The Edge - 23 March 2022

FORMER JCORP PRESIDENT CHARGED WITH
DECEIVING BOARD p9

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 351/2022

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: IHH Healthcare submits proposal to buy Ramsay Sime Darby for RM5.67b p4
AirAsia expects full capacity recovery by 1Q 2023 p6
Farm Fresh makes strong debut on Bursa p7

WORLD: Smartphone giant Xiaomi beats estimates after holiday boom p18
EU leaders poised to support taxing windfall energy profits p22

THE EDGE FILE PHOTO

OECD forecasts
Malaysia economy
to grow 6% in 2022

Report on Page 3.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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ZAHID IZZANI MOHD SAID/THE EDGE

Falling trend in Khairy:
new Covid-19 MOH issued
cases continues, compound to
says Health DG Lim Kit Siang

Bernama Covid-19 cases and vaccination Bernama
progress in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Daily new KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):
cases of Covid-19 in the country continued On March 21, 2022 28,360 The Ministry of Health (MOH)
to drop when 17,828 cases were recorded 21,861 has issued a compound to Iskandar
on Monday (March 21) compared with Daily vaccine doses administered Puteri lawmaker Lim Kit Siang (pic-
19,105 cases on Sunday (March 20), bring- 97.5 tured) for breaching the standard op-
ing the cumulative cases to 4,010,952. Daily booster administered erating procedure (SOP) on control
65.9 of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Health director-general,Tan Sri Dr Noor % of adult population received
Hisham Abdullah said from 17,828 positive two-dose vaccination Its minister, Khairy Jamaluddin in
Covid-19 cases reported on Monday, 9,121 a tweet said the compound was sent
cases or 51.16% involved category one while % of adult population received out on March 20 and he also attached
8,551 cases or 47.96% were in category two. booster shots a hardcopy of the summons to Lim
as evidence.
“Fifty five cases (0.31%) were in catego- On March 21, 2022
ry three; 48 cases (0.27%) in category four He shared the posting as a re-
and 53 cases (0.30%) in category five,” he Number of new cases 17,828 sponse to Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib
said in a statement onTuesday (March 22). Tun Razak who questioned why Lim
Local cases 17,421 was not fined for hugging party mem-
He explained that from 156 cases of bers at the 17th National Congress
Covid-19 in categories three, four and five, Imported cases 407 of DAP held on Sunday (March 20).
33 cases were not vaccinated or have not
completed vaccination; 64 cases had re- Category 1 9,121 “The compound had been sent
ceived two doses of vaccine but have not to @limkitsiang. MOH hopes @Na-
obtained their booster shots while 59 cases (no symptoms) (51.16%) jibRazak will pay up one compound
had been given booster dose. issued during the Johor state election
Category 2 8,551 which has not been settled.
Meanwhile,Dr Noor Hisham said 28,003 (mild symptoms) (47.96%)
recovery cases were reported on Monday tak- “MOH also hopes @NajibRazak
ing the cumulative recoveries to 3,712,668. Category 3 55 has received four other compounds
sent by registered post which his of-
He said 358 cases required treatment at (with pnemonia) (0.31%) ficer refused to accept earlier,” he said.
intensive care units (ICU) and 199 cases
needed respiratory assistance. According to Category 4 48 Before this, Khairy was reported as
Dr Noor Hisham, five states with critical ICU (with pneumonia requiring oxygen therapy) (0.27%) saying that MOH had issued five com-
bed occupancy of more than 50% were Kua- pounds to the former prime minister
la Lumpur (63%), Kelantan (58%), Johor Category 5 53 for violating SOP during the Johor state
(57%), Selangor (57%) and Perak (51%). (critical and requiring assisted ventilation) (0.30%) election.

On the infectivity rate (Rt) of Covid-19 Number of new recoveries 28,003
in the country, he said it was still at 0.92
with Sarawak recording the highest Rt at Active cases 263,821
1.03 followed by Perak with 1.01.
Daily Covid-19 deaths 63
He also said the country logged two
new clusters bringing the total clusters to Hospital bed utilisation (%) 65.20%
6,914 with 292 clusters still active.
Source: Ministry of Health

Read also: Malaysia now recognises
Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccination
certificate Click here

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The Or- OECD forecasts ly depend on the country’s ability to con-
ganization for Economic Cooperation and Malaysia tain the pandemic amid the emergence
Development (OECD) forecasts Malay- of the Omicron variant.
sia to register a gross domestic product economy to grow
(GDP) growth of 6% for 2022 and 5.5% 6% in 2022 “While the resurgence of Covid-19
for 2023. cases and the potential re-imposition of
BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS nationwide containment measures are ex-
The forecast for 2022 is within the theedgemarkets.com pected to weigh on growth in 2022, several
Ministry of Finance’s expectation of a factors should mitigate their impact.These
5.5% to 6.5% growth, but is lower than Kuala Lumpur and large parts of Selan- include continued government support for
the International Monetary Fund’s pro- gor, which it said are core to the nation’s businesses in essential economic sectors,
jection of 5.75% and the World Bank’s economic activities. a higher degree of adaptability to remote
5.8%. work, and higher levels of automation and
OECD added that the manufacturing digitalisation,” said OECD.
OECD said the negative effects of con- activity had declined amid the shortage
tainment measures on Malaysia’s eco- of products and workers, which led the It added that Budget 2022 included a
nomic growth should be tempered by government to allow the resumption of record spending package worth RM332.5
sustained fiscal support and recovering activity in certain economic sectors. billion, which would support Malaysia’s
global demand. growth, pointing out that a bulk of the
Overall, the country’s real GDP re- RM23 billion allocation for the country’s
“The outlook is exposed to downside bounded by 3.1% in 2021, driven by Covid-19 Fund were earmarked for cash
risks, however, with the fast-spreading strong investment, which was partly off- payments and social assistance.
Omicron variant and an intensifying de- set by lower net exports, while industrial
gree of disruption to supply chains ex- production had contributed the most to The gradual implementation of spend-
pected to slow the recovery in the near economic growth during the year. ing plans outlined in the 12th Malaysia
term,” the organisation said in its Eco- Plan for 2021 to 2025 will also support
nomic Outlook for Southeast Asia, Chi- “In full-year terms, GDP growth in growth in the near term, it said.
na and India 2022 report launched on Malaysia is forecast to reach 6% in 2022,
Tuesday (March 22). and 5.5% in 2023. Still, growth will large- Compared to the ASEAN-5, OECD’s
growth forecast for Malaysia in 2022 is the
It noted that the resurgence of Cov- third highest after the Philippines (7%)
id-19 cases, which peaked in August andVietnam (6.5%), while Indonesia and
2021, resulted in strict restrictions be- Thailand are expected to grow by 5.2%
ing implemented in certain districts of and 3.8% respectively.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Malay- Tengku Zafrul: Accommodative monetary policy and
sia’s fiscal stance would remain expansion- Malaysia’s fiscal a large domestic investor base would con-
ary this year to ensure that recovery mo- stance to remain tinue to support the government’s fund-
mentum is maintained, economic scarring ing needs, he said.
is minimised, and the economy returns to expansionary
its medium-term growth trajectory, said this year “To accelerate the resumption of fiscal
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Za- consolidation and ensure the country’s
frul Tengku Abdul Aziz. Bernama debt affordability remains manageable,
the government has undertaken efforts
He said that as a result, the pace of con- SHAHRIN YAHYA/THE EDGE to implement additional reforms as the
solidation would be gradual. ministry aims for a deficit of 3% to 3.5%
by the end of 2025.
“We are confident that we will meet
our 6% [deficit] target this year, or even “This will be anchored by the intro-
lower, given the potential revenue upside duction of the Fiscal Responsibility Act,
from higher commodity prices as well as which will ensure fiscal governance and
the recent tax revenue collection, which medium-term sustainability as well as the
had nearly recovered to pre-pandemic lev- adoption of the Medium-Term Revenue
els,” he said in his keynote address at the Strategy and the Public Expenditure Re-
Moody’s Inside ASEAN Series: Rising Fis- view,” said Tengku Zafrul.
cal in the Wake of Pandemic Recovery on
Tuesday (March 22). He further said that Malaysia’s recov-
ery and reform story, guided by Budget
Malaysia achieved a 6.4% deficit in 2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan, is based
2021, he said. on the concept of a whole-of-nation ap-
proach, and all stakeholders would have
Meanwhile,Tengku Zafrul said the fed- a role to play in helping to build a better
eral government’s debt is expected to reach future for the nation.
66% of gross domestic product by year
end, while statutory debt is estimated to be According to the finance minister, Malaysia’s
63%, well below the debt ceiling of 65%. recovery and reform story, guided by Budget
2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan, is based on the
Malaysia would also continue to prior- concept of a whole-of-nation approach, and all
itise domestic market issuances, including stakeholders would have a role to play in helping
the launch of a ringgit-denominated sus-
tainable development goals instrument this to build a better future for the nation.
year, with a targeted size of up to RM10
billion.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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IHH Healthcare BNM, BIS and is a testament to the importance of cen-
submits proposal central banks tral bank collaboration in supporting the
to buy Ramsay of Australia, development of next-generation payment
Sime Darby for Singapore and infrastructures. We intend to carry these
South Africa develop insights through other proofs of concept
RM5.67b experimental digital as we continue our CBDC exploration
currencies platform journey,” said BNM assistant governor
BY SURIN MURUGIAH Fraziali Ismail.
theedgemarkets.com BY SULHI KHALID
theedgemarkets.com Meanwhile, BIS Innovation Hub Cen-
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): IHH tre head Andrew McCormack said a com-
Healthcare Bhd has submitted a confiden- KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Bank Ne- mon platform is the most efficient model for
tial, conditional, non-binding and indicative gara Malaysia (BNM), together with the payments connectivity but is also the most
proposal to acquire 100% of Ramsay Sime Bank for International Settlements (BIS) challenging to achieve.
Darby Health Care Sdn Bhd for RM5.67 Innovation Hub, the Reserve Bank of Aus-
billion. tralia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, “Project Dunbar demonstrated that key
and the South African Reserve Bank have concerns of trust and shared control can
Ramsay Sime Darby is an Asian joint ven- developed the prototypes for a common plat- be addressed through governance mech-
ture equally owned by Ramsay Health Care form that enable international settlements anisms enforced by robust technological
and Sime Darby Holdings Bhd (SDH). using multiple central bank digital curren- means, laying the foundation for the de-
cies (mCBDCs). velopment of future global and regional
In a bourse filing on Tuesday (March platforms,” he said.
22), IHH said Ramsay and SDH had agreed In a statement Tuesday (March 22),
to a period of exclusivity to allow IHH to BNM said this project — dubbed Pro- The project’s findings also affirmed that
conduct due diligence and negotiate a sale ject Dunbar and led by the Innovation any such arrangement should be subject to
and purchase agreement. Hub’s Singapore Centre — has proven the governance deemed appropriate by cen-
that financial institutions could use CB- tral bank participants, including allowing
It said the discussions among IHH, DCs issued by participating central banks them to retain control of the application of
Ramsay and SDH are preliminary and no to transact directly with each other on a rules on a jurisdictional and currency level,
agreement had been reached in relation to shared platform. BNM said.
the indicative proposal.
This has the potential to reduce reli- According to the central bank, the project
“There is no guarantee that an agree- ance on intermediaries and correspond- identified three critical questions:
ment will be reached in respect of the in- ingly, the costs and time taken to pro- • Which entities should be allowed to hold
dicative proposal or that a transaction will cess cross-border transactions, the central
eventuate. bank said. and transact with CBDCs issued on the
platform?
“IHH will update shareholders and the “The successful completion of Pro- • How could the flow of cross-border pay-
investing public on any material develop- ject Dunbar has produced meaningful ments be simplified while respecting reg-
ments relating to the indicative proposal,” insights on how a multi-CBDC platform ulatory differences across jurisdictions?
it said. may potentially solve complex issues in the • What governance arrangements could
cross-border payment space. The project give countries sufficient comfort to share
At market close, IHH was down 0.2% critical national infrastructure such as a
at RM6.51, with a market capitalisation payments system?
of RM57.3 billion, while Sime Darby Bhd “The project proposed practical solu-
gained two sen to RM2.28, valuing it at tions for addressing these issues, which
RM15.53 billion. were validated through the development
of prototypes that demonstrated the tech-
nical viability of multi-CBDC shared
platforms for international settlements,”
it added.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The gov- Govt still studying strengthen the nation’s fiscal position.
ernment is still studying the suitability of suitability of GST It added that the country’s economy is
implementing the Goods and ServicesTax reimplementation
(GST) and the use of other taxation mod- currently in the recovery phase and the
els, said the Finance Ministry. Bernama implementation of any form of tax must
take into account the prevailing scenario.
It said the study took into consideration Su Keong Siong (Kampar-PH) on wheth-
all aspects including the weaknesses of the er the government intends to reintroduce “In addition, it would also provide space
existing Sales and ServicesTax (SST) and the GST. for careful preparation by both the gov-
the GST which was implemented in 2015. ernment and taxpayers,” the ministry said.
The ministry said the new tax, if im-
“The study being carried out also covers plemented, must also be easily man- Meanwhile, the federal government’s
the impact on the economy, cost of living, ageable and does not increase the cost SST collection for 2021 amounted to
cost of goods, as well as ability to address of doing business besides being able to RM25.48 billion, comprising sales tax col-
the shadow economy (or black market),” lection of RM13.49 billion and services tax
the ministry said in an oral answer pub- of RM11.99 billion.
lished on the Parliament’s website on Mon-
day (March 21). In 2020, the SST collection totalled
RM25.25 billion, consisting of RM13.24
The Finance Ministry was replying to billion from sales tax and RM12.01 billion
from services tax.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

MAHB passenger
volume soared
186% y-o-y to
4.7 million in
February 2022

Bo (right) and Riad at a BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
media briefing on Tuesday theedgemarkets.com

