EDGE

T U E S DAY, M AY 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 381/2022

CEOMorningBrief

Lagarde says ECB likely to exit negative
rates by end of September p19

t u e s day, m aY 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

Issue 381/2022

ceoMorningBrief
HOME: PM: Exports of up to 3.6 mil chickens stopped from June 1 p2
AP for wheat imports abolished, says Ismail Sabri p4

Court dismisses Apandi Ali’s RM10 mil defamation suit against Kit Siang p8
Destini’s unit secures MRO contract worth RM531.39 mil p11

WORLD: China plans tax relief of over US$21 bil to lift economy p22

Several cash SUHAIMI YUSUF/the edge
trusts said to be
Ponzi schemes

Report on Page 5. MPC: Oil
palm sector
bloomberg risks losing
RM28 bil in
2022 without

foreign
workers

Report on Page 4.

TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

the edge ceo morning brief published by publisher + ceo . Ho Kay Tat
editor-in-chief . Kathy Fong
Read from desktop or mobile device. (266980-X) chief commercial officer . Sharon Teh
You can print in A4 to read. Set print chief operating officer . Lim Shiew Yuin
mode to fit or shrink oversize page. tel . 603-77218000 editors . Jenny Ng . Joyce Goh
Level 3, Menara KLK, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6, Tan Choe Choe . Lam Jian Wyn
to get on emailing list Mutiara Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya, to contact editors: [email protected]
to advertise: [email protected]
[email protected] Selangor, Malaysia

HOME

PM: Exports of up to 3.6 mil
chickens stopped from June 1

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Exports of Bernama laysia Price Control Scheme (SKHKM)
up to 3.6 million chickens will be stopped and implemented since Feb 5.
from June 1, until chicken prices and pro- REUTERS
duction stabilise, Prime Minister Datuk “However, the government found that
Seri Ismail SabriYaakob said. the National Farmers Organisation (NA- there are several large companies who are
FAS) to take the lead role. not interested in applying for the subsidies
The Cabinet agreed on this on Monday and want the government to allow chicken
(May 23) as a short-term measure for the On views by the Cabihet for the cultiva- prices to be determined by the market. So
ongoing chicken shortage issue, he said. tion of corn and the use of palm kernel cake far, only RM50 million in subsidies have
(PKC) as chicken feed alternatives, Ismail been paid to breeders, most of whom own
In addition, the government also agreed Sabri said MAFI and the Domestic Trade small companies,” he said.
to create a national chicken buffer stock and and Consumer Affairs Ministry have been
to optimise cold room storage facilities cur- asked to present plans on the proposal. Ismail Sabri said legal action can be
rently owned by the Ministry of Agriculture taken on this, and Attorney-General Tan
and Food Industry (MAFI) and its agencies. He said government-linked companies Sri Idrus Harun was also part of the Cabi-
(GLCs), government agencies, farmers’ net meeting on Monday, where he advised
It has also abolished Approved Permit organisations and cooperatives were also the government to apply the Control of
(AP) for chicken, including whole chick- encouraged to be involved in poultry farm- Supplies Act 1961 (Act 122) if there were
en and chicken parts, Ismail Sabri said, ing, adding that the government would elements of hoarding, storing or sabotage
adding that this is aimed at allowing im- study the types of assistance that can be on chicken supplies, adding that their li-
porters to provide more sources of supply provided. cence can also be revoked immediately.
and simplify the subsidy claim process by
poultry producers. The prime minister said the govern- In addition, he said MAFI and the Do-
ment regrets and was disappointed with mesticTrade and Consumer Affairs Min-
Also, as a short term measure, the Cab- the actions of some companies who halted istry have been told to conduct monitoring
inet meeting on Monday also decided on chicken production, which in turn result- and inspections, with stern action to be
adding and recognising slaughterhouses ed in a shortage of supply and price hikes. taken against those who violate the Con-
abroad to increase production of poultry trol of Supplies Act 1961 (Supply Control
supply, the prime minister said in a state- He said currently, the ceiling price of Regulations 1974).
ment Monday. standard chicken was set at RM8.90 per
kilogramme with a subsidy of RM729.43 The Control of Supplies Act 1961 (Act
“The government is aware of reports on million provided under the Keluarga Ma- 122) and (Supply Control Regulations
the existence of cartels controlling chicken 1974) provide for fines of up to RM1 mil-
prices and production among the larger lion or imprisonment not exceeding three
companies. The Malaysian Competition years, or both, for individuals and fines
Commission (MyCC) is investigating this of up to RM2 million for corporations or
and we expect the probe to be complet- companies.
ed in June.
“I would like to stress that the govern-
“If it is found that there is such an ment will not compromise with any par-
agreement between cartels, the govern- ty that tries to jeopardise the lives of the
ment will take legal action against them,” people.
he said.
“As such, I ask for members of Kelu-
The prime minister said the govern- arga Malaysia to support these measures
ment, at the same time, will reduce the role taken by the government to safeguard the
middlemen who manipulate supply and people’s interests who have been burdened
prices, adding that it will also re-introduce by rising prices and cost of living, as well
“the war against middlemen” campaign as shortage of supplies,” he said.
that was initially carried out in 2014 with

T u e s d a y M AY 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 3 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

Promoting financial inclusivity
through cashless payments

The widespread adoption of cashless Through the “Malaysia Experience in Fi- Above: Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Uplifting businesses with
payments has unlocked numerous nancial Inclusion: Unlocking Shared Benefits Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi (second from right) ShopeePay
opportunities for the underserved for All through Inclusive Finance” paper, Bank with the ShopeePay team at the launch of ReDI in Pulau
and unbanked in Malaysia to participate Negara Malaysia stated that 46% of Malaysians Pangkor Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
in the economy. are unbanked, all within the age range of 15 to play a vital role to spur the country’s economic
24 years old, who are volatile towards financial Left : ShopeePay Malaysia head Alain Yee (left) handing growth. In fact, MSMEs are projected to contribute
“The integration of e-wallets into mar- breakdown. over ShopeePay push carts aimed at helping B40 micro to 45% of Malaysia’s GDP by 2050 with the boom
ketplaces enables Malaysians from the traders post-pandemic of e-commerce.
lower-income group to buy directly from Following that, Sonia believes Bank Negara’s
producers from all over the country with- recent move to issue digital banking licences will Bottom: ShopeePay Malaysia headAlain Yee (left) with the ShopeePay head Alain Yee says in line with the
out the need to own a credit card,” says Dr complement the services provided by conven- owners of Hardaz Burger Bistro & Coffee in Pulau Pangkor government’s aspirations outlined in the MyDigital
Sonia Kumari Selvarajan, senior lectur- tional banks and further empower vulnerable blueprint, Shopee aims to contribute to businesses’
er, Department of Development Studies, groups, thus creating a more inclusive economy. Empowering MSMEs with empowerment by helping those in need to benefit
Faculty of Business and Economics, Uni- cashless payment from the technology and digital economy.
versiti Malaya. “To keep abreast of
the rapidly evolving The cashless payment environment has given “ShopeePay is a component in the ecosystem
The pandemic has accelerated the na- financial landscape, the room for e-commerce to prosper, with more that enables inclusivity in the digital economy,”
tion’s digital adoption with more people focus on strengthening sellers setting up e-shops to generate more says Yee. “ShopeePay is committed to supporting
inclined towards using cashless payment the legal and regulatory income. A Shopee survey conducted in 2020 the digitalisation of MSMEs. This includes on-
methods. What was initially an alterna- framework is necessary among its network of more than 11,000 sell- boarding micro merchants who are accustomed
tive to curb infections from surfaces has for the deployment of ers indicated that 35.4% of them were using to traditional or offline methods of operating their
become a habit that will continue to be financial technology the platform to generate a second and third business online and offering them both incentives
practised as technology advances expo- and facilitation of the income to cushion themselves against un- and tools for their business.”
nentially. precedented circumstances.
”overall innovation in Apart from its online onboarding programmes,
Cashless payments have also easily Furthermore, cashless payments provide ShopeePay also facilitates acceptance of e-wal-
become the norm due to the convenience the financial sector. a financial facility to enable micro, small and lets offline through partnerships with DuitNow
they offer. Instead of scrambling for an au- medium enterprises’ (MSMEs) participation QR payment.
tomated teller machine (ATM) whenever — Dr Sonia Kumari Selvarajan in the digital economy. While financing for
we run out of tangible cash, we can now digitalisation was highlighted in Budget 2021, The ShopeePay Near Me feature has also been
rely on our e-wallets or online payment programmes to upskill and reskill entrepre- introduced to help users discover ShopeePay vouch-
gateways to complete purchases. neurs have to be initiated by key industry ers from nearby merchants, including bazaar stalls,
players to complement the ecosystem. cafes, restaurants and services.
According to Finance Minister Teng-
ku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, the volume of One of the initiatives is the Go-eCommerce Yee highlights that ShopeePay has been ac-
e-wallet transactions increased 89% to Onboarding programme, a partnership be- tively partnering with government agencies to
468 million, and online banking usage tween Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation enable more B40 micro traders to participate in
improved 36% with 12.1 billion payments, (MDEC) and 29 e-commerce players, includ- the digital economy.
in the period of June 2020 to June 2021. ing Shopee, to encourage e-commerce and
e-payment adoption among local businesses. Via the ongoing Retail Sector Digitalisation Initi-
“The rise of digital financing through ative Programme (ReDI) organised by the Ministry
the adoption of e-wallets and cashless “This is an early indication that financial of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs starting
payment apps can serve the poor at scale,” inclusion can be achieved through the digital this year, ShopeePay onboarded 130 vendors to
says Sonia. economy with innovations such as e-com- adopt its e-wallet and donated 100 business can-
merce and e-payments. However, as the dig- opies to the merchants.
However, she says the surge of cashless ital economy matures in Malaysia, there is a
payment also means that digital financial need to move beyond these for true financial ShopeePay also contributed to digital adoption
literacy is becoming an increasingly im- inclusion to happen,” says Sonia. among the youth by participating in e-Pemula in
portant aspect of education for house- collaboration with the Ministry of Finance by pro-
holds as well as digital entrepreneurs in Aligning with the trend, businesses grabbed viding an additional RM500 worth of guaranteed
this digital age. the opportunity to provide various payment vouchers that can be claimed online and spent
options for their customers. This was proven offline at participating merchants.
A study by the Organisation for Eco- with one million sign-ups for QR payment
nomic Co-operation and Development facilities during the June 2020 to June 2021 The robust digital adoption has to be further
(OECD) found that Malaysians scored period as stated by Zafrul, which is a jump complemented with heightened efforts to advocate
below average in financial knowledge, re- of 57% from the previous year. financial literacy among Malaysians. ShopeePay
flecting gaps in financial decision making. has joined efforts with relevant stakeholders such
Visa says the pandemic has accelerated as the Ministry of Communications and Multime-
Sonia explains that the findings point to Malaysia’s digital adoption journey by five dia (MCMC) for the Pupuk campaign to train and
the need to develop education programmes years. Sonia predicts that the rapid migration empower more than 10,000 rural e-commerce
that focus on critical skills for those partic- to digital technologies will continue through- sellers via Shopee University classes at MCMC’s
ipating in the digital economy as well as out the recovery and beyond. rural internet centres.
special programmes for vulnerable groups.
“To keep abreast of the rapidly evolving ShopeePay has also partnered with the Ministry
SOURCE: MINISTRY OF FINANCE, MALAYSIA & STATEOFMOBILE2022.COM financial landscape, the focus on strength- of Higher Education on Siswa Mall, an initiative to
ening the legal and regulatory framework educate and train graduates of higher education
89% 36% 75 % is necessary for the deployment of financial institutions nationwide on e-commerce aspects
to technology and facilitation of the overall in- and business skills, which is expected to benefit
RM468 million improvement with 34% novation in the financial sector,” says Sonia. more than 12,000 graduates.
online banking increase to
increase of usage & While the efforts to empower Malaysians to
e-wallet US$677million adopt digitalisation continue, ShopeePay foresees
RM12.1 billion that its peer-to-peer (P2P) transfer service within
transactions vs ShopeePay will further support financial inclusivity.
payments made 2021 y-o-y
consumer spend on “[ShopeePay’s P2P service] can also assist in
1 million users/ mobile and in-app digitalising businesses, especially for micro traders
57% increased for sign up for purchases who wish to start accepting e-wallets as a form of
QR payment facilities payment,” says Yee.

“Shopee aims

to contribute
to businesses’
empowerment by
helping those in need
to benefit from the

”technology and

digital economy.

— Alain Yee

Period of June 2020 - June 2021

TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

HOME

MPC: Oil palm 2021 due to the shortage of local and AP for wheat
sector risks losing foreign workers. imports
RM28 bil in 2022
without foreign “To facilitate the process of hiring abolished, says
foreign workers, the process must be Ismail Sabri
workers complete and efficient because current-
ly, the coordination in the process must Bernama
Bernama be switched to the full digitalisation plat-
form without any human interference,” KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Prime Min-
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): The Ma- Abdul Latif said in a statement on Mon- ister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on
laysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) has day (May 23). Monday (May 23) announced that the ap-
proposed for stakeholders to take interven- proved permit (AP) requirement to import
tion measures such as expediting the arrival As for long-term intervention, the gov- wheat into the country has been abolished.
of foreign workers to address the shortage ernment and plantation owners are urged
of labour in oil palm plantations. to cooperate in continuing the funding He said this decision was reached at the
for reskilling and upskilling programmes, Cabinet meeting chaired by him to discuss
Director-general Datuk Abdul Latif Abu especially for local workers. cost of living and food supply issues.
Seman said the arrival of a total of 32,000
foreign workers (field workers) from Indo- “Development and empowerment of “All ministries are also asked to list APs
nesia must be accelerated as there is a short- local workers must be given full emphasis for other items that can be abolished to
age of workers to carry out harvesting work as those holding positions at higher lev- protect the interest of Malaysian Family
in the plantations following the closure of els such as office workers and plantation consumers,” he said in a statement.
borders during the Covid-19 pandemic. managers will ensure the management
of the plantations is well taken care of. Last week, the government announced
He said the shortage of harvesters among that it had agreed not to impose with im-
foreign workers saw the oil palm plantation “The provision of subsidies for the mediate effect, the AP requirement to im-
sector incurring losses of RM21 billion in right educational programmes on oil port foodstuffs to ensure sufficient food
2021, and it is expected to continue suffering palm plantations must also be given pri- supply in the country.
losses of RM28 billion in 2022 if the foreign ority,” he said.
workers are not brought in immediately. The prime minister on Monday also an-
Abdul Latif also said the programmes nounced the abolition of the AP for chick-
Additionally, the sector saw a decline in introduced by the government must be en, including whole chicken and chicken
exports of 4.4% in the fourth quarter of designed and empowered towards good parts to allow importers to provide more
thinking, perception and understanding sources of supply and simplify the subsidy
of the oil palm sector. claim process by poultry producers.

Programmes on awareness and
prepardness must also be emphasised
towards automation and mechanisation
initiatives to attract more Malaysians to
get involved in this sector, he added.

MOHAMAD SHAHRIL BASRI/THE EDGE

Malaysia’s
food inflation
to remain on
upward path

— MIDF

Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Malaysia’s Unless average food inflation surges to 10%, overall inflation is expected to average at 4.6%,
food inflation is set to stay on an upward according to MIDF.
path in the coming months amid elevated
global commodity prices, domestic sup- fuel inflation continues to be on a down- stay below 3% even if food inflation aver-
ply chain disruptions and depreciation of trend,’’ it said in an economic brief on ages at 5%, while fuel prices are capped
the ringgit. Monday (May 23). at current levels.

