The Edge - 26 July 2022

CHINA PLANS REAL ESTATE FUND WORTH UP TO
US$44B FOR DISTRESSED SECTOR — SOURCE p21

T U E S DAY, J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 415/2022

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: IJM: No plans to sell highways to Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat p4
Chin Hin’s shares hit record high as EGM on Solarvest disposal looms p6

Government to ban export of cooking oil in polybags p14
Shahril, former MCA ministers also received political funds from UKSB, court told p20

WORLD: Musk denies ‘romantic’ affair with Google co-founder Brin’s wife p24

RINGGIT Creditors
DEPRECIATES vote in
to weakest level favour
of Serba
against SGD
Dinamik’s
Report on Page 3. scheme of
arrangement

Report on Page 2.

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 2 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Creditors vote in favour of Serba Dinamik’s
scheme of arrangement

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Serba Di- by adam aziz & hafiz yatim filed the winding-up petition against the
namik Holdings Bhd said its creditors theedgemarkets.com companies in April after they failed to
have approved the scheme of arrange- service their RM1.2 billion syndicated
ment proposed by the group and its flow sources arising from existing and new term financing.
four subsidiaries, with between 83% and businesses from within the Serba Dinamik
100% creditors voting in support of it. group,” the scheme of arrangement sighted Subsequently, Serba Dinamik and its
by The Edge stated. subsidiaries filed for a restraining order
The group itself garnered 95.74% against the creditors and proposed the
support from its creditors, while its The other two companies, SD Controls scheme of arrangement in June to restruc-
subsidiaries Serba Dinamik Group Bhd and SDDSB, will fully repay their debts, ture the group’s debt obligations, which
(SDGB) received 100%, Serba Dinamik according to the scheme. proposed “a 100% return to the compa-
Sdn Bhd (SDSB) received 99.21%, SD ny’s creditors”. At that time, the group
Controls Sdn Bhd received 86.43% and SD Controls, SDDSB and SDSB are said it had identified “some assets for im-
Serba Dinamik Development Sdn Bhd subsidiaries of SDGB, which is in turn a mediate sale” to generate the cash flow
(SDDSB) secured 83%. subsidiary of Serba Dinamik. required to meet the group’s liabilities.

The voting was held at a court con- It was reported last month that the cred- Serba Dinamik is also facing another
vened meeting at the Ideal City Con- itors had reached a settlement with Serba suit by MalaysianTrustees Bhd, the trus-
vention Centre, Shah Alam, on Monday Dinamik with the scheme of arrangement tee of Serba Dinamik’s RM100 million
morning (July 25). and would hold their applications for a wind- Islamic Commercial Papers (ICP), which
ing-up petition against Serba Dinamik and the company had defaulted on. The pa-
A source familiar with the matter told its subsidiaries, provided the companies do pers are being held by Amanahraya Invest-
The Edge that the scheme of arrangement not default on the payment of debts, as pro- ment Management Sdn Bhd (ARIM), a
will proceed as more than 75% votes posed under the scheme.This resulted in a wholly-owned unit of Amanah Raya Bhd.
from its creditors were received. consent order being recorded at the High
Court when the application for the scheme In April, the group, alongside four
It is understood that under the scheme of arrangement came up for hearing before senior company officials were fined a
of arrangement, creditors will get 15% of Justice Atan MustaffaYussof Ahmad. total of RM16 million for submitting
what is owed by Serba Dinamik, SDGB false statements regarding its RM6.01
and SDSB, with the balance to be worked The lenders — comprising six syndi- billion revenue in the 12-month period
out in another scheme of arrangement cated and bilateral lenders, namely HSBC ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY2020)
possibly by the end of the year. Amanah Malaysia Bhd, Ambank Islamic
Bhd, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, MIDF Shares of Serba Dinamik rose half
“The balance 85% of the outstanding Amanah Investment Bank Bhd, Stand- a sen or 6.25% to settle at 8.5 sen on
debts shall be dealt with in subsequent ard Chartered Saadiq Bhd and United Monday, giving the group a market cap-
schemes as more assets are sold by enti- Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd — had italisation of RM316.81 million.
ties within Serba Dinamik and other cash

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 3 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Ringgit Singapore dollar strengthens
depreciates to
weakest level YTD performance (%)
against Singapore
dollar at 3.2154 Japanese yen 15.60

by Chong Jin Hun & Hailey Chung Euro 8.16 15 20
theedgemarkets.com 7.56
Thai baht
10
Malaysian ringgit 4.20

Indonesian rupiah 2.50

Australian dollar 1.61

-2.61 US dollar

-10 -5 0 5

As at 8:35pm, July 25, 2022 Source: Bloomberg

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):The ringgit the 4.45 threshold for the first time since flation to slower growth or recession. US
depreciated to its weakest level against a March 2017 against the US dollar. dollar/Malaysian ringgit of 4.50/52 levels
strengthening Singapore dollar at 3.2154 is still on our cards in the near term,” he
on Monday (July 25) on the likelihood that “The local note may continue to trade said, adding that attention is now focused
the Singapore Central Bank will tighten above the 4.45 level against the US dollar on the Fed after the recent ECB rate hike.
monetary policy again in October if infla- as a potential 75 bps rate hike by the Fed
tion pressures persist. may provide the DXY a knee-jerk boost. Dass forecast that Bank Negara Ma-
laysia is also likely to raise the overnight
Since the exchange rate’s close last Fri- “On top of that, lack of domestic cata- policy rate in September by 25 bps with
day (July 22) at 3.2032, the ringgit had lysts, China’s economic uncertainty and rising nominal Gross Domestic Product
traded at between 3.2020 and 3.2110 in weak global sentiment are likely to cap any (GDP), healthy labour market and the
the morning. upside for the ringgit. weak ringgit.

It then surged to trade at between 3.2094 “However, ECB’s determination to curb In addition, he commented that Am-
and 3.2160 in the afternoon following Sin- soaring inflation and the resumption of (Rus- bank’s preliminary estimates on General-
gapore’s report on its June inflation data, sia) Nord Stream 1 (gas) flows (to Europe) ised System of Preferences (GSP) in the
with core inflation hitting a 13-year high. may continue to buoy the EUR (euro) above second quarter of 2022 suggest between
parity and benefit the ringgit,” Kenanga said. 7.5% to 8% versus the 5% in the first quar-
Besides a strengthening Singapore dollar, ter of 2022.
the weakness in the ringgit was partly attrib- See related story on Page 24
utable to the worsening Covid-19 situation At the time of writing, the ringgit was at In regards to inflation in Malaysia, Dass
in most parts of Asia, especially China, and 4.4525 against the US dollar after trading be- said the estimated inflation is around 12%
growing European political risk, according tween 4.4505 and 4.4563 on Monday. Mean- to 13% without including government sub-
to Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd. while, the ringgit was 4.5601 against the euro sidies.
after trading between 4.5340 and 4.5648.
The research firm wrote in a note on AmBank Group chief economist Antho- “Malaysia’s latest CPI (consumer price
Monday that it believes the ringgit would ny Dass wrote on Monday that he believes index) of 3.4% year-over-year suggests
trade above the 4.45 level against the US the bear on the ringgit is still in control cost-driven inflation remains a strong con-
dollar amid weak global sentiment and the even though more upwards pressure on cern. Although the inflation is still low, it
US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) jumbo rate hike. the currency remains in the near term. is mainly due to subsidies that are coming
“It will still be a dollar play for now up to well above RM75 billion.
“Despite Malaysia’s better-than-expect- until the US narrative changes from in-
ed trade readings and a 1.2% fall in USD “And if we use ‘roti canai’ and ‘teh tarik’
index (DXY) due to the European Cen- as the basis, the underlying inflation should
tral Bank’s (ECB) 50 basis points (bps) be around 54% to 63% from an increase
rate hike (on July 21), the ringgit breached of around RM1.20 to RM2,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):The ringgit Ringgit ends positive economic outlook in the months
ended almost flat against the US dollar on almost flat to come.
Monday (July 25), as investors remained against greenback
in a wary mode amid the volatile market, The coincident index (CI) — which re-
said an analyst. Bernama flects the current state of the economy —
grew 6.4% y-o-y in May 2022, from 5.3%
At 6pm, the local currency stood at meeting and the US earnings data,” he said. y-o-y in April 2022.
4.4510/4540 versus the greenback from On home front, the Department of Sta-
Friday’s close of 4.4515/4545. Meanwhile, the ringgit traded weaker
tistics Malaysia announced Malaysia’s lead- against a basket of other major currencies.
OANDA Asia Pacific senior market an- ing index (LI) rebounded 2.2% year-on-
alyst Jeffrey Halley said Asian currencies year (y-o-y) to 111.2 points in May 2022, The local currency dipped against the
remained under pressure against the green- up from a y-o-y contraction of 0.5% in Singapore dollar to 3.2149/2175 from
back, ahead of the United States (US) Fed- April 2022 (110.8 points), indicating a 3.2011/2038 at Friday’s close, and fell
eral Open Market Committee (FOMC) versus the British pound to 5.3621/3657
meeting and earnings season. from 5.3187/3222 previously.

“We expect volatility in Asian currencies It also declined versus the Japanese yen
to increase as the week continues, while to 3.2654/2678 from 3.2389/2413 at the
we get more inputs from the US FOMC end of last week, and depreciated vis-a-vis
the euro to 4.5574/5605 from 4.5201/5231.

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 4 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Glove makers IJM: No plans
among most to sell highways
active on Bursa
after monkeypox to Amanat
declared a Lebuhraya
global health
emergency Rakyat

by Shazni Ong In a brief note to traders on Monday, by Syafiqah Salim
theedgemarkets.com Hong Leong Investment Bank analyst theedgemarkets.com
Ng Jun Sheng, who maintained “un-
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Glove derweight” on gloves, said aggressive KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): IJM
makers were among Bursa Malaysia’s expansion during the pandemic has Corp Bhd on Monday (July 25) clari-
most active counters on Monday (July tipped the rubber glove sector into an fied that it has no intention to dispose
25) morning, as investors reacted to the oversupply state, which will continue of its portfolio of highway concession
World Health Organization (WHO)’s to weigh down glove makers. assets to private, not-for-profit entity
declaration of monkeypox as a global Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat.
health emergency recently. On Saturday,WHO director general
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Nonetheless, IJM said it is in ad-
Top Glove Corp Bhd, topped the ac- rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak vanced discussion with the Govern-
tives list earlier in the day, with Super- represents a global health emergency, ment to restructure its toll highway
max Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd WHO’s highest level of alert. concessions.
and their smaller peer Careplus Group
Bhd in the top 15. He said the risk of monkeypox — “In accordance with good corporate
which spreads via close contact and governance practice, the company will
But it appeared that investors took tends to cause flu-like symptoms and disclose any relevant information to
cue later from Health Minister Khairy pus-filled skin lesions — was moderate Bursa Malaysia and to our investors in
Jamaluddin’s announcement that all globally, except in Europe, where WHO a timely manner,” said the group.
nine cases of suspected monkeypox has deemed the risk as high.
that the ministry was notified about as IJM said this in a bourse filing, in re-
of July 23 had turned out negative for “Although I am declaring a public sponse to an article by The Edge Malay-
the illness. health emergency of international con- sia titled “IJM in talks to sell highways to
cern, for the moment, this is an outbreak Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat”, published
On market close, Top Glove settled that is concentrated among men who for the week of July 25-July 31.
as the third most actively traded stock have sex with men, especially those with
of the day after 72.30 million shares multiple sexual partners,” said Tedros. The weekly, citing sources, wrote that
were traded, pared its earlier gain — it IJM management had started talks with
rose as much as 4.5 sen to RM1.04 — Meanwhile, Khairy has reminded all Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fa-
to close unchanged at 99.5 sen, which health facilities to be aware of the ongoing dillahYusof, but details are not known.
gave the world’s largest glove maker a monkeypox situation, as well as an increase
market value of RM7.97 billion. in case detection among at-risk patients, Besides theWest Coast Expressway,
followingWHO’s Public Health Emergen- in which IJM holds a 28.81% stake, the
Interests in the other glove counters cy of International Concern (PHEIC) an- group owns three toll highways in Ma-
likewise waned, with Supermax drop- nouncement about the disease. laysia, namely the Sungai Besi Highway,
ping to the 24th most active spot, while also known as Besraya (100% stake);
Careplus fell to 28th place; Hartalega Khairy also announced that all the New Pantai Expressway or NPE
was the 55th most traded. non-citizen travellers must complete (100% stake); and the Semenyih to
the traveller’s card in MySejahtera and Seremban Highway, known as Lekas
Supermax, which rose as high as 86 that travellers who arrive from countries Highway (50% stake).
sen, settled at 83.5 sen — only half a sen reporting monkeypox will receive pop-
higher from its previous close — after up health messages every day through According to the weekly, the 50-year
15.37 million shares exchanged hands, MySejahtera that will remind them to concession for theWest Coast Express-
for a market capitalisation of RM2.22 monitor the symptoms of monkeypox way expires in 2063, the 44-year con-
billion. infection and their health status. cession for Besraya in 2040, the 34-year
concession for the NPE in 2030, and the
Careplus, which climbed three sen He said such travellers arriving from 33-year concession for Lekas in 2039.
earlier, pared two-thirds of that to set- the countries involved are advised to
tle at 43 sen with 13.97 million shares monitor their self-health status every The weekly reported that if the sale
done, for a market cap of RM246.4 mil- day, including symptoms of monkeypox of the highways go through, this would
lion. Hartalega gained as much as 14 infection for a period of 21 days from be IJM Corp’s second major sale in the
sen but closed with a three sen gain the date of arrival in Malaysia. last two years.The group sold its entire
at RM2.80, after 7.17 million shares Read the full story 56.2% stake in IJM Plantations Bhd
were exchanged, for a market value of to Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd for
RM9.57 billion. RM1.53 billion in cash last year.

