24-August-2023

CEOMorningBrief THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2023 ISSUE 625/2023 theedgemalaysia.com GLOBAL FUNDS ABANDON CHINA BLUE CHIPS IN US$11 BIL SELLOFF p15 HOME: AGC to represent Dr M, Nor Yakcop in Halim Saad’s suit p2 Hibiscus annual revenue exceeds RM2 bil for the first time; plans dividend, share consolidation p4 Arul Kanda, Irwan Serigar fail in bid to strike out 1MDB’s US$6.59 bil lawsuit p11 WORLD: US economy near stalling point as consumer demand weakens, survey says p16 India set to ban sugar exports for first time in seven years p17 Report on Page 3. THE EDGE FILE PHOTO KLK to buy major stake in Boustead Plantations from LTAT, followed by MGO

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF published by ( 2 6 6 9 8 0 - X ) tel . 603-77218000 Level 3, Menara KLK, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6, Mutiara Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia publisher + ceo . Ho Kay Tat editor . Kathy Fong chief commercial officer . Sharon Teh chief operating officer . Lim Shiew Yuin editors . Jenny Ng . Tan Choe Choe Lam Jian Wyn to : [email protected] to advertise: [email protected] the edge ceo morning brief Read from desktop or mobile device. You can print in A4 to read. Set print mode to fit or shrink oversize page. to [email protected] AGC to represent Dr M, Nor Yakcop in Halim Saad’s suit KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) is said to be preparing to defend Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, along with the government, against the suit filed earlier this month by corporate figure Tan Sri Halim Saad. Halim claimed in his suit that he suffered losses due to efforts by the authorities to stop his bid to take over United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM), which owned prized assets such as the North South Expressway’s toll concession. Sources told The Edge that the offer had been made to Nor Mohamed and Dr Mahathir. Nor Mohamed, a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, is said to have agreed to the chambers representing him. The chambers had filed to represent the duo on Tuesday (Aug 22) as the events took place in 2001, when they were part of the government. When contacted by The Edge, Dr Mahathir’s counsel Rafique Rashid Ali confirmed that the AGC would represent the former premier, but he would apply to the court to hold a watching brief for the 98-year-old statesman. Halim had named Dr Mahathir, Nor Mohamed and the federal government as defendants in the suit, which is premised on the breach of his constitutional rights under Article 8(1) and Articles 13(1)(2) of the Federal Constitution by the Malaysian government where upon the instructions of Dr Mahathir and Nor Mohamed — in his capacity as special economic adviser to Dr Mahathir — proceeded with the purchase of a 32.69% stake in Renong Bhd from UEM, a unit of Renong. This, Halim added, is pursuant to the put option exercised by UEM in DecemHOME BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com ber 2000, giving Halim the right to buy the 32.6% stake in Renong from UEM for RM3.165 billion. The Renong shares would only be transferred to Halim upon full settlement. Halim claimed that he made the first payment of RM100 million to UEM on Feb 14, 2001 for the share purchase. An extension till Sept 12 was granted for the second instalment, as Halim needed more time to raise funds. At the same time, Halim was also planning a bid to take UEM private. He claimed that he had acquired financing for the share purchase and the general offer to buy out UEM then. As a result of the intervention from Dr Mahathir, Nor Mohamed, and the government, Halim alleged that he suffered financial losses and this constituted a breach of his constitutional rights under the constitution. Article 8(1) stipulates that all persons are equal before the law, and entitled to the equal protection of the law while Article 13(1) stipulates no person shall be deprived of property save in accordance with the law and (2) no law shall provide for the compulsory acquisition or use of property without adequate compensation. Dr Mahathir, in his reaction to the suit, questioned the timing and manner in which Halim filed it, as it took place right before the six state elections on Aug 12. The former prime minister said he would contest the suit and answer the allegations in court through his lawyers. “I have nothing to hide,” the 98-yearold statesman said. The suit has been fixed for case management on Sept 13 at the KL High Court. Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop is said to have agreed to the Attorney General's Chambers representing him. Tan Sri Halim Saad named Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed and the federal government as defendants in the suit. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's counsel Rafique Rashid Ali confirmed that the Attorney General's Chambers would represent the former premier, but he would apply to the court to hold a watching brief for the 98-year-old statesman. BLOOMBERG

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) is believed to be buying a 33% stake in Boustead Plantations Bhd from Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), according to sources. Sources told The Edge that LTAT will retain a roughly 35% stake in Boustead Plantations. LTAT’s stake sale comes on the heels of the privatisation of Boustead Plantations’ parent company — Boustead Holdings Bhd — two months back. Boustead Holdings is the single largest shareholder of Boustead Plantations with a 57.42% stake, followed by LTAT with a 10.59% stake. Collectively, LTAT owns a 68% stake in Boustead Plantations prior to the share disposal. Upon completion of the deal, KLK is obliged to make a mandatory general offer (MGO) for Boustead Plantations, whose share price hit a record high of RM1.37 on Wednesday (Aug 23). Boustead Plantations’ share price has staged a strong rebound from a low of 64 sen on June 8. It has more than doubled within three months to RM1.37 on Wednesday, which was higher than its net assets per share of RM1.30 as at March 31, 2023. Closing at RM1.37, Boustead Plantations was valued at RM3.068 billion, and at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 times. Dividend yield stood at 5.95%. Boustead Plantations has suspended the trading of its shares on Thursday (Aug 24). In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, it said the trading suspension is pending on material announcement. Boustead Plantations owns 42 operating oil palm plantation estates, including 16 plantation estates in Peninsular Malaysia, as well as 26 in Sabah and Sarawak, and 10 palm oil mills, comprising three mills in Peninsular Malaysia, five in Sabah and two in Sarawak. Its latest annual report stated that 72,300 ha of the group’s landbank is utilised for oil palm cultivation, representing BY SYAFIQAH SALIM & JOSE BARROCK theedgemalaysia.com KLK to buy major stake in Boustead Plantations from LTAT, followed by MGO 74% of its total landbank of 97,400 ha. This consists of 23,300 ha in Peninsular Malaysia, 38,700 ha in Sabah and 10,300 ha in Sarawak. On its financial front, Boustead Plantations reported an 89% drop year-onyear in its first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023). It attributed substantial earnings contraction to lower palm product prices and the adverse impact of fresh fruit bunches valuation. Its net profit shrunk to RM5.22 million from RM435.16 million in 1QFY2022, while revenue shed 38% to RM199.74 million from RM324.16 million. As at end-March, Boustead Plantations had short term borrowings of RM451.9 million and long-term borrowings of RM379.7 million. Cash and bank balances stood at RM99.2 million. Third acquisition by KLK Boustead Plantations will be the third major acquisition by KLK and its parent company Batu Kawan Bhd within three years. To recap, Batu Kawan took over Chemical Co of Malaysia Bhd (CCM) in March 2021 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. KLK then made an offer to buyout IJM Plantations Bhd, including IJM Corp Bhd’s 56.2% stake in IJM Plantations. Batu Kawan bought 56.32% of CCM from Permodalan Nasional Bhd and undertook an MGO for the remaining shares it did not own in the chemical and polymer manufacturer. The RM519.86 million deal strengthened Batu Kawan’s market position as a chlor-alkali chemical manufacturer. Boustead Plantations Bhd 0 1 2 3 4 5 Aug 3, 2022 Aug 23, 2023 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 Vol (mil) RM RM1.37 RM0.74 Data compiled as at 5pm, (Aug 23, 2023) Source: Bloomberg Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd 0 2 4 6 8 10 Aug 3, 2022 Aug 23, 2023 18 20 22 24 Vol (mil) RM RM22.50 RM20.98 Data compiled as at 5pm, (Aug 23, 2023) Source: Bloomberg BOUSTEADPLANTATIONS.COM.MY

