.00
a total of RM80.26 million and RM60.94 S P Setia 235.80 11.43 4.69
million respectively. Yinson Holdings 0.02 30.79
SKP Resources 90.57 11.2 0.34 56.56
Five out of the top 10 companies did not IJM Corp 209.48 10.59 0.27 8.68
declare any dividend for the period — namely Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera 347.33 0.03 0.00
UEM Sunrise Bhd, Malaysia Airports Hold- Boustead Holdings 415.84 10.4 0.00
ings Bhd, Bioalpha Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Affin Bank 107.46 10.25 — 0.00
Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and Lotte OCK Group 120.01 10.09 — 0.00
ChemicalTitan Holding Bhd. Boustead Plantations 334.74 —
Pharmaniaga 1,204.61 9.6 —
EPF Boustead Heavy Industries Corp 732.82 9.25
While there are concerns over the relaxed DKSH Holdings Malaysia 107.89
withdrawal conditions for the i-Sinar fa- Wah Seong Corp 270.97 59.43 — 0.00
cility and with the voluntary reduction in Atlan Holdings 35.24 0.04 25.65
employees’ 2021 share of statutory contri- Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering 29.26 12.38
bution rate to 9% from 11%, the Employ- Lembaga Tabung Haji 20.27 — 0.00
ees Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to TH Plantations 12.1 0.01 1.35
receive a total dividend of RM955.55 mil- Theta Edge 8.03 11.18 0.01 0.29
lion from the top 10 companies, in terms BIMB Holdings 34.86 0.00
of shareholdings, in its portfolio. Al-’Aqar Healthcare Real Estate 8.16 — 0.00
Southern Acids Malaysia 9.89 5.09 — 0.00
Cahya Mata Sarawak 35.73 — 0.49
Taliworks Corp 652.59 4.5 0.05 0.00
Gas Malaysia 73.68 3.9 —
Malaysian Resources Corp 985.11 2.23
Ranhill Utilities 105.09
17.79 73.84 — 0.00
85.36 68.7 — 0.00
159.80 — 0.00
99.42 53.14 0.01 1.37
260.39 14.34 — 0.00
58.66 12.99 — 0.00
0.02 2.64
8.04 0.05 5.37
7.93 — 0.00
7.74 0.01 0.56

5.9
5.52

Dividend received based on direct shareholding
Compiled by The Edge

Just like Khazanah,TNB is expected to lion in dividend cheque to EPF.
hand over a total dividend of RM590.91 EPF has a direct stake of 17.86% in the
million to the provident fund while RHB
Bank Bhd is slated to pay RM170.58 mil- national utility company and 42.54% in RHB.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 7

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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FROM PAGE 6 Amount of dividend received in 4Q SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Meanwhile, Axiata will be paying a divi- GLICs Total Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir
dend of RM79 million, given the provident dividend
fund’s 17.23% stake in the telco. received EPF’s Ahmad
(RM mil) Badri is also
Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, on the oth- chairman of
er hand, will be giving RM62.09 million in Khazanah Nasional 1,289.62 RHB Bank now
dividend while EPF stands to get RM47.27
million fromTelekom Malaysia Bhd, RM2.9 Employees Provident Fund 955.55 BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
million from Bermaz Auto Bhd and RM2.79 theedgemarkets.com
million from GlobetronicsTechnology Bhd. Permodalan Nasional* 370.73
KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Chair-
Only three out of the top 10 companies Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan 104.73 man of the Employees Provident Fund
did not declare any dividend — namely (EPF),Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Za-
MBSB, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd Lembaga Tabung AngkatanTentera 27.79 hir, has taken over the chairmanship of
(MRCB) and IJM Corp Bhd. RHB Bank Bhd, effective today.
Lembaga Tabung Haji 9.93
PNB Ahmad Badri will remain as the
Based on the top 10 largest companies in TOTAL 2,758.35 chairman of EPF.
its portfolio, Permodalan Nasional Bhd
(PNB) is entitled to receive a total dividend *Direct shareholding, excluding Amanah Saham Bumiputera RHB said Ahmad Badri succeedsTan
of RM370.73 million. Compiled by The Edge Sri Azlan Zainol, who retired on Feb 28
after being with the group since 2005.
PNB — the state-controlled unit trust shareholding in the local stock exchange oper-
fund — will be receiving the largest divi- ator, Bursa Malaysia Bhd. Bursa announced According to the bank, Ahmad Badri
dend cheque through its holding in Malayan a final dividend of 26 sen per share and a spe- was appointed non-executive director
Banking Bhd (Maybank). It will be receiv- cial dividend of eight sen per share for FY20. and deputy chairman of RHB Bank on
ing a total amount of RM319.48 million. Nov 16, 2020.
KWAP will also be receiving a dividend
Notably, PNB holds a direct interest of of RM8.68 million from its holding in In- He was previously on the boards of
7.27% in Maybank, the largest financial in- ari Amertron Bhd, RM4.69 million from Bank Negara Malaysia, KumpulanWang
stitution in Malaysia in terms of asset size. CapitaLand Malaysia MallTrust and RM4 Persaraan (Diperbadankan), Permodalan
The banking group declared a final sin- million from Axis REIT. Nasional Bhd andTenaga Nasional Bhd.
gle-tier dividend of 38.5 sen in its 4QFY20.
Five out of the top 10 companies did not Ahmad Badri had served in various
Cumulatively, through its holding in the declare any dividend — namely LBS Bina capacities within the Ministry of Fi-
banking group via Amanah Saham Bumi- Group Bhd, S P Setia Bhd,Yinson Holdings nance for close to 30 years, last hold-
putera (ASB), the fund management com- Bhd,SKP Resources Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd. ing the position of Secretary General
pany stands to receive RM1.86 billion in of Treasury, the bank said.
dividend from Maybank.ASB holds a direct LTAT
interest of 41.28%. Meanwhile, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan “Ahmad Badri brings with him fresh
Tentera (LTAT) will be receiving a divi- perspective and a wealth of knowledge
The fund is also expected to receive a dend cheque of RM27.79 million for 4Q20. and experience to the group. We look
dividend of RM25.02 million from Sime forward to his able leadership and wis-
Darby Bhd as the conglomerate has an- The biggest contributor would be Affin dom as we continue to meet the chal-
nounced a dividend of six sen per share. Bank Bhd, which the fund has a 35.24% lenges brought about by the pandemic
stake in. LTAT is expected to receive and train our sight for continued growth.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company RM25.65 million from Affin Bank, based
Duopharma Biotech Bhd will be expected on the 3.5 sen dividend declared. “We are most grateful for the contri-
to hand over a dividend of RM19.78 mil- butions of our previous chairman,Tan
lion to PNB based on its six sen dividend The fund also received a dividend of Sri Azlan Zainol, for his leadership and
declared to its shareholders. RM1.35 million from Boustead Plantations guidance in shaping RHB into what it
Bhd, RM494,755 from Atlan Holdings Bhd is today.We wish him all the best in his
The other two companies — Axis Real and RM292,556 from Pharmaniaga Bhd. new role and in his journey ahead,” said
Estate InvestmentTrust (REIT) and UMW RHB group managing director Datuk
Holdings Bhd — are expected to deliver Six out of the top 10 companies did not Khairussaleh Ramli.
dividends of RM4.42 million and RM2.04 declare any dividend — namely Boustead
million respectively to PNB. Holdings Bhd, OCK Group Bhd, Boust- RHB’s share price dropped five sen
ead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd, DKSH to RM5.31 with some 4.84 million
Five out of the top 10 companies did not Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd,Wah Seong Corp shares traded.This values the group at
declare any dividend — namely S P Setia Bhd, and Malaysia Marine and Heavy En- RM21.29 billion.
Bhd, MNRB Holdings Bhd,Velesto Ener- gineering Holdings Bhd.
gy Bhd, BIMB Holdings Bhd and Amanah
Harta Tanah PNB. LTH
Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH), on the other
KWAP hand, is entitled to receive a total dividend of
KumpulanWangAmanah Persaraan (KWAP) RM9.93 million.
is slated to obtain RM104.73 million from its
top 10 companies in its portfolio. Gas Malaysia Bhd, which has declared
a dividend of 5.4 sen, will be paying LTH a
Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) is one that dividend cheque of RM5.37 million.
will pay the most dividend, amounting to
RM56.56 million to KWAP. PetGas has de- The pilgrimage fund also stands to receive
clared a dividend of 27 sen to its shareholders. RM2.64 million from Taliworks Corp Bhd,
RM1.37 million fromAl-’Aqar Healthcare REIT
Meanwhile, KWAP received a dividend and RM557,265 from Ranhill Utilities Bhd.
payment of RM30.79 million through its
Six out of the top 10 companies did not
declare any dividend — namelyTH Planta-
tions Bhd,Theta Edge Bhd, BIMB, Southern
Acids (M) Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd
and MRCB.

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Najib seeks court order to access
bank statements of companies

related to Jho Low, Zeti’s husband

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): For- BY EMIR ZAINUL laysian Anti-Corruption Commission
mer prime minister Datuk Seri Najib theedgemarkets.com (MACC) and BNM, or any other en-
Razak is seeking a court order to ob- tities having custody of the documents.
tain bank statements and other related cial owners, registers of members of the
documents of companies believed to be companies, registers of directors of the The judge has set this Friday (March
related to Low Taek Jho — also known companies, as well as correspondence 26) for a case mention of the applica-
as Jho Low — who is the purported between the banks and the companies in tion.
mastermind of the 1Malaysia Develop- respect of their transactions, including
ment Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal. emails, telegraphic transfers, remittance Malaysia Today portal, run by blogger
form, payment advice, transaction re- Raja Petra Kamaruddin, claimed in a
According to the notice of motion port, payment order, credit advice and post on Dec 28 that some of Zeti’s fam-
filed this morning by Najib’s lawyers, bank memos. ily members had received over RM100
some of the companies listed are also million from Jho Low.
believed to be related to the husband of During case management of the
former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) 1MDB-Tanore trial before High Court Following the allegation, news portal
governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequer- Free Malaysia Today (FMT) then report-
Datuk Dr Tawfiq Ayman. ah this morning, defence lawyer Tan Sri ed that Zeti’s husband and two sons
Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed admitted to knowing about the money
The companies related to Jho Low the court that he has filed the discov- in statutory declarations (SDs) signed
that are listed are Aktis Capital Singa- ery application against the prosecution. in March last year. The money was in
pore Pte Ltd, Country Group Securi- the accounts of Cutting Edge Industries
ties Pte Ltd, ACME Time Ltd (BVI), Shafee has also filed an affidavit by in Singapore, and the three admitted to
Butamba Investment Ltd, Central Hold- Najib to support the application. being the beneficial owners of the ac-
ing Ltd. The companies related to Taw- counts. FMT also said the SDs, which
fiq are Iron Rhapsody Ltd and Cutting The application compels the reve- it sighted, had been certified to be au-
Edge Industries Ltd, which are based lation of the aforementioned thentic by the attesting lawyers.
in Singapore. Another company documents from the Ma-
that is also listed in the notice The SDs, FMT wrote, also state that
of motion is law firm Sherman Zeti’s husband and sons had agreed to
and Sterling LLC. a settlement with the Singapore gov-
ernment to return the money in their
Besides bank statements, accounts to 1MDB, in return for Sin-
Najib’s lawyers are also seek- gapore dropping investigations.
ing declarations of the identi-
ties of the companies’ benefi- However, Zeti has issued a state-
ment denying allegations that she and
PATRICK GOH/THE EDGE her family had received funds from
1MDB, contending that they are com-
pletely false and malicious.