MIDF Research said Malaysia, as a net The research house said the deceler- “Unless average food inflation surges
food-importing country, is highly exposed ation of fuel inflation will outweigh the to 10%, overall inflation is expected to
to global shocks in the food supply chain. rise in food inflation assuming that the average at 4.6%,’’ it said.
government maintains the current capped
“Global food inflation remains elevat- fuel prices of RON95 petrol and diesel. MIDF added that in the worst-case
ed, particularly the prices of corn, grain scenario, average headline inflation would
and vegetables. “In our thematic report ‘Oil Exports rise to 8.9% if the government opts to
Rebound & Inflation Concerns’, we fore- float fuel prices and food inflation aver-
“Nevertheless, we opine that overall in- cast that Malaysia’s headline inflation will ages at 10%.
flationary pressure will remain stable as

TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

HOME

Several cash trusts said to be
Ponzi schemes

KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): The As- theedgemarkets.com The website displays an SSM Certificate
sociation of Trust Companies Malaysia, of Registration as aTrust Company, under
together with Life Insurance Association to have US$65 billion in assets under man- Section 4 ofTrust Companies Act 1949.
of Malaysia, Malaysian Financial Plan- agement, but there was actually very little
ning Council and the Financial Planning left in the kitty. Section 4 of the Trust Companies Act
Association of Malaysia, among others, 1949 stipulates that on receipt of an ap-
will be bringing their grouses about cer- In a short message to The Edge confirm- plication as a trust company, a registrar
tain cash trusts to DAP National Public ing the meeting thisWednesday, Lim said: may make enquiries as he deems necessary
Complaints Bureau chairman and member “Few financial products related to money and if satisfied all requirements under Sec-
of parliament for Kepong, Lim Lip Eng, games [are] going around [and being] of- tion 3 have been complied with, register
on Wednesday (May 25). fered by certain trustee companies. It (the the company and issue it a certificate as a
particular cash trusts and similar schemes registered trust company.
Their key gripes are centred on ex- in question) is a big scam. [They] took
tremely high returns promised by these RM1 billion from the market last year.” Section 3 stipulates that any public
trusts and other outfits with similar modus company incorporated in Malaysia may
operandi, which they suspect could be a He added that there is no proper reg- apply to the Registrar of Companies to
Ponzi scheme. Some of these companies ulation by Bank Negara Malaysia or the be registered as a trust company subject
are said to offer returns of as high as 36% Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) to terms and conditions.
per annum. about these trusts, suggesting there may
be a loophole in the law and the govern- Some of the terms and conditions in-
In contrast, the fixed deposit rate of ance of these trusts. clude the authorised capital of the com-
Malaysia’s largest bank by market capitali- pany being not less than RM500,000; the
sation, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), The Edge understands that the relevant board of directors are to be appointed with
is 2.1% for a 12-month tenure, and 2.35% regulatory body may be the Companies due care and attention according to the
for five years. And in FY2021, Maybank Commission of Malaysia, or Suruhanjaya company’s Articles of Association; at least
paid out a whopping 58 sen per share in Syarikat Malaysia (SSM). RM150,000 of the authorised capital has
dividends, which, while considered very been bona fide paid up; the company has
high, translates to a yield of 7%. It is also understood that complaints deposited securities approved by the Min-
have been made to the SC and other en- ister of Finance to the value of RM100,000
To the uninitiated, a Ponzi scheme — forcement agencies on these cash trusts with the Accountant General; and the com-
named after Charles Ponzi who operat- companies and those with similar schemes. pany is able to meet its obligations, apart
ed such a fraudulent system in the 1920’s from its liabilities to its shareholders, with-
— is an investment where depositors are One such company’s website states that out taking into account the securities de-
promised a very high rate of returns, with a cash trust is created when a sum of cash posited with the Accountant General.
seemingly low or zero risks. is placed in a trust, and the beneficiary or
beneficiaries can tap on to the cash trust Another company with a similar busi-
The money ploughed in by new de- for emergencies, including for legal ex- ness model promises payouts of 12% per
positors is then used to pay returns to the penditure while waiting for an insurance annum but requires a minimum placement
earlier investors.The entire exercise snow- payout, or pending an inheritance claim. of RM250,000. However, it is not clear
balls until it is no longer sustainable, and if the company’s subsidiaries were profit
the trust company is wound up, and the A unique feature of a cash trust, it states, making even to sustain such a payout. It
depositors lose their money. is that it will not be frozen upon the cash is understood that this company changed
trust creator’s death, and that cash in the auditors three times in four years.
Some of the more famous Ponzi trust is still accessible subject to terms and
schemes of recent times include that of conditions. One source familiar with the cash trusts
the late Bernard (Bernie) Madoff, who operations said that in some cases, compa-
was sentenced to 150 years in prison for This company also claims to have more nies operating such schemes are well con-
financial fraud in 2009. He was supposed than RM2.5 billion in assets under trusts, nected, which makes them more brazen.
and that it has been operating for more
than 30 years.

tuesday may 24, 2022 6 TheEdge CEO morning brief

egcroonwotmhicA catalyst for development and

Finance Avenue in i-City is the address for Mercu Maybank, DoubleTree by Hilton hotel,
BeCentral Residences, an international convention centre, premium offices and retail suites

L ocated in the heart of the Selangor Golden Budgets have been re-evaluated and re-prioritised, Maybank’s presence
Triangle in Shah Alam, i-City is Malaysia’s and given that most operations can be conducted at Finance Avenue
No 1 technology city and a next-generation online with digital transformation, business leaders in i-City will attract
artificial intelligence (AI) smart city. The in- will be required to move funds that were initially Chinese enterprises,
tegrated ultrapolis developed by I-Berhad budgeted for prime city centre commercial real according to
boasts lifestyle components such as a 1.5 million estate locations to digital transformation,” says Li. Bank of China
sq ft Central i-City shopping mall, a leisure theme (Malaysia) Bhd CEO
park, serviced residences and international hotels, as He adds that the need for AI infrastructure and Zhang Min (right)
well as smart corporate towers, cyber office suites, cloud computing is growing and will continue to
convention centres, data centres and a financial hub. do so. Thus, property developers should consider Savills Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director
I-Berhad has partnered with Huawei Enterprise providing virtual storage for this growing space in Datuk Paul Khong says the 72-acre i-City is one of
Malaysia to boost its credentials as a smart city the cloud when building commercial real estate. six key areas positioned as catalysts for develop-
and a next-level information and communications This is where developments such as i-City come in. ment and economic growth, based on the Shah
technology-based urban development. The process Alam City Council’s (MBSA) Draft Local Plan 2035.
involves AI enhancements that bring together smart Elevating Shah Alam
home, smart city and property technologies to create According to Henry Butcher Malaysia Sdn Bhd Khong believes that i-City will get the govern-
better value and smart community conveniences for chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng, i-City was ment’s full suport for it to become a global inno-
people who visit, as well as live and work in i-City. planned right from the start as a technology-centric vation centre or Silicon Valley and the key success
With the partnership focusing on the use of and IT-driven development. factors would likely be public-private partnerships
innovative technology infrastructure, it highlights and capital investments from global tech firms.
that the bandwidth for employees and customers Officially recognised as a Multimedia Super “If this transformation materialises, the capital in-
operating digitally should be expanded. The pace Corridor (MSC) Cybercentre, i-City is served by a vestment inflow such as financial, entrepreneurial,
of digital transformation needs to be accelerated 400G-capable network connectivity, dual source talent and expertise and technological know-how
to accommodate the increasing use of data and power supply, Tier-3 data centre, AI facial recogni- will elevate Shah Alam’s status to an internationally
analytics, digital twins, direct digital engagement, tion capability and a SuperApp mobile community, recognised global tech and financial hub,” he says.
machine learning and robotic automation. among others.
Huawei managing director David Li notes that i-City will continue to draw the crowds, including
the digital transformation of a business has be- new residents, owner-occupiers and office workers,
come a necessity, especially with the adoption when all these are completed, says Khong. “The
of 5G technology. In fact, creating a technology mega project is anticipated to create positive eco-
infrastructure that supports a company’s business nomic multipliers and spillovers due to the size-
strategy, innovation, scalability and digital capabil- able integrated freehold development that has
ities would require millions of ringgit. This is where an estimated gross development value (GDV) of
capital expenditure will be used for communication RM10 billion.”
networks, data centres, data security and end-user
technology services. co n ti n u es on n ex t Page
“Business leaders are walking a tightrope be-
tween managing costs and investing in the future.

tuesday may 24, 2022 7 TheEdge CEO morning brief

I-Berhad chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong (left) and Maybank chairman Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd The mega project is anticipated to
Isa at the official launch of Mercu Maybank create positive economic multipliers

from previous Page and spillovers due to the sizeable
integrated freehold development
Considering that i-City has launched its residential
developments at benchmark prices that are higher that has an estimated GDV of
than those in the surrounding areas, Tang reckons RM10 billion — Khong
that this will have a positive impact on the prices of
the residential projects in the vicinity. “The devel- move departments that are not required in the city
opment will change the landscape and image of centre. This means its back office, telemarketing
Shah Alam because the concept and development operations, and filing and storage facilities can
components of i-City breaks away from the tradi- be relocated to cheaper premises outside the city
tional staid image of Shah Alam as the capital city centre,” says Tang.
and administrative centre of Selangor.”
Khong says occupational costs and connectivity
New opportunities for business growth The development will change the are the main factors for such relocation exercises.
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is relocating landscape and image of Shah Rents are relatively lower in decentralised locations
a part of its operations from its headquarters in Alam because the concept and and many tenants are comfortable with the new
Kuala Lumpur to the 33-storey Mercu Maybank at areas, especially those with a good transport net-
Finance Avenue in i-City. Mercu Maybank is i-City’s development components of i-City work and are considered smart cities.
first Grade A, Green Building Index-rated (GBI) smart break away from the traditional
corporate tower, which will be home to Fortune 500 staid image of Shah Alam as the “From the perspective of urban economics and
companies, financial institutions, multinational capital city and administrative urban resource planning, the process of decentrali-
corporations and international logistics players. centre of Selangor — Tang sation coincides with the maturing of satellite cities
that were once established to support the growing
Maybank’s presence at Finance Avenue in i-City Khong notes that the obvious spillover effects from population from the central business district. This
will act as a catalyst for fintech firms and Chinese Mercu Maybank will be a higher demand for sup- is where the satellite cities are now fast evolving
enterprises to set up shop there, according to port and synergy from the existing small offices/ into emerging cities and suburban nodes char-
Bank of China (Malaysia) CEO Zhang Min, who home offices (SoHos) and residences that are lo- acterised by regional retail malls and high-grade
is also president of the China Enterprises Cham- cated near the development. office towers,” he says.
ber of Commerce in Malaysia (CECCM). “I believe
Maybank’s relocation of a component of its opera- Prudential is one of the tenants that is making i-City is connected by a network of high-
tion to Finance Avenue in i-City will attract Chinese Mercu Maybank a base for more than 1,000 employ- ways such as the New Klang Valley Express-
enterprises,” he says. ees from the Klang Valley. ThinkHub, a co-working way, West Coast Expressway and Federal High-
space in the office tower, is also fully tenanted by way, linking it to seaports, airports and the
This is expected to increase footfall at the ad- multinational e-commerce companies. Kuala Lumpur city centre, which is a 30-minute
jacent Central i-City, especially during lunchtime drive away. It is also near the upcoming i-City LRT3
and after office hours, thus increasing the mall’s Moving out of the city centre station, which will be connected to the buildings in
vibrancy. There have been enquiries from support According to Tang, the relocation of companies to i-City via covered walkways provided by I-Berhad,
and supplementary services such as healthcare outside the city centre is a natural phenomenon thus improving walkability in the city. Mobility in
providers, fitness centres and spas looking to oc- that is happening around the world. As cities ex- the city will be further enhanced with the autono-
cupy the commercial hubs that are connected to pand and land in the city centre becomes scarce mous bus shuttles that will be launched when the
the shopping mall via a link bridge. i-City has seen and costly, office rents and operating costs rise, LRT station opens in 2024.
a significant surge in rental enquiries for commer- forcing companies to rethink and rationalise their
cial and residential space. operations. Launched in 2004, i-City currently consists of
4,000 units of residential properties and 670,000
Mercu Maybank is equipped with modern tech- Traffic congestion in the city centre, as well as sq ft of commercial areas, which are 85% and 70%
nology and infrastructure that have added a new the expensive and limited parking space, poses occupied respectively. Central i-City mall — the open-
dimension to i-City. “The influx of 1,500 workers will problems to companies. “Some companies will ing of which was officiated by the Sultan of Selangor,
likely lead to an increase in demand for housing in adopt a hub-and-spoke model/approach where, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah — was 85%
i-City and the surrounding areas, as some of these for some reason or another, the head office needs occupied in the first year of operation. The i-City
workers may find it more convenient to relocate to be located in the city centre, will downsize and theme park, which attracts an average crowd
closer to their working place,” says Tang. of 90,000 per week, has been recognised
by CNN Travel as the 21st brightest and most
With the banking group taking up about 160,000 colourful place in the world. Upon completion,
sq ft of space, it is a strong vote of confidence in i-City is anticipated to have 25,000 residents and
i-City’s favour and will certainly bring in the crowd. 30,000 knowledge-based workers.

TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

HOME

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): The High Court dismisses MOHD IZWAN/THE EDGE
Court on Monday (May 23) dismissed former Apandi Ali’s
Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed RM10 mil Tan Sri
Apandi Ali’s RM 10 million defamation suit Mohamed
against veteran politician Lim Kit Siang over defamation suit Apandi Ali
the latter’s article published in 2019. against Kit Siang
On July 5, 2019, Mohamed Apandi filed
High Court Judge Justice Datuk Azimah BY TARANI PALANI the suit against Lim over the DAP stal-
Omar said that the 1Malaysia Development theedgemarkets.com wart’s article titled “Dangerous fallacy to
Bhd (1MDB) scandal highlighted in Lim’s think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity”
article was a matter of national interest and nation’s prosecution agency... It is entirely published on news portal Malaysiakini.
it was within the duty of any member of unthinkable for the AG [to adopt] a disasso-
the public, let alone a parliamentarian, to ciated attitude, to divorce himself totally from Mohamed Apandi claims that the article
voice out their dismay, especially after all any role in criminal investigations,” she said. published in May 2019 implied that he had
channels of complaint were exhausted. aided and abetted in the 1MDB scandal.
She said the AG should act “proactively, Furthermore, he claimed that the article
She added that the public absolutely had fearlessly and zealously” in ensuring that also implied that he had abused or neglect-
the interest to know of Mohamed Apandi’s no crime or corruption be left unchecked. ed his responsibilities as AG at that time.
“actions or inactions” which “directly and
indirectly” lent a hand in covering up the Justice Azimah also said that Mohamed He sought RM10 million in general, ag-
1MDB scandal and the known personali- Apandi had admitted in court during cross-ex- gravated and exemplary damages against
ties involved. Lim, who is Iskandar Puteri amination that “that not even one person” was Lim. He also sought an injunction to
MP, merely highlighted this in his article. prosecuted during his tenure as AG, despite prevent Lim from publishing the alleged
the plethora of complaints over the scandal. defamatory words again and other relief
Justice Azimah, among others, found deemed fit by the court.
that Lim exercised responsible journalism Therefore, Lim was well within his
by verifying his facts and also fulfilled the rights to voice out his thoughts to the A former federal court judge, Mohamed
element of qualified privilege. public at large. Apandi was appointed as AG in July 2015
during former Prime Minister Datuk Seri
“When 1MDB scandal involves crimi- Justice Azimah also awarded the cost Najib Razak’s tenure. His services were
nality and illegalities, social and economic of RM 80,000 to Lim. terminated in June 2018, after the Paka-
repercussions to the nation’s economy and tan Harapan government came into power.
the morality of the nation’s top leaders and Lim was represented by Sangeet Kaur
agencies, it is well within the rakyat’s — not Deo, while Mohamed Apandi was repre- Earlier, a disgruntled Justice Azimah
just the defendant’s (Lim) as member of par- sented by M.Visvanathan. voiced her unhappiness over Lim’s absence
liament’s — interest and duty to voice out from the proceedings. She reprimanded the
their dismay and enmity, especially when all veteran parliamentarian, saying that he should
avenues (of complaint) have been exhaust- have respect for the court’s proceedings.
ed and only for the uproar to fall on deaf
ears,” she said. Sangeet explained that Lim meant no
disrespect to the court and the counsels
AG should be ‘proactive, fearless’ were present on his behalf.
In her ruling, Justice Azimah also highlight-
ed Mohamed Apandi’s press conference Justice Azimah then said she would not
on Jan 26, 2016 where he announced that deliver her decision until Lim was present
no charges would be brought against for- in court. Lim joined the proceedings later
mer prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak via Zoom.
based on Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-
mission’s investigations. At the time, Mo-
hamed Apandi said he was satisfied that
no criminal offence had been committed.