Read the full story

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 5 TheEdge CEO morning brief

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 6 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Chin Hin’s shares hit record high as
EGM on Solarvest disposal looms

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Home- by Chester Tay Chin Hin Group Bhd
grown building material distributor Chin theedgemarkets.com
Hin Group Bhd saw its share price hit a fresh 5
record high of RM4.39 on Monday (July 25), RM
after six consecutive trading days of gains. 4 RM4.39

The counter’s rally came ahead of an 3
upcoming extraordinary general meeting
(EGM) on Aug 4 for minority shareholders 2 July 25, 2022
to vote on the group’s proposed disposal of RM1.21
19.34% stake in Solarvest Holdings Bhd
for RM103.28 million or 80 sen per share 1
to its major shareholder Chiau family, and July 2, 2021
a one-for-one bonus issue.
Source: Bloomberg
Chin Hin’s shares rose as much as 8.1%
to an intraday high of RM4.43 on Monday, Chin Hin’s bank borrowings The group said its bank borrowings are
before paring gains to close 7.1% higher since it’s listing in 2016 expected to reduce to RM688.17 million
at RM4.39. after the disposal, from RM790.89 million
Bank borrowings (RM mil) as at end-2021. Chin Hin saw a substantial
The stock climbed 40% from RM3.14 on jump in total bank borrowings last year, up
July 15, giving it a year-to-date gain of a whop- Year Long term Short term Total from RM414.03 million as at end-2020,
ping 69%. The counter was also the largest 2015 which fell from RM513.75 million as at
gainer among all Bursa securities on Monday. 2016 70.68 318.22 388.90 end-2019.
2017
When contacted, Chin Hin’s Managing 2018 36.25 284.06 320.31 M&A Securities Sdn Bhd is the adviser
Director Chiau Haw Choon reiterated that 2019 and Eco Asia Capital Advisory Sdn Bhd
the Solarvest transaction would result in 2020 66.88 315.60 382.48 appointed on April 29 as the independ-
interest savings and improve the group’s 2021 ent adviser for the proposed disposal of
cash flow position. 95.12 425.31 520.43 Solarvest.

“The terms of the agreement will enable 79.32 434.43 513.75 Eco Asia said the proposed utilisation
Chin Hin to reprice the Solarvest shares of proceeds is “reasonable” and is “not
based on its prevailing market price on 67.04 346.99 414.03 detrimental” to the non-interested share-
the completion date. If the market price holders of Chin Hin.
of Solarvest shares at completion date is 298.77 492.12 790.89
higher than the current agreed price of The independent adviser also opined
80 sen [apiece], the disposal considera- Source: Chin Hin’s annual reports that the disposal is “fair and reasonable”
tion will be adjusted upwards to reflect and recommended shareholders to vote in
the then prevailing market price.,” he told Chin Hin’s profitability favour of the deal at the upcoming EGM.
theedgemarkets.com on Monday. since its listing in 2016
In its declaration of conflict of interest,
Shares of Solarvest closed one sen or Revenue (RM bil) Net pro t (RM mil) Eco Asia said its Managing Director Kelvin
1.4% lower at 71.5 sen on Monday, valu- Khoo Chee Siang is also the Independ-
ing it at RM477.30 million.The stock has 1.2 1.20 1.06 1.02 1.11 1.06 0.97 1.15 50 ent Non-Executive Director of Chin Hin
fallen 42% year-to-date. 1.0 Group Property Bhd, which is 63%-owned
40 by Chin Hin.
Chin Hin had on May 17 this year pro- 0.8
posed to divest 19.34% stake or 129.1 mil- 41.43 “Over the past three years, Eco Asia
lion shares in Solarvest to Divine Inven- 0.6 30 has been engaged by Chin Hin to conduct
tions Sdn Bhd for RM103.28 million or financial due diligence and valuation for
80 sen per share, resulting in a one-off 0.4 30.22 29.75 2018 22.95 18.05 30.70 Chin Hin’s proposed acquisition of vari-
disposal gain of RM35.68 million. 20 ous target companies.

Divine Inventions owns 36.6% stake in 0.2 “The total consideration paid/payable to
Chin Hin as at end-June this year. 2020 21.26 Eco Asia for such engagements amounts to
0.0 10 RM220,000 (inclusive of the professional
Divine Inventions is wholly-owned by fee for the appointment as independent
PP Chin Hin Realty Sdn Bhd, which is 2015 2016 2017 2019 2021 adviser for the proposed disposal [of So-
55% owned by Datuk Seri Chiau Beng larvest]) and represents less than 2.5% of
Teik, 30% owned by his son Chiau Haw Source: Chin Hin’s annual reports Eco Asia’s aggregate gross revenue for the
Choon and 7.5% owned by Beng Teik’s past three years,” the independent advis-
wife Datin Seri Wong Mee Leng. Solarvest’s largest shareholder, mean- er said.
while, is Atlantic Blue Holdings Sdn Bhd
BengTeik’s children Chiau Haw Loon, with 25.86% stake, followed by Chin Hin.
Shelly Chiau Yee Wern and Chiau Haw
Yew own 2.5% each in PP Chin Hin, while Chin Hin intends to utilise the bulk of
less than 0.01% stake is owned by Low the disposal proceeds of RM102.72 million
Kum Moon. for repayment of bank borrowings, while
the remaining RM557,000 for estimated
expenses for the proposed disposal.

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 7 TheEdge CEO morning brief

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 8 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): British Generational Nedal Salem
American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT smoking ban
Malaysia) has said the Ministry of Health’s ‘prohibitive’, only health impacts of smoking without fuelling
(MOH) proposed generational smoking fuels illicit tobacco the growth of the tobacco black market
ban is a prohibitive way to reduce the market, says BAT and criminalising entire future generations.
health impact of smoking in the country Malaysia chief
and will only fuel the illicit tobacco market. “In parallel, introducing some of the
by izzul ikram more balanced tobacco control measures
“It has never been tested in the real theedgemarkets.com seen in these same countries will support
world, lacks any scientific evidence of ef- smokers switching to less harmful alter-
fectiveness and is likely to be detrimen- land and the UK, where vaping is acknowl- natives and should be considered instead
tal to our country’s health agenda,” BAT edged as significantly less harmful and a via- of prohibition,” said Salem.
Malaysia managing director Nedal Salem ble alternative to reduce smoking prevalence.
said in a statement on Monday (July 25). BAT Malaysia also called on MOH to
“Our belief is that tobacco harm reduc- include industry players in the overall con-
TheTobacco and Smoking Control Bill, tion is the most effective way to reduce the sultation process in developing appropriate
which is expected to be tabled in this Dewan regulations for vapour products.
Rakyat sitting, includes a proposed tobacco
generational endgame law that bans smok- “We believe instead in a holistic approach
ing and prohibits the ownership of tobac- which strengthens the role of harm reduction
co and vape products by those born after and less harmful alternatives to smoking; poli-
2005. However, Health Minister Khairy Ja- cies which encourage adult smokers to switch
maluddin on Monday was reported as say- to those alternatives; and the enforcement and
ing that the government is revising the year control of the illicit tobacco market to ensure
to 2007 after considering views gathered that cigarettes cannot be more easily accessed
during stakeholder engagement sessions. than less harmful alternatives and comply with
specific tobacco control policies,” he added.
In a statement on Monday, Salem said
prohibition will fuel the illicit tobacco market,
which already accounts for almost 60% of
tobacco sold in Malaysia and will accordingly
have negative consequences to public health.

“Fuelling the illicit tobacco market
doesn’t just line the pockets of criminals.
It will have a significant impact on Malay-
sia’s economy, already struggling to recover
from the global pandemic. Industry, jobs
and growth will be impacted, and govern-
ment revenue will fall significantly.”

He said the MOH should pursue a sci-
ence-based regulatory framework, informed
by the positions of countries such as New Zea-

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Capital A Capital A carries ling that air travel revival is well underway.
Bhd carried 5.56 million passengers in the 48% more Its Malaysian operation — under AirA-
second quarter of this year (2Q2022), 48% passengers
more than its previous quarter, supported sia Malaysia, which constituted 69% of
by growing domestic demand and the re- Q-o-Q as borders Capital A’s passengers carried in 2Q2022
sumption of international travel in South- reopen — flew almost 14 times more passengers
east Asia as Malaysia and its neighbouring on a y-o-y basis at 3.85 million, with a seat
countries in the region reopened their in- by chester tay capacity of 4.59 million — over 10 times
ternational borders. theedgemarkets.com its seat capacity of 435,288 in 2Q2021.

On a year-on-year basis, passengers car- ble seat kilometres (ASK) grew 94% quar- On a q-o-q basis, it carried 37% more
ried by the group’s operations in Malaysia, ter-on-quarter (q-o-q). passengers than 1Q2022, when it flew 2.81
Indonesia and the Philippines jumped over million people.
seven times from 758,746 passengers a The group’s capacity, as measured by
year ago, according to Capital A’s 2Q2022 seats flown, grew almost six times to 6.59 During the quarter, Capital A said more
preliminary operating statistics, which was million seats flown in 2Q2022 from 1.11 mil- operating aircraft were added to its Malay-
released on Monday. lion in 2Q2021, while load factor improved sian operations to support the huge surge
to 84% from 68% over the same period. in demand for both domestic and inter-
The group, formerly known as AirAsia national flights.
Group Bhd, said the combined seats flown Capital A said load factor in 2Q2022
by its operations in three countries — Ma- was akin to its pre-pandemic levels, signal- AirAsia Malaysia achieved a load fac-
laysia, Indonesia and the Philippines — tor of 81% in 2Q2022, with 31 addition-
were 74% higher at 6.59 million in 2Q2022 al destinations reinstated and the highest
versus 3.79 million in 1Q2022. number of international passengers car-
ried post-pandemic, attributed mainly to
Load factor improved further to 84% in its Malaysia-Singapore routes, followed by
2Q2022 from 1Q2022’s 74%, while availa- the Malaysia-Indonesia and Malaysia-In-
dia routes.

ai1657267787452_PNS031 - TheEdge-CAMSAds-CEO-MB-02-FAOL.pdf 1 08/07/2022 4:10 PM

tuesday juLY 26, 2022 9 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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t u e s d a y j u LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 10 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

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MGB bags 25), MGB said its wholly-owned subsidiary C&C Bintang
RM225 mil housing MGB Construction & Engineering Sdn Bhd returns to the
(MGBCE) had accepted the Letter of Award
development job (LoA) from AASB on behalf of Utuh Aspira- black in 2Q
si Sdn Bhd (UASB) — a subsidiary of Main
by izzul ikram Market-listed property developer LBS Bina. by izzul ikram
theedgemarkets.com theedgemarkets.com
According to MGB, the development
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): MGB Bhd project is split into two phases, with each KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Cycle
— the construction arm of LBS Bina Group valued at RM145.74 million and RM79.29 & Carriage Bintang Bhd (C&C) re-
Bhd — has secured an RM225.03 million million respectively. turned to the black in the second quar-
contract from Akitek Akiprima Sdn Bhd ter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22)
(AASB) for a housing development project Both phases of the project entails the with a net profit of RM6.48 million
in Bandar Putra Permai, Petaling, Selangor. construction of a 29-storey building com- versus a net loss of RM1.8 million a
prising 725 units of commercial service year ago, as it recorded higher sales
In a filing with the bourse on Monday (July apartments in Tower A and Tower B with following demand for consumer ve-
additional amenities. hicles being boosted by the sales tax
exemption given under the PENJA-
With this latest contract, MGB said NA economic package.
its outstanding order book now stands at
RM2.08 billion. The Mercedes Benz dealer’s revenue
for 2QFY22 rose 32.56% to RM320.58
“The contract will have no effect on the million from RM241.84 million a year
issued share capital of the company but it is prior, its bourse filing showed.
expected to contribute positively to the earn-
ings and net assets per share of the group For the six months ended June 30,
over the duration of the contract,” it added. 2022 (6MFY22), C&C Bintang post-
ed a net profit of RM15.03 million,
It is worth noting that MGB’s executive over nine times the RM1.6 million it
vice-chairman Tan Sri Lim Hock San is achieved in the same period last year.
also the chairman and major shareholder Cumulative revenue grew 16.07% to
of LBS Bina. RM620.6 million from RM534.67
million.
Year to date, shares of MGB had declined
26% to close at 55.5 sen on Monday,giving it It attributed the increase in rev-
a market capitalisation of RM328.37 million. enue mainly to a 14% increase in
vehicle unit sales and an increase
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Comintel Comintel bags in the aftersales volume by 19% as
Corp Bhd has secured a RM52.825 mil- RM52.8 mil a result of the removal of all prior
lion contract for the construction, piling construction movement restrictions.
and completion of basement works for a project
mixed development project in Damansara On prospects, C&C Bintang chair-
Perdana, Mukim Sungai Buloh, Selangor. by syafiqah salim manWilfrid Foo said market recovery
theedgemarkets.com and consumer sentiment remain uncer-
In a bourse filing, Comintel said its tain, and that the imbalance in global
wholly-owned subsidiary Total Package pealed against the delisting and asked for supply and demand is not expected to
Work Sdn Bhd had received the letter of Bursa to reconsider its application. Bursa be fully resolved in 2022 and will con-
award for the project from Mightyprop allowed the appeal and granted Comintel tinue to impact the automotive industry.
Sdn Bhd, and that the mixed project main- another six months to submit the plan,
ly comprised a 48-storey apartment block which it did in January this year. “The group takes a long-term
with four levels of basement parking, 27 view on its strategic goals, focusing
units of business space, and one substa- Under the plan, which was later re- on bolstering its capabilities to bring
tion. vised in June, businessman DatukTan Kak exceptional journeys to customers and
Seng, the sole director and shareholder of employees while staying on track and
The job, to begin on Aug 1 and be com- JT Conglomerate Sdn Bhd, would take agile with its business improvement
pleted within nine months, is expected to up 56.49% in Comintel — as opposed to plans,” he added.
provide the company with an additional 72.47% previously — by subscribing for
income stream over the next two finan- 145 million new shares for RM11.6 mil- Shares in C&C Bintang ended
cial years. lion, and another 71.06 million Comintel unchanged at RM2.68 on Monday,
shares from a group of vendors. JTC will giving the group a market capitali-
Shares of Comintel have been suspend- also take up 70 million redeemable con- sation of RM270 million.
ed from trading since May 31, 2021 — vertible preference shares in Comintel at
when they were last traded at 9 sen a share, 8 sen apiece.
giving the company a market capitalisation
of RM13 million — after Bursa Malay- Read the full story
sia rejected the company's application for
more time to submit its plan to regularise
its Practice Note 17 condition.The PN17
condition was triggered in March 2019,
after its shareholders’ equity fell to under
25% of its issued share capital.