Apart from denying the allegations,
she said she was unable to make any fur-
ther statements about the allegation as
she is a potential witness in the ongoing
trial and therefore could potentially be
sub judice for her to do so.

Zeti is listed as the 26th prosecu-
tion witness in the 1MDB-Tanore trial,
in which Najib is accused of abuse of
power and money laundering of 1MDB
funds.

Read also:
1MDB: Singapore court orders
blogger to pay PM S$133,000 in
defamation case Click here

1MDB lawyer lodges report against
Lokman and Kuang state rep, cites
criminal defamation Click here

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2021 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): Duta- Dutaland is Both Dutaland and Olympia are in
land Bhd group is developing a new rec- developing property development but what sets
reational park on a five-acre plot in the them apart is that Dutaland is also in-
Hartamas area, according to sources. a 5-acre volved in plantation, while Olympia also
recreational park has leasing and number forecast opera-
“The planned green community space tor businesses.
is opposite the palace and adjacent to in Hartamas,
the Hartamas Shopping Centre,” said say sources For the six months ended Dec 31,
one source. 2020, Dutaland’s net profit jumped to
BY JOYCE GOH RM16.3 million from RM146,000 a year
“The recreational park — Laman Tu- theedgemarkets.com earlier, mainly due to stronger contri-
anku — will also have a 2-storey pavilion bution from its short-term investment
and carpark. Land clearing works have in Mukim Batu, Kuala Lumpur, that portfolio, following better overall mar-
begun and the park is expected to be measure 41.14 acres and 32.3 acres re- ket sentiment. Its revenue surged 443%
ready by next year,” added the source. spectively. to RM70.1 million from RM12.9 mil-
lion previously, due mostly to higher
Dutaland did not respond to ques- Dutaland and Olympia share com- CPO trading volume, which contributed
tions emailed to the group about this mon directors and major shareholders RM65.5 million to its topline during the
new project. through Dutaland’s group managing di- period, according to Dutaland’s results
rector and non-independent director Tan filing. At end-2020, Dutaland’s assets to-
It is learnt that the land earmarked for SriYapYong Seong (better known as Duta talled RM1.34 billion, of which RM521
the park is in the same vicinity as Duta- Yap) and his sons — Datuk SeriYap Wee million were cash and financial assets,
land’s Kenny Heights development in the Keat and Yap Wee Chun. including derivatives. It was in a net cash
Hartamas/Mont Kiara area. position, with borrowings of RM508,000.
Its net assets per share stood at RM1.47.
Kenny Heights is a joint venture (JV)
project between Dutaland’s subsidiary Olympia, on the other hand, saw its
KH Estates Sdn Bhd and Olympia Prop- net loss expanding to RM26.3 million for
erties Sdn Bhd — a wholly-owned unit the nine months ended Sept 30, 2020,
of Olympia Industries Bhd. KH Estates from RM553,000 a year earlier. Its finan-
holds 58% in the JV, while Olympia has cial performance took a hit, as its gaming
42%.The project is on two plots of land division had to temporarily close due to
movement restrictions imposed by the
Proposed site for the government to curb the spread of Cov-
id-19 during the period.The division also
Xnew recreational park recorded a higher payout ratio of 63.5%,
Jalan Jalan Sri Hartamas 1 compared with 58.5% in the correspond-
Sri Hartamas 17 ing nine months in 2019, besides lower
average sales value per draw.
Hartamas
Shopping Centre Olympia had net debt of RM150 mil-
lion as at Sept 30, 2020, which translated
to a gearing ratio of about 40%, with net
assets per share at 37 sen. Its Dec 31,
2020 results have yet to be released, as
Olympia was granted up to March 31,
2021 to submit its financials, due to the
Movement Control Order.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Former Former executive million units of 3A shares through the
executive director of Three-A Resources director of account of Tan Bee Geok between Aug
Bhd (3A), Fang Siew Yee, has been con- Three-A 27, 2009 and Oct 5, 2009,” according to
victed and sentenced for two offences re- Resources the SC.
lated to insider trading by the Kuala Lum- convicted of
pur Sessions Court. The SC alleged that the inside infor-
insider trading mation related to the proposed collective
The Securities Commission Malaysia venture between the businesses of 3A and
(SC) said in a statement Fang was sen- BY JUSTIN LIM Wilmar International Ltd involving 20%
tenced to one-day jail and a fine of RM5 theedgemarkets.com private placement of the issued and paid-
million after she pleaded guilty to two sep- up share capital of 3A to Wilmar.
arate charges of communicating inside in-
formation and acquiring shares when in At the material time, Fang was the ex-
possession of the said information. ecutive director of 3A and had represented
the company in a series of meetings and
“Fang was found to have communi- negotiations withWilmar on the proposed
cated the inside information to her un- collective venture, the regulator said.
cle, Fong Chiew Hean, on Sept 5, 2009,
who subsequently acquired 891,000 of Fang was charged in 2016, togeth-
3A shares. Fang herself also acquired 2.72 er with Fong, Tan Bee Geok and Fang
Chew Ham.

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Genting
Singapore
chairman
Lim KokThay’s
pay for pandemic
year doubles to at
least S$21.25m

Turning point Malaysia in January declared a state of theedgesingapore.com
seen for Malaysia emergency to tackle surging coronavirus
infections. That allowed Prime Minister SINGAPORE (March 24): Genting
stocks as Muhyiddin Yassin to suspend parliament Singapore’s revenue more than halved
foreigners pile in until the emergency ends in August, amid between FY2019 and FY2020 to
calls for immediate snap polls from the rul- S$1.06 billion. Its earnings for FY2020
BY CHAN TIEN HIN & ABHISHEK VISHNOI ing coalition’s largest party. was just a tenth of FY2019’s, as the
Bloomberg Covid-19 crisis hit hard, prompting the
Muhyiddin has said he will hold an elec- resorts operator to cut staff last year.
(March 24): Overseas investors have been tion as soon as the pandemic is brought
pulling out of Malaysian equities for 20 under control. He came to power in March Yet, executive chairman Lim Kok
straight months. March could mark the last year, after securing a razor-thin major- Thay pay for FY2020 more than
turn of the tide. ity, following the abrupt resignation of his doubled.
predecessor Mahathir Mohamad.
Foreigners have poured a net US$97 According to disclosures in Gen-
million into local stocks this month Monthly withdrawals ting Singapore’s 2020 annual report,
through March 22, while withdrawing a Foreign shareholdings in Malaysian Lim received remuneration of at least
combined US$1 billion from four oth- companies stood at 20.4% at the end of S$21.25 million and not more than
er Southeast Asian markets tracked by February, near the lowest in more than S$21.5 million for FY2020 ended De-
Bloomberg. a decade, according to CGS CIMB Re- cember. This represents a more than
search. Ending March with a positive 120% increase from his FY2019 re-
The inflows come as valuation of Ma- number would snap the longest run of muneration of around S$9.5 million.
laysia’s main equity gauge is now the foreign monthly withdrawals since at
cheapest in the region, while the dividend least 2009. In contrast, remuneration for
yield of 3% is the highest among major Tan Hee Teck, the company’s presi-
Asia Pacific indexes after Singapore. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI In- dent and COO was decreased from
dex, down almost 5% from a December around S$6.25 million in FY2019 to
Foreigners becoming net buyers would peak, is up 1.6% in March, poised for its S$2.75 million for FY2020.
mark a rare event for a market that saw best month this year. Beaten-down blue-
global funds pull a record US$5.7 bil- chips like casino operator Genting Bhd, The company also cut its dividend
lion last year. That’s as political upheaval banks and utilities have led the gains, as for FY2020 to just one cent a share,
combined with the Covid outbreak to sour new Covid infections slow and vaccines from 2.5 cents the year before.
sentiment, even as local investors turned are rolled out.
Malaysian glove makers into one of Asia’s In his own chairman’s statement in
hottest pandemic trades. The KLCI gauge climbed 0.5% at the the annual report, Lim calls 2020 an
close on Wednesday, halting a three-day “unprecedented” year as the resort and
“There’s a thematic play for Malaysia in decline. casino operator struggled with the pan-
a sense that it has underperformed,” said demic.“Looking ahead, we expect the
Geoffrey Ng, director at Fortress Capital Even so, Credit Suisse Group AG cut outlook to remain challenging,” he says.
Asset Management Sdn Bhd. “Part of why Malaysia to underweight from market
there was so much foreign selling earlier weight.The bank downgraded developing As at 9.52am, shares in Genting
was because of political uncertainty, which stocks due to a stronger US dollar, slow Singapore are down 2 cents or 2.13%
is fading now.” rollout of vaccines in the region and po- lower at 92 cents.
litical risks in some commodity-exporting
markets. Read also:
Lim Kok Thay: Genting Singapore’s
“Its just one month of data, so we have outlook to remain challenging on
to see if this trend continues,” said Ng. Covid-19 Click here

Malaysia’s richest tycoons and the
billions in dividends they earned in
the final quarter of 2020 Click here