The judge said it was “truly unbecoming”
of Mohamed Apandi to leave investigations
into the criminal matter to other agencies.

“The AG sits at the highest seat of the

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Bursa Ma- KNM halts million based on its latest-reported num-
laysia has approved KNM Group Bhd’s share trade ber of outstanding shares at about 3.68
request for share trade suspension from pending material billion.
2pm to 5pm on Monday (May 23) pend- announcement
ing the release of a material announce- For financial year ended Dec 31,
ment by the industrial process equipment BY ADAM AZIZ 2021 (FY21), KNM reported a net loss
maker, KNM said in a filing on Bursa’s theedgemarkets.com of RM601.48 million compared to a net
website. profit at RM64.2 million a year earlier,
according to KNM’s amended filing to
Prior to the share-trade suspension, Bursa on March 3, 2022.
KNM’s share price fell 0.5 sen or 2.5%
to 19.5 sen, which gives the company a KNM’s FY21 revenue fell to RM1.02
market capitalisation of about RM717.6 billion from RM1.35 billion a year earli-
er, KNM said.

TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

HOME

Boustead Performance Improvement Programme Innoprise
Plantations (PPIP) further complemented Boustead Plantation’s
1Q net profit surges Plantations’ performance. 1Q net profit
to RM435 mil soars 228% on
“FFB production for the quarter was higher ASPs, sales
BY HAILEY CHUNG recorded at 195,882 MT, which was 9% volume; pays
theedgemarkets.com higher from the production in last year’s six sen dividend
corresponding quarter of 180,165 MT.
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Boustead Oil extraction rate and kernel extraction BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
Plantations Bhd’s net profit for the first rate grew to 20.6% and 4.1% from 20.3% theedgemarkets.com
quarter ended March 31, 2022 (1QFY22) and 4% respectively,” Boustead Planta-
surged to RM435 million from RM12 mil- tions said. KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): In-
lion a year prior due to higher palm prod- noprise Plantations Bhd’s net prof-
uct prices paired with improved fresh fruit The group’s chief executive officer Zain- it for the first quarter ended March
bunch (FFB) production. al Abidin Shariff said Boustead Plantations 31, 2022 (1QFY22) soared 228% to
was encouraged by the bullish trend and RM29.53 million from RM9.01 mil-
Revenue climbed 88.53% to RM324 encouraging crop production in 1QFY22, lion in 1QFY21, thanks to higher av-
million from RM172 million in the corre- and therefore continued to focus on PPIP’s erage selling prices (ASPs) of crude
sponding quarter last year, its bourse filing initiative on mechanisation and digitalisa- palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK).
on Monday (May 23) showed. Earnings tion in line with the Reinventing Boustead
per share came in at 19.43 sen, compared Strategy. The Sabah-based plantation com-
with 0.55 sen previously. pany’s quarterly revenue rose 82.7%
“Through mechanisation, we have re- to RM74.46 million, from RM40.75
With the strong performance, Boustead duced the number of workers required for million. Earnings per share rose to
Plantations’ board of directors declared a our operations. Compared with the same 6.17 sen from 1.88 sen a year earlier,
first interim dividend of 7.3 sen per share quarter last year, we had closed the gap its bourse filing showed.
for FY22 ending Dec 31, 2022. The div- by 30%.
idend will be paid on June 24, 2022 to Innoprise Plantations declared a
shareholders on the register as at June 9, “The group expects to further improve first interim dividend of six sen per
2022. productivity and realise more benefits in share, payable on June 23, 2022.
the coming quarters from efforts on mech-
The group attributed the significant in- anisation to take advantage of the strong Besides stronger average selling
crease in revenue and profitability to the CPO price,” he said. prices of CPOs, which grew 53%,
rise in palm product prices over the one- and PK, which jumped 84%, the
year period to March 31. Boustead Plantations foresaw that palm group said it saw higher sales volume
oil prices are expected to remain strong for of both products arising from higher
“For 1QFY22, average crude palm oil the remaining second quarter of 2022 in fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production.
(CPO) price surged by 61% to RM6,030 respect of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia con-
per metric tonne (MT), as opposed to flict and the tightness of CPO production On prospects, the group said FFB
RM3,751 per MT in last year’s corre- that would dampen the increasing demand production in the coming quarter
sponding quarter. of edible oil. is expected to increase due to sea-
sonal trends.
“Average palm kernel price was also It said the palm oil supply is expected
substantially higher at RM4,655 per MT, to improve over the second half of the year “Year 2022 will still be an excel-
up by RM2,135 or 85%,” Boustead Plan- due to easing of labour shortages with the lent year for the plantation sector as
tations said in a statement. entry of foreign workers back to Malaysia. the CPO price is expected to remain
high compared with 2021. Given the
It added that the improved FFB pro- Having said that, the group is aware that current level of CPO and PK prices,
duction from the success of the Plantations the sentiment on Indonesia lifting the ban the board is confident of achieving
on export of palm oil products will add reasonably good profit in the coming
bearishness to the palm oil prices. quarter,” it said.

On Monday, Boustead Plantations “Management will continue to
shares finished two sen or 1.94% lower focus on productivity and efficien-
at RM1.01, giving it a market capitalisa- cy improvement to reduce unit cost
tion of about RM2.26 billion. of production,” it added.

On Monday (May 23), Inno-
prise Plantations’ shares ended at
RM1.82, up two sen or 1.11% for a
market capitalisation of RM871.52
million. The stock has jumped
44.44% year-to-date from when it
was trading at RM1.26.

T U E S D A Y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 10 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

HOME

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Serba Di- Serba Dinamik accept the representation from Serba Di-
namik Holdings Bhd group managing MD Abdul Karim namik and its executives, which led to the
director (MD) Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul SC’s issuance of compounds to the ac-
Karim Abdullah’s stake in the oil and gas shaves stake cused parties.
service provider has slipped to 20.826% — to 20.83% after
772.57 million shares — after the forced force selling of The other three executives were exec-
selling of 5.15 million shares. 5.15 mil shares utive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed
Faisal, chief financial officer Azhan Azmi
A bourse filing on Monday (May BY IZZUL IKRAM and vice president of accounts and finance
23) showed that Mohd Abdul Karim theedgemarkets.com Muhammad Hafiz Othman.
was forced to sell 5.15 million shares —
0.139% equity interest — at 15 sen a share auditor KPMG flagged audit discrepan- Following the payment of the com-
on May 20. cies in regard to its financials. pounds, which totalled RM16 million,
Serba Dinamik and its four executives
On May 18, he was forced to sell 9.66 Meanwhile, Serba Dinamik and four were given a discharge and acquittal on
million shares or a 0.26% stake in the of its top executive officers — including May 13, almost one year after its audit
group at 15.8 sen apiece, according to a Mohd Abdul Karim — were charged by disputes surfaced.
filing on May 19. Prior to the latest forced the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)
disposals, his stake in the company stood under Section 369(a)(B) of the Capital Trading of Serba Dinamik securities
at 21.225%. Markets and Services Act for submitting resumed on May 9 after it was suspend-
a false statement involving a revenue of ed by Bursa Malaysia because of its
Calculations done on the back of an RM6.01 billion for its financial period end- refusal to comply with a bourse direc-
envelope showed that the forced selling ed Dec 31, 2020. tive to release a factual finding update
of the two blocks of shares translated into on the special independent review con-
RM2.3 million. However, in a turn of events, the At- ducted by Ernst & Young Consulting
torney General’s Chambers decided to Sdn Bhd.
This latest round brought the total
number of shares he has been forced to Serba Dinamik shares finished down
sell to nearly 250 million, since he was 2.5 sen or 18.52% at 11 sen on Monday,
first forced to pare his stake in the group giving the group a market capitalisa-
on June 28 last year. tion of RM395.35 million. The coun-
ter was traded at RM1.61 the day be-
Serba Dinamik has been mired in an fore KPMG raised the red flag on its
audit saga which spans back to May 25, accounts.
2021, after the group’s former external

T U E S D A Y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 11 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

HOME

Destini’s unit contract from the Ministry of Transport. AEON Co’s
secures MRO “Level 4 MRO for electric train sets margin to shrink
contract worth amid inflationary
RM531.39 mil is an important exercise that is required
to be done based on a train’s operational environment
BY SULHI KHALID time or kilometre in service. The electric and price lock
theedgemarkets.com train sets are required to undergo Level 4
MRO to ensure their safety and reliability campaign,
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Desti- during service. says HLIB
ni Bhd’s unit, M Rail Technics Sdn Bhd
(MRail), has secured a contract for the “Every train set will undergo a compre- BY SULHI KHALID
maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hensive MRO activity which comprises com- theedgemarkets.com
of 35 train sets operated by KeretapiTanah plete disassembly of major components, de-
Melayu Bhd (KTMB) worth RM531.39 tailed inspections and replacement of parts KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Hong
million. as required,” the group explained. Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Re-
search said that the inflationary environ-
In a statement on Monday (May 23), MRail is a 70-30 joint venture compa- ment coupled with the price lock cam-
the group said its unit received the award ny between Destini and KTMB Technics paign will result in shrinkage in AEON
of the four-and-a-half-year Level 4 MRO Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Co (M) Bhd’s margin moving forward.
KTMB.
The research house said it had down-
MRail was established with the inten- graded its call on the retailer to “hold”
tion of providing heavy MRO services for with a lower target price of RM1.40
the rail segment in Malaysia and potentially (from RM1.78) as it slashed its FY22
the region, according to Destini. forecast by 6.5% to account for margin
challenges.
Moving forward, Destini said it plans to
further strengthen its capabilities in the rail “AEON’s management shared that
segment by leveraging its partnerships with the group will roll out another anti-in-
KTMB and other technical partners such flationary campaign for core basic items
as Siemens Mobility Sdn Bhd and Indo- in order to capture customer retention.
nesia state-owned PT Industri Kereta Api.
“Despite the intention of preserving
“These collaborations are intended to value for customers, we opine that this
enable Destini to participate in more rail will put a strain on the margin moving
tenders locally and regionally,” it shared. forward,” it said.

Destini shares ended half a sen or 2.38% On property management services,
lower at 20.5 sen, valuing the group at HLIB added that with the group's adop-
RM341 million. tion of the commission rental structure
as opposed to the traditional fixed rental
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): SportsToto SportsToto’s structure, AEON had garnered higher
Bhd’s (formerly known as Berjaya Sports 3Q profit jumps sales commissions as tenants improved
Toto Bhd) net profit in the third quarter their sales.
ended March 31, 2022 (3QFY22) surged four-fold to
more than four-fold to RM79.56 million RM79.56 mil, With this flexibility, AEON managed
from RM18.68 million reported in the pre- declares two sen to retain more tenants and have a stable
vious year, underpinned by higher con- occupancy rate for its malls amid the
tributions from HR Owen plc and STM dividend challenging environment, the research
Lottery Sdn Bhd. house said.
BY SULHI KHALID
Its bourse filing showed 3QFY22 rev- theedgemarkets.com “The income composition for fixed
enue jumped 54.01% to RM1.73 billion and variable income stands at 58% and
from RM1.12 billion, largely driven by bet- revenue grew a marginal 1.87% to RM3.77 42% respectively,” it shared.
ter sales from its lotto games and higher billion from RM3.7 billion.
accumulated jackpot prizes, coupled with Last week, AEON reported that its
stronger sales during the festive period in The cumulative profit decline was main- net profit grew to RM28.07 million
February 2022. ly because of a lower contribution from for the first quarter ended March 31,
STM Lottery, which saw lower sales, miti- 2022 (1QFY22) from RM22.03 million
The group’s earnings per share im- gated by improved results from HR Owen, a year earlier.
proved to 5.93 sen from 1.39 sen. It de- and the group’s share of profits in associ-
clared a third interim dividend of two sen ated companies in the financial period, as However, 1QFY22 revenue was low-
per share, to be paid on July 22. opposed to share of losses in the previous er at RM1.002 billion versus RM1.013
year’s corresponding period. billion, according to the company.
Compared with the immediate preced-
ing quarter of 2QFY22, the group’s net Click here for the full story At the time of writing on Monday
profit rose 49.38% from RM53.26 mil- (May 23), shares in AEON were trad-
lion, while revenue climbed 38.79% from ed one sen or 0.66% lower at RM1.51,
RM1.25 billion. valuing the retailer at RM2.12 billion.

However, despite the improvement seen
in 3QFY22, the group’s net profit for the
cumulative nine months ended March 31,
2022 declined 24.04% to RM115.16 mil-
lion from RM151.59 million, even though

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 12 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

home

MTC Engineering
seeks RM50 mil
from Petron
Malaysia for
additional MIF2
project costs

S P Setia’s 1Q clearing inventories, where RM159 million by Adam Aziz
net profit drops worth of inventories was cleared during theedgemarkets.com
this period.
10% on lower KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Petron M
revenue “In addition to the sales secured, the Refining & Marketing Bhd said it has re-
group in 1QFY22 also secured RM655 ceived a notice of arbitration from MTC
by Syafiqah Salim million bookings in the pipeline. The fo- Engineering Sdn Bhd seeking RM50.5
theedgemarkets.com cus will be on the swift conversion of these million for alleged outstanding additional
bookings into sales,” said the S P Setia costs from a project.
S P Setia Bhd recorded a net profit of president and chief executive officer Da-
RM67.5 million for the first quarter ended tuk Choong Kai Wai. The claims by MTC Engineering arose
March 31, 2022 (1QFY22), down 10.27% from the execution of Pipeline End Man-
from RM75.23 million in 1QFY21, as rev- During the period under review, the ifold (PLEM) Fabrication and Marine
enue dropped on lower contributions from group launched landed residential and Equipment Installation for Marine Im-
its property development and construction commercial projects worth about RM505 port Facilities 2 (MIF2) Project at Petron
segments. million in gross development value (GDV). Port Dickson Refinery, Negeri Sembilan,
Petron Malaysia said.
Revenue came in at RM867.1 million, As the world slowly transitions from a
17.64% less than the RM1.05 billion it re- pandemic into an endemic phase of Cov- The relief sought by MTC Engineer-
corded in 1QFY21, its bourse filing showed. id-19, the group expects property demand ing comprised payment of RM50.5 mil-
to improve over the remaining FY22.The lion with 5% annual interest from date
S P Setia said its property development group also believes it will achieve its sales of award until final settlement, as well as
segment’s revenue fell 17.5% to RM822.14 target of RM4 billion set for FY22. costs and other reliefs.
million from RM996.51 million on lesser
contributions from both Malaysia and Sin- Choong, nevertheless, cautioned that “Petron Malaysia will defend its position
gapore. “There was [a] higher volume of the realisation of sales may be impacted and take necessary legal action as deemed
development phases which were completed given the current property market outlook appropriate,” Petron Malaysia said.
and handed over in 1QFY21, resulting in is tough due to the rise in interest rate in
additional revenue contribution in the cor- the near term, which is expected to in- “Petron Malaysia vehemently denies
responding quarter of the preceding year. crease further in the current financial year. the claim by MTC Engineering under the
The group sold RM159 million worth of agreement and is of the opinion that the sum
completed inventories during 1QFY22, as “Over the last two years, many poten- claimed is without basis or merit,” it added.
compared to RM206 million in 1QFY21.” tial homebuyers adopted a ‘wait-and-see’
approach. As the purchase of property is a Petron Malaysia has 30 days from the
Revenue from its construction segment relatively safe and sound investment in the receipt of the notice of arbitration on May
retreated to RM3.87 million from RM5.12 medium to longer term, we expect more 20, 2022 to file a response to MTC En-
million. owner-occupiers and some investors to gineering, it added.
emerge due to attractive offerings by prop-
In a separate statement, S P Setia said erty developers,” said Choong. According to Petron Malaysia’s annu-
it secured sales of RM679 million in al report, the MIF2 project expanded its
1QFY22, with 92% of that contributed by Moving forward, other than focusing product storage capacity by half a million
local projects, while the remaining 8% or on clearing completed inventories, the barrels. It was commissioned in mid-2021,
RM54 million came from overseas projects. group will remain prudent with selected and helped the refiner enhance its freight
new launches, concentrating on the mid- efficiency.
“On the local front, sales were main- range landed units in established townships
ly derived from the central region with to cater to the demand of owner-occupiers. Shares of Petron Malaysia settled up
RM420 million. The southern region 3 sen or 0.42% at RM7.23 on Monday
contributed RM140 million, while anoth- “The group is currently anchored by 47 (May 23), giving it a market capitalisation
er RM70 million was from the northern ongoing projects and an effective remain- of RM1.95 billion.
region. The total sales secured were also ing land bank of 7,060 acres with a GDV
complemented by the concerted effort in of RM121.54 billion. The unbilled sales,
which stand at RM9.84 billion, will also
provide earnings visibility in the short to
mid term,” added Choong.

