The Edge - 06 April 2022

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 359/2022

CEOMorningBrief

TIFFANY HARDWEAR

BROWSE NOW FOR COMPLIMENTARY DELIVERY

TIFFANY HARDWEAR

BROWSE NOW FOR COMPLIMENTARY DELIVERY

TIFFANY HARDWEAR
TIFFANY HARDWEAR

BROWSE NOW FOR COMPLIMENTARY DELIVERY
BROWSE NOW FOR COMPLIMENTARY DELIVERY

BRAINARD SAYS FED TO SHRINK BALANCE SHEET
RAPIDLY AS SOON AS MAY p17

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 359/2022

CEOMorningBrief

HOME: World Bank trims Malaysia’s GDP growth to 5.5%, Russia-Ukraine war a key risk p7
PLCs continue trend of venturing into EV space in 1Q p10

High Court overturns MIA’s decision to not strike out Tony Pua’s complaint against Deloitte partner p14
WORLD: US stops Russian bond payments in bid to raise pressure on Moscow p18
Asia’s US$350 bil gas buildout intensifies clean energy debate p25

Transition to endemicity, election play
to buoy KLCI in 2022 — analysts

Report on Page 3.

RM2.3 bil cash from
highway sale seen handy
for Gamuda infra bids

Report on Page 5.

wednesday april 6, 2022 2 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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IPOH (April 5): Malaysia has so far not Covid-19: No Covid-19 cases and vaccination
recorded any cases of the new Omicron cases of Omicron progress in Malaysia
XE variant, a new mutation, which is more XE in Malaysia
contagious than any of the other Covid-19 so far, says Khairy On April 4, 2022 22,081
variants, according to Health Minister 11,296
Khairy Jamaluddin. Daily vaccine doses administered
97.6
He said the ministry is currently fol- Daily booster administered
lowing the developments and studying the 67.4
characteristics of this variant that had been % of adult population received
reported in other countries includingThai- two-dose vaccination
land in order to identify its infectivity rate
and seriousness to patients. % of adult population received
booster shots
“The Omicron variants, for example,
have higher number of cases than the Del- Bernama On April 4, 2022
ta but their seriousness is about average
compared to the Delta, hence the intensive reuters Number of new cases 10,002
care units are not full like before.
Local cases 9,904
“We need to look into this new vari-
ant that is occurring in other countries, Imported cases 98
whether its infectivity rate or seriousness
is high, then only we take the appropriate Category 1 5,495
measures,” he said at a news conference
after visiting the Raja Permaisuri Bainun (no symptoms) (54.94%)
Hospital here on Tuesday (April 5).
Category 2 4,418
Earlier, Khairy visited a 138-year-old (mild symptoms) (44.17%)
building and the Long Covid and Rehabil-
itationWard, the first in Perak, at the Batu Category 3 30
Gajah Hospital near here before visiting
the Ipoh Public Health Laboratory. (with pnemonia) (0.30%)

TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) Category 4 33
(with pneumonia requiring oxygen therapy) (0.33%)

has reportedly warned about the Omicron Category 5 26
XE, a new mutation of the Omicron variant, (critical and requiring assisted ventilation) (0.26%)
which is more contagious than the other
Covid-19 variants. Number of new recoveries 23,302

WHO, through its latest report, stated Active cases 179,619
that this variant is a recombinant strain, a
mutant hybrid of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. Daily Covid-19 deaths 28

Hospital bed utilisation (%) 59.1

Source: Ministry of Health

Malaysia in talks on recognition of MySejahtera’s vaccination cert overseas

IPOH (April 5): The government is in Bernama Meanwhile, Khairy said he had been
talks with big countries to recognise its called to give a statement to the Public
Covid-19 vaccination and test certifi- such as tourism and investment to recognise Accounts Committee (PAC) on the issue
cates, as done by the European Union MySejahtera, even a few weeks ago I went of the development and procurement
(EU), to facilitate the movement of Ma- to the United Kingdom and there was no of MySejahtera application on April 14.
laysian travellers abroad. problem, it (MySejahtera) will be accepted,”
he told a press conference after visiting the “I have nothing to hide, this important
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) app is used for [management] of Covid-19,
the decision of the European Commission here on Tuesday. vaccinations and theVirtual Covid-19 As-
on the recognition effective Monday (April sessment Centre (VCAC),” he said.
4) would allow travellers from Malaysia to In a statement made available on the Read also:
venture abroad without too much hassle. EU’s website, President of the European Health DG: Recoveries outstrip new
Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen said Covid-19 cases on April 4 Click here
“They are really satisfied with the the Covid-19 vaccination and test certifi-
safety, the authenticity and also the ac- cates issued by Malaysia are in accordance Over 22,000 children fully vaccinated
cessibility [of the system], which are with the Union’s ‘Vaccine Management against Covid-19 Click here
equal to the EU’s standards. System’ and was considered as equivalent
to those issued in accordance with Regu-
“The Ministry of Science,Technology lation (EU) 2021/953.
and Innovation (MOSTI) is in talks with
all major countries for other destinations

wednesday april 6, 2022 3 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Transition to endemicity, election play
to buoy KLCI in 2022 — analysts

by syafiqah salim FBM KLCI projection and stock picks for 2022
theedgemarkets.com
KLCI Target price/
KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Bursa Ma- Research house forecast (pts) Stock pick fair value (RM)
laysia is projected to end the year at be-
tween 1,622 and 1,745 points, supported HLIB Research 1,680 Tenaga Nasional Bhd 13.60
by ample liquidity, reopening of interna- (previous:1,600) Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd 7.71
tional borders as well as the possibility of Bursa Malaysia Bhd 7.27
a general election, according to analysts. RHB Bank Bhd 7. 0 0
Kobay Technology Bhd 6.08
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Re- Sime Darby Plantation Bhd 5.95
search raised its FBM KLCI target to 1,680 Sunway Bhd 2.58
points from 1,600, valuing the bellwether in- Dagang NeXchange Bhd 1.64
dex at 16.2 times price-earnings ratio (PER) Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd 1.40
based on 2022 earnings per share (EPS). Evergreen Fibreboard Bhd 0.94
Focus Point Holdings Bhd 1.18
“We forecast KLCI earnings growth 0.84
of -0.6%/+7.3% for calendar year 2022 Bumi Armada Bhd
(CY22)/23.With [border] reopening and [the
country heading for] endemicity, Malaysia’s AmBank Research 1,745 Tenaga Nasional Bhd 12.00
relative appeal amid the geopolitical conflict (previous: 1,651) Malayan Banking Bhd 10.00
and a possible ‘election rally’ on the horizon, we RHB Bank Bhd
turn more upbeat on the market,” said HLIB Telekom Malaysia Bhd 7.10
analysts Jeremy Goh and Felicia Ling in an CIMB Group Holdings Bhd 7.08
economics and strategy note dated March 30. Mr DIY Group M Bhd 6.50
4.45
Although cost inflation pressures are a
key risk, they believe the government will CGS-CIMB Research 1,622 Hong Leong Bank Bhd 21.80
try to contain these pressures in light of the (unchanged) Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd 10.76
upcoming national election, which must be Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
held by July 2023 if not earlier.The analyst 7.05
said that the KLCI’s performance in the past
three election years of 2008, 2013 and 2018 Kenanga Research 1,670 D&O Technologies Bhd 5.60
indicated an upward trend five to six months (unchanged) Kelington Group Bhd 1.90
before the election. Aeon Co (M) Bhd 1.70
Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd 1.00
“While we expect the market to continue
trading in choppy fashion, we reckon the Source: Brokers’ reports
Ukraine-Russia conflict has given Malaysia
relative appeal in the eyes of foreign inves- the 2021 sharp rebound of 31% year-on-year Top stock picks in 2022
tors — a neutral geopolitical stand, a rela- from Covid-19 lockdowns,” Goh explained. HLIB has “buy” calls for all of its stock
tively insulated economy compared to the picks which centre on reopening beneficiar-
West and exposure to commodity plays. A In contrast, both CGS-CIMB Research ies, commodity exposure, laggards and apo-
case in point: net foreign inflows to the local and Kenanga Research maintained their litical election plays.These includeTenaga
bourse have totalled RM4.23 billion since year-end KLCI forecasts at 1,622 and Nasional Bhd (TNB) with a target price
the conflict began in late February, more 1,670 respectively. (TP) of RM13.60, Press Metal Alumini-
than offsetting last year’s entire RM2.99 bil- um Holdings Bhd (RM7.71), RHB Bank
lion net outflow,” the analysts said. CGS-CIMB said the market would con- Bhd (RM7) and Sunway Bhd (RM2.58).
tinue to weigh the positive impact of high
Another research house that also raised commodity prices, higher tourist numbers AmInvestment’s top buy recommen-
its year-end KLCI target was AmInvest- due to the reopening of borders, and the dations include Malayan Banking Bhd
ment Bank Research, which forecast a higher possible return of foreign labour, which will (Maybank) with a fair value of RM10,
KLCI target of 1,745 from 1,651 previously. ease the current shortage, against possible TNB (RM12), CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
pressure on corporate profit margins due to (RM6.50), RHB (RM7.10), MR DIY Group
In an April 4 note, its analyst Alex Goh rising costs of electricity, fuel, raw materials (M) Bhd (RM4.45) andTelekom Malaysia
said the stock market is likely to stay within and labour, as well as interest rate hikes. Bhd (RM7.08).
the 1,500-1,600 threshold in the near term
given commodity price volatility, supply “The KLCI is currently trading at 15.4 As for CGS-CIMB, its top picks with
chain disruption and geopolitical shocks. times 2022 PER, with [estimated] dividend an “add” call are Hong Leong Bank Bhd
yields of 3.6%. We reiterate our year-end (TP: RM21.80), Malaysia Airports Hold-
“Towards the end of the year, we expect 2022 KLCI target of 1,622 points,” said ings Bhd (RM7.05) and Petronas Chemi-
the market to reach an inflection point as lo- the research firm in a note dated April 4. cals Group Bhd (RM10.76).
cal institutional funds switch to long positions
on probable window-dressing activities amid Kenanga, on the other hand, left its Kenanga, on the other hand, has “out-
clearer visibility of our [estimated] KLCI 2023 year-end target for the KLCI at 1,670, perform” calls on its top picks includ-
EPS growth recovery of 14.9%, which will be implying a PER of 15 times for 2022. ing AEON Co (M) Bhd (TP: RM1.70),
the fastest expansion since 2012, excluding Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd (RM1),
“We are now maintaining our KLCI earn- D&O GreenTechnologies Bhd (RM5.60)
ings growth forecasts of -0.3% for CY22 (neg- and Kelington Group Bhd (RM1.90).
ative despite a recovery due to ‘Cukai Mak-
mur’ [the prosperity tax] versus -8.1% in the Read also: ACE Market Coraza is best per-
first quarter [1QCY22]) and 12.2% for CY23 forming IPO for 1Q22, says Bursa Malaysia
(versus 11.2% in 1QCY22),” said Kenanga. Click here

At 5pm on Tuesday (April 5), the
KLCI closed 0.13% or 2.13 points lower
at 1,596.79.

wednesday april 6, 2022 4 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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(April 5): Private equity firm TPG Capital TPG nears ranging from pre-university to postgradu-
Asia is nearing an agreement to buy IHH US$300 mil deal ate across fields from medicine to dentistry
Healthcare Bhd’s medical education arm in a to more than 3,000 students, according to
deal valued at about US$300 million,accord- to buy IHH’s its website.The unit generated earnings be-
ing to people with knowledge of the matter. education arm fore interest, taxes, depreciation, and amor-
tization of RM75.7 million (US$18 mil-
IHH, Asia’s biggest hospital group by by Elffie Chew & Yantoultra Ngui lion) in 2020, slightly lower than RM87.2
market value, is in advanced talks with Bloomberg million in the previous year, according to
TPG on the divestment of International IHH’s latest annual report.
Medical University, said the people, who ing house Mitsui & Co and Malaysian state
asked not to be identified as the process investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd,
is private. A deal could be announced as is listed on both the Kuala Lumpur and
early as this month, said the people. IHH Singapore stock exchanges.The company
started reaching out to prospective buyers runs 80 hospitals in 10 countries across
last year, Bloomberg News has reported. Asia and Europe, according to its website.

Discussions are still ongoing and there IMU, founded in 1992, is Malaysia’s
is no certainty that IHH will proceed with first private medical college. It offers more
a transaction, the people said. A repre- than 20 health professional programmes
sentative for TPG declined to comment.
A spokesperson for IHH also declined to
comment and said the company would up-
date if there are any material developments.

IHH, which is backed by Japanese trad-

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Bursa Ma- Bursa approves However, the company said this will
laysia has approved Catcha Digital Bhd’s Catcha Digital’s be subject to Catcha Digital confirming
revised proposed regularisation plan about regularisation that all approvals of relevant authorities
19 months after the GN2 company first have been obtained for the implementa-
proposed its acquisition of iMedia Asia plan tion of the revised regularisation plan,
Sdn Bhd in Sept 2020. and its furnishing of a certified true copy
by Ahmad Naqib Idris of the resolution passed by the share-
In a filing, the company said the bourse theedgemarkets.com holders at the general meeting for the
approved the plan after considering the plan, amongst others.
confirmation by Catcha Digital and its after taxation and minority interest (PAT-
sponsor that it had completed the key in- MI) of at least RM2 million for FY21; or an Last August, Bursa had rejected Cat-
ternal control assessment of the company additional RM12 million by way of issuance cha Digital’s plan, as the regulator said
and the risk management system assess- of 48 million shares and RM18 million in its sponsor had not demonstrated the
ment on iMedia Asia and its subsidiaries. cash, subject to iMedia Group achieving ability of the plan to comply with ACE
PATMI of at least RM3 million for FY21. Market listing requirements, highlight-
The company said it had also sought ing iMedia’s lack of business operations
to obtain the business licence for Goody There is also another additional pur- and revenue.
Technologies Sdn Bhd and that relevant chase consideration of RM3.92 million
authorities had confirmed that Goody arising from the additional acquisitions The bourse also said the plan may re-
Technologies does not require a business by iMedia after Sept 1, 2020, to be satis- sult in a potential non-compliance with
licence for its business. fied by way of issuance of 6.8 million new the public shareholding requirement due
shares at an issue price of 25 sen each, with to the additional purchase consideration
Besides that, it also undertook a re-audit the balance in cash or to be fully satisfied by the company to be satisfied by way of
of the financial information of iMedia and in cash, at the option of Catcha Digital. issuance of new shares.
its subsidiaries and had submitted the ac-
countants’ report of iMedia for the financial The regularisation exercise will also in- Catcha Digital’s share price closed
years ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), FY19, clude a proposed renounceable rights issue up 0.5 sen or 3.2% at 16 sen on Tuesday
FY20 and the latest six-month period ended of up to 174.64 million shares on the basis (April 5), giving it a market capitalisation
June 30, 2021, together with the manage- of one rights share for every existing share of RM22 million.
ment’s discussion and analysis of iMedia’s held on an entitlement date to be deter- Read also:
financial condition and results of operations. mined later and a proposed exemption for PLDT said to pick Edgepoint, edotco for
PatrickYkin Grove and persons acting in US$1.5 bil tower deals Click here
Catcha Digital said the regularisation concert from the obligation to undertake Reservoir Link bags job from
plan will involve its proposed acquisition a mandatory general offer. ExxonMobil’s Malaysian subsidiary
of the entire equity interest of iMedia from Click here
Catcha Investments Ltd and iCreative Asia Bursa has also resolved to approve the Fire at Westports container yard facilities,
Sdn Bhd, which will be settled with the listing of up to 94.8 million shares pursu- situation under control Click here
issuance of 40 million new Catcha Digi- ant to the proposed acquisition and up to
tal shares at 25 sen apiece, amounting to 174.64 million rights shares pursuant to
a total of RM10 million. the proposed rights issue.