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Fugi- Fugitive es after they were read out to him in the
tive Uzir Abdul Samad, also known as ‘Haji Uzir’ caught Johor Baru Sessions Court today before
Haji Uzir, who has been arrested by the Judge Aizatul Akmal Maharani. He was
Securities Commission, was charged to- and charged also denied bail as the judge fixed April
day for carrying out regulated activities of for unlicensed 14 for mention of the case.
fund management without a licence and
defrauding investors. investment According to the SC, Uzir had been on
activities the run from the authorities since 2016.
He is believed to have been picked up by
the authorities in Subang Jaya and brought BY EMIR ZAINUL In a statement, the SC confirmed Uzir
to Johor Baru to be charged as the offences theedgemarkets.com was apprehended yesterday at his Selangor
were allegedly committed there. home following a tip-off from the public.
Uzir Abdul Samad “Uzir, was a former director of UAS Bistari
According to charge sheets sighted by Management Sdn Bhd,” it said.
theedgemarkets.com, Uzir was charged
with three offences under the Capital SC deputy public prosecutor Mohd
Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA). Hafiz MohdYusoff and prosecuting officers
Mageswary Karropiah and Muhammad
In the first charge, Uzir was accused of Izzat Fauzan appeared for the prosecu-
carrying on a business in regulated activity tion, while the accused was represented
of fund management without a Capital Mar- by lawyer Azzuan Shah.
kets Services Licence issued by the Securi-
ties Commission Malaysia (SC). If found The SC had, in February, issued a no-
guilty for this, Uzir is liable to be fined up tice seeking help from the public to locate
to RM10 million or jailed up to 10 years the suspect. At the time, he was last known
or both. to be working as a Richlist Club Boutique
advisor for Richlist Club Malaysia.
In the second and third charges, Uzir
was accused of misusing the titles “fund “Providing investment advice is a regu-
manager” and “Securities Commission lated activity under the CMSA. Members
Capital Market Services Representative’s of the public are reminded to be vigilant
Licence (CMSRL) holder” to defraud in- and verify the licence or registration of
vestors, for which he could be fined not individuals, companies and platforms of-
more than RM1 million or jailed up to five fering capital market services or products
years for each of the offences if found guilty. before making any investment decisions.
This includes the provision of investment
He pleaded not guilty to all three charg- advice,” the SC said in its notice then.

PUTRAJAYA (March 24): A three-mem- Appeal Court 16 of the MACC Act 2009 but had also
ber Court of Appeal bench has today dis- dismisses been acquitted.
missed the prosecution’s appeal to con- forfeiture of
fiscate RM794,900 in the Tabung Haji RM794,900 Furthermore, Siti Sarah said the pro-
accounts of former Johor executive coun- posed seized monies had intermingled with
cillor for housing and local government against former other funds and hence, it was improper
Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi and his wife Nor Johor exco for the prosecution wanting to forfeit all.
Karmila Md Nor.
and his family She said the appellate court bench
In addition, the appellate court also up- agreed with the argument of Latif’s law-
held the Johor Bahru High Court’s deci- BY HAFIZ YATIM yers and said the MACC should have made
sion to dismiss the forfeiture of 243,603.24 theedgemarkets.com the forfeiture application under Section 55
units of Amanah Saham Bumiputera of AMLATFPUA which allows for forfei-
owned by his son Ahmad Arif Sabirin According to Latif’s lawyer Siti Sarah ture with the prosecution.
Abd Latif. Khalil, who appeared with Afifuddin Afifi
and Abdul Rahim Ali, the prosecution had Following this, the bench dismissed the
Justice Datuk Suraya Othman, who applied for forfeiture under Section 56 of prosecution’s application, the lawyer said.
led the bench, dismissed the prosecu- the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terror-
tion’s appeal and upheld the Johor Bah- ism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful The prosecution was represented by
ru High Court’s decision in disallowing Activity Act 2001 (AMLATFPUA). deputy public prosecutors Samihah Razali
the forfeiture. and Mahadi Abdul Jumaat.
The notice of forfeiture, she said, is de-
The bench, which also includes Justic- fective as that section does not apply to Reporters were not allowed to be pres-
es Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Che an accused person whereas her client had ent in today’s proceedings.
Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, unanimously ruled been charged with money laundering and
that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com- alleged corrupt practices under Section Besides this, there were other forfeiture
mission (MACC) had applied the wrong hearings against the Johor politician and his
procedure in seeking the forfeiture. family with regards to seizing the various
luxurious vehicles the family possessed,
The High Court decision was made by but all of them had been dismissed and
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Nov some are on appeal.
25, 2018. Justice Sequerah is the present
judge presiding in former prime minister It is also understood that the prosecu-
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia De- tion is appealing against Latif’s acquittal.
velopment Bhd trial.
He was acquitted with two others by
the Sessions Court on April 21, 2019, of
33 counts of graft and money laundering
of a total of RM30.3 million.

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Oil rig Velesto sinks into “At present, the group is continuing to
operatorVelesto Energy Bhd sank into the the red in 4Q with tender and negotiate for new contracts for
red in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, RM493m net loss 2021 and beyond,”the group commented on
2020 (4QFY20), reporting a net loss of the outlook of its drilling services segment.
RM493.29 million from a net profit of on impairment
RM10.2 million a year earlier. As for the oil services segment, it said the
BY SYAFIQAH SALIM demand for workover and plug and aban-
This was largely impacted by an impair- theedgemarkets.com donment activities is improving in line with
ment loss of RM460.6 million for the rig as- PETRONAS Activity Outlook 2021-2023.
sets, which were impacted by the volatility in tenders, in addition to a number of ten-
oil prices and global economy compounded ders in ASEAN countries. “The group is currently bidding for a
by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Velesto in number of available contracts being float-
a filing with Bursa Malaysia today. “Currently, two of the group’s seven jack- ed. A gradual recovery in demand is also
up drilling rigs are working. Another rig is seen for the group’s oilfield services op-
Earnings per share stood at six sen versus scheduled to commence a three-year con- eration in China.
earnings per share of 0.12 sen a year ago. tract in Malaysia-Thai Joint Development
Area by early April 2021.Two more rigs are “Due to the slow pace of recovery in
Velesto’s revenue shrank 44.38% to being mobilised to start contracts in offshore [the] global economy and the oil and gas
RM99.06 million from RM178.1 million Malaysia in April and May respectively. industry, the board is of the opinion that
in 4QFY19 mainly due to lower activities in the financial performance for 2021 will
both drilling and oilfield services segments. continue to be challenging,” it added.

On a quarterly basis, the group sank into At the closing bell, Velesto was un-
the red from a net profit of RM479,000 in changed at 17.5 sen, giving it a market
the immediate preceding quarter, while rev- capitalisation of RM1.44 billion. It saw
enue fell 24.2% from RM130.66 million in some 71.8 million shares traded.
3QFY20.
Velesto Energy Bhd’s quarterly earnings since 1QFY19
For the full financial year ended Dec
31, 2020 (FY20), Velesto reported a net Net pro t (RM mil)
loss of RM491.73 million from a net prof-
it of RM33.22 million. Its annual reve- 100 11.91 33.32 10.20 16.33 0.48
nue fell 18.5% to RM546.94 million from 0
RM670.76 million a year ago. 22.22 15.25
-100
The group said there has been an increase
in global oil and gas activities including in the -200
drilling sector where a number of contracts
have been awarded in the last three months. -300

“In Malaysia, a number of new drilling -400
contracts have been awarded and more
tenders are currently under evaluation. -500 493.29
The group is participating in most of these 4Q
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q
2019 2020
Source: Bursa Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Property Logistics, To recap, the property developer re-
developer S P Setia Bhd said it had iden- e-commerce, turned to the black in the fourth quarter
tified several potential areas for business healthcare among ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20) with a net
diversification, according to the group’s areas for S P Setia’s profit of RM55.49 million, from a net loss
2020 Annual Report released today. potential business of RM263.43 million for the immediate
diversification preceding quarter, due to the absence of
It said logistics, e-commerce, health- an impairment loss of RM336.3 million
care and assisted senior living are among BY SYAFIQAH SALIM from its 40%-owned British joint venture
the markets to be explored by the group. theedgemarkets.com (JV) Battersea Project Holding Co Ltd.

This is among the key areas to build S As property sales are the group’s key Its quarterly revenue also recovered by
P Setia’s business in a profitable yet sus- source of revenue, S P Setia said it had 3.08% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM1.11
tainable manner, noted the group. accelerated the adoption of digital tech- billion from RM1.08 billion for 3QFY20.
nologies to engage with potential buyers
S P Setia said it is constantly on the look- online by launching two apps, namely Setia However, on a yearly basis, net profit
out for partners who are able to offer differ- OnThe Go and SetiaVirtual-X, with var- dropped by 24.03% year-on-year (y-o-y)
ent areas of expertise that would comple- ious targeted advertising and promotion- to RM55.49 million from RM73.04 mil-
ment and unlock the value of its land bank. al activities during the movement control lion for 4QFY19, but quarterly revenue
order (MCO) period. grew by 39.88%.
“We seek to strategically expand our
investment property portfolio as a means For the full FY20, however, S P Setia
of business diversification and to secure was in the red with a net loss of RM321.03
steady revenue streams,” it said. million against a net profit of RM353.75
million a year earlier.
Moreover, it seeks to reduce its gearing
and maintain the optimal structure by con- At the time of writing today, S P Setia
tinuously reviewing its capital structure to was down three sen or 2.73% to RM1.07,
ensure it is able to support project devel- with some 1.22 million shares traded. At
opment and growth, besides monetising RM1.07, the group had a market capital-
selected land bank to raise funds, which isation of RM4.3 billion.
will be a key area in 2021.