S P Setia shares closed unchanged at
RM1.02 on Monday, valuing the company
at RM4.15 billion.

T U E S D A Y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 13 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 14 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

home

Brent crack spread Hengyuan Refining RM Petron Malaysia Refining
Company Bhd RM7.27 & Marketing Bhd
Price (US$/barrel)
30 US$29.52 8 RM

25 7 8
RM7.20

7

20 6

15 6
10 US$6.47
5 5 RM4.58
RM5.20

4

5 May 23, 2022 3 May 20, 2022 4 May 20, 2022
April 24, 2021 April 23, 2021 April 23, 2021

Source: Bloomberg Source: Bloomberg Source: Bloomberg

Ongoing Russian oil export ban, demand
recovery to support refining margins

KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Driven by Lee Weng Khuen Recall that Hengyuan and Petron hit
by the jump in crack spread prices, the theedgemarkets.com their peaks at nearly RM20 and RM15 in
shares of Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd and December 2017, respectively. However,
Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing “On the demand side, as the aviation the former plunged to RM6 in just four
Bhd, which are exposed to the downstream industry is recovering, demand for jet fuel months, as its margins were hit by higher
refining business, have surged 85.3% and will increase, thus creating more demand oil prices that drove up feedstock costs.
62.8% respectively year to date, outper- for refined products,” he told The Edge. Similarly, the latter halved to below RM7
forming the Bursa Malaysia Energy In- over the same period.
dex’s 21% gain. Russia is the world’s third-largest oil
producer, and it supplies about 40% of For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021
Analysts generally believe that refin- Europe’s natural gas. Note that Russia (FY21), Hengyuan’s net profit slumped
ing margins will remain large as long as production fell 9% in April and it pro- 67.1% to RM82.67 million,from RM250.98
Russian oil exports are banned. Russia’s duced far below levels required under million a year ago. Meanwhile, the refining
oil supply has been squeezed by sanc- a deal to gradually ease record output margin for FY2021 reduced year-on-year
tions from various countries, including cuts made during the worst of the pan- due to crack swap settlement. Higher net
the US. demic in 2020. foreign exchange loss and tax expense further
reduced the company’s FY2021 profitability,
Singapore Mogas 92 Brent Crack Another analyst said that the crack as compared to the previous financial year.
Spread hit another record high of close spread is likely to remain elevated, but it
to US$30 a barrel on Monday (May 23), is hard to tell whether prices have reached Based in Port Dickson, Negeri Sem-
which is way higher than its 2017’s peak of their peaks. bilan, it has the capacity to deliver up to
US$18 a barrel. Compared to a year ago, 156,000 barrels per day of petroleum prod-
it was up more than four times. “When refineries are at full capacity ucts to customers mainly in Malaysia and
and yet can’t meet all the demand, that’s Southeast Asia.
The spread refers to the refining mar- when the crack spreads to spike,” he said,
gin between crude oil prices and their re- noting that the upcoming financial re- Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co
fined finished products, primarily RON92 sults of downstream players should be Ltd, through Malaysia Hengyuan Interna-
and RON95 gasoline or motor gasoline commendable. tional Ltd, owns a 51% stake in Hengyuan.
(mogas).
HLIB Research in a May 17 note high- Meanwhile, Petron returned to the black
An O&G analyst who declined to be lighted that the surge in refining product in FY21 with a net profit of RM238.47
named said it was mainly driven by Rus- margins is a lingering problem arising from million versus a net loss of RM13.32 mil-
sia’s oil export ban and the recovery in the structural issues that are not able to be lion in FY20, underpinned by higher oil
aviation sector. addressed in the near term. They are a prices and domestic demand.
demand surge in a post-pandemic era; a
“The ban on Russian oil has created a supply shortage due to years of underin- Petron owns and operates the Petron
shortage in the global oil space. The Eu- vestment and ESG-related pressures; as Port Dickson Refinery, which has a capac-
ropean countries — which used to import well as sanctions on Russian oil. ity of 88,000 barrels per day, producing
refined products like gasoline and diesel gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas
from Russia — now have to import from However, the research house noted that and aviation fuel.
the US and the Middle East. Asian players it is unsure of the spot/hedge portion for
also need to get supplies from the Mid- both Hengyuan and Petron, as refineries Hengyuan is currently trading at a trail-
dle East. All these have raised the refining typically take on progressive hedging po- ing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 26
margins. sitions (forward sales). times versus Petron’s 8.1 times, according
to Bloomberg.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 15 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

home

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Pegging Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge change rate peg and residents and non-res-
the ringgit to the US dollar may potentially idents will find all sorts of ways to bet
push the country into a financial crisis, ac- Dr Sukudhew (Sukhdave) Singh against the peg should the government
cording to former Bank Negara Malaysia decide to peg the ringgit.
(BNM) deputy governor, Dr Sukudhew Former BNM
(Sukhdave) Singh. deputy governor “In all cases, the central bank will have
to back the peg by intervening with its for-
In a post on his official LinkedIn ac- says pegging eign currency reserves. So, it had better
count, Sukhdave warned that pegging the ringgit may push have a lot of reserves because it is going
exchange rate is not a decision that should to need them to defend the peg.
be taken lightly since it has significant con- Malaysia into
sequences for the economy and Malaysia’s financial crisis “To overcome these problems, during
financial markets. the AFC, we did not just stop at the peg.
by Sulhi Khalid
“Now that the US dollar is strength- theedgemarkets.com “We also introduced capital controls
ening against many currencies, including to limit capital outflows by residents and
the ringgit, we are once again hearing local The two-time prime minister suggest- non-residents. We also had to undertake
calls for the central bank to peg the ringgit ed the same strategy to be implemented numerous other measures to address spec-
to the dollar. to address the current fluctuations of the ulation and capital flight, including the de-
ringgit against the US dollar. monetisation of the RM500 and RM1,000
“What they (those who moot the idea) currency notes,” he said.
often forget to mention is that once we Meanwhile, Sukhdave also opined that
have pegged the ringgit to the US dollar, currency speculators will also test the ex- Sukhdave added, the currency peg
we will have to defend that peg. which was introduced during the AFC
was only sustainable because the coun-
“The financial system and the central try had a large current account surplus
bank will have to meet all demand for US post-1998, arising from the sharp depre-
dollar at the pegged exchange rate. If that ciation of the ringgit as well as strong de-
demand cannot be met, a black market for mand for Malaysia’s exports from the rest
US dollar will develop, undermining the of the world, particularly the developed
official peg,” Sukhdave revealed. countries.

Earlier, former prime minister Tun Dr “Without that strong current account
Mahathir Mohamed suggested the gov- surplus providing foreign currency inflows,
ernment to consider pegging the ringgit to it is doubtful that Malaysia would have
the US dollar as was done between 1998 been able to maintain the peg for as long
and 2005. as it did (seven years).

The government under Dr Mahathir’s “So, for those calling for a currency
leadership then decided to peg the ring- peg, I say be careful about what you wish
git to the US dollar at RM3.80 exchange for,” Sukhdave warned.
rate, to address the ringgit’s volatile fluc-
tuations as a result of the Asian Financial Malaysia in 2005 replaced the currency
Crisis (AFC). peg with a managed float system for the
ringgit exchange rate.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23):Technical GIIB says there is bourse filing in reply to queries from
rubber compound provider GIIB Holdings sufficient basis to Bursa Securities.
Bhd on Monday (May 23) said the group hold former ED
found sufficient basis,from the report of an accountable for GIIB also said it has yet to ascertain
external independent auditor, to hold its the full financial impact of the external
terminated executive directorWongWeng misconduct auditor’s findings on the group, as well as
Yew accountable for misconduct, “as per Wong’s termination, but does not envis-
charges made against him” in a show cause by Shazni Ong age there to be any operational impact.
letter the group issued to him in March. theedgemarkets.com
Last Thursday (May 19), GIIB (for-
“Mr Wong appears to have not ful- claims made by MrWong from April 2021 merly known as Goodway Integrated
filled his responsibility to spearhead the to January 2022 that were not properly Industries Bhd) announcedWong’s ter-
glove project which was entrusted to him verified and approved. Further investiga- mination as its executive director with
by the board of directors of GIIB when tions may be warranted to determine the immediate effect.Wong was appointed to
he was first appointed as the executive full extent of any losses suffered by the the board in March last year to oversee
director of the group and its subsidiaries. group as a result of these claims, which the group’s finances and to spearhead
the auditor would be willing to assist (sic), its glove business.
“MrWong did not appear to be lead- under a separate mandate,” it said in a
ing or managing the project but was try- Prior to his termination, Wong was
ing to carry out tasks for the project. In suspended from his role from March 28,
spite of being aware of the financial con- during which time Wong had claimed
sequences of a delay in the project on the that the actions taken against him by
group, MrWong did not appear to have management was because he had raised
shown urgency in completing the project. questions about several transactions that
he found to be suspicious in nature.
“Additionally, there were certain
continues on Page 16

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 16 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

home

PUTRAJAYA (May 23): Datuk Seri Go- Apex court: two cases. Hence, this leave application to
pal Sri Ram can continue to lead the pros- Gopal Sri Ram both applications are to be dismissed with
ecution as senior deputy public prosecutor can continue to no order as to costs,” he added.
(DPP) in the ongoing 1Malaysia Develop- lead prosecution
ment Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial involving against Najib in The other members of the bench in the
Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 1MDB-Tanore unanimous decision were Justices Datuk
Nalini Pathmanathan and Datuk Vernon
The Federal Court also found no prob- trial Ong Lam Kiat.
lem should the former Federal Court
judge decide to appear in the continued by Hafiz Yatim Najib and Shafee had previously made
prosecution of Tan Sri Muhammad Sha- theedgemarkets.com criminal challenges against the appoint-
fee Abdullah in his RM9.5 million money ment of Sri Ram in prosecuting them,
laundering and tax evasion case, when Sam Fong/The Edge but this was also dismissed by the High
Sri Ram had represented Datuk Seri An- Court up to the Federal Court.
war Ibrahim in a civil proceeding on the Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram
same issue. They also filed separate judicial review
proceedings in December to challenge Sri
A three-member Federal Court bench Ram’s appointment to prosecute Najib
on Monday (May 23) dismissed the ju- and Shafee on the grounds the letter of
dicial review application filed by Najib appointment signed by the then attor-
and Shafee separately to challenge the ney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thom-
appointment of Sri Ram as senior DPP as was invalid and sought a declaration
to prosecute them. there was a conflict of interest in Sri Ram’s
appointment and requested an order to
Justice Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi prohibit him from leading the prosecution
Mohd Salleh, who led the three-mem- team in all of their cases.
ber bench, said Najib and Shafee should
fulfil the requirements under Section 96 On Aug 28, 2020, the High Court in
of the Courts of Judicature Act in order Kuala Lumpur dismissed the judicial re-
for the parties to decide in granting leave view applications by Najib and Shafee to
(permission) to have the appeal heard on remove Sri Ram as senior DPP in their
its merits. respective cases.

“One of the requirements is that the Last Nov 8, the former prime minister
question of law that is to be decided — and Shafee also lost their appeals in the
the general principle is that it had not Court of Appeal to disqualify Sri Ram
been decided by the Federal Court and as senior DPP in their respective cases
secondly, on the prospect of its success. resulting in Monday’s appeal.

“It is our considered opinion that the Shafee and Sarah Abishegam appeared
[seven] questions posed had been decid- for Najib while Harvinderjit Singh ap-
ed in the Court of Appeal case of Public peared for Shafee in the application.
Prosecutor vs Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
[in 2014] and this is endorsed by the Fed- Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bol-
eral Court. hassan and Liew Horng Bin appeared for
Sri Ram, the AG and the Malaysian gov-
“The plain reading and construction of ernment in the application.
Section 376(3) and 379 of the Criminal
Procedure Code relates to two modes of Shamsul had argued that those ques-
appointment, firstly direct appointment tions posed by Shafee and Harvinderjit
by the Public Prosecutor and Section 379 had already been decided in the Anwar
via a fiat.There is no reason for us to de- case where Justice Zawawi had also sat
part from the correct construction of these in the bench at the Federal Court on the
matter and hence, this court should not
grant leave.

from Page 15 chief executive officer — to investigate the ment of dispute amounting to RM5 mil-
charges against Wong. lion; renovation costs of RM62,000 by
GIIB, however, said the suspension Goodway Marketing Sdn Bhd, as well as
was done to facilitate investigation into The committee also appointed PKF rental deposits and utilities amounting to
Wong’s management of the group’s ac- Covenant Sdn Bhd as the independent au- RM16,000; and the alleged owing of a di-
counts and the handling of the glove busi- ditor to assist them, and had invitedWong rector that amounted to RM786,062.00.
ness. It had also issued a show cause let- to attend a May 18 meeting for clarifica-
ter to Wong. tion, which the latter refused to. GIIB said it expects to appoint an in-
dependent audit firm to look into the
On receivingWong’s reply to the show Meanwhile, in its latest filing, GIIB, in group’s financials by end of May, and that
cause letter, GIIB had set up a commit- reply to Bursa Securities, said the transac- the auditor will be expected to commence
tee — comprising GIIB independent tions highlighted byWong included sale of a forensic audit in early June.
non-executive directors Yong Wei Sang machinery by GIIB Rubber Compound
and Tee Jun Shern, as well as Tai Qiyao, Sdn Bhd for RM2.95 million; sale of assets GIIB shares finished unchanged at 7.5
the alternate director to Tai Boon Wee, by Big Wheel Green Tyres Sdn Bhd that sen on Monday, giving it a market value
the group’s executive chairman-cum- came up to RM2.68 million and a settle- of RM41.58 million.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 17 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

home

news In brief

SCIB bags RM38 mil road infrastructure job in Sarawak

KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) has bagged
a RM38 million job from Masama Sdn Bhd to undertake a road infrastructure project
connecting Baleh Bridge, RH Belaja, Ng Benin, SK Ng Pelagus and Pelagus Resort in
Kapit, Sarawak. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday (May 23), the group said
its wholly-owned subsidiary SCIB Properties Sdn Bhd has accepted a letter of award
and acceptance for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning
contract. The contract will commence from May 2022 to March 2023. — by Sulhi Khalid