There is also an additional purchase con-
sideration comprising either an additional
RM6 million by way of issuance of 24 mil-
lion new shares and RM9 million in cash,
subject to iMedia Group achieving profit

wednesday april 6, 2022 5 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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RM2.3 bil cash from highway sale seen
handy for Gamuda infra bids

by Syafiqah Salim Current concession period for the four target highway concessionaires
theedgemarkets.com
Concessionaires — highways Expiration
KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Private com-
pany Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat’s (ALR) Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd
bid to take over four highway toll conces-
sionaires in the KlangValley is timely, giv- • Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) Aug 2030
en that infrastructure giant Gamuda Bhd
likely needs funds to bid for some mega Kesas Sdn Bhd Aug 2028
infrastructure projects. • Kesas Expressway

Investment analysts covering the stock Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn Bhd
believe that Gamuda can unlock the value
of its highway concessions through the deal • SPRINT Damansara Dec 2034
and that this will strengthen the group’s
balance sheet, lower leverage, reward share- • SPRINT Pantai Dec 2034
holders with special dividends and reduce
borrowings. • SPRINT Penchala Dec 2031

If Gamuda’s divestment is success- Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd
ful, it will help the group to repay its
existing net debt of RM1.7 billion and • Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) Dec 2042
achieve a net cash position of RM600
million. Besides, the group may also work Source: UOB Kay Hian Research
on financing future projects, such as the
Penang South Island (PSI), Australian “Overall, we are positive on this de- lower than the previous equity value of
projects, Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT3) velopment despite the fact that Gamuda RM2.35 billion assumed in the research
Circle Line, Stormwater Management will have a loss of recurring earnings of house’s revised net asset value (RNAV)
and Road 2 Tunnel (SMART2 Tunnel), ~RM170 million yearly,” said the research calculations for each highway asset.
which could be financed through a pri- house in a note on Tuesday.
vate financing initiative. It said the equity value will increase the
UOB Kay Hian Research said the group’s cash by 63% to RM6 billion and
Gamuda on Monday (April 4) received RM2.33 billion Gamuda could get from significantly improve its net gearing ratio
a conditional offer of RM5.48 billion from the deal is close to its assumed valuation from 18% to an estimated net cash posi-
ALR — a private and not-for-profit com- of RM2.36 billion. tion of RM611 million.
pany that is undertaking a restructuring of
certain toll highway concessions on behalf But to replace the RM170 million prof- “This cash offer translates into 91
of the government — to acquire all four it per year that the concession business sen/share, or 26% of Gamuda’s mar-
highway concessions that it owns. typically contributes (about 25% of the ket capitalisation. We believe the offer
group’s total earnings), Gamuda is look- will be accepted as it provides closure to
The highway toll concessions com- ing to aggressively strengthen its other two the long-drawn-out highway divestment
prise Gamuda’s 70%-owned Kesas Sdn core businesses, namely construction and scheme. Also, the highway trust model
Bhd (Kesas Expressway), 51.6%-owned real estate. is deemed a win-win deal for Gamuda,
Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn the government and highway users over
Bhd (SPRINT Expressway), 43.2%-owned “Local projects such as MRT3, Penang the longer run,” said CGS-CIMB ana-
Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd (Daman- South Reclamation, SMART 2 and Sg lyst Sharizan Roseli.
sara-Puchong Expressway or LDP) and Rasau water plant coupled with regional Analysts maintain Gamuda’s ratings,
50%-owned Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir tender wins may contribute to earnings target prices
danTerowong Sdn Bhd (SMARTTunnel). ahead. Its property division is also aiming PublicInvest said the takeover of Gamuda’s
to double presales to RM6 billion/year highway concession assets by the govern-
The offer is valid until April 30, 2022 between FY21-24. Ultimately, this will ment will undoubtedly leave a void in the
and will be fully financed by sukuk. Post-ac- help to improve sustainable earnings by group’s future earnings, which could see
quisition, the highways will not see future over RM500 million/year.The company is its FY23 and FY24 earnings forecast ad-
toll hikes, but the concession period will also looking to reinvest in environmentally justed lower by 19.9% and 18.6% respec-
likely be extended by five to 10 years for the friendly (green) recurring income busi- tively upon completion of the exercise by
concessionaires except for SMART, whose nesses in the infrastructure space,” said the end of FY22.
concession period may be shortened. its analyst Noor Hazmy Noor Hazin.
“We maintain our estimates for now,
According to PublicInvest Research, CGS-CIMB Research said the equity pending completion of the deal. Our ‘out-
Gamuda’s equity value of RM2.33 billion is value of RM2.3 billion for Gamuda is 1% perform’ call is maintained, with an un-
considered fair and in line with the research changed target price (TP) of RM4.09.
house’s valuation of RM2.28 billion for
the four highways, although slightly lower Click here for the full story
than Pakatan Harapan’s RM2.36 billion
offer in 2019. Read also: Govt allows private entity to
take over four toll concessionaires valued
at RM5.48 bil Click here

wednesday april 6, 2022 6 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Gamuda says everyone wins
with ALR’s takeover offer

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5):Whilst Gamu- by Mohammed Rashdan Mohd Yusof savings saved by GoM to keep the tolls
da is still considering and deliberating the Deputy Group Managing Director, subsidized at artificially low rates).
offer from Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Ber- Gamuda Bhd
had (ALR), and we will duly announce our The other observation we would like
decision on their offer immediately after our — significantly benefiting the motoring to make with respect to ALR’s proposal,
Board has made a decision on it, we would rakyat, and yet is the comparison with the last offer we
like to make the following comment(s): received in 2019 from the GoM itself, as
(ii)The GoM no longer needs to pay any much has been said about the apparent
The toll industry has been in a quagmire toll compensation subsidy either,sinceALR’s similarity between the two.
for quite some time to find a suitable solu- new concession rate is equal to the present
tion to alleviate the Government of Malay- toll rate — thus saving GoM RM4.3 billion As far as we can see, the key differ-
sia (GoM) from their burden of paying toll (net of tax waiver) as reported byYB Min- ences are:
subsidy annually, which theYB Minister of ister Dato’ Sri Fadillah himself yesterday.
Kementerian Kerja Raya (KKR), Datuk Seri 1. Lower value of buyout: ALR’s total
FadillahYusof had mentioned previously on (iii) This valuable savings can then be enterprise value is lower than the 2019
30 April 2021 to be RM2.25 billion for 2021 further spent on other crucial, more ur- offer by RM720 million (refer table 2).
alone (for the entire industry).And yet, with gent development expenditure and basic
the GoM being responsible to always en- infrastructure for the wellbeing of Keluarga The primary reason for the difference
sure sanctity of contracts as well as the GoM Malaysia, as the GoM deems fit — further is because ALR’s offer is dated two years
not wanting to burden the motoring rakyat benefiting the wider rakyat and Keluarga after the previous offer, and therefore, the
with any toll rate hikes either (which is the Malaysia, as a whole. cashflows from those two years would not
obvious solution to reduce or eliminate the be included in ALR’s discounted cash flow
toll compensation subsidy), thus solving this Regarding point (i) above, the savings valuation of the highways which results
quagmire has been very difficult indeed. Up to the motoring rakyat of the highways are in a lower enterprise value number. Both
until yesterday that is. [as underlined in table 1]. offers use the same discounted cash flow
valuation methodology, which is the mar-
As of yesterday, with ALR’s proposed solu- For example; KESAS user only pays ket norm and industry standard to value
tion and offer — this quagmire seems to have RM2 instead of RM3 at each of Toll Pla- highway concessions.
been resolved.With their proposed structure, zas. Saving of RM1 or 50% savings. Sim-
both the rakyat and the GoM wins since: ilarly = SPRINT (Pantai) user only pays 2. Off GoM balance-sheet: ALR’s pro-
RM2.50 instead of RM4.50; a saving of posal has no recourse to the GoM at all,
(i) ALR’s concession toll rate would be RM2 or 80% savings. i.e. there is neither a GoM guarantee nor
maintained at the present rate until the any implied financial undertaking by the
end of concession, i.e., no more toll hikes Hence, in this manner — the motor- GoM, to the providers of funds to ALR.
ing rakyat also saves RM5 billion directly This clearly is very different from the 2019
(which is the same gross compensation offer, where the GoM undertook to do the
acquisition directly, and have the funding
Table 1: Savings to the motoring rakyat of the highways on its own balance sheet.

Table 2: Difference in enterprise value between offers in 2019 and 2021 Hence, under the ALR proposal —
GoM’s upside of RM4.3 billion net com-
pensation savings is truly at no cost to the
Government.This is an important improve-
ment, especially today since the GoM must
be focused on optimising all resources in
helping the rakyat and our economy recover
from the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

3. Reduction of concession periods:ALR
is obligated to redeem its funding (Sukuk)
as soon as it can, and once it does, it must
return all the four highway concessions back
to the GoM. In that sense, any extension
given to the concessions under ALR is NOT
mutually exclusive from its actual traffic per-
formance, as was intimated byYB Minister
KKR, Datuk Seri FadillahYusof yesterday
in his announcement of ALR’s proposal.
Higher actual traffic achieved will reduce
actual extension required because ALR’s
Sukuk will be redeemed much earlier. In
other words, the higher the traffic: the short-
er the concessions.

Click here for the full letter to editor

wednesday april 6, 2022 7 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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World Bank trims Malaysia’s GDP growth
to 5.5%, Russia-Ukraine war a key risk

by Justin Lim reuters
theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The World Nonetheless, Shakira said the World and Mongolia — and high dependence on
Bank has lowered its Malaysia gross domes- Bank projected Malaysia’s inflation to re- exports, like Malaysia and Vietnam — are
tic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2022 main modest at around 2% to 3% this year. susceptible to global financial and growth
to 5.5%, from 5.8% previously. shocks,” according to theWorld Bank’s East
Apart from slower-than-expected glob- Asia and Pacific Economic UpdateApril 2022
Speaking at the bank’s April 2022 East al growth risk, other major downside risks titled “Braving the Storm”.
Asia and Pacific virtual media briefing on to watch out for that are arising from the
Tuesday (April 5),World Bank senior coun- Ukraine crisis are worsening of supply chain The GDP for the East Asia and Pacific
try economist ShakiraTeh Sharifuddin said disruptions as well as emergence of more region is expected to expand 5% this year,
the downward revision was largely caused severe Covid-19 variants. but this could slow to 4% if global condi-
by the unfolding developments surround- tions worsen and national policy responses
ing the Ukraine crisis. On a positive note, she also expects the re- are weaker.This is down from an earlier pro-
sumption of more economic sectors,including jection of 5.4% in October last year.
“While we expect recovery to take place the reopening of borders, to be a major cata-
this year, the balance of risk remains tilted to lyst to boost the local economy’s prospects. Meanwhile, theWorld Bank said the war,
the downside, which is why 5.5% is a slight financial tightening and China’s slowdown
downward revision from our earlier forecast. “Domestically, in terms of private con- are likely to magnify existing post-Covid-19
But it’s still in line with the consensus [fore- sumption, it will definitely benefit from the difficulties.
cast] including the central bank’s projection. reopening of the economy.
“Struggling regional firms, more than
“So there are several reasons for driving “We think the recent measures announced 50% of which reported payment arrears
downward downside risks to growth. First by the government, including the Employees in 2021, will be hit by new supply and de-
is, of course, the current conflict in Ukraine Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal [facility] mand shocks. Households, many of which
definitely creates a lot of uncertainty and a as well as the announcement of minimum fell back into poverty during the pandemic,
lot of spillovers or cascading effects to other wage hike, would also bring some positive will see real incomes shrink even further as
things,” she stressed. spillovers on private consumption. Indeed, prices soar.
private consumption is expected to be the
According to her, the conflict in Ukraine main driver for growth this year. “Indebted governments, which have seen
will also dampen global economic pros- their debt as a share of GDP increase by 10
pects as it brings economic uncertainties. “We also expect investments to improve percentage points since 2019, will struggle
As global growth slows, so will demand, given there is a little bit of clarity, at least to provide economic support. Increased in-
weighing most on export-oriented econo- domestically, of where things are going to flation, at least one percentage point above
mies, including Malaysia, Shakira added. be. Also, externally, we expect the external previous expectations due to the oil price
sector will continue to lend support [to the shock alone, will shrink room for monetary
“I think there’s a lot of uncertainty and economy], particularly in the electric and easing,” the bank said in a statement.
how the current (Ukraine) conflict will play electronic goods and medical and rubber
out and affect global growth in general. In gloves segments,” she added. According to East Asia and Pacific chief
particular for Malaysia is of course growth economist Aaditya Mattoo, the succession
in advanced economies, given that they are East Asia, Pacific GDP growth forecast of shocks means that the people, whose
our largest trading partners,” she explained. lowered economic suffering is increasing, will be
AWorld Bank report released onTuesday said confronted by the shrinking financial ca-
Shakira also warned that food and fuel shocks emanating from the war in Ukraine pacity of their governments to provide help.
price hikes arising from a prolonged conflict and the sanctions on Russia are disrupting the
in Ukraine will also weigh on the Malaysian supply of commodities, increasing financial “A combination of fiscal, financial and
economy’s growth prospects. stress, and dampening global growth. trade reforms could mitigate risks, revive
growth and reduce poverty,” he noted.
“The situation is a bit sort of a mixed bag “Countries in the region that are large im- Read also: Higher commodity prices a boon
when it comes to the fuel prices. I think, at porters of fuel, like Mongolia andThailand – to Malaysia’s current account balance —
least in the very, very short term, the jump in and food, like the Pacific Islands, are seeing a Fitch Click here
fuel prices would have some positive spillovers decline in real incomes. Countries with large
for Malaysia in terms of government reve- debt, like Lao People’s Democratic Republic
nue and then the ability to continue with fuel
subsidy support. But going forward if [fuel
prices continue to] escalate, it will [put] some
pressure on inflation and food prices as well.