Following that, Comintel was to be del-
isted on June 2, 2021, but the company ap-

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TNG eWallet will bring next-level value propositions to SME Bank
raises RM750 mil users and merchant bases across the La- records
from latest equity zada and Touch ‘n Go ecosystem.
RM536 mil
funding round “The funding round also sets us up order under
nicely for our next phase of growth. sustainability
Bernama sukuk issuance
“We will continue to expand in all areas
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):Touch ‘n Go of digital financial services and ensure that Bernama
Group (TNG) announced thatTNG Digital our user base is served in an innovative and
Sdn Bhd, the owner and operator ofTouch inclusive manner,” he said. KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): SME
‘n Go eWallet, has raised RM750 million Bank has recorded another sus-
from its latest round of equity funding. Meanwhile, Lazada Malaysia CEO Alan tainability sukuk issuance under its
Chan said Lazada is fully committed to book-building exercise, registering a
In a statement on Monday, TNG said providing a seamless customer journey, as total order of RM536 million, which
the funding round was led by a new in- well as being a catalyst to stimulate capac- exceeded the initial desired size of
vestment inTNG Digital by Lazada Group ity building among its sellers, primarily lo- RM300 million.
and a follow-on investment byTNG Digi- cal micro, small, and medium enterprises.
tal’s current shareholder and parent com- In a statement on Monday, group
pany,Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd. “We see digital payment services as a president and chief executive officer
critical bolt-on to bring the best customer Datuk Dr Aria Putera Ismail said
The group said the new investment by La- experience on Lazada. the sukuk was priced at a competi-
zada solidifies the collaboration between key tive profit rate of 4.04% amidst the
segment leaders — one in e-commerce and the “Our long-standing partnership with challenging market and profit rate
other in digital financial services and payments. Touch ‘n Go eWallet has served our cus- hike situation.
tomers well, allowing buyers to check out
TNG chief executive officer (CEO) Ef- easily and quickly,” he said. “It had received a good demand
fendy Shahul Hamid said this collaboration from local financing institutions,
The latest funding round brought the fund management, insurance com-
total amount raised byTNG Digital in the panies as well as government-linked
last 18 months to over RM1 billion. investment companies,” he said.

In addition toTouch ‘n Go and Lazada, Thus, he said that has signified
other shareholders ofTNG Digital include a high level of confidence from the
Ant Group, AIA Group, and US-based investment community in the bank's
venture fund BowWave Capital. ability to deliver its mandate of nur-
turing and developing small and me-
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Iskandar Iskandar dium enterprises (SMEs).
Malaysia has recorded committed invest- Malaysia records
ments of RM13.2 billion in the first half of Meanwhile,head of treasury Mohd
this year (1H2022), out of which RM5.9 RM13.2 bil in Nazri Abu Samah said proceeds from
billion have been realised. committed the issuance would only be utilised
investments to finance environmental, social and
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri in 1H2022 governance (ESG)-related projects.
Yaakob said the investments achieved had
proven that foreign investors are more con- Bernama Additionally, he said SME Bank
fident to invest in Malaysia. will be able to offer more innovative
Meanwhile, IRDA is formulating the financing solutions for SMEs.
“A total of more than RM10 billion Modern Agriculture Strategy in strength-
will be generated by foreign investors in ening the food security agenda.The develop- According to the bank, it is now
this region for the development of data ment of 5G technology, which is a key sup- in its second year of implementing
centres,” he said in a statement. porting component of modern agriculture, the three-year Sustainability Roadm-
is being accelerated in Iskandar Malaysia to ap that focuses on institutionalising
The prime minister on Monday (July address the food supply issue in the country. ESG culture across the bank, creat-
25) chaired the Iskandar Regional Devel- ing maximum ESG awareness with
opment Authority (IRDA) meeting, to- This is in line with the government’s agenda the customers and establishing SME
gether with Johor Menteri Besar Datuk to focus on food security,through the allocation Bank's own comprehensive and cus-
Onn Hafiz Ghazi. made under the 12th Malaysia Plan.The Iskan- tomised Sustainable Development
dar Malaysia Modern Agriculture plan would Goal Framework.
Ismail Sabri also stressed that these for- position IRDA as Malaysia’s Agrifood Hub. Read also: UOB Malaysia extends
eign investments would create additional green finance facility to IOI Corp to
job opportunities for Keluarga Malaysia. IRDA is also drafting the Iskandar Ma- prop up sustainable palm oil practices
laysia Comprehensive Development Plan
“In total, more than 6,000 people in 2022-2030, which will make the region as
this region have received direct benefits one of the core areas of the national econ-
from the socioeconomic initiatives that omy, with the concept of sustainable devel-
have been carried out,” he said. opment and resilient to future uncertainty,
shocks and challenges.
Since its incorporation in 2006 until June
2022, Iskandar Malaysia recorded total in-
vestments of RM367.8 billion, out of which
60% or RM221 billion had been realised.
Out of the total investments, RM148.1 bil-
lion constituted foreign investments.

For the January to June 2022 period,
Iskandar Malaysia registered RM13.2 bil-
lion in committed investments, whereby
RM5.9 billion had been realised.

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KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): A report Ten potential emerging giants in Asia Pacific that are
by HSBC and KPMG titled “Emerging unicorns in fast-growing, influential, and innovative
Giants in Asia Pacific” has identified 10 Malaysia, with ambitions to achieve the unicorn sta-
potential unicorns in Malaysia. according to report tus and 10 leading emerging giant com-
by HSBC, KPMG panies in each market surveyed.
These companies — which the report
dubbed “Emerging Giants” — are Boost by shazni ong “While there is no specific formula to be
Holdings, Exabytes, Jirnexu, Presto Mall, theedgemarkets.com an ‘Emerging Giant’, the companies identi-
Mindvalley, Neurogine, Eatcosys, Says, fied were players in a variety of disciplines,
Lapasar and PolicyStreet. “Financial institutions must be commit- with successful adaptations of their busi-
ted to offering start-ups the right support ness models based on correct identification
In a joint statement on Monday (July 25), so they can scale beyond Malaysia to be of market gaps and a winning culture that
HSBC and KPMG noted technology-fo- an emerging giant or unicorn,” she said. attracts and retains talent.
cused ecosystems are maturing, generating
billion-dollar companies at an unprecedent- The “Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific” “This includes technology and/or tech-
ed rate as the Asia Pacific region becomes report by HSBC and KPMG took an in- nical knowledge,‘hyper localised’ businesses,
wealthier and more digitally connected. depth look at 6,472 technology-focused logistics channels and supply chain opera-
start-ups in 12 Asia Pacific markets with tions,” said both companies in the statement.
Head of technology, media and telecom- valuations of up to US$500 million.
munications at KPMG in Malaysia, Guy Meanwhile, HSBC and KPMG said
Edwards, said Malaysia has developed a The report identified 100 leading total venture capital (VC) funds for the
good understanding of technology and how first quarter of 2022 (1Q22) already sur-
innovation works, as evidenced by the many passed 2020 levels.
home-grown companies listed in the top
10 leading emerging giants for Malaysia. Citing the Securities Commission Ma-
laysia, they noted that funding is starting to
“While start-ups are poised to continue reach a significant level — total committed
playing a major role in the country’s devel- VC funds hit US$1.2 billion in 2021, up
opment, some may struggle to gain the guid- 20% in 2020, and nearly five times more
ance and business support needed to grow. than Malaysian start-ups raised in 2019.

“Beyond government support, nurtur- “There has also been an increase in
ing the right ecosystem for our local start- venture capital deals in the region, with
ups requires adopting a regional outlook, record-breaking numbers in 2021.
and encouraging strong collaboration by
stakeholders in the space,” he said. “Although 2022 looks unlikely to repeat
the highs of 2021, 1Q22 figures (US$319
HSBC Malaysia head of commercial million) suggest that 2022 is on target to
banking Karel Doshi said the list of emerg- exceed both 2020 (US$101 million) and
ing giants in Malaysia excites the bank as 2019 (US$121 million) funding levels for
it is proof that the nation has all the right Asia Pacific as a whole, totalling US$222
ingredients for start-ups to flourish and be million.This is consistent with the invest-
leaders that shape their industry. ments in Malaysian start-ups,” they said.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):Web hosting Exabytes transformation journey for businesses in
and cloud service provider Exabytes Cap- collaborates with Malaysia and beyond.
ital Sdn Bhd has partnered with Huawei Huawei Cloud to
Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to ex- provide cloud-first “We want to leverage the capabilities of
pand its offering to include Huawei Ma- smart solutions digital technology to gain a better compet-
laysia’s cloud-first smart solutions, as the itive advantage as well as other business
group aims to boost the digital transforma- by justin lim values for our joint customers,” Foo added.
tion journey for its enterprise customers in theedgemarkets.com
the post-pandemic scene. Meanwhile, Huawei Malaysia vice pres-
executive officer Chan Kee Siak said cloud ident of cloud and AI business group Lim
Under this partnership with Huawei infrastructure alone will not drive business Chee Siong said moving forward,partnerships
Malaysia, Exabytes will expand its offering growth, as it has to be supported with busi- are crucial and key to building a robust eco-
to include cloud infrastructure-, platform- ness applications in order to achieve the system in Malaysia for all businesses to scale.
and software-as-a-service (IaaS, PaaS and desired business outcomes.
SaaS) systems as well as enable access to As the all-in-one business cloud, digital,
other business applications such as smart Meanwhile, Exabytes executive vice and e-commerce solutions provider, Exa-
building, smart city, smart traffic, smart president and head of enterprise business bytes plans to expand its partner ecosystem
agriculture, smart healthcare, smart logistic Eric Foo believes that this partnership with by bringing more regional and global cloud
and other smart solutions that are driven Huawei Malaysia to use its cloud platform solution partners into Malaysia.
by machine learning, artificial intelligence and solutions partner ecosystem will be the
(AI) and the Internet ofThings (IoT), the catalyst in driving the cloud-first digital Exabytes is also planning to leverage its
company said in a statement on Monday presence in Indonesia to promote Huawei
(July 25). cloud services and partner ecosystem solu-
tions and services in this high potential
The government-linked private equity and fast-growing market.
firm Ekuiti Nasional Bhd owns a 45.4% Read also: Growth in recreation spending
stake in Exabytes. in Malaysia provides opportunity for fash-
ion retailers, says Fitch Solutions
In the statement, Exabytes group chief

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the edge file photo conference after chairing on the Special Task GFCF declined
Force on Jihad Against Inflation at Parliament marginally to
Ceiling price of building on Monday (July 25). RM278.7 bil in
bottled cooking 2021 — DOSM
oil will be based According to Annuar, the move was deemed
on CPO price necessary as the current mechanism to lower the Bernama
retail price of bottled cooking oil has proven to
trend be ineffective, even after the government held KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Malay-
the engagement with palm oil manufacturers. sia’s Gross Fixed Capital Formation
by Justin Lim (GFCF), the second largest component
theedgemarkets.com “The authority held an engagement with palm of gross domestic product (GDP) with a
oil manufacturers in relation to lowering the re- 20.1% share to the total economy, con-
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Putrajaya is tar- tail price of bottled cooking oil.We want to see tracted by a marginal 0.9% to RM278.7
geting to introduce the flexi price ceiling for when the price of palm oil has clearly dropped in billion in 2021 from RM281.2 billion
oil palm-based bottled cooking oil, in a bid to the world market, then cooking oil sold at retail in 2020.
control the maximum price and prevent prof- to the public should immediately be lowered.
iteering by traders. Department of Statistics Malaysia
“After two weeks [since the engagement], (DOSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr
Special Task Force on Jihad Against Infla- the retail price of bottled cooking oil has still Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the contraction,
tion ChairmanTan Sri Annuar Musa said the not been lowered. This means the current however, is significantly lower than the
government will implement the “maximum mechanism was not effective.The mechanism 14.4% contraction in 2020.
price” for the bottled cooking oil about a week of negotiating, asking, does not seem to be
from now and the will have Domestic Trade effective and the government needs to make “The gradual recovery of GFCF en-
and Consumer Affairs Ministry to be in charge a more effective determination to protect the couraged a higher economic capacity
of this new policy implementation. interests of the public,” he explained. thus, increasing potential output in the
long run,” he said in a statement on Mon-
“Once it [maximum price for bottled cook- Starting July 1, Putrajaya discontinues sub- day (July 25).
ing oil being] is gazetted, the Ministry will sidies for palm cooking oil in bottles of 2kg, 3kg
determine the maximum retail price for bot- and 5kg. However, the government continues He said the GFCF in 2021 for all sec-
tle cooking oil from time to time, depending to subsidise 1kg cooking oil, which is packed tors recorded a negative growth except
on palm oil price globally,” he told at a press in polybags and priced at RM2.50 each. for the manufacturing sector.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri “The favourable performance in this
Yaakob explained that the subsidy granted sector was supported by petroleum,
for bottled cooking oil was only a temporary chemical, rubber and plastic products
measure introduced in August 2021 to help as well as the electrical, electronic and
Malaysians cope with the effects of the Cov- optical products transport equipment,
id-19 pandemic.The programme was originally which rebounded to 9.7% and 5.9%,
only meant to last for three months, at a cost respectively,” he said.
of RM55 million per month. Read the full story

However, he said the government found that
the temporary subsidy had been widely abused by
industrial and commercial parties,and smugglers.