(March 22, 2022). KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Malaysia
Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) airport
AirAsia expects Transport Association, as the carrier is network continued to hold above the four
full capacity focusing on the ASEAN markets, where million-mark since October 2021, with 4.7
recovery by it sees strong pent-up demand. million passengers recorded for February
1Q 2023 2022.This was a year-on-year (y-o-y) in-
“We are going to open more routes in crease of 186% from 1.6 million in Feb-
BY KANG SIEW LI Southeast Asia.We want to stimulate more ruary 2021.
theedgemarkets.com growth in ASEAN. For instance, we are
looking at mounting flights from Jakarta On a month-on-month basis, it was
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): After to Dili or Kuala Lumpur to Lombok. I slightly lower compared with January
seeing air travel brought to a near stand- also hear South Korea will be opening 2022’s 4.8 million passengers.
still in 2020, AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd up. Then, we can do more flights from
(AAAGL), the airline arm of Capital A the Philippines to South Korea and Ja- In a statement with the local bourse,
Bhd, expects its passenger capacity to re- pan,” he added. the airport operator said Malaysia and Is-
cover to 90% of its pre-Covid-19 levels by tanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Air-
the end of this year and reach 100% in the On AirAsia’s preparations for the bor- port (SGIA) recorded 2.5 million and 2.1
first quarter of next year, as Malaysia gears der reopening, AirAsia Malaysia CEO million passenger movements, respectively,
up for a full reopening of its international Riad Asmat said: “We have continuous contributing to the month’s growth.
borders beginning next month. engagements with the authorities includ-
ing the airport operator on how we are Average daily passenger traffic volumes
The low-cost carrier currently operates going to manage passengers come April for Malaysia and Istanbul SGIA were
75 aircraft, about 38% of its total fleet of 1.We are all on the same page right now. 90,500 and 68,000, respectively, in Feb-
200 aircraft. Of the 75 aircraft, more than The only challenge in the next couple of ruary 2022, compared with 88,000 and
60% are used for domestic flights and the weeks is to make sure that we communi- 59,000, respectively, in January 2022.
rest by its operating units inThailand, In- cate the right information to our passen-
donesia and the Philippines. gers to ensure seamless arrival. On a trailing 12-month basis, the en-
tire MAHB airport network recorded
“AirAsia Malaysia has turned cash-flow “The authorities are going to remove growth of 61.5% with 41.8 million pas-
positive since this month and the moment all standard operating procedures that are senger movements compared with 25.9
jet fuel prices start falling, (we should see currently in place such as the Covid-19 million in February 2021.
a recovery in earnings),” AAAGL group test swab before you reach Immigration.
CEO Bo Lingam toldThe Edge onTues- The only point of contact passengers will It believes traffic is likely to recover stead-
day (March 22) after a news conference have will be at the Immigration counter. ily in the coming months as more countries
to announce the carrier’s preparations for Upon meeting the Immigration officer to reopen borders, in line with higher vaccina-
the border reopening on April 1. check your passport and MySejahtera ap- tion rates in the region, continuing to gain
plication, you will be released immediately. momentum from the second half of 2022.
On March 8, AirAsia Malaysia reintro- So yes, I think everyone is ready, not just
duced fuel surcharges for all its domestic the airlines,” he noted. Meanwhile, the general closure of
and international flights to offset escalat- Ukrainian and Russian airspace as a result
ing jet fuel prices, which have exceeded Capital A shares closed up one sen or of the Ukraine-Russia conflict has led to
US$120 per barrel. 1.63% at 62 sen on Tuesday, bringing a a temporary disruption of flights between
market capitalisation of RM2.58 billion. Its Istanbul SGIA and Ukraine and Russia
Bo said the carrier can only absorb the share price has fallen 22.84% year to date. (Moscow and St Petersburg).
oil price increase till up to US$75 to US$80 Read also:
a barrel, after which it has to pass on the AirAsia ready for borders reopening, “As for Asia-Pacific, the airspace closure
additional fuel costs to its customers. introduces more international routes has propelled airlines to reroute flights to
Click here Europe, adding flight time and increasing
He also said AirAsia is expecting a full fuel consumption and cost. MAHB is close-
recovery in its passenger traffic to 2019 Malaysia Airlines resumes flights ly monitoring the ongoing developments
levels earlier than the full recovery target to wider international destinations in Ukraine along with the rising jet fuel
of 2024 issued by the International Air Click here prices, and would continue assessing the
impact on the group’s international traf-
fic,” said MAHB.

MAHB shares closed up 12 sen or 1.9%
to RM6.42 with some 947,300 shares trad-
ed. The company is valued at RM10.65
billion based on its closing share price.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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(From left) Sukanta Kumar Dutt, independent non-executive director of Farm Fresh Bhd; Serena Tan cost of about RM1 million per annum.
Mei Shwen, non-independent non-executive director of Farm Fresh; Tan Sri Haji Megat Najmuddin However, he opined that the increase is
Haji Megat Khas, independent non-executive chairman of Farm Fresh; Loi Tuan Ee; Loi Foon Kion,
non-independent non-executive director of Farm Fresh; Datuk Quaza Nizamuddin A Hassan Nizam, still manageable.
Meanwhile, Loi said Farm Fresh’s per-
independent non-executive director of Farm Fresh; and Jocelyn Ng Lai Leng, independent non-
executive director of Farm Fresh formance for the financial year ended March
31, 2023 (FY23) will be underpinned by new
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Dairy pro- Farm Fresh product launches and regional expansion.
ducer Farm Fresh Bhd made a strong debut makes strong
on the main market onTuesday (March 22) debut on Bursa According to him, the group plans to ex-
amid active trade, soaring as much as 51 sen pand to Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
or 37.78% to RM1.86 as compared to its in- BY TAN SIEW MUNG and the Philippines in FY23.
itial public offering (IPO) price of RM1.35. theedgemarkets.com
“Once we have ourTaiping plant up and
At market close,the counter was up 37 sen and we think that we can take that, we will running, we will be able to free up capaci-
or 27.4% to RM1.72, valuing it at RM3.2 bil- probably continue to maintain the price, but ty at our Singapore and Larkin processing
lion. It was the most actively traded stock on if it’s not, then we will look at the opportu- plants to cater further to the Singapore mar-
Tuesday with 330.41 million shares traded. nities to increase prices,” he said. ket,” he said.

With a fundraising size of about RM1 According to Loi, the company adjusted He also added that the group plans to
billion, Farm Fresh is Malaysia’s largest IPO its milk price last September as the increase enter Hong Kong by the end of this year by
since June 2021. in commodity prices have been a huge bur- setting up a company there.
den to the company.
At a virtual press briefing after the listing “With all the regulatory requirements, we
ceremony, the group’s managing director and On the new minimum wage of RM1,500, believe we can get within the next seven to
chief executive officer Loi Tuan Ee said the he said that it will also have a cost impact eight months. By the end of the year, we hope
company may look into price adjustment if on the company as it will increase its labour to be able to export to Hong Kong,” he said.
the supply chain disruption caused by the
Russia-Ukraine war, which has led to higher He said Indonesia is another significant
commodity prices, continues. market to Farm Fresh, and it has started
work to obtain halal certification about a year
“The supply chain disruption has caused and a half ago.
a strong headwind to us… If it is temporary
On its expansion to the Philippines, Loi
said the group will obtain approval soon to
enter the market.

Farm Fresh, through the public issue
portion of its IPO, raised a total of RM301
million of which RM140 million is intended
for establishing a new manufacturing hub, a
new dairy farm and an integrated facility in
Malaysia, RM60 million has been earmarked
for the expansion of its production facility in
Australia, RM40 million for regional expan-
sion outside Malaysia, RM40.8 million for
working capital whilst RM20.2 million has
been allocated for listing related expenses.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The Fed- Felda, Encorp in shophouses — is expected to be completed
eral Land Development Authority (Felda), JV to develop low- within 36 months from the date of com-
which owns 62.3% of Encorp Bhd, has en- and medium-cost pletion of phase one but not exceeding 54
tered into a joint-venture (JV) agreement housing in Perlis months from the date of the JV agreement,
with the latter to jointly complete the de- read the filing.
velopment of a project involving low- and for RM57.32m
medium-cost housing for Felda settlers in According to the filing, Felda will be
Chuping, Perlis for an estimated total cost BY SEAH EU HEN sharing with Encorp 20% and 25% of the
of RM57.32 million. theedgemarkets.com total estimated gross development profit
of RM31 million for phase one and phase
In a bourse filing on Tuesday (March velopment licence and any obligation on two of the project, respectively.
22), Encorp said the project will be split the part of Encorp under the JV agreement.
into two phases for the development of 25 Encorp said the JV provides for a stra-
acres and 21 acres, respectively. Encorp said it expects to complete tegic partnership and is in line with its
phase one of the project within 18 months business strategy to grow its construction
The filing also said phase one of the from the date of the JV. segment while enabling Felda to complete
project, which involves the development and deliver the affordable housing scheme
and construction of 158 low-cost hous- Phase two of the project — compris- to promote the social and economic activ-
es, 66 medium-cost houses and 17 shop- ing 102 low-cost houses, 112 medium-cost ities on the land.
houses, has been partially developed and houses, 56 semi-detached houses and 13
deferred. It added that the project will be fund-
ed via internally generated funds and/or
Encorp said Felda plans to rehabilitate financing facilities.
phase one of the project with its whol-
ly-owned subsidiary Encorp Development Encorp shares were half a sen or 1.9%
Sdn Bhd (EDSB) as the holder of the de- higher at 26.5 sen on Tuesday, giving it a
market capitalisation of RM83.92 million.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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(March 22): Former Goldman Sachs Ex-Goldman tified on Monday. The company, initially
Group Inc banker Roger Ng’s wife cre- banker’s wife named Silken Waters and later renamed
ated a shell company and opened a bank created shell entity Victoria Square, was opened, along with
account that prosecutors say she used to after 1MDB deal a bank account at UBS Group AG, just
help launder tens of millions of dollars in days after the bond deal closed, Fern said.
illegal kickbacks from Malaysian financier BY PATRICIA HURTADO
Low Taek Jho (Jho Low). Bloomberg While Lim’s mother, Tan Kim Chin,
was listed as the beneficial owner of the
Jurors in Ng’s bribery trial were shown a REUTERS shell company, Fern said he had traced
raft of emails on Monday (March 21) that emails showing that bankers communi-
the US said is proof Ng’s wife, Hwee Bin Ng (pictured) is accused of conspiring with his cated with Lim aboutVictoria Square and
Lim, “playing a central and crucial role” former boss, Tim Leissner, to help Jho Low siphon the UBS account.
in helping her husband launder the illicit
payments from a trio of bond deals the billions of dollars from the deals. Prosecutors say for the first US$1.75
Goldman Sachs engineered for sovereign billion bond transaction, called “Project
wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd Magnolia”, Jho Low and his associates si-
(1MDB). Lim wasn’t charged. phoned at least US$500 million, using a
shell entity they created called Aabar PJS
Ng is accused of conspiring with his former Ltd in the BritishVirgin Islands. Leissner
boss,Tim Leissner, to help Jho Low siphon said he received more than US$60 million
billions of dollars from the deals. Ng is the from Jho Low into accounts controlled by
only Goldman Sachs banker to go on trial in his then wife Judy Chan Leissner.
the scandal. Leissner has pleaded guilty and is
cooperating with the government against Ng. Using Chan’s accounts, he said, he sent
Jho Low, who was also charged, is a fugitive. Ng US$35.1 million through the entity
set up by Lim.
A day before the first 1MDB bond deal
closed, Lim inquired about creating the Ng has argued Leissner’s wife sent the
shell entity, Sean Fern, a special agent with money to Lim for an unrelated business
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, tes- transaction. His lawyers said they intend
to call Lim to testify for her husband.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The pros- Prosecution in Hariharan then offered an explanation:
ecution in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd 1MDB-Tanore “The defence wishes to establish that Shah-
(1MDB)-Tanore trial had told the court that trial says Najib’s rol and Casey acted against the board’s
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s (pictured) defence lawyers embarking mandate… All we wanted to show is how
team are embarking on a “total wasted ex- on ‘total wasted these two manipulated the scheme and we
ercise” in asking irrelevant questions to cur- are asking 1MDB board’s stand on it.”
rent witness on the stand, former 1Malaysia exercise’
1MDB directorTan Sri Ismee Ismail. Sri Ram then retorted that Shahrol had
BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM & TARANI PALANI already testified about this and the lawyers
The cross-examination of Ismee onTues- theedgemarkets.com can address this in their submissions to the
day (March 22) was continued by Najib’s court when the prosecution’s case has ended.
lawyer Datuk HariharanTara Singh, about SHAHRILL BASRI/THE EDGE
the involvement of former 1MDB CEO Da- Justice Sequerah responded that the ques-
tuk Shahrol Halmi and former executive details as it centred on Shahrol’s actions tions are “going in circles” and asked the
director Casey Tang in engineering the di- and decisions as CEO. defence to condense their questions to “a
version of US$700 million (RM2.94 billion) series of good questions” instead of asking
to Good Star Ltd — a company linked to “(It is up to me to decide) on Shahrol’s the witness about documents which are al-
fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho — in- credibility, demeanour (if he is a reliable wit- ready in evidence.
stead of the joint venture company set up ness) [and if] most of the things put forth by
between 1MDB and PetroSaudi Interna- this witness (Shahrol) can be put forth in sub- “As far as the witness is concerned,
tional Ltd (PSI). missions,” Justice Sequerah told the defence. most of the questions has been put forth
in the documents (submitted to the court).
Hariharan had asked questions about I can allow a bit of latitude (with the ques-
Shahrol’s actions, to which the prosecu- tioning),” Justice Sequerah said.
tion led by Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram had
objected to. Lead counsel for Najib Tan Sri Shafee
Abdullah then said that there are many doc-
According to Sri Ram, these questions uments which are sham transactions in this
had already been “traversed” when Shah- case, and that the board had not detected any
rol himself testified. of this, adding that Ismee can verify all this.