“Asia, in general, we consume rice and
not necessarily wheat, but we are already
seeing some of the impact domestically. So
we have seen a couple of announcements by
bread producers about how prices for their
products will increase.There will definitely
be a substitution impact to rice which will
bring rice prices higher,” she added.

wednesday april 6, 2022 8 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Serba Di- Serba appeals Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin, in arriving
namik Holdings Bhd has filed for an ap- against court’s in his decision in March, said EY Con-
peal against the High Court’s decision in dismissal of its sulting did not misrepresent itself to Ser-
dismissing the company’s lawsuit against lawsuit against ba Dinamik in its letter of engagement as
Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (EY EY Consulting the firm did not in any manner claim to
Consulting) for misrepresentation, as well be an auditor.
as its application to restrain the latter from theedgemarkets.com
sharing any findings or opinions from its Instead, he noted that EY Consulting
special independent review on Serba Dina- had taken steps to ensure the team per-
mik with Bursa Malaysia or other parties. forming the review included a qualified au-
ditor, namely Muhammad Shahrizal Abd
“The appeals have been fixed for case Rahim, a partner in E&Y PLT.The judge
amangement on May 9, 2022,” it wrote also stated that an auditor must be a real
in a bourse filing Tuesday, adding it will person and the firm (E&Y PLT) merely
make further announcements when there houses the auditor.
are material developments on the matter.
“As such, what is crucial is for Syarizal
The appeals were filed after the belea- to be authorised by the Finance Minis-
guered oil and gas group’s originating sum- ter, and registered with the AOB (Audit
mons and injunction application were dis- Oversight Board). As provided for under
missed on March 8 by the High Court here. the terms of the letter of engagement, EY
Consulting is entitled to contract with E&Y
Through the lawsuit initiated last No- PLT to obtain the services of Syarizal,” he
vember, Serba Dinamik had sought a reportedly said.
declaration that EY Consulting was not
a qualified auditor, and that it had misrep- Hence, the judge found that the ap-
resented to Serba Dinamik that it could pointment of EY Consulting was rightly
be appointed to undertake the special re- done in accordance with the Main Market
view, an appointment that Serba Dina- Listing Requirements (MMLR), and that
mik sought to be declared as void from there was no room for Serba Dinamik to
the beginning. argue that EY Consulting was not quali-
fied to be a special auditor.
But High Court judge Justice Datuk

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): EcoWorld EcoWorld says and funding costs under the shareholder
Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) Hasrat Budi agreement which requires Entomo Ma-
confirmed that its wholly-owned unit not involved in laysia and Raveenderen to purchase Has-
Hasrat Budi Sdn Bhd has filed a lawsuit management rat Budi’s existing 10% stake in MySJ.
seeking the removal of Tan Sri Shahril
Shamsuddin and Anuar Rozhan as di- of MySJ Entomo Malaysia is the developer of
rectors of MySJ Sdn Bhd. the MySejahtera application and was for-
by shazni ong merly known as KPISoft (M) Sdn Bhd.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the theedgemarkets.com It is 100% owned by Entomo Pte Ltd,
property developer said Hasrat Budi has which is based in Singapore.
a 10% stake in MySJ and is entitled to quent MySJ board meetings in February.
one board seat in the firm. The High Court has fixed June 9 to Raveenderen is the founder and chief
executive officer (CEO) of the company
“However, as an investor, Hasrat Budi hear the suit. while Anuar is its co-founder. The two
is not involved in the management or day- In its bourse filing, EcoWorld also con- of them and Shahril, the former group
to-day operations of MySJ,” it added. CEO of Sapura Energy Bhd, sit on the
firmed that Hasrat Budi recently exercised board of MySJ.
EcoWorld said the suit was filed to insist its put option to recover its investment
on Hasrat Budi’s strict contractual rights Raveenderen and Anuar also hold
pursuant to a shareholder agreement in stakes of 76% and 12% respectively in
relation to its shareholding in MySJ. Revolusi Asia, which is the nominee of
Entomo Malaysia.
The move, it said, is not expected to
have any material impact on the group’s The company, which reportedly en-
financial position. tered into a deal with MySJ to transfer
MySejahtera’s intellectual rights and
EcoWorld issued the filing followed an software licence to the latter in 2020
article inThe Edge CEO Morning Brief for RM338.6 million, in turn holds an
onTuesday (April 5) titled “MySJ share- 81.43% stake in MySJ.
holder seeks removal of Shahril Sham-
suddin, Anuar Rozhan as directors”. EcoWorld’s share price settled one sen
or 0.97% higher at RM1.04, bringing a
Apart from Shahril, Anuar and market capitalisation of RM3.06 billion.
MySJ, Hasrat Budi also named Raveen- Read also: MySJ shareholder seeks
deren Ramamoothie, Entomo Malaysia removal of Shahril Shamsuddin,
Sdn Bhd and Revolusi Asia Sdn Bhd Anuar Rozhan as directors Click here
as defendants in its suit, which con-
cerns the dispute that centres around
the shareholder agreement and subse-

wednesday april 6, 2022 9 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Hock Seng Hock Seng Lee acquisition of all the remaining shares not
Lee Enterprise Sdn Bhd (HSLE), which takeover offer of owned by the offer.
is taking Hock Seng Lee Bhd private at RM1.35 per share
RM1.35 per share, has extended the clos- Independent advisor Mercury Securi-
ing date of its takeover offer by two weeks extended to ties Sdn Bhd in its circular dated March
to April 21, 2022, from its initial deadline April 21 28 has deemed the offer as “not fair” as
of April 7. the offer price of RM1.35 represents a
by Adam Aziz discount between 60 sen (30.77%) and
HSLE together with persons acting in theedgemarkets.com 63 sen (31.82%) o over the range of esti-
concert (PACs) have raised their stake in mated value per share of HSL of between
HSL to 501.44 million shares or 91.25% RM1.95 and RM1.98 based on sum-of-
as of April 5, from 468.67 million shares parts valuation.
or 85.29% from when the offer was first
made, HSL filing showed. Howeer Mercury Securities said the offer
is “reasonable” as it provides an opportunity
“Save for the extended closing date, all for minority shareholders to exit the Sar-
other details and the terms and conditions awak-based marine engineering and con-
as set out in the offer document remain struction company, whose shares are illiquid.
unchanged,” according to a letter from the
offeror announcing the extension. Shares of HSL traded around the RM1-
mark prior to the news of the takeover.The
The takeover offer was first announced counter last traded unchanged at RM1.35,
on Feb 17 involving HSLE, where the joint giving the group a market capitalisation of
ultimate offerors comprised DatukYu Chee RM786.61 million.
Hoe, Tang Sing Ngiik, Vincent Yu Yuong Read also: Analysts advise Hock Seng Lee
Yih and TonyYuYuong Wee. minority shareholders to accept takeover
offer Click here
Based on acquisition rules, HSLE
would need to secure an acceptance level
of 96% in order to trigger a compulsory

Sarawak Sarawak Deputy
deputy premier Premier Datuk
unhappy with Amar Douglas
RM485 mil road Uggah Embas.
project progress

Bernama

KUCHING (April 5): Sarawak Dep- The project’s three packages com- “If we rely on briefings in the office,
uty Premier Datuk Amar Douglas prised a four-lane bridge across Sar- it is not the same as visiting the project
Uggah Embas is dissatisfied with the awak River near Sejingkat which costs sites where we can see and gauge the
progress of the over RM485 million RM365,737,131, upgrading of 7.5 kilo- actual situations. If there are problems,
government-funded Kuching-Samara- metres of the Kampung Tanjung Bako we and JKR can talk to the contrac-
han Coastal Link Road project, which road (RM37,499,160) and construction tors concerned to find ways to solve
faces problems that can be solved. of the seven-kilometre new road from them,” he said.
Kampung Tanjung Bako to the Batang
Without specifying the problems, he Samarahan Bridge (RM81,844,554). He also said that four flyover pro-
said the state government was confi- jects along Penrissen Road which cost
dent of tackling the issues faced by the Uggah, who is also the state Infra- RM352,966,210 would be completed
project, which comprised three pack- structure and Ports Development Min- by this year, with the one located at
ages that were targeted to be complet- ister said he, along with his ministry’s the 4th mile of the road already com-
ed by March 2025. senior officers would conduct frequent pleted, the one at the 10th mile to be
inspection visits to the projects being completed in May, followed by the 6th
“The JKR (Public Works Depart- implemented to ensure that these would mile and 7th mile in June.
ment) has its standard operating pro- be completed on schedule.
cedure, strategies and the experience. “I wish to thank the contractor for
Some of the problems faced are not Uggah said the people had high expec- delivering as scheduled,” he added.
really unsolvable,” he said in a state- tations of the ministry and government to
ment issued by his office, following deliver the projects as scheduled, thus the Uggah said a proposal had also been
his visit to the project site on Tuesday importance of further tightening monitor- made to construct an underpass at the
(April 5). ing or supervising of the projects. Matang roundabout to smoothen traf-
fic flow in the northern part of the city.

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PLCs continue trend of venturing
into EV space in 1Q

KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Riding on by Izzul Ikram For its financial period ended June
the global interest in electric vehicles (EV), theedgemarkets.com 2021 (FY21) which covered an 18-month
a number of Malaysian listed companies period as DNeX changed its financial year
have tapped into this growing sector, with na-based Dongguan Tailing Motor Vehi- end to June 30 from Dec 31, it registered
the trend continuing in the first quarter cles Co Ltd to assemble, test, as well as a net profit of RM119.98 million.
of this year. run quality control and commission the
latter’s eBixon EV Bike. EPMB returned to the black for its
In January, Dagang NeXchange Bhd’s fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021
(DNeX) subsidiary Silterra Malaysia Sdn CSH Alliance Bhd announced its shift (4QFY21), with a net profit of RM2.74
Bhd, in anticipation of the elevated de- to the EV sector on the heels of its deci- million, from a net loss of RM7.13 mil-
mand for semiconductors, said it is invest- sion to scrap its plan to construct a glove lion in the immediate preceding quarter.
ing RM645 million in an expansion plan manufacturing plant.
to boost its annual capacity by 20% to 10 It remained in the red for the full FY21,
million mask layers. Last month, the group — which is in- although its net loss narrowed to RM8.19
volved in the manufacture of ceramic and million from RM15.16 million a year ago.
DNeX said the move will position the pottery products, moneylending, construc-
semiconductor wafer foundry to grow fur- tion, property development and logistics As for Ni Hsin, it posted a net loss of
ther, in view of the continued strong de- — said it entered into a memorandum of RM6.39 million for its financial year end-
mand for semiconductors and prevailing understanding (MoU) with BYD Malaysia ed Dec 31, 2021, compared to net prof-
capacity constraints within the industry Sdn Bhd to explore a partnership to dis- it of RM1.92 million a year ago, despite
due to the high demand of electric vehi- tribute fully electric commercial vehicles revenue rising to RM30.62 million from
cles, Internet-of-things (IoT), data centres and provide related after-sales services in RM25.29 million.
and electronic commerce. Malaysia.
CSH Alliance posted a net profit of
Meanwhile, early last month, auto parts Notably, it had called off its plans to RM40,000 for its second quarter end-
maker EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB) build a glove manufacturing plant, say- ed Dec 31, 2021 (2QFY22), against
said it had signed a memorandum of agree- ing the venture was not viable, given that a net loss of RM685,000 last year, on
ment (MoA) with CIS Pride Silver Rock it would be a late entrant into the sector, the back of revenue almost tripling to
Fund (CIS) and Sharkgulf Technologies which will require significant time and RM9.53 million from RM3.44 million
Group Ltd to undertake the manufactur- capital; CSH Alliance had earlier raised in 2QFY21.
ing and distribution of two-wheeled elec- RM103.61 million from a rights issue, of
tric vehicles for Malaysia and other South- which RM76.1 million was earmarked for Meanwhile, for the six months ended
east Asian countries. its glove venture. Dec 31, 2021 (6MFY22), its net loss con-
tracted to RM659,000 from RM888,000 a
Even companies whose core businesses Of the four companies, only DNeX year ago, as its revenue jumped over three-
are not related to automotives or semicon- is in the black, reporting a net profit of fold to RM17.12 million, from RM5.88
ductors want a slice of the EV pie. RM43.84 million for its second financial million in the corresponding period of the
quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (2QFY22), previous year.
For instance, stainless steel cookware thanks to higher revenue contribution from
maker Ni Hsin Group Bhd said in March SilTerra, while its quarterly revenue stood Net loss at the group widened to
that it had inked an original equipment at RM353.31 million. RM16.6 million for its financial year end-
manufacturing agreement with Chi- ed June 30, 2021, from RM5.0 million
the year prior.

Companies that have announced EV-related ventures


Company Market cap Announcement Nature of venture Date issued

Ni Hsin Group Bhd RM52.54m inked original equipment manufacturing agreement original equipment 3/23/2022
with China-based Dongguan Tailing Motor Vehicle Co Ltd manufacturing
to assemble and test as well as run quality control and agreement

commission eBixon EV Bike.



CSH Alliance Bhd RM200.3m signed memorandum of understanding with BYD MoU 3/22/2022
Malaysia Sdn Bhd to distribute fully electric

commercial vehicles.


EP Manufacturing Bhd RM244.97m signed memorandum of agreement with CIS Pride MoA 3/8/2022

Silver Rock Fund and Sharkgulf Technologies Group Ltd

to manufacture and distribute two-wheeled electric vehicles.

Dagang NeXchange Bhd RM3.25b subsidiary semiconductor wafer foundry SilTerra Malaysia capacity expansion 1/24/2022
Sdn Bhd to invest RM645m to boost its annual capacity investment
by 20%.

*Market cap as at Monday (April 4) market close
Sources: Bursa Malaysia and Bloomberg

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 5):The Feder- FMM: Low mandatory posting period under MyFu-
ation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) foreign labour tureJobs to be shortened, noting that the
has expressed concern over the low ap- legitimacy of the need to hire foreign work-
proval rate of foreign worker applications, application ers is established, as employers would not
saying it is a major challenge to the econ- approval could choose foreign workers if they can fill their
omy’s recovery. stifle recovery vacancies with local workers.