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME MK Land plans more solar farms after Kerian solar project success KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd’s annual revenue surpassed the RM2 billion mark for the first time in the financial year ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023), as it incorporated the full-year contribution from the assets of Peninsula Hibiscus Group (formerly Repsol Exploración’s upstream assets), which it acquired in January last year for US$212.5 million. Net profit for the year came in at RM400.52 million, down 38% from RM652.94 million in FY2022, mainly because the previous year had incorporated a negative goodwill or bargain purchase gain of RM317.32 million, its bourse filing showed. Excluding the negative goodwill, fullyear earnings grew 19.3% from FY2022, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rising to RM1.27 billion from RM1.08 billion, as group revenue climbed 38% to RM2.34 billion from RM1.7 billion. The jump in group revenue came despite a lower fourth quarter revenue of RM503.6 million, down 42% from RM868.37 million in the corresponding quarter last year, as its North Sabah operations were impacted by a planned major maintenance campaign that took place from April to August and an ongoing well intervention campaign, which resulted in the segment’s revenue more than halving to RM133.74 million from RM316.04 million. The decline in quarterly revenue, together with higher taxes of RM44.55 million — as opposed to a tax credit in the corresponding quarter last year — led to a lower fourth quarter net profit of RM123.28 million, versus RM255.39 million previously. Ebitda for 4QFY2023 came in at RM326.48 million, compared with RM384.39 million previously. The group declared a third interim dividend of half a sen per share, translating into total dividends of two sen for FY2023, comparable to its payout for FY2022. Hibiscus said it sold 4.5 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil and condensate throughout FY2023, with 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) of gas. “On a combined Hibiscus annual revenue exceeds RM2 bil for the first time; plans dividend, share consolidation basis, this represented an increase of 55% or 2.5 MMboe from FY2022,” it added. For FY2024, the group expects to sell 7.5 to 7.8 MMboe of oil, condensate and gas, 6% to 10% more than the 7.1 MMboe it achieved in FY2023. Hibiscus managing director Dr Kenneth Gerard Pereira said the group is pleased that its annual revenue achieved the RM2 billion mark for the first time, with the full-year contribution of Peninsula Hibiscus Group’s assets, and “look forward to increasing our output by 6% to 10% in FY2024, as evidenced by our larger production volume guidance of 7.5 to 7.8 MMboe”. The group is also continuing its work to increase production in Malaysia and the UK, he said. “With its first steel cut in May 2023, the SF30 waterflood Phase 2 project in North Sabah is underway and on track to see first oil in calendar year 2024 (CY2024). The environmental statement and field development plan approvals and the granting of the production consent for the Teal West field are major achievements that will result in the prolongation of the economic life of the Anasuria Cluster. We look forward to the first oil from Teal West in late CY2024/early CY2025.” BY ISABELLE FRANCIS theedgemalaysia.com Bernama Read the full story KERIAN (Aug 23): Property developer MK Land Holdings Bhd is planning to have more solar farms in northern Peninsular Malaysia, especially Kedah, following the success of its first renewable energy project, the 10.95 megawatt (MW) large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Kerian, Perak. Solar Citra Sdn Bhd (SCSB) director Kamarulzaman Abu Bakar said the pilot project in Lembah Beriah, Kerian has started supplying solar power to Tenaga Nasional Bhd since June and projects a profit of almost RM400,000 a month. “Based on the success in Lembah Beriah, SCSB was selected on Aug 8 by the Energy Commission to be a solar energy producer under the Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP) in Kulim, Kedah. “SCSB, together with Total Energies Renewables SAS, was awarded a 30 MW quota for a 52-hectare farm that is three times the size of Lembah Beriah, for operations commencing in 2025,” he said at a press conference here on Wednesday (Aug 23). SCSB is a wholly owned subsidiary of MK Land Resources Sdn Bhd, which in turn is a unit of MK Land. Kamarulzaman said this after celebrating MK Land’s success in achieving commercial operations for the 10.95 MW plant under the Large-Scale Solar 4 (LSS4) scheme. Also present for the celebratory event were MK Land chairman Felina Mustapha Kamal, Solarvest Holdings Bhd managing director Lim Chin Siu and GoodWe Malaysia technical service manager Muhammad Farhan Zainuddin. In July 2021, SCSB appointed Atlantic Blue Sdn Bhd, a unit of Solarvest, as the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) solutions provider for the 16-hectare Lembah Beriah project, while GoodWe was the sub-contractor, as well as the inverter supplier. MK Land then signed a solar power purchase agreement with Tenaga Nasional Bhd in August 2021, for a period of 21 years upon the site’s commissioning on Dec 30, 2022. Kamarulzaman said the solar PV plant was completed seven months ahead of schedule and it proved SCSB’s capabilities and commitment to engineering delivery and technical solutions for the LSS4 project. “The solar farm uses more than 32,000 solar panels, costing a total of RM52 million, and it is capable of generating 11 MW (megawatts) of electricity to the Bukit Merah main intake substation as a new energy source. “Through Goodwe, we utilised the latest innovations in technology to produce solar inverter equipment, medium-volt stations, as well as power line communication technology for easy long-distance control through medium-voltage alternate cables to reduce system costs,” he added. Kamarulzaman said SCSB is playing its part in building renewable energy assets throughout the peninsula and contributing to the country’s aspiration to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): The hearing for tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun’s Berjaya Group and Naza Group’s joint venture (JV)’s application for leave (permission) for judicial review to challenge the Finance Ministry (MOF), government and Spanco Sdn Bhd over the termination of a vehicle fleet project has been fixed for Thursday (Aug 24). High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid fixed the hearing date for the leave application. The JV, Cekap Urus Sdn Bhd, is 51% owned by Berjaya, 29% owned by Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd and 20% owned by Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail. In the application filed on April 20 via Messrs Pierre Chuah and Associates, Cekap Urus sought leave for a declaration that the MOF and government’s decision to cancel or terminate the letter of intent (LOI) for the supply and management of government vehicle fleet, awarded to Cekap Urus via a letter dated Dec 11, 2019, is invalid, null and void, and has no effect. It also sought a declaration that the government and the ministry’s decision to award Spanco the fleet project through direct negotiation is invalid, null and void, and has no effect. Besides this, Cekap Urus is seeking a certiorari order to quash the government and ministry’s decision on Jan 25 this year in dismissing Cekap Urus’ appeal against the decision to terminate the LOI. It is also seeking a mandamus order to compel the government and MOF to carry out the necessary action in the letter awarded to Cekap Urus on Dec 11, 2019. Furthermore, pending determination of the matter, Cekap Urus is also seeking a stay of the government and ministry’s decision, and damages and costs to be assessed. In the affidavit in support by Cekap Urus director Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Zin, sighted by The Edge, the company claimed that Spanco was offered the concession agreement for a period of 25 years from October 1993, for the vehicle fleet project. When it expired in December 2018, the government decided to select a new concessionaire and came out with a request for proposal (RFP). Berjaya-Naza JV’s challenge against MOF over vehicle fleet termination to be heard on Thursday BY HAFIZ YATIM theedgemalaysia.com Naza initially submitted its bid sometime in November 2017, but the RFP was terminated, and the government through the Public Private Partnership Unit at the Prime Minister’s Department (Ukas) offered Naza to re-submit its bid, and the company made its second bid in April 2018. Following the 14th general election, Cekap Urus claimed that the second RFP was terminated and a new RFP was made in January 2019. Naza and Berjaya through Cekap Urus made a joint bid for the new RFP on Feb 28, 2019. Spanco also made a bid for the project, which is for a period of 15 years, said Abdul Rahim. Bid success and first meeting Abdul Rahim claimed that after the LOI was issued, Cekap Urus was invited to the first meeting with the MOF’s Public Asset Management (PAM) on Jan 9, 2020, which was chaired by PAM secretary Dr Anuar Ariffin and head of vehicle management Azizatul Yusna Ahmad Yusuff. “The meeting was not only unfruitful and it started to raise a lot of questions and doubts about transparency and genuineness of the negotiations to process and finalise the draft contract,” alleged Abdul Rahim. Abdul Rahim said in the meeting, the company was told of the need to amend the draft contract and resubmit again. He further claimed there were adverse comments made about the JV’s joint bid. One of those comments, he alleged, was as if speaking on behalf of Spanco and further undermined Cekap Urus as the winner of the fleet project. He further alleged that Cekap Urus received credible information that a video recording of the meeting had made its way to Spanco, the incumbent concession holder of the fleet. He also claimed the draft contract had been leaked and circulated. Following this, the plaintiff claimed that it wrote to the deputy secretary general of Treasury (Investment) on Jan 20, 2020, to place on record its concerns over the purported leak and plead for the finalisation of the draft contract. It further submitted a letter to then finance minister Lim Guan Eng on Jan 21, 2020, to complain about the purported leaks and wanted one of the two officers who was present, i.e. Azizatul Yusna, to be removed from the committee to negotiate the draft contract. Cekap Urus claimed that it had two subsequent meetings with Ukas and other relevant parties after that in January and February 2020, where the company was required to provide further explanation and supporting documents on the calculation method employed and revise it to make it cheaper. On Feb 14, 2020, Cekap Urus had provided a written explanation on the calculation and rental rates, and at the same time wrote to Lim to express again its dissatisfaction that Azizatul Yusna was totally unfit to negotiate the draft contract. Cekap Urus claimed that it was invited to four other meetings between Feb 24, 2020 and March 5, 2020, to discuss the draft contract. THE EDGE FILE PHOTO Read the full story

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): WCE Holdings Bhd saw its net loss widen to RM26.41 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) from RM14.13 million a year earlier, mainly due to the RM37.2 million interest cost for the completed sections of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project. Revenue rose 10.29% to RM116.04 million from RM105.21 million in 1QFY2022, contributed by construction activities and the toll revenue segments, the highway concessionaire said on Wednesday (Aug 23). “The toll concession segment has reported a loss before tax in the current quarter mainly due to interest expense incurred in relation to project financing for completed sections of the WCE project,” said the group in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. The WCE project involves the development of 233km of tolled highway from Banting, Selangor to Taiping, Perak (including 40km of highway to be constructed later). The build-operate-transfer project has a concession period of up to 60 years effective from Dec 20, 2013. “The interest expense was capitalised as part of the infrastructure development expenditure prior to the completion of construction works,” the group said. WCE Holdings said the group is expected to incur losses in the early years of toll operations due to the cessation of capitalisation of interest expenses for completed sections. Nonetheless, the group said it is still expecting a surplus from toll operations before accounting for this interest expense. The toll project is divided into 11 sections, of which four sections — Section 5 (Bandar Bukit Raja - Kapar), Section 8 (Hutan Melintang - Teluk Intan), Section 9 (Kampung Lekir - Changkat Cermin) and Section 10 (Changkat Cermin - Beruas) — have been opened to traffic. WCE Holdings is targeting to complete another four sections by March 31, 2024. These are Section 1 (Banting - South Klang Valley Expressway or SKVE); Section 2 (SKVE - Shah Alam Expressway or Kesas); Section 6 (Bandar Bukit Raja Utara - Assam Jawa) and Section 11 (Beruas - Taiping South). Read the full story WCE Holdings posts bigger net loss in 2Q due to interest payments for highway project KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Sime Darby Plantation Bhd said it expects its financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) to remain challenging, as its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) fell by 53% to RM380 million, from RM812 million a year ago. Based on its results disclosed on Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday (Aug 23), the group said its earnings were impacted by the lower average realised crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) prices. In a separate statement, it said the realised CPO prices declined 28% year-on-year (y-o-y) to an average of RM3,765 per metric tonne (MT) in 2QFY2023, compared to RM5,213 per MT recorded in the previous corresponding period. The group added that average realised PK prices declined by 47% y-o-y to RM1,767 per MT, from RM3,339 per MT in 2QFY2022, affected by the decline in demand in the oleochemicals industry. With the decline in quarterly net profit, Sime Darby Plantation’s earnings per share dropped to 5.5 sen from 11.7 sen. Revenue recorded for 2QFY2023 fell 23% year-onyear to RM4.31 billion, from RM5.59 billion. The group said its upstream segment was also affected by the marginal decline in fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production and lower oil extraction rate, exacerbated by higher operating expenditure, mainly from higher fertiliser prices and labour costs. It explained that the reduction in FFB production was due to the group’s accelerated replanting programme in Indonesia to address poorer yielding and aged palm areas with new higher yielding planting materials. Besides that, Sime Darby Plantation’s downstream segment reported lower revenue by 55%, affected by weaker profits from the Asia Pacific bulk and differentiated refineries due to lower margins and demand, and lower share of profits from a joint venture. It elaborated that finance costs increased to RM49 million, due to higher interest rates affected by the increase in benchmark lending rates, partially mitigated by lower borrowings. “Average interest rate was 5.1% per annum, as compared to 2.4% per annum in the corresponding quarter,” Sime Darby Plantation wrote in its review in the latest financial report. Nonetheless, the group declared a diviSime Darby Plantation expects FY2023 to remain challenging as 2Q net profit falls 53% dend of 3.25 sen, albeit lower than the 10 sen paid out last year. The latest quarterly results brings Sime Darby Plantation’s net profit for the cumulative six months ended June 30, 2023 (1HFY2023) to shrink 71% to RM449 million from RM1.53 billion a year ago. Sixmonth revenue was down by 16% to RM8.37 billion, from RM9.97 billion a year ago. Moving forward, the group said price volatility is expected to continue in the near term, as geopolitical crises and global macroeconomic conditions add to prevailing uncertainties. “The rebound in CPO and other commodity prices was mainly driven by the increasingly uncertain weather conditions in key oilseed regions, as well as the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war,” it said. As for FFB production, Sime Darby Plantation expects to see steady increase as the group progresses into the peak production period in the coming months. “The group is optimistic that its FFB production will improve, as it continues to improve field conditions in its Malaysian operations,” it said. “These efforts complement the group’s commitment to continue its transformational initiatives to mechanise, automate and digitalise its operations in Malaysia.” Sime Darby Plantation’s share price was six sen or 1.37% lower at RM4.33 during Wednesday’s noon break, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM14.38 billion. Read also: El Nino may cause CPO prices to hit, even exceed RM4,000 per tonne in 2H2023 — Sime Darby Plantation MD BY HAILEY CHUNG theedgemalaysia.com BY SYAFIQAH SALIM theedgemalaysia.com REUTERS