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Inflation returns in February and seen
trending upwards as oil price recovers

BY SYAHIRAH SYED JAAFAR
theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Econo- PEMERKASA is Putrajaya’s latest stim- ment in domestic retail fuel prices.
mists expect Malaysia’s inflation to contin- ulus package worth RM20 billion, to jump- “The trend is anticipated to stay in
ue to trend upwards in the coming months, start the economy post-pandemic. It stands
reflecting an uptrend in global oil prices for Program Strategik Memperkasa Rak- March, with global oil prices as reflected by
which is pushing the Consumer Price In- yat dan Ekonomi (Strategic Programme Brent continue to increase this month with
dex (CPI) higher in key countries around to Empower the People and Economy). prices for the first three weeks of March
the world. averaging higher at US$67.70 per barrel
However, while cost-push pressures compared with US$62.70 per barrel in
Malaysia’s CPI rose 0.1% to 122.5 in could be low, Ahmad Nazmi said the base February,” it said in a note.
February from 122.4 in the same month effect will likely continue to be a major
last year, after almost a year of deflation factor for upward CPI growth. MIDF has revised its CPI inflation fore-
induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and a cast upward to 2.3% in 2021 from 1.8%
plunge in crude oil prices. “We expect inflation to continue to earlier, as it noted that inflationary pres-
trend upwards in y-o-y terms in the next sure is expected to increase this year on the
On a month-to-month basis, the CPI few months as a correction from a signif- back of expansionary fiscal and monetary
was up 0.3% from January, according to icant drop in oil prices during the same policies, higher commodity prices and re-
the Department of Statistics Malaysia in time last year,” Ahmad Nazmi wrote in a turning demand as the economy recovers.
a statement today. note today.
Its CPI forecast revision is in line with
The increase was supported by key He added that demand-pull pressures the upward revision of its in-house Brent
groups such as food and non-alcoholic bev- are expected to remain limited considering crude oil target price to US$59 per bar-
erages, which rose 1.4% year-on-year, and weak consumption. rel and crude palm oil (CPO) target to
miscellaneous goods and services, which RM3,000 per tonne for 2021, it said.
rose 1.6% y-o-y. While prices of non-fuel related items
rose, deflation remains in fuel-related items, “Successful vaccine rollout in the coun-
In addition, prices of transport dropped MIDF Research noted, but said it remains try will likely improve sentiments and en-
at a softer pace of 2% y-o-y, in line with on improving trend — reflecting the move- courage spending. Consumers may start
rising domestic retail fuel prices. to spend on discretionary items on better
Headline in ation Core in ation income prospects. Blanket withdrawal of
Year to date, however, the CPI is down i-Sinar could pave way for unaffected or
0.1% compared to the corresponding pe- less affected contributors to increase their
riod last year. discretionary spending,” it added.

RHB Investment Bank Bhd senior econ- UOB Malaysia economists Julia Goh
omist Ahmad Nazmi Idrus said he is keep- and Loke SiewTing are expecting the full-
ing his CPI forecast at 2% for the year, year reading of CPI to average at a higher
as he anticipates the impact of cost-push rate of 3%.
pressures to be partly mitigated, following
the government’s decision to peg RON95 “This comes as the economy is expect-
and diesel at RM2.05 and RM2.15 per litre ed to recover further following the roll-out
respectively under PEMERKASA, he said. of vaccines and additional policy support,
higher commodity prices, and year-ago low
CPI: Headline vs Core (y-o-y %) base effects.We project Brent oil prices to
hover between US$60 to US$70 per bar-
6 (%) rel this year,” they wrote in a separate note
5
4 .
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
Jan-16
May-16 Read also: Inflation is harder to meas-
Sept-16 ure after a year of pandemic spending
Jan-17 Click here
May-17
Sept-17
Jan-18
May-18
Sept-18
Jan-19
May-19
Sept-19
Jan-20
May-20
Sept-20
Jan-21

Sources: CEIC, MIDFR

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NEWS IN BRIEF

EPF approved RM19.45b for i-Lestari Globaltec announces spudding at twin well in South Sumatra
withdrawal and RM52.48b for
i-Sinar, says Tengku Zafrul KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): NuEnergy Gas Ltd, a subsidiary of Globaltec Formation
Bhd, has announced the spudding of the MU-005 (twin) well, under its Muralim
KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): A total of production sharing contract (PSC), in South Sumatra, Indonesia. In a statement today,
RM19.45 billion from withdrawals via Globaltec said the twin well is a production well from which NuEnergy will conduct
i-Lestari involving 5.23 million Employees permeability tests on coal formations and perform a few months of dewatering to
Provident Fund (EPF) members have been determine gas productivity for future development.“It is anticipated that this activity
approved up till March 12, according to will be followed by the submission of an exploration status decision proposal for the
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Indonesian government’s approval by May 2021, followed by a plan of a development
Tengku Abdul Aziz. Meanwhile, up till proposal, which upon approval will allow the exploitation and production of CBM (coal
March 14 this year, i-Sinar withdrawals of bed methane). Together with Tanjung Enim PSC and Muara Enim PSC, our strategy is
RM52.48 billion had been approved for 5.94 to create a large-size CBM development in Indonesia,” Globaltec said. — by Syahirah
million applicants. Of that amount, a total Syed Jaafar/theedgemarkets.com
of RM32.74 billion had been credited, he
said while presenting the 46th Economic EcoWorld’s unit issues RM180m sukuk Boustead Plantations posts profitable
Stimulus Implementation and Coordination 4Q, thanks to higher palm product prices
Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA) KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Eco World
report through his Facebook page here Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) said its KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Boustead
today. “Retirement planning is important wholly-owned subsidiary Eco World Capital Plantations Bhd reported a net profit of
and the public are recommended to use the Services Bhd has established a sukuk wakalah RM27.46 million for the fourth quarter
Retirement Advisory Service (RAS) provided programme of RM500 million in nominal ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20), compared
by the EPF free of charge for this purpose,” value. The subsidiary today issued RM180 with a net loss of RM172.73 million in
he said. Information on this free service can million worth of sukuk wakalah with a tenure 4QFY19, on higher palm product prices.
be found at https://www.kwsp.gov.my/ms/ of five years under the programme. EcoWorld Revenue grew 27.09% to RM227.63
member/retirement-advisory-service. said in a bourse filing that the sukuk wakalah million from RM179.1 million. The group
— Bernama programme is unrated and secured by, among declared a second interim dividend of 0.5
others, a corporate guarantee by the group. sen, to be paid on April 28. For the full
UEM Sunrise 4Q net loss widens to Proceeds from the sukuk issuance will be used FY20, the group returned to black with a
RM134m from preceding quarter for repayment of several identified existing net profit of RM42.95 million, from a net
borrowings and working capital requirements. loss of RM144.01 million in FY19, while
KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): UEM They may also go towards general corporate revenue increased 32.2% to RM763.05
Sunrise Bhd saw its net loss for the fourth purposes, refinancing of any existing million from RM577.2 million. The group
quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20) borrowings or future financing obligations, said current inventories are still extremely
widen to RM134.66 million, from RM28.87 the group said. CIMB Investment Bank Bhd low, keeping palm oil prices high for at
million in 3QFY20, on lower contribution and RHB Investment Bank Bhd are the joint least the first quarter of the year. But the
from joint ventures and associates, as principal advisers and joint lead arrangers for supply tightness is likely to ease in the
well as more impairment of assets due to the sukuk programme, as well as the joint lead second half, it added, as production is
Covid-19. Revenue, however, surged 181% managers for the sukuk issuance. — by Tan expected to rise above the previous year’s
to RM611.64 million from RM217.44 Siew Mung /theedgemarkets.com level after healthy precipitation in 2020. —
million, mainly due to settlement of the by Sulhi Khalid/theedgemarkets.com
sale of the en-bloc serviced apartment to
Scape Australia Management Pty Ltd, and Euro Holdings proposes second bonus issue in less than six months
higher sales and construction activities of
local projects. On a year-on-year basis, the KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Office furniture maker Euro Holdings Bhd has
group fell into the red from a net profit of proposed a bonus issue of up to 3.21 billion shares, on the basis of four bonus shares
RM125.21 million, while revenue dropped for every one share held. This is the office furniture maker’s second bonus issue in
47.36% from RM1.16 billion in 4QFY19. For less than six months. On Oct 8 last year, the group announced the issuance of up
the full FY20, UEM Sunrise recorded a net to 534.6 million bonus shares on the basis of two bonus shares for one share held.
loss of RM277.28 million versus a net profit In a filing today, Euro Holdings said the entitlement date for the latest bonus issue
of RM221.6 million in FY19, as revenue sank will be announced later. The bonus issue is expected to be completed by the second
60.92% to RM1.14 billion from RM2.91 quarter of 2021. Euro Holdings’ shares closed down five sen or 1.01% at RM4.90
billion. UEM Sunrise plans to launch about today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.93 billion. Over the past-one year, the
RM1.2 billion worth of properties this year, stock has leapt by over 60 times from eight sen. — by Justin Lim/theedgemarkets.com
mainly in the central region. — by Syafiqah
Salim/theedgemarkets.com

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HOME

PUTRAJAYA (March 24): The AstraZene- AstraZeneca Adham said the Ministry of Health (MoH)
ca Covid-19 vaccine is safe for use in Ma- Covid-19 vaccine is committed to carrying out continuous mon-
laysia, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr itoring to ensure the quality, safety and effec-
Adham Baba. safe for use in tiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines are always
Malaysia, says guaranteed.
He said AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine safe-
ty data, obtained from clinical studies as of Nov Adham Recipients can report adverse effects follow-
4, 2020 involving 12,000 volunteers, showed ing Covid-19 vaccine jabs through health per-
that no serious side effects were reported. Bernama sonnel directly to the NPRA website at www.
npra.gov.my or through the MySejahtera ap-
The usual side effects frequently reported ca Covid-19 vaccine in the European Union plication for mild adverse effects, he said.
were soreness at the site of inoculation, leth- (EU) and the UK as of March 8, with 15
argy, headaches and others classified as mild cases of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and On March 15, National Covid-19 Immu-
or moderate onsets. 22 cases of pulmonary embolism reported nisation Programme Coordinating Minister
from among the recipients. Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia will proceed
“Data also showed that post-vaccination ef- with the purchase and acquisition of Astra-
fects were significantly reduced after the second Adham said the company had conduct- Zeneca Covid-19 vaccines as there was no
dose was administered,” he said in a statement ed detailed studies of all the cases and con- evidence that the vaccine causes blood clots.
regarding the safety status of the AstraZene- cluded that there was no solid evidence that
ca Covid-19 vaccine, which was approved for could link the vaccine to the risk of throm- Science,Technology and Innovation Min-
registration by the Drug Control Authority boembolic events. ister Khairy said AstraZeneca had informed
(DCA) on March 2. Malaysia of the side effects of the vaccine and
“The total number of thromboembol- so far, there had been no data to indicate any
According to him, the clinical studies also ic event cases reported was also far lower direct link between the vaccine and reports
concluded that there were no safety issues compared to the average expected cases in of blood clots in people, which resulted in
concerning its effects on the blood’s profile that population size and the conclusion was deaths in a few countries.
and contents, including blood clotting, after also supported by the European Medicines
receiving the vaccine jab. Agency (EMA). Several countries, such as Denmark, Nor-
way, Iceland andThailand, reportedly paused
Adham said AstraZeneca Sdn Bhd also “Therefore, it is concluded that the As- the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine follow-
held a meeting with the National Pharma- traZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe for use,” ing reports of blood clots occurring in several
ceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA) on he said. individuals after being vaccinated.
March 17 to explain the actual situation re- Read also: Malaysia, Singapore use block-
garding the safety issue of the AstraZeneca chain technology for vaccination certificates
Covid-19 vaccine, especially relating to blood Click here
clots (thromboembolic events).