“Hence, the government decided that it
won’t continue with this bottled cooking oil
subsidy from July 1, because the original ob-
jective of this programme was to help those
affected by the pandemic,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):The govern- Government to the edge file photo
ment has prohibited the export of cooking ban export of
oil in polybags, in an attempt to avoid con- cooking oil in Parliament on Monday (July 25).
fusion with subsidised cooking oil which is Currently, the subsidised 1kg cooking
being sold in polybags. polybags
oil is packed in polybags and priced at
SpecialTask Force on Jihad Against In- by Justin Lim RM2.50 each.
flation Chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa theedgemarkets.com
said the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Meanwhile, the unsubsidised cooking
Consumer Afairs will consult with the par- cooking oil in a similar form [polybags], oil is packed in bottles, varying from 2kg
ties involved, especially those who issue it poses problems for the enforcement of- to 5kg.
cooking oil export licence in the form of ficers. Hence, any export of cooking oil in
polybags. the form of polybags is no longer allowed
and those cooking oil must be exported in
“We will ban any export of cooking oil another form,” Annuar told a press con-
in the form of polybags because this causes ference after the task force’s meeting in
confusion. We have mentioned that sub-
sidised cooking oil is only available in the
form of polybags and the authorities need
to enforce that such cooking oil [in poly
bags packaging] cannot be exported.

“When there is an exporter who exports

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MIDF cuts amplify its topline to grow +24% year- Kimlun bracing
Genting on-year (y-o-y) and -6% y-o-y to RM3.9 for stronger
billion/RM3.7 billion [in FY22/FY23], 2H22, says
Plantations’ while bottom-line to increase +18% and Kenanga
target price by -14% to RM547 million/RM470.9 million Research
21% to RM8 [in FY22/FY23].
by Surin Murugiah
by Syafiqah Salim “Following more maturity age profile theedgemarkets.com
theedgemarkets.com circa 117,329 ha (hectare) and 18,084 ha
coming into Malaysia/Indonesia estates KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Kenanga
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): MIDF this year, we anticipate group matured area Research has maintained its “Outper-
Research has cut its target price (TP) for to improve to 135,413 ha in 2022 result- form” rating on Kimlun Corp Bhd at
Genting Plantations Bhd by 21% to RM8, ing [in] fresh fruit bunch yield to touch 68 sen with an unchanged target price
from RM10.10 previously. 17.3/mature ha in FY22. This would aid (TP) of RM1.10 and said labour short-
production to register at 2,342,645 mt/ age has held players back from bidding
“We are maintaining our ‘buy’ call with ha,” said MIDF. aggressively in a market that has yet to
revised TP of RM8 (from RM10.10) by see a pick-up in the flow of new jobs.
pegging its FY23 EPS [earnings per share] In addition, Genting Plantations’ plant-
of 52.46 sen to PER [price-earnings ratio] ed area now stood at 159,318 ha in FY21, In a note on Monday (July 25), the
of 15 times nearly -1SD of its four-year with matured area at 134,313 ha and im- research house nonetheless said Kimlun
historical forward. mature area around 25,005 ha, according is bracing for a stronger 2H as its key job,
to MIDF. i.e. the RM780 million Sabah-Sarawak
“We changed our valuation from SOP Link Road, moves up the S-curve, while
[sum-of-parts] to PE [price-earnings] “The average oil palm age profile of the government is likely to expedite the
since its property sales contribution is only 11.9 years of the group is relatively ideal rollout of public projects ahead of the
3% and does not offer value accretive to in FY21 with approximately 58% prime 15th general election (GE15).
the company,” said MIDF in a note on mature and 48% of past prime age, while
Monday (July 25). the remaining is young mature [at] 12%. “Maintain ‘outperform’ and TP of
We believe that this is [a] fairly matured RM1.10 for Kimlun based on FY23E
MIDF forecasts the group to post sus- profile that may provide visible revenue PER of 9x, at a 50% discount over our
tained double-digit growth in profit before and earnings growth moving forward,” it sector leader’s ascribed PER of 18x giv-
tax of 15% over the financial year ending added. en Kimlun’s smaller size.
Dec 31, 2022 (FY22) as it posits cost to
remain under control with 40% fertiliser Genting Plantations has eight ‘buy’, six “There is no adjustment toTP based
and 30% labour structure, in anticipation “hold” and three “sell” calls, with target on ESG for which it is given a 3-star
of higher average selling prices of crude prices ranging from the lowest of RM5.20 ESG rating as appraised by us,” it said.
palm oil (CPO) to be able to compensate and the highest of RM15, Bloomberg data Read also:
rising input cost. showed. Maybank IB raises Genting
Singapore’s 2022 earnings
“We believe elevated CPO price will At the time of writing on Monday, estimates by 78%
Genting Plantations’ share price had ris- AMMB Holdings set to resume
en two sen or 0.31% to RM6.56, valuing uptrend, says RHB Retail Research
the group at RM5.89 billion. It is currently LGMS set to propel higher, says
trading at a historical price-earnings ratio RHB Retail Research
of 12.13 times, offering a dividend yield Maybank says services back to
of 2.29%. normal after MAE, M2U MY apps’
slowness
Astro’s long- KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Hong Le-
term prospects ong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research
has maintained its “buy” rating on Astro
improving, Malaysia Holdings Bhd at 89 sen with an
says HLIB unchanged target price (TP) of RM1.34
and said with the recent launch of Astro’ s
by Surin Murugiah addressable advertising alongside its fibre
theedgemarkets.com broadband service as a standalone prod-
uct in May 2022, the group’s long-term
prospect seems to be improving.

In a note on Monday (July 25), the
research house said with a diversified rev-
enue stream as well as an improved and
more efficient advertising solution for cli-
ents,Astro is increasing its competitive ad-
vantage.

“Maintain ‘buy’ with an unchanged
DCF-basedTP of RM1.34 (WACC:8.6%,
TG: 0%). In addition,Astro’s attractive div-
idend yield of 8.4% provides a solid share
price downside support,” it said.

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news In brief

MK Land founder passes away Bintai Kinden to explore
opportunities in Middle East
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): MK Land KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Bintai
founder Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Kinden Corp Bhd inked a memorandum
Bakar has passed away. Citing his of understanding (MOU) with Medical
daughter Felina, Astro Awani reported Renewable Care Company under the trade
that Mustapha died at 7.45am on name Nouveta to explore a collaboration
Monday (July 25) at the National Heart providing mechanical and engineering
Institute. The 73-year-old will be buried solutions and services to the healthcare
at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery on industry of Saudi Arabia. Bintai Kinden
Monday. — by Surin Murugiah said its sub-subsidiary Johnson Medical
International Sdn Bhd (JMI) has signed the
BAssets grants option to Extreme Labour placement problem in deal which encompasses future expansion
Broadband to buy Menara MSC Malaysia must be solved immediately, in Dubai. It said JMI specialises in the design,
Cyberport for RM69 mil says Indonesia manufacture and installation of customised
hospital support system equipment and
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Berjaya JAKARTA (July 25): The Presidential Staff provision of nursing home services. The
Assets Bhd (BAssets) has inked an option office urged for the placement of workers company said Nouveta, which is based
agreement with Extreme Broadband Sdn in Malaysia to be resolved immediately, in Jeddah, provides healthcare-related
Bhd (EBSB) for the latter to acquire 72 units considering their significant contributions products and services to doctors, hospitals
in Menara MSC Cyberport, Johor Bahru to the stability and development of the and pharmacies. — by Surin Murugiah
for RM69.61 million. The option is part of country’s economy. Expert Staff of the
a rent-cum-option to purchase agreement Presidential Staff office, Fadjar Dwi Bursa sees foreign selling snapped
signed between the two parties, which Wisnuwardhani, said the immediate by RM191.3 mil inflow last week,
also entails BAssets leasing out of 42 units resolution of the problem will also says MIDF
to EBSB for RM250,000 per month. The strengthen the workers’ protection and KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Foreign selling of
remaining 30 out of the 72 units are already increase the opportunities for its people local equity on Bursa Malaysia for the past six
leased out. The leasing and option period is to work. Malaysia is one of the most consecutive weeks came to a halt after the
for three years from Aug 1, 2022 until July important countries for the placement stock exchange recorded net foreign inflow of
31, 2025. — by Adam Aziz of Indonesian workers, with 1.6 million RM191.3 million last week, from an outflow
of them placed in the plantation and of RM27.95 million the prior week. MIDF
manufacturing sectors and as domestic Research said foreigners were net buyers for
workers, he said, as reported by the Antara every day of last week, while local institutions
news agency. Indonesia temporarily froze continued to be net sellers for the second
the entry of workers into Malaysia on consecutive week after selling RM87 million
July 13 when it found that Malaysia was worth of equities last week. Local retailers,
still using channels other than the “One meanwhile, ended their net buying streak
Channel System” — which was a breach last week after they net sold RM104.2 million
of the memorandum of understanding worth of equities. MIDF said year-to-date,
(MOU). — Bernama international funds have been net buyers
for 18 out of the 29 weeks of 2022, with a
Palm oil extends losses as Indonesian supply to flood the market total net inflow of RM6.11 billion; while local
institutions were net sellers for 22 out of 29
SINGAPORE (July 25): Palm oil fell for a third straight day, as the market remains weeks, with a total net outflow of RM7.89
cautious of a fresh attempt by Indonesia to ramp up overseas shipments. Futures billion. Local retailers have been net buyers
for October delivery swung between gains and losses before closing 1.6% lower at for 19 out of 29 weeks of 2022, with net
RM3,646 (US$819) a tonne, the lowest in more than a week. Indonesia has been buying of RM1.78 billion. — by Surin Murugiah
boosting shipments to reduce its bloated inventories, a move that’s caused prices to
sink about 50% from a record close in April. The government has waived an export Read also:
levy until end-August and is considering removing the domestic market obligation to
further accelerate shipments. — Bloomberg Cepatwawasan 2Q net profit up 66.91%
to RM15.81 mil on higher FFB price

MCMC chairman Mohamad Salim,
former Deloitte SEA director Cheryl
Khor join MAHB as independent
directors

SC adds two entities to Investor Alert List

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AIA strengthens its health
and wealth ecosystem

Collecting premiums and paying claims have Health and Wealth Solutions is important as it
been the general notion of conducting helps to gauge customers’ objectives and gaps to
insurance businesses, but to stand out in achieving their financial goal.
a dynamic and competitive marketplace,
AIA Malaysia has gone the extra mile “The first step towards any goal is to Plan Well.
to empower Malaysians in achieving Healthier, Our suite of financial planning tools and solutions
Longer, Better Lives. are designed to cultivate positive long-term sav-
ings and help people identify their gaps so that
Guided by the four pillars of Plan Well, Live Well, they understand their overall protection needs
Protect Well and Get Well, AIA Malaysia is aiming better,” he explains.
to help Malaysians adopt a healthy lifestyle as well
as build wealth for a brighter future with its holistic Under the second pillar, Live Well, powered by
Total Health and Wealth Solutions, says CEO Ben Ng. the company’s science-backed health programme,
AIA Vitality, AIA encourages customers to adopt a
“We launched Total Health Solution last year, with healthy lifestyle through rewards and benefits by
the goal of helping people live healthier and longer. doing regular exercises, maintaining a healthy diet
But we realised that while Malaysians work very hard, and sleeping well, Ng says. “We believe in keeping
they don’t necessarily make their money work as hard. people healthy and keeping them out of hospital.”
Therefore, to also help people live better, we rolled out
our Total Wealth Solution this year,” he says. These rewards include discounted premiums,
additional maturity benefits and upgrade of hos-
“We believe that health and wealth go hand in pital room and board, he says.
hand … you cannot enjoy one without the other.
Our goal is to provide a comprehensive ecosystem “The third pillar is Protect Well, where we pro-
of both health and wealth solutions that will ulti- vide our customers with comprehensive solutions
mately provide our customers with everything they to protect their lifestyle and loved ones,” Ng says.
need to achieve a better quality of life,” he adds.
Specifically for plans under its Total Wealth Solu-
As one of the country’s leading insurance and tion ecosystem, the insurer helps customers grow
takaful providers, Ng says AIA Malaysia strategically their wealth over the long-term through savings
mapped out the four pillars as a way to holistically plans that are integrated with the expertise of its
support its customers’ health and wealth needs. investment team and various global institutional
fund managers.
Having Plan Well as the first pillar within Total
continues on next Page

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from previous Page AIA invests in better office infrastructure to up the ante on its digital transformation journey.