Sarawak Oil Palms 1Q earnings KPower’s 3Q net profit tumbles 53% Durian planter DSR Taiko seeks
more than double to RM194.99 mil on-year, but jumps 252% q-o-q Bursa listing
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): KPower Bhd’s KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): DSR Taiko Bhd
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Sarawak net profit for the third quarter ended is seeking a listing by way of introduction
Oil Palms Bhd’s net profit for the first March 31, 2022 (3QFY22) dropped by on Bursa Malaysia’s LEAP Market for the
quarter ended March 31, 2022 (1QFY22) 52.8% year-on-year to RM6.68 million, durian planter’s entire issued share capital
more than doubled to RM194.99 million from RM14.15 million amid lower revenue. of 312.94 million shares at 30 sen each to
from RM79.06 million in the same period Earnings per share declined to 1.35 sen from enhance the company’s corporate profile
last year on the back of higher revenue 3.13 sen in the previous year, according and enable DSR Taiko to tap into the
contribution. Earnings per share widened to the group’s filing with the local bourse. equity market for future fund-raising. DSR
to 34.09 sen from 13.84 sen while quarterly Quarterly revenue in 1QFY22 tumbled Taiko said it is scheduled for listing on June
revenue grew 81.98% to RM1.43 billion 63.47% to RM50.29 million, compared with 27, 2022 subject to the receipt of Bursa’s
from RM788.32 million a year ago, its RM137.66 million in 1QFY21, mainly due to approval for the proposed listing. “As at
bourse filing showed on Monday. “Both lower contribution from its healthcare and the LPD (latest practicable date of April
increases in revenue and earnings were construction related activities. For the nine 29, 2022), our company (DSR Taiko) has
mainly attributed to higher average realised months ended March 31, 2022 (9MFY22), an issued share capital of RM49.46 million
prices of palm products sold,” the oil palm KPower’s net profit dropped 62.84% to comprising 312.94 million shares. “Based
planter and miller said. — by Shazni Ong RM11.72 million from RM31.54 million. on our listing reference price of 30 sen
Nine-month revenue declined 46.4% to per share and the issued share capital as
Nestle Malaysia appoints Syed Saiful RM152.65 million, from RM284.79 million. at the LPD, our market capitalisation will
Islam as executive director On a quarter-on-quarter basis, KPower be RM93.88 million upon our proposed
said its net profit jumped 252% from RM1.9 listing,” DSR Taiko said in its information
KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Nestle million in 2QFY22 on higher gross profit memorandum which was filed with Bursa
(Malaysia) Bhd (Nestle Malaysia) has from operations. But revenue fell 14.16% on Monday (May 23). — by Hailey Chung
appointed Syed Saiful Islam as the food from RM58.58 million in the immediate
giant’s executive director, effective Aug 1. preceding quarter. — by Syafiqah Salim Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/The Edge
Syed Saiful, 49, joined Nestle Bangladesh
in 1999 as a financial accounting manager BNM’s international reserves at US$111.4 billion as at May 13, as well as the
before taking on various financial roles US$111.4 bil as at May 13 International Monetary Fund reserve position
within Nestle India from 2000 to 2005. KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Bank Negara (US$1.4 billion), special drawing rights (US$6
“Since 2010, he has helmed several Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves billion), gold (US$2.4 billion), and other
leadership roles within Nestle, including amounted to US$111.4 billion as at May reserve assets (US$3.2 billion). — Bernama
vice president of finance & control of 13, 2022, compared with US$112.5 billion
Nestle Sri Lanka, head of finance & control a fortnight earlier. The reserves position is
of Nestle Nigeria and his current role sufficient to finance 5.6 months of imports
as head of finance & control of Nestle of goods and services and is 1.1 times total
Pakistan since 2018, where he successfully short-term external debt, the central bank
co-piloted a turnaround said in a statement on Monday. The main
of the business to components of the international reserves
deliver strong and were foreign currency reserves, which stood at
consistent profit
improvement,”
according to Nestle
Malaysia’s bourse
filing on Monday
(May 23).
— by
Syafiqah
Salim

T U E S d a y M AY 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 18 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

Official Solar Partner Supported By

The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers The Edge Malaysia The Edge Malaysia Affordable
Awards, the anchor awards of The Edge Malaysia Urban Housing Excellence
Property Excellence Awards, was established in Outstanding
2003 to rank Malaysia’s best property players based Overseas Project Award is an exercise to recognise
on their quantitative and qualitative attributes. Award is an exercise outstanding affordable housing
projects for the urban middle-
The Edge Malaysia-PEPS Value Creation Excellence to recognise
Award is an exercise to measure the capital impressive projects income group undertaken
undertaken wholly wholly by private sector property
appreciation of properties between the property by Malaysian private
developers’ selling price and the subsequent resale developers in Malaysia.
sector property
price in secondary transactions. developers in other The Edge Malaysia-PAM Green
Excellence Award is an exercise to
countries. recognise property developments that
demonstrate sustainable design that
is innovative and outstanding while

contributing positively
to the community.

>>>SNUOWBMOIPSESNIOFNORS • Entry forms can be downloaded for free from
theedgemarkets.com and edgeprop.my.

• For enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications at
The Edge at 603-7721 8244 or [email protected]

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

All entries must reach The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd at
Level 3, Menara KLK,
No. 1 Jalan PJU 7/6,
Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, by

5PM, FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2022

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 19 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

Lagarde says 10-year German bonds erased earlier gains, Biden’s Asian
ECB likely to exit with yields rising 4 basis points to 0.98%. economic talks
negative rates by
end of September Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent include 13
commodity prices higher, while increasing countries,
by Alexander Weber & Libby Cherry uncertainty about the outlook and denting and no China
Bloomberg confidence among businesses and house-
holds.That’s created a difficult situation for by Trevor Hunnicutt & Elaine Lies
(May 23): The European Central Bank is policy makers as any measures to contain in- Reuters
likely to start raising interest rates in July flation also threaten to slow activity further.
and exit sub-zero territory by the end of Sep- TOKYO (May 23): US President Joe
tember, President Christine Lagarde said. Raising the deposit rate by 50 basis points Biden launched his plan for US eco-
through September would still put the cen- nomic engagement in Asia on Monday
“I expect net purchases under the APP tral bank behind peers like the Federal Re- (May 23), leaving it to the 13 founding
to end very early in the third quarter,” she serve and the Bank of England, who’ve in- countries to work out how to enforce
said in a blog post Monday. “This would creased borrowing costs this year to quell their agreements and if China could
allow us a rate lift-off at our meeting in July, surging inflation. ever join.
in line with our forward guidance. Based on
the current outlook, we are likely to be in Weak Euro Biden is unveiling the Indo-Pacific
a position to exit negative interest rates by That’s also helped weaken the euro in re- Economic Framework for Prosperity
the end of the third quarter.” cent months, compounding the challenge (IPEF) in Tokyo on his first trip in of-
for ECB officials because that makes im- fice to Asia.
With inflation running at almost four ports — a key source of current inflation
times the ECB’s 2% target, momentum in — more expensive. The White House says the deal of-
the central bank’s Governing Council has fers no tariff relief to the countries that
been building to raise the deposit rate from Lagarde, who said she wanted to “clari- join, including India, Malaysia and the
its current level of -0.5% in July. Lagarde’s fy the path of policy normalization that lies Philippines, but provides a way to sort
comment suggests two increases of 25 ba- ahead of us” with her blog post, noted the through key issues from climate change
sis points each at the July and September ECB needs to keep its options open because to supply chain resilience and digital
policy meetings. of uncertainty about future price growth. trade.

While Dutch central bank chief Klaas “Optionality is important to allow us to Washington has lacked an econom-
Knot last week mentioned the possibility of re-optimize the policy path as we go, es- ic pillar to its Indo-Pacific engagement
a half-point rate hike if required, Lagarde pecially as key variables underpinning that since former president Donald Trump
has repeatedly said that policy normalization path will only become clearer with time,” quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade
will be gradual, and reiterated that sentiment Lagarde said. That could also mean with- agreement, leaving the field open to its
again on Monday. drawing monetary stimulus “promptly to key competitor China to expand its in-
stamp out the risk of a self-fulfilling spiral.” fluence.
“This means that it is sensible to move
step by step, observing the effects on the The prospect of the first rate hike in more “The future of the 21st century econ-
economy and the inflation outlook as rates than a decade has increased concern about a omy is going to largely be written in the
rise,” she said. potential bond-market fragmentation among Indo-Pacific — in our region,” Biden
the 19 members of the currency bloc, as said at a launch event in Tokyo. “We’re
The euro advanced against the dollar af- governments increased their debt loads to writing the new rules.”
ter her comments, rising as much as 1% to help the economy deal with the Covid-19
1.0674, the highest level in almost a month. pandemic. Biden wants the deal to raise envi-
ronmental, labour and other standards
Lagarde reiterated that the ECB would across Asia. The other initial founders
also be able to “design and deploy new in- are Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan,
struments” to make sure that monetary South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore,
policy is properly transmitted through the Thailand,Vietnam and the US.
euro area.
But those founding countries will
need to negotiate what standards
they wish to abide by, how they will
be enforced, whether their domestic
legislatures will need to ratify them
and how to consider potential future
members, including China, officials
told reporters.

Click here for the full story

Read also: Biden says he is weighing
reducing tariffs on China Click here

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 20 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

TOKYO (May 23): The White House is White House hesitate to use other levers at our disposal
weighing an emergency declaration to re- weighs use of to support families and the recovery,” a
lease diesel from a rarely used stockpile emergency diesel White House official said.
in a bid to address a major supply crunch reserve to ease
and blunt rising prices, an administration supply crunch The national average price for diesel
official said on Monday. stood at US$5.56 a gallon as of Sunday,
by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw shy of the record of US$5.58 set last week,
US President Joe Biden has declared & Doina Chiacu according to AAA, a national motorist ad-
that tackling inflation and high gas prices Reuters vocacy group.This marks a 75% increase
is the priority of his administration ahead from a year ago.
of congressional elections in November. Bloomberg
Republicans seeking to regain control of The situation is even worse in the
Congress have used the surge in prices to US Northeast, where a number of re-
bludgeon Democrats. fineries have shuttered since 2000. For
instance, the average price for a gallon
Diesel is essential for the US economy, of diesel in New York state is US$6.52
powering farms and the construction sec- a gallon, up 102% from a year ago, ac-
tor along with the trucks, trains and boats cording to AAA.
that help move goods. Rising diesel prices
will help drive up inflation, which has hit US distillate stocks hit their lowest
40-year highs. level since 2005 two weeks ago and cur-
rently sit at 105.3 million barrels, while
The White House is considering tap- stocks on the US. East Coast hit an all-
ping the Northeast Home Heating Oil time low as of May 6, before rebounding
Reserve, created in 2000 to help with in the most recent week to 22.5 million
supply issues and used only once in 2012 barrels, according to the latest federal
in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.The im- data.
pact from such a release would be lim-
ited by the relatively small size of the The Biden administration has tapped
reserve, which only contains 1 million the nation’s stockpile of emergency oil,
barrels of diesel. called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
to help deal with rising energy prices. It
“We have teed up this reserve option currently contains 420 million barrels of
to stay ahead of the problem, and will not crude oil, even after the recent releases.

(May 23): Oil extended four weeks of gains Oil gains on tight Weaker Dollar
amid tight fuel supplies and a weaker dol- fuel supplies An added lift for crude came from a weakening
lar, though elevated prices are fanning dollar, which makes the commodity cheaper
concerns that the world economy may be while recession for holders of other currencies.The greenback
heading for a recession. fears grow was lower on Monday following a drop of 1.4%
last week, the most since November 2020.
WestTexas Intermediate futures topped by Grant Smith & Elizabeth Low
US$111 a barrel while gasoline and diesel Bloomberg At the same time, China has imposed a
prices have rallied to records ahead of the series of painful lockdowns to quell Cov-
start of the US driving season in about a His sentiments were echoed by Indian oil id-19 outbreaks, hurting Asia’s largest
week.The prompt spread for Brent crude and gas minister,Hardeep Singh Puri,who said economy. In Shanghai, officials have laid
jumped to a seven-week high, with crude that several of his country’s neighbours are in out the criteria to categorize parts of the
supplies constricted by the boycott of “severe dire straits” because of rallying prices. commercial hub as low-risk for Covid-19,
Russian shipments, and product markets “Let’s make no mistake: oil at US$110 a barrel as they look to end a two-month lockdown,
strained as refining capacity fails to keep constitutes a challenge for the entire world.” with no new cases outside quarantine be-
up with rebounding demand. ing reported. Beijing, however, reported a
Oil has surged this year on rising de- record number of cases, reviving concern
The rise in energy costs has contribut- mand and the complex global fallout from that the capital may face a lockdown.
ed to rampant inflation, prompting central Russia’s invasion. Money managers have
banks to raise rates and stoking investor con- also boosted bullish crude bets. Prices:
cern growth will slow.The Biden adminis- • WTI for July delivery rose 1% to
tration is considering tapping a little-used In remarks reported at the weekend,
emergency diesel fuel reserve to mitigate Saudi Arabia signaled it will continue US$111.12 a barrel on the NewYork Mer-
the supply crunch amid Russia’s invasion of to support Russia’s role in the OPEC+ cantile Exchange at 1:37 p.m. in London.
Ukraine, according to aWhite House official. group of producers, undermining US-led • Brent for July settlement added 0.8%
efforts to isolate Moscow for its invasion to US$113.48 a barrel on the ICE Fu-
The head of the International Energy of Ukraine, the Financial Times said. The tures Europe exchange.
Agency and India’s oil minister, speaking kingdom was hoping to work out an agree-
at the World Economic Forum in Davos, ment with OPEC+ which includes Russia, Oil markets remain in backwardation,
issued warnings on the risk of high prices. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Sal- a bullish pattern that’s marked by near-
man told the newspaper. term prices trading above longer-dated
“We may see prices even going higher, ones. The difference between WTI’s two
being much more volatile and becoming nearest December contracts, for this year
a major risk for recession for the global and in 2023, was near US$13 a barrel, up
economy,” IEA Executive Director Fatih from about US$11 a barrel a month ago.
Birol said in an interview with Bloomberg
TV from Davos.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 21 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