“I’ve been very patient, my Lord... I just Justice Sequerah then replied that he
want to save the time of the court from a will allow a bit of latitude, but the rest
total wasted exercise of (going through) of the questions can be directed in their
materials which are already before the submissions.
court,” said the senior lawyer to presid-
ing judge Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence The JV company,1MDB PetroSaudi Ltd,
Sequerah. was set up between 1MDB and PSI in 2009,
in which 1MDB had agreed to inject US$1
Justice Sequerah agreed, saying that Is- billion cash, while PSI was to inject US$1.5
mee was not in the position to confirm the billion worth of oilfield-related assets.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 9

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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JOHOR BAHRU (March 22): Former Jo- Former JCorp JCorp Board, Level 25, Menara Komtar
hor Corp (JCorp) president and chief ex- president charged here on July 8, 2019.
ecutive Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kass-
im (pictured) was charged in the Sessions with deceiving The charge was framed under Section
Court here with deceiving the JCorp board board 420 of the Penal Code, which provides
into investing USS$2.25 million (RM9.46 an imprisonment of up to 10 years with
million) in two companies almost three Bernama whipping and shall also be liable to fine,
years ago. if found guilty.

Kamaruzzaman, 58, however, pleaded Kamaruzzaman was allowed bail of
not guilty to the charge before judge Wan RM150,000 with one surety and also or-
Mohd Norisham WanYaakob. dered to surrender his passport to the court
before April 23 after his return from per-
He was charged, in his capacity as forming the umrah.
JCorp president and chief executive, to
have cheated and dishonestly induced the JudgeWan Mohd Norisham, in allowing
company’s board members into agree- the request by lawyer K Ragunath, rep-
ing to create a temporary fund of US$5 resenting Kamaruzzaman, also ordered
million, of which US$1 million was in- the accused to report himself at the near-
vested in World Logistic Council Ltd est Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commis-
and US$1.25 million in World Logistic sion (MACC) office and to not intimidate
Council Americas LLC, which the board witnesses in the case, as requested by the
would not have agreed to if he had in- prosecution, represented by deputy public
formed them on the position of the two prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong, from
companies, which were no longer capable the MACC.
of continuing their operations
The judge also set April 25 for mention.
Kamaruzzaman was alleged to have Kamaruzzaman was president and
committed the offence between 9.30am chief executive of JCorp from Decem-
and 1.45pm at the meeting room of the ber 2010 before retiring on Dec 12,
2019.

FROM PAGE 8 UMNO man eedgemarkets.com, confirmed the consent
Lokman Noor judgement following the apology.
Shahrol had previously testified that Adam apologises to
nobody on the board of 1MDB, including Syariah chief judge Lokman in his apology and retrac-
Ismee, attempted to verify the ownership as defamation suit tion admitted the matter arose due to the
of Good Star Ltd after US$700 million gets settled out “wrong information”.
was transferred into its accounts, instead
of those of its purported parent PSI, in of court The terms of the settlement, however,
September 2009. could not be revealed to the media.
BY HAFIZ YATIM
Good Star was later revealed to theedgemarkets.com Lokman was represented by Logen Es-
be controlled by Low Taek Jho, the kander in Tuesday’s proceedings.
fugitive financier better known as KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): For-
Jho Low. mer UMNO Supreme Council member Mohd Na’im filed a RM30 million def-
Datuk Lokman Noor Adam on Tuesday amation suit against Lokman last month as
He also said that Najib had known apologised to Chief Syariah Judge Datuk a result of the latter’s two postings on Jan
about the monies going into Good Star Mohd Na’im Mokhtar over the defama- 10 and 14 this year on his Facebook and
as he had told Najib about it in a meeting tory postings the politician had made via YouTube channels, alleging that the judge
at the Pekan MP’s house shortly after. Facebook and YouTube recently, alleging was involved in widely reported lewd acts.
However, Shahrol did not record this the top judge was involved in lewd acts.
conversation with Najib. It was previously reported that Justice
Lokman expressed his apology and re- Rozana had granted Mohd Na’im an ex
Shahrol also previously testified that gret over the postings in proceedings con- parte injunction application and directed
Tang was the one who advised him ducted online before High Court Justice Lokman to remove the postings and that
to split the US$1 billion payment to Datuk Rozana AliYusoff. the injunction was to be extended until
the JV company, by sending US$300 Tuesday (March 22), when the inter partes
million to a JP Morgan bank account, Following this, Justice Rozana recorded injunction application was scheduled to
and the remaining US$700 million to a consent judgement with regard to the be heard.
Good Star’s account with RBS Coutts matter as the case is considered settled
Bank. out of court. An ex parte is a single party’s appli-
cation to be or being heard and decid-
Out of the US$700 million trans- Mohd Na’im’s counsel Datuk Akber- ed, while inter partes is when the court
ferred to Good Star, it was reported last din Abdul Kader, when contacted by th- has heard both sides, that is, the plaintiff
month that US$10.17 million went to and defendant’s application to set aside
Red Granite, a company owned by Na- the injunction.
jib’s stepson Riza Aziz.
On Feb 15, it was also reported that
In this trial, Najib faces four charges Mohd Na’im’s lawyers had also filed for
for using his position to obtain bribes judgement in default to be recorded against
totalling RM2.28 billion from 1MDB Lokman due to purported non-filing of the
funds and 21 charges of money laun- UMNO man’s defence. However, this was
dering involving RM4.3 billion. dismissed, as the politician had already
filed his defence.

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 22) : SRC In- Another Mareva jail and RM210 million fine) was upheld by
ternational Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary, Gan- injunction sought the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021. Najib
dingan Mentari Sdn Bhd, have applied for against Najib to is awaiting his final appeal before the Fed-
a Mareva injunction against former prime eral Court.
minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop him stop him from
from transferring or dissipating of his assets disposing of SRC and Gandingan Mentari also sub-
amounting to RM42 million. RM42 mil mitted that as Najib had yet to file his defence
to the suit filed in May last year, the balance
The application was filed on Feb 9, a day BY HAFIZ YATIM of convenience in imposing the Mareva in-
after SRC International’s former parent com- theedgemarkets.com junction should be with the two companies.
pany,1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB),
had obtained a worldwide Mareva injunction Fund Inc (KWAP) that was deposited in In addition, they said that as RM114
— after an ex-parte (single party) hearing — the former premier’s AmBank Islamic ac- million of assets were already returned in
to bar Najib from transferring or cause the count for him to use for corporate social the failed forfeiture over the police raid con-
dissipation of US$681 million of his assets. responsibility purposes. ducted at the Pavilion condominium in May
SRC conviction cited as grounds to seek 2018, the court should prevent further dis-
For the application by SRC and Gandin- injunction sipation of unlawful assets said to be owned
gan Mentari, an inter partes hearing (hearing The suit against Najib was for breach of fi- by Najib until the conclusion of the hearing
involving both parties) was held onTuesday duciary duties, knowing receipt of the funds, of the suit.
(March 22) before Judicial Commissioner dishonest assistance, tort of misfeasance and
Datuk Mohd Arief Emran Arifin via video abuse of power. Meanwhile,Najib’s lawyers in submissions
proceeding. sighted by The Edge, questioned the inordi-
It was submitted that Najib had been con- nate delay by SRC and Gandingan Mentari
Mohd Arief reserved his decision on the victed on July 28, 2020, by the High Court in filing the application as the former premier
matter, and fixed April 27 to deliver it. SRC for abuse of power with regards to the RM4 is already facing various criminal and civil
and Gandingan Mentari were represented by billion KWAP loan and three counts each of suits in court.
counsel M Nagarajah, SyafinazVani, Clem- criminal breach of trust and money launder-
entTay and LisaYong, all of them from Rosli ing involving RM42 million. The lawyers also argued that to further
Dahlan Saravana Partnership. restrain Najib from dealing with his assets
His conviction and sentence (12 years’ would severely prejudice him with regards
Harvinderjit Singh, along with Muham- to his rights to counsel and ability to defend
mad Farhan Shafee, Nur Syahirah Hanapiah, himself.
Harvinder Singh Sidhu and Thilagan Me-
hanathan, appeared for Najib. They also claimed that while the two com-
panies are allowing RM50,000 a month to
In submissions sighted by The Edge, be given to Najib, an injunction will further
SRC and Gandingan Mentari claimed there restrain his right to defend himself in his on-
was no valid reason for Najib to receive the going court proceedings.“Hence, the balance
RM42 million, which is said to be part of of convenience in not granting the Mareva in-
the disbursement grant from Retirement junction lies with the defendant,”they argued.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): PKR vice Rafizi opposes He argued that the people would face
president Rafizi Ramli has called on Pu- Najib’s call to bail big losses if Sapura Energy was not saved,
trajaya not to heed former premier Datuk out Sapura Energy, citing RM4 billion in losses to holders of
Seri Najib Razak’s call to bail out cash- says public funds Amanah Saham Bumiputera and RM10
strapped Sapura Energy Bhd, saying pub- should not be used billion in losses to Maybank, as well as the
lic funds should not be used to protect a to protect the elite 10,000 employees that would lose their
handful of elites. jobs.
BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS
In a statement, Rafizi said that while he theedgemarkets.com Sapura Energy is currently undertak-
sympathises with Sapura Energy’s employees ing a massive debt restructuring involving
who face an uncertain future, the spending He added that he will present the figures banks, vendors and contractors.
of billions of the people’s money for the ben- in the coming days to remind the people
efit of a small group of corporates is unfair, to not “fall for Najib’s economic manage- The court has granted an order under
especially so amid the current business cli- ment ideas”. Section 366 of the Companies Act that
mate which has been difficult for all. will enable it and its subsidiaries to sum-
In a Facebook posting on Sunday mon meetings with its creditors to con-
“Even more so when an amount ex- (March 20), Najib suggested that the sider and approve a proposed scheme of
ceeding billions in ringgit had already been government should protect Sapura Ener- arrangements and compromises as part of
injected into Sapura over a decade ago. gy from bankruptcy by providing loans or its debt restructuring plan.
Even though it had received the injection getting Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Khazan-
of the people’s funds, Sapura still faced ah Nasional Bhd to take over ownership of Sapura Energy has also obtained a re-
financial troubles despite the high crude the group from Permodalan Nasional Bhd. straining order under Section 368 — ef-
oil prices,” he said. fective for three months from March 10 —
to restrain and suspend legal proceedings
“If Najib’s suggestion is entertained, against it while enabling the group and its
the rakyat’s money, which could be used subsidiaries to engage with its creditors
for other purposes such as capacity build- without being disrupted by the threat of
ing among small entrepreneurs and the litigation.
youth, and for the granting of education
loans, would instead only benefit the elite,” Sapura Energy’s share price closed un-
said Rafizi. changed at 3.5 sen, giving the company a
market capitalisation of RM559.27 million.

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The re- Audit dept Overall, the report concludes that the
sults of a company audit carried out by identifies management of the board’s tax audit ac-
the National Audit Department show that RM16.35b higher tivities has been implemented efficiently
there is an increase in taxes and penalties taxes, penalties and effectively as the corporate key perfor-
amounting to RM16.35 billion that can be that can be mance indicators (KPIs) and branch KPIs
collected by the Inland Revenue Board of collected by IRB have achieved the set targets and have a
Malaysia (IRB). backlog of 10%.
Bernama
The audit department also said the The report also recommended that the
board’s tax audit objective had been IRB take immediate action to resolve the
achieved as there were no audit findings outstanding cases found at the branches
indicating an increased level of compliance and constantly monitor the cases directed
by taxpayers. to the branches so that there is no pro-
longed case backlog.
“Nevertheless, there are weaknesses in
the resolution of company tax audit cases It also needs to review audit work proce-
where cases are resolved beyond the stip- dures/quality standards as well as establish
ulated period as well as cases in arrears of a mechanism to resolve outstanding cases
between six months to six years. so that each case can be resolved within a
reasonable period.
“This could result in a delay in issuing
additional assessment notices and will re- “The Finance Ministry needs to study
sult in deferred tax to the government,” it the policy and legal provisions related to the
said in the Auditor-General’s Report 2020 sharing of taxpayer information between
Series 1 released on Tuesday (March 22). the IRB and third parties to help speed up
the resolution of company tax audit cases.
Apart from that, there is non-compli-
ance in setting passwords as stipulated in “It is also necessary to ensure that as-
the latest ICT Security Policy (DKICT) pects of internal control on password man-
as well as network and system security lev- agement and network management con-
el assessment is not carried out for three trol are implemented to all applications in
systems, namely the company’s self-assess- revenue transformation initiatives under
ment system, risk assessment system and the revenue integration tax system project
case management system. set out in the DKICT,” it said.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): The lia- Audit: Liabilities tax of RM392.67 million in 2020, compared
bilities for 123 federal agencies increased of federal to RM75.99 million in the previous year.
RM27.5 billion or 7.8% to RM379.46 bil-
lion in 2020, compared to RM351.96 billion agencies increase LKAN stated that subsidiary companies
in 2019, due to an increase in loan balances. but loan ratio still that incurred losses need to review their
operating model to ensure the group’s vi-
Despite this, the ratio of loans was still under control ability and financial sustainability.
at a satisfactory level, indicating federal
agencies did not rely on maximum loans to Bernama Only 12 out of 53 federal agencies re-
manage their operations, according to the ceived dividends from subsidiary compa-
Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 2020 A total of 19 subsidiary companies were nies totalling RM1.081 billion for the fi-
Series 1, released Tuesday (March 22). dormant and another was dissolved. nancial year ended Dec 31, 2020.