And should their customers fall ill, they can Ng speaking at the interview. claims, track their health and more.
be assured that they will be well taken care of un- Ng says AIA will continue to focus on stepping
der the fourth pillar, Get Well. AIA’s differentiated nology, our award-winning customer app is able
healthcare services give them access to a vast net- to accompany our customers in real time. So those up its digital transformation journey to keep up with
work of hospitals and clinics, telemedicine services are our key distinctive strengths,” he explains, customer needs and expectations that are always
and Personal Medical Case Management, which all referring to the My AIA app, where customers evolving. “No one could have imagined being able
aim to support treatment and recovery. can check policy status, make payments, submit to buy insurance without ever meeting your agent
before, but now it is the norm.”
“Personal Medical Case Management is a unique
service that connects our customers with medical He also notices that insurance awareness and
professionals, ensuring that they get the right diag- health consciousness have increased after the
nosis and the right treatment,” Ng says. “As you can pandemic, and hence, it is timely for AIA to ride
see, our Total Health and Wealth Solutions are an on this trend by enhancing the health and wealth
extensive and comprehensive ecosystem designed of Malaysians along the journey.
with our customers’ needs in mind.”
“We know that as Malaysians adjust to living in
Complementing this holistic proposition is AIA a post-pandemic era, they need a partner to help
Malaysia’s more than 21,500 strong team of agents, them rebuild their future with confidence. That is
better known as Life Planners, who are given the where we can truly play our part — as a life part-
mandate of helping Malaysians meet their health ner that helps them work towards their goals with
and wealth aspirations. relevant and timely solutions.”

“Our Life Planners are some of the best out
there. In fact, we’ve now tasked them to become
HLBL partners,” he says, referring to the acronym
of “Healthier, Longer, Better Lives”. “They have to
meet a certain criteria in their own health jour-
ney to achieve this title because we all should
walk the talk.”

Apart from understanding AIA’s Total Health
and Wealth Solutions, Ng says HLBL partners are
not only trained to analyse customers’ finan-
cial needs, but to also encourage them to live
healthy and well.

He points out that AIA Malaysia has also made
massive investments into technology over the past
two years, to not just stay ahead of industry peers,
but also to empower its agents to engage with
their customers virtually. These enhancements
have allowed them to provide customers with a
wide range of frictionless services as well as unique
personalised experiences.

“Thanks to the investments we made in tech-

AIA’s agents and employees have taken the new norm
in stride, embracing a new way of working.

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home

High Court requests MACC statement
of star witness in Syed Saddiq trial
after inconsistent testimony

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): The High by Tarani Palani terprise (ABBE) in April 2018.
Court has agreed with the defence of for- theedgemarkets.com ABBE is a company set up to generate in-
mer youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq
Syed Abdul Rahman’s trial that there were When asked by Deputy Public Prosecu- come for the party’s wing through merchan-
discrepancies in the testimony of the prose- tor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin if dise sales. Rafiq is its sole account holder.
cution’s star witness, Parti Pribumi Bersatu the court needed help to peruse the state- Second attempt to impeach Rafiq
Malaysia youth wing’s ex-assistant treasurer ment, JC Azhar said: “Let me go through This is the defence’s second attempt to im-
Rafiq Hakim Razali. the statement then I will decide whether to peach Rafiq.
go through [with] the impeachment or not.”
In line with that, Judicial Commissioner Last week, the court ruled against the
(JC) Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid on Mon- To impeach a witness is to discredit the defence’s application to impeach the prose-
day (July 25) ruled that the prosecution accuracy or truth of their testimony. cution’s witness based on contradiction be-
must submit his Malaysian Anti-Corrup- tween his oral testimony and his prepared
tion Commission (MACC) statement to Leave (permission) has to be granted be- written statement.
court before it decides whether to grant fore impeachment proceedings can com-
leave (permission) for the defence to im- mence. Although his witness statement had been
peach the witness. given to the defence, it was not used in court
The defence is looking to impeach Rafiq during Rafiq’s testimony, nor was it sub-
“After listening to submissions from based on his contradictory testimony giv- mitted as evidence. He gave oral evidence
both parties, I agree that the defence has en in court.The prosecution’s 13th witness instead.
shown that there are discrepancies, which also admitted to the contradiction when it
the prosecution has also admitted to,” he was pointed out during cross-examination Azhar ruled that the witness could not be
said, adding that the statement has to be earlier this month. impeached based on the written statement
given to court before he decides on the next because it was never tendered in court and
course of action. Rafiq central to first two charges therefore did not meet the criteria of a wit-
Syed Saddiq faces in trial ness statement defined under the Criminal
This is part of the defence’s second leave Among the discrepancies in his testimony, Procedural Code.
application to begin impeachment proceed- the witness said the Muar member of par-
ings against Rafiq. Rafiq’s MACC statement liament (MP) had asked him to withdraw If found guilty of the CBT charge, which
was recorded during his detention in 2020. RM1 million during a meeting at his home. is framed under Section 406 of the Penal
But in his statement, he said the instructions Code, Syed Saddiq could be jailed for up
MACC statements are generally consid- to withdraw the money were given through to 10 years, whipped and fined.
ered privileged documents which are not aWhatsApp call.
accessible to any parties, including the court. As for the misappropriation charge, he
The defence contended that these dis- could be jailed up to five years, whipped
As for the leave for impeachment, the crepancies were not “minor”, but instead and fined if convicted.
JC said that he will first pe- went to the heart of the charges that the
ruse the statement be- MP faces in this trial. In addition, he faces two charges of en-
fore deciding on fur- gaging in money laundering activities in-
ther action. The prosecution, however, maintained volving two transactions of RM50,000 each
that there was no reason to commence im- — money believed to be proceeds of unlaw-
Syed Saddiq peachment proceedings because the witness ful activities — via his Maybank Islamic ac-
Syed Abdul Rahman himself admitted to the contradiction. count and his Amanah Saham Bumiputera
account, on June 16 and 19, 2018.
Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge Rafiq is a central witness to the charg-
es of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and The latter two charges were framed under
misappropriation of the RM1.12 million Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Launder-
of funds belonging to the party that Syed ing,Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds
of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which are
Saddiq faces in this trial. punishable under Section 4(1) of the same
For the first count, Syed Saddiq act with a maximum jail term of 15 years,
and a fine of not less than five times the
is charged with abetting Rafiq in amount involved.
committing CBT involving RM1
million of funds belonging to the Read also:
MACC IO baffled by defence’s line of
party in March 2020. questioning in Syed Saddiq trial
As for the second charge,
Trial of Shahrir Samad’s money-
the MP is charged under Sec- laundering case to beginTuesday
tion 403 of the Penal Code
with misusing RM120,000
in party contributions, raised
through a Maybank Islamic
Bhd account belonging to
Armada Bumi Bersatu En-

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home

SHAH ALAM (July 25): The High Court Shahril, former that Shahril Sufian, who is UMNO Youth
was told on Monday (July 25) that UMNO MCA ministers vice-chief, was also given the political con-
information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, tribution because of his close relations with
former transport ministerTan Sri Chan Kong also received Wan Quoris Shah and Khairy.
Choy and former international trade and in- political funds
dustry ministerTan Sri Ong Ka Chuan were from UKSB, Meanwhile, when re-examined by deputy
also given political donations by Ultra Kirana public prosecutor Zander LimWai Keong on
Sdn Bhd (UKSB). court told why no police report was lodged against those
who denied receiving the political donations
Former UKSB administrative manager Bernama from UKSB,Tan said he had no intention of
David Tan Siong Sun, 47, told this to the doing so (lodge police report) as the monies
court when cross-examined by lawyer Hami- the edge file photo had been given out and the court proceed-
di Mohd Noh, representing former deputy ings were ongoing.
prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Hamidi in the corruption case involving the Ahmad Zahid is facing 33 charges of re-
foreign visa system (VLN). ceiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million
(RM42 million) from UKSB as an induce-
Tan, who is the 17th prosecution wit- ment for himself in his capacity as a civil serv-
ness, said UKSB gave political contribu- ant and the then home minister to extend the
tions amounting to RM1.162 million to contract of the company as the operator of
Shahril Sufian, RM7.85 million to Chan and the one-stop centre in China and the VLN
RM922,820 to Ong,who were given the code system as well as to maintain the agreement to
names ‘S Pat’,‘Prof’ and OKC, respectively, supplyVLN integrated system paraphernalia
as written in the ledger book. to the same company by the Home Ministry.

Questioned by Hamidi whether Shahril On another seven counts, Zahid was
Sufian was a good friend ofWan Badak (who charged as home minister for having ob-
is UKSB former director Wan Quoris Shah tained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 mil-
Wan Abdul Ghani) and KJ (Khairy Jamalud- lion, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from
din), the witness said “True”. the same company in connection with his
official work.
Hamidi: He is being paid monthly from
that ledger? He is charged with committing all the of-
fences at Seri Satria,Presint 16,Putrajaya,and
Tan:That is correct. Country Heights, Kajang, between October
Hamidi: It’s for political fund and gen- 2014 and March 2018.
eral election?
Tan:Yes. The hearing before Judge Datuk Mohd
Tan also agreed with Hamidi’s suggestion Yazid Mustafa continues onTuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 25):Tan Sri Ong Ong Ka Chuan civil servant and the then Home Minister to
Ka Chuan has denied news reports that he denies receiving extend the contract of the company as the
had received political donations and is ready political donation operator of the one-stop centre in China and
to cooperate if there are any investigations theVLN system, as well as to maintain the
arising from these allegations. by Chester Tay agreement to supplyVLN integrated system
theedgemarkets.com paraphernalia for the same company by the
“Any allegations as contained in news Home Ministry.
reports that political donations were given the edge file photo
to me are totally unfounded. I completely On another seven counts, Zahid was
deny these allegations that are entirely base- Tan Sri Ong Ka Chuan charged as the then Home Minister to have
less in nature. obtained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 mil-
ceiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 mil- lion, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from
“I invite the accusing party to put forth lion (RM42 million) from UKSB as an in- the same company in connection with his
all evidence and details regarding the alle- ducement for himself in his capacity as a official work.
gations to the public domain and the rel- Read also:
evant authorities. I am ready and willing ‘Glaring’ conflict of interest by KL
to cooperate with the authorities in their mayor, FT Minister in granting Taman
investigations should any arise,” he said in Rimba Kiara Development Order
a statement on Monday. Ismail Sabri obtains injunction order
for Agenda Daily to delete defamatory
Earlier on Monday, Bernama reported article
that the High Court was told that Ong was Two pork sellers fined for having carcass
among the recipients of political donations of pig slaughtered at unlicensed abattoir
given by Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB)
during the corruption trial of former Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi involving the foreign visa system
(VLN).

UKSB is a contractor hired by the Gov-
ernment to provide supply and services for
the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Ahmad Zahid is facing 33 charges of re-

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world

China plans real estate fund worth up to
US$44 bil for distressed sector — source

BEIJING/HONG KONG (July 25): Chi- by Clare Jim Property shares rally
na will launch a real estate fund to help Reuters Turmoil in China’s property market, from
property developers resolve a crippling the debt crisis, to credit tightening and
debt crisis, aiming for a war chest of up to solve the current debt and mortgage the mortgage boycott, have battered con-
to 300 billion yuan (US$44 billion) in a crisis, because it alone would not solve fidence in the sector and seen authorities
bid to restore confidence in the industry, all the problems ... we need a real estate scramble to avert problems spilling into
according to a state bank official with di- recovery.” the broader economy.
rect knowledge of the matter.
Reuters has reached out for comment “If the (fund) can be realised in the near
The move would mark the first major from China Construction Bank, the future, it helps avoid more developers from
step by the state to rescue the beleaguered PBOC and China’s cabinet, the State defaulting and also helps to improve mar-
property sector since the debt troubles Council. ket sentiment as well as developers’ sales,”
became public last year. said Raymond Cheng, head of China re-
Global investors are fixated on any search at CGS-CIMB Securities.
The size of the fund would initially twists and turns in China’s property mar-
be set at 80 billion yuan through sup- ket, which along with related sectors such The latest news propelled the Hang
port from the central bank, the People’s as construction, accounts for more than Seng Mainland Properties Index more
Bank of China (PBOC), the person, who a quarter of the country’s gross domestic than 5% early on Monday, and it was up
declined to be identified due to the sen- product (GDP). 3.5% in mid-afternoon trading. The CSI
sitivity of the matter, told Reuters. 300 Real Estate Index rose almost 2.0%.
The source said the fund will be used
He said state-owned China Construc- to bankroll the purchases of unfinished Financial information provider REDD
tion Bank will contribute 50 billion yuan home projects and complete their con- first reported details of the real estate fund
into the 80 billion yuan fund, but the struction, and then rent them to individ- on Monday.
money will come from PBOC’s relend- uals as part of the government’s drive to
ing facility. boost rental housing. The fund would support more than a
dozen property developers, including em-
If the model works, other banks will Such a move would underline the im- battled China Evergrande Group, REDD
follow suit with a target to raise up to 200 portance the central government attaches reported, citing unidentified sources.
to 300 billion yuan, he added. to providing more affordable homes for
young people at a time when some local Regulators and local governments
A key pillar of the world’s second-larg- governments have been reluctant to build would select the developers eligible for
est economy, China’s property sector has rental housing because land sales are a support from the fund, REDD said, add-
been lurching from one crisis to another, major source of income. ing that the fund could be used to buy
and has been a major drag on growth over financial products issued by the develop-
the past year. A revolt by homebuyers Henan-government backed Zheng- ers or finance state buyers’ acquisitions of
this month heaped more headache for zhou Real Estate, which set up one of their projects.
authorities. the first local bailout funds in the coun-
try last week with state-owned Henan Beijing is also considering a national
Some analysts said a fund would only Asset Management amid the mortgage policy for issuance of special bonds for
provide part of the solution. boycott, plans to use 20 billion yuan to shanty town redevelopment, the report
acquire 50,000 units and turn them into said.
“We don’t know details of the fund yet. rental housing, according to a notice by
If just 80 billion it’s not enough to solve the Zhengzhou authorities this month Read also: Clock ticks for Evergrande
the problem,” said Larry Hu, chief China seen by Reuters. restructuring plan after shake-up
economist at Macquarie. “I believe the
fund would be part of the bigger package