Noting that the manufacturing sector by Syafiqah Salim “On the seven-day quarantine period
recorded the highest number of applica- theedgemarkets.com for foreign workers which we understand
tions, FMM said in a statement: “The is still applicable, FMM has suggested for
0.55% approval rate is most troubling previously the FWCMS was only used for companies be allowed to take the workers
given the industry’s dire need of work- the application of the calling visa. to their accommodation facility to carry
ers to support their business recovery and out the quarantine period as well as all
expansion with the anticipated pickup in “Employers may not be entirely clear the necessary tests and medical check-
sales including external demand.” with the new application process flow and up that need to be done instead of at the
requirements thus leading to some of the government approved quarantine centres
Citing news reports, the statement said teething issues as cited in the media re- which are mainly located in the KlangVal-
there were applications that could not be ports,” the statement added. ley area only.
processed due to incomplete documents
and information, and there were also com- FMM also called for the current 30-day “This would shorten the waiting period
panies that exceeded their quota. for employers to process the work permits
for the workers,” the statement said.
“FMM welcomes the fact that the ap-
plication process is now completely on- FMM said it hopes for more clarity and
line as this would ensure a more efficient consistency in the application process to
and transparent application process with expedite the approvals and entry of workers
minimal human intervention. Neverthe- to meet the industry’s labour needs, say-
less, it is important for the authorities to ing any further delay in obtaining work-
provide employers with a clear, consistent ers would seriously hinder the industry’s
and transparent process flow of the appli- sustainability and recovery.
cation process including the guidelines,
criteria, documentation, and terms and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri
conditions to ensure a smooth and expe- M Saravanan was reported saying that
ditious application process. 475,678 applications for the recruitment
of foreign workers had been received as
“This is particularly crucial given that of April 1.
the entire application process has now mi-
grated to the Foreign Worker Centralised The application for recruitment of for-
Management System (FWCMS) where eign workers in all sectors of employment
was open on Feb 15.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The cost Cost structure of services and this has been addressed in the
structure of hiring Indonesian domestic hiring Indonesian new PDI MoU,” he said.
workers (PDI) will be reviewed every three domestic workers
months by the Malaysia-Indonesia Joint Saravanan said through the MoU, em-
Working Group (JWG). to be reviewed ployers are expected to save RM2,000 to
every three RM3,000 on recruitment costs as there
According to Human Resources Minister months is no longer a quarantine requirement for
Datuk Seri M Saravanan, (pic) in a state- PDIs, except for those who tested positive
ment here on Tuesday (April 5), this is to Bernama during the Covid-19 screening test con-
ensure the cost structure is in line with cur- ducted in the country.
rent needs and takes into account changes in tional Labour Organisation (ILO),” he said.
transportation fares and cost of health test. Saravanan said the PDI MoU that

He said the PDI recruitment cost struc- signed on April 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia,
ture agreed through the Memorandum of was an improvement of the previous MoU
Understanding on the Recruitment and where the previous cost structure only out-
Protection of Indonesian Domestic Maids lined the components involved without
(PDI MoU) covered 15 cost components setting the price rate.
in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Various problems arose in the imple-
“Examples of cost components in Ma- mentation of the previous MoU due to the
laysia include Immigration Security De- fixed cost structure and it was too low com-
posit, insurance, health check, levy, and pared to the current market which caused
work permit. employers to have to pay more to get PDI

“Examples of cost components in In-
donesia include passport, work visa, health
certificates, competency certificate, and psy-
chological test. All PDI recruitment costs
are under the responsibility of the employers
in accordance with the Fair Recruitment
Initiative guidelines issued by the Interna-

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Najib’s 1MDBTanore trial: 1MDB board
misled by ‘rosy picture’ that funds
were repatriated, says Ismee

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5):The board by Timothy Achariam & Tarani Palani loan trickled to Bridge Global Absolute
of directors in 1MDB was happy after giv- theedgemarkets.com Return Fund SPC and then to Brazen
en a “rosy picture” by former CEO Mohd Sky, which was in turn then transferred
Hazem Abdul Rahman that the compa- the edge file photo to 1MDB Global Investments Limited.
ny’s huge investment of US$2.3 billion in
an unknown fund will be easily liquidated Tan Sri Ismee Ismail However, the board was not shown that
and returned, said former directorTan Sri money had gone from 1MDB Global to
Ismee Ismail. “custodian bank” for the sham investment. Aabar Investments PJS Limited (Sey-
Ismee was testifying on the repatria- chelles) or what is now known as the fake
The 1MDB board was told by Mohd Aabar.
Hazem that one-third of the money will be tion of these funds from Cayman Islands,
returned by September 2014, and that the where he said he did not know at the ma- Shafee referred to this as “the biggest
remainder would be returned by March terial time that the investment was a sham fraud ever pulled” and asked Ismee to com-
2015, said Ismee, who is a prosecution investment. ment on this.
witness at the 1MDB-Tanore trial of for-
mer Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Ab- 1MDB management told the board that Shafee: Now that you know, what is
dul Razak. loans totalling US$1.225 billion was re- your comment?
patriated money
1MDB chief financial officer (CFO) Ismee: Not nice to say during the Holy
Azmi Tahir also briefed about the money In the 1MDB board meeting on Oct Month.
coming back, to the delight of the board 20, 2014, then-CFO Azmi also told the
members, Ismee said. board that a total of US$870 million had Shafee: Holy Month also you have to
been redeemed as of mid-October 2014. tell the truth.
Ismee said this from the witness stand Another US$300 million would have been
onTuesday (April 5), as defence lawyerTan redeemed within the next few days, the Ismee: I’ve said it last November when
Sri Shafee Abdullah walked him through meeting minutes showed. I was here and I would still say the same
the meeting minutes where Hazem had thing.The board was misled.
guaranteed that the money would be re- However, the repatriation of the funds
patriated. turned out to be untrue.What was present- In November, according to The Edge
ed as the repatriated funds were actually reports, Ismee said: “After going through
The fund in question was from US$1 from 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, which all of this from the information in this trial
billion meant to be an overseas investment obtained two loans totalling US$1.225 bil- and news reports, my assumption was that
in 2009 by 1MDB (using money origi- lion from Deutsche Bank Singapore. the board [in 1MDB] was being used to
nating from a RM5 billion Islamic bond make the transactions seem legitimate, to
issued by 1MDB’s predecessorTerengga- Deutsche Bank’s US$1.225 billion loan the extent that misleading information was
nu Investment Authority) in exchange for was made up of a US$250 million bridging given to us and even concealing informa-
shares in a joint venture company with loan and a facility loan of US$975 million. tion from the board,” he said during his
Petrosaudi Ltd. examination-in-chief conducted by pros-
In the proceeding, Shafee walked Is- ecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.
1MDB then converted its US$1 billion mee through how the loans were used to
stake in the JV company with Petro Saudi dupe the board that these were the repat- He said had he known the full or com-
into a US$1.2 billion Islamic loan to the riated sum. plete picture of the financial misdeeds of
same company, and then gave out addi- the company, he would have turned down
tional US$830 million in loans. Shafee showed how on numerous oc- the appointment to be a board member
casions, money from the US$975 million from the get-go.
The loans were then converted into
a 49% stake in PetroSaudi Oil Services “How would I have acted differently if
Ltd (PSOSL). The stake was then sold I would have known? I would’ve not taken
for US$2.3 billion to an unknown fund, up the appointment to be a board mem-
Bridge Partners International Investments ber,” he told Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence
Limited, by Brazen Sky Ltd, a special pur- Sequerah.
pose vehicle of 1MDB.
Najib has pleaded not guilty to 25
Through this, Brazen Sky and effective- charges linked to abuse of power and mon-
ly 1MDB, received US$2.318 billion in the ey laundering over hundreds of millions
form of six promissory notes, which turned of dollars of funds received in his personal
out to be “worthless pieces of paper”. bank accounts.

The management of 1MDB had alleg- The charges include four counts of
edly misled the board to say that they had abuse of power involving RM2.28 billion
invested the promissory notes in the Cay- in 1MDB funds and 21 counts of money
man Islands under a hedge fund called laundering, including nine counts of re-
Bridge Global Absolute Return Fund SPC, ceiving illegal proceeds, five counts of us-
with BSI Bank in Singapore acting as the ing illegal proceeds, and seven counts of
transferring the proceeds to other entities.
He faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment, if
convicted.

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High Court overturns MIA’s decision
to not strike outTony Pua’s complaint

against Deloitte partner

the edge file photo

by Izzul Ikram
theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The High to not dismiss Pua’s complaint was also (YA) has made and the various grounds
Court here onTuesday (April 5) overturned invalid by reason of illegality, as the com- thatYA has given just now, the DC will have
the Malaysian Institute of Accountants mittee had failed to give effect to the law to appeal because this matter has conse-
(MIA) Disciplinary Committee’s (DC) de- that regulates its litigation making power, quences beyond just this matter,” he said.
cision to not strike out a complaint lodged namely the MIA Rules 2001.
by Damansara member of parliamentTony In response, Malik said that he had no
Pua (pic) against Deloitte PLT partner Ng “By referring the dismissal application to qualms with an interim stay to be granted
Yee Hong. the IC, DC had failed to observe the proce- for DC to apply a formal application for a
dural rules that are expressly laid down in stay on the mandamus order.
Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan the litigation instrument, expressly the MIA
Salleh, during proceedings conducted via Rules, by which its jurisdiction is conferred. Justice DatukWan Ahmad Farid granted
Zoom, said the DC’s decision was “tainted two weeks for the stay application to be filed
with procedural impropriety” and ordered “To begin with, the dismissal application and fixed case management for April 21.
the decision to be quashed, with no order was made to the DC, it had to make that
as to costs. decision independently and autonomously. Deloitte took over the audit of 1MDB’s
There is nothing in the MIA Rules which accounts from KPMG in December 2013
“The impugned decision is tainted with allows DC to refer to the IC for a legal — after KPMG was reportedly dismissed
procedural impropriety which is amenable opinion or otherwise on the matter that is to by the company following a difference in
to judicial review. In making the impugned be decided exclusively by the DC,” he said. opinion on the fair value of 1MDB’s in-
decision, DC had failed to act in a manner vestment in Bridge Global SPC through
that is both independent and autonomous. After Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Brazen Sky Ltd.
delivered his decision, Ng’s counsel Datuk
“The impugned decision is also invalid Malik Imtiaz Sarwar asked the High Court Deloitte verified the accounts for the
by reason of illegality in that the DC had judge whether there would be a mandamus 2013 and 2014 financial years with an
failed to give effect to the law that regu- or consequential order to compel DC to unqualified opinion without any qualifi-
lates the litigation making power,” he said. strike out Pua’s complaint. cation or emphasis on the matter. It quit
as 1MDB’s auditor in 2016.
Pua filed a complaint with the MIA on The High Court judge clarified that this
May 25, 2015, pertaining to the audit that was a mandamus or consequential order 1MDB subsequently said the audited
Ng signed off in relation to the financial and that DC was compelled by the court reports issued by Deloitte in connection
accounts of 1Malaysia Development Bhd to dismiss the complaint. with its 2013 and 2014 financial statements
(1MDB) between 2013 and 2014. should no longer be relied upon.
The DC’s counsel, John Matthews, said Read also: Jamaludin Jarjis’ widow seeks to
However, prior to Pua’s complaint, a that the DC would appeal the High Court’s amend claim on matrimonial assets worth
preceding complaint was lodged with the decision, and would apply for a stay on RM2 bil Click here
MIA by Andrew Anand Solomon Deva- the mandamus order pending the appeal.
sahayam on March 31, 2015, which the
DC decided upon, while Pua’s complaint “Bearing in mind the decisionYang Arif
is understood to be ongoing.

Ng sought the judicial review against
the DC’s decision for not striking out Pua’s
complaint based on the principle of res ju-
dicata — a legal doctrine meant to bar the
relitigation or duplicate hearings between
the same parties.

In delivering this decision, Justice Datuk
Wan Ahmad Farid noted that the remedy
for judicial reviews does not concern the
merits of the decision in question, but rath-
er primarily a review of the decision-mak-
ing process.

The High Court judge said that the
DC had failed to act in a manner that was
both “independent and autonomous” as
it sought the MIA Investigation Commit-
tee’s (IC) legal opinion pertaining to the
dismissal application of Pua’s complaint.

In turn, he added that the DC’s decision

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Zahid files defamation suit against
Muhyiddin over trial intervention claims

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): A spat be- by hafiz yatim er could not be trusted in his actions or
tween former deputy prime minister Datuk theedgemarkets.com decisions.
Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former
prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stagram,Whatsapp,Telegram andTiktok. It also meant that he was willing to vio-
over claims the former had sought help He is also seeking the removal of the late the law for his own personal interests.
from the latter when he was premier to
intervene in criminal proceedings against video recordings in which Muhyiddin is “It also meant that he was the instiga-
him will now continue in court. alleged to have uttered the defamatory tor causing the statewide Johor election
words on several news portals including and that he does not respect the Johor
Ahmad Zahid, who is also UMNO pres- on Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Facebook royal institution and that he had acted
ident, on Monday (April 4) filed a defama- page dated Feb 16 this year. in his own interests and had put aside
tion suit against Muhyiddin, who is pres- the interest of UMNO’s constitution,”
ident of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. Ahmad Zahid in his statement of the SOC added.
claim (SOC) alleged prior to the filing
The suit filed by Messrs Shahrul Hami- of the suit on Monda that his lawyers ‘Defamatory words uttered with
di & Haziq was sighted by theedgemarkets. had sent a notice of demand dated Feb malice’
com in a file search. 23, 2022 requiring Muhyiddin to cease Ahmad Zahid alleged the defamatory
and desist from repeating and contin- statement had resulted in his reputation
Muhyiddin made the allegations during uing in making the defamatory words, as UMNO president, BN chairman and
the Johor election campaign in Mersing pay RM10 million in damages and make Bagan Datoh MP being tarnished, result-
last Feb 16. a public apology. ing in his credibility being questioned.

The UMNO president is, among oth- He strongly denied having met Muhy- He further alleged there was malice in
ers, seeking a permanent injunction to iddin in bringing his purported criminal Muhyiddin coming out with the statement
stop Muhyiddin from repeating the de- files to seek the then prime minister’s help as PN was one of the coalitions contesting
famatory words, and aggravated, general to solve his ongoing criminal cases. in the Johor election.
and exemplary damages deemed fit by
the court. What the words meant The effect of those words being uttered,
Ahmad Zahid said the defamatory words Ahmad Zahid said, had caused him to be
Messrs Shahrul Hamidi & Haziq also uttered by Muhyiddin meant he was not badly criticised by society, which in turn
filed a certificate of urgency to seek an ex qualified to be UMNO president and Ba- might have caused the people to lose trust
parte injunction against Muhyiddin. risan Nasional (BN) chairman. and confidence in him.