The report stated that loan balances LKAN said the Employees Provident The EPF received the biggest dividend
for 21 federal agencies increased 10.5%or Fund (EPF), Retirement Fund (Incorporat- of RM926.68 million, followed by LTH
RM1 0.81 billion to RM113.6 billion in ed), LembagaTabung Haji (LTH), and Fel- (RM119.65 million), Felda (RM24.48 mil-
2020. Assets registered a 7.2% increase, da had net investments in subsidiary com- lion), FederalTerritories Islamic Religious
or RM118.14 billion to RM1.76 trillion, panies of more than RM1 billion in 2020. Council (RM3.37 billion), and Universiti
from RM1.64 trillion in 2019. Teknologi MARA (RM2.5 billion).
It noted that 59 subsidiary companies un- Read also:
The loans ratio compared to total assets der 20 federal agencies incurred losses after Audit: Unsatisfactory management of
is to gauge the ability of federal agencies to tax collection, 15,293 expatriates do not
fulfil their short and long term obligations. have tax files Click here
Audit: Rapid Rail’s performance not at
LKAN said the Public Sector Home Fi- optimum level despite meeting objective
nancing Board (LPPSA), National Higher Ed- Click here
ucation Fund Corporation (PTPTN), Federal PAC to hold special meeting on cases of
Land Development Authority (Felda), PR- wastage reported in Auditor-General’s
1MA Corporation Malaysia, and Port Klang Report 2020 Series 1 Click here
Authority had been given certificates with
opinion without rebuke, after recording the
highest loan balances of RM107.93 billion in
2020, compared to RM97.21 billion in 2019.

In 2020, 53 federal agencies had invested
in 189 subsidiary companies amounting to
RM41.37 billion,compared to 192 subsidiary
companies totalling RM37.95 billion in 2019.

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Auditor-General’s efficiently and effectively without waste LembagaTabung
Report: RM1.299b and get the best value for money,” he said. AngkatanTentera
irregular payments
Meanwhile,a total of 10 performance audits did not return
due to non- worth RM39.719 billion were conducted for RM695m in govt
compliance eight departments, three government-owned contribution to
with financial companies and four federal statutory bodies
management in 2020 and agencies under seven ministries. Consolidated
Fund
Bernama Nik Azman said of the total, six audits
involved categories of programmes and Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):Non-com- activities, three categories of projects and
pliance with financial management resulted one involved information and communi- KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):Lem-
in issues of irregular payments amounting cations technology systems. bagaTabungAngkatanTentera (LTAT)
to RM1.299 billion, loss of public funds of has not returned government contribu-
RM11.45 million and a waste of RM8.87 “Overall, the implementation of the fed- tions amounting to RM695.05 million
million to the government in 2020. eral government’s activities, projects and to the Consolidated Fund as stated in
programmes were carried out in accord- paragraph 9(3)© Act 101, according
Auditor-General Datuk Seri Nik Azman ance with the set objectives. to the Auditor-General’s Report 2020.
Nik Abdul Majid said that last year, the
National Audit Department (NAD) con- “However, there were still weaknesses The report, which was released
ducted compliance audits of five federal such as output targets and the achievement on Tuesday (March 22), said that an
agencies and submitted 19 recommenda- of set results cannot be achieved or cannot audit review found that LTAT had
tions for consideration for implementation. be evaluated.This is because quantitative instead returned the government’s
targets, mechanisms and indicators were contribution involving 9,542 pension
“As of Dec 31, 2021, a total of 140 fi- not set, and the relevant data was not well status contributors for 2018 to 2020 to
nancial statements had been audited and maintained and updated,” he said. the Retirement Fund (Incorporated),
awarded the Auditor-General’s Certificate, known by its Malay acronym KWAP.
while seven financial statements were in Nik Azman said a total of 33 recommen-
the process of being audited. dations were given for consideration by the “This government contribution
audited ministries, departments and agencies. should be returned to the Consolidated
“A total of 109 financial statements were Fund as stated in paragraph 9(3)© Act
awarded the Clean Audit Certificate, 14 The NAD also carried out performance 101. It clearly states that contributions
were awarded the Audit Certificate Based on audits of 18 programmes, activities and pro- must be returned to the Consolidat-
Emphasis of Matter, and 17 were given the jects involving two ministries in Sabah dan ed Fund, which is the account of the
Audit Certificate with Reprimand,” he said Sarawak, 15 departments and 12 state gov- federal government,” the report said.
in a statement on the Auditor-General’s Re- ernment agencies, as well as an audit of the
port (LKAN) here onTuesday (March 22). management of 11 state-owned companies. The effect of LTAT’s failure to re-
turn the contribution to the Consoli-
The report was tabled in the Dewan A total of 111 recommendations were dated Fund had resulted in the federal
Rakyat onTuesday involving LKAN 2020 given, 70 of which were given for consid- government’s revenue decreasing by
Series 1 on activities of ministries, federal eration by the state ministries, departments RM695.05 million for 2018 to 2020.
departments and statutory bodies, finan- and agencies, and 41 were for the relevant
cial statements and compliance audits of state government-owned companies, he said. The report further noted that the
federal agencies for the year 2020. opinion of the panel of lawyers re-
Nik Azman said the LKAN on Manage- ceived on Nov 18, 2021, stated that
Apart from that, the report also involved ment of Federal Government Companies the government contribution paid
the management of federal government-owned 2020 Series 1 contained the findings of audits by LTAT to KWAP was inconsist-
companies and 13 state-level LKAN 2020 Se- done for six federal government companies. ent with paragraph 9(3)© Act 101.
ries 1 involving activities of ministry, agencies
and management of state-owned companies. “Overall, four companies have achieved LTAT is responsible for returning
the objectives of establishment; two compa- the government contribution to the
Nik Azman said performance audits of nies demonstrated a high level of good corpo- Consolidated Fund,the report stressed.
government activities were conducted in ac- rate governance practices; and three compa-
cordance with Section 6(d) of the Audit Act nies had a stable financial position,” he said. Read also:
1957 and international auditing standards Due to lack of govt financial
issued by the International Organization of He said a total of 31 recommendations allocation, Pernas cannot fully
Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). had been given to the management of the perform its role Click here
companies for improvements. Agrobank’s financial position
He said the performance audit was con- stable, able to pay govt dividends
ducted to assess the achievement of the ob- The LKAN on the activities of minis- Click here
jectives of government activities, projects and tries, federal government departments and
programmes, as well as whether the imple- federal statutory bodies, as well as on fi-
mentation was done prudently, efficiently nancial statements and auditing of federal
and effectively. agency compliance, as well as LKAN 2020
Series 1 on the management of federal gov-
“It also aims to assess the extent to ernment companies will be uploaded on
which public money is spent prudently, the NAD’s website, http://www.audit.gov.
my, after the tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.

At the state level, it will be uploaded to
the NAD’s website after it is tabled at the
respective State Legislative Assembly sittings.

Issues of LKAN 2020 Series 1 will
also be uploaded to the Auditor-General’s
Dashboard (AGD) portal from 10.30am
and further enquiries or feedback can be
emailed to [email protected].

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KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Super- Production at “Manufacturing within the US has al-
max Corp Bhd said production of its first Supermax’s first ways been a desire of Supermax because
ever manufacturing plant in the US is now manufacturing it reinforces our high standards for quality
expected to begin sometime in the second facility in the US and achievement.We are global leaders in
quarter of 2023, instead of the fourth quar- pushed back to the industry and will continue to set the
ter of 2022 as indicated earlier. standard for others to follow,” said Su-
circa 2Q2023 permax founder and executive chairman
In a bourse filing, the glove maker said Datuk Seri Stanley Thai.
the advanced facility located in Brazoria BY LAM JIAN WYN
County, Texas, will be the group’s 18th theedgemarkets.com According to Supermax, leading ware-
international plant. house and distribution space builder ARCO/
Murray has been engaged for this project.
“The new 215-acre manufacturing fa-
cility will showcase cutting edge capabili- Supermax Healthcare Inc chief execu-
ties through expanded use of artificial in- tive officer CK Tan said the appointment
telligence and robotic engineering,” it said. of ARCO reinforced its commitment to-
wards being a world leader in the medical
According to Supermax, the facility will PPE manufacturing space.
comprise a total of eight buildings, with an
investment of US$350 million earmarked Currently, the glove maker exports to
for the first four construction phases. 165 different countries and has distribu-
tion centres and operations in the United
Construction is slated to start in the States, Canada, UK, Ireland, Brazil, Japan,
second quarter of this year, it said. Hong Kong and Singapore.

The first phase of the Texas facility is At the end of trading on Tuesday
anticipated to meet at least 10% to 15% (March 22), Supermax closed 2 sen or
of annual medical nitrile glove demand 1.75% lower at RM1.12, for a market
in the US over the next two to four years, capitalisation of RM3.05 billion.Year to
while the second phase will address 20% date, the stock has fallen by 23.81% from
to 25% of demand in the US over the next RM1.47 on Dec 31, 2021.
four to six years, it said.

NEWS IN BRIEF

KAB inks power purchase agreements worth RM46.8m in Thailand Hong Seng unit participates
in NADMA’s foreign workers
Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB) has inked five Rooftop Solar Power Generating System management programme
Construction and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) worth RM46.8 million with an
estimated aggregate capacity of 4,284 kilowatt-peak (kWp) in Thailand. The construction Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd has inked a
group said the contracted duration was for over 25 years. In a Bursa Malaysia filing, KAB said collaboration and commitment agreement
the agreement, amongst others, requires KAB to construct, install, operate, and maintain the with the National Disaster Management
Grid-Connected Photovoltaic (GCPV) solar system for Siam Machinery and Equipment Co Agency (NADMA) on foreign workers
Ltd and four subsidiaries of Aapico Group of Companies (Aapico Ayutthaya). — by Sulhi Khalid recruitment and quarantine management
at a panel of selected hotels. According to
United Malacca 3Q net profit nearly Wah Seong sells remaining 30% stake Hong Seng’s filing with the stock exchange
doubles to RM30.24 mil on higher in pipe manufacturing unit for RM31m on Tuesday (March 22), NADMA has
CPO price initiated a programme called the “National
Wah Seong Corp Bhd is selling its remaining Security and Safety for Foreign Workers
United Malacca Bhd’s net profit in the third 30% stake in pipe manufacturing unit Spirolite Recruitment and Quarantine Management”,
quarter ended Jan 31, 2022 (3QFY22) (M) Sdn Bhd (SPRL) to Lesso Malaysia Holdings aimed at managing and improving controls
almost doubled to RM30.24 million Sdn Bhd (LMHSB) for RM30.8 million, cash, as especially relating to Covid-19 management
compared to RM13.73 million in the same part of its plan to divest non-core businesses and processes while ensuring that national
period last year, on the back of higher crude within the group to streamline its operations security is not compromised. eMedAsia, a
palm oil prices (CPO). In a Bursa Malaysian and resources. Wah Seong bought SPRL in 52%-owned subsidiary under Hong Seng’s
filing on Tuesday (March 22), the group March 2013 via its wholly-owned subsidiary healthcare arm HS Bio Group, is required
said its quarterly revenue rose 38.15% to Syn Tai Hung Trading Sdn Bhd (STHT), with an by the agreement to provide end-to-end
RM147.79 million from RM106.98 million, original cost of investment of RM17.19 million. Covid-19 screenings for foreign workers
underpinned by higher contribution from In August 2020, Wah Seong sold a 70% stake upon their entry into the country from
its Malaysia and Indonesia’s operation. The in SPRL to Lesso Malaysia for RM30.37 million pre-screening stage to post-screening stage
group also declared a dividend of 5 sen per cash. — by Syafiqah Salim involving isolation management of positive
share in the current quarter under review. cases as well as any other related services. —
For the nine months period ended on Jan by Seah Eu Hen
31, the group’s net profit leapt more than
threefold to RM87.18 million from RM24.71
million, while revenue expanded 39.35% to
RM406.51 million against RM291.71 million
previously. — by Sulhi Khalid

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LOW YEN YEING/THE EDGE cameras in flood hotspot areas, he added. StrataTitles Act
He said 13 CCTVs had been installed, with to be amended
The Kesas Highway was inundated at the Awan to address issue
Besar West Toll Plaza on March 7, 2022. the remaining in the process of installation. of dilapidated
“We know that the SmartTunnel can help
Flash floods: Five buildings
warning sirens reduce or prevent flash floods, but that cannot
to be installed in cover all the areas in Kuala Lumpur. Bernama

federal capital, says “As such, DBKL has taken several ap- KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):
deputy minister proaches to provide an early warning system Amendments to the StrataTitles Act
to the community and city dwellers on the 1985 (Act 318) are being drafted to
Bernama possibility of flash floods,” he said. address the issue of dilapidated build-
ings in the country, said Housing and
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):Five warning He said this onTuesday (March 22) in re- Local Government Minister Datuk
sirens will be installed in the federal capital in sponse to a supplementary question from Che Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.
to provide early warning to city dwellers on the Abdullah Mat Nawi (PAS-Tumpat) on the ef-
possibility of flash floods, said Deputy Federal fectiveness of the SmartTunnel in dealing with He said the amendment involved
Territories Minister Datuk Seri JalaluddinAlias. flash floods in the federal capital. consent of unit owners, as well as
procedure for the termination of the
He said preliminary work had started for To a supplementary question from Hannah strata scheme, to allow reconstruction
the installation of the siren at Lorong Kiri Yeoh (PH-Segambut) on whether the Civil of the building.
Keramat 15, Chan Sow Lin Tunnel, Taman Engineering and Drainage Department of the
U-Thant, Jalan Sembilan in Kg Cheras Baru DBKL team would be enlarged,Jalaluddin said “Although there is no law on it
and Sg Kayu Ara. his department was looking into the matter yet, many urban renewal programmes
to carry out slope and hilly monitoring tasks. have been implemented since 2000.
Installation of the warning system is one of It involves the implementation by the
the initiatives taken by Kuala Lumpur City Hall He said the department currently had a private sector for urban renewal are-
(DBKL) in increasing assets for flood disaster strength of 300 people. as to generate appropriate economic
management, apart from the installation of an returns.
additional 51 closed circuit television (CCTV) “There are 3,441 hilly and slope areas in
Kuala Lumpur that need to be monitored,” “For dilapidated buildings or ar-
he added. eas that do not bring economic re-
turns to the private sector, then the
Earlier, to an original question from Nik government can consider a form or
Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PH-Setiawangsa), Jalalud- method of urban renewal to prevent
din said approval by the Kuala Lumpur Drain- the area or building from further de-
age Irrigation Department is a mandatory con- teriorating and raising the issue of
dition for a development order to be approved. ‘urban decay’,” he told the Dewan
Rakyat during the Ministers’ Ques-
This is apart from the requirement for de- tion Time on Tuesday (March 22).
velopers to obtain the Traffic Impact Assess-
ment Report under the DBKL Infrastructure He was responding to a question
Planning Department and the Environmental fromWong HonWai (PH-Bukit Ben-
Impact Assessment under the Department of dera) on the ministry’s strategy in in-
Environment, Ministry of Environment and troducing programmes and laws on
Water, he added. urban renewal to address the issue of
obsolescence of old flats in the city.
Nik Nazmi wanted to know Kuala Lum-
pur’s preparedness to face the effects of the Reezal also said a regulatory impact
increasingly extreme climate, including floods assessment would also be introduced
and landslides in the next 20 years. as a start towards the formulation of
new conclusive and comprehensive
KUALA LUMPUR (March 22):The Dewan Dewan Rakyat laws to ensure the right to property
Rakyat onTuesday (March 22) approved the approves could be preserved, while urban re-
Supplementary Supply (2021) Bill 2022 to newal development can be carried out.
apply for the extra allocation of RM8.4 billion Supplementary
for additional expenditure in 2021. Supply (2021) “When we want to formulate a law
that involves urban development and
The bill, which was tabled by Deputy Fi- Bill 2022 renewal, it will be related to almost
nance Minister Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah, seven or eight (existing) laws,” he said,
was approved after the third reading and re- Bernama adding that the laws include the Na-
ceived a majority of voice support from mem- tional Land Code, Strata Titles Act,
bers of parliament. The ministries involved in the extra alloca- Strata Management Act, Land Ac-
tion are the Ministry of Finance with RM7.81 quisition Act andTown Planning Act.
The request for additional allocation was billion, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and
made to transfer surplus funds from the Con- Consumer Affairs (RM539.6 million), as well
solidated Revenue Account 2021 to the De- as the Election Commission (RM67.7 million).
velopment Fund amounting to RM2.235 bil-
lion, with RM64.26 million for development The Dewan Rakyat will continue on
expenditure for 2021. Wednesday (March 23).