reuters

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world

(July 25): China has forced some of its big- China seals off Corp and Tesla Inc were among the com-
gest companies, including iPhone maker iPhone maker, panies that ran their Shanghai plants in
Foxconn and oil producer CNOOC Ltd, closed loops for weeks or months, when
to operate within a “closed loop” restrict- CNOOC in China’s financial hub battled the worst
ed system for seven days, as the southern Shenzhen to outbreak since Wuhan.
manufacturing hub of Shenzhen battles battle Covid
its latest Covid outbreak. China’s top chipmaker SMIC was
by Bloomberg News among companies that cut their outlook for
The city government has asked its 100 Bloomberg the second quarter, while Apple itself pre-
biggest companies, including automak- dicted that supply constraints would cost
er BYD Co, networking giants Huawei declined to comment. A spokesperson US$4 billion to US$8 billion in revenue.
Technologies Co and ZTE Corp and for the Shenzhen government’s news of-
drone-maker DJI to restrict operations fice didn’t respond to a message seeking Economists and academics have urged
only to employees living within a closed comment, while a representative for the Beijing to relax its curbs on Covid, among
loop or bubble, with little to no contact city’s industry and infotech bureau said it the harshest in the world, which have been
with people beyond their plants or of- wasn’t aware of the action when contacted blamed for disrupting the economy and
fices. Authorities also asked companies by phone. Huawei, CNOOC and BYD triggering widespread protests. In its no-
to reduce unnecessary interaction be- spokespeople didn’t immediately respond tice, Shenzhen officials asked local regu-
tween non-manufacturing staff and fac- to inquiries from Bloomberg News. lators to “resolutely” act on President Xi
tory floors to reduce infection, according Jinping’s orders regarding Covid, sticking
to a Shenzhen government notice seen China’s Covid Zero strategy, which with Covid Zero policies.
by Bloomberg News. relies on a playbook of closed borders,
quarantines, lockdowns and mass testing, Shenzhen reported 21 cases for Satur-
The lockdown comes as China nar- is up-ending its giant manufacturing sec- day, up from 19 a day ago, according to
rowly escaped an economic contraction in tor even as the rest of the world lives with health authorities.That’s a fraction com-
the June quarter, when a series of rolling the pandemic and opens up. pared with nationwide numbers: China
lockdowns shut businesses nationwide, reported 680 cases for Sunday, according
eroded employment and hurt consumer The measure in Shenzhen rekindles to data from the National Health Com-
spending. The Shenzhen action is taking the possibility of Shanghai-style lock- mission.
place months before FoxconnTechnology downs that forced tens of thousands of Read also:
Group, which makes the majority of the workers into isolation. Apple supplier Apple prepares rare iPhone discount
world’s iPhones, is due to deliver the next Quanta Computer Inc, chipmaker Sem- for China buyers
generation of Apple Inc’s marquee device. iconductor Manufacturing International
China approves first homegrown
A Foxconn spokesperson said opera- antiviral pill to combat Covid
tions at its Shenzhen sites “remained nor-
mal”. Its plant in the central Chinese city
of Zhengzhou is a far bigger iPhone-mak-
ing hub. ZTE and DJI representatives

BANGKOK/HONG KONG (July 25): Thai Life, company, we see no reason for it to trade
Shares in Thai Life Insurance Plc (TLI), SE Asia’s biggest at a premium to its embedded value and
Southeast Asia’s largest initial public of- IPO of 2022, ends hence, the shares will probably head low-
fering (IPO) so far this year, closed slightly er,” said Sumeet Singh, Aequitas Research
below the offer price on their first day of debut slightly director.
trading on Monday. below offer price
TLI’s total revenue declined 0.69%
TLI initially rose 0.63% but ended the by Chayut Setboonsarng in 2020 and grew just 1.49%, reaching
day 0.62% below the IPO price, with the & Scott Murdoch 109.2 billion baht in 2021, according its
broader Thai market up 0.49%. Reuters financial accounts.

TLI was the most actively traded stock performance, analysts said. Thailand’s economy was among the slow-
on the Bangkok stock exchange with over The flat debut is in line withThailand’s est in the region to recover from the impact
639 million shares changing hands, data of the pandemic, according to the latest re-
showed. listed insurance sector, which has weak- port from the Asian Development Bank.
ened over the past month.
TLI shares were priced at 16 baht, and TLI has the third-largest market share
the sale of 2.3 billion shares raised at least Share prices of major insurance stocks among Thai insurers and competes with
34.4 billion baht (US$937 million), with have fallen by about 5.3% sinceTLI pub- other market leaders — AIA, FWD and
about half coming from investors who lished its revised prospectus on June 24 Muang Thai Life Assurance. It plans to
bought before the deal went public, ac- ahead of its IPO launch, according to use funds from the IPO to invest in digital
cording to regulatory filings. Global Equity Research analyst Arun transformation and strengthening part-
George, who publishes on Smartkarma. nerships.
The volume of capital markets deals,
especially IPOs, has fallen sharply in 2022 “Given the past growth record for the The insurer’s IPO has been the larg-
in Asia, as global financial markets remain est equity capital market deal in South-
roiled by geopolitics, rising interest rates east Asia in 2022, according to Refinitiv
and ongoing uncertainty caused by Chi- data. There were US$2.45 billion worth
nese regulatory upheaval. of IPOs in the region in the first half of
2022, compared with US$6.1 billion in
Thai Life’s flat opening was a reflec- the same period last year.
tion of high valuation and broader market

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world

reuters reuters

Musk denies
‘romantic’ affair

with Google
co-founder
Brin’s wife

by Akriti Sharma
Reuters

BENGALURU (July 25): Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk Nicole Shanahan (left) and Google co-founder Sergey Brin
Elon Musk said late on Sunday on Twit-
ter that he and Google co-founder Sergey respond to Reuters’ requests for comments said it wasn’t able to determine how large
Brin remain friends and denied a report outside regular business hours. those investments were, nor whether any
that he had been involved in an affair with sales were made.
Brin’s wife Nicole Shanahan. Reuters wasn’t immediately able to reach
Brin or Shanahan for comment. A lawyer The WSJ did not immediately respond
Musk’s tweets came after a Wall Street for Brin declined to comment to the WSJ, to Reuters’ request for comment on Musk’s
Journal (WSJ) report that cited uniden- and Shanahan didn’t respond to requests denial of the report outside of regular US
tified sources saying he had engaged in a from the paper for comment. business hours.
brief affair with Shanahan.The paper said Read also:
the affair prompted Brin to file for divorce Brin filed for divorce citing “irreconcil- Who is Nicole Shanahan, woman at
from Shanahan earlier this year and end- able differences”, the Journal said, quoting centre of Musk-Brin drama?
ed the tech billionaires’ long friendship. records it said were filed in Santa Clara
County Superior Court. Reuters wasn’t able Tesla gets second SEC subpoena over
Dismissing the report, Musk tweeted, to determine independently whether di- Musk’s 2018 go-private tweet
“Sergey and I are friends and were at a par- vorce papers have been filed.
ty together last night! I’ve only seen Nicole
twice in three years, both times with many In its report, the WSJ also said Brin
other people around. Nothing romantic.” instructed his advisers to sell personal in-
vestments in Musk’s companies after he
Tesla and Google, whose parent com- came to know about the affair.The paper
pany is Alphabet Inc, did not immediately

SINGAPORE (July 25): Singapore’s key Bloomberg stronger price increases across the broad
core inflation gauge jumped to the highest categories of services, food, retail and oth-
level in almost 14 years, boosting the case Faster Singapore er goods, as well as electricity and gas,”
for the central bank to continue tightening inflation bolsters the MAS and MTI said, referring to the
monetary policy even after three moves June number.
this year. case for more
tightening The data supports the Monetary Au-
The core inflation print, which excludes thority of Singapore’s decision to tighten
private transport and accommodation, rose by Xiao Zibang policy earlier this month, the third time
by 4.4% in June from a year ago, according Bloomberg this year, to tackle price pressures. Analysts
to a joint statement from the Monetary see the inflation peak is still to come, after
Authority of Singapore and the Ministry peak in the third quarter, before easing the central bank this month said the core
of Trade and Industry on Monday.That’s toward the end of the year, according to measure will average between 3%-4% in
the fastest since November 2008 and ex- the statement. 2022 from 2.5%-3.5% forecast previously.
ceeds the median estimate in a Bloomberg
survey for a 4.1% gain in prices. “The rise in core inflation reflected “They would still have been surprised
by how high this inflation print is,” said
Core inflation, the key measured Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Aus-
tracked by the MAS, is projected to tralia & New Zealand Banking Group, re-
ferring to monetary policy makers. “With
underlying inflation pressures still very
strong, we see a need for further policy
tightening at the October review.”

The all-items consumer price index
gained 6.7%, compared with a median
estimate of 6.2% in a Bloomberg survey,
and 5.6% the previous month. The cen-
tral bank expects the all-items measure
to surge between 5%-6% this year from
the earlier forecast range of 4.5%-5.5%.

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|P R E S E N T E D B Y |M A I N P A R T N E R |S U P P O R T I N G P A R T N E R |S U P P O R T E D B Y

ENDORSED BY

MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Is your building the best managed
& sustainable property
in Malaysia?

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news In brief

US Energy Dept set to loan GM Spate of mid-flight incidents sparks probe of airlines in India
battery joint venture US$2.5 bil (July 25): India’s aviation regulator is inspecting all of the country’s airlines following
WASHINGTON (July 25): The US Energy a recent spate of non-fatal incidents to ensure they comply with safety standards,
Department on Monday plans to announce according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. The so-called special audit began on
it intends to loan a joint venture of General July 19 to tackle “engineering-related events,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Motors Co and LG Energy Solution US$2.5 said in the document. It will investigate if airlines have enough qualified manpower and
billion to help finance construction of new check staff training, along with work-shift limits designed to reduce crew fatigue. The
lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing DGCA said last week it grounded a pair of Airbus SE A320 planes operated by Go First,
facilities, officials told Reuters. The conditional India’s second-biggest airline, after two domestic flights were diverted due to engine
commitment for the loan to Ultium Cells issues, while another was rerouted when its windshield cracked. — Bloomberg
LLC for facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and
Michigan is expected to close in the coming Read the full story
months and comes from the government’s
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Europe gas prices jump as Gazprom BOJ board reshuffle brings in less
loan programme, which has not funded cuts Nord Stream flows further dovish members
a new loan since 2010. The programme
previously provided loans to Tesla Inc, Ford (July 25): European gas futures extended TOKYO (July 25): The Bank of Japan’s
Motor and Nissan. This would be the Energy gains by more than 10% after Russia’s (BOJ) two new policymakers said on
Department’s first loan for a battery cell Gazprom PJSC said it will slash flows via a key Monday the central bank needs an exit
manufacturing project under the vehicle pipeline further. Nord Stream pipeline will be strategy from its massive stimulus, a sign
programme. President Joe Biden has set a goal pumping 33 million cubic meters a day, or 20% the board’s balance could tilt in favour
of 50% of US auto production by 2030, being of capacity, from Wednesday, Gazprom said in of a withdrawal of governor Haruhiko
electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. “We a statement. Another turbine for the pipeline Kuroda’s radical monetary easing. Hajime
have to have vehicle manufacturing capacity is due to be taken out for maintenance, Takata, a former private economist, said
but also battery manufacturing capacity,” Gazprom said. Nord Stream flows were the BOJ must “always think about” an exit
said Jigar Shah, who directs the Energy already reduced to 40% of capacity since strategy even though now may not be
Department loan programme office, in a last month as a separate turbine was the timing for an actual end to ultra-low
Reuters interview. “This project provides one of delayed following repairs in Canada after interest rates. The other newcomer, Naoki
the newest additions to battery manufacturing uncertainty over the impact of sanctions on Tamura, who joined from a commercial
scale in this country.” — Reuters Russia. President Vladimir Putin warned last bank, said an exit from easy policy would
week flows could drop to 20% if the turbine become a focus of discussion once wages
reuters issues aren’t resolved. European benchmark begin to rise in tandem with inflation.
futures rose as much as 10% to 176 euros a “Only when the BOJ can normalise
China vows privacy, information megawatt-hour and were trading at 172.4 at monetary policy and exit can it describe its
protection in using digital yuan 4:43 pm Amsterdam time. — Bloomberg massive monetary easing programme as a
SHANGHAI (July 25): China will fully respect success,” Tamura said in an inaugural news
privacy and protect personal information in conference. Takata and Tamura joined
using the digital yuan, state media quoted the BOJ’s nine-member board on Sunday,
a senior central bank official as saying on replacing former economist Goushi
Sunday, as Beijing encourages greater Kataoka, a vocal advocate of aggressive
adoption of e-CNY. Limited anonymity is a key monetary easing, and banker Hitoshi
feature of the digital yuan, Mu Changchun, Suzuki. Their five-year term had expired.
director-general of the central bank’s Digital — Reuters
Currency Research Institute said, noting it
ensures reasonable anonymous transactions. Read the full story
“On the other hand, it also prevents and
combats illegal activities including money Lufthansa ground staff to strike over 9.5% pay claim
laundering, terrorist financing and tax BERLIN (July 25): Ground staff at Deutsche Lufthansa will stage a one-day strike on
evasion, maintaining the need for financial Wednesday in pursuit of a 9.5% pay claim, adding to travel disruption during the busy
security,” the Securities Times quoted Mu as summer travel season. Strikes and staff shortages have already forced airlines including
saying at a forum. The People’s Bank of China Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights and caused hours-long queues at major airports,
is a front-runner in developing and issuing a frustrating holidaymakers keen to travel after Covid-19-related lockdowns. The walkout
central bank digital currency (CBDC), which this Wednesday will lead to additional cancellations and delays, labour union Verdi said, as
in the case of the e-CNY will be a traceable it includes workers with key jobs such as aircraft maintenance, and moving aircraft away
replacement for notes and coins. — Reuters from boarding gates so they can head to the runway for take-off. The strike will affect
German airports including Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, and Berlin, and will run from 3.45am
Read the full story (0145 GMT) on Wednesday until 6am (0400 GMT) on Thursday. — Reuters