The hearing is fixed forWednesday be- He claimed that the words meant that Ahmad Zahid is currently on trial for
fore Justice Datuk Rozana AliYusoff. he was utilising shortcuts to resolve his graft charges. On Jan 24 this year, the
criminal cases due to his own personal High Court ordered Ahmad Zahid to
Ahmad Zahid in his ex parte application interests. Moreover, he claimed the words enter his defence against 47 charges of
is seeking an interim injunction to prevent meant that he as a member of parliament breach of trust, corruption and money
Muhyiddin or his agents from repeating (MP) and the most senior UMNO lead- laundering involving Akalbudi Founda-
the purported defamatory words, cause tion funds after finding that the prose-
to publish or publish the purported de- cution had succeeded in proving a pri-
famatory words on Facebook,Twitter, In- ma facie case against him. The trial will
proceed on April 26.
Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/The Edge
The UMNO president also faces 40
Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi charges of graft for allegedly receiving
funds from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd, the
company awarded a contract extension for
a Malaysia foreign visa system, electronic
visa and one-stop centre (OSC) services
in China.

Of the 40 charges, 33 involve charges
of receiving bribes amounting to about
S$13.56 million from Ultra Kirana for,
among others, a contract extension involv-
ing Ultra Kirana’s foreign visa system and
OSC services in China.

As for the remaining seven charges,
according to news reports, Ahmad Za-
hid in his capacity as then home minis-
ter is alleged to have obtained for himself
bribes denominated in different curren-
cies comprising S$1.15 million, RM3 mil-
lion, €15,000 and US$15,000 from Ultra
Kirana.

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Pakatan Harapan ment that there are no changes to the notice Former Perak
pledges full of the Dewan Rakyat special sitting scheduled excos want
for April 11 as distributed to MPs,” it said.
support for anti- MACC to probe
party hopping bill The statement was jointly issued by airport land sale
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,
Bernama Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, DAP Bernama
secretary-general Anthony Loke and United
KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Pakatan Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) IPOH (April 5): Four Perak state ex-
Harapan (PH) has given an assurance that president Datuk SeriWilfred MadiusTangau. ecutive council (exco) members in the
all its Members of Parliament (MPs) will previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) gov-
support the Federal Constitution (Amend- The council said that inTuesday’s meet- ernment have called for the Malaysian
ments) (Anti-Party Hopping) Bill, which is ing, Anwar, as the opposition leader, also Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
scheduled to be tabled in a special sitting of raised the issue of MySejahtera being al- to investigate the sale of land proposed
the Dewan Rakyat next Monday (April 11). legedly under foreign ownership. for the development of an international
airport in Seri Iskandar.
The PH Presidential Council, in a state- It said this issue needs a full explanation
ment on Tuesday, said the coalition’s top in the Dewan Rakyat. The former state executive council
leaders met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Read also: members are Pasir Pinji assemblyman
Ismail SabriYaakob in the morning to get Lawyer proposes recall petition instead of Howard Lee Chuan How, Manjoi assem-
clarification of the status of the Bill. anti-party-hopping legislation Click here blyman Datuk Asmuni Awi, Sungai Rap-
at assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohammad
“The prime minister has given his commit- Three main criteria to define party- Nizar Jamaluddin and Simpang Pulai
hopping by MPs — minister Click here assemblyman Tan Kar Hing.

news In brief According to Lee, the sale of the
188-hectare land belonging to the Perak
Samaiden proposes two-for-three bonus issue State Development Corporation (PKNP)
KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Samaiden Group Bhd has proposed a bonus issue of up to 224 to a private company was never discussed
million shares on the basis of two bonus shares for every three existing shares held. This is in any exco meeting or by the PKNP board
based on its existing 231 million issued shares and assuming full exercise of all its 105 million of directors during the PH administration.
warrants into new Samaiden shares prior to the bonus issue, the engineering, procurement,
construction and commissioning (EPCC) service provider said. Based on the five-day volume “We believe that there are parties who
weighted average price (VWAP) of Samaiden shares up to March 30, and the lowest daily took advantage by abusing their power to
VWAP of its shares during the past three months up to March 30, the theoretical ex-bonus negotiate quietly with the land buyer with-
price for its shares is expected to be between 62.6 sen and 58 sen. The company said the out the knowledge of the then state execu-
bonus issue is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year. — by Justin Lim tive council or the PKNP board of directors.

Candy maker Khee San diversifies into pharmaceutical product distribution “Apart from wanting to clean PH’s
KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Khee San Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Khee San Marketing Sdn reputation, the report made to the
Bhd has entered into two distribution agreements which include a deal with pharmaceutical MACC today (Tuesday, April 5) is also
product manufacturer Jardin Pharma Bhd, from which Khee San Marketing secured the to demand a complete and detailed in-
exclusive right to distribute Jardin Pharma’s products for two years. Khee San said Khee San vestigation into the parties involved in
Marketing’s agreement with Jardin Pharma will allow Khee San Marketing to be the sole the power abuse,” he told reporters after
distributor of Jardin Pharma’s products for two years from March 15, 2022 until March 14, accompanying Asmuni to hand over the
2024 in a diversification push which enables Khee San to “derive alternative revenue sources report to the Perak MACC office here.
and earn the relevant profit margins from such activities”. Khee San Marketing has also
entered into a similar agreement with Long Sheng Da Foodstuff Sdn Bhd. — by Justin Lim Last Thursday, Menteri Besar Datuk
Seri Saarani Mohamad was reported to
Non-medical face mask manufacturers, importers must apply for SIRIM have said that the land was sold to a pri-
certification beginning July 4 vate company when the state was under
PUTRAJAYA (April 5): Effective July 4, manufacturers and importers of non-medical face the administration of the PH government.
masks must apply for MS SIRIM certification and labelling from SIRIM QAS International
Sdn Bhd. The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) in a statement He said that during the Barisan Na-
on Tuesday (April 5) said the ruling comes following the gazetting of the Trade Descriptions sional administration, the land was re-
(Certification and Marking) of Non-Medical Face Mask Order 2022 under the Trade served for PKNP for the building an
Descriptions Act 2011 on Tuesday. According to KPDNHEP, the move is to ensure that international airport.
non-medical face masks produced locally or imported comply with the set safety standards
set. “The MS SIRIM label must be placed on the boxes or packages and are easily visible to Prior to that, Aulong assemblyman
consumers. “The MS SIRIM label indicates that the non-medical face mask products have Nga Kor Ming, during the recent Per-
met the standards, are of quality and safe to use,” said the ministry. — Bernama ak State Legislative Assembly sitting,
claimed that the site proposed for the
construction of an international airport
in Seri Iskandar had been sold without
the state government’s permission.

Meanwhile, Perak MACC director
Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohamad, when
contacted by Bernama, confirmed hav-
ing received the report.

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(April 5): Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard says ing how inflation has diverse impacts across
Brainard (pic) called the task of reducing in- Fed to shrink income brackets, with lower-earning house-
flation pressures “paramount” and said the balance sheet holds spending 77% of their income on
central bank will raise interest rates steadily rapidly as soon necessities versus 31% for higher-income
while starting balance sheet reduction as households.
soon as next month. as May
Brainard’s policy comments suggest she
The Federal Open Market Committee by Craig Torres is somewhere near the median estimate of
“will continue tightening monetary policy Bloomberg seven rate increases this year, but also pre-
methodically through a series of interest rate pared to go faster if inflation doesn’t subside.
increases and by starting to reduce the bal- bloomberg
ance sheet at a rapid pace as soon as our “Currently, inflation is much too high
May meeting,” Brainard said onTuesday in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “seismic” and is subject to upside risks,” she said.“The
remarks prepared for a speech to the Min- geopolitical risk and human tragedy that that committee is prepared to take stronger ac-
neapolis Fed. skews inflation risk to the upside. tion if indicators of inflation and inflation
expectations indicate that such action is
“Given that the recovery has been con- The consumer price index soared 7.9% warranted.”
siderably stronger and faster than in the in February, the most since 1982.The Fed’s
previous cycle, I expect the balance sheet 2% inflation target is based on a separate “On the other side, I am attentive to sig-
to shrink considerably more rapidly than measure, the personal consumption ex- nals from the yield curve at different hori-
in the previous recovery, with significant- penditures price index, which rose 6.4% zons and from other data that might sug-
ly larger caps and a much shorter period in the 12 months through February. gest increased downside risks to activity,”
to phase in the maximum caps compared she said.
with 2017–19,” she added. Officials next She spent much of her remarks describ-
meet May 3-4. Investors bet that the Fed will raise rates
by a half point at its May meeting. Brainard
The US central bank ended asset pur- did not make it clear where she stood on
chases last month and raised interest rates that point and was not asked directly about it
a quarter percentage point, while forecast- during the moderated question-and-answer
ing at least six more increases for the rest session that followed her prepared remarks.
of this year to curb the hottest inflation in
four decades. Brainard’s comments raised But Kansas City Fed President Esther
the significance of asset runoff to the FO- George said a half-point increase would be
MC’s sense of overall tightening. on the table when policy makers meet next
month.
“The reduction in the balance sheet will
contribute to monetary policy tightening “I think that 50 basis points is going to
over and above the expected increases in be an option that we’ll have to consider,”
the policy rate reflected in market pricing she said in a Bloomberg Television interview
and the committee’s Summary of Economic with Michael McKee. “We have to be very
Projections,” she said, referring to the Fed’s deliberate and intentional as we remove this
quarterly forecasts. accommodation.”
Read also: Stocks, bonds fall after hawkish
Brainard, who is awaiting Senate con- Brainard remarks Click here
firmation to become Fed vice chair, said

(April 5): Oil fluctuated in choppy trade Oil steadies as 2008 in the first quarter as Russia’s inva-
as a surging dollar offset expectations for stronger dollar sion disrupted supplies in an already tight
tighter supplies after the European Union offsets supply market faced with roaring demand and
said it was working on more sanctions on dwindling stockpiles. The US and UK
Russia, including oil imports. uncertainty already moved to ban Russian oil, and
mounting civilian casualties in Ukraine
West Texas Intermediate traded near by Alex Longley, Devika Krishna Kumar are piling pressure on governments to
US$103 after earlier advancing to above & Elizabeth Low take further steps against Russia.
US$105 a barrel. European Commission
President UrsulaVon Der Leyen saidTues- theedgemarkets.com The “EU and the US have been strug-
day the group is working on further measures gling with Russian energy exports,” said
that will include sanctions on oil imports. holders of other currencies. Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities an-
Germany’s foreign affairs minister said the “Oil prices have given up earlier gains, alyst at SEB AB. “They want to sanction
bloc will exit Russian fossil fuels, starting Russian energy, but the market needs the
with coal. suffering from a risk off environment and a energy, and the EU especially so, with re-
stronger dollar,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a spect to natural gas and oil products.”
Rising energy prices are a key factor in commodity analyst at UBS GroupAG.“Also Click here for the full story
surging inflation across countries and US the European Commission excluding Rus- Read also: French power prices to surge
Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard sian crude from the fifth round of Europe- to €3,000 per megawatt-hour — report
said the US central bank will continue to an sanction might have weighed on prices.” Click here
tighten policy methodically and shrink its
balance sheet at a rapid pace as soon as Oil rallied to the highest level since
May. Oil’s gains were capped after a jump
in the dollar following the news. A strong-
er dollar makes crude more expensive for

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NEWYORK/WASHINGTON (April 5): US stops Russian Default worries
The United States stopped the Russian bond payments Russia does have the wherewithal to pay
government on Monday from paying hold- in bid to raise from reserves, since sanctions have fro-
ers of its sovereign debt more than US$600 zen roughly half of some US$640 billion
million from reserves held at US banks, in pressure on in Russia’s gold and foreign currency re-
a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow serves.
Moscow and eat into its holdings of dollars.
by Megan Davies & Alexandra Alpe But a drawdown would add pressure
Under sanctions put in place after Rus- Reuters just as the United States and Europe are
sia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, foreign planning new sanctions this week to punish
currency reserves held by the Russian reuters Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine.
central bank at US financial institutions
were frozen. bank so far, was stopped by the Treasury, Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a
a source familiar with the matter said. “special military operation”. Ukraine and
But theTreasury Department had been the West say the invasion was illegal and
allowing the Russian government to use The correspondent bank processes the unjustified. Images of a mass grave and the
those funds to make coupon payments on coupon payments from Russia, sending bound bodies of people shot at close range
dollar-denominated sovereign debt on a them to the payment agent to distribute drew an international outcry on Monday.
case-by-case basis. to overseas bondholders.
Russia, which has a total of 15 interna-
On Monday, as the largest of the pay- The country has a 30-day grace peri- tional bonds outstanding with a face value
ments came due, including a US$552.4 od to make the payment, the source said. of around US$40 billion, has managed to
million principal payment on a maturing avoid defaulting on its international debt
bond, the US government decided to cut despite unprecedentedWestern sanctions.
off Moscow’s access to the frozen funds, But the task is getting harder.
according to a USTreasury spokesperson.
“What they’re basically tying to do is
An US$84 million coupon payment was force their hand and put even more pres-
also due on Monday on a 2042 sovereign sure on (to deplete) foreign-currency re-
dollar bond. serves back home,” said David Wolber, a
sanctions lawyer at Gibson Dunn in Hong
The move was meant to force Moscow Kong.
to make the difficult decision of whether
it would use dollars that it has access to “If they have to do that, obviously that
for payments on its debt or for other pur- takes away from Russia’s ability to use
poses, including supporting its war effort, those dollars for other activities, in essence
the spokesperson said. to fund the war.”