According to the company, a total of 17
million people had received the AstraZene-

Malaysia reports Malaysia’s coronavirus curve shows signs of flattening
1,268 new daily
Covid-19 infections 6000 Daily new cases 7-day moving average
and two deaths
5000

4000

3000

BY SYAFIQAH SALIM 2000 1,365
theedgemarkets.com 1000 1,268

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Malaysia 0 March 24, 2021
confirmed 1,268 new daily Covid-19 cases Sept 1, 2020
today, lifting the number of active cases which with 24 infections; and the Industri Permata
carry high transmission risks to 14,637, ac- Selangor topped the list with the most new Dua cluster in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
cording to Health director-generalTan Sri Dr infections at 490, followed by Sarawak (141), saw 51 infections.
Noor Hisham Abdullah. and Johor (135).
The high-risk group cluster, namely the
Two more deaths were reported in Selan- The two deaths today involved Malaysian Jalan Alam cluster involving Kuala Langat,
gor, taking the country’s death toll to 1,246, men aged 43 and 77.They had health compli- Klang and Petaling in Selangor saw 16 infec-
he said in a statement. cations such as high blood pressure, chronic tions; while the community cluster known as
kidney disease, dyslipidemia, gout and stroke. the Chupak cluster which spans Serian and
Daily new recoveries came in lower than Samarahan in Sarawak had 57 infections.
new infections at 1,083. On the other hand, four more Covid-19
clusters were identified, of which two were To date,1,314 Covid-19 clusters have been
Total number of discharged patients stood linked to workplaces while the remaining reported in the country, while 919 have been
at 320,925 or 95.3% of overall Covid-19 in- clusters were linked to high-risk group and declared ended.
fections, noted Dr Noor Hisham. community infections.
As of noon today, Malaysia has 336,808
The new cases today involved 1,263 local The two workplace clusters are the Jalan cumulative confirmed infections.
infections and five imported cases. Local cases Wawasan Dua cluster in Batu Pahat, Johor
comprised 946 Malaysians and 317 foreigners.

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Malaysia to
return US
plastic waste
shipment under
new UN rules

BY ROZANNA LATIFF
Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Malay- environment ministry’s spokesman, told er country, is the only major nation not to
sia will return a container of plastic trash Reuters a shipment was on its way from have ratified the Basel Convention and is
en route from the United States as it vio- the United States, that authorities have not bound by its rules. However, under the
lates new UN rules governing hazardous said did not meet that criteria or have pri- treaty, Malaysia cannot accept prohibited
waste, the environment ministry said on or approval to be imported into Malaysia. plastic waste from the United States.
Wednesday, one of the first signs of the
regulations being enforced. “After investigations, Malaysia will send Malaysia, which became the leading
back the container to the origin country,” destination for the world’s plastic trash
Two years ago, more than 180 countries said Mohamad Khalil, adding that it was after China banned imports in 2018, has
agreed to ban hard-to-recycle plastic waste unclear when the shipment would arrive. returned thousands of tonnes of plastic
trade in an attempt to stop rich countries scrap since then.
dumping trash in the developing world, Malaysia’s environment minister Tuan
where it often ends up polluting the local IbrahimTuan Man had said in a statement The Basel Action Network, an NGO,
environment and the ocean. on Saturday that authorities would bar the said this month that contaminated plas-
container, which was shipped from Los tic waste trade was still flowing despite
The new restrictions, which come under Angeles, California on March 14. the new UN rules, highlighting the high
the Basel Convention, a United Nations volume being shipped from the United
treaty that polices the trade in hazardous The United States, which produces States to Malaysia.
waste, came into force in January. more plastic waste per capita than any oth-

Signatory countries can now only trade
plastic waste if it meets certain low-con-
tamination criteria — which means it is
clean, sorted and easy-to-recycle — or if
the exporting country gets prior consent
from the importing country.

Mohamad Khalil Zaiyany Sumiran, the

(March 24): Southeast Asian countries World Bank and public sector,” said Ndiamé Diop,
lose out on as much as US$6 billion a sees US$6b World Bank country director for Brunei,
year as most of their single-use plastics are wasted on Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
thrown out rather than recovered and re- plastics in
cycled, theWorld Bank said in a new study. Southeast Asia Setting recycled-content targets, man-
dating “design for recycling” standards,
More than 75% of recyclable plastics BY CLAIRE JIAO and imposing waste-collection require-
in Malaysia,Thailand and the Philippines Bloomberg ments per industry can unlock addition-
are left to waste, representing a “signifi- al material value for Southeast Asia, the
cant untapped business opportunity” in their products. However, most recyclable bank said. Governments should also
the circular economy, according to the suppliers are small- and medium-sized consider increasing sorting efficiency,
report issued Tuesday. enterprises that often don’t have the scale, restricting disposal of plastic waste in
management systems or technologies to landfills, and phasing out non-essential
Thailand, which has the largest pet- meet the demand. plastic items.
rochemical sector in Southeast Asia, re-
cycles the smallest portion of its plastic “These studies show that there is an un- Building up the business model for
waste at less than 18%. While Thailand tapped opportunity to reap environmental plastic recycling will help divert waste
has shown growing interest and increased and economic benefits with clear and com- from landfills, reducing the risk that it
investment in recycling facilities, few of plementary interventions from the private leaks into waterways, theWorld Bank said.
them are linked to the country’s resin
manufacturing businesses, the study As much as 13 million tons of plastic
showed. waste enter the world’s oceans each year,
with Asia responsible for more than 80%
In both Malaysia and the Philip- of it. The Philippines and Thailand are
pines, major brands in the packaging and the third- and sixth-worst plastic pollut-
fast-moving consumer goods industries ers in the world, respectively, according
are opting for more recycled content in to World Bank data.

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WORLD

Chip shortage turns repair of
Japan factory into national effort

BY RIVER DAVIS & YUKI FURUKAWA
Bloomberg

(March 24): Japan’s government and busi- The auto and chip are tron Ltd and Kioxia Holdings Corp, and
nesses are racing to bring a fire-damaged at the top among Japan’s representatives from the auto sector.The
automotive chip plant back online, under- export categories, with ministry is planning to provide a group
scoring how important the component has 9.6 trillion yen (US$88 including Tokyo Electron with 42 billion
become in a supply chain already under billion) of motor vehicles yen in funding as they
strain because of booming demand for
semiconductors. sold abroad in 2020, seek to develop next-generation chips,
along with 4.1 trillion the Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and yen in chip exports. without attribution.
Industry is mobilizing to help Renesas
Electronics Corp, one of the top provid- day after news of the plant fire broke over Toyota said Tuesday it dispatched
ers of chips used in car electronics, procure the weekend. Renesas gets almost half of workers to Renesas’s damaged facility
equipment after a fire broke out at one of its revenue from the automotive market. to help. The automaker will examine on-
its plants Friday. the-ground conditions and come up with
Hidetoshi Shibata, Renesas’s chief ex- response measures, according to Toyota
The nation’s automakers, who depend ecutive officer, said he’s pushing to resume spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto.
on Renesas to supply semiconductors, are operations at the facility within a month.
dispatching workers to the damaged site At an online briefing on Sunday, he also Nissan Motor Co also dispatched work-
to help with recovery activities. warned that the stoppage will have a big ers to the plant, a spokeswoman said.
impact on the car industry.
The widespread and coordinated ef- The plant halt could begin to crimp
forts reflect the importance of the auto One of the obstacles is that wafer-pro- auto production as soon as next month.
sector and chips for the world’s third-larg- ducing equipment is often custom-made, While most expect semiconductor supply
est economy. meaning it generally takes several months issues to be resolved in the second half,
to replace. that may be at risk if the Renesas factory
The two sectors are at the top among remains offline for an extended period.
Japan’s export categories, with 9.6 trillion Kazumi Nishikawa, director of the
yen (US$88 billion) of motor vehicles sold economy ministry’s IT industry division, Given the likelihood of government sup-
abroad in 2020, along with 4.1 trillion yen said the ministry plans to ask equipment port and the pressure Renesas is under,
in chip exports. makers to support Renesas and ensure that the company appears committed to seeing
the company’s orders are given priority. through its one-month target, “though that
Renesas’ stoppage comes as global au- may prove quite challenging,” Schorr said.
tomakers face a shortage that’s estimated “Renesas says it will do its best to target Read also:
to knock 1.5 million units off of vehicle one month, so our position is to support Global auto plants now idle as chip
production, largely in the first half. it,” Nishikawa said. supplies dry up Click here

“The automotive industry is key in Ja- The ministry will hold a panel meet- Intel’s US$20 billion foundry plan hits
pan, therefore any incident that impacts it ing Wednesday to discuss chip strategies TSMC, Samsung shares Click here
has a broad effect on the economy,” said with Shibata, executives fromTokyo Elec-
Roman Schorr, a director at Fitch Ratings.
With the added variable of a chip crunch,
“it’s certainly striking that so much right
now hinges on one factory,” he said.

The damaged factory accounts for 8.2%
of domestic semiconductor production and
around 6% of global automotive semicon-
ductor output, raising concerns about the
impact on supply chains for the domestic
auto industry, Barclays analysts wrote in
a note this week.

The fire in Renesas’s factory in Ibaraki,
just north ofTokyo, damaged a production
line for 300mm wafers used in the automo-
tive industry.The suppliers of major auto-
makers generally keep somewhere between
two to four months of stock, according to
industry experts.