Read the full story

t u e s d a y j u LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 27 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

Even tech giants like Amazon and Meta
can’t escape the slowdown

Bloomberg

by Julia Love, Matt Day
& Jackie Davalos
Bloomberg

(July 25): Growth is sputtering across the invests in marketing and media startups. 6%, the lowest in any quarter since 2001.
technology world, and even usually invin- “Things have shifted really fast.” And if you just look at Amazon’s online
cible companies like Apple Inc and Ama- stores segment, the sales are expected to
zon.com Inc can’t escape the slowdown. There are still some bright spots in ad decline for a third straight quarter. The
spending, said Sean Corcoran, US CEO company’s cloud services division should
With many of the biggest tech giants of media agency Mediahub Worldwide. continue to be a bright spot during the
poised to report earnings in the next two Some clients in sectors such as travel and slump, helping bolster results.
weeks, investors are bracing for mostly bad entertainment are continuing to spend at Gig economy
news. Amazon is expected to grow at its a healthy clip, while others are in wait-and- The specter of an economic recession
slowest rate in decades. Chipmakers are see mode, he said. looms over ride-hailing and food-delivery
lurching from boom times to a potential apps like Uber, DoorDash and Lyft Inc,
glut. And gig-economy companies such as “That’s kind of where people are at — whose services may become more of a lux-
UberTechnologies Inc and DoorDash Inc they don’t know what to expect,” Corcoran ury as consumers’ budgets tighten.Already,
could be victims of consumer budget-cut- said. “They don’t want to make the big cut. shares of the companies have plunged this
ting during a shaky economy. They want to keep the engines burning.” year, with the especially hard-hit Lyft losing
more than two-thirds of its value.
Then there’s the pullback in online ad- Amazon hits brakes
vertising — a shift that already ravaged sales Amazon isn’t just facing a historic slowdown DoorDash and Uber have benefited
of Snap Inc andTwitter Inc last week and is in sales growth — it’s dealing with a hangover from a boom in takeout food orders during
poised to weigh on results from Facebook from its pandemic investments.When e-com- the pandemic, spurring an expansion into
parent Meta Platforms Inc onWednesday. merce spending surged after the Covid-19 alcohol, convenience-store items and gro-
outbreak, the company went into building ceries.That area remains relatively strong.
The question for investors is how much mode, doubling its warehouse footprint to Delivery sales grew an estimated 23% at
of the slowdown is already reflected in meet demand. Now that shoppers have gone DoorDash last quarter from a year earlier
stock prices.The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 back to physical stores,Amazon has too much and 31% at Uber. Still, order volumes are
Index is down 24% this year, Amazon is capacity.So it’s subleasing space and reducing down from Covid-19 highs, and competi-
down a bit more than that and Meta has its hourly workforce through attrition. tion with peers like GrubHub and Insta-
lost half its value. cart is intensifying.
In the meantime, profit has taken a hit.
Here is how tech industries are expected Analysts are predicting earnings of 14 cents Unlike Uber, Lyft still gets almost all its
to fare as corporate results trickle in over per share in the second quarter, with total revenue from ride hailing, which suffered
the coming days: net income expected to decline 82% from greatly during pandemic lockdowns. De-
a year earlier. Profitability is expected to mand has now rebounded, but a persis-
Online advertising rebound in the second half of the year as tent shortage of drivers has proven costly.
Research firm Magna estimates that the Amazon slims down. For Lyft, plans to ramp up spending on
US digital ad market increased just 11% driver bonuses and incentives is fueling
in the second quarter, a steep deceleration If there’s a full-blown recession, Am- concern among investors that profit will
from 58% in the same period a year ear- azon could still fare better than rivals — get squeezed.
lier. Growth will be especially anemic for thanks to its reputation for low prices.
social media ads, which have been hurt by During the global financial crisis in 2008, Read the full story
Apple privacy changes that make it harder the company grew faster than the overall
to target customers. e-commerce industry.

That’s left an increasingly crowded field For now, Amazon’s growth has slowed
of tech companies vying for a piece of the to a trickle. Revenue is projected to rise by
pie. Google and Facebook, which renamed
itself Meta last year, were long the kings of
online advertising. But Amazon and Tik-
Tok are now making inroads.

Meta is poised to report its first period
of zero sales growth since the company’s
initial public offering a decade ago, along
with a 33% decrease in net income. Al-
phabet Inc, Google’s parent company, is
expected to post its slowest sales increase
since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Facebook and Google “seem to be so
much on the back foot right now,” said
Eric Franchi, a general partner at Aperi-
amVentures, a venture capital firm that

t u e s d a y j u LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 28 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

world

China’s Gen Z is dejected, underemployed
and slowing the economy

(July 25): The most educated generation Bloomberg yuan (US$932) per month, according to
in China’s history was supposed to blaze a an April survey from recruitment firm Zhil-
trail towards a more innovative and tech- Research in Beijing. Lowered expectations ian. State-owned enterprises grew in appeal
nologically advanced economy. Instead, have “damaged the utilisation of the young over the same period, the recruiter said.
about 15 million young people are estimat- labour force”, he added. “It’s not a good
ed to be jobless, and many are lowering thing for the economy.” But lower income expectations and tal-
their ambitions. ent shunning the private sector are likely
Pre-pandemic, 22-year-old Xu Chao- to lower growth in the long term, chal-
A perfect storm of factors has propelled qun was prepared for a career in China’s lenging the president’s plan to double the
unemployment among 16- to 24-year-old creative industries. But a fruitless four- size of China’s economy from 2020 levels
urbanites to a record 19.3%, more than month job hunt has left him setting his by 2035 — by which point it would likely
twice the comparable rate in the US.The sights on the state sector. “Under the Cov- overtake the US in size.
government’s hardline coronavirus strat- id outbreak, many private companies are
egy has led to layoffs, while its regulatory very unstable,” said Xu, who majored The phrase “tang ping” — “lying flat”
crackdown on real estate and education in visual art at a mid-ranked university. — spread through China’s internet last
companies has hit the private sector. At “That’s why I want to be with a state- year.The slogan invokes dropping out of
the same time, a record number of college owned enterprise”. the rat race and doing the bare minimum
and vocational school graduates — some to get by, and reflected the desire for a
12 million — are entering the job market Xu is not alone. Some 39% of graduates better work-life balance in the face of Chi-
this summer.This highly educated cohort listed state-owned companies as their top na’s slowing growth. As the unemploy-
has intensified a mismatch between avail- choice of employer last year, according to ment situation has continued to worsen,
able roles and jobseekers’ expectations. recruitment company 51job Inc.That’s up many young people have adopted an even
from 25% in 2017. A further 28% chose more fatalistic catchphrase: “bailan”, or
The result is an increasingly disillu- government jobs as their first choice. “let it rot”.
sioned young population losing faith in
private companies and willing to accept It’s a rational response in a pandem- That concept is “a kind of mental re-
lower pay in the state sector. If the trend ic-hit labour market. All workplaces laxation”, said Hu Xiaoyue, a 24-year old
continues, growth in the world’s sec- have been hit hard by China’s snap lock- with a psychology masters degree. “This
ond-largest economy stands to suffer. downs and strict quarantine measures, way, even if you fail, you will feel better.”
The sheer number of jobless under-25s but private companies were more likely When Hu started looking for work last Au-
amounts to a 2% to 3% reduction in Chi- to lay off workers. Beijing’s main employ- gust, she found it easy to land interviews.
na’s workforce, and fewer workers means ment-boosting policy has been to order “But when it came to spring, only one in
lower gross domestic product. Unemploy- the state sector to increase hiring. 10 companies would offer an interview,”
ment and underemployment also contin- she said. “It fell off a cliff.”
ue to impact salaries for years — a 2020 President Xi Jinping may be relieved
review of studies reported a 3.5% reduc- that the country’s unemployed youth are China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
tion in wages among those who had expe- trying to join the government rather than aren’t all unproductive behemoths. But the
rienced unemployment five years earlier. overthrow it. During a June visit to a uni- weight of economic evidence suggests they
versity in the southwestern China’s Si- are, on the whole, less efficient and less
More young people taking roles in gov- chuan province, he advised graduates to innovative than privately-owned compa-
ernment may leave fewer jumping into new “prevent the situation in which one is unfit nies. China’s economic boom has coin-
sectors and fuelling innovation. for a higher position but unwilling to take cided with a falling share of SOE jobs in
a lower one”. He added that “to get rich urban employment — from 40% in 1996
“The structural adjustment faced by and get fame overnight is not realistic”. to less than 10% pre-pandemic.That trend
China’s economy right now actually needs could now go into reverse.
more people to become entrepreneurs The message is getting through: Grad- Read the full story
and strive,” said Zeng Xiangquan, head uate expectations for starting salaries fell
of the China Institute for Employment more than 6% from last year to 6,295

T U E S D A Y J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 29 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

WORLD

Baltic Exchange shipping updates

A weekly round-up of tanker and dry bulk market (July 22, 2022)

CAPESIZE This report is pore-Japan midweek. Asia, for weeks, has been
A mixed week for the Capesize sector, but it produced by the primarily Indonesia coal centric. But the market
ended on a positive note.The timecharter aver- Baltic Exchange. was marginally better supported this week by
age of the five routes rose above the US$20,000 Australian coal, which was primarily destined for
level and closed at US$22,362 on Friday. Ac- The Baltic Exchange, a wholly- India. A 81,000-dwt giving delivery South Chi-
tivity was largely seen from the Pacific, includ- owned subsidiary of Singapore na fixed at US$19,000 for a trip via Indonesia
ing coal from Indonesia and iron ore fromWest Exchange, is the world’s to India. Period news included an 81,000-dwt
Australia to China.The latter maintained above only independent source of delivery China achieving just shy of US$20,000
US$11 with a marginal improvement compared maritime market information for a five to eight month period.
to the end of last week. Tonnage availability for the trading and settlement
looked tight for ballast trades for first half of of physical and derivative ULTRAMAX/SUPRAMAX
August. As the week finished, the Brazil mar- contracts. Overall a slightly more positive week than of late.
ket saw more second-half August enquiry and The Atlantic saw improved activity from the US
settled at US$32.111 for iron ore fromTubarao Its international community Gulf region and also stronger demand from East
to Qingdao. In the North Atlantic, fronthaul of over 650 members Coast South America for August dates. A good
and transatlantic business appeared to be less encompasses the majority of amount of enquiry helped sentiment gain ground
active than recently, declining week-on-week to world shipping interests and from South East Asia. However, there was ample
US$30,278 and US$47,083 respectively. commits to a code of business supply of tonnage. On the period front, limited
conduct overseen by the Baltic. activity was seen. A 61,000-dwt was rumoured
PANAMAX to have fixed a short period around US$26,000.
Something of a midweek push gave the Panamax For daily freight market reports The Atlantic saw a 58,000-dwt fixing a US Gulf
market a much needed boost. However, the week and assessments, please visit fronthaul redelivery Japan at US$28,000 and a
did end on a somewhat subdued note as market www.balticexchange.com. 52,000-dwt fixing from Mobile for a trip to East
players adopted a cautious approach.The north Coast South America in the low US$27,000s.
Atlantic began the week brightly with a glut of From Asia, A 52,000-dwt fixed delivery Singa-
transatlantic deals concluded basis delivery APS pore for a trip via Indonesia redelivery China at
load port in the low US$30,000s.This equated US$24,000. For Australian business, a 58,000-
for BKI types to circa US$17/18,000 delivery dwt was heard fixed delivery Singapore via Aus-
this side, whilst East Coast South America saw tralia redelivery Singapore-Japan at around
better demand for second-half August arrival US$25,000. From the Indian Ocean, 63,000-
dates. An 82,000-dwt delivery Passing Muscat dwt open East Coast India was heard to have
Outbound achieved just over US$20,000 for fixed a trip toWest Africa with bagged rice in the
a trip via EC South America redelivery Singa- upper US$20,000s.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 30

T U E S D A Y J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 30 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