Russia faces a historic default if it It may also put pressure on Russian
chooses to not do so. demands to be paid roubles for gas by
European customers, he added.
“Russia must choose between drain-
ing remaining valuable dollar reserves or Read also: Zelenskiy says Ukraine-Rus-
new revenue coming in, or default,” the sia talks the only option to end war
spokesperson said. Click here

JPMorgan Chase & Co, which had been
processing payments as a correspondent

LONDON (April 5):The European Union EU proposes ban with knowledge of the discussions.
is proposing to ban coal imports from Russia on Russian coal Year-ahead futures for coal delivered
in a direct response to reports that Russian imports, ships
forces committed apparent war crimes in after atrocities to northwest Europe jumped as much as
Ukraine, European Commission President 7.9% to US$205 a ton. Russia supplies
Ursula von der Leyen said onTuesday. by Alberto Nardelli & Jorge Valero about half of the continent’s thermal coal,
Bloomberg used to fuel its power stations and gener-
The action on coal — which von der ate electricity.
Leyen said would amount to €4 billion Leyen said, with exceptions allowed for ag-
(US$4.4 billion) a year — would allow for ricultural products, humanitarian aid and The EU isn’t planning to sanction oil
a three-month wind-down before a ban on energy. or gas for now, despite intense pressure
new contracts, according to two people fa- to inflict more economic pain on Mos-
miliar with the matter. “These atrocities cannot and will not be cow, the people said. But EU nations are
left unanswered,” von der Leyen said. deeply split over the next steps and some
The EU will also push ahead with a de- governments are continuing to push for
bate on targeting Russian oil, including per- Germany, which had previously blocked at least a signal this week that the bloc is
haps an escrow account to freeze extra prof- efforts to embargo Russian energy, is ready looking to reduce Russian oil imports, one
its, von der Leyen said. to consider a Russian coal ban and is in of the people said.
discussion with the EU about the timing of Click here for the full story
The coal provision was added to a pack- such a move, according to a German official Read also: Putin’s daughters risk EU sanc-
age of steps aimed at strengthening existing tions amid outrage over Ukraine Click here
measures and correcting loopholes that was
already set to be debated this week by EU
ambassadors.The European Commission is
also proposing to ban most Russian trucks
and ships from entering the bloc, von der

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US isn’t seeking a ‘divorce’
from China, trade chief says

BY PHILIP J HEIJMANS, ERIC MARTIN
& HASLINDA AMIN
Bloomberg

(April 5): The US is seeking to realign its adequately justify its decision to expand tariffs what it calls an “Indo-Pacific NATO”.
commercial ties with China rather than on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Tai rejected those concerns, saying the pur-
seek a “divorce” between the world’s big- Chinese goods, and the Biden administration
gest economies, trade chief Katherine Tai must present a fuller explanation to keep them. pose of the economic framework is for the US
said on Tuesday (April 5). and its partners “to collaborate on key eco-
Tai said she couldn’t comment on the re- nomic issues and emerging global challenges”.
Asked in an interview whether US-Chi- view but noted the China tariffs were having
na tensions could lead to decoupling,Tai an impact, particularly regarding trade flows The Biden administration has said talks
said the Biden administration’s policy is fo- in Southeast Asia. Still, she added that it is on the framework are focused on supply
cused instead on “realignment in the global an open question on whether the tariffs are chains resiliency, including for semicon-
economy”. That includes addressing the effective “with respect to how we intend to ductors and technology, as well as fair
lack of visibility, accountability and diver- realign our relationship with China on trade trade, clean energy, taxation and anti-cor-
sity in supply chains that has led to disrup- and economic matters”. ruption measures.They’re also expected to
tions in recent years, she told Bloomberg include digital issues like data localisation
Television’s Haslinda Amin in Singapore. Tai is on a three-day trip to Singapore and cross-border data flows.
focused on strengthening the US relation-
“I would focus really on the kinds of ship and identifying areas of cooperation US lawmakers have criticised the ad-
changes that we’re trying to bring, which through the Indo-Pacific Economic Frame- ministration for failing to include negotia-
are really not about stopping trade or trade work, which is part of US President Joe tions on lowering tariffs, a traditional goal
divorce,” Tai said. “They’re really about Biden’s strategy to play a bigger role in Asia of trade deals, in its plans for the frame-
bringing reform and a more strategic ap- to counter China. The Biden administra- work. In the interview,Tai dismissed critics
proach to trade.” tion has made clear that it doesn’t plan to who say that US policy lacks ambition.
rejoin the 11-nation Comprehensive and
Tai’s remarks follow a congressional hear- Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific “For the people who are criticising our
ing last week where she said discussions with Partnership, which was abandoned under trade policy, it is either because they are
China had become “unduly difficult” and the predecessor DonaldTrump.That’s left an not hearing us when we describe what
US needs new tools to stand against anti-com- opening for Beijing, which is vying to join it. our objectives are, which is to bring a new
petitive behaviour by the world’s second-larg- approach to trade that ensures that trade
est economy. She told lawmakers it is time to Countries like Singapore have urged policy can be and is a force for good,” she
forget about changing China’s behaviour and Washington to focus on trade with Asian said. “And I think that some of the other
instead focus on rebuilding the US industrial nations wary of being forced to pick sides critics are impatient.”
manufacturing base and making domestic in- in the broader competition with China, Read also: US trade gap stays close to re-
vestments to counter the Asian nation. which has accused the US of seeking to cord as services surplus narrows Click here
divide the region into blocs and create
In the interview, Tai gave few details
of specifics on dealing with China, sim-
ply saying her office is seeking to “cre-
ate incentives for our economic actors to
ensure that this relationship is one that
feels balanced, that is fair.” She also ex-
pressed scepticism when asked about Chi-
na’s moves to remove a key sticking point
in its audit dispute with the US.

“As a trade negotiator, I know that the
devil’s always in the details,” she said.

In early 2020, after a two-year tariff war,
the US and China agreed to the so-called
Phase 1 deal, with the US reducing some
duties in exchange for Beijing pledging to
address intellectual-property theft and buy
US$200 billion (about RM841.8 billion)
in energy, farm and manufactured goods
along with services through last Decem-
ber.The US Trade Representative is now
facing a review of the first group of tariffs
on more than US$300 billion in Chinese
imports needed to prevent their expiration.

A US federal trade court last week also
ruled that theTrump administration failed to

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Whole of “Shanghai’s epidemic prevention and con- news In brief
Shanghai enters trol is at the most difficult and most critical
Covid lockdown stage,”Wu Qianyu, an official with the mu- China’s central bank adds 6 more
nicipal health commission, told a briefing. cities to digital yuan testing —
despite lower report
symptomatic cases “We must adhere to the general policy (April 5): The People’s Bank of China
of dynamic clearance without hesitation, (PBC) vowed to include six more
by David Stanway without wavering.” cities into digital yuan testing, and the
Reuters current number of cities that can use
Shanghai’s quarantine policy has been digital yuan has increased to 17, the
SHANGHAI (April 5): Chinese author- criticised for separating children from central bank said on its official website,
ities on Tuesday extended a lockdown in parents and putting asymptomatic cases said Global Times. The six newly added
Shanghai to cover all of the financial cen- among those with symptoms. Wu did not cities include municipalities of Tianjin
tre’s 26 million people, despite growing comment on the uproar over family separa- and Chongqing, Guangzhou in South
anger over quarantine rules in the city, tions. On Monday she insisted that children China’s Guangdong Province, Fuzhou
where latest results show only 268 symp- who tested positive had to be kept apart. and Xiamen in East China’s Fujian
tomatic daily COVID-19 cases. Province, and Hangzhou, the city that
One temporary treatment centre opened will host the 19th Asian Games in East
In a major test of China’s zero-tolerance a 1,000-bed section for treating parents and China’s Zhejiang Province. In addition,
strategy to eliminate the novel coronavirus, children, the Shanghai Children Medical multiple digital yuan trial settings
the government widened the lockdown to Center said on its social media account, in Beijing and Zhangjiakou in North
eastern parts of the city and extended until but it was not clear if the new section in- China’s Hebei Province during the 2022
further notice restrictions in western districts, dicated a wider change of policy. Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games
which had been due to expire onTuesday. will also be brought into the next trial,
Shanghai residents organised an online said Global Times. — theedgemarkets.com
The broader lockdown came after testing petition calling for asymptomatic children
saw asymptomatic COVID-19 cases surge to to be allowed to isolate at home, with at reuters
more than 13,000. Symptomatic cases fell on least 1,000 people signing but as of Tues-
Monday to 268, from 425 the previous day. day, it was no longer accessible on theWe-
Chat messaging app.
As a growing number of members of the
public shared comments and videos across The city has set up about 47,700 beds in
social media expressing frustration with a number of newly built temporary hospi-
the blanket lockdown, authorities showed tals in Shanghai, with another 30,000 being
no sign of wavering. readied, state news agency Xinhua reported
onTuesday, citing Gu Honghui, deputy sec-
retary general of the municipal government.

A total of 62 temporary quarantine sites
have been designated in hotels, stadiums
and exhibition centres, said Gu.
Click here for the full story

(April 5): Longi Green EnergyTechnology World’s biggest Huawei pays out US$9.65 bil
Co, the world’s largest solar company, said solar firm sees in dividends to current and
its profits will be cut by higher power costs at profits cut by retired staff
one of its key manufacturing hubs in China. power price hike
SHANGHAI (April 5): Huawei
Yunnan province, home to 54% of the by Dan Murtaugh Technologies paid out dividends
company’s wafering capacity, canceled the Bloomberg totalling 61.404 billion yuan ($9.65
preferential electricity prices it had been billion) to current and retired workers
offering Longi since 2016, the firm said looning coal and gas prices, and new solar in its employee shareholder scheme,
in an exchange filing Tuesday. Wafers are installations in China tripled in January according to a filing with the Shanghai
the ultra-thin slices of polysilicon that get and February compared to last year. Clearing House. Some 131,507 current
wired up and assembled into solar panels, and former workers are involved in the
and Longi is the world’s biggest produc- Electricity prices in China have been under shareholder scheme, according to the
er of them, according to BloombergNEF. pressure since last year, when a shortage of company’s 2021 annual report released
coal forced grids to curtail power to industri- last week. The company is private
Longi didn’t say how much higher its al users throughout most of the country.The and wholly owned by its employees, it
power bill will be now that it has to pay government used the crisis to push through said. The filing, published on Saturday,
market rates in the province. Electricity market reforms that allows utilities to charge does not break down the dividend
accounts for about 12% of wafer produc- more to large factories when coal prices rise. distribution. It comes as U.S. sanctions
tions costs, and Longi enjoyed a 50% dis- continue to weigh heavily on Huawei’s
count on power prices over one of its main Longi also said thatYunnan’s decision business, with full-year revenue
rivals, BNEF said in a March 2020 report. on power rates risks changing the compa- tumbling 29% last year to 636.8 billion
ny’s plans for expansion in the province. yuan. Net profit jumped by a record
Higher costs for Longi are coming in 76% to 113.7 billion yuan, but that was
the midst of a rare period of inflation for mainly due to the sale of its budget-
the solar supply chain. Wafers are about brand smartphone unit Honor and
76 cents a piece, up from 30 cents in the server businesses under U.S. pressure.
middle of 2020. Still, solar power cost in- — Reuters
creases have been small compared to bal-

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COLOMBO (April 5): At least 41 Sri Lan- Sri Lankan ing. Independent parliamentarians, howev-
kan lawmakers walked out of the ruling co- government er, could continue to support government
alition onTuesday, leaving the government in disarray as proposals in the house.
of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a mi- economic crisis
nority in parliament as it struggles with the “There are endless shortages of es-
country’s worst economic crisis in decades. deepens sentials including fuel and cooking gas.
Hospitals are on the verge of closing be-
In another setback for the adminis- BY UDITHA JAYASINGHE cause there are no medicines,” Maithripala
tration, Finance Minister Ali Sabry re- & DEVJYOT GHOSHAL Sirisena, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom
signed a day after his appointment and Reuters Party that withdrew its support for Ra-
ahead of crucial talks scheduled with the japaksa’s coalition, told parliament.
International Monetary Fund for a loan REUTERS
programme. “At such a time our party is on the side
coalition were announced by party leaders of the people.”
Rajapaksa dissolved his cabinet on Mon- in parliament. Shares rise
day and sought to form a unity government The Colombo Stock Exchange’s All-Share
as public unrest surged over the ruling fam- They have now become independent Index jumped about 6% as lawmakers made
ily’s handling of the debt-heavy economy members, leaving Rajapaksa’s government their positions clear inside parliament.
that has led to shortages of food, fuel and with fewer than the 113 members needed
medicines and prolonged power cuts. to maintain a majority in the 225-mem- Sirisena, together with other lawmak-
ber house. ers, called on the president and the prime
Possible next steps could be the ap- minister to present a clear plan to find a
pointment of a new prime minister replac- There has been no vote count yet, al- resolution for Sri Lanka’s financial mess.
ing the president’s elder brother, Mahinda though Rajapaksa’s minority government
Rajapaksa, or snap parliamentary elections could find decision-making more challeng- But opposition parties — reflecting the
much ahead of a scheduled vote in 2025. mood of a wave of protests sweeping the
country of 22 million people — urged the
There was no immediate indication two brothers to step down. A third brother,
what was being planned. Basil Rajapaksa, quit as finance minister
on Sunday.
Sabry said in his resignation letter he
believed he had “acted in the best interests The opposition parties have also rejected
of the country”. the move to form a unity government com-
prising all parties represented in parliament.
“At this crucial juncture the country
needs stability to weather the current fi- “There should not be a voice that is
nancial crisis and difficulties,” he said in contrary to the voice on the streets. And
the letter seen by Reuters. the voice is that there should be change,”
said Sajith Premadasa, leader of the Sa-
Street demonstrations against the magi Jana Balawegaya, Sri Lanka’s main
shortages, triggered by a lack of foreign opposition alliance.
exchange for imports, began last month
but have intensified in recent days, leading Click here for the full story
to clashes between protesters and police
in some instances.

Names of the 41 lawmakers to leave the

(April 5): Peru’s leader declared a curfew Peru orders little to appease bus drivers, most of them
in the capital Lima on Tuesday to stem curfew in Lima working informal jobs without fixed salaries.
violent protests against inflation that have
intensified in recent days, leading to clash- over violent The government deployed the army on
es with police, temporary food shortages inflation protests Monday after bus drivers blocked highways
and supply-chain disruptions. as part of a strike, extending a crisis that
BY MARÍA CERVANTES started last week when protesting truckers
President Pedro Castillo announced the Bloomberg and farmers interrupted the supply of food
curfew in an address to the nation, while to the capital. The country’s agricultural
declaring a state of emergency in Lima BLOOMBERG exports, including blueberries, avocados
and the nearby port city of Callao. The and grapes, are now suffering disruptions,
curfew will run from 2 a.m. local time to according to an association of exporters.
11:59 p.m., he said.
Housewives angry with rising food costs
Lawmakers and senior officials will be also joined the protests on Monday and
able to work as normal, and citizens in es- local media showed mini-markets being
sential businesses like pharmacies and su- looted in the southern region of Ica. School
permarkets will be allowed to move about classes were suspended untilTuesday amid
the city, Minister of Justice Felix Chero the chaos.
said in an interview with Radio Exitosa.
Consumer prices in Lima rose 6.82% in
Castillo, who just survived a second im- March from a year earlier, the most since
peachment attempt by congress last week, August 1998, the national statistics bureau
lowered fuel taxes and increased the min- said last week. Prices climbed 1.48% from
imum wage by 10% over the weekend to February, above the median forecast for a
help Peruvians struggling with the fastest 0.92% increase in a Bloomberg survey of
inflation in 24 years.Yet the measures did economists.