A sum of RM6.18 billion will be chan-
nelled to ministries and agencies that have
been approved to spend more than allocat-
ed in order to finance matters that had been
committed in 2021.

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US threat to telligence unit of the country’s military — China, Pakistan
sanction China noted Russia had blacklisted eight APEC share concern about
is spooking other members and warned of more sanctions sanctions on Russia,
Asian nations on member economies if the war drags on.
China says
BY PHILIP J. HEIJMANS & YUDITH HO, The uncertainty underscores the risk
SUTTINEE YUVEJWATTANA, RIEKA RAHADIANA that the war in Ukraine will accelerate fis- BY YEW LUN TIAN & ASIF SHAHZAD
sures in the global economy centred on IN ISLAMABAD
& RAMSEY AL-RIKABI national security risks over supply chains, Reuters
Bloomberg advanced technology and the personal data
of millions of citizens. Although the US has REUTERS
(March 22): US President Joe Biden’s yet to specify what business activity with
warning of unspecified consequences if Russia would trigger secondary sanctions, Russian president Vladimir Putin
China supports Russia has smaller Asian the frequent use of such measures against
nations worried they’ll be subject to similar China in the past few years poses a signif- BEIJING (March 22): China and Pa-
penalties for maintaining neutrality over icant risk for exporting nations reliant on kistan share concern about “spill-over
Vladimir Putin’s war. the US and European markets. effects of unilateral sanctions” on Rus-
sia over its war against Ukraine and
Southeast Asia will host two meetings Russia was expelled from the Group of called for a ceasefire and diplomatic
later this year — the Group of 20 sum- Eight in 2014, following Putin’s annexa- resolution of the crisis, the Chinese
mit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co- tion of Crimea, which came after the top- foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
operation forum, or APEC — that would pling of Ukraine’s Kremlin-backed lead-
normally bring Biden, Putin and Chinese ership. Still, it would be much harder to Old allies China and Pakistan have
leader Xi Jinping under one roof. And the boot out Russia from the G-20 or APEC, refrained from condemning Russia
two countries set to host them — Indone- which have many more members includ- over its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine,
sia and Thailand — are starting to worry ing China, one of Putin’s main diplomatic unlikeWestern countries that have im-
about getting caught in the middle, even supporters.“Even before the invasion of posed unprecedented financial and
though the summits are months away and Ukraine, the multilateral world order was corporate sanctions in response to
it isn’t even clear if Putin would turn up. already under considerable strain from the what Russian President Vladimir Pu-
strategic tensions between the big powers,” tin calls a “special military operation”.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng
Marsudi has privately expressed concern Swee Keat said during a conference on “Both expressed concerns about
about the US threats of secondary sanc- Tuesday. “The current crisis will further the spill-over effects of unilateral sanc-
tions against China because leaders in Ja- accentuate these rifts, and pose a grave tions,” the Chinese foreign ministry
karta see Beijing’s stance on the war as neu- threat to the international rule of law.” said in a statement following a meet-
tral, according to a person familiar with the ing on Monday in Pakistan between the
situation, who asked not to be identified. Preparations for theAPEC summit in No- neighbours’ foreign ministers.
vember are still in the early stages of prepa-
While Indonesia is planning to welcome ration, according toTanee Sangrat, a spokes- “Both called for a ceasefire through
Russia to the G-20 summit, the person said, person forThailand’s Foreign Ministry.“We diplomatic dialogue and hope that based
leaders in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy have not been pressured to keep any topic out on the principle of indivisible security,
are concerned the US will increase pres- of the discussion at the summit this year,” he a fundamental solution to the Ukraine
sure to abandon the country’s non-aligned said when asked about the report.A Defense problem can be found,” the Chinese
policy. Indonesia wants to keep the agenda Ministry spokesman declined to comment. ministry said.
limited to economic policies, global health
and climate change, the person added. Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman at Indo- Pakistan’s foreign ministry also issued
nesia’s Foreign Ministry, said he wasn’t in a a statement on the talks in Islamabad,
Thailand is also concerned that it will be position to confirm the discussions involv- echoing the call for a ceasefire, but it did
forced to pick sides if the US and its allies ing Marsudi while adding that Indonesia not mention concern about sanctions.
boycott the APEC summit over Russia’s in- hasn’t experienced any such pressure yet.
volvement, according to the Nation news- But, he added, “we are indeed concerned
paper. The report citing the Royal Thai with the prospect of the conflict to divert
Armed Forces Security Centre — an in- the G-20’s focus and cooperation away
from economy and development.”
Click here to read the full story

China will respond in kind to US visa restrictions — Foreign Ministry

BEIJING (March 22): China will take Bernama stop slandering and exerting pressure
action in response to the visa restrictions on China.
imposed on Chinese government officials officials. Otherwise, China will certain-
by the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry ly take tit-for-tat measures,” Wang told a US Secretary of State Antony Blink-
spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tues- briefing, said Sputnik. en said on Monday that the US would
day (March 22). impose visa restrictions on Chinese of-
He added that the situation with hu- ficials, who are considered responsible
“We urge the US to immediately lift man rights in China today is at the high- for alleged repression of ethnic and re-
the so-called sanctions against Chinese est level in history, and urged the US to ligious minorities.

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LVIV/KYIV (March 22): Russia is pound- REUTERS said on Ukrainian television on Tuesday.
ing the besieged Ukrainian port of Mar- “Our military is defending Mariupol he-
iupol into the “ashes of a dead land”, its A satellite roically.We did not accept the ultimatum.
local council said on Tuesday, describing image dated They offered capitulation under a white
two more huge bombs that fell on the city March 19, 2022 flag.This is manipulation, a lie.”
that has been sealed off for weeks. showed burning
apartment Russia called the biggest invasion in Eu-
The plight of Mariupol, a city of 400,000 buildings in rope since World War Two a “special mil-
before the war, has been the most urgent itary operation” to disarm Ukraine and
humanitarian emergency since Russia invad- Mariupol, protect it from “Nazis”. The West called
ed Ukraine nearly a month ago. Hundreds Ukraine. this a false pretext for an unprovoked war.
of thousands of residents are believed to be
trapped inside under near constant shelling, ‘Ashes of a Mariupol is the biggest city still held
with no access to food, water, power or heat. dead land’ — by Ukraine in the Donetsk region, which
Ukraine pleas as Russia has demanded Kyiv cede to Mos-
“There is nothing left there,” President more bombs hit cow-backed separatists. Russian media
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video ad- besieged Mariupol quoted a separatist official on Tuesday as
dress to the Italian parliament onTuesday. saying half of Mariupol was now captured.
BY NATALIA ZINETS & PAVEL POLITYUK
The city council gave no details of casual- Reuters A part of Mariupol now held by Russian
ties or damage from the latest bombing. No forces, reached by Reuters on Sunday, was an
independent journalists have been operating and make it the ashes of a dead land,” the eerie wasteland of charred apartment blocks.
inside the Ukrainian-held parts of the city for council said in a statement. Bodies wrapped in blankets lay by a road.A
at least a week, during which Ukraine said group of men dug graves in a patch of grass.
Russia struck a theatre, an art school, and Russia denied targeting civilians. Ukraine
other public buildings, burying hundreds said Moscow has blocked daily efforts to send Kyiv accused Moscow of illegally deport-
of women and children sheltering in cellars. in relief convoys with food and other supplies ing residents of Mariupol and separatist-held
for civilians, or buses to bring them out. areas of Ukraine to Russia. Ukrainian Pros-
“Once again it is clear that the occupi- ecutor General IrynaVenediktova said Kyiv
ers are not interested in the city of Mari- Russia demanded the city surrender was investigating the “forcible transfer” of
upol. They want to level it to the ground by dawn on Monday, an ultimatum that 2,389 children to Russia from the Luhansk
Kyiv defied. and Donetsk regions.

“We demand the opening of a human- In a tweet, the US embassy called that
itarian corridor for civilians,” Ukraine’s “kidnapping”.
Deputy Prime Minister IrynaVereshchuk
Moscow denied forcing people to leave,
saying it is taking in refugees.

Ukraine also accused Russia of blocking
humanitarian access to Kherson, the only
provincial capital it has captured. Ukraine’s
Foreign Ministry said its 300,000 residents
were running out of food.
Click here to read the full story

LONDON (March 22): Oil rose towards Oil rises towards Brent hit US$139 a barrel, the high-
US$116 a barrel on Tuesday, adding to US$116 as EU est since 2008, earlier this month.Threats
a 7% surge the previous day, supported to supply from attacks by Yemen’s Iran-
by supply risks from a potential European weighs Russian ban aligned Houthi group on Saudi energy and
Union oil embargo on Russia and concern water desalination facilities added support.
about attacks on Saudi oil facilities. BY ALEX LAWLER, MOHI NARAYAN
& LIZ HAMPTON SaudiArabia said on Monday that it would
European Union foreign ministers are split Reuters not bear responsibility for any global supply
on whether to join the United States in ban- shortages after the attacks by the Houthis,
ning Russian oil. Some countries, including that flagged a more aggressive tightening of in a sign of growing Saudi frustration with
Germany, say the bloc is too dependent on monetary policy than previously anticipated. Washington’s handling ofYemen and Iran.
Russia’s fossil fuels to withstand such a step.
A strong dollar makes crude more ex- In focus later will be the latest round of US
“It is still not clear whether this will pensive for other currency holders and inventory data, which analysts expect to show
really happen,” wrote Carsten Fritsch of tends to weigh on risk appetite. no change in crude oil stocks.The American
Commerzbank in a report, adding: “a de- Petroleum Institute, an industry group, issues
cision of this kind requires unanimity”. “The word ‘transitory’ regarding infla- its supply report later onTuesday.
tion is a distant memory, chiefly due to ris- Read also:
Brent crude rose 13 cents or 0.1% to ing commodity prices,” said Tamas Varga Russian oil seeps into global market to ease
US$115.75 a barrel by 1326 GMT. USWest of broker PVM. “Central banks, led by the supply fears for now Click here
Texas Intermediate crude added 11 cents Federal Reserve, stand ready to increase Saudi Arabia emphasises ‘essential role’ of
or 0.1% to US$112.23. Both contracts had the cost of borrowing significantly.” OPEC+ oil accord — report Click here
settled up more than 7% on Monday.

Oil was pressured by a stronger US dollar,
which gained after comments from US Fed-
eral Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday

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Nickel is trading
at last on LME
as buyers return
after squeeze

BY MARK BURTON & JACK FARCHY
Bloomberg

(March 22): Nickel volumes surged as prices prices as benchmarks for physical transactions, level,and obviously the Shanghai price is a good
traded within the London Metal Exchange’s while financial investors in products like com- guide there,” LME Chief Executive Matthew
daily limits for the first time since reopening modity indexes use the exchange’s prices to Chamberlain said on BloombergTV shortly be-
last week, in a sign that the market is starting to value their positions.The LME hasn’t set its fore the market opened.“There is a good chance
stabilise after an unprecedented squeeze sent two key benchmarks, which are established at we’ll discover a price over the next couple of
prices spiking. lunchtime and at the end of the London day, days, and possibly even today.”
since March 7, the day before the exchange
More than 4,400 lots, or 26,400 tonnes of suspended trading in nickel. Chamberlain faced furious criticism from
nickel, traded within the first 30 minutes of users for the exchange’s decisions over the past
opening.Trading had been largely frozen since LME nickel was trading 9.8% lower at two weeks, after it allowed nickel prices to sky-
the market reopened on March 16, as the ex- US$28,300 a tonne at 9:10am, while SHFE rocket to more than US$100,000 a tonne, then
change’s daily limits prevented nickel futures prices closed at 206,780 yuan a tonne. suspended trading and retroactively cancelled
from falling faster to a level where buyers were The Shanghai price is equivalent to about US$3.9 billion of trades.
willing to step in. US$28,800 a tonne once currency conversions
andVAT deductions are taken into account. The restart of nickel trading sinceWednes-
The flurry of deals on Tuesday came as day has also been hit by a series of glitches in
LME prices moved back into line with nickel “It is now logical with the situation surround- the electronic market.
contracts trading on the Shanghai Futures Ex- ing that squeeze having been resolved that we
change,which remained open during a weeklong would come back down to a more normalised Most other metals on the LME were little
suspension of trading in London in the wake changed onTuesday.
of the short squeeze. Bullish investors looking
to unwind their positions had been caught in a
long queue of sellers over the past few days as
prices lurched lower in daily limit-down moves.