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Amway (M) Holdings Bhd issued a profit warning for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) as inflation took a toll on consumers’ purchasing power and appetites to spend. “The group’s operating environment remains challenging largely due to both inflation which affects consumers’ ability and willingness to spend, as well as a softer demand for health supplements post-Covid-19 pandemic,” said Amway in quarterly result announcement to Bursa Malaysia. “In tandem with the expected decline in For the second financial quarter ended June 30 (2QFY2023), it posted a net profit of RM17.74 million, an 18.5% increase from RM14.98 million a year before, due to price hikes and lower operating expenses. However, its quarterly revenue was marginally lower at RM343.69 million, against RM354.62 million a year ago. Earnings per share for 2QFY2023 grew to 10.79 sen, from 9.11 sen previously. Amway declared a second single tier interim dividend of five sen per share, payable on Sept 22. For the cumulative six months ended June 30 (6MFY2023), its net profit grew 6.15% to RM37.31 million, from RM35.15 million a year before, although revenue fell 3.93% to RM716.51 million, from RM745.85 million in the Jan-June period of last year. It said the better earnings for 6MFY2023 was due to an increase in prices as well as lower sales incentives and lower spending on operating expenses. Amway’s share price gained one sen on Wednesday (Aug 23), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM884 million. Year-to-date, the stock has increased 11%. Amway issues profit warning for FY2023 amid weaker consumer spending KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Premier lifestyle property developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) anticipates an improvement in earnings in the coming quarters, driven by its encouraging sales performance and a stable market environment. Speaking at a media and analysts’ results briefing on Wednesday (Aug 23), E&O managing director Kok Tuck Cheong said that Malaysia’s property market is anticipated to improve — especially in strategic locations — which bodes well for the group’s outlook. “The tourism sector is also witnessing a steady recovery driven by the rise in demand for hotel bookings. As such, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to execute our plans and strategies to bring the group to greater heights,” Kok said. As at first quarter ended June 30, 2023 (1QFY2024), the company’s property sales stood at RM269.2 million — 74% of the total coming from Penang, 13% from Johor and 12% from Klang Valley; unbilled sales stood at RM999.3 million. “We are pleased with the promising results to commence the beginning of our financial year. The visible strong take-up rates of our two newly launched properties at the Andaman Island [in Penang], namely The Meg and Arica reflect our track record and market recognition as a lifestyle developer,” he said. Likewise, he noted that the group’s hotels in Malaysia and London are also experiencing higher occupancy rates, coupled with higher demand for banqueting services for corporate and private events. In 1QFY2024, E&O posted a net profit of RM32.95 million against a net loss of RM1.65 million a year ago, on the back of improved revenue. Its quarterly revenue rose 11.5% to RM85.4 million, versus RM76.6 million previously. E&O expects better quarters ahead on higher sales, stable property market The group attributed the improved earnings to the increase in revenue of RM3.6 million from the property segment and RM5 million from the hospitality segment. At present, the company has five ongoing projects with a total gross development value (GDV) of RM2.5 billion. The projects consist of The Meg and Arica in Andaman Island Phase 1, Conlay and The Peak in Kuala Lumpur and Avira in Johor Bahru. No dividend plans this year E&O executive chairman Datuk Tee Eng Ho said that the group has no plans to pay out any dividend this year as it plans to focus on the land reclamation of Andaman Island in Penang. “I don’t think [there’ll be dividends] this financial year because a lot of funds are going to the reclamation [of Andaman Island],” Tee, who controls 48.38% of the company, said. Currently, the cost of land reclamation for Andaman Island Phase 1 stands at RM1 billion, while infrastructure construction cost is about RM500 million. The last time E&O declared a dividend was in FY2020, with the first and final single-tier dividend of one sen per share amounting to RM14.3 million. At 4.44pm, shares of E&O were 3.5 sen or 8.43% higher at 45 sen, which translates into a market capitalisation of RM700.83 million. BY ANIS HAZIM theedgemalaysia.com BY JUSTIN LIM theedgemalaysia.com Financial year ends Dec 31 *For the six months ended June 30, 2023 Sources: Bursa Malaysia, Company’s annual report Amway’s financial performance in the past five years 0 20 40 60 80 0 500 1000 1500 2000 Net profit (RM mil) Revenue (RM mil) FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 6M FY2023* 54.50 51.20 46.90 36.80 76.90 37.31 1,514.80 966.30 716.51 1,153.50 1,485.90 972.30 revenue and coupled with the costs associated with critical business investments and inflationary pressure, the group also foresees a reduction in profit for 2023,” it added. The group’s net profit more than doubled to RM76.9 million in FY2022 on annual revenue of RM1.514 billion. Earnings per share soared to 46.8 sen from 22.3 sen in FY2021.

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF TO BE REVEALED SOON HONOURING MALAYSIA’S BEST PERFORMING MID-CAP COMPANIES Presented by 2023

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 10 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME NEWS IN BRIEF Serba Dinamik submits appeal against de-listing KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd has submitted an appeal to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd (Bursa Securities) against the de-listing of the company’s securities on the local exchange. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday (Aug 23), the oil and gas service provider said this is in relation to the company being classified as an affected listed issuer under the Practice Note 17 (PN17) of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities on Aug 16, 2023. On Aug 16, Serba Dinamik said it might be de-listed from the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on Aug 28, after Bursa Securities decided to reject its application for an extension of time to submit its regularisation plan unless an appeal against the de-listing is submitted to Bursa Securities on or before Aug 23, 2023. The company fell into the PN17 status on Jan 6, 2022 and its securities trading on Bursa Malaysia has been suspended since December 2022 until further notice for failure to submit its annual report 2022. — Bernama MBM Resources declares special dividend despite weaker 2Q earnings KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): MBM Resources Bhd’s second quarter net profit fell 29.88% to RM51.93 million, from RM74.06 million a year before, amid a lower contribution from its motor trading, auto parts manufacturing, and share of results of associates. Earnings per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) declined to 13.29 sen, from 18.94 sen previously. Revenue sank 3.13% to RM539.57 million from RM557.02 million in 2QFY2022, the group’s bourse filing showed. Despite the weaker quarterly results, the group has declared a first interim dividend of six sen per share and a special dividend of 20 sen per share, both payable on Sept 22. — by Justin Lim Read the full story Apex Healthcare sees 14-fold rise in 2Q net profit, but warns of challenging 2H KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Apex Healthcare Bhd posted a more than 14-fold rise in net profit to RM329.48 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), from RM23.49 million a year ago. Earnings per share climbed to 46.13 sen from 3.30 sen. Revenue rose marginally by 2.76% to RM215.03 million from RM209.25 million last year, driven by the sales of pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare products and medical devices to both private and public sector customers. Revenue was also driven by strong overseas demand for its Xepa product, especially in Singapore, the pharmaceutical group said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday (Aug 23). The group declared an interim dividend of 2.5 sen per share, payable on Sept 19. For the first six months of FY2023, Apex Healthcare saw a nine-fold jump in net profit to RM353.77 million, from the RM39.26 million in the same period last year, thanks to improved operating profit posted by its subsidiaries and significantly increased net-of-tax contribution from its associated company Straits Apex Group Sdn Bhd. Half-year revenue grew 8.39% to RM460.83 million from RM425.17 million on the back of the economic recovery and with demand for pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare products and medical devices remaining firm. Apex Healthcare expects the business environment to be more challenging in the second half of the year due to slow economic growth in its key markets. The group has direct operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar, according to its annual report. — by Anis Hazim SC reprimands auditor for violation of auditing standards KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): The Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has publicly reprimanded Yean Wai Nye, a partner of TH Kuan & Co. In a statement on Wednesday (Aug 23), the SC said as the engagement partner responsible for the audit of a public interest entity (PIE), Yean had failed to comply with the relevant International Standards on Auditing, particularly regarding the valuation of goodwill. SC said Yean failed to challenge the key assumptions used for the financial projections and assess the appropriateness of the expert’s work as audit evidence in auditing the management’s impairment assessment of goodwill. The AOB stressed that the impairment assessment of goodwill is crucial in light of economic uncertainties and an evolving business environment, hence it requires due care and sound judgement. The SC said compliance with the auditing standards when auditing the financial statements of a PIE is a condition of registration for AOB registrants. Thus, the AOB would not hesitate to take action against auditors for non-compliance with the auditing standards and registration conditions, it said. — by Surin Murugiah Pos Malaysia posts RM27 mil net loss in 2Q, sees improved full-year results KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Pos Malaysia Bhd continued to bleed in its second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) with its net loss widening to RM27 million from RM5.25 million posted a year ago. Loss per share swelled to 3.45 sen from 0.67 sen. This is Pos Malaysia’s 20th consecutive quarterly net loss. Revenue fell 10.06% to RM465.2 million from RM517.26 million in 2QFY2022, according to the national post and courier service provider’s bourse filing on Wednesday (Aug 23). For the first six months of FY2023, the group’s net loss ballooned to RM54.67 million, an increase of 53.48% over RM35.62 million in the previous January-June period, as revenue declined 5.41% to RM947.47 million from RM1 billion. “We operate in a very challenging environment, and we will continue to navigate those challenges by focusing on our variable costs, network rationalisation and commercial workstreams,” Pos Malaysia group chief executive officer Charles Brewer said in a statement. “We are fully focused on improving our financial performance, embracing digital technology, enhancing the customer journey and championing sustainability for a greener and cleaner future. Our unwavering focus is on creating a business model that prioritises the welfare of our employees, customers, and the environment,” Brewer added. Going forward, Brewer said the group is cautiously optimistic and anticipates an improved result for the group in FY2023. — by Justin Lim Serba Dinamik was informed on Aug 16 it might be delisted from Bursa Malaysia on Aug 28 unless it appeal to Bursa Securities on or before Aug 23. THE EDGE

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former treasury secretary general and 1MDB board member Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar have failed in their bid to strike out a US$6.59 billion lawsuit filed by the stateowned fund against them. High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan in dismissing the striking out bid said the matter was not suitable to be decided via affidavits to the court and summary judgement. “As a result of analysis of all the arguments and issues presented to me and raised by the parties, it is clear that the issues presented to me including allegations of fraud and conspiracy, cannot be decided and resolved merely by affidavits. “All of the issues before me cannot be resolved by a simple straightforward approach. In other words the assessment of the facts in front of me prevents me from being able to dispose of all the issues in a summary manner as requested by the defendants,” he said. He said the matter needs to go to trial, and the court needs to hear witnesses from all three parties to come to a decision. 1MDB filed the suit in May 2021 against the duo for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds as well as to execute an employment extension agreement. In its statement of claim, 1MDB claimed that both Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan were liable for breach of duties and breach of trust, which resulted in the strategic development company suffering losses amounting to US$1.83 billion in relation to its investment in 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd, which was converted into stakes in Brazen Sky Ltd and then converted into an investment in Bridge Global Fund. It also alleged that Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan committed a breach of trust and conspiracy by misappropriating US$3.5 billion of 1MDB money and paying it to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd — a shell company pretending to be a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) — and subsequently paying another US$1.265 billion to IPIC in May 2017. 1MDB also claimed that Mohd Irwan had conspired with Arul Kanda to cause the fund to implement an employment extension agreement that resulted in it paying RM2.91 million to Arul Kanda, regardless of 1MDB’s interests, causing it to suffer losses and damage. Among others, the strategic development company is seeking US$6.59 billion from the duo as a result of the purported breaches, and the return of the RM2.91 million from Mohd Irwan in relation to the employment extension agreement. Mohd Irwan applied to strike out the suit against him in February last year, on grounds that the legal action was premature as 1MDB’s claim over its Brazen Sky investment and its payment to Aabar were BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM theedgemalaysia.com Arul Kanda, Irwan Serigar fail in bid to strike out 1MDB’s US$6.59 bil lawsuit unsustainable because the court had yet to determine that 1MDB suffered losses of US$1.83 billion and US$3.5 billion from the transactions, as well as who was to be held responsible for the losses. Arul Kanda applied to strike out the suit in June last year. Raja Ahmad, however, said the dismissal of the striking out application was not the end for Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan, and assured that the court will hear their arguments when the matter goes to trial. “The dismissal of these two applications is not the end for the defendants as rest assured that this court will eventually give its utmost attention and consideration to the same arguments raised by the defendants herein along with some other available defences raised at the appropriate stage of proceedings when the time comes, which is the trial itself,” he said, adding that this also applies to the plaintiff in the case, which is 1MDB. Raja Ahmad further explained that the issues raised by 1MDB in the suit “merit further and thorough” investigation by the court process of a trial. Counsels Datuk Lim Chee Wee, Brendan Navin Siva, Aida Haryani Salamon and Wong Sze Some appeared for 1MDB. Arul Kanda was represented by lawyers Lee Leong Soon and Hing Hong Jer, while Mohd Irwan’s legal team comprised counsels Lavinia Kumaraendran, Mavin Thillainathan and Amitaesh Theva. Raja Ahmad then ordered Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan to each pay costs of RM10,000 to 1MDB, and fixed Sept 14 for further case management. Ex-1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former treasury secretary general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah THE EDGE FILE PHOTOS