TOKYO (May 23): US President Joe Bid- InTokyo, Biden fend itself, it has long followed a policy of
en said on Monday he would be willing to says US willing “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would
use force to defend Taiwan, in a series of to use force to intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in
critical comments about China he made defendTaiwan the event of a Chinese attack.
in Tokyo that an aide said represented
no change in US policy on the self-ruled by Trevor Hunnicutt ‘Toughen the policy’
island. & Sakura Murakami Biden made other tough comments about
China’s increasingly assertive posture in the
Biden’s comment, made during his first Reuters region, saying he hoped Russian President
visit to Japan since taking office, and as Vladimir Putin would pay a price for his in-
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reuters vasion of Ukraine in part to show China what
looked on, appeared to be a departure from it would face if it were to invadeTaiwan.
existing US policy of so-called strategic US President Joe Biden (left) speaking during
ambiguity on Taiwan. a joint news conference with Japan Prime “They’re seeking to toughen their policy
Minister Fumio Kishida (right) after their but without necessarily provoking China,”
China considers the democratic island bilateral meeting at the Akasaka Palace in said James Brown, an associate professor
its territory, part of “one China”, and says Tokyo, Japan on May 23, 2022. at Temple University Japan.
it is the most sensitive and important issue
in its ties with the United States. analyst referred to the comment as a “gaffe”. Biden’s remarks are also likely to over-
Despite theWhite House insistence that shadow the centrepiece of his Japan visit,
When a reporter asked Biden during a the launch of an Indo-Pacific Economic
joint news conference with the Japanese Monday’s comments did not represent a Framework, a broad plan providing an eco-
leader if the United States would defend change of US policy, Grant Newsham, a re- nomic pillar for US engagement with Asia.
Taiwan if it were attacked, the president tired US Marine Corps colonel and now a
answered: “Yes.” research fellow at the Japan Forum for Stra- His trip includes meetings with the lead-
tegic Studies, said the meaning was clear. ers of Japan, India, and Australia, in the
“That’s the commitment we made,” “Quad” group of countries.
he said. “This statement deserves to be taken
seriously,” Newsham said. “It is a clear Kishida emphasisedTokyo’s readiness to
“We agree with a one-China policy.We’ve enough statement that the US will not sit take a more robust defence posture, some-
signed on to it and all the intended agree- by if China attacks Taiwan.” thing the United States has long welcomed.
ments made from there. But the idea that...
that it can be taken by force... just taken by While Washington is required by law Kishida said that he told Biden that
force, is just not... is just not appropriate.” to provide Taiwan with the means to de- Japan would consider various options to
boost its defence capabilities, including the
He added that it was his expectation ability to retaliate, signalling a potential
that such an event would not happen or shift in Japan’s defence policy.
be attempted.
That would include a “considerable in-
Following Biden’s comments, a White crease” in its defence budget, Kishida said.
House official said there was no change
in policy towards Taiwan. China’s foreign Japan’s role in any conflict overTaiwan
ministry said the United States should not would be to enable a US operation and help
defend Taiwan’s independence. the United States defend its assets, said
Yoji Koda, a retired Maritime Self Defense
The president’s national security aides Force admiral and former fleet commander.
shifted in their seats and appeared to be stud-
ying Biden closely as he responded to the “Japan’s role in that would be substan-
question on Taiwan. Several looked down tial. Japan is an enabler of that security
as he made what appeared to be an unam- deterrence,” he said.
biguous commitment toTaiwan’s defence.
Kishida said that he had gained support
Biden made a similar comment about de- from Biden on Japan’s becoming a perma-
fending Taiwan in October. At that time, a nent member of the UN Security Council
White House spokesperson said Biden was not amid growing calls for reform of the council.
announcing any change in US policy and one China and Russia are permanent members.

Taiwan fails in bid to join WHO assembly after China pressure

GENEVA (May 23):Taiwan’s bid to attend by Mrinalika Roy & Emma Farge from the General Committee which
theWorld Health Organization’s annual as- Reuters discussed the proposal on Sunday in a
sembly was rejected on Monday, the assem- closed-door meeting.
bly said,after a campaign of diplomatic pres- groups due to Beijing’s objections. China
sure from China to isolate the island, which insists that Taiwan should not be treated “The political and legal foundation
it considers to be one of its own provinces. as an independent country as it considers forTaiwan’s participation inWHA ceases
the island a province of its own. to exist,” Chen Xu, China ambassador
World Health Assembly (WHA) Pres- to the UN in Geneva told the assembly
ident Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, also Dji- Taiwan argues that its exclusion from shortly before the decision. “This polit-
bouti’s health minister, said in a statement theWHO has hampered efforts to fight the ical manipulation will only be met with
that a proposal sent by 13WHO members Covid-19 pandemic, although it is allowed opposition from all parties.”
seeking for Taiwan to join as an observer to attend some technicalWHO meetings.
would not be included in its official agenda. However, both the United States and
Assembly president Abdilleh said that Britain showed their support forTaiwan’s
Taiwan is excluded from most global the decision followed a recommendation inclusion.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 22 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

HONG KONG (May 23): China will offer China plans tax Covid-Zero policy means that China’s gov-
more than 140 billion yuan (US$21.1 billion) relief of over ernment will not be able to meet its annu-
in additional tax relief mainly aimed at busi- al gross domestic product growth target of
nesses as it seeks to offset the heavy impact US$21 bil to lift about 5.5%.
of coronavirus lockdowns on its economy. economy
Bloomberg Economics last week slashed its
The measures include additional tax re- by Tom Hancock forecast for China’s growth to 2% due to
bates to companies and cuts of 60 billion Bloomberg lockdown impacts, estimating that the US
yuan on passenger car purchase taxes, Chi- economy might grow faster than China’s for
na National Radio reported, citing a deci- would provide tax relief this year worth about the first time since 1976 this year.The con-
sion from a State Council meeting chaired 2.5 trillion yuan, including 1.5 trillion yuan sensus in the most recent Bloomberg poll
by Premier Li Keqiang. in rebates.The State Council declared that of economists was for the country to grow
the new total amount of tax relief will be 4.8% in 2022.
Beijing will also extend an existing delay 2.64 trillion yuan, with the additional amount
on companies’ social-insurance contributions mostly consisting of tax rebates. China’s financial support for lock-
to the end of the year and expand the meas- down-stricken areas has mostly gone to com-
ure to more sectors, the report said, with that Beijing has widened the scope of tax relief panies rather than households.The meeting
measure expected to save companies 360 bil- policies in recent weeks but has not substan- chaired by Li offered no new direct household
lion yuan.The meeting also said that a quota tially revised its fiscal or financial targets for support beyond stating that social insurance
for loans aimed at small- and medium-sized the year, which were set in early March be- payments will be raised in line with consumer
enterprises would be doubled. fore the Omicron variant prompted a strict price increases.
lockdown of Shanghai and tight restrictions
The policies are intended to “stabilise” the in other major urban centers such as Beijing The nationwide tally of coronavirus cases
economy, the meeting declared. It also said and Shenzhen. is starting to trend down, after 802 new in-
that China will improve measures to help fections were reported for Sunday, the lowest
supply chains function, ensure domestic car- The report did not state how the new in more than two months. Of its top 50 cities
go transport runs smoothly, and increase the measures will be funded, or if they will re- by economic size, only three currently have
number of domestic flights. quire a revision of Beijing’s official deficit widespread restrictions in place. However,
target for the year. Beijing andTianjin tightened restrictions on
With regard to the slump in China’s prop- movement in recent days after recording an
erty market, the meeting said it would be up Economists generally believe that the strict increase in cases.
to cities to set their own support measures. Read also: China stocks end lower as Bei-
The country will also launch a series of ener- jing Covid-19 concerns weigh Click here
gy security projects, the meeting said, without
giving details.

In early March, the government said it

Tencent billionaire airs frustration during China’s slowdown

(May 23):Tencent Holdings Ltd’s billion- Bloomberg Ma expressed no further judgment on
aire co-founder Pony Ma shared a viral the overall article himself. But the fact that
opinion piece on the economic costs of delivery guys.” the boss of China’s most valuable company
China’s strict Covid Zero measures, in a Ma lifted that quote from a long opinion shared the post made waves on the Chi-
rare show of frustration after his company nese internet. Representatives forTencent
struggled to grow during the first quarter. piece originally posted May 20 by history didn’t respond to requests for comment.
author Zhang Mingyang, entitled “Apart
Ma, usually reluctant to step into the from Hu Xijin, no one else cares about the Tencent reported revenue growth all
spotlight, re-posted the column on his economy.”That column referred to com- but evaporated in the three months ended
semi-publicWeChat feed over the weekend. ments by Hu, the influential former edi- March, walloped by sweeping government
From the long piece — which called out tor-in-chief of the nationalist tabloid Global restrictions as well as lockdowns across the
economists, academics and even average Times. Hu had previously suggested that country. Executives warned that the current
internet users for dismissing the econom- the economic costs of containing the virus quarter could be even worse, as a quaran-
ic impact of Beijing’s harsh Covid meas- shouldn’t exceed the public-health benefits. tine covering much of Shanghai — Chi-
ures — Ma extracted a short segment that na’s media and finance hub — hammered
accused Chinese internet users of taking Ironically, the former newspaper editor commercial payments and ad spending.
online service providers like Tencent for had also commented on Zhang’s column
granted, saying netizens would rather see after it was widely shared across the Chi- The country’s largest tech corporations
those businesses go bankrupt than con- nese social media sphere — he called it have resigned themselves to a new era of
duct layoffs or let their staff work overtime. sensationalist clickbait. low growth, more than a year into a Chi-
nese government crackdown that’s engulfed
“This is a really vivid description,” the China’s top leaders this month warned every internet arena from e-commerce to
Tencent chief commented, according to a against questioning President Xi Jinping’s gaming and online education. Companies
screengrab of aWeChat post that Bloomb- Covid Zero strategy. The Politburo’s su- from Tencent to Alibaba Group Holding
erg News verified with people in Ma’sWe- preme seven-member Standing Committee Ltd have reduced headcount and stream-
Chat circle. He went on to quote the article: pledged to “fight against any speech that lined laggard businesses, among other
“But of course, if their meal orders come distorts, questions or rejects our country’s measures, to improve margins and con-
10 minutes late, they would be cursing the Covid-control policy”, state broadcaster trol costs.
China CentralTelevision said.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 23 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

JAKARTA (May 23): Indonesia allowed a Indonesia policy demand is not great,” said a Mumbai-based
resumption of palm oil exports from Mon- uncertainty dealer with a global trading house.
day after a three-week ban, but shipments hampers
were not expected to get underway until “They are also not too keen to sell a lot
details emerge on new rules aimed at se- resumption of before understanding DMO rules,” added
curing domestic supplies of the edible oil. palm oil exports the trader.

The Southeast Asian country, the by Bernadette Christina Munthe, A Jakarta-based company, which did not
world’s biggest palm oil producer, halted Zahra Matarani & Rajendra Jadhav want to be identified due to the sensitivity
exports of palm oil from April 28 in an at- of the matter, said it was also waiting for
tempt to bring down soaring local prices of Reuters details of the rules before embarking on
cooking oil, rattling global edible oil mar- shipments.
kets already struggling with sunflower oil reuters
supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine. A senior trade ministry official did not
details on the DMO and other rules to be respond when contacted by Reuters seek-
President JokoWidodo announced the made public. ing details.
lifting of the ban on exports of crude palm
oil and some derivative products last week, “Sellers are first trying to clear pending Partially reflecting the Indonesia policy
expressing confidence that bulk cooking quantity that was stuck because of the ban. uncertainty, palm oil futures from rival sup-
oil prices were heading towards a target They are accepting new orders as well, but plier Malaysia climbed 1.67% on Monday.
level of 14,000 rupiah (US$0.9546) per
litre, even if they were currently higher in When asked whether palm oil producer
some areas. Musim Mas had resumed exports, spokes-
person Carolyn Lim said the company was
Palm oil, used in everything from mar- still focused on “flooding the domestic mar-
garine to shampoo, comprises a third of the kets with cooking oil to hopefully reach the
world’s vegetable oil market, with Indone- target retail price”, noting the Indonesian
sia accounting for about 60% of supply. government was still concerned about the
high retail prices.
To ensure supply security, Indonesia
said it will impose a so-called Domestic As of Friday, the average price of bulk
Market Obligation (DMO) policy, whereby cooking oil was at 17,000 rupiah per litre,
producers are required to sell a portion of Trade Ministry data showed.
their products locally at a certain price level.
Some farmers, though, cheered the end-
Indonesia plans to retain 10 million ing of the export ban.
tonnes of cooking oil supplies at home
under the DMO rules, Chief Economics Last week, farmers staged rallies across
Minister Airlangga Hartarto said, adding Indonesia to protest a 70% drop in prices
their implementation will be regulated by of palm fruit as refiners stopped accepting
the Trade Ministry. supplies because palm oil storage filled up.

Traders were on Monday waiting for “There are no more long lines at palm
oil mills,” said palm oil farmer Irfan, who
said palm fruit prices in his area of West
Sulawesi had started to stabilise.

(May 23): Pakistan raised borrowing costs Pakistan raises Pakistan’s current-account deficit will
more than estimated to damp demand, as rates more than narrow to about 3% of GDP after the gov-
policy makers try to win a bailout from expected to win ernment imposed import curbs, the cen-
the International Monetary Fund without tral bank said.
meeting the politically tough condition of IMF bailout
increasing fuel prices. “This narrowing of the current account
by Ismail Dilawar deficit together with continued IMF sup-
State Bank of Pakistan lifted the tar- Bloomberg port will ensure that Pakistan’s external
get rate by 150 basis points to 13.75% on financing needs during the next financial
Monday, steeper than the 100 basis point less than two months of imports. year are more than fully met, with an al-
median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.The Policy makers are in talks with the IMF most equal share coming from rollovers
monetary policy committee’s outlook as- by bilateral official creditors, new lending
sumes engagement with the IMF, as well over conditions for accessing the US$3 from multilateral creditors, and a combina-
as reversal of fuel and electricity subsidies billion payout pending from a loan pro- tion of bond issuances, FDI and portfolio
in the year starting July 1, the central bank gramme. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail inflows,” it added.
said in a statement. on Monday said Pakistan may have to raise
interest rates to battle soaring inflation but Pakistan’s financial woes intertwine with
“Under these assumptions, headline cannot afford to raise fuel costs. political ones. Former Prime Minister Im-
inflation is likely to increase temporarily ran Khan, who was recently ousted from
and may remain elevated throughout the “I will sign the agreement with the IMF office, called on supporters to hold a sit-in
next fiscal year,” it said. in next two days and won’t come back starting May 25 in Islamabad, the nation’s
without doing it,” Ismail told reporters in capital. For weeks, opposition politicians
High global commodity prices and ris- Karachi. Talks between Pakistan and the have been at loggerheads with Khan, who
ing imports have stoked Asia’s second fast- IMF started last week in Doha. has pushed for early elections in a bid to
est inflation. Consumer prices rose over recapture power.
13% in April and the rupee plunged past
200 a dollar last week for the first time ever Before Monday’s action, Pakistan had
amid a dollar shortage. Pakistan’s foreign raised borrowing cost by 525 basis points
exchange reserves of US$10.2 billion cover from its pandemic-era low.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 24 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