The industrial metals industry relies on LME

(March 22): Wheat and soybeans traded at Crops extend and sunflower oil. It is still shipping some
the highest in more than a week on added gains with crops by rail, but the tonnage is well below
signs of the disruption looming for Ukraine normal. And once the war ends, it will take
crop supplies. looming Ukraine time to remove mines from field and restore
shortfalls in focus infrastructure, UkrAgroConsult said.
The country may only plant about half a
normal sunflower crop and a third less corn BY MEGAN DURISIN, JAMES POOLE Some of the world’s biggest wheat import-
than last year, according to estimates from & ALLISON NICOLE SMITH ers are eyeing supplies from alternative ship-
analyst UkrAgroConsult. For winter-crops Bloomberg pers given the disruptions in the Black Sea
like wheat that are already sown, some fields region. India is in final talks to begin wheat
could also be damaged from the war or see BLOOMBERG shipments to Egypt, the biggest buyer, and is
yields suffer from a lack of inputs. also in negotiations with China andTurkey.
for most-active futures in over a week. Soy-
At the same time, crop conditions are in beans traded at their highest since March 9. The war has also tightened the global avail-
focus across other major shippers as wheat ability of crop nutrients, raising concerns over
emerges from dormancy.The US Plains will Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, corn spring sowings of Northern Hemisphere crops
see some beneficial rains, while crop ratings such as corn.A work stoppage at one of Can-
are still low after a lengthy dry spell, accord- ada’s largest railways is snarling shipments,
ing to a note from forecaster Maxar. Parts spurring fears of a broader economic impact
of the European Union are also turning dry, if it’s not resolved quickly.
although yields so far are seen about steady
with last year. Read also:
Ukraine sunflower planting to sink with crop
“The longer the conflict in Ukraine goes hit hardest by war Click here
on, the less likely that harvest will progress Nigeria opens Africa’s largest fertilizer plant
or any sort of degree of normality can be re- amid price surge Click here
sumed,” Peter Collier, an analyst at UK-based
CRM AgriCommodities, said by phone.

Wheat futures in Chicago rose as much as
4.5% to US$11.6925 a bushel, the highest

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(March 22): Xiaomi Corp posted a quar- Smartphone era censors and a tailored Android oper-
terly profit that beat analysts’ estimates, giant Xiaomi ating system.The most expensive model
after the Chinese smartphone giant de- beats estimates was priced at around 5,000 yuan, roughly
fied component shortages to boost sales after holiday the same as the iPhone 13 mini series
during the busy holiday season. from Apple. Xiaomi is also considering
boom using India as a manufacturing hub to
The world’s No. 3 smartphone mak- widen its footprint.
er also disclosed it will begin buying as Bloomberg
much as HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) “Expansion of its premium-smart-
of its own shares under a previously ap- overseas business, although the impact phone lineup can elevate sales mix and
proved program, joining Alibaba Group will be “manageable” for Xiaomi, Citi- win more high-end market share,” Steven
Holding Ltd and other Chinese giants group analysts Andre Lin and Arthur Lai Tseng, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence,
that have accelerated stock repurchases said in a note. Xiaomi’s smartphone ship- said in a memo ahead of the earnings re-
after a brutal market selloff. ments to Russia could fall by 3 million port. Easing component shortages and
units in 2022 as result of a depreciated the construction of next-generation mo-
Xiaomi reported a 40% jump in ad- ruble, logistics disruptions and financial bile networks in emerging markets will
justed net income to 4.47 billion yuan stress among customers in the country, also fuel growth, Tseng said.
(US$702 million) in the last three months they said.
of 2021. Analysts estimated 4.2 billion “A growing user base and higher
yuan on average, according to data com- “The geopolitical risks and uncertain- sales of premium phones could bolster
piled by Bloomberg. Sales increased 21% ties will persist this year,” Xiaomi Presi- Xiaomi’s internet services, which is key
to 85.6 billion yuan, beating the average dentWang Xiang told reporters on a con- to long-term margin growth,” according
prediction of 81.5 billion yuan. ference call. “The good news though is to Tseng.
that the supply side is excepted to see
Xiaomi managed to grow its world- improvement in the second half.” Xiaomi’s billionaire co-founder Lei
wide smartphone shipments by 3.9% in Jun is leading a US$10 billion electric
the December quarter, helped by mod- The Beijing-based company in late vehicle project, in hopes of turning the
els with upgraded camera features and December updated its marquee phone consumer electronics brand into a key
software. Rivals from Apple Inc to Oppo product line featuring the latest Qual- player in China’s EV market, where over-
lost ground, as global shipments fell 3.2% comm Inc chips, Sony Group Corp cam- seas brands including Tesla and BMW
in the period, according to International are already making inroads.
Data Corp.
The Chinese company hired car engi-
Xiaomi faced prolonged component neers, invested in auto-driving startups
shortages and fluctuating producer prices and is building a factory in Beijing after
in the second half of 2021. Russia’s inva- Lei pledged to kick off mass production
sion of Ukraine hindered the company’s by 2024.

BENGALURU/SHANGHAI (March Alibaba upsizes cash, cash equivalent, and short-term in-
22): Alibaba raised its share buy-back share buy-back vestments as of end-December.
programme to US$25 billion on Tues- by two-thirds to
day, the largest ever repurchase plan by record US$25 The company has been under pressure
the e-commerce giant, to prop up its since late 2020 when its billionaire found-
battered shares as it fights off regulato- billion er, Jack Ma, publicly criticised China’s
ry scrutiny and concerns about slowing regulatory system.
growth. BY SHUBHAM KALIA,
JOSH HORWITZ & JASON XUE Authorities subsequently halted the
Alibaba shares, which have more than planned blockbuster initial public offering
halved in the past year, surged on the news Reuters of its financial arm Ant Group and slapped
and closed up 11%. Its US-listed stock Alibaba with a record US$2.8 billion fine
rose 9% in pre-market trading. bust financial health and expansion plans.” for anti-competitive behaviour, triggering
Alibaba’s buy-back decision makes a long slide in its shares.
The plan comes amid a tech stock ral-
ly in the past few days after Chinese Vice sense given how Beijing’s measures against Growing competition from rivals,
Premier Liu He said that Beijing would monopolistic behaviour and the “disor- slowing consumption, and a maturing
roll out more measures to boost the econ- derly expansion of capital” will limit its e-commerce market have also hit its per-
omy as well as favourable policy steps for opportunities for new investments, said formance.
capital markets. Rukim Kuang, founder of Beijing-based
Lens Company Research. In its last earnings release, Alibaba post-
This is the second time Alibaba Group ed a 10% year-on-year revenue growth, its
Holding Ltd has expanded its buy-back “Internet giants will start to refocus slowest quarter since going public in 2014
programme in a year. It hiked the pro- on their main business in the future. As and the first time growth fell below 20%.
gramme from US$10 billion to US$15 a result, it’s not necessary for companies
billion last August. like Alibaba to keep such large amounts The company was currently preparing
of cash on their books,” he added. to lay off tens of thousands of staffers,
“The upsized share buy-back under- Reuters reported in March.
scores our confidence in Alibaba’s long- Alibaba said it had US$75 billion in Click here to read the full story
term, sustainable growth potential and val- Read also:Alibaba’s upscaled buyback may
ue creation,” deputy chief financial officer be a sign of things to come Click here
Toby Xu said.

“Alibaba’s stock price does not fairly
reflect the company’s value given our ro-

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Evergrande sets a disorderly collapse of Evergrande, investors Japan’s Coincheck
end-July target are still in the dark over whether they will re- to list on Nasdaq
for restructuring coup their money. via over US$1 bil
proposal after
delaying results Evergrande, once China’s top-selling de- SPAC merger
veloper and now reeling under more than
BY CLARE JIM, JASON XUE & SHUYAN WANG US$300 billion in liabilities, defaulted on BY SOHINI PODDER
Reuters some overseas bond payments in Decem- Reuters
ber and has struggled to repay suppliers and
HONG KONG/BEIJING (March 22): Em- creditors and complete projects and homes. BENGALURU (March 22): Japanese cryp-
battled China Evergrande Group will unveil a tocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc said on
debt restructuring proposal for its creditors by The developer set up a risk management Tuesday that it would go public in the Unit-
the end of July, it said on Tuesday, after con- committee in December made up mostly of ed States by merging with blank-cheque firm
cerns about its financial health were renewed members from state enterprises,as the Guang- Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV Inc in a
by a delay in publishing its annual results. dong provincial government is leading the re- US$1.25 billion deal.
structuring.
Evergrande, whose US$22.7 billion worth The deal would provide proceeds of
of offshore debt is deemed to be in default, “With the broad support and understand- US$237 million to the combined company
is seeking to “further enhance communica- ing from the majority of creditors... we strive to from the cash held in the special-purpose ac-
tions” with creditors to reach the end-July release the preliminary restructuring proposal quisition company’s (SPAC) trust, assuming
target, its executive director Siu Shawn told by the end of July,” ChenYong, a member of there are no redemptions.
investors on a call. the committee, told investors.
Tokyo-based Coincheck operates a mar-
Earlier on Tuesday, Evergrande said in As part of its plans to divest assets to re- ketplace for buying and selling cryptocurren-
a stock exchange filing it would not meet a pay some of its offshore debt, the developer cies and an exchange for digital assets such as
March 31 deadline to file its financial results is working to sell itsYuen Long land parcel in non-fungible tokens. It has about 1.5 million
for 2021 because audit work had not been Hong Kong as well as the Evergrande Centre customers.The company was at the centre of
completed. commercial building, said Evergrande board a US$530 million digital money heist in 2018
member Liang Senlin. that prompted tighter regulatory scrutiny and
The world’s most indebted property de- calls for an improvement in risk management
veloper, Evergrande told investors in January Trading in shares of Evergrande, its prop- infrastructure of crypto exchanges.
it aimed to have a preliminary restructuring erty service unit Evergrande Property Servic-
proposal in place within six months. es Group Ltd, and electric vehicle (EV) unit It was acquired later that year for about
China Evergrande New EnergyVehicle Group US$34 million by Japanese online brokerage
A wave of defaults in China’s property Ltd has been suspended since Monday. Monex Group Inc, which had said then that
sector has rattled investors and while state it planned to launch an initial public offering
intervention has quelled market concern over Liang said on the investor call the devel- of Coincheck.
oper was trying to rope in strategic investors
in both the EV and property service units to Monex will have pro-forma ownership of
restore value — a goal it has been pursuing for about 82% of the combined company after the
roughly a year without much success. merger, excluding warrants and earn-outs.As
per the deal, existing Coincheck investors are
Siu said the EV unit aimed to start mass eligible to receive up to 50 million shares based
production in June of its inaugural electric on future stock price performance.
car, the Hengchi 5 sport utility vehicle, after
getting approval to start sales last week. The combined entity, to be named Co-
incheck Group NV, will be listed on the Nas-
Some of the investors who attended the daq under the symbol “CNCK”.The deal is
call were not impressed with the assurances expected to close in the second half of this year.
from management.
SPACs are publicly listed shell companies
“They mainly explained why the trading that carry out IPOs to raise funds for acquiring
of stocks was suspended.There was no new a private entity at a later date.
information and the situation remained the
same,” said a bondholder who was on the call,
declining to be named as he was not author-
ised to speak to the media.
Click here to read the full story

SINGAPORE (March 22): After a pro- SPH shareholders shareholders and at least 75% of votes cast.
tracted battle of the bids between Cuscaden vote overwhelmingly Shareholders holding a total of 94.25%
Peak and Keppel, Singapore Press Holdings
(SPH) shareholders have given Cuscaden in favour of of shares in SPH have also approved the
the green light to buy the company. Cuscaden offer distribution of SPH REITs for those who
opted for the cash-plus-REITs option.The
At an extraordinary general meeting BY FELICIA TAN mix comprises S$1.602 in cash and 0.782
(EGM) held on March 22, 89.19% of theedgesingapore.com SPH REIT units per SPH share.
shareholders holding 96.55% of the num-
ber of shares in SPH, voted in favour of the The other option is an all-cash option
scheme resolution for the sale of SPH’s of S$2.36 per SPH share.
assets to Cuscaden. Click here to read the full story

The resolution required over 50% of

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BLOOMBERG

Hong Kong
airport to
lift transit
passenger ban
from April 1

BY DANNY LEE Liang Wannian
Bloomberg
Hong Kong vaccinations and preventing deaths.
(March 22): Hong Kong airport will Covid-19 shift In the mainland, officials are seeking to
allow transit passengers for the first will not move
time in three months, building on the China, says Xi’s navigate a path that limits disruptions to the
wider relaxation of strict Covid-19 bor- world’s second-biggest economy — a target
der controls in the Asian financial hub. virus czar outlined by President Xi Jinping last week —
while getting its biggest outbreak in two years
Airlines were informed that tran- Bloomberg under control.While the country has returned
sit passengers from so-called group A to typical measures like lockdowns in some
“high-risk” countries will be allowed (March 22): China should stick to its strict areas, including sealing off the province of Ji-
to transfer through Hong Kong air- Covid Zero strategy, according to the country’s lin, the spread of the virus to some of its most
port from next month, according to a top virus expert,whose comments come along- economically significant hubs like Shanghai
letter dated March 22 seen by Bloomb- side signals that the approach is being tweaked and Shenzhen has added an extra degree of
erg News. to ease economic pain even as infections climb. difficulty in achieving Xi’s dual goals.