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EU push for troducing the global two-pillar solution,“ bloomberg
global minimum Rzeczkowska said. “We do not support sep-
tax falters again aration of the two pillars in the EU.” Australia’s
as Poland blocks central bank, no
Poland has in the past threatened to longer ‘patient’,
by William Horobin wield its veto powers. It did so most no-
Bloomberg tably over the EU’s plan to radically cut opens door to
greenhouse gas emissions, after Brussels tightening
(April 5): The European Union stumbled refused to approve its share of post-pan-
again in its attempt to quickly implement a demic stimulus package due to a separate by Wayne Cole
global deal for a minimum corporate tax at dispute around the country’s alleged dem- Reuters
15% as Poland continued to block progress. ocratic backsliding.
SYDNEY (April 5): Australia’s central
The Polish government is increasingly The inertia on implementing minimum bank on Tuesday opened the door to
isolated in its opposition to an EU directive tax is particularly vexing for France, which the first interest rate increase in more
on the matter.That’s after Sweden and Es- has set an objective of getting a deal by the than a decade as it dropped a previous
tonia dropped their opposition at a meeting end of its EU presidency in June. French pledge to be “patient” on policy, a ma-
in Luxembourg on Tuesday after winning officials have introduced concessions to jor surprise that sent the local dollar to
some concessions on implementation and Poland to make a stronger link in Europe nine-month highs.
flexibility. between the two parts of the global deal
which around 140 countries including all Wrapping up its April policy meeting,
Speaking at the meeting, Poland’s secre- EU states backed last year. the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
tary of state and head of the revenue admin- kept its cash rate at 0.1% but noted in-
istration Magdalena Rzeczkowska said there “Poland’s criticisms have been taken flation had picked up and was likely to
still isn’t a legally binding mechanism to tie into account and all member states have rise further, while unemployment had
the implementation of the minimum tax to made an effort to get to this consensus to fallen faster than expected to 4%.
the other part of the global deal, which is make major progress for international tax,”
related to the treatment of multinational French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire “Over coming months, important
technology firms. said. “I regret that Poland doesn’t under- additional evidence will be available
stand this and puts forward arguments that to the board on both inflation and the
“We must sustain our goal of fully in- are not convincing.” evolution of labour costs,” said RBA
Read also: EU executive to launch new governor Philip Lowe in a statement.
tool to freeze funds to Hungary —
sources Click here “The board will assess this and other
incoming information as its sets policy,”
(April 5): JPMorgan Chase & Co is reviewing JPMorgan he added, omitting any reference made
its business with some commodity clients af- is reviewing in previous statements to the board be-
ter last month’s nickel short squeeze, a move commodity ing patient.
that threatens to drain more liquidity out of exposure after
the sector. nickel chaos Markets took the change as a step
towards an eventual tightening and sent
Senior management at JPMorgan has by Alfred Cang & Jack Farchy, the local dollar up 0.9% to a nine-month
asked teams around the world to conduct Winnie Zhu & Hannah Levitt high.
fresh due diligence on some existing clients, Bloomberg
including metals traders and oil refiners, ac- Previously, Lowe had said that it was
cording to people familiar with the situation. ment, we have been reviewing risks in light plausible a first hike would come later
Risk assessments are also being conducted on of the significant market events throughout this year, while markets have long wa-
certain financing functions, said the people, this year and we will continue to do so across gered on an earlier move given how in-
who asked not to be identified as the infor- all markets, but we remain committed to our flation has taken off.
mation is private. commodities franchise,” JPMorgan said in a Click here for the full story
statement. Read also: BOJ’s Kuroda tones up
The US bank is one of the largest players warning on weak yen, says moves
in global commodity markets and the biggest Any pullback by the bank would come at ‘somewhat rapid’ Click here
in metals by far. It was also a central partici- a particularly difficult time for commodity
pant in the nickel price spike that rocked the markets, already suffering a dramatic decline
London Metal Exchange last month, as the in liquidity as high prices and wild swings
biggest counterparty of Tsingshan Holding force traders to the sidelines.
Group Co, the world’s largest producer of
the metal that’s at the center of the squeeze. Click here for the full story

JPMorgan was already monitoring and ad-
justing its commodities exposure amid height-
ened market volatility before the nickel short
squeeze, according to another person famil-
iar with the bank’s position. Since the nickel
price spike in early March, the bank has been
conducting a deeper review, the person said.

“Consistent with prudent risk manage-

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The hottest NFT comes to regulation. In this case, the sales news In brief
marketplace are done to win new tokens rather than to
is mostly pump up NFT prices to lure unsuspecting Indonesia will tax crypto earnings,
users selling to buyers.The marketplace benefits from the purchases from May
themselves fees generated by each transaction. JAKARTA (April 5): Indonesia will start
taxing crypto transactions and assets
by Olga Kharif LooksRare representatives could not be next month. The finance ministry has
Bloomberg reached for comment. A web page noting set a 0.1% value-added tax (VAT) on
the “LooksRare Team” only lists pseudo- crypto asset purchases, while earnings
PORTLAND (April 5):A closer look at the nyms and titles. and capital gains from such transactions
LooksRare platform that has quickly be- will be subject to a 0.1% final income tax,
come the leading non-fungible token (NFT) At the same time, LooksRare has effec- according to a rule that will be effective
marketplace by trading volume shows that tively helped mask the cooling of demand on May 1. Trading on platforms that
most of the activity is actually users selling in the NFT market.Total sales on OpenSea have not been authorised by the local
tokens to themselves to help earn rewards have declined every month since January, regulator would result in a higher VAT
in the form of more coins. according to data from Dune Analytics.The and income tax of 0.2% each. Crypto
site’s sales volume is down 67% in the last trading is picking up in Southeast Asia’s
The platform was launched in January 30 days, according to data from DappRadar. biggest economy, with 11 million market
by two anonymous co-founders — who go The number of traders has decreased 23%. participants conducting US$60 billion
by Zodd and Guts — as an alternative to worth of transactions last year, according
market leader OpenSea during the height The ability to earn tokens, while a prom- to Indonesia’s commodities futures
of the NFT boom. The site had planned inent aspect of DeFi, is a relatively new trading agency, known as Bappebti. Such
to add new features to lure NFT enthusi- feature to NFT platforms. Rarible was assets are regulated by the trade ministry
asts, according to a blog post at the time. among those that pioneered the idea last as commodities and are not allowed to
Almost all of those initiatives have focused year. LooksRare’s fees are also distributed to be used as legal tender. The government
on the incentive programme built around Looks holders. Some legal observers believe has already told Indonesians who invest
the Looks token awarded to active users of wash trading that is driving the volume on in non-fungible tokens to pay tax, citing a
the platform. the LooksRare platform is illegal. 2008 law. — Bloomberg

About US$18 billion of the trading vol- “I don’t care if it is stocks, bonds, Bitcoin, Twitter names Musk to board,
ume on the platform, or about 95% of the NFTs, or baseball cards,” said David Silver, saying he is ‘exactly what we need’
total activity, can be attributed to what is a Coral Springs, Florida-based attorney who NEW YORK (April 5): Twitter Inc named
often referred to as wash sales, according works on crypto cases. “Wash trading is a Elon Musk to its board a day after it was
to data compiled by NFT tracker Cryp- form of market manipulation in which an publicly disclosed that the chief executive
toSlam. The transactions are seen as one investor simultaneously sells and buys the officer (CEO) of Tesla Inc had amassed a
of the many grey areas in crypto when it same instrument to create misleading, ar- 9.2% stake in the social-media company.
tificial activity in the marketplace.” According to a filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) on
The price of the Looks token more than Tuesday, Musk will not own more than
tripled in January before crashing to just 14.9% of Twitter during his time on the
above its debut price, according to data com- board and up to 90 days thereafter. Musk’s
piled by CoinMarketCap. term on the board is set to expire at
Click here for the full story Twitter’s 2024 annual meeting. Twitter’s
shares jumped 8% in early trading in New
(April 5): Singapore has approved a law Singapore passes York. Musk purchased his Twitter stake
that will tighten rules for cryptocurrency law to tighten in mid-March, making him the company’s
providers in the latest sign of its tentative rules for crypto biggest shareholder. He has also been one
embrace of the industry. providers of the biggest personalities on Twitter
and has regularly run into trouble on the
The new legislation will require virtu- by Faris Mokhtar platform. Musk is currently seeking to exit
al asset service providers in the city state Bloomberg a 2018 deal with the SEC that put controls
which only do business overseas to be in place related to his tweeting about
licensed. Currently, such firms are not er hand, it doesn’t want citizens getting Tesla. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a
regulated for anti-money laundering and burned by speculation, and is picky about tweet that he is “excited” about appointing
countering the financing of terrorism.The who it lets in. Musk to the board. “He’s both a passionate
law was passed in Parliament on Tuesday believer and intense critic of the service
(April 5). Binance is the biggest player to have which is exactly what we need on @
become disillusioned by the moves as it Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us
Singapore’s additional tightening comes in December withdrew its application for stronger in the long term.” — Bloomberg
on top of the financial regulator’s recent setting up a cryptocurrency bourse.
move to discourage companies in the cryp- Read also: Musk tells Spain to
tocurrency space from advertising their Click here for the full story invest in solar, premier invites him
services to the public, underscoring the over Click here
nation’s cautious approach.

The city state is welcoming the technol-
ogies of cryptocurrency and has launched
a framework for regulating the indus-
try when other countries such as China
have opted for outright bans. On the oth-

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GM and Honda “GM and Honda will share our best news In brief
unveil plan to technology, design and manufacturing
jointly build strategies to deliver affordable and de- India considers seeking US$6.6
millions of sirable EVs on a global scale, includ- billion from mega LIC IPO — sources
small EVs ing our key markets in North America, MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (April 5): India is
South America and China,” GM Chief considering seeking around 500 billion
by River Davis & David Welch Executive Officer Mary Barra said in the rupees (US$6.6 billion) next month from
Bloomberg statement. the initial public offering (IPO) of state-
owned Life Insurance Corp (LIC), people
(April 5): General Motors Co. and Honda The collaboration marks a major with knowledge of the matter said. The
Motor Co will jointly develop affordable move toward democratizing electric government is discussing selling as much
electric vehicles in major global markets, vehicles, most of which are expensive as a 7% stake in LIC through the listing,
dramatically expanding a partnership that and out of reach of many consumers. according to the people, who asked not
already spans gas-powered models, batter- By joining forces, GM and Honda be- to be identified because the information
ies and self-driving technology. lieve they can reduce battery costs fast- is private. It aims to launch the share
er and develop EVs at prices that even sale before current approvals for the
The automakers plan to create a new market-leader Tesla Inc. appears to have offering expire on May 12, the people said.
architecture based on GM’s Ultium EV stopped pursuing. Bloomberg News first reported last month
battery that will be used primarily for that India was targeting a May timeline
small crossover SUVs, with the first With the latest move, GM and Honda to launch the IPO. The listing forms a key
models available in North America in are deepening ties as they aim to share part of plans by Prime Minister Narendra
2027, they said in a statement Tuesday. development costs and increase sales.The Modi’s administration to divest state
The project is intended to produce EVs automakers have been working together assets to fund a yawning budget deficit.
that will be priced below GM’s planned on hydrogen fuel cells since 2013 and The government and its advisers are
US$30,000 Chevrolet Equinox and sim- more recently announced collaborations considering seeking a valuation of about
ilar future offerings from Honda, the on EV batteries, gas-powered vehicles and 1.25 to 1.5 times LIC’s embedded value,
companies said on a call with journalists. self-driving technology. the people said. Officials are still discussing
Click here for the full story potential terms of the offering, and the
Read also: India’s EV sales seen doubling fundraising target could still change, the
led by battery-powered scooters Click here people said. A representative for LIC
declined to comment, while calls and an
(April 6): US regulators have asked LG LG Energy faces email to the finance ministry spokesperson
Energy Solution about electric- and hy- US scrutiny remained unanswered. — Bloomberg
brid-vehicle fires involving batteries made
by the company. for electric-car SoftBank-backed start-up Remote
battery fires nears US$3b value in funding
The probe covers an estimated 138,324 (April 5): Remote Technology Inc, a start-up
vehicles that the National Highway Traf- by Keith Laing which makes it easier for businesses to hire
fic Safety Administration said are at risk Bloomberg international employees, said it had raised
of catching fire when parked or in use, US$300 million (about RM1.26 billion)
according to documents posted Tuesday Bloomberg at a valuation of almost US$3 billion. The
on the agency’s website. NHTSA opened investment was led by SoftBank Vision
the probe, known as an equipment query, Fund 2, with participation of existing
on April 1. investors including Accel, Sequoia Capital,
Index Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures,
The regulator — which can deem according to the company. Remote has
cars defective and order recalls — said it now raised a total of US$495 million
launched its probe after receiving com- since it was launched in 2019. Remote
plaints about cars made by Stellantis NV, has a human resources platform that
Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co, helps businesses hire employees across
Hyundai Motor Co and Mercedes-Benz more than 60 countries. Its technology
Group AG. helps businesses manage payroll, benefits
and other relevant new-hire services.
The agency aims to contact South Ko- Its customers include DoorDash Inc as
rea-based LG and its customers to “noti- well as GitLab Inc, where co-founder and
fy them of this defect in any vehicles they chief executive officer Job van der Voort
manufactured, and to ensure thorough used to work. “In the future, it shouldn’t
safety recalls are conducted where appro- matter where you live” to be able to access
priate,” according to the posting. good career opportunities, said van der
Voort. Remote’s customers “just hire great
LG said it is cooperating with the inquiry. people”, he said. — Bloomberg
“We understand NHTSA’s latest request is
a follow-up procedure to determine if the Click here for the full story
same or similar batteries involved in the re-
calls were supplied” to other carmakers, the
company said in a statement.