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 12 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): The Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has publicly reprimanded Yean Wai Nye, a partner of TH Kuan & Co. In a statement on Wednesday (Aug 23), the SC said as the engagement partner responsible for the audit of a public interest entity (PIE), Yean had failed to comply with the relevant International Standards on Auditing, particularly regarding the valuation of goodwill. SC said Yean failed to challenge the key assumptions used for the financial projections and assess the appropriateness of the expert’s work as audit evidence in auditing the management’s impairment assessment of goodwill. The AOB stressed that the impairment assessment of goodwill is crucial in light of economic uncertainties and an evolving business environment, hence it requires due care and sound judgement. The SC said compliance with the auditing standards when auditing the financial statements of a PIE is a condition of registration for AOB registrants. Thus, the AOB would not hesitate to take action against auditors for non-compliance with the auditing standards and registration conditions, it said. SC reprimands auditor for violation of auditing standards KUCHING (Aug 23): Cooperatives are reminded to audit their accounts, in line with the provisions under Section 60 of the Cooperative Societies Act 1993. Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Saraswathy Kandasami said that failure to comply with this requirement would result in cooperatives losing eligibility for the facilities available under the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM). She added that one of the main reasons why cooperatives fail to prepare financial statements for auditing was the lack of exposure to bookkeeping. “We find that most cooperatives that do not carry out audits are small and micro cooperatives. We understand that most of them are facing problems after the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected their businesses. “Therefore, we take various approaches to provide assistance to help them recover,” she told reporters after the briefing on Cooperative Financial Statement Reporting Guidelines (Amendment) 2020 here on Wednesday (Aug 23). As of Dec 31 last year, there were 15,315 cooperatives registered under SKM, with a total membership of 7.3 million people, Saraswathy said. “In Sarawak, there are 1,159 registered cooperatives, with over 310,000 members. “These statistics prove that the cooperatives in Sarawak have successfully increased the people’s confidence in their roles and significance in helping the government deal with the rising cost of living,” she said. SC sees rapid increase in scam complaints since pandemic Cooperatives told to audit their accounts Bernama Bernama BY SURIN MURUGIAH theedgemalaysia.com REUTERS THE EDGE PETALING JAYA (Aug 23): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has seen a rapid increase in complaints and enquiries on unlicensed activities and scams since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. SC consumer and investor general manager Jawahar Ali Ameer Ali said that the commission received 1,799 complaints in 2020, followed by 3,475 complaints in 2021, 2461 complaints in 2022 and, as of the first half of this year (1H2023), it had already received about 1,670 complaints, which were about 60% of the total in 2022. Speaking to the media at the Annual Signature Financial Planning Symposium organised by the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM) on Wednesday (Aug 23), Jawahar Ali said that most of the complaints the SC received were on illegal schemes promoted through social media. He said that perpetrators of these scams usually use sponsored Facebook ads, fake websites, or create public Telegram groups to promote investment packages that are usually accompanied by fake testimonies, and certificates purportedly issued by various agencies. “Interested investors will then be asked to message the representatives to begin investing directly. These ‘investments’ usually promise unrealistic returns, such as investing RM300 to have returns in thousands of ringgit within a few hours. “Investment opportunities like this through social media are scams. Investors should also be careful if they are asked to deposit money into personal [bank] accounts. As of now, investors have lost tens of millions through investment scams,” Jawahar Ali added. He said that the SC had taken various intervention actions and initiatives to alert the public. “In 1H2023, the SC took two enforcement actions, issued 170 alert lists, [with] 95 website blocks, six Instagram account blocks, 74 Telegram account blocks, as well as 58 blocks on Facebook,” he said.

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 13 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 14 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF HOME Crackhouse Comedy owners withdraw legal action as duo not blacklisted from operating in KL indefinitely KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Swatch Group (M) Sdn Bhd has been granted leave (permission) to challenge the government’s seizure of its “rainbow theme” watches three months ago. Leave was granted during proceedings in chambers before High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh on Wednesday (Aug 23) following no objections from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to the Swiss watchmaker’s application. Senior federal counsel Farah Shuhada Ramli appeared for the AGC while Nizam Bashir appeared for Swatch. Following this, parties will now argue the substantive issues in the application on another date. Case management for the matter has been set for Sept 6. Swatch’s leave application was initially set for hearing last month but had been postponed following the amendments to the company’s judicial review application. Among the amendments is an order to quash the decisions and actions of the Home Ministry officers on the searches of Swatch stores and seizures of the watches. This is in addition to its orders sought in the application filed in June where Swatch was looking to quash the notice of seizure, and for the return of the watches. The international brand is also seeking aggravated and exemplary damages. It named the minister, the Home Ministry’s secretary general, the ministry’s enforcement division secretary, and the government as respondents. The company claimed that 172 watches had been seized by the authorities in 16 different locations nationwide between May 13 and 15, 2023. The total retail value of the watches amounted to RM64,795. The watches were part of the company’s “Pride collection” in reference to the international human rights movement held in June which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. Swatch gets permission to challenge seizure of ‘rainbow’ watches after no objections from AGC In its application, the company said it has not received any complaints from the public since it began selling the items. It also said the colours of the rainbow and celebrating pride represent international human rights for greater respect of celebrating love for all genders and races without discrimination. While the authorities said the watches have elements of LGBTQ and amounted to a violation of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the company pointed out that the watches have never been gazetted as prohibited publication that necessitated the seizures. The company said without any such gazette, the seizures are illegal. It added that the watches are not a form of publication, and neither are they a type of “prohibited item”. It further claimed that the seizure notices did not adequately inform the company on the grounds or basis for the seizure, and that the seizures were illegal, irrational and inconsistent. Founded in Switzerland in 1983, Swatch has had a presence in Malaysia since 1995. According to the company, Malaysian buyers make up 80% of its sales here, while foreigners contribute the remaining 20%. Earlier this month, the Home Ministry gazetted an order prohibiting publications related to the watches. The provision gazetted on Aug 9 stipulates that printing, importing, reproducing, publishing, selling, producing, circulating, distributing or possessing such a publication is strictly prohibited in Malaysia. BY TARANI PALANI theedgemalaysia.com BY TARANI PALANI theedgemalaysia.com KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): The co-owners of Crackhouse Comedy Club have withdrawn their legal action against Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) as the duo were not blacklisted from operating businesses in the capital indefinitely. Pravin Mahentharan, the lawyer for the club’s co-owners Mohamad Rizal Johan Van Geyzel and Shankar Santhiram, confirmed this during court proceedings on Wednesday (Aug 23) before High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh. “DBKL had confirmed in their affidavit in reply that [the duo] were not blacklisted and are allowed to operate businesses in Kuala Lumpur,” he said. Following this, the court struck out the application and made no order as to costs. Lawyer Khalisa Badrul Amini appeared for the respondents, DBKL and then Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah. The legal action came after a controversial stand-up routine at the club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in July 2022. Following this, then deputy federal territories minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias had announced DBKL’s ban, which was carried in the news. Both Mohamad Rizal and Shankar had then written to DBKL seeking clarification but received no reply addressing the permanent ban, prompting the duo to seek legal recourse. In the course of exchanging documents for the matter, it was confirmed that there was no such ban by DBKL. Essentially, DBKL had merely withdrawn the club’s permit rather than impose a blacklist on the duo. Jalaluddin, then Federal Territories Ministry, and the Malaysian government, who were also named in the initial application, had been dropped as respondents because the alleged contested decision was made by the city hall. The co-owners were seeking several declarations, one of which is that the decision by DBKL and the mayor to revoke Crackhouse Comedy Club’s licence is against the law, irrational, unwise, unconstitutional, and should be declared null and void. They were also seeking aggravated and exemplary damages, along with other relief given by the court with no order as to costs. SWATCH MALAYSIA

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 15 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): China’s economic slowdown opens doors for other nations to draw a bigger share of investment targeted at emerging markets, according to executives attending an annual BRICS summit. The deceleration, characterised by a property slump, soaring municipal debt and a youth unemployment crisis, has jolted financial markets as investors ponder what it might mean for commodities amid waning demand from the world’s second-largest economy. Policymakers from the US to New Zealand have sounded warnings, with major mineral producers like Brazil, Australia and South Africa under pressure. Softer demand for electronics will impact trade-dependent economies like South Korea and Taiwan, while companies from Nike Inc to Caterpillar Inc have already taken a hit to their earnings from China’s slowdown. But business leaders attending the forum this week in Johannesburg said they don’t see a slowdown in China having a dramatic spillover effect, and that its recent travails could in fact help other members of the club. Their views dovetail with those of Goldman Sachs Group Inc strategists, who say the knock-on effect of weakening Chinese company earnings and stock prices on equities in peer countries has declined “precipitously” over the past three years. “It presents a huge opportunity for others, especially India,” said Onkar Kanwar, the chairman of the BRICS Business Council and of Indian tyremaker Apollo Tyres Ltd. “India has carried out reforms, more is expected, and on the whole we are well-prepared to welcome those who want to set up shop in India.” China remains the dominant player in BRICS, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa — its gross domestic product is more than twice the size of the other members combined. Despite its recent travails, the Chinese economy continues to be one of the best performers, with the International Monetary Fund expecting growth of 5.2% this year. BRICS bloc dealmakers see upside from a China slowdown (Aug 23): Global investors have been shedding China’s blue-chip stocks during the longest stretch of outflows on record, showing even the nation’s industry leaders are falling out of favour as a rout deepens. Foreign investors sold 6.2 billion yuan (RM4.02 billion) of Kweichow Moutai Co during Aug 7-18, making China’s largest liquor maker the most heavily sold stock via trading links with Hong Kong. It was followed by 4.7 billion yuan of selling each for leading renewables stock LONGi Green Energy Technology Co and major lender China Merchants Bank Co, according to the latest data on individual stocks available on Bloomberg. Overseas funds have been fleeing the mainland market, offloading the equivalent of US$10.7 billion (RM49.8 billion) in a 13-day run of withdrawals through Wednesday (Aug 23), the longest since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 2016. Their departure comes as a prolonged housing slump raises the risk of broader financial contagion, making the nation’s equity benchmark among the worst global performers this month with a nearly 8% loss. The CSI 300 Index is now trading at its lowest since November as optimism following the July Politburo meeting quickly evaporated. Foreigners had moved into the market en masse back then, only to leave again now in droves as economic data continue to disappoint and stimulus fails to impress. The 10 most-sold stock by foreigners in the latest rout were among the 50 largest ones on the CSI 300. Major distiller Wuliangye Yibin Co, Ping An Insurance Global funds abandon China blue chips in US$11 bil selloff Bloomberg BY ILYA ARKHIPOV & SUDHI RANJAN SEN Bloomberg Their departure comes as a prolonged housing slump raises the risk of broader financial contagion, making the nation’s equity benchmark among the worst global performers this month with a nearly 8% loss. CONTINUES ON PAGE 16 Group Co of China, and EV maker BYD Co saw selling of at least 2.9 billion yuan each through Aug 18. An analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence also shows emerging market funds have turned more bearish on Chinese stocks, deepening their average underweight position to almost 100 basis points as of the second quarter from 24 basis points three months earlier. They were overweight by 40 basis points as of end-2022. The selling streak is showing little sign of cooling. Overseas funds shed another 10.5 billion yuan on Wednesday. A top-performing Chinese macro hedge fund blamed global capital for sinking the country’s stocks, calling them a “bunch of aimless flies” that stir up market volatility. That said, foreign funds own less than 4% of total A-shares outstanding, according to a report this month from China International Capital Corp.