Borouge’s boom has gathered steam as oil and gas news In brief
US$2 bil Abu Dhabi prices have surged in the wake of Rus-
sia’s invasion of Ukraine.The UAE is the Bloomberg
IPO draws Asia’s third-biggest oil producer in the Organi-
richest man zation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Indonesian tech firm GoTo seeks
approval to issue 118.4 bil shares
by Julia Fioretti & Paul Wallace At US$2 billion, Borouge is set to eclipse JAKARTA (May 23): Indonesia’s biggest
Bloomberg ADNOC Drilling Co’s US$1.1 billion IPO tech company PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia
last year as the largest ever in Abu Dhabi, Tbk intends to issue a maximum amount
DUBAI (May 23):The United Arab Emir- data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Its or- of 118.44 billion shares worth around
ates’ (UAE) biggest oil company and Bo- der books were covered within a few hours, 10% of its total capital through a private
realis AG are seeking to raise US$2 billion terms seen by Bloomberg showed. placement. The private placement will
from an initial public offering (IPO) of their be put forward for shareholder approval
chemicals joint venture in Abu Dhabi, set Crude prices have surged about 50% this in GoTo’s annual general meeting on
to be the biggest ever listing in the emirate. year, boosting efforts by local energy compa- June 28, it said in a statement last Friday
nies to list assets and support the shift to a post- (May 20). The tech company seeks to
Borouge’s IPO offer price has been set at oil economy. Saudi Aramco is considering an raise funds to support its own working
2.45 dirhams per share,Abu Dhabi National IPO of its trading arm in what could be one capital and for its subsidiaries like its
Oil Co (ADNOC) said in a statement on of the world’s biggest listings this year, while e-commerce unit Tokopedia, according
Monday.ADNOC andVienna-based Borea- ADNOC sold stakes in two units last year. to the statement. The price of the new
lis are selling three billion shares in Borouge, shares shall be at least 90% of the average
equating to 10% of the company.That im- Issuers have looked to lure investors with closing price of GoTo shares for 25
plies an equity valuation of just over US$20 rich dividends. Borouge owners are expect- consecutive trading days prior to the date
billion for the maker of specialty plastics for ed to receive US$975 million in dividends of application for the additional shares,
manufacturing and consumer goods. related to financial year 2022 (FY22), rising it said. Shares in GoTo closed at 304
to at least US$1.3 billion for FY23. Borouge rupiah (9.1 sen) per share last Friday or
Seven cornerstone investors have agreed will pay holders in two installments. AD- down 10% from its initial public offering
to subscribe for US$570 million worth of NOC and Borealis will receive a one time (IPO) price of 338 rupiah. GoTo debuted
shares in the IPO. The family of Indian US$250 million dividend before the listing. on April 11 after raising US$1.1 billion
billionaire Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest (about RM4.83 billion) in an IPO by selling
man, has committed US$75 million, Abu Founded in the late 1990s, Borouge man- around 4% of its shares. — Reuters
Dhabi wealth fund ADQ will buy shares ufactures plastics used in everything from
worth US$120 million and Alpha Dhabi automobiles and food packaging to medicine Billionaire Richard Li’s FWD wins
Holding has committed US$100 million. vials and piping systems. Its main plant is in nod for Hong Kong IPO
Abu Dhabi. The company employs more (May 23): FWD Group Holdings Ltd.,
The deal is the latest in a string of block- than 3,000 people and serves customers the Asian insurer backed by Hong Kong
buster listings from the UAE and neigh- across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. billionaire Richard Li, has won approval
bouring Saudi Arabia, even as volatility for its planned initial public offering
rocks markets elsewhere.The region’s IPO The subscription period starts from May in the city, according to a person with
23 and runs until May 28 for UAE retail inves- knowledge of the matter. The company
tors, and to May 30 for institutional investors. received the green light following a
Borouge is expected to start trading on June 3. hearing Thursday with the Hong Kong
bourse’s listing committee, according
Citigroup Inc,FirstAbu Dhabi Bank PJSC, to the person, who asked not to be
HSBC Holdings plc, and Morgan Stanley are identified as the information is private.
the joint global coordinators for the IPO. The company hasn’t decided when to
launch the IPO, the person added. The
SINGAPORE (May 23): Bitcoin recovered Bitcoin recovers after insurer is seeking to raise about $1 billion
to trade just above the US$30,000 level longest run of weekly in its Hong Kong offering, Bloomberg News
where it has been mostly hovering since the has reported. Local newspaper Sing Tao
collapse of theTerraUSD algorithmic stable- losses since 2011 Daily first reported the hearing approval.
coin triggered a sell-off in cryptocurrencies. A representative for FWD declined to
by Joanna Ossinger comment. FWD filed an application for
The largest digital token rose 1.7% to Bloomberg the first-time share sale in February after
US$30,425 at 11.35am in London. Mon- deciding to switch its listing venue to
day’s gain came after it fell for seven straight weighing on the outlook for crypto markets, Hong Kong from the US, where it had filed
weeks, the longest losing streak since August regulators across the world have stepped up for an IPO that could have raised as much
2011, according to data compiled by Bloomb- calls for stricter oversight since theTerraUSD as $3 billion. — Bloomberg
erg.That mirrored the length of the decline stablecoin tumbled from its intended dollar
in the S&P 500, underscoring how stocks peg earlier this month.
and crypto remain closely linked.
While Bitcoin has been touted in the past as
“If the S&P falls some more, that should a hedge against inflation, it has proved in recent
create one final flush and a great buying oppor- months to be highly correlated with risk assets
tunity for Bitcoin,” Fundstrat Global technical like companies in the Nasdaq 100, which has
strategist Mark Newton said.“There’s a lot of tumbled amid the changing monetary regime.
bearishness, and we should be approaching a
time when you really want to buy into that in Click here for the full story
the next couple of months.”

Bitcoin has struggled in recent weeks as
inflation remains elevated even with central
banks in rate-hiking mode, boosting pros-
pects for more monetary tightening. Also

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 25 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

(May 23): Technology entrepreneur Mi- Dell becomes compiled by Bloomberg show. Assuming
chael Dell once again finds himself at the billionaire Broadcom offered a similar add-on, that
centre of one of his industry’s biggest deals. would still only value VMware at around
kingmaker in US$54 billion and it’s unclear whether that
Dell holds a roughly US$16.2 billion Broadcom, would be enough for Dell.
stake inVMware Inc, meaning he’s likely to VMware deal
have a important say in a potential takeover The 57-year old founder of Dell Tech-
of the cloud-computing provider by chip by Giles Turner nologies Inc has a net worth of US$44.2
maker Broadcom Inc.The two companies Bloomberg billion, according to the Bloomberg Billion-
are in talks about a transaction, Bloomberg aires Index, and isn’t shy about getting into
News reported Sunday. Bloomberg a corporate fight.

While it’s not known what price Broad- He took his eponymous PC maker pri-
com is willing to pay for VMware, which vate in 2013 in a US$24.9 billion deal in
has a market value of US$40 billion, it may the face of fierce opposition from renowned
have to offer a sizable premium to get the activist investor Carl Icahn. Around three
company’s shareholders on board. years later, he led a US$67 billion acqui-
sition of EMC Corp in what remains one
VMware’s market capitalization of the biggest tech deals in history.
touched US$70 billion as recently as Oc-
tober, when Dell’s interest would have been Then, in 2018, he won a battle to buy
worth some US$28 billion. Shares inVM- out shareholders of stock that tracked
ware rose 15% in premarket trading on Dell’s stake in VMware — created after
Monday, which would value the company the EMC takeover — once again defeating
at about US$46 billion. opposition from Icahn.

“Valuation and Michael Dell’s 40% There may also be the chance of rival
stake could be hurdles to Broadcom’s re- offers for VMware tempting Dell to hold
ported M&A interest in VMware,” said out. “We believeVMware could attract in-
Woo Jin Ho, analyst at Bloomberg Intelli- terest from other suitors pursuing software
gence. “Deal synergies exist, but we believe such as Cisco,” said Jin Ho.
VMware may seek a valuation prior to the
recent market drop.” Michael Dell Read also: Broadcom in talks to acquire
cloud company VMware — sources
Buyers offered an average 34.1% pre- Click here
mium in takeovers of software companies
announced over the past five years, data

HONG KONG (May 23): Didi Global Didi because their mandates do not allow them
Inc secured the blessing of shareholders to shareholders to hold unlisted shares. Hedge funds al-
delist from the NewYork Stock Exchange vote to delist ready reduced their Didi holdings by 29%
(NYSE), capping an 11-month ordeal that from NYSE to about US$231.9 million during the first
wiped out around US$70 billion of its mar- quarter, according to a Bloomberg analysis
ket value and turned the ride-hailing giant in wake of of filings. Even those who are free of such
into a symbol of China’s tech crackdown. China’s tech mandates, such as SoftBank, may question
crackdown whether it is worth holding on to the shares
It plans to file the required paperwork given uncertainty over Beijing’s punish-
with the US Securities and Exchange by Coco Liu ment, increased competition from small-
Commission on or after June 2 in order to Bloomberg er rivals, and stalled expansion overseas.
delist, Didi said in a statement on Monday.
Its shares whipsawed, falling as much as It is still unclear what actual punish-
13% in pre-market trading before climb- ment awaits Didi, which has been in talks
ing 11% after the news. with the Cyberspace Administration of
China about a fine and other penalties.
The shareholder vote clears the way for
the company to work with Chinese reg- Didi’s shareholders, which also include
ulators who are demanding an overhaul the likes of Fidelity Investments and Black-
of its data systems. That would allow the rock Inc, have so far avoided commenting
company to begin preparing for a Hong on the delisting.
Kong share float, the best outcome inves-
tors have said they can hope for. Bloomberg

Didi’s biggest shareholders, which in-
clude SoftBank Group Corp,Tencent Hold-
ings Ltd, and Uber Technologies Inc, have
watched Didi’s shares fall about 90% since
going public, when it was valued around
US$80 billion.After delisting, the company
will likely see its stock traded over the counter
on the so-called pink-sheets market, home
to penny stocks and other riskier businesses.

Some investors could be forced to sell

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 26 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

A hot, deadly summer is coming
with frequent blackouts

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI/NEWYORK by Dan Murtaugh, Rajesh Kumar Singh the year.A run on electricity would also like-
(May 23): Global power grids are about to & Naureen Malik ly contribute to more gains for power and
face their biggest test in decades with elec- Bloomberg fuel markets, raising utility bills and further
tricity generation strangled in the world’s fanning inflation.When plants on theTex-
largest economies. be tight in China and Japan. South Africa as power grid failed this month, wholesale
is poised for a record year of power cuts. power prices in Houston briefly jumped
War. Drought. Production shortages. And Europe is in a precarious position that above the US$5,000 a megawatt-hour price
Historically low inventories.And pandemic is held up by Russia — if Moscow cuts off cap, surging 22 times higher than the av-
backlash. Energy markets across the planet natural gas to the region, that could trigger erage cost of on-peak power that had been
have been put through the wringer over the rolling outages in some countries. secured for the day.
past year, and consumers have suffered the
consequences of soaring prices. But, some- “War and sanctions are disrupting sup- The world is grappling with “more than
how, things are on track to get even worse. ply and demand, and that’s coupled with two years of global supply chain distress
extreme weather and an economic rebound caused by the pandemic, the spreading fall-
Blame the heat. Summer in much of the from Covid boosting power demand,” said out from the war in Ukraine and extreme
Northern Hemisphere is a typical peak for Shantanu Jaiswal, a BloombergNEF analyst. weather caused by climate change”, said
electricity use. This year, it is going to be “The confluence of so many factors is quite Henning Gloystein, an analyst at Eurasia
sweltering as climate change tightens its unique. I can’t recall the last time they all Group. “The main risk is that if we see ma-
grip. It is already so hot in parts of South happened together.” jor blackouts on top of all the aforemen-
Asia that the air temperatures are blister- tioned problems this year, that could trigger
ing enough to cook raw salmon. Scientists Why blackouts bring suffering and some form of humanitarian crisis in terms
are predicting scorching months ahead for economic pain of food and energy shortages on a scale not
the US. Power use will surge as homes and Without power, human welfare will be un- seen in decades.”
businesses crank up air conditioners. der duress. Poverty, age, and proximity to
the equator will increase the likelihood of How the energy transition brings strain
The problem is that energy supplies are illness and death from unrelenting temper- This year may enter the record books for
so fragile that there just will not be enough atures. Prolonged outages would mean that the biggest-ever strain on global power, but
to go around, and power cuts will put lives tens of thousands may also lose access to the hurdles are not likely to go away any-
at risk when there are no fans or air condi- clean water. time soon. Climate change means that the
tioners to provide relief from searing tem- extreme heatwaves of today will become
peratures. If blackouts persist, and businesses more common, continuing to mount pres-
shutter, that will also bring huge econom- sure on electricity supplies.
Asia’s heatwave has caused hours-long ic shock.
daily blackouts, putting more than one bil- At the same time, a lack of investment
lion people at risk across Pakistan, Myan- In India, power shortages in many states in fossil fuels in recent years coupled with
mar, Sri Lanka, and India, with little relief are already nearing levels from 2014, when strong demand growth, especially in Asian
in sight. SixTexas power plants failed earlier they were estimated to have shaved about emerging markets, should keep markets
this month as the summer heat just began to 5% off the country’s gross domestic prod- tight for the next few years, said AlexWhit-
arrive, offering a preview of what is to come. uct. That would mean a reduction of al- worth, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie
At least a dozen US states from California most US$100 billion should the outages Ltd in Shanghai. And while wind and so-
to the Great Lakes are at risk of electricity become more widespread and last through lar’s share of total capacity is expected
outages this summer. Power supplies will to soar over the next decade, until ener-
gy storage facilities catch up to the shift,
that will place even more stress on grids,
he said.

“You’ll be facing a supply scare every
time there’s clouds or storms or a wind
drought for a week,”Whitworth said. “We
really expect these problems to get worse
in the next five years.”

Of course, the switch to renewable pow-
er is crucial in the fight against climate
change. Burning even more coal now to
cope with the energy shortage would just
increase emissions, creating a vicious cycle
that can lead to more heatwaves and more
strain on grids.

bloomberg Click here for a look at what is
happening across the globe

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 27 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

Baltic Exchange shipping updates

A weekly round-up of tanker and dry bulk market (May 20, 2022)

Capesize trips lent the most support with approximate-
ly US$30,000 being the mean average. How-
The Capesize market began the week at the This report is ever, the front haul trips hovered around the
summit of the recent rally. This necessitated a produced by the US$40,000 mark. Rates firmed in Asia as the
breather before sentiment strengthened, helping Baltic Exchange. week progressed, the basin looked largely NoPac
it to push up throughout the week and marking centric with solid levels of demand. US$30,000
new highs for the year.The Capesize 5TC rose The Baltic Exchange, a wholly- fixed midweek on an 82,000-dwt delivery Ja-
+US$4,805 over the week to close at US$37,538. owned subsidiary of Singapore pan, whilst an 81,000-dwt delivery South Ko-
The Pacific region, while easily the premium re- Exchange, is the world’s rea achieved US$30,000 for a trip via EC Aus-
gion to trade currently, was in somewhat of a only independent source of tralia redelivery India with coal, highlighting a
holding pattern whilst it awaited other regions maritime market information steady rate for this trade too. Despite substantial
to catch up.TheTranspacific C10 dipped slight- for the trading and settlement moves in the FFA market this week period activ-
ly at weeks end to US$37,538. In the Atlantic of physical and derivative ity remained slow, although there were reports
Basin fixing activity increased, admittedly from contracts. of an 82,000-dwt delivery China agreeing close
a very low level, and now looks to have sparked to US$27,000 for nine to 11 months trading.
the region to life with some solid gains with the Its international community
transatlantic lifting a whole +US$8,900 over the of over 650 members Ultramax/Supramax
week to US$32,150. The region was a mixture encompasses the majority of Like the other sectors, a split market appeared
of fixtures from less usual routes including Brazil world shipping interests and during the course of the week and the Atlantic
to the Arabian Gulf, South Africa to the Conti- commits to a code of business slowed down as many travelled to Denmark. By
nent and Brazil to the Mediterranean on a base conduct overseen by the Baltic. contrast, after the Singapore holiday on Mon-
of Brazil to Far East, which all combined into a day, positive sentiment gained as more enquiry
cocktail of positive drive and sentiment.Whether For daily freight market reports came into play. The appetite for period cov-
it’s all sustainable is yet to be seen, but finally the and assessments, please visit er increased, brokers said. However, a lot was
Atlantic is strongly back in the mix contributing www.balticexchange.com. concluded on private terms. From the Atlan-
and not getting splinters sitting on the bench. tic limited action surfaced. A 55,600-dwt open
Klaipeda fixed a trip to the East Mediterrane-
Panamax an in the mid US$20,000s. From Asia, strength
A flat ending to the week for the Panamax mar- remained in backhaul demand. A 56,000-dwt
ket, with a major shipping function in the west fixed delivery Bohai Bay redelivery Mediterra-
and Asian holidays ultimately impacting markets nean at US$43,500. Pacific-orientated business
despite market fundamentals appearing largely saw stronger interest. A 61,000-dwt fixing de-
positive. The Atlantic saw steady support from livery Philippines via Indonesia redelivery West
the grain trades over the week. And, with miner- Coast India at US$40,000.Whilst a 60,000-dwt
al demand mostly absent, the transatlantic grain
co n ti n ues o n Pag e 2 8