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Asia’s US$350 bil the same amount of consumption as the US, news In brief
gas buildout according to BP Plc data.
Climeworks raises US$650 mil in
intensifies clean The potential for massive further growth is largest round for carbon removal
energy debate why the expansion of gas infrastructure in Asia startup
is concerning, said Robert Rozansky, a research
by Heesu Lee analyst at Global Energy Monitor.If all proposed LONDON (April 5): Swiss start-up
Bloomberg projects identified by the non-profit’s research Climeworks AG has raised 600 million
— which assessed gas developments planned francs (US$650 million) to scale up its
bloomberg as of June 2021 — are built as planned, global technology that sucks carbon dioxide
LNG importing capacity would jump by 50%. directly from the air. The world has to
(April 5): Asia is pumping billions of dollars reach peak greenhouse-gas emissions
into new gas infrastructure, making the region Decision makers would be mistaken if they before 2025 to avoid catastrophic
pivotal in a debate over the role of the fossil fuel assume gas will be cheaper and more stable climate change, according to a major
as the world aims to curb emissions. than renewables and energy storage over the United Nations report published on
long run, Rozansky said. “These assumptions Monday. But most scenarios that
The region has more than US$350 billion are outdated or will be long before the end of keep warming within 1.5°C above
of projects under way to expand liquefied nat- a 20-year LNG contract,” he said. pre-industrial levels will also require
ural gas terminals, gas-burning power plants removing some of the CO2 that
and pipelines — triple the estimated invest- Nations and companies are grappling to has already been dumped into the
ment for Europe — according to data from secure enough gas amid a global power crunch atmosphere. Climeworks is among
Global Energy Monitor. as economies recover from the pandemic.The a handful of start-ups offering the
war in Ukraine has added a new dimension, technology to do that. It currently
That boom is aimed at allowing economies increasing the need for LNG supplies and operates the world’s largest direct-air
including China, the Philippines andVietnam sending prices to record levels, which may capture plant in Iceland, where trapped
to avoid burning more coal, although it still complicate plans by cash-strapped emerging CO2 is injected deep underground and
risks locking in the use of fossil fuels for dec- nations seeking to shift to the fuel. stored permanently.The US$650 million
ades and could slow some deployments of China’s pipeline Climeworks secured is the largest sum
renewable energy. China is slated to invest more than any nation ever raised by a carbon-dioxide removal
in natural gas infrastructure as Beijing seeks to company. Its long list of investors
Asian governments are seeking the same reduce dependence on coal and peak emissions includes private equity group Partners
benefits the US and Europe have enjoyed from this decade.The world’s top LNG buyer has 30 Group AG, along with managers of long-
gas for decades — the fuel can heat homes, import projects currently under construction, term capital such as Baillie Gifford and
cook food and power factories at all hours of with tentative plans for another three dozen, ac- Swiss Re AG. — Bloomberg
the day, while also cleaning up urban smog. cording to data compiled by BloombergNEF.
But while it produces half the carbon emissions Indian Oil Corp forms JVs for green
of coal, there’s a growing consensus that gas South Korean companies including Posco hydrogen, electrolyser
use must shrink for the world to stave off the Energy Co, SK E&S Co and state-run Korea
worst effects of climate change. National Oil Corp are adding LNG facilities NEW DELHI (April 4): Indian Oil Corp,
that they say could later be re-purposed for the the country’s top refiner, Larsen & Toubro
“There definitely is a role for gas,” and transportation and storage of hydrogen, a de- and Goldman Sachs-backed renewable
particularly in displacing coal, Mark Carney, veloping source of low or zero-emissions energy. energy producer ReNew Power will
the former Canadian and UK central bank form a joint venture to develop the green
governor who’s now a special envoy on cli- Advocates insist that gas-fired power will hydrogen sector, helping India cut its
mate action for the United Nations, said at ultimately support the adoption of renewables carbon emissions. The three companies
the Asia Sustainable Finance Forum in Seoul by helping to smooth out fluctuations in clean have signed a binding term sheet to
last month. “But we always need to keep in energy generation. jointly develop green hydrogen projects,
mind the ultimate horizon for any source of said a joint statement issued on Monday.
energy given its carbon footprint.” “Combined with gas power’s ability to sta- India, the world’s third biggest emitter
bilise the electric grid, LNG opens the door of carbon dioxide, plans to annually
The UN on Monday added another meas- to more renewables which are inherently vola- produce 5 million tonnes of green
ure of urgency to efforts to phase out fossil tile,” said Joseph Sigelman, chairman and chief hydrogen by 2030 as it seeks to meet its
fuels, warning that the world may be on track executive officer of Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific climate targets and become a production
to warm by more than 3 degrees Celsius, twice Company of Manila Inc. and export hub for the fuel. State-run
the Paris Agreement target. refiner and engineering and construction
The firm will bring the Philippines’ first firm L&T and IOC also signed a binding
While Asia is the largest energy-consuming LNG import terminal into operation from July term sheet to form a joint venture for
region and home to most of the world’s pop- and has already begun an expansion that’ll lift manufacturing electrolysers, used for
ulation, its gas market accounted for about capacity by 2023. the production of green hydrogen.
Read also: Green hydrogen has some of the best
Money pouring into fossil fuels risks climate environmental credentials among
disaster, UN report warns Click here cleaner-burning fuels and will replace
carbon-emitting fuels used in the refinery
China’s oil majors open their checkbooks to to process crude oil into value-added
fight fuel scarcity Click here products, such as petrol and diesel. —
Reuters
Five takeaways from the UN’s latest 3,000-
page climate report Click here

w e d n e s d a y a p r i l 6 , 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

MARKETS

CPO RM 5,888.00 196.00 OIL US$ 109.15 1.62 RM/USD 4.2100 RM/SGD 3.1063 RM/AUD 3.2129 RM/GBP 5.5244 RM/EUR 4.6230

Top 20 active stocks

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

KNM Group Bhd 184.2 0.005 0.190 26.67 698.4

Dagang NeXchange Bhd 163.2 0.08 1.11 46.05 3502.9

TWL Holdings Bhd 146.9 0.005 0.09 70.00 238.6

TECHNA-X Bhd 127.7 0.005 0.085 13.33 187.1

Metronic Global Bhd 119.8 -0.005 0.02 -25 32.5

AT Systematization Bhd 106.8 0.000 0.02 -33.33 118.1

Pappajack Bhd 95.0 0.035 0.495 0 330.7

Dataprep Holdings BHD 76.4 0.045 0.35 -57.41 232.2

Vortex Consolidated Bhd 61.9 0.015 0.135 107.69 144.8 World equity indices

Pegasus Heights Bhd 53.9 0.000 0.010 0 107.7

Ta Win Holdings BHD 50.5 0.010 0.165 32 563.3 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
(%)
Permaju Industries Bhd 47.3 0.010 0.07 16.67 134.8 DOW JONES 34,921.88 103.61 0.30 (%)
INDONESIA 7,148.30 32.08 0.45
Bumi Armada Bhd 38.3 0.010 0.415 -11.7 2,451.4

Radiant Globaltech Ltd 36.3 -0.020 0.46 3.41 239 S&P 500 4,582.64 36.78 0.81 JAPAN 27,787.98 51.51 0.19

AHB Holdings Bhd 32.4 0.020 0.20 53.85 74.8 NASDAQ 100 15,159.58 298.37 2.01 KOREA 2,759.20 1.30 0.05

SIAB HOLDINGS BHD 31.9 -0.010 0.25 0 120.0 FTSE 100 7,552.18 -6.74 -0.09 PHILIPPINES 7,156.07 -7.14 -0.10

My EG Services Bhd 31.4 0.000 1.02 -4.67 7533.2 AUSTRALIA 7,527.86 14.13 0.19 SINGAPORE 3,445.01 28.04 0.82

Public Bank Bhd 31.3 -0.02 4.7 12.98 91230.3 CHINA 3,282.72 30.51 0.94 TAIWAN 17,625.59 -67.88 -0.38

BCM Alliance Bhd 31.2 0.005 0.04 33.33 81.4 HONG KONG 22,502.31 462.76 2.10 THAILAND 1,701.71 -1.22 -0.07

Widad Group Bhd 29.7 -0.005 0.37 0 1004.7 INDIA 60,353.69 -258.05 -0.43 VIETNAM 1,520.03 -4.67 -0.31

Data as compiled on Apr 5, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Apr 5, 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)

Eduspec Holdings Bhd 0.02 33.33 24.4 33.33 60.9 Daya Materials Bhd 0.005 -50.00 1,362 -50 10.2

Transocean Holdings BHD 2.75 29.72 348.7 -11.29 179 Nexgram Holdings Bhd 0.010 -33.33 150.0 0 44.2

Advance Information MKT Bhd 0.14 27.27 543.2 7.69 37.2 Fintec Global Bhd 0.01 -33.33 484.1 0 59.0

DGB Asia Bhd 0.025 25 23970.4 -16.67 40.5 Metronic Global Bhd 0.015 -25.00 119,816.4 -25 32.5

MNC Wireless Bhd 0.025 25 476.5 66.67 57.2 China Automobile Parts HLDGS Ltd 0.015 -25.00 1,979.9 0 20.4

Top Builders Capital Bhd 0.025 25 14318.8 -28.57 17.6 Scomi Group Bhd 0.020 -20.00 54.0 0 21.9

AE Multi Holdings Bhd 0.025 25 196.4 -16.67 54.1 Sinaran Advance Group Bhd 0.095 -17.39 5,848.2 58 87.0

Green Ocean Corp Bhd 0.025 25 1050.7 -16.67 52.8 Ageson Bhd 0.03 -16.67 1,513.4 -37.5 39.0

Asia Brands BHD 0.66 23.36 2114.1 32 153.5 Marine & General Bhd 0.070 -12.50 249.5 27.27 50.7

Lambo Group BHD 0.08 23.08 3380 -5.88 123.2 Impiana Hotels Bhd 0.04 -12.50 13,416.5 -53.33 50.6

PDZ Holdings Bhd 0.055 22.22 15119.8 22.22 32 Dolomite Corp Bhd 0.035 -12.50 444.8 16.67 20.7

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd 0.03 20 16935 20 45.9 XOX Technology Bhd 0.04 -11.11 19 -20 35.7

Borneo Oil Bhd 0.03 20 2766.6 0 224 Sapura Resources Bhd 0.345 -10.39 55.1 -12.66 48.2

JOE HOLDING BHD 0.03 20 30 -14.29 91.8 Kamdar Group M Bhd 0.20 -9.30 74.3 5.41 38.6

S&F Capital Bhd 0.1 17.65 1017.6 11.11 55 DPS Resources Bhd 0.115 -8 5573.6 27.78 81.1

Powerwell Holdings Bhd 0.24 17.07 9921.9 20 139.3 Country Heights Holdings BHD 1.39 -7.95 7,951.6 -21.47 408.7

Mlabs Systems Bhd 0.035 16.67 8898.8 16.67 50.7 Rubberex Corp M Bhd 0.64 -7.91 23,534.6 23.08 558.3

Permaju Industries Bhd 0.07 16.67 47341.8 16.67 134.8 Brahim’s Holdings Bhd 0.125 -7.41 9,457.7 31.58 38.4

Dataprep Holdings BHD 0.345 15 76449.3 -57.41 232.2 Maxim Global Bhd 0.215 -6.52 40.0 -8.51 269.3

Industronics BHD 0.115 15 4125.3 4.55 47.4 YKGI Holdings Bhd 0.145 -6.45 1,666.0 -3.33 63.9

Data as compiled on Apr 5, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Apr 5, 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)

Transocean Holdings BHD 2.75 0.63 348.7 -11.29 179.0 Nestle Malaysia Bhd 134.80 -2.20 38.4 0.45 31610.6

Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd 37.12 0.6 173.2 -24.8 7383 AEON Credit Service M Bhd 15.30 -0.40 49.50 12.33 3906.2

Lingkaran Trans Kota HLDGS Bhd 4.55 0.52 5470.5 21.01 2425.5 PMB Technology Bhd 18.26 -0.36 112.5 48.70 4274.0

Complete Logistic Services Bhd 4.80 0.22 416.3 91.24 617.5 Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd 5.00 -0.15 7.9 4.17 2300.0

D&O Green Technologies Bhd 4.73 0.22 3294.2 -19.83 5851.7 Country Heights Holdings BHD 1.39 -0.12 7951.6 -21.47 408.7

Ancom BHD 3.87 0.21 2,371.0 25.65 1111.3 Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd 21.26 -0.12 183.3 -14.07 7797.7

Genting Plantations Bhd 8.80 0.18 662.2 33.50 7895.3 Hong Leong Bank Bhd 20.10 -0.10 583.9 7.95 43571.1

ViTrox Corp Bhd 8.27 0.17 727.9 -16.97 7811.6 Chin Hin Group Bhd 2.99 -0.10 432.1 14.56 2645.3

Yinson Holdings BHD 5.02 0.17 1053.9 -16.33 5347.3 Malayan Banking Bhd 8.86 -0.10 7374.0 6.75 105243.6

PPB Group Bhd 17.20 0.16 290.1 0.58 24468.7 DiGi.Com Bhd 3.88 -0.09 1866.6 -11.01 30167.0

Batu Kawan Bhd 26.44 0.16 7.9 16.48 10410.6 AMMB Holdings Bhd 3.61 -0.08 5245.2 13.88 11952

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd 9.85 0.15 8525.3 10.43 78800 Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd 6.88 -0.07 2051.8 15.05 11415.2

MISC Bhd 7.47 0.15 4087.2 5.96 33344.2 Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd 4.96 -0.06 1587.2 52.62 2083.2

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd 26.00 0.14 2157.6 19.38 28032.1 Khind Holdings Bhd 3.45 -0.06 36.4 -9.45 138.2

Can-One Bhd 3.29 0.14 119.3 -10.84 632.2 FAR East Holdings BHD 3.42 -0.06 10.3 15.93 2030.9

Malayan Cement Bhd 2.58 0.13 1153.8 1.18 3380.3 Axiata Group Bhd 3.73 -0.06 1979.8 -10.34 34229.5

Asia Brands BHD 0.66 0.13 2114.1 32.00 153.5 Sam Engineering & Equipment M 4.70 -0.06 132.5 -16.07 2544.6

United Plantations BHD 15.48 0.120 327.8 11.53 6397.9 Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd 1.87 -0.06 5882.5 -2.6 4771.5

Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd 1.72 0.12 520.1 63.81 323.9 Tenaga Nasional Bhd 9.01 -0.06 2422.2 -3.53 51592.1

Kuchai Development BHD 1.82 0.11 0.2 1.11 225.2 Rubberex Corp M Bhd 0.64 -0.06 23534.6 23.08 558.3

Data as compiled on Apr 5, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Apr 5, 2022 Source: Bloomberg