For Toyota Motor Corp, one of Re-
nesas’s biggest customers, and other car
manufacturers, it’s a race against time to
get the plant back online.

Japanese automaker shares fell Mon-

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BLOOMBERG

Powell sees ‘highly desirable’
gains behind modest jobs view

WASHINGTON (March 24): Federal Re- BY CRAIG TORRES, CATARINA SARAIVA, ry relief in the ARP, that begins to expire I
serve Chair Jerome Powell said the central CHRISTOPHER CONDON, SALEHA MOHSIN believe in the fall when the economy will be
bank’s relatively muted forecast for lower un- getting back on its feet,” she said.
employment this year — despite very strong & STEVE MATTHEWS
expected growth — was actually disguising Bloomberg Yellen brushed aside concerns that ex-
“highly desirable” labour market gains. tra unemployment aid would deter people
People who’re not from taking jobs, saying recent research
“We see participation expanding,” he currently being showed the opposite to be true. Still, she
told the Senate Banking Committee on counted in the said, the extra aid wouldn’t be necessary
Wednesday, referring to the process where later this year.
people who’re not currently being count- jobless rate re-enter
ed in the jobless rate re-enter the labour the labour force. “I think it’s appropriate as the economy
force. “That holds the unemployment rate recovers, and I hope it will by the fall, that
up — it is a highly desirable outcome.” US would keep price pressures in check. that should be phased out,” she said.
“Long term, we think the inflation dy- Interest rates
In quarterly forecasts published last week, Fed officials held interest rates near zero last
officials saw unemployment declining to namics we have seen for a quarter century week and said they’d maintain their massive
4.5% by year end from 6.2% in February. are still intact,” he said. Powell added that if bond-buying campaign at a US$120 billion
this prediction provided not to be the case, monthly pace until “substantial further pro-
Growth, inflation the Fed has tools to tackle unwanted infla- gress” had been achieved on their goals for
They also projected economic growth of tion and would use them. Powell appeared employment and inflation.
6.5% in 2021.That would be the fastest pace before the committee along with Treasury
since 1983, when measured fourth quar- Secretary JanetYellen, as part of congression- Long-term interest rates have shot
ter over the same three months a year earli- al oversight of the government’s response to higher this year on expectations of faster
er and would follow a 2.4% contraction in the pandemic. Both policy makers testified economic growth, higher inflation and in-
2020, as a result of the pandemic. before the House Financial Services panel creased supply of Treasury debt from the
on Tuesday. government’s stimulus programs.
Inflation, as calculated by the personal Unemployment aid
consumption expenditures price index, is Yellen expressed confidence that unem- Asked about the rise in 10-yearTreasury
seen in the Fed’s median forecast as ending ployment would be lower when supple- yields, Powell said this reflected a brighter
2021 at 2.4% but slowing to 2% next year. mentary unemployment benefits provid- economic outlook as vaccination roll-out
It clocked in at 1.5% in January. ed by the recently-passed US$1.9 trillion accelerates and was not cause for concern.
pandemic relief bill, known as the Ameri-
Powell said prices would probably rise can Recovery Plan, begin to expire. “That has been an orderly process. I
due to so-called base effects, as very low would be concerned if it had not been an
readings from last year fall out of the calcu- “While unemployment remains high and orderly process,” he said.
lation, along with some pressure from pent- it’s important to provide the supplementa-
up spending and supply-chain bottlenecks. Read also: US durable goods orders
decrease for first time since April Click here
But this shift is expected to be temporary
and the long period of low inflation in the

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WORLD

IMF mulls creating US$650b
in reserves afterYellen nod

BLOOMBERG

BY ERIC MARTIN & SALEHA MOHSIN
Bloomberg

(March 24):The International Monetary veloping countries, had called on the G-20 The reserves plan faced fresh pushback
Fund’s board conveyed broad support for to support the creation of US$3 trillion on Tuesday from Senator Pat Toomey, a
drafting a proposal to create US$650 bil- in SDRs. They say the funds are needed Pennsylvania Republican.
lion in additional reserve assets to help to help free up resources for health care
developing economies cope with the pan- and social spending. Some Democrats in “Allocating new SDRs without con-
demic, with an eye on considering a formal Congress had pledged support for a sim- gressional approval is an inappropriate
plan by June. ilar-sized move. and wasteful use of taxpayer dollars that
would end up benefiting repressive regimes
The institution’s executive board dis- But an SDR issuance of roughly and state-sponsors of terrorism,”Toomey
cussed the case for the reserves informally US$650 billion would be about the max- said. “Moreover, the use of SDRs enables
onTuesday, IMF Managing Director Kris- imum that the U.S.Treasury can support foreign countries to partially control the
talina Georgieva said in a statement after without needing to get approval from Con- global supply of U.S. dollars. I urge Sec-
the conclusion of the meeting. gress, depending on the exchange rate. retary Yellen to abandon her support for
this proposal.”
Fund staff will develop new measures If approved, a new
to enhance transparency and accountabil- allocation of special Yellen also indicated that countries are
ity and explore options for members with drawing rights would working toward an agreement with China
strong financial positions to reallocate the add a substantial, on ensuring that the Asian country pro-
reserves, known as special drawing rights direct liquidity boost vides SDRs to poor nations and that funds
(SDRs), to support vulnerable and low-in- to countries, without aren’t used to “repay loans from the Belt
come countries, Georgieva said. adding to debt burdens. and Road Initiative,”Yellen said.That re-
fers to China’s effort to build infrastruc-
“If approved, a new allocation of SDRs “This announcement is incredible pro- ture including energy plants and railways
would add a substantial, direct liquidity gress,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive in countries from Sri Lanka to Greece.
boost to countries, without adding to debt director of Jubilee USA Network. “De-
burdens,” Georgieva said. “It would also veloping countries need these resources Georgieva, who first advocated for a
free up badly needed resources for mem- to confront the crisis as soon as possible.” reserves issuance a year ago, has called for
ber countries to help fight the pandemic, strong action to avoid a scenario where a
including to support vaccination programs Representative French Hill, an Arkan- few emerging markets recover faster but
and other urgent measures.” sas Republican on the House Financial most developing countries are left to lan-
Services Committee, has urged opposi- guish for years to come. The IMF last is-
Momentum has been building for the tion to an issuance, calling it a “giveaway sued SDRs during the 2009 global finan-
injection of funds after U.S.Treasury Sec- to wealthy countries and rogue regimes” cial crisis, and repeating the move could
retary JanetYellen leaned toward support- such as China, Russia and Iran. serve the world well again now, Georgieva
ing the action, reversing opposition last said in a blog post last month.
year under President DonaldTrump. Her Asked by Hill on Tuesday during a
predecessor, Steven Mnuchin, blocked the House Financial Services Committee Yellen said Tuesday that she supports
move in 2020, saying that because reserves hearing ifYellen could say that such “dic- “augmenting the reserves of countries that
are allocated to all 190 members of the tatorships” would not receive SDRs, she need it so that at this very difficult time we
IMF in proportion to their quota, some responded that countries will receive al- don’t pressure countries to take contrac-
70% would go to the Group of 20, with locations according to their stakes in the tionary, deflationary actions that would
just 3% for the poorest developing nations. IMF. make recovery more difficult.

While the informal discussion came “It’s especially important to channel
in advance of the IMF’s spring meetings the world’s resources” to poor countries,
April 5-11, the June target for a formal she said.
proposal fits with a requirement that the
Treasury Department give Congress 90
days of advance notice before it’s free to
support the reserves creation.The U.S. is
the fund’s biggest shareholder.

G-20 finance ministers and central
bankers last month called on the fund to
formulate a proposal, and Group of Sev-
en countries last week said that they back
a sizeable allocation of IMF resources to
boost members’ reserves and provide li-
quidity to vulnerable countries.

More than 200 groups including the
Jubilee USA Network, a non-profit organi-
zation that advocates for debt relief for de-

T H U R S D A Y M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 21 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