Airport Authority Hong Kong, “There should not be an iota of relaxa- “Strengthening defence comes first in epi-
which runs the city’s airport, confirmed tion as we need to cherish the hard-earned demic control,” Liang said.“We need to dash
in a statement that transits will resume achievement,” said LiangWannian, a seasoned the fantasy of the virus slowing down even
at the start of April. epidemiologist who has overseen China’s Cov- without intervention,” he said. “If the virus
id-19 response since the beginning of the pan- was found too late or not met with timely in-
BLOOMBERG demic and was recently sent to Hong Kong tervention, it will spread exponentially.”
to guide efforts to contain its worst ever out-
Hong Kong laid out broader chang- break. Measures could be fine-tuned to be At a briefing with reporters in Beijing
es to travel rules on Monday as part more targeted and deployed quicker in order on Tuesday, officials from China’s Nation-
of the city’s wider shift in its approach to keep up with the easily transmissible Omi- al Health Commission said the country will
to Covid.Those include halving hotel cron variant, he said. narrow the scope of mass testing and aim to
quarantine time for travelers to seven complete testing within 24 hours to limit dis-
days from 14, and ending the flight His remarks, made in an interview with ruptions and more swiftly stem the spread of
ban on nine countries including the state news agency Xinhua, come amid signals Omicron. “We don’t want to cause the mis-
US, UK, and Australia. Risk profiles the mainland’s zero-tolerance approach will understanding of flooding the whole city with
for countries, currently from ranked be tweaked and follows Hong Kong’s move Covid-19 testing so we amended the testing
A to C, will also be abolished. towards easing its most stringent curbs to sal- protocol to make it more science-based and
vage its status as a global financial hub. targeted,” said Jiao Yahui, an official at the
The ban had meant people from NHC.
all countries except China and Taiwan Mainland China and Hong Kong are
weren’t allowed to transfer through among the last places on earth pursuing The new protocol also requires local au-
Hong Kong, one of Asia’s premier Covid Zero, with the strategy facing unprec- thorities to set up nine task forces to more
airport transit hubs in pre-pandem- edented challenges after Omicron breached efficiently handle every step of the testing pro-
ic times. the defences that had kept the virus at bay cess, including mobilising personnel and en-
for much of the pandemic. Hong Kong has suring labs that process samples are operating
Strict border controls, including up already moved away from key pillars that had at full capacity.
to three weeks’ quarantine, has left Ca- underpinned its zero-tolerance approach,
thay Pacific Airways Ltd dependent on easing isolation and case reporting criteria. In a sign of a potential blueprint, the tech
transit travelers to prop up its Cov- At the suggestion of Liang, the city put plans hub of Shenzhen on Monday lifted a week-
id-ravaged passenger flight operations. for mass testing on hold in order to prioritise long lockdown, though kept some restrictions
in place, after the municipal government said
the spread of the virus was coming under con-
trol. Shanghai has resisted a full-blown lock-
down so far.
Click here to read the full story

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BLOOMBERG

China Eastern
faces more

losses, regulatory
scrutiny after
plane crash

BY BRENDA GOH & STELLA QIU
Reuters

SHANGHAI (March 22): China Eastern Air- “My guess is that in the short term, this Fear of flying
lines faces deepening losses and closer regula- is going to cause some issues for China East- The tragedy has shocked a country which has
tory scrutiny following the crash of a Boeing ern as their maintenance records are reviewed, one of the best airline safety records in the world
737-800 jet on Monday with 132 people on and there will likely be a short term pullback and whose aviation industry was over the past
board. from Chinese consumers,” said Ben Cavender, decade, prior to Covid-19, one of the world’s
managing director at China Market Research fastest growing markets by passenger traffic.
Rescuers on Tuesday scoured heavily for- Group in Shanghai.
ested slopes for survivors and data recorders Several social media users posted about how
from flight MU5735, which crashed a day ear- Cheng Wang, associate equity analyst at it had stoked their fears of flying and some
lier in the mountains of the southern region Morningstar, said one of the big risks for China wrote about changing their travel plans, es-
of Guangxi. Eastern is if the investigation implies mainte- pecially after photos of the plane’s wreckage
nance or other process shortfalls. and videos apparently showing its descent were
The plane crash, China’s first in 12 years, shared widely online.
comes as its airline sector is struggling to find “We think most of the impact will be in the
its footing amid the coronavirus pandemic,with near term.The indemnity alone will not have a Local media reported long queues at the
air passenger traffic far below 2019 levels due material impact on our fair value estimates.The counter of China Eastern at Guangzhou Bai-
to repeated outbreaks and a steep fall in in- potential regulatory actions including fines, ad- yun airport, saying some travellers were seeking
ternational travel due to China’s strict quar- ditional security requirements, or even ground- ticket refunds after the incident.
antine rules. ing of aircraft could make a bigger difference.”
Across the industry, around 78.4% of all
China Eastern has been among the biggest “This crash might also have mid- to long- flights scheduled forTuesday were cancelled,
casualties:The state carrier forecast in January term implications for China Eastern as the air- according to Flight Master, which attributed
a 2021 loss of 11 billion yuan-13.5 billion yuan line could be in an unfavourable position when that to Covid-19, as China deals with its larg-
(US$1.7 billion-US$2.1 billion), after a 11.8 applying for routes and slots over the next few est outbreak in two years.
billion yuan loss in 2020. years if it is found to be at fault.”
Some of the fears expressed online about
Its losses are set to deepen after the group, China Eastern, which said on Monday it flying were directed towards Boeing, whose
including two subsidiaries, grounded its fleet was cooperating with the investigation into the brand had already been affected in China by
of 737-800s following Monday’s crash. The crash, did not immediately respond to requests two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX aircraft more
group has 225 of the aircraft, data from British for comment. than three years ago.
aviation consultancy IBA showed.
Its onshore-listed shares slumped more than Click here to read the full story
The airline cancelled about 89% of its flights 6.5% onTuesday, while those trading in Hong
onTuesday, according to Chinese aviation data Kong fell nearly 6%.
provider Flight Master.

China jet’s nosedive from 29,000 feet baffles crash specialists

(March 22): The China Eastern Airlines BY ALAN LEVIN sible malfunctions and detailed profiles of
Corp. jet was flying a normal route to Bloomberg the crew.
Guangzhou when it suddenly nosed over
at cruise altitude and dove. previous accident reports. Flight MU5735 was at about 29,000 feet
“It’s an odd profile,” said John Cox, an (8,839.2 meters) altitude roughly 100 miles
That’s about all that is known for cer- (160.93 kilometers) from its destination —
tain about the unusual crash that killed all aviation safety consultant and former 737 pi- about the point at which the pilots would
132 people aboard the aircraft Monday in lot. “It’s hard to get the airplane to do this.” begin descending to land — when it started
China’s worst aviation accident in more plunging at a far greater rate than normal.
than a decade. As investigators search for the plane’s two Click here to read the full story
crash-proof recorders and begin poring over Read also: China has largest and youngest
While there have been a handful of clues, they will be trying to determine why Boeing 737-800 fleet in world Click here
crashes in which an airliner plunged from the jet made such an abrupt and severe dive,
cruising altitude, few, if any, fit the ex- which sets it apart from earlier accidents.They
treme profile of the Boeing Co. 737-800 will be looking at the weather the plane en-
as it pointed steeply toward the ground, countered, whether the pilots made any dis-
according to veteran crash investigators and tress calls, any hints in the wreckage of pos-

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(March 22): European Union leaders will EU leaders as possible, backing a plan outlined by the
likely give the political green light to a pro- poised to support commission to reduce imports from Moscow
posal by the bloc’s executive arm to consid- by almost two-thirds by the end of this year.
er a temporary tax on exceptional profits of taxing windfall Before the summit, the EU’s executive arm
some energy companies linked to surging energy profits plans to put forward a regulatory proposal
gas and power prices. to ensure existing storage facilities in the re-
BY EWA KRUKOWSKA gion be filled up before the heating season.
The EU heads of government are due Bloomberg
to debate during a two-day summit start- “We need to act in a very urgent way to
ing Thursday how to provide further relief — could be subject to special measures, with fill in the gas storage for the next winter,”
to the most vulnerable consumers and to proceeds used to aid consumers. Cristina Lobillo, the commission’s director
support the region’s companies amid an for energy strategy, told members of the Eu-
unprecedented energy crisis, aggravated by Current market conditions could lead ropean Parliament’s environment commit-
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.They will dis- to excess profits of up to 200 billion euro tee on Tuesday. “This is why the European
cuss a set of solutions outlined by the Eu- (US$220 billion) in the EU for gas, coal, Commission is working to publish, probably
ropean Commission to cushion the impact nuclear, hydropower and other renewables tomorrow, Wednesday, a legal proposal to
of the soaring prices, potentially endorsing in 2022, according to the International En- make compulsory a minimum level of gas
the use of a new state aid crisis framework, ergy Agency. storage for the next winter. And this figure
according to a draft political statement seen could be at least 90% by Nov 1.”
by Bloomberg News. The leaders will probably stop short of
endorsing intervention in the wholesale en- EU members also plan to vow to work
“As proposed by the commission, tem- ergy market, asking ministers instead to ur- together with the commission on joint pur-
porary taxation of windfall profits can be a gently analyze various short-term options, chases of gas, LNG and hydrogen, according
useful source of financing,” they may say in particularly decoupling power and gas prices. to the draft summit statement.The idea is to
the statement, which could still change be- use the bloc’s leverage as the largest buyer
fore being adopted. They may also pledge to phase out Eu- of gas from pipelines in talks with interna-
rope’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels tional partners.
The EU’s executive arm floated the op- and start filling depleted gas reserves as soon Read also: Asia may fuel world prices if costs
tion of such a tax in the past weeks, noting keep rising, IMF’s Rhee says Click here
that the returns of some energy companies
that don’t depend on gas — and therefore
aren’t facing extremely high production costs

BLOOMBERG

UK set for
energy-poverty
crisis without
help, consumers

warn

BY RACHEL MORISON
Bloomberg

(March 22):The UK government must do Electricity transmission pylons near a power plant in Sizewell, U.K.
more to help consumers as rising energy bills
threaten to push millions into fuel poverty, an The number of UK households that won’t pliers are making to household’s fixed month-
independent advisory group warned. be able to afford their energy bills is set to al- ly payments.These charges have doubled in
most triple to 14.5 million in October if prices some cases and reflect an attempt by compa-
“Without further support, we’re heading continue to rise, Citizens Advice data show. nies to build up additional cash in prepara-
toward a crisis where a significant proportion Even with the raft of measures announced tion for higher wholesale prices next winter,
of the population cannot afford to keep safe by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Su- according to Martin Lewis, founder of the
and warm in their homes,” Gillian Coop- nak, 5 million homes won’t be able to pay Money Saving Expert website.
er, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, from April.
told a committee of lawmakers onTuesday. “The amount of playing fast-and-loose
The options available to the chancellor that seems to be going on is huge right now,”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come include a cut in the 5% value-added tax on Lewis said. “They’re seeing it as an oppor-
under mounting pressure to soften the blow energy bills, an increase in government sup- tunity to crystallize increases, so we need to
to households caused by ballooning inflation port for those on lower incomes, or a transfer crack that down and we need to be much
as energy prices soar.The UK’s energy price of environmental levies from bills to general tougher with energy firms that do this.”
cap will jump 54% onApril 1 and could surge taxation. He’s due to deliver his spring spend- Read also: Japanese turn down heat, lights
a further 83% in October.The government ing statement onWednesday. to avoid power cut after quake Click here
last month pledged a 9 billion-pound (US$12
billion) support package, but wholesale prices Consumer groups are also concerned
have continued to climb. about the steep increases that energy sup-

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BANGKOK (March 22):Thailand’s bank- Thai central relaxation, such as a loosening of loan-to-
ing system remains resilient with high levels bank backs top value ratio requirements for mortgages, or
of capital buffer to withstand future risks and an absence of any concrete action to rein
uncertainties, the nation’s central bank said lenders after in high household debt would delay a res-
onTuesday, a day after S&P Global Ratings S&P downgrades olution of structural issues, in our view.”
downgraded the top lenders citing increased
systemic risks. ratings S&P’s base case scenario projects the bad
loan ratio ofThai banks jumping to 5% over
The capital adequacy ratio ofThai bank- THOMAS KUTTY ABRAHAM the 24 months, the highest level since the
ing system stands at 20% and lenders have & SUTTINEE YUVEJWATTANA 2008 global financial crisis, from 3% cur-
increased provisioning against bad loans by rently, it said.
430 billion baht (US$12.8 billion) in the Bloomberg
past two years, the Bank ofThailand (BOT) But the central bank said regular stress
said in a statement. Total provisioning at REUTERS tests on banks’ capital found that the “Thai
890 billion baht is equivalent to 1.6 times banking system remained resilient and able
of non-performing loans, it said. the stable outlooks for all the six lenders. to withstand future risks and uncertainties”.
“Systemic risk for Thailand’s banks has “Going forward, the continued recovery of
“This reflects banks’ vigilance against the theThai economy will help improve income
backdrop of heightened uncertainties,” the risen, and high leverage among borrowers and debt serviceability of borrowers as well
central bank said. “Currently, the financial is likely to persist for longer than we pre- as the loan quality of banks,” BOT said.
positions of theThai banking system remain viously expected,” S&P said. “Regulatory
resilient with high levels of buffer.” Various debt relief measures introduced
by the central bank during the pandemic
S&P Global ratings lowered ratings of have been instrumental in bringing down
Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Kasikorn- the number of debtors under the financial
bank Pcl to “BBB” from “BBB+” and that of assistance programme of banks to 14% of
KrungThai Bank Pcl andTMBThanachart total loans from a peak of 30% during a
Bank Pcl to “BBB-” from “BBB”, saying surge in Covid-19 outbreak in July 2020,
the move reflected its view “that systemic BOT said.
risks have increased for banks operating in Read also:Thailand unveils relief measures
Thailand”. The rating company affirmed to counter rising energy prices Click here
ratings of Bangkok Bank Pcl and Bank of
Ayudhya Pcl at “BBB+” and also retained

COLOMBO (March 22): Sri Lanka post- Crisis-hit Sri “The military has been deployed to
ed soldiers at hundreds of state-run gas Lanka sends help the public, not to curtail their hu-
stations on Tuesday (March 22) to help troops to fuel man rights,” he added.
distribute fuel after a sudden rise in pric- stations, aims to
es of key commodities and accompanying restructure debt Two soldiers at each pump
shortages forced tens of thousands of peo- Military spokesman Nilantha Premaratne
ple to queue for hours. BY UDITHA JAYASINGHE told Reuters at least two army personnel
Reuters would be stationed at every fuel pump to
The Indian Ocean nation is battling help organise fuel distribution, but the
a foreign exchange crisis that forced a REUTERS soldiers would not be involved in crowd
currency devaluation and hit payments control.
for essential imports such as food, med- Sri Lanka’s Army members stand guard at a
icine and fuel, prompting it to turn to Ceylon Petroleum Corp fuel station to help Tension over the scarcity of supplies has
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stations distribute oil during the fuel crisis, in fed sporadic violence among those scram-
for help. bling to buy fuel and other essential items.
Colombo, Sri Lanka on March 22
“The government has to provide solu- Police said a man was stabbed to death
tions,” said Seetha Gunasekera, 36, who on Monday (March 21) in an argument
lives with her husband and two children with the driver of a three-wheeled vehi-
in Colombo, the capital. cle, while last week three elderly men died
queueing for fuel in sweltering heat.
“There is too much hardship and suf-
fering,” added Gunasekera, who said she The rapid drain of Sri Lanka’s dollars
was spending more time in fuel queues has left it struggling to pay for critical im-
than doing anything else. ports as currency reserves have slumped
70% in the last two years to US$2.31 bil-
“Prices of everything have increased and lion (RM9.71 billion).
we are barely able to manage with what
we earn daily.” But Sri Lanka has to repay about US$4
billion in debt in the rest of this year, in-
The decision to deploy troops near cluding a US$1-billion international sov-
petrol pumps and kerosene supply points ereign bond that matures in July.
came after three elderly people dropped
dead during their wait in long queues, of- Ahead of IMF talks in Washington in
ficials said. April, the government said it would hire
a global law firm to provide technical as-
It was a response to complaints of stock- sistance on debt restructuring to fight the
piling and inefficient distribution, said gov- crisis.
ernment spokesman Ramesh Pathirana.