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 16 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): US business activity approached the stagnation point in August, with growth at its weakest since February as demand for new business in the vast service sector contracted. S&P Global said its flash US Composite PMI index, which tracks manufacturing and service sectors, fell to a reading of 50.4 in August from 52 in July, the biggest drop since November 2022. While August’s reading was the seventh straight month of growth, it was only fractionally above the 50 level separating expansion and contraction as demand weakened for both manufactured goods and services. For months, a strong labor market and resilient consumer spending has increasingly assuaged fears of recession, and led to upward revisions of GDP growth forecasts. But Wednesday’s (Aug 23) data painted a more tepid picture about the economy. Service sector business activity growth was the slowest since February at 51.0 in August, and the Manufacturing PMI fell deeper into contraction territory at 47.0 down from 49.0 in July, the fourth straight month of contraction. Wednesday’s data was worse than expected, with economists polled by Reuters predicting that the services index would be 52.2 and the manufacturing index would be 49.3. US economy near stalling point as consumer demand weakens, survey says by a further fall in factory output,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Consumer demand posed a substantial drag on revenue for firms, as new business and orders contracted for firms across all sectors. New business in the service sector declined for the first time in six months, falling to 49.2 from 51.0 the month prior. Both manufacturing and service sector businesses tamed price hikes in order to attract more customers and slowed headcount growth to compensate for resurgent input costs. Wednesday’s cool reading may be viewed positively by the Fed, which is keen to see activity cool to lower inflation. Read also: US new home sales rise to highest level in over a year With mortgage rates at the highest level in more than two decades, most homeowners are unwilling to move, keeping inventory on the resale market extremely limited. That’s encouraged prospective buyers to seek out new construction, and builders are also throwing in more incentives. BY SAFIYAH RIDDLE Reuters That lags the 5.9% predicted in India, but is well ahead of Brazil, Russia and South Africa, which are all expected to grow by less than 1%. “The Chinese economy has strong resilience, tremendous potential and great vitality,” President Xi Jinping said in a speech delivered on his behalf by Commerce Secretary Wang Wentao at the summit. “The fundamentals sustaining China’s long-term growth will remain unchanged. The giant ship of the Chinese economy will continue to part waves and sail ahead.” Some analysts have warned that Xi doesn’t have good options to reverse course and his country could be headed for Japanese-style drift after decades of rampant expansion. That would spell bad news for other countries dependent on exports to China. As the BRICS meetings kicked off, signs that China was becoming more forceful in supporting its domestic markets provided a jolt to its peers. Emerging-market stocks ended a nine-day losing streak and currencies including South Africa’s rand, Brazil’s real and India’s rupee all gained. China has “been growing for a long time and now this is some kind of satiation,” said Sergey Katyrin, the president of Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who has played a role in facilitating trade relaFROM PAGE 15 tions between his country and China. “I would not say this is critical.” Jai Shroff, the chief executive officer of Indian agro-chemical firm, UPL Ltd sees climate change and a shortage of funding for sustainable agriculture as bigger threats than a downturn in China. “As economies grow, people spend more on food and they are unlikely to suddenly cut back,” he said. “That insulates our business in difficult times such as now. Sim Tshabala, the CEO of Standard Bank Group Ltd, Africa’s largest lender that is 20% owned by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, expects shifts in China’s economy to shake up global supply chains. “The Chinese economy is clearly changing and increasingly focusing on consumption, less on investment, he said. “This is an opportunity to bring industrialisation and end of value chains to Africa,” because it becomes more expensive to produce in China, he said. Xi stated as much, when he committed to his country importing more “quality products” from South Africa following talks with its President Cyril Ramaphosa. “A near-stalling of business activity in August raises doubts over the strength of US economic growth in the third quarter. The survey shows that the service sector-led acceleration of growth in the second quarter has faded, accompanied REUTERS

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD BANGKOK (Aug 23): Thailand’s billionaire former leader Thaksin Shinawatra was hospitalised on his first night in prison after his historic return from self-exile, officials said on Wednesday (Aug 23), citing concern about his heart and blood pressure. The influential founder of Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai Party was transferred to a police hospital overnight, 15 hours after a vaunted homecoming from 15 years abroad to avoid jail, that coincided with his political ally being elected prime minister in a parliamentary vote. The Corrections Department said the 74-year-old Thaksin was transferred in the early hours of Wednesday after being unable to sleep and experiencing chest tightness and high blood pressure on his first night in prison. “Physicians agreed that to prevent dangerous risks to his life, he be transferred to the police hospital,” it said. Soponrat Singhajaru, a senior doctor, confirmed his condition had improved since he was admitted. A representative for Thaksin declined to comment. Thaskin, a hugely popular prime minister among many voters for pro-poor policies, was ousted in a 2006 military coup and was in self-exile two years later when he was sentenced to jail for graft and abuse of power. His hospitalisation is the latest twist in chaotic few months in Thai politics that saw the progressive Move Forward party triumph in a May election then end Thailand’s billionaire ex-PM Thaksin moved to hospital on first night in jail MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Aug 23): India is expected to ban mills from exporting sugar in the next season beginning October, halting shipments for the first time in seven years, as a lack of rain has cut cane yields, three government sources said. India’s absence from the world market would be likely to increase benchmark prices in New York and London that are already trading around multi-year highs, triggering fears of further inflation on global food markets. “Our primary focus is to fulfil local sugar requirements and produce ethanol from surplus sugarcane,” said a government source who asked not to be named in line with official rules. “For the upcoming season, we will not have enough sugar to allocate for export quotas.” India allowed mills to export only 6.1 million tonnes of sugar during the current season to Sept 30, after letting them sell a record 11.1 million tonnes last season. In 2016, India imposed a 20% tax on sugar exports to curb overseas sales. Monsoon rains in the top cane growing districts of the western state of Maharashtra and the southern state of Karnataka — which together account for more than half of India’s total sugar output — have been as much as 50% below average so far this year, weather department data showed. Patchy rains would cut sugar output in the 2023/24 season and even reduce planting for the 2024/25 season, an industry official, who declined to be named, said. Local sugar jumped this week to their highest level in nearly two years, prompting the government to allow mills to sell an extra 200,000 tonnes in August. “Food inflation is a concern. The recent increase in sugar prices eliminates India set to ban sugar exports for first time in seven years BY RAJENDRA JADHAV & MAYANK BHARDWAJ Reuters BY PANARAT THEPGUMPANAT & PANU WONGCHA-UM Reuters any possibility of exports,” said another government source. Retail inflation in India jumped to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July and food inflation to 11.5% — its highest in over three years. India’s sugar production could fall 3.3% to 31.7 million tonnes in the 2023/24 season. “We’ve allowed mills to export large volumes of sugar during the past two years,” said the third government source. “But we also have to ensure sufficient supplies and stable prices.” India surprised buyers last month by imposing a ban on non-basmati white rice exports. New Delhi also imposed a 40% duty last week on exports of onions as it tries to calm food prices ahead of state elections later this year. A Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house said lower output in Thailand was also expected to reduce shipments and major producer Brazil would alone not be able to fill the gap. Read also: Sugar surges on concerns of India export curb as output drops Read also: Top Thai fund sees foreign investors returning with Srettha as PM Thailand economic recovery ‘not all wine and roses’, says central bank chief up in opposition, and the populist heavyweight Pheu Thai, twice toppled by the military, agree to form a government with army-backed parties. Thaksin returned on a private jet to cheering crowds on Tuesday before being whisked away to a court then to a jail, in dramatic scenes that stole the spotlight from fellow tycoon Srettha Thavisin, who was chosen as prime minister hours later. ‘VVIP’ treatment The unimpeded return of Thailand’s most divisive politician and Srettha’s surprisingly smooth ascent to the top job will add to speculation that Thaksin had struck a deal with long-time enemies in the military and conservative establishment for his safe return and, possibly, an early release from jail. Thaksin and Pheu Thai have denied that. Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra gestures at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug 22, 2023. REUTERS Read the full story

FRIDAY AUGUST 25, 2023 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF H O N O U R I N G M A L AY S I A’ S B E S T P E R F O R M E R S I N ESG EXCELLENCE Knowledge Partner (Funds Category) Main Partner Auditor Official Broadcast Partner Automotive Partner In Collaboration With

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry told partners in the giant Kashagan oil venture it will press ahead with arbitration in a US$13 billion (RM60.54 billion) dispute, a blow to the international majors that had hoped for a settlement. The government has gone back on signals in July that it may cease arbitration, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named discussing private information. While the door for talks remains open, the ministry has rejected a proposal that Kazakhstan drop its claims in exchange for investment pledges. Companies including Eni SpA, Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp and TotalEnergies SE — which have invested about US$55 billion in Kashagan — are being sued by the government amid allegations of unapproved spending. The row in Central Asia’s largest oil-producing nation underscores the difficulty of developing big energy projects with complex production-sharing agreements. Shell chief executive officer Wael Sawan said last month that the company’s future spending in Kazakhstan would depend on whether the government offers the right investment climate. Kazakhstan claims the Kashagan partners should not deduct costs amounting to US$13 billion. If the state is successful, it could receive a greater share of revenue from the field. North Caspian Operating Co (NCOC), the joint venture that runs the project, said the partners “believe they have acted in accordance with the production-sharing agreement, Kazakhstan’s legislation and applicable standards and best practices.” NCOC cited “a number of contentious issues,” but declined to elaborate given the “confidential nature of the proceedings.” The companies are also facing a US$5.1 billion fine for allegedly breaking environmental rules. While they have denied being at fault in both cases, they have been searching for a way to settle the disputes with the government, Bloomberg reported in May. Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry declined to comment, as did Total. Exxon didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, while Eni wasn’t immediately available. Shell directed requests for comment to NCOC. One potential settlement that had been under discussion would have involved the construction of a gas-processing plant to serve Kazakhstan’s domestic market. That suggestion wasn’t accepted, the people said. (Aug 23): The eurozone’s two largest economies are deteriorating quickly, with services following manufacturing into a deep slump. Flash Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for August show worse-than-expected contractions in private-sector activity in Germany and France. Firms in both countries saw weakening demand and reported drops in order backlogs that suggest more trouble ahead. S&P Global’s gauge for Germany dropped to 44.7 — the lowest in more than three years — from 48.5 in July. A similar measure for France held steady at 46.6, still far below the 50 threshold for growth. The results add to evidence that dwindling global demand, high inflation and the European Central Bank’s aggressive monetary-tightening cycle are taking their toll on the economy. Investors scooped up German debt, sending the 10-year yield tumbling nine basis points to 2.56%, while traders aggressively pared interest-rate wagers and now see a 60% chance of a further quarter-point hike compared with 80% earlier. The euro fell 0.3% against the US dollar to US$1.0813, the lowest since mid-June. “It strengthens the hands of those arguing for a pause in September,” said Dirk Schumacher, an economist at Natixis SA. “The economy is clearly not doing well given these figures.” Output in French services fell at the quickest pace in 2 1/2 years in August, while manufacturing declined for a seventh month. New orders dropped for a fourth straight month. At the same time, inflation pressures eased. “The French economy is stuck in a rut,” said Norman Liebke, an economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. “We might be headed for a contraction in the third quarter.” Germany’s problems are worse. Services shrank for the first time in eight months, crushing hopes that the sector would be able to cushion the country’s devastating industry slump. What’s more, prices are once again on the rise. Services firms in particular faced a steep and accelerated increase in expenses due to higher fuel costs and sustained wage gains. “Any hope that the service sector might More trouble ahead for the eurozone’s two biggest economies rescue the German economy has evaporated,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, Hamburg Commercial Bank’s chief economist. Factoring in the latest report, his GDP nowcast model indicates the economy is set for a contraction of almost 1%. Euro-area PMI data later on Wednesday are expected to reveal a similar level of contraction to July. Earlier numbers from Australia pointed to a deepening contraction, while a measure for Japan showed solid growth. UK numbers are likely to indicate slight expansion, while figures from the US are predicted to show stable growth. Read also: UK private sector posts surprise contraction as high rates bite “UK private sector firms suffered their first contraction in seven months, revealing the growing economic toll of higher interest rates and the squeeze on households.” Investors expect ECB rate-hike pause in September after dismal PMIs “Traders now price in a roughly 40% chance of a 25 basis point move in September compared with a more than 50% chance they saw only on Tuesday.” BY JANA RANDOW Bloomberg BY NARIMAN GIZITDINOV Bloomberg Companies including Eni SpA, Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp and TotalEnergies SE — which have invested about US$55 billion in Kashagan — are being sued by the Kazakhstan government amid allegations of unapproved spending. Kazakhstan digs in for US$13 bil fight with oil majors BLOOMBERG