French retailer Carrefour to buy DBS joins global banks surrendering
Brazil’s Grupo BIG in US$1.3b deal Hong Kong office space
PARIS (March 24): French supermarket
retailer Carrefour said on Wednesday it (March 24): DBS Group Holdings Ltd is set to
had agreed to buy Grupo BIG in a deal that join UBS Group AG and other global banks
values Brazil’s third-biggest food retailer giving up office space in pricey Hong Kong
at about $1.3 billion. The deal is the first with so many staff still working from home.
significant acquisition by the French food DBS is surrendering some floors in Swire
retailer since a possible takeover by Canada’s Properties Ltd’s One Island East tower in
Couche-Tard unravelled in January after Quarry Bay, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified
opposition from the French government. because the information is private. The lender will release two of the eight floors it
Carrefour will buy BIG, which operates currently occupies, one of the people said. A representative for the Singapore-based bank
387 stores and generated sales of 24.9 didn’t immediately comment. A Swire spokesperson said they don’t comment on rumours,
billion reals ($4.51 billion) in 2020, from adding that One Island East is 100% occupied as of Tuesday. Southeast Asia’s biggest
Walmart and investment firm Advent bank adds to the list of firms paring space in Hong Kong, one of the most expensive office
International. Carrefour already has a major markets in the world. Multinational firms, which are more likely to adopt flexible working
presence in Brazil, where its subsidiary arrangements than their local peers, accounted for 75% of the surrendered office stock
Carrefour Brasil is the country’s biggest last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. BNP Paribas SA and Standard Chartered
retailer by most measures and runs the Plc gave up floors in their Hong Kong headquarters in the past few months, while UBS
Atacadão supermarket stores. The group relinquished a floor in Sheung Wan’s Li Po Chun Chambers late last year. — Bloomberg
said the transaction valued Grupo BIG at
an enterprise value of 7 billion reals ($1.3 German cabinet approves extra Euro zone economy back to growth in
billion). The acquisition will be made 70% budget with record new borrowing March as factories roar — PMI
in cash and 30% through newly issued
Carrefour Brazil shares. — Reuters BERLIN (March 24): Chancellor Angela LONDON (March 24): Euro zone economic
Merkel’s cabinet approved a debt-financed activity made a surprise return to growth this
China’s Xiaomi profit surges as it grabs supplementary budget of 60 billion month as factories ramped up production to
market share after Huawei retreats euros (US$71 billion) which will lift new its fastest pace in over 23 years, offsetting a
SHANGHAI (March 24): Chinese borrowing to a record high of more than continuing slowdown in the bloc’s dominant
smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp on 240 billion euros this year, an official said services industry, a preliminary survey
Wednesday reported a 36.7% rise in fourth- on Wednesday. The revised budget plans showed. But with much of Europe suffering
quarter net profit, as its major Android rival underline Berlin’s readiness to continue a third wave of coronavirus infections and
Huawei steadily retreats from the global massive deficit spending in the Covid-19 renewed lockdown measures, as well as a
market due to US-led sanctions. Adjusted net pandemic as Europe’s largest economy slow vaccine rollout in the region, the final
profit for the quarter ending Dec 31 rose to struggles to contain a third wave of reading of the survey and April’s numbers
3.2 billion yuan (US$490.84 million), beating coronavirus cases linked to a more infectious could be more subdued. IHS Markit’s flash
analysts’ expectations of 2.9 billion yuan. In variant. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz also composite PMI, seen as a good guide to
the October-December quarter, Xiaomi’s suggested a draft budget for next year with economic health, bounced above the 50
shipments in China surged 52% from a additional net new debt of 81.5 billion euros mark separating growth from contraction to
year earlier, and the company cornered for which parliament will have to suspend a 52.5 in March compared to February’s 48.8,
15% of the market share. Following a ban constitutional debt brake for a third year in its highest since late 2018. “The outlook has
by Washington on key components placed a row, the official said. The debt plans mean deteriorated, however, amid rising Covid-19
on its smartphones, handset shipments by that Germany’s overall pandemic-related infection rates and new lockdown measures,”
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plummeted borrowing could exceed 450 billion euros said Chris Williamson, chief business
both in China and overseas, according to from 2020 to 2022. — Reuters economist at IHS Markit. — Reuters
market research reports. Anticipating the
opportunity, Xiaomi and other Android- Tesla can now be bought for bitcoin, Elon Musk says
based smartphone makers ramped up
production of their devices towards the end LONDON/BENGALURU (March 24): Tesla Inc customers can now buy its electric
of last year. This, however, contributed to an vehicles with bitcoin, its boss, Elon Musk, said on Wednesday, marking a significant
ongoing chip shortage that was partly caused step forward for the cryptocurrency’s use in commerce. “You can now buy a Tesla with
by demand for consumer electronics during bitcoin,” Musk said on Twitter, adding that the option would be available outside the US
the pandemic, outstripping supply from later this year. The electric-car maker said last month it bought US$1.5 billion worth of
chipmakers such as Qualcomm. — Reuters bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars, in a large stride toward
mainstream acceptance that sent bitcoin soaring to a record high of nearly US$62,000.
Musk said bitcoin paid to Tesla would not be converted into traditional currency, but he
gave few other details on how the bitcoin payments would be processed. The company
was using “internal & open source software”, he said. Most mainstream companies such
as AT&T Inc and Microsoft Corp that allow customers to pay with bitcoin typically use
specialist payment processors that convert the cryptocurrency into, say, dollars and send
the sum to the company. — Reuters

T H U R S D A Y M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 22 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

WORLD

REUTERS

Germany offers
US$6.5 billion
in electric-car
charging funding

BY ARNE DELFS & ELISABETH BEHRMANN
Bloomberg

(March 24): Germany will provide 5.5 The revision is expected to be final- day.The network must run on renewable
billion euros (US$6.5 billion) of funding ized in June energy for electric vehicles to gain more
for electric-car charging infrastructure, a acceptance among buyers, she said during
significant show of support for one of the Europe overtook China as the world’s a conference.
country’s core industries. biggest market for plug-in hybrid and elec-
tric cars last year as governments offered “A long driving range is today a central
The funds will be available until 2024, sweeter incentives and carmakers broad- part to people’s buying decisions,” Markus
Steffen Seibert, the spokesman for Chan- ened their offerings to entice buyers.The Schaefer, Mercedes-Benz’s chief operating
cellor Angela Merkel, said in an emailed rise in EVs on the road has carmakers officer, said during the conference. “I’m
statement late Tuesday following a video worried about drivers battling for charg- convinced this will change over time with
conference with the heads of Germany’s ing spots, especially as manufacturers such better access to charging infrastructure and
carmakers. as Volkswagen AG, BMW AG and Volvo faster charging times.”
Cars step up their shift to battery cars. Read also:VW’s Skoda to invest 2.5 billion
The nation’s auto industry is ready to euros in new technologies over next five
meet more ambitious climate goals set out The European Union should get behind years Click here
by the European Commission, the exec- establishing a charging network across the
utives told Merkel. The companies have region, Hildegard Mueller, president of
concluded that increasing acceptance of Germany’s auto lobbyVDA saidWednes-
electric cars will make it possible to com-
ply with more restrictive emissions limits,
according to Handelsblatt.

The newspaper cited a report produced
by an industry working group created dur-
ing the government’s last car summit.

The Commission is planning to make
its climate goals tougher as part of its so-
called Green Deal Initiative. In December,
the bloc’s leaders endorsed toughening the
2030 target for car-emissions reduction to
at least 55% from 1990 levels.

LONDON (Mar 24):The world’s biggest Bank lending to and underwriting debt and equity issues.
banks cut lending to fossil fuel firms by 9% fossil fuel industry “Despite this significant drop from
in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, al-
though funding has still risen over the past down 9% in 2019 to 2020, the overall trend of the last
five years, a report showed onWednesday. COVID-hit year five years is one heading definitively in the
wrong direction,” the report said.
The 60 largest banks lent more than BY SIMON JESSOP
$750 billion to 2,300 fossil fuel companies Reuters “We must go forward to a world where
in 2020, down from $824 billion in 2019, even without a pandemic, fossil fuel pro-
according to a report by Rainforest Action The 60 largest banks duction declines almost as quickly every
Network, Reclaim Finance, Oil Change lent more than $750 year for the next decade — as it did in
International and other non-governmental billion to 2,300 fossil fuel 2020 — but this time in a managed way.”
organisations (NGOs). companies in 2020, down
from $824 billion in 2019. The pace of bank lending to companies
But the report said the fall, driven by with heavy greenhouse gas emissions is in-
record low levels of industry investment in creasingly under the spotlight as investors
the second half of 2020 as the pandemic push for more detail about their plans to
hammered fuel demand, followed annual manage climate-related risks and oppor-
rises of 4.4%-5.5% since 2016, the year tunities in their financing portfolios.
after the Paris climate accord was signed.
This month, HSBC became the lat-
It also followed a surge in demand from est lender to bow to the pressure when it
fossil fuel companies raising cheap financ- agreed to phase out support for the coal
ing in the first half of 2020, the report said industry and commit to short- and me-
after assessing the roles of banks in lending dium-term targets to align with the Paris
Agreement.

T H U R S D A Y M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 23 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

WORLD

World facing coffee deficit in
supply chain ‘nightmare’

(March 24): Coffee supplies in the U.S. are BY MARVIN G PEREZ, FABIANA BATISTA ation and talking to clients, making them
shrinking and wholesale prices are surging, & MANISHA JHA aware of the rising costs.”
with the hard-hit market bracing for further Bloomberg
fallout from a global shortage of shipping Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the
containers that’s upended the food trade. Arabica-coffee futures world’s largest shipping company, said con-
in NewYork have tainers and charter vessels are temporarily
Coffee stockpiles have sunk to a six-year unavailable for purchase or lease, increasing
low in the U.S. even with Brazil’s record risen about 24% since congestion and bringing delays at ports.
crop, and a large drop in output after a the end of October The company has tried to purchase or rent
drought in the South American country all available containers, and is keeping ag-
is expected to shift the world balance to a following the damage ing units in operation. It’s also repairing
deficit in coming months just as demand to Brazilian groves. ones that it usually wouldn’t at higher costs,
rebounds. Maersk said in an e-mailed response to
with its previous projection of 8 million questions from Bloomberg.
“Everybody is feeling the pinch,” bags, citing lower Brazilian arabica out-
said Christian Wolthers, the president of put after adverse weather damaged crops. “This is a temporary situation, both in
Wolthers Douque, an importer in Fort Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a re- terms of purchasing patterns and availa-
Lauderdale, Florida, who estimates that port that if production in Central Amer- bility of vessels,” the company said. “We
shipping costs have more than doubled ica doesn’t improve in coming years, the expect things to return to normal during
from Latin America. “These bottlenecks market will enter a structural deficit given the first half of 2021.”
are turning into a container nightmare.” the rebound in demand.
For now, many merchants are try-
While cargo-market disruptions have In the facilities of Dinamo, one of ing to hold the line on price increases as
played havoc the global food trade general- Brazil’s largest coffee warehouses opera- they work to lure customers back to cafes
ly, the problems in the coffee market show tors, there’s a lot of product stuck waiting and restaurants.There’s steady growth in
food inflation already on the rise could be for containers. In the company’s unit in coffee, though the out-of-home segment
exacerbated as economies reopen. For now, Machado municipality, in the coffee heart- could take two to three years to return to
roasters are able to draw on inventories land of Minas Gerais, beans are awaiting pre-Covid levels, according to David Ren-
rather than raise prices, but with stock- the arrival of 18 empty containers, said nie, head of Nestle SA’s coffee brands.
piles sliding and a smaller Brazilian crop Luiz Alberto Azevedo Levy Jr., a director
coming, the strains are expected to persist. at Dinamo.“These containers will probably Stefano Martin, sales and marketing
take about 15 more days to get here amid export manager at Italy-based cafe chain
Arabica-coffee futures in NewYork have bottlenecks at the port,” he said. Diemme, said the business isn’t yet feeling
risen about 24% since the end of October the full impact because it’s still operating
following the damage to Brazilian groves. The situation, which got even more dire under contracts made prior to the ship-
In February, American green, unroasted in March, will probably reduce the volume ping disruptions. That could change as
bean inventory slid 8.3% from a year earlier of coffee exported by Brazil, Levy Jr. said. those contracts are renewed, he said.The
to the smallest since 2015, industry data company has 26 restaurants and coffee
showed Monday. “Logistics have been a headache, deal- shops, and typically imports 30,000 bags
ing with lack of space and containers,” said in around 90 shipping containers from
The lower inventories mean less of a Marco Figueiredo, trader and partner at Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras,
buffer to cushion the expected decline in the Florida-based Ally Coffee, a specialty Tanzania and India.
Brazil’s crop, aggravating market tightness coffee merchant that imports beans from
and lending continued support to prices, countries including Colombia, Guatemala, “There is no impact on our side yet
analysts say. and Brazil. “We are monitoring the situ- as we have closed all contracts before
the prices increased,” he said. “But most
Marex Spectron this month increased probably next batch of contracts will be
its estimate for a global coffee deficit to charged to us.”
10.7 million bags in 2021-22, compared