WORLD

FROM PAGE 29 UK-Continent the MR freight levels have TCE of US$36,300 per day). In the Middle
suffered as supply has outweighed demand, East the rate for 140,000mt Basrah/West
HANDYSIZE with reports of vessels also ballasting in.TC2 Mediterranean gained four points toWS83.
A positive week in both basins despite has hemorrhaged 38.61 points to end up at
limited visible activity. East Coast South 275.83 by the end of the week (US$22,700 AFRAMAX
America remained buoyant, with a 32,000- per day round tripTCE) andTC19 also lost The Mediterranean market got off to a
dwt fixing from Santos to Morocco at 40.71 points to currently sit at WS282.86. slow start, then gathered a lot of pace
US$27,000 and a 35,000-dwt rumoured The USG MR market has been retested up- midweek.The rate for 80,000mt Ceyhan/
to have fixed from South Brazil to Moroc- wards this week. Between vessel ballasting West Mediterranean rocketed 92 points
co at US$29,000. A 37,000-dwt was fixed away, Panama Canal delays and higher ac- week on week to WS271.5 (a round-trip
from Fairless Hills via North Brazil to Nor- tivity levelsTC14 has hiked up toWS220.83 TCE of US$78,200 per day). In North-
way with alumina at US$17,500. From the (-WS39.16), and TC18 has similarly risen ern Europe, the rate for 80,000mt Hound
Mediterranean/Continent, a 32,000-dwt WS41.66 to WS323.33 (US$34,800 per Point/UK Continent eased a further six
fixed from Safi to Chittagong with ferti- day round trip TCE).The MRA TCE saw points to WS191.5 (a daily round-trip
lizer at US$19,000. Also, a 32,000-dwt an upturn from 35,213 to 37,353. On the TCE of US$53,900). For the 100,000mt
fixed from Canakkale via the Black Sea to Handymax, cross Mediterranean freight Primorsk/UK Cont route rates fell eight
Algeria at US$18,000. From Asia, it was levels continued to slide,TC6 lost another points to WS231.5 (a round-trip TCE of
a mixed bag. A 38,00-dwt was rumoured WS51.87 to end up at WS219.38 by the US$74,000 per day). Across the Atlantic,
to have been covered for a trip from CJK end of the week. In the Baltic,TC9 has still a mini resurgence occurred early on. How-
via Australia to China at US$20,500. A held on at around WS505 this week, with ever, at the time of writing, the market is
37,000-dwt was also rumoured to have theTCE continuing at US$60,00 per day. on the slide. Rates for 70,000mt EC Mex-
been placed on subjects for a trip delivery ico/US Gulf, having climbed 10 points to
Singapore via Australia redelivery China VLCC WS310 by midweek, were last assessed on
at US$22,500. Period activity remained VLCC rates continued climbing this week. Thursday at WS304 (a round-trip TCE
sparse, but a 38,000-dwt open Santos was 270,000mt Middle East Gulf/China rates of US$70,100 per day). The 70,000mt
rumoured to have fixed for three to five improved by three points to the WS61.5 Caribbean/US Gulf trip faced a similar
months trading at US$27,500. level (a round-trip TCE of US$4,800 per situation with rates climbing 20 points to
day), while the rate for 280,000mt Middle WS263 by midweek but have now slipped
CLEAN East Gulf/USG (via Cape of Good Hope) to the WS250/252.5 region (a round-trip
The Middle East Gulf CPP market has gained 1.5 points to WS35.5. In the Atlan- TCE of about US$45,600). For the trans-
seen a mix of movements this week on the tic, another active week resulted in rates for atlantic trip of 70,000mt, US Gulf/UK
different sizes. On the LR2s TC1 contin- 260,000mt West Africa/China rising three Continent rates have climbed steadily and
ued its upward trend rising 22.59 points points to almost WS62.5 (US$6,300 per are now assessed 29 points firmer than a
to WS226.88, with reports of WS230 on day round-trip TCE) and 270,000mt US week ago at WS253 (US$45,900 per day
subjects for this run on Friday morning. Gulf/China went up US$268,750 to a little round-tip TCE).
LR1s have been stable with sufficient ton- over US$7.45 million (showing a round-trip
nage and cargoes around to maintain last TCE of US$3,100 per day). BALTIC EXCHANGE NEWS
done rates. We have seen TC5 repeated at The Baltic Exchange runs a series of pro-
W290, which is where the index has float- SUEZMAX fessional training courses through its Acad-
ed around (+/- a few WS points) all week. Rates for 135,000mt Black Sea/Augusta emy.When possible, these take place in key
The MRs continued their resurgence this climbed 41 points toWS202 (a round-trip shipping centres but are also available as an
week, seeing the TC17 index jumping TCE of US$82,500 per day), on the back e-learning option.The courses are designed
30.83 points to WS495 and firmly taking of increasing demand in other nearby re- to help shipping, finance and commodity
the round trip TCE for this voyage up into gions, causing the tonnage list to be signif- executives build on their knowledge of the
the high US$40,000s. In theWest, the LR2s icantly squeezed. Rates for the 130,000mt maritime markets. The courses are led by
of TC15 have ticked up a little this week Nigeria/UKC trip, despite little activity, experts and deliver a high-level education,
this benchmark currently sits at US$3.95m rose six points midweek and now remain combining theory with real-life practical ex-
(+US$70,000), we understand this is off steady at the WS140 level (a round-trip amples. See online for more details.
the back of the improved TC1 market. On
TC16 the LR1s has been steady all week
pegged around the WS230 mark. On the

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

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so from the Baltic.

T U E S D A Y J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 2 31 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

MARKETS

CPO RM 3,646.00-58.00 OIL US$ 104.461.26 RM/USD 4.4525 RM/SGD 3.2154 RM/AUD 3.0965 RM/GBP 5.3581 RM/EUR 4.5601

Top 20 active stocks

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

DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL BHD 73.70 -0.015 0.030 -57.14 40.1

TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 72.30 0.000 0.995 -61.58 7,967.2

MY EG SERVICES BHD 64.90 -0.030 0.740 -30.84 5,465.3

METRONIC GLOBAL BHD 50.50 0.005 0.090 -26.28 27.0

BORNEO OIL BHD 35.50 0.000 0.025 -16.67 190.3

TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 32.10 -0.005 0.085 -32.00 290.9

WIDAD GROUP BHD 24.60 -0.015 0.365 0.00 1,004.7

BSL CORP BHD 24.40 0.000 0.095 -90.69 26.3

BINTAI KINDEN CORP BHD 24.00 0.000 0.110 -48.84 93.8 World equity indices

NWP HOLDINGS BHD 21.40 0.010 0.260 6.12 136.9

UNITRADE INDUSTRIES BHD 20.90 0.010 0.295 0.00 460.9 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

AHB HOLDINGS BHD 18.50 0.005 0.150 15.38 56.4 (%) (%)
DOW JONES 31,899.29 -137.61 -0.43 INDONESIA 6,858.41 -28.56 -0.41
ZEN TECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 16.80 -0.010 0.055 -52.17 44.5

NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 16.20 0.025 0.270 -81.25 48.4 S&P 500 3,961.63 -37.32 -0.93 JAPAN 27,699.25 -215.41 -0.77

KYM HOLDINGS BHD 16.00 0.060 0.605 55.13 91.8 NASDAQ 100 12,396.47 -222.94 -1.77 KOREA 2,403.69 10.55 0.44

KPOWER BHD 15.80 0.005 0.255 -39.29 138.4 FTSE 100 7,294.05 17.68 0.24 PHILIPPINES 6,209.53 -53.86 -0.86

SUPERMAX CORP BHD 15.40 0.015 0.835 -43.20 2,225.2 AUSTRALIA 6,789.93 -1.57 -0.02 SINGAPORE 3,180.47 -0.87 -0.03

MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 15.00 -0.005 0.030 -40 37.5 CHINA 3,250.39 -19.59 -0.60 TAIWAN 14,936.33 -13.03 -0.09

DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 14.10 -0.010 0.765 0.66 2,414.6 HONG KONG 20,562.94 -46.20 -0.22 THAILAND 1,560.31 7.58 0.49

CAREPLUS GROUP BHD 14.00 0.010 0.430 -58.65 246.3 INDIA 55,766.22 -306.01 -0.55 VIETNAM 1,188.50 -6.26 -0.52

Data as compiled on Jul 25, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jul 25, 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)

NEXGRAM HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 100.00 2,701.2 0.00 44.2 MNC WIRELESS BHD 0.010 -33.33 554.7 -33.33 22.9

XOX BHD 0.020 33.33 767.6 -33.33 101.0 DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.030 -33.33 73,680.0 -57.14 40.1

DOLOMITE CORP BHD 0.025 25.00 10.0 -16.67 14.8 PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 0.015 -25.00 322.1 -40.00 28.6

SMILE-LINK HEALTHCARE GLOBAL 0.195 14.71 321.6 0 48.8 MLABS SYSTEMS BHD 0.020 -20.00 1,700.0 -33.33 29.0

ANEKA JARINGAN HOLDINGS BHD 0.185 12.12 4,841.4 -7.50 109.5 XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 0.020 -20.00 1,036.1 -42.86 42.3

KYM HOLDINGS BHD 0.605 11.01 16,004.1 55.13 91.8 TRIVE PROPERTY GROUP BHD 0.045 -18.18 3,599.1 50.00 56.9

MCLEAN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 0.215 10.26 917.4 -10.42 42.4 CARZO HOLDINGS BHD 0.900 -16.67 0.1 -47.37 79.4

NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.270 10.20 16,183.5 -81.25 48.4 SANICHI TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.025 -16.67 1,236.6 0.00 35.1

LAMBO GROUP BHD 0.055 10.00 28.3 -35.29 84.7 BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.025 -16.67 4,469.1 -16.67 50.9

HB GLOBAL LTD 0.110 10.00 2,162.9 -45.00 84.7 ZEN TECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.055 -15.38 16,806.1 -52.17 44.5

SOUTHERN STEEL BHD 0.730 9.77 20.7 -10.98 435.3 MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.030 -14.29 14,986.7 -40.00 37.5

ZECON BHD 0.395 9.72 12.0 -2.47 58.2 TIEN WAH PRESS HOLDINGS BHD 0.910 -12.50 5.0 -21.55 131.7

APB RESOURCES BHD 0.750 9.49 58.0 5.63 83.2 IRIS CORP BHD 0.115 -11.54 2,877.5 -36.11 375.2

PROTASCO BHD 0.180 9.09 766.3 -14.29 86.7 TOP BUILDERS CAPITAL BHD 0.040 -11.11 2,750.5 14.29 28.2

VERTICE BHD 0.125 8.70 896.5 -43.180 39.9 CME GROUP BHD 0.040 -11.11 203.0 -33.33 39.4

JOHAN HOLDINGS BHD 0.065 8.33 780.1 -23.53 75.9 MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.040 -11.11 6,664.8 -46.67 68.1

SIGNATURE INTERNATIONAL BHD 1.360 7.94 1,127.9 -1.45 399.2 ADVANCE INFORMATION 0.085 -10.53 12.0 -34.62 22.6

COUNTRY HEIGHTS HOLDINGS BHD 0.620 7.83 1,889.1 -64.97 182.0 HARN LEN CORP BHD 1.440 -10.00 10,110.3 105.71 293.2

MEGA SUN CITY HOLDINGS BHD 0.075 7.14 306.0 -31.82 44.4 ZELAN BHD 0.050 -9.09 3,223.6 -37.5 42.2

GIIB HOLDINGS BHD 0.075 7.14 198.2 -42.31 44.3 BTM RESOURCES BHD 0.105 -8.70 0.4 -36.36 18

Data as compiled on Jul 25, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jul 25, 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)

CHIN HIN GROUP BHD 4.39 0.290 1,530.1 68.20 3,883.9 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 30.240 -0.560 96.2 -38.74 6,014.6

FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 21.02 0.220 103.6 -15.04 7,709.7 VITROX CORP BHD 7.140 -0.260 196.8 -28.31 6,744.8

PETRONAS GAS BHD 17.00 0.200 353.6 -5.00 33,638.4 PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 26.360 -0.240 2.0 -8.79 1,601.3

HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.90 0.200 18.5 9.00 21,645.1 HONG LEONG INDUSTRIES BHD 8.760 -0.220 8.5 -4.58 2,798.6

HONG LEONG BANK BHD 20.58 0.180 1,285.7 10.53 44,611.6 PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 22.800 -0.200 102.3 10.68 22,650.8

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO 10.80 0.180 232.3 -22.75 3,083.7 CARZO HOLDINGS BHD 0.900 -0.180 0.1 -47.37 79.4

SIGNATURE INTERNATIONAL BHD 1.36 0.100 1,127.9 -1.45 399.2 HARN LEN CORP BHD 1.440 -0.160 10,110.3 105.71 293.2

KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 21.80 0.100 310.7 0.09 23,503.8 UNITED PLANTATIONS BHD 14.440 -0.160 70.9 5.36 5,968.1

KESM INDUSTRIES BHD 6.70 0.100 35.8 -45.44 288.2 PETRON MALAYSIA REFINING 4.700 -0.150 225.1 7.31 1,269.0

ALLIANCE BANK MALAYSIA BHD 3.42 0.090 2,024.0 19.58 5,294.5 ADVANCED PACKAGING 2.610 -0.140 1.5 0.38 51.5

YNH PROPERTY BHD 3.51 0.080 20.9 32.45 1,855.0 TIEN WAH PRESS HOLDINGS BHD 0.910 -0.130 5.0 -21.55 131.7

KHIND HOLDINGS BHD 2.92 0.080 10.3 -23.36 117.0 SAM ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT 2.970 -0.120 40.2 -46.96 1,608.0

TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD 5.55 0.070 2,009.9 0.91 20,944.0 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 22.500 -0.120 871.0 7.97 6,797.2

WESTPORTS HOLDINGS BHD 3.64 0.070 817.2 -10.12 12,412.4 TEXCHEM RESOURCES BHD 2.700 -0.110 447.3 132.76 319.5

GENTING BHD 4.73 0.070 2,885.7 1.28 18,213.2 AYER HOLDINGS BHD 5.990 -0.110 6.0 7.16 448.4

APB RESOURCES BHD 0.75 0.065 58.0 5.63 83.2 MULPHA INTERNATIONAL BHD 2.070 -0.110 46.7 -15.16 644.1

SOUTHERN STEEL BHD 0.73 0.065 20.7 -10.98 435.3 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 134.500 -0.100 11.6 0.22 31,540.3

KYM HOLDINGS BHD 0.61 0.060 16,004.1 55.13 91.8 GENTING PLANTATIONS BHD 6.440 -0.100 101.4 -2.30 5,778.0

ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD 12.90 0.060 30.7 0.31 2,295.7 TONG HERR RESOURCES BHD 2.900 -0.100 3.0 -0.34 445.2

LAGENDA PROPERTIES BHD 1.11 0.050 588.8 -17.16 929.4 D&O GREEN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 3.810 -0.100 1,532.8 -35.42 4,713.5

Data as compiled on Jul 25, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jul 25, 2022 Source: Bloomberg