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 20 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): The leading association of global chip companies is warning that Huawei Technologies Co is building a collection of secret semiconductor-fabrication facilities across China, a shadow manufacturing network that would let the blacklisted company skirt US sanctions and further the nation’s technology ambitions. Huawei, a controversial telecommunications gear maker at the heart of US-China tensions, moved into chip production last year and is receiving an estimated US$30 billion (RM139.6 billion) in state funding from the government and its home town of Shenzhen, according to the Washington-based Semiconductor Industry Association. It’s acquired at least two existing plants and is building at least three others, the group said in a presentation to its members seen by Bloomberg. The US Commerce Department put Huawei on its entity list in 2019, eventually prohibiting it from working with American companies in almost all circumstances. But if Huawei is constructing and buying facilities under the names of other companies without disclosing its involvement, as the SIA said, the telecom giant may be able to circumvent those restrictions to indirectly purchase American chipmaking equipment and other supplies that would otherwise be prohibited. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, in response to questions from Bloomberg News about the SIA warnings, which haven’t been previously reported, said it’s monitoring the situation and is ready to take action if necessary. It has already blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies beyond Huawei, including two the SIA says are part of Huawei’s network — Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co and Pengxinwei IC Manufacturing Co, or PXW. “Given the severe restrictions placed on Huawei, Fujian Jinhua, PXW and others, it is no surprise that they have sought substantial state support to attempt to develop indigenous technologies,” BIS said in a statement to Bloomberg. “BIS is continually reviewing and updating its export controls based on the evolving threat environment and, as evidenced by the Oct 7, 2022 rules, will not hesitate to take appropriate action to protect US national security.” The Biden administration levied export controls last October that prevent all Chinese companies from acquiring certain advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment, a move aimed at restricting the country’s military capabilities. Chinese companies are largely allowed to buy older-generation chipmaking equipment, machines that use 28-nanometer technology or above. But blacklisted companies like Huawei are prohibited from such purchases without a license and those exceptions are rare. Huawei, PXW, Fujian Jinhua and the other companies identified by SIA as part of the network did not respond to requests for comment. Beijing has voiced fierce opposition to American export controls and made counter-accusations that the US also subsidises its own national champions. “These developments were already publicly reported on by multiple media outlets months before SIA simply highlighted these news items at an association meeting discussing market trends,” the SIA said in an emailed statement. It’s not clear why the association is sounding the alarm on these issues now. The Washington-based lobbying group represents the majority of the world’s semiconductor makers, including Intel Corp, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Its members also include companies that produce chipmaking equipment, such as Applied Materials Inc and the Netherlands’ ASML Holding NV. Certain members of the lobbying group will face competition from Chinese rivals if they’re successful in building domestic production facilities, but SIA members like ASML and Nvidia Corp lose revenue from China as American export controls become stricter. The association may be trying to warn members to be cautious in working with companies that could have hidden ties to blacklisted entities like Huawei. Under BIS regulations, American suppliers have “know your customer” obligaBY IAN KING & DEBBY WU Bloomberg Huawei is building a secret network for chips, trade group tions that require them to check into clients if there are any suspicious circumstances, like purchases inconsistent with the customer’s needs. “If there’s a red flag, then you have an obligation to investigate,” said Kevin Wolf, a partner with the law firm Akin Gump who worked on BIS policy at the Commerce Department. “Absent a red flag, there is no affirmative duty to verify or go beyond the company’s representations.” The SIA presentation has set off alarm bells at member companies and within the Biden administration since it was published in April. The US is weighing more stringent export controls on China. China’s Communist Party has blasted the American government for its restrictions on technology exports to the country, arguing the US is trying to contain its economic development. Beijing has also vowed to develop its own local alternatives for chips, production machinery and critical tech components. China is pouring unprecedented amounts of money into its domestic semiconductor industry. The SIA estimates there are at least 23 fabrication facilities in the works in the country with planned investments of more than US$100 billion by 2030, according to the presentation. By 2029 or 2030, China is on track to have more than half the industry’s global capacity in older-generation semiconductors, those made with 28-nm or 45-nm technology, the group said. “China is roughly spending as much in subsidies as the rest of the world combined,” said Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. “So the numbers are absolutely enormous.” US and European officials have grown increasingly concerned about China’s massive investments in so-called legacy chips, even though they are not prohibited under last year’s Biden rules. Such chips are more than adequate for many military applications, and they’re widely used in key markets such as electric cars. The size of the projected financial support for Huawei is also staggering. At US$30 billion, the money would be almost as much as the manufacturing incentives in the US Chips and Science Act that will be split among multiple companies. Read the full story REUTERS

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD SINGAPORE (Aug 23): Shell is considering a sale of its Singapore refining and petrochemical plants as part of a broader strategic review and has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore a potential deal, said several sources close to the matter. The global energy major’s new CEO, Wael Sawan, is targeting spending cuts over the next two years to boost profitability while remaining committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Those efforts include the review of energy and chemicals assets on Singapore’s Bukom and Jurong islands, announced in June, as the group seeks to repurpose its energy and chemical parks globally to offer more low-carbon solutions to customers. “Our strategic review is ongoing and we are exploring several options including divestment,” a Shell spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday (Aug 23). Singapore’s position as a regional trading and marketing hub remains important, she added. Companies that are reviewing Shell’s Singapore assets include Asia’s largest refiner, China’s Sinopec, as well as global trading companies Vitol and Trafigura, the sources said. For trading companies, the site is seen as a potential oil storage and distribution hub, some of the sources said. Goldman Sachs, Sinopec, Trafigura and Vitol declined to comment. The Bukom refinery, Shell’s only wholly owned refining and petrochemicals centre in Asia, can process 237,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude. Built in 1961, it was Singapore’s first refinery. The complex also houses a one million tonnes per year (tpy) ethylene cracker and a 155,000 tpy butadiene extraction unit. These are integrated with a monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant at Shell’s petrochemicals site on Jurong Island. In March, Shell decided not to proceed with two projects it was studying to produce biofuels and base oils in Singapore. Shell taps Goldman Sachs to explore Singapore refinery sale — sources (Aug 23): Grab Holdings Ltd brought forward its profitability target after posting a narrower loss in the second quarter, buoyed by extensive cost cuts at the ride-hailing and food-delivery company. The stock advanced about 4% in pre-market trading after Grab said on Wednesday that it expects to break even in the third quarter, rather than the fourth quarter as previously projected. The company also said its adjusted full-year loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation will be US$30 million to US$40 million, rather than the loss of US$195 million to US$235 million it forecast in May. Adjusted loss on that basis shrank to US$20 million in the second quarter, Grab said, versus analysts’ average estimate for a loss of US$64.6 million. Revenue rose 77% to US$567 million, topping estimates and dispelling some fears that rising inflation and a gloomy economic outlook would damp customer spending. Grab is among Southeast Asian internet giants that are treading a fine balance between spending on growth and focusing on profitability. Investors rewarded GoTo Group last week after it cut its 2023 loss projection, while punishing Sea Ltd after it reported disappointing revenue and outlined plans to increase investment in e-commerce. While Grab leads Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing and delivery markets, it has yet to reach profitability as it spends on growth and competition from rivals such as Indonesia’s GoTo weighs on prices. The company, which had been one of Southeast Asia’s hottest startups, has struggled since it went public via a merger with a US blank-cheque company less than two years ago. Its shares have fallen about 70% since. Grab, working to reverse years of losses, said in June that it’s cutting more than 1,000 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs since the pandemic, in a sign of growing pressure from investors for the internet firm to slash expenses further. Rivals Sea and GoTo eliminated thousands of jobs last year. Grab’s gross merchandise value, or the total value of goods and services it provides, grew 4% to US$5.24 billion in the second quarter. While that’s down from double-digit rates in the past years, growth accelerated from 3% pace in the previous quarter. Further scaling back on incentive spending, or targeting them at active spenders, should increase revenue earned per dollar of gross merchandise value (GMV) without compromising user retention. However, that will probably come at the expense of GMV growth, particularly as food delivery demand normalises, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Nathan Naidu. Chief executive officer Anthony Tan has said that the job reductions weren’t a “shortcut to profitability”. He said the company was on track to become profitable, even without the cuts. Grab brings forward breakeven target after losses narrow BY OLIVIA POH Bloomberg BY TRIXIE YAP, CHEN AIZHU & FLORENCE TAN Reuters

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 22 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 23 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 24 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): Vinfast Auto Ltd shares skyrocketed 109% to add US$44 billion (RM204.78 billion) in market value to the Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker on Tuesday (Aug 22), extending a raucous week since it went public. The stock’s now 251% surge from an Aug 15 debut has vaulted its market capitalisation back above US$84 billion, making its paper value much larger than General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co. Tuesday’s rally came as more than 19 million shares changed hands, with investors flipping the stock that has a small portion of shares available for trading. VinFast continues to be the top-performing company that went public via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger this year, trading above US$35 a piece after its tie-up with Black Spade Acquisition Co. Just 1.3 million shares are currently available for trading, meaning investors should brace for volatility as lower-float stocks are prone to see big swings. The jump in the share price gave a US$20.1 billion boost to the wealth of the company’s chairman and founder, Pham Nhat Vuong. The wild moves in the shares, which Vuong controls 99% of, sent the EV maker VinFast’s wild rally makes it as big as Ford and GM combined (Aug 23): Country Garden Holdings Co, the distressed Chinese developer that earlier this month missed interest payments on some dollar bonds, is leaving investors in the dark about the exact date the grace period ends. That’s adding to signs of opaqueness in the nation’s offshore junk debt market, which has lost US$87 billion (RM404.9 billion) in the past two years. One of China’s biggest developers, Country Garden must repay a combined US$22.5 million in two coupons within the grace period, otherwise creditors could call a default that would be the developer’s first on such debt. That would threaten even worse impact than defaulted peer China Evergrande Group given Country Garden has four times as many projects. But there’s uncertainty whether the grace period ends Sept 5 or Sept 6, raising the risk of legal wrangling if payment straddles those dates. The ambiguity stems from differing interpretations of standard wording in the offering memorandum. The document defines an “event of default” as delinquency “in payment of interest which continues for 30 days”. That’s clear enough. But what makes things uncertain is that the due date of Aug 6 was a Sunday, which meant the effective due date was the next business day, Aug 7. Should one count the 30-day grace period from Aug 6 or Aug 7? The document doesn’t specify. Country Garden declined to comment. China’s worsening property debt crisis has prompted a slew of developers including Evergrande to use grace periods in recent years. In many cases, doing so has only bought time before they eventually went on to default, adding to record debt failures. Growing concerns that the same fate could strike Country Garden, which had 1.4 trillion yuan (RM910 billion) of total liabilities at the end of last year, have dragged Chinese junk dollar bonds deeper into distress under 65 cents. The Country Garden leaves investors in dark on exact default deadline BY PEARL LIU Bloomberg BY BAILEY LIPSCHULTZ Bloomberg fortune of Vietnam’s richest man careening from US$21.2 billion last Friday to US$43.4 billion on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Additionally, many companies that merged with blank check firms have had rallies that fizzle out in the days and weeks after a deal closes, when the social media buzz subsides. De-SPACs that have made their debut this year have seen a median slump of about 45%, with 15 of them wiping out more than 80% of their value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. market value of Bloomberg’s index for the securities, mostly issued by builders, has shrunk to only about US$44.7 billion from some US$131.8 billion two years ago. Lack of clarifications from Country Garden or involved parties on the builder’s missed interest payments and more generally on its debt plans make “it hard to gauge recovery and derive fair value”, said Zerlina Zeng, senior credit analyst at CreditSights. “This probably also contributes to the poor trading liquidity of these high-yield, distressed China property bonds.” Several analysts at major global banks have recently mentioned in notes either Sept 5 or Sept 6 as the deadline for the end of the grace period, underscoring the lack of consensus. “We believe we should use the scheduled payment date as day 0, but we are not certain given it was Sunday,” Moody’s Investors Service said when asked about the matter. The rating firm downgraded Country Garden deeper into junk territory at Caa1 earlier this month. The trustee for the bond, Citicorp International Ltd, also declined to comment. Read the full story