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 28 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

from Page 27 LRs have been flat this week and the pri- route rates slipped 2.5 points to WS85.5,
or boost, which was driven by the Arabi- which shows a round-trip TCE of about
open Busan fixed a NoPac round redelivery an Gulf market firming, looks to have lost US$4,300 per day. For the 140,000mt Bas-
Singapore-Japan in the low US$30,000s. steam.TC15 has resettled at US$4.75 mil- rah/West Mediterranean route the rates
From the Indian Ocean interest remained. lion for the moment and TC16 remained have dipped a point to just under WS44.
A 56,600-dwt fixing delivery Chennai level aroundWS240 all week.Activity looks
via East Coast India redelivery China at to have been consistent through the week Aframax
US$27,750. and ship availability balanced for enquiry The 80,000mt Ceyhan/Mediterranean
levels on the MRs in North West Europe. market shed another 14 points this week
Handysize TC2 37,000 UK-Continent/US Atlantic to WS127.5 (a round-trip TCE of about
A week of limited activity with holidays Coast and TC19 37,000 UK-Continent/ US$10,900). In Northern Europe the rate
and the Danish Shipbrokers event, result- West Africa have both dropped incremen- for 80,000mt Hound Point/UK-Continent
ing in a split market as the Atlantic sof- tally, but TC2 is still marked around the is 3.5 points lower than a week ago at a
tened across all areas. The biggest drops midWS340s andTC19 in the midWS350s. shade belowWS140 (a round-tripTCE of
came in the US Gulf, where a 35,000-dwt In the USG there has been a flurry for fix- US$15,900 per day). In the Baltic Sea the
open in Puerto Rico fixed a trip to Moroc- ing this week. And, in combination with war in Ukraine, and the resultant Russian
co at around US$30,000. A 39,000-dwt other factors such as Panama canal delays, sanctions, continued to have an effect on
was rumoured to have been fixed for a trip TC14 38,000 US Gulf/UK-Continent has fixture activity on the 100,000mt Primorsk/
from the SW Pass to Atlantic Colombia risen 77.85 points toWS247.14 andTC18 UK Continent route where the rate is now
at US$31,500. Elsewhere, a 38,000-dwt 38k US Gulf/Brazil climbed 94.29 points to assessed 39 points lower this week at be-
open in Iskenderun was fixed for a trip to WS314.29 this week.The MR Atlantic bas- tweenWS162.5-165 (a round-voyageTCE
China at US$21,000. Also, a 32,000-dwt ket TCE rose from US$36,771 per day to of US$35,000 per day). The only fixture
open in Greece was fixed via Bourgas to US$47,564 per day.The Handymax TC6 noted was Litasco reportedly chartering
Algeria at US$20,500 and a 32,000-dwt has seen a surge in demand, reflected in the a Greek controlled Aframax at WS165 for
open in Piraeus fixed a trip to the US Gulf index jumping 61.88 points toWS361.88. the UK Continent option. Across the At-
at US$25,000 for the first 30 days and In the Baltic,TC9 stayed stable at around lantic, a different scenario is playing out.
US$30,000 thereafter. By contrast, Asia WS425 all week. After a slow start to the week the market
saw levels improve with brokers saying levels jumped on Thursday. Rates for the short-
of enquiry continued to increase.A 32,000- VLCC er-haul 70,000mt EC Mexico/US Gulf
dwt open South Korea fixed a trip to South VLCC rates held steady mostly this week. route leapt 40 points to aboveWS182.5 (a
East Asia at US$24,000. Period activity saw 280,000mt Middle East Gulf/US Gulf (via round-trip TCE of US$22,800 per day)
a 37,0000-dwt open South Korea fixing Cape of Good Hope) is assessed a point and for the 70,000mt Caribbean/US Gulf
three to five months trading at US$35,500. higher at WS24, while the 270,000mt trip rates climbed 35 points to overWS173
Middle East Gulf/China trip remained (a round-tripTCE of about US$17,300 per
Clean flat at WS40 (a round-trip TCE of mi- day). For the transatlantic trip of 70,000mt
LRs in the Middle East Gulf began the nus US$16,800 per day). In the Atlantic US Gulf/UK Continent, rates were lifted
week with soft sentiment. However, good arena the rate for 260,000mt West Africa/ 20 points to just push through theWS157.5
activity levels look to have slowed the down- China stayed at a fraction below WS43.5 mark (US$13,900 per day round-tipTCE).
turn for the moment. TC1 75,000 Mid- (minus US$13,000 per day round-trip
dle East Gulf/Japan, despite losing 20.71 TCE). Meanwhile, an improvement of Baltic Exchange News
points to WS269.29, is still returning a US$143,750 was seen for the 270,000mt The Baltic Exchange runs a series of pro-
shade over US$50,000 per day, round-trip US Gulf/China voyage where the market fessional training courses through its Acad-
TCE.TC5 55,000 Middle East Gulf/Japan is now assessed at US$5.275m (a round emy.When possible, these take place in key
has not dipped quite to the same extent, voyageTCE of minus US$13,900 per day). shipping centres but are also available as an
only 7.85 points to WS302.85 and LR1 e-learning option.The courses are designed
demand west (TC8) has been relatively sta- Suezmax to help shipping, finance and commodity
ble, holding around the US$4.8 million Rates for the 135,000mt Novorossiysk/Au- executives build on their knowledge of the
mark.TC17 35,000 Middle East Gulf/East gusta fell a further 10 points to between the maritime markets. The courses are led by
Africa has traded sideways/soft this week WS115-117.5 7 region (a round-tripTCE experts and deliver a high-level education,
with reports of owners waiting for June of US$20,100 per day), whilst inWest Afri- combining theory with real-life practical
stems emerging. The index has dropped ca the 130,000mt Nigeria/UK-Continent examples. See online for more details.
five points to WS385.83. In the west, the

Disclaimer:
While reasonable care has been taken by the Baltic Exchange Information Services Limited (BEISL) and The Baltic Exchange (Asia) Pte. Ltd. (BEA, and
together with BEISL being Baltic) in providing this information, all such information is for general use, provided without warranty or representation,
is not designed to be used for or relied upon for any specific purpose, and does not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of any third party
including intellectual property. The Baltic will not accept any liability for any loss incurred in any way whatsoever by any person who seeks to rely on
the information contained herein.

All intellectual property and related rights in this information are owned by the Baltic. Any form of copying, distribution, extraction or re-utilisation
of this information by any means, whether electronic or otherwise, is expressly prohibited. Persons wishing to do so must first obtain a licence to do
so from the Baltic.

T u e S D A y M A Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 2 29 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

MARKETS

CPO RM 6,259.00 150.00 OIL US$ 114.11 1.56 RM/USD 4.3905 RM/SGD 3.191 RM/AUD 3.1241 RM/GBP 5.5157 RM/EUR 4.6916

Top 20 active stocks

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

Sapura Energy Bhd 813.48 0.015 0.085 70.00 1,358.2

Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd 194.22 -0.025 0.110 -68.57 408.1

KNM Group Bhd 144.52 -0.005 0.195 30.00 716.9

MQ Technology Bhd 68.80 0.005 0.060 20.00 53.6

TECHNA-X Bhd 65.08 - 0.055 -26.67 121.8

Tanco Holdings Bhd 43.25 0.045 0.340 41.67 591.4

Fast Energy Holdings Bhd 41.61 -0.005 0.055 -42.11 40.6

Dagang NeXchange Bhd 35.03 -0.010 1.030 35.53 3,250.9

XOX BHD 30.90 - 0.015 -50.00 75.8 World equity indices

Widad Group Bhd 29.97 - 0.360 -1.37 990.9

AT Systematization Bhd 29.39 -0.005 0.015 -50.00 90.0 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

Ta Win Holdings BHD 29.27 - 0.130 4.00 443.9 (%) (%)
INDONESIA 6,840.78 -77.37 -1.12
Top Glove Corp Bhd 25.71 0.040 1.490 -42.47 11,930.7 DOW JONES 31,261.90 8.77 0.03

Yong Tai Bhd 25.43 0.005 0.080 -38.46 111.5 S&P 500 3,901.36 0.57 0.01 JAPAN 27,001.52 262.49 0.98

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd 24.27 -0.010 1.460 79.14 2,938.1 NASDAQ 100 11,835.62 -40.01 -0.34 KOREA 2,647.38 8.09 0.31

Green Packet Bhd 21.99 0.005 0.095 18.75 151.6 FTSE 100 7,452.98 63.00 0.85 PHILIPPINES 6,687.85 -58.48 -0.87

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd 19.95 - 0.035 40.00 53.6 AUSTRALIA 7,148.89 3.25 0.05 SINGAPORE 3,213.65 -26.93 -0.83

Pertama Digital BHD 19.48 -0.005 0.885 52.59 383.5 CHINA 3,146.86 0.29 0.01 TAIWAN 16,156.41 11.56 0.07

Destini Bhd 18.57 -0.005 0.205 13.89 341 HONG KONG 20,470.06 -247.18 -1.19 THAILAND 1,631.99 9.04 0.56

Global Oriental Bhd 18.45 0.070 0.305 35.56 138.7 INDIA 54,307.46 -18.93 -0.03 VIETNAM 1,218.81 -21.90 -1.77

Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg

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

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

Anzo Holdings Bhd 0.015 50.00 175.2 -50.00 16.7 EA Holdings Bhd 0.010 -33.33 1,770.1 -50.00 64.5

Metronic Global Bhd 0.130 30.00 10715.0 -35.00 28.2 China Automobile Parts HLDGS Ltd 0.010 -33.33 1,759.3 0.00 13.6

Global Oriental Bhd 0.305 29.79 18447.6 35.56 138.7 Compugates Holdings BHd 0.010 -33.33 172.0 -33.33 45.8

Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd 1.320 29.41 33.2 -1.49 76.5 MNC Wireless Bhd 0.015 -25.00 13,751.2 0.00 34.3

Sapura Energy Bhd 0.085 21.43 813476.3 70.00 1358.2 AT Systematization Bhd 0.015 -25.00 29,386.4 -50.00 90.0

Sanichi Technology Bhd 0.030 20.00 2652.9 20.00 42.1 Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd 0.110 -18.52 194,223.3 -68.57 408.1

BCM Alliance Bhd 0.030 20.00 8247.0 0.00 61.0 Mycron Steel Bhd 0.615 -15.75 7,614.9 51.85 201.1

Xidelang Holdings Ltd 0.030 20.00 986.9 -14.29 63.5 Minetech Resources Bhd 0.060 -14.29 2,033.2 -40.00 71.3

Tanco Holdings Bhd 0.340 15.25 43253.9 41.67 591.4 Focus Dynamics Group Bhd 0.030 -14.29 2,976.2 -25.00 191.2

Idimension Consolidated Bhd 0.270 14.89 224.9 -79.23 26.5 Jasa Kita BHD 0.100 -13.04 25.0 -9.09 45.0

Perak Corp BHD 0.400 14.29 50.0 -4.76 40.0 Jerasia Capital BHD 0.035 -12.50 716.3 -78.13 2.9

Ho Wah Genting BHD 0.125 13.64 905.4 -39.02 79.9 Ea Technique M Bhd 0.035 -12.50 692.0 -56.25 18.6

AppAsia Bhd 0.085 13.33 304.1 -10.53 92.0 XOX Technology Bhd 0.035 -12.50 352.0 -30.00 31.3

Komarkcorp Bhd 0.090 12.50 871.1 -21.74 52.0 Barakah Offshore Petroleum 0.035 -12.50 1,549.4 -56.25 35.1

Golden Land Bhd 0.490 10.11 180.7 18.07 105.1 PDZ Holdings Bhd 0.040 -11.11 113.0 -11.11 23.3

PUC BHD 0.055 10.00 7442.6 -62.07 89.4 Petra Energy Bhd 0.785 -10.80 1,722.0 1.95 251.9

MQ Technology Bhd 0.060 9.09 68798.5 20.00 53.6 Mega Sun City Holdings Bhd 0.085 -10.53 190.0 -22.73 50.3

Careplus Group Bhd 0.620 8.77 10570.2 -40.38 352.1 Sentoria Group Bhd 0.170 -10.53 150.5 -2.86 94.8

Oversea Enterprise Bhd 0.125 8.70 31.2 4.17 141.9 Ecobuilt Holdings Bhd 0.100 -9.09 287.3 -35.48 38.2

Lambo Group BHD 0.065 8.33 268.0 -23.53 100.1 Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd 0.055 -8.33 25.0 -31.25 51.1

Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg

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

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

Nestle Malaysia Bhd 134.20 0.600 117.0 0.00 31469.9 Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd 26.420 -0.480 1179.7 21.30 28484.9

Heineken Malaysia Bhd 25.00 0.520 180.6 19.96 7552.5 IOI Corp Bhd 4.080 -0.320 8863.3 9.38 25348.9

Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd 1.32 0.300 33.2 -1.49 76.5 Genting Plantations Bhd 8.300 -0.320 60.2 25.91 7446.7

Carlsberg Brewery M Bhd 22.14 0.300 48.0 10.26 6769.3 Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd 19.180 -0.320 106.5 10.61 21965.8

PIE Industrial BHD 2.98 0.210 1,666.1 -21.58 1144.4 Petronas Gas Bhd 16.480 -0.320 1166.5 -7.90 32609.5

Chin Hin Group Bhd 3.93 0.180 1663.2 50.57 3476.9 PPB Group Bhd 17.000 -0.260 582.1 -0.58 24184.2

Ta Ann Holdings Bhd 5.60 0.120 2069.9 59.54 2466.6 Berjaya Food Bhd 4.200 -0.180 494.2 95.35 1514.3

Yinson Holdings BHD 2.60 0.110 3008.2 -13.33 5494.9 Sime Darby Plantation Bhd 5.020 -0.160 8737.0 33.51 34716.9

United Plantations BHD 14.58 0.100 156.9 6.38 6025.9 Padini Holdings Bhd 3.290 -0.160 3144.1 17.50 2164.5

Imaspro Corp Bhd 4.06 0.100 45.1 63.71 324.8 Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd 3.600 -0.150 964.5 10.77 1512.0

Complete Logistic Services Bhd 4.10 0.100 280.6 63.35 527.5 ViTrox Corp Bhd 7.120 -0.140 48.7 -28.51 6725.8

Allianz Malaysia Bhd 12.70 0.100 71.1 -1.24 2260.1 Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd 1.580 -0.130 874.1 50.48 297.5

Pentamaster Corp Bhd 3.67 0.090 1945.9 -33.87 2610.5 Khind Holdings Bhd 2.830 -0.120 217.3 -25.72 113.4

Genting Bhd 4.90 0.090 7389.9 4.93 18867.8 Mycron Steel Bhd 0.615 -0.115 7614.9 51.85 201.1

Scientex Packaging Ayer Keroh 2.33 0.080 0.6 -2.92 762.8 Telekom Malaysia Bhd 4.790 -0.110 1435.0 -12.91 18076.0

British American Tobacco M Bhd 12.98 0.080 36.7 -7.15 3706.2 MPHB Capital Bhd 1.470 -0.100 1770.6 14.84 1051.1

Harbour-Link Group Bhd 1.16 0.080 1691.5 -6.45 462.3 Supercomnet Technologies Bhd 1.200 -0.100 1402.7 -40.30 914.1

TIME dotCom Bhd 4.43 0.080 627.5 -3.15 8087.5 D&O Green Technologies Bhd 3.750 -0.100 1047.3 -36.44 4639.3

Global Oriental Bhd 0.31 0.070 18447.6 35.56 138.7 Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd 30.800 -0.100 32.5 -37.60 6126.0

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd 1.75 0.060 2780.6 -8.85 4465.3 Petra Energy Bhd 0.785 -0.095 1722.0 1.95 251.9

Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 23, 2022 Source: Bloomberg