123RF

T H U R S D A Y M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 24 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 3,903.00-27.00 OIL US$ 62.781.99 RM/USD 4.1310 RM/SGD 3.0691 RM/AUD 3.1443 RM/GBP 5.6561 RM/EUR 4.8844

Top 20 active stocks

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

DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 355.1 0.095 0.980 335.56 2148.5

MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 352.7 -0.105 0.390 -15.22 441.7

GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 307.5 0.005 0.065 -27.78 97.7

SOUTH MALAYSIA INDUSTRIES 221.0 0.030 0.210 23.53 44.1

YONG TAI BHD 148.6 0.010 0.270 -15.63 340.3

BERJAYA CORP BHD 146.3 0.025 0.290 52.63 1450.6

SAUDEE GROUP BHD 140.4 -0.130 0.600 23.71 96.6

SAPURA ENERGY BHD 123.2 0.000 0.150 20.00 2396.9

DPS RESOURCES BHD 122.6 0.015 0.155 19.23 109.3 World equity indices

NEXGRAM HOLDINGS BHD 122.4 0.000 0.050 11.11 137.7

MACPIE BHD 97.5 0.015 0.425 78.95 390.5 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

SCOMI GROUP BHD 94.0 0.015 0.060 100.00 57.6 (%) (%)
DOW JONES 32,423.15 -308.05 -0.94 INDONESIA 6,156.14 -96.57 -1.54
WIDAD GROUP BHD 85.2 -0.005 0.505 -36.48 1381.9

TECHFAST HOLDINGS BHD 74.6 0.005 0.510 9.68 178.3 S&P 500 3,910.52 -30.07 -0.76 JAPAN 28,405.52 -590.40 -2.04

VELESTO ENERGY BHD 71.8 0.000 0.175 25.00 1437.7 NASDAQ 100 13,017.79 -68.72 -0.53 KOREA 2,996.35 -8.39 -0.28

KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 67.9 -0.005 0.085 -41.38 218.0 FTSE 100 6,692.71 -6.48 -0.10 PHILIPPINES 6,497.01 50.66 0.79

QES GROUP BHD 60.4 -0.005 0.535 81.36 446.3 AUSTRALIA 6,778.77 33.37 0.49 SINGAPORE 3,133.31 1.57 0.05

KOMARKCORP BHD 60.0 0.045 0.325 -39.06 156.4 CHINA 3,367.06 -44.45 -1.30 TAIWAN 16,032.12 -145.47 -0.90

FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 56.5 0.000 0.070 -12.50 241.1 HONG KONG 27,918.14 -579.24 -2.03 THAILAND 1,567.79 3.54 0.23

AIRASIA GROUP BHD 53.0 -0.010 1.110 25.42 4231.5 INDIA 49,263.74 -787.70 -1.57 VIETNAM 1,161.81 -21.64 -1.83

Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 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)

SCOMI GROUP BHD 0.060 33.33 93979.5 100.00 57.6 MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.390 -21.21 352688.6 -15.22 441.7

EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.025 25.00 988.7 25.00 50.0 SAUDEE GROUP BHD 0.600 -17.81 140355.8 23.71 96.6

PEGASUS HEIGHTS BHD 0.030 20.00 26402.7 20.00 317.2 OVERSEA ENTERPRISE BHD 0.210 -16.00 18892.3 -0.79 275.0

SOUTH MALAYSIA INDUSTRIES 0.210 16.67 220959.9 23.53 44.1 PDZ HOLDINGS BHD 0.055 -15.38 38351.7 -38.89 55.6

KOMARKCORP BHD 0.325 16.07 60022.4 -39.06 156.4 PRG HOLDINGS BHD 0.215 -14.00 35509.4 7.50 92.4

PARAGON UNION BHD 2.120 15.22 1729.6 216.42 137.2 FSBM HOLDINGS BHD 0.130 -13.33 10.0 30.00 18.4

BARAKAH OFFSHORE PETROLEUM 0.085 13.33 25670.3 54.55 71.0 HUBLINE BHD 0.040 -11.11 13056.4 -20.00 166.4

SILVER RIDGE HOLDINGS BHD 0.880 12.82 15124.8 51.72 141.7 KUMPULAN H&L HIGH-TECH BHD 2.140 -10.83 906.1 47.59 78.3

MTOUCHE TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.045 12.50 962.3 -40.00 59.6 AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.085 -10.53 4627.1 -34.62 47.2

APB RESOURCES BHD 0.895 11.88 3787.4 54.31 99.2 MNC WIRELESS BHD 0.045 -10.00 192.9 0.00 79.1

BERTAM ALLIANCE BHD 0.150 11.11 388.4 15.38 31.0 CNI HOLDINGS BHD 0.180 -10.00 33707.1 100.00 128.3

DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 0.980 10.73 355113.2 335.56 2148.5 ARK RESOURCES HOLDINGS BHD 0.460 -9.80 159.9 58.62 29.1

DPS RESOURCES BHD 0.155 10.71 122576.2 19.23 109.3 KNUSFORD BHD 0.840 -9.68 15.9 14.29 83.7

M3 TECHNOLOGIES ASIA BHD 0.055 10.00 11023.8 -15.38 42.4 TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 -9.09 171.8 0.00 67.0

BERJAYA CORP BHD 0.290 9.43 146253.4 52.63 1450.6 HENG HUAT RESOURCES GROUP 0.555 -9.02 747.7 65.67 51.3

CHINA OUHUA WINERY HOLDINGS 0.060 9.09 232.1 0.00 40.1 G3 GLOBAL BHD 0.205 -8.89 30577.8 -59.20 437.9

MLABS SYSTEMS BHD 0.060 9.09 653.1 -25.00 72.2 MCLEAN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 0.470 -7.84 22283.0 135.00 92.7

TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 0.815 8.67 37.1 3.16 33.4 ANZO HOLDINGS BHD 0.060 -7.69 2219.8 -29.41 67.0

OPTIMAX HOLDINGS BHD 1.790 8.48 5891.4 92.47 483.3 SMIS CORP BHD 0.555 -7.50 45.1 13.27 23.4

GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 0.065 8.33 307461.9 -27.78 97.7 7-ELEVEN MALAYSIA HOLDINGS 1.260 -7.35 500.5 -7.35 1422.9

Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 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)

NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 137.000 1.400 66.9 -1.37 32126.5 PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 30.940 -0.420 3.4 0.45 1879.5

PARAGON UNION BHD 2.120 0.280 1729.6 216.42 137.2 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 37.260 -0.360 168.8 43.53 7410.9

RAPID SYNERGY BHD 7.770 0.270 153.2 17.73 830.6 KUMPULAN H&L HIGH-TECH BHD 2.140 -0.260 906.1 47.59 78.3

PPB GROUP BHD 18.780 0.260 364.2 1.40 26716.4 HONG LEONG INDUSTRIES BHD 9.260 -0.240 89.4 4.16 2958.3

BLD PLANTATION BHD 8.050 0.250 6.1 -3.01 752.7 CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 23.760 -0.240 531.5 2.24 7264.6

HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 17.240 0.180 79.1 -4.54 19744.0 FRONTKEN CORP BHD 4.840 -0.200 7626.5 36.34 5072.2

MALAYSIA AIRPORTS HOLDINGS BHD 6.310 0.160 1517.3 6.59 10469.5 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 25.400 -0.180 62.6 10.34 7673.3

MISC BHD 6.850 0.160 2238.4 -0.29 30576.7 BURSA MALAYSIA BHD 8.930 -0.170 2035.4 8.55 7224.6

PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP BHD 8.070 0.150 2760.0 8.61 64560.0 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO 13.360 -0.160 516.9 -5.11 3814.7

MEGA FIRST CORP BHD 7.200 0.140 300.1 4.35 3410.5 TIME DOTCOM BHD 13.820 -0.140 1508.0 5.81 8350.9

OPTIMAX HOLDINGS BHD 1.790 0.140 5891.4 92.47 483.3 PRESS METAL ALUMINIUM 9.770 -0.130 8793.2 16.45 39452.3

SENI JAYA CORP BHD 1.700 0.130 532.2 112.50 68.9 SAUDEE GROUP BHD 0.600 -0.130 140355.8 23.71 96.6

AEON CREDIT SERVICE M BHD 12.340 0.120 79.8 2.83 3150.5 MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.390 -0.105 352688.6 -15.22 441.7

TENAGA NASIONAL BHD 10.820 0.120 3718.3 3.84 61724.4 7-ELEVEN MALAYSIA HOLDINGS 1.260 -0.100 500.5 -7.35 1422.9

ATLAN HOLDINGS BHD 2.950 0.100 66.1 -19.62 748.3 KNUSFORD BHD 0.840 -0.090 15.9 14.29 83.7

LPI CAPITAL BHD 13.600 0.100 33.8 -0.87 5418.0 PIMPINAN EHSAN BHD 1.580 -0.090 583.5 125.71 109.2

CAN-ONE BHD 3.270 0.100 152.7 17.20 628.3 TECHBOND GROUP BHD 1.360 -0.090 4431.0 8.80 320.0

SILVER RIDGE HOLDINGS BHD 0.880 0.100 15124.8 51.72 141.7 ANN JOO RESOURCES BHD 2.000 -0.090 5797.0 27.39 1079.6

BINTULU PORT HOLDINGS BHD 4.200 0.100 3.0 9.66 1932.0 REVENUE GROUP BHD 1.870 -0.080 3388.6 48.41 826.9

UNITED MALACCA BHD 5.200 0.100 29.4 1.96 1090.8 KHIND HOLDINGS BHD 3.360 -0.080 74.6 14.68 134.6

Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 24, 2021 Source: Bloomberg