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 25 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): Adani Group posted record profit in the quarter ended June on the back of its infrastructure and renewable energy businesses, bolstering the finances of Gautam Adani’s business empire as it seeks to shore up investor confidence and resume fundraising months after a damaging attack from a shortseller. The ports-to-power conglomerate said June quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 42% from the same period a year ago to 235 billion rupees (RM13.24 billion), the highest the group has seen for a single quarter and nearly as much as the profit it earned for the full fiscal year of 2019. The strong performance posted by its infrastructure and utility businesses across its flagship entity Adani Enterprises Ltd as well as its green energy and cement arms “gives a high level of stability and mulafter shortseller Hindenburg Research accused it of widespread corporate malfeasance, wiping out at one point more than US$150 billion (RM698.56 billion) in value from its listed companies. Adani has denied any wrongdoing. Since the shortseller attack, the embattled conglomerate has managed to raise billions from GQG Partners and Qatar Investment Authority that purchased shares held by its founders. It is also in talks with international banks to refinance loans taken out last year to acquire Ambuja Cements Ltd. Still, investors are waiting for a finding from Indian markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) that has looked into some of the allegations made by Hindenburg. Sebi has asked the nation’s Supreme Court for an extension to wrap up its probe by the end of August. Adani Group quarterly profit jumps 42% in boost to liquidity (Aug 23): Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund invested 82.78 billion rupees (RM4.6 billion) into India’s biggest brick-andmortar retailer as Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani looks to rapidly expand its operations and take on global competitors including Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc. The Qatar Investment Authority’s purchase translates into a stake of 0.99% in Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd “on a fully-diluted basis,” the Mumbai-based firm said in a statement on Wednesday (Aug 23), adding that it values the company at US$100 billion. The deal comes as Ambani’s conglomerate is also considering a public listing for Reliance Retail and has started buying back shares in the unit and giving them to their employees as stock options. The subsidiary headed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha, has undertaken a swath of acquisitions as it challenges global rivals who are trying hard to establish a toe hold in India’s highly competitive retail sector dominated by mom-and-pop stores. Isha Ambani called the QIA’s investQatar wealth fund invests US$1 bil in Ambani’s retail arm BY PR SANJAI & CHRIS KAY Bloomberg BY PR SANJAI Bloomberg ment “a strong endorsement” of India’s economy and Reliance’s retail business. ‘Particularly striking’ It’s also the latest foray by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund into a family-led Indian conglomerate this year. QIA increased its bets in the South Asian nation having picked up a 2.7% stake in fellow Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s green energy business after the tycoon was hit by a damaging short-seller attack in January. Reliance Retail raised over US$6 billion BLOOMBERG The subsidiary headed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha, has undertaken a swath of acquisitions as it challenges global rivals who are trying hard to establish a toe hold in India’s highly competitive retail sector dominated by mom-and-pop stores. ti-decadal earnings predictability and visibility,” the company said in a statement. The profitability also buoyed the company’s liquidity, with cash balance at the end of June up 4.2% from the end of March, at 421 billion rupees. Improved liquidity position could help improve investor confidence more than six months three years ago from a series of major investors, including the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, along with General Atlantic, KKR & Co and Silver Lake Partners. It reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation that jumped 34% to 51.5 billion rupees in the quarter through June compared to the same period a year earlier. However, Reliance Retail only accounts for just over a tenth of the oil-to-consumer conglomerate’s earnings and is currently eating up a more than a third of the group’s capital expenditure, ICICI Securities analysts wrote in a report published earlier on Wednesday. Reliance’s retail revenue growth has “not kept pace” with that “particularly striking” spending, they added. Still, the QIA “is committed to supporting innovative companies with high-growth potential in India’s fast growing retail market,” said chief executive officer Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud. “We are looking forward to Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, with its strong vision and impressive growth trajectory, joining our growing and diverse portfolio of investments in India.”

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 26 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): China vowed to take “necessary steps” to safeguard food safety and the marine environment after Japan set a date to begin flushing treated nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima site into the Pacific Ocean. “This act blatantly transfers the risk of nuclear pollution to neighbouring countries, including China and the international community,” China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said in a statement. “It is extremely selfish and irresponsible. China expresses serious concern and strong opposition.” Beijing, which has criticised Japan’s proposal as unsafe and questioned the accuracy of its testing regime, “will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the marine environment, food safety and public health”, if the water releases go ahead as planned from Thursday (Aug 24), he said. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who on Tuesday confirmed plans to start the wastewater releases, is preparing to meet with China’s Premier Li Qiang next month, NTV reported. China’s retaliation threatens agricultural and seafood purchases from Japan, which totalled about ¥278 billion (RM8.88 bilChina threatens action as Japan sets nuclear wastewater release BENGALURU (Aug 23): An Indian spacecraft landed on the rugged, unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday (Aug 23) in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India’s standing as a space power, just days after a similar Russian lander crashed. “This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal. This is a victory cry of a new India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who waved the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa where he is attending a BRICS summit. Scientists and officials clapped, cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed and people across India broke out in celebration, setting off firecrackers and dancing in the streets. “India is on the moon,” said S Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed, making India the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon after the US, China and Russia. This was India’s second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon and comes less than a week after Russia’s Luna-25 mission failed. People across the country were glued to television screens and said prayers as the spacecraft approached the surface. Nearly seven million watched the YouTube live stream. Chandrayaan means “moon vehicle” India celebrates ‘victory cry’ as Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lands on the moon gratulated India on the landing. “Roskosmos congratulates Indian colleagues on the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft,” it said in a post on its Telegram channel. “Exploration of the moon is important for all mankind. In the future it may become a platform for deep space exploration.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at the BRICS summit, congratulated his Indian counterpart during their bilateral meeting, a video clip shared by the Russian foreign ministry showed. The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface. The moon rover will take a few hours or a day to come out of the spacecraft, Somanath told reporters, adding that the landing has given India confidence to extend its reach to possible voyages to Mars and Venus. India is also planning to launch a mission in September to study the sun, Somanath said. A human space flight is also planned and, while no official date has been announced, preparations are likely to be ready by 2024. BY NIVEDITA BHATTACHARJEE Reuters BY DAVID STRINGER Bloomberg People watch a live stream of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s landing on the moon, inside an auditorium of Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad August 23, 2023. REUTERS Read the full story lion) last year. Hong Kong, which imported about ¥209 billion worth of the goods, on Wednesday confirmed it will extend import curbs on products from seafood to seaweed from some areas. Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred Godenya previously said it would seek alternative suppliers for key ingredients sourced from Japan, and new trade curbs will threaten to crimp sales for Japan’s major seafood producers. Maruha Nichiro Corp wins about 5% of revenue from destinations in Asia outside its domestic market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while Nishimoto Co generates around 8% of sales outside of Japan, North American and Europe. Suppliers of sea salt and related products jumped in Tuesday trading in South Korea, where the condiment is crucial in the preparation of kimchi. Insan Inc surged as much as a 30% daily limit, and Daesang Holdings Co as much as 26%. Tokyo Electric Power Co is preparing to begin a process to release about 1.3 million cubic metres of wastewater — equivalent in volume to about 500 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the Fukushima site over a period of at least 30 years. The waste has been generated in part as the utility works to cool wrecked reactors following the 2011 meltdown that ranks as the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl. Kishida has rejected China’s complaints over the safety of the strategy and pointed to a two-year review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which concluded there would be a negligible impact on people and the environment. Japan’s ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, who was summoned for talks with Sun, criticised Beijing for making what he claimed are unsupported claims and offered to continue talks on the issue. It’s unacceptable for China to tighten curbs on Japanese food products if not based on scientific evidence, Japan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. in Hindi and Sanskrit. In 2019, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed. Russia’s space agency Roskosmos con-

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 27 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD (Aug 23): This month’s crypto retreat may get worse if key charts for Ether, the second-largest token, prove prophetic. Both Ether and a gauge of the top 100 coins have shed about 12% so far in August, the most since November last year, as the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates hurts demand for speculative investments. Ether as a result has traced a head-andshoulders price pattern, a technical study that signals further declines and posits a potential downside price of US$1,100 (RM5,123). The token edged up 1% to US$1,649 as of 8:23am Wednesday (Aug 23) in London. Meanwhile, Ether’s Bollinger bandwidth is close to the narrowest in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 2018. The bandwidth is the gap between the upper and lower bands in a Bollinger study, a popular way of gauging volatility. Technical analysts often view a tight Bollinger bandwidth as a harbinger of increased swings in an asset. Ether has also breached the lower band, signaling a volatility spike may lead to losses rather than gains. “The summer lull appears to be over and the market is feeling a little nervous following some very sharp moves last week amid low liquidity,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of digital-asset derivatives liquidity provider OrBit Markets. Some fast-money traders have made short-term bets on a moderate Ether retreat based on macro developments, but others with a longer term perspective are positioning for a lift from pending approvals of the first US exchange-traded funds investing in Ether futures, Mauron added. A rough potential launch date for the first of those ETFs is Oct 11 if the US Securities & Exchange Commission allows the products to go ahead, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas. At the same time, the kind of hype that preceded the first bitcoin futures ETFs in the US back in 2021 is absent, stoking some doubts as to whether similar vehicles for Ether will excite a durable rally in the token. Bitcoin rose about 1% to US$26,112, while smaller cryptoassets such as BNB and Solana also posted gains. Bitcoin has rebounded 58% year-to-date from last year’s crypto rout, while Ether is up 37%. Bitcoin rival Ether’s perilous chart outlook adds to crypto gloom (Aug 23): Doosan Robotics Co is seeking to raise as much as 421.2 billion won (RM1.4 billion) through an initial public offering that’s set to be the largest in South Korea this year. The company, with Seoul-listed Doosan Co as its biggest shareholder, is offering 16.2 million shares at 21,000 won to 26,000 won each, according to a prospectus filed to the regulator on Wednesday (Aug Robotics firm seeks up to US$314 mil in Korea’s top 2023 IPO BY FILIPE PACHECO & SHINHYE KANG Bloomberg BY AKSHAY CHINCHALKAR & SUVASHREE GHOSH Bloomberg 23). Orders from funds will be taken between Aug 28 and Sept 15, and the final price is set to be announced on Sept 19, after which individuals can place bids. The listing could give a boost to South Korea’s dormant IPO market after only one debut larger than US$100 million this year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Total proceeds amassed through new share sales are down 88% to US$1.6 billion versus the same period last year, when LG Energy Solution executed its jumbo US$11 billion offering. Robotics became one of the hottest sectors in South Korea this year as the government and major local companies, including Samsung Electronics Co, stepped up investments. Samsung bought a stake in Kosdaq-listed startup Rainbow Robotics earlier this year, and Hyundai Motor Group bought a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics Inc. from SoftBank Group Corp in 2020. BLOOMBERG

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 28 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF WORLD OSLO (Aug 23): Meta Platforms is breaking European data privacy rules in Norway, the country’s data regulator told a court on Wednesday (Aug 23), in a case that could have wider European implications. Meta has been fined one million crowns (RM438,480) per day since Aug 14 for breaching users’ privacy by harvesting user data and using it to target advertising at them. So-called behavioural advertising is a business model common to Big Tech. The owner of Facebook and Instagram is seeking a temporary injunction against the order, which imposes a daily fine for the next three months. The fine is valid as Meta is not respecting European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), said Hanne Inger Bjurstroem Jahren, a lawyer representing the regulator, Datatilsynet. “There is no discussion on whether the company is in violation of these rules ... Today Facebook owner Meta breaks privacy rules, Norway regulator tells court Bank of Singapore appoints Jacky Ang as global COO (Aug 23): Laszlo Birinyi, the investment adviser who created an analysis for using money flows to determine likely stock moves, has died. He was 79. He died on Aug 21 after struggling with multiple health issues, said his wife, Jill Costelloe Birinyi. She called him “a brilliant, quiet, private person who was a true American immigrant story.” The Hungarian-born Birinyi rose to prominence as a top market forecaster in the 1990s by using money flow analysis, which gauges whether a stock is likely to rise or fall based on how many shares are traded at different prices. The data shows the (Aug 23): Bank of Singapore, one of Asia’s largest private banks, said on Wednesday (Aug 23) former Credit Suisse executive Jacky Ang was appointed as its global chief operating officer. Ang, who is succeeding Sonjoy Phukan, will take charge on Sept 13, the lender said. Ang, with an industry experience of more than two decades, will support chief executive officer Jason Moo in the bank’s strategic steering while overseeing the execution of its key initiatives. The veteran banker will also spearhead the lender’s transformation efforts and have oversight of the governance and operations, the company added. Earlier this year, Bank of Singapore appointed Moo as its CEO amid growing competition in Asia’s private banking industry. conviction behind price moves, the theory goes, suggesting that when falling shares are accompanied by increased trading volume, further decline in share price is possible. “Laszlo was always thoughtful, and I would say at some times iconoclastic, because he didn’t necessarily go with conventional wisdom,” Mike Holland, chairman of Holland & Co, a New York-based investment management firm, said in a 2013 interview. “He went with where his facts and methods take him. It was always interesting to listen to him.” Birinyi advised selling internet shares shortly before the dot-com era bubble burst in the early 2000s. He was among the first to tell investors to start buying US equities when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reached a 12-year low on March 9, 2009. He predicted in August 2015 that stocks would “come out OK” as a six-day rout sent the S&P 500 into a correction. The index went on to rally 13% through Nov 3. “My approach is to dissect the stock market,” Birinyi was quoted as saying in the The Heretics of Finance: Conversations with Leading Practitioners of Technical Analysis (2009). “I ask, ‘What is going on in the market? What are the trends and the dynamics?’ Then I let the market tell me the story.” He founded Birinyi Associates Inc in 1989 as a research and money management firm that analyses flows and historic stock market data. The Westport, Connecticut-based firm serves institutional and high-net-worth individuals. Laszlo Birinyi, who pioneered money flow analysis, dies at 79 BY JOSEPH CIOLLI & MAX ABELSON Bloomberg BY GWLADYS FOUCHE Reuters Reuters Meta breaks GDPR rules,” she told the court, speaking on the last day of a two-day hearing. Meta told the court on Tuesday it had already committed to ask for consent from users and that Datatilsynet used an “expedited process” that was unnecessary and did not give the company enough time to answer. The regulator has said that it was unclear when, and how, Meta would seek consent from users and that, in the meantime, users’ rights were being violated. Datatilsynet could make the fine permanent by referring its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which has the power to do so, if it agrees with the Norwegian regulator’s decision. That could also widen the decision’s territorial scope to the rest of Europe. Datatilsynet had yet to take this step. Norway is not a member of the European Union but is part of the European single market. BLOOMBERG Read the full story The Hungarian-born Laszlo Birinyi rose to prominence as a top market forecaster in the 1990s by using money flow analysis, which gauges whether a stock is likely to rise or fall based on how many shares are traded at different prices. BLOOMBERG

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023 29 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF MARKETS Top 20 active stocks World equity indices Top gainers (ranked by %) Top losers (ranked by %) Top gainers (ranked by RM) Top losers (ranked by RM) NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET (MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) PERDANA PETROLEUM BHD 202.52 0.050 0.235 88.00 521.4 PARKSON HOLDINGS BHD 105.92 0.045 0.365 170.37 419.3 WIDAD GROUP BHD 72.30 0.000 0.440 2.33 1362.4 BAHVEST RESOURCES BHD 62.29 -0.050 0.315 3.28 390.5 MY EG SERVICES BHD 52.19 0.005 0.805 -6.58 5961.4 KNM GROUP BHD 48.26 -0.005 0.085 70.00 343.7 AWANBIRU TECHNOLOGY BHD 46.88 0.045 0.220 -41.33 173.4 TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 40.21 0.000 0.545 62.69 1066.8 RAMSSOL GROUP BHD 37.70 0.035 0.440 0.00 108.0 BUMI ARMADA BHD 37.10 0.005 0.510 6.25 3020.6 ICON OFFSHORE BHD 36.19 0.005 0.090 -5.26 243.6 SARAWAK CONSOLIDATED 34.85 0.000 0.440 203.45 281.7 BOUSTEAD PLANTATIONS BHD 34.46 0.090 1.370 112.40 3068.8 M & A EQUITY HOLDINGS BHD 31.52 0.025 0.325 62.76 542.7 UEM SUNRISE BHD 31.21 0.005 0.635 149.02 3212.1 JAKS RESOURCES BHD 30.29 -0.005 0.205 -12.77 469.4 AIMFLEX BHD 28.63 0.000 0.215 43.33 315.8 UCREST BHD 28.50 -0.010 0.195 56.00 144.7 VELESTO ENERGY BHD 25.63 0.000 0.235 56.67 1930.7 CAPITAL A BHD 25.57 0.000 1.010 61.60 4252.4 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 0.010 100.00 715.0 0.00 59.2 JOE HOLDING BHD 0.015 50.00 1,990.4 -25.00 45.9 XOX BHD 0.020 33.33 3,207.6 33.33 101.0 SINARAN ADVANCE GROUP BHD 0.065 30.00 1,141.2 -13.33 59.5 PERDANA PETROLEUM BHD 0.235 27.03 202,518.7 88.00 521.4 AWANBIRU TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.220 25.71 46,883.0 -41.33 173.4 XOX NETWORKS BHD 0.030 20.00 115.2 0.00 34.1 NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.285 18.75 24,884.8 -8.06 51.1 PDZ HOLDINGS BHD 0.035 16.67 372.2 -12.50 20.3 AMLEX HOLDINGS BHD 0.430 14.67 100.0 -6.52 115.3 EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.040 14.29 1,700.0 -60.00 42.6 PARKSON HOLDINGS BHD 0.365 14.06 105,927.4 170.37 419.3 HUBLINE BHD 0.045 12.50 759.8 12.50 193.0 ASIA BRANDS BHD 0.560 12.00 5.1 1.82 130.3 PRIVASIA TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.110 10.00 4,852.9 15.79 67.5 INNITY CORP BHD 0.385 10.00 0.1 -7.23 53.7 LOTUS KFM BHD 0.290 9.43 7,820.8 100.00 295.5 EFFICIENT E-SOLUTIONS BHD 0.180 9.09 10.0 -5.26 127.6 RAMSSOL GROUP BHD 0.440 8.64 37,703.7 0.00 108.0 LIEN HOE CORP BHD 0.320 8.47 153.1 -7.25 106.4 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) KEY ALLIANCE GROUP BHD 0.005 -50.00 82.3 0.00 18.4 BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.010 -33.33 245 -60.00 20.3 MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 -33.33 1000.7 -60.00 24.2 TECHNA-X BHD 0.010 -33.33 507.4 -60.00 22.1 KOMARKCORP BHD 0.035 -22.22 997.9 -36.36 40.4 IQZAN HOLDING BHD 0.025 -16.67 212.5 -28.57 5.5 PUC BHD 0.030 -14.29 140.2 -14.29 54.6 TWL HOLDINGS BHD 0.030 -14.29 2,747.9 -14.29 134.9 SAUDEE GROUP BHD 0.030 -14.29 10,171.1 -33.33 44.6 BAHVEST RESOURCES BHD 0.315 -13.70 62,292.7 3.28 390.5 TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 0.035 -12.50 2,666.1 -36.36 120.2 MTOUCHE TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.040 -11.11 166.0 -20.00 37.1 INDUSTRONICS BHD 0.040 -11.11 80.5 -46.67 28.3 CN ASIA CORP BHD 0.240 -11.11 21,916.5 -2.04 58.7 MGB BHD 0.700 -10.26 139.5 34.62 414.2 VIZIONE HOLDINGS BHD 0.045 -10.00 1,028.8 -18.18 92.1 GOLDEN LAND BHD 0.245 -9.26 50.0 -12.50 52.6 SALUTICA BHD 0.600 -9.09 8,551.2 126.42 254.1 CITRA NUSA HOLDINGS BHD 0.050 -9.09 150.0 -23.08 36.0 KAMDAR GROUP M BHD 0.160 -8.57 0.7 -3.03 31.7 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 130.900 -0.600 51.6 -6.50 30,696.1 HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.360 -0.360 145.3 -1.29 21,026.7 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 22.500 -0.280 732.2 0.63 24,264.8 PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 6.800 -0.210 6,113.9 -20.93 54,400.0 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 25.720 -0.180 150.6 2.06 7,770.0 KECK SENG MALAYSIA BHD 4.290 -0.160 78.5 19.83 1,541.4 PETRONAS GAS BHD 17.140 -0.140 950.6 0.12 33,915.5 PPB GROUP BHD 15.760 -0.140 437.8 -9.63 22,420.2 KAWAN FOOD BHD 1.720 -0.130 1,175.7 -22.52 622.1 FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 25.500 -0.100 48.4 18.16 9,352.9 VITROX CORP BHD 7.760 -0.100 215.8 1.44 7,335.7 SOUTHERN ACIDS MALAYSIA BHD 3.400 -0.090 2.0 -6.85 465.6 IHH HEALTHCARE BHD 5.920 -0.080 3,985.2 -3.23 52,137.4 KHIND HOLDINGS BHD 2.620 -0.080 2.1 -15.48 110.1 MGB BHD 0.700 -0.080 139.5 34.62 414.2 IOI CORP BHD 3.970 -0.080 6,994.5 -1.98 24,628.7 KLUANG RUBBER CO MALAYA BHD 3.700 -0.070 1.0 -6.57 230.0 TENAGA NASIONAL BHD 9.990 -0.070 3456.2 3.74 57815.4 SIME DARBY PLANTATION BHD 4.320 -0.070 1,729.1 -7.10 29,875.9 KLCCP STAPLED GROUP 6.800 -0.070 19.8 1.34 12,276.3 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 Source: Bloomberg NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 21.280 0.140 8.3 -7.07 1292.7 MALAYAN CEMENT BHD 3.980 0.140 1720.2 87.74 5214.6 AYER HOLDINGS BHD 7.000 0.100 2.5 6.06 524 GLOBETRONICS TECHNOLOGY BHD 1.500 0.090 3667.6 30.49 1006.6 BOUSTEAD PLANTATIONS BHD 1.370 0.090 34,462.3 112.40 3,068.8 UNITED U-LI CORP BHD 1.130 0.080 850.4 -5.83 246.1 RAPID SYNERGY BHD 23.380 0.080 71 46.49 2499.2 YINSON HOLDINGS BHD 2.600 0.070 2,411.4 7.00 7,557.4 BINTULU PORT HOLDINGS BHD 5.150 0.070 176.6 7.29 2,369.0 ORIENTAL FOOD INDUSTRIES 1.200 0.060 538.1 -10.45 288.0 EG INDUSTRIES BHD 1.530 0.060 1,524 183.33 688.8 CSC STEEL HOLDINGS BHD 1.240 0.060 579.6 5.98 457.9 ASIA BRANDS BHD 0.560 0.060 5.1 1.82 130.3 ANALABS RESOURCES BHD 1.500 0.060 3.3 8.70 163.4 HEXTARTECHNOLOGIES SOLUTIONS 28.240 0.060 26.7 65.53 3633 AMLEX HOLDINGS BHD 0.430 0.055 100 -6.52 115.3 UMS-NEIKEN GROUP BHD 0.980 0.050 3.3 1.55 77.2 PERDANA PETROLEUM BHD 0.235 0.050 202,518.7 88.00 521.4 MSM MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BHD 1.150 0.050 3926.8 35.29 808.4 MANULIFE HOLDINGS BHD 1.920 0.050 102.2 -4.48 421.4 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 Source: Bloomberg CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE (%) DJIA * 34,385.81 96.98 0.28 S&P 500 * 4,409.65 22.10 0.50 NASDAQ 100 * 15,065.66 156.70 1.05 FTSE 100 * 7,270.76 39.19 0.54 AUSTRALIA 7,148.42 26.81 0.38 CHINA 3,078.40 -41.93 -1.34 HONG KONG 17,845.92 54.91 0.31 INDIA 65,433.30 213.27 0.33 INDONESIA 6,921.41 4.96 0.07 JAPAN 32,010.26 153.55 0.48 KOREA 2,505.50 -10.24 -0.41 PHILIPPINES 6,179.63 -32.76 -0.53 SINGAPORE 3,174.18 14.30 0.45 TAIWAN 16,576.90 139.29 0.85 THAILAND 1,549.01 3.41 0.22 VIETNAM 1,172.56 -7.93 -0.67 Data as compiled on Aug 23, 2023 * Based on previous day’s closing Source: Bloomberg CPO RM 3,850.0020.00 OIL US$ 82.69-1.34 RM/USD 4.6592 RM/SGD 3.4317 RM/AUD 2.9921 RM/GBP 5.8901 RM/EUR 5.0359