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(March 22):Warren Buffett is telegraphing BLOOMBERG fees to Duracell International Inc’s bankers
his disdain for Wall Street bankers with an as part of Gillette’s acquisition of the bat-
oddball price on his latest multibillion-dol- Buffett snubs tery company.
lar takeover. Goldman
Representatives for Goldman and Al-
The US$848.02 for every share that Al- bankers with leghany declined to comment. Buffett’s
leghany Corp stockholders get from Berk- quirky takeover assistant didn’t respond to a message seek-
shire Hathaway Inc is the result of Buffett ing comment.
balking at the banking fee being set aside price
by the target company — in this case for The transaction is Berkshire’s largest
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which is ad- BY SRIDHAR NATARAJAN, since 2016, according to data compiled by
vising the insurer. KATHERINE CHIGLINSKY & LIANA BAKER Bloomberg.While deal prices typically reflect
the back-and-forth between buyers and sell-
Berkshire had offered to pay US$850 a Bloomberg ers, it gets smoothed over before the deal
share with Buffett cautioning Alleghany that is struck. Most announcements are priced
he didn’t want to foot the bill for the banking The 91-year-old has historically ex- to avoid clunky numbers after both sides
fees, according to a person with knowledge pressed disdain for investment bankers, agree on a plan for how advisers are paid.
of the matter who asked not to be identified calling them among the expensive “mon-
discussing private information. So any fee ey-shufflers” who “clamor to be fed” in his The Oracle of Omaha, known for his wit-
for a financial adviser would come out of annual letter released in 2015.When he was ty business aphorisms, rarely uses an invest-
the proceeds for Alleghany’s shareholders. a shareholder and director of Gillette Co, he ment bank with his deals, instead relying on
The result is spelled out in a regulatory fil- pushed unsuccessfully in 1996 to slash such BerkshireVice Chairman Charlie Munger’s
ing: an announced purchase price that sub- previous law firm, Munger,Tolles & Olson,
tracts roughly US$27 million for Goldman to advise on acquisitions.
— calling attention to Buffett’s stand.
There have been exceptions. ByronTrott,
a former Goldman Sachs banker who helped
Buffett strike a deal to buy food-distribution
business McLane from Walmart Inc, was
one of the rare bankers who won grudging
respect from Buffett.

“He understands Berkshire far better
than any investment banker with whom we
have talked and — it hurts me to say this
— earns his fee,” Buffett said in his letter
released in 2004.

Buffett was previously a longtime inves-
tor in Goldman, acquiring a preferred stock
stake and warrants in the bank at the height
of the financial crisis. In 2020, Berkshire
exited the last of his remaining investment
in the bank.

(March 22): Argentina has become the Argentines flock of Americans because they cannot afford
top place in Latin America for “play-to- to crypto games opening their own accounts, according
earn” crypto games, as inflation running as economy eats to Mauricio Ramos, Axie’s head of Lat-
at a ten-month high erodes the value of in America.
local salaries. up salaries
Climbing Popularity
South America’s second-largest econ- BY IGNACIO OLIVERA DOLL Because several gaming platforms, in-
omy jumped in the rankings and is also Bloomberg cluding Decentral Games, Axie Infinity
the fifth around the world when it comes and Sandbox require users to have an
to playing games for income, with 9,400 briel Mellace, Decentral Games head of NFT to play, users typically buy “NFT
visits so far this year to Decentral Games, investor relations. “Young people are not delegations,” which are NFT rentals. In
the metaverse company with the most only looking for profitability.They’re also Decentral Games, for example, users
players in the world, up from just a few looking for fun.” need to have an NFT worth US$5,200
hundred last year. Brazil also shot up in to play, which is too expensive for Argen-
the platform to become the seventh-most Within Latin America, Argentina, tines and Brazilians to buy themselves,
popular place for these games. Brazil and Venezuela are the countries Mellace said. Instead, they play on behalf
with the most users in Axie Infinity, a of Americans and Germans.
Both countries are grappling with dou- platform where players earn tokens by
ble-digit inflation, trailing only Venezuela winning battles that’s been credited with That’s the case of Franco Villaflor, a
in Latin America. In Argentina, prices are kicking off a gaming craze. Latin Amer- 28-year-old DJ, for whom playing poker
growing at a pace above 50% annually icans usually participate through a type in the metaverse on behalf of an American
and wages have grown below inflation of account in which they play on behalf man for three hours a day has allowed
for the last four years. In Brazil, infla- him to make as much as US$1,500 a
tion doubled in the last year to above month, the equivalent to what he makes
10% annually. as a DJ. That’s after giving 40% of the
proceeds to the owner of the NFT.
“Argentina and Brazil’s trends show
the numbers will keep rising,” said Ga-

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VELESTO ENERGY BHD 27.1 -0.005 0.11 -8.33 903.7 S&P 500 4,461.18 -1.94 -0.04 JAPAN 27,224.11 396.68 1.48

PUBLIC BANK BHD 26.0 -0.010 4.62 11.06 89,677.4 NASDAQ 100 14,376.09 -43.99 -0.31 KOREA 2,710.00 23.95 0.89

SIAB HOLDINGS BHD 23.9 0.005 0.18 -40.32 90.6 FTSE 100 7,484.55 42.16 0.57 PHILIPPINES 7,008.94 52.34 0.75

AHB HOLDINGS BHD 21.7 -0.005 0.18 38.46 67.3 AUSTRALIA 7,341.10 62.55 0.86 SINGAPORE 3,350.17 -5.34 -0.16

PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP BHD 21.6 0.180 9.58 7.4 76640 CHINA 3,259.86 6.18 0.19 TAIWAN 17,559.71 -0.65 0.00

NWP HOLDINGS BHD 21.2 0.000 0.26 4.08 134.2 HONG KONG 21,889.28 667.94 3.15 THAILAND 1,677.87 4.00 0.24

SIME DARBY PROPERTY BHD 21.0 0.010 0.57 -4.20 3,876.5 INDIA 58,000.95 708.46 1.24 VIETNAM 1,503.78 8.83 0.59

Data as compiled on Mar 22, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 22, 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)

PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 0.02 33.33 3327.1 -20 34.3 NEXGRAM HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 -33.33 961.6 0 44.2

TOP BUILDERS CAPITAL BHD 0.02 33.33 125 -42.86 14.1 VSOLAR GROUP BHD 0.01 -33.33 624 -33.33 48.3

AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.025 25 477.3 -16.67 54.1 EA HOLDINGS BHD 0.01 -33.33 281.0 -50 64.5

SCOMI GROUP BHD 0.025 25 371.5 25 27.3 AT SYSTEMATIZATION BHD 0.020 -20.00 79,526.0 -33.33 115.6

PROLEXUS BHD 0.465 20.78 15642.1 14.81 124.2 BORNEO OIL BHD 0.025 -16.67 988.5 -16.67 186.6

BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.03 20 337.9 0 61 AGESON BHD 0.025 -16.67 498.0 -37.5 39

TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 0.20 14.71 10192.6 -18.75 334.8 JERASIA CAPITAL BHD 0.03 -14.29 3,450.0 -81.25 2.5

ALDRICH RESOURCES BHD 0.04 14.29 4648.7 0 39 FARLIM GROUP BHD 0.23 -13.21 12.0 -8 35.2

ACME HOLDINGS BHD 0.235 11.9 4402.2 30.56 84.3 ECM LIBRA GROUP BHD 0.140 -12.50 3.3 -22.22 67.2

SINARAN ADVANCE GROUP BHD 0.095 11.76 1118.7 58.33 86.9 BINA PURI HOLDINGS BHD 0.040 -11.11 28.0 -11.11 63.9

HO WAH GENTING BHD 0.1 11.11 2388.9 -51.22 63.9 MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.045 -10 14,654.9 -10 40.2

BAHVEST RESOURCES BHD 0.41 10.81 3475.3 -6.82 506.4 DIGISTAR CORP BHD 0.05 -10.00 1,123.6 -25 35.2

TH PLANTATIONS BHD 0.925 10.12 13260.4 54.17 817.6 SCOMI ENERGY SERVICES BHD 0.045 -10 430.6 -18.18 21.1

TWL HOLDINGS BHD 0.055 10 6118.1 -8.33 146.8 PERMAJU INDUSTRIES BHD 0.05 -9.09 1,616.4 -16.67 96.3

EVERSAFE RUBBER BHD 0.22 10 35.7 -16.98 52.9 DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.06 -8.33 286.6 -21.43 58.0

MAGNA PRIMA BHD 0.47 9.3 2.2 14.63 187.6 IVORY PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 0.110 -8.33 55.0 -12 53.9

LAMBO GROUP BHD 0.06 9.09 773 -29.41 92.4 FITTERS DIVERSIFIED BHD 0.17 -8.11 92,423.7 -46.03 95.5

NYLEX MALAYSIA BHD 0.5 8.7 29386.2 -65.28 89.6 ESTHETICS INTERNATIONAL GROUP 0.345 -8.00 10.0 -10.39 81.8

LIEN HOE CORP BHD 0.385 8.45 22.9 5.48 128 HANDAL ENERGY BHD 0.14 -6.90 3.3 -32.5 31.2

VERSATILE CREATIVE BHD 0.575 8.49 2.4 -14.81 161.1 ZELAN BHD 0.07 -6.67 275.4 -12.5 59.1

Data as compiled on Mar 22, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 22, 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)

KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 25.70 0.72 3248.8 18.00 27708.6 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 135.50 -0.70 39.6 0.97 31774.8

PMB TECHNOLOGY BHD 17.36 0.48 100.4 41.37 4058.8 FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 21.72 -0.64 303.70 -12.21 7966.4

TRADEPLUS S&P NEW CHINA 5.12 0.22 32.0 -13.22 48.1 PRESS METAL ALUMINIUM 5.99 -0.36 12172.4 3.63 48376.6

GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.43 0.21 6044.4 -34.18 5547.0 HONG LEONG CAPITAL BHD 6.18 -0.22 2218.5 -15.11 1525.8

COMPLETE LOGISTIC SERVICES BHD 3.29 0.20 46.3 31.08 423.3 CHIN TECK PLANTATIONS BHD 8.03 -0.17 8.7 13.90 733.6

D&O GREEN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 4.49 0.20 2741.1 -23.90 5554.8 HONG LEONG BANK BHD 20.16 -0.14 1442.4 8.27 43701.2

PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP BHD 9.58 0.18 21621.6 7.40 76640.0 HARTALEGA HOLDINGS BHD 4.78 -0.12 4276.5 -16.58 16335.5

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO 12.30 0.18 152.5 -12.02 3512.0 PETRONAS GAS BHD 16.84 -0.12 561.7 -5.89 33321.8

CYCLE & CARRIAGE BINTANG BHD 2.48 0.18 152.7 15.89 249.8 TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 2.01 -0.11 1.1 -35.16 130.8

RIVERVIEW RUBBER ESTATES BHD 3.45 0.18 1.0 8.83 223.7 MALAYSIA SMELTING CORP BHD 4.51 -0.10 575.3 38.77 1894.2

VITROX CORP BHD 7.81 0.16 637.5 -21.59 7377.1 BURSA MALAYSIA BHD 6.93 -0.09 938.4 5.8 5608.4

TA ANN HOLDINGS BHD 4.87 0.14 1616.8 38.75 2145.0 WESTPORTS HOLDINGS BHD 3.83 -0.08 1155.2 -5.43 13060.3

BATU KAWAN BHD 26.08 0.14 32.1 14.89 10270.2 PADINI HOLDINGS BHD 3.32 -0.07 355.8 18.57 2184.3

GENTING PLANTATIONS BHD 8.78 0.12 648.6 33.19 7877.4 TECK GUAN PERDANA BHD 1.38 -0.07 6.9 11.29 55.3

KOBAY TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.22 0.12 3131.5 -30.02 1368 CAN-ONE BHD 3.08 -0.06 46.1 -16.53 591.8

IOI CORP BHD 4.2 0.12 6854.9 12.6 26094.5 INARI AMERTRON BHD 3.09 -0.06 16591.7 -22.75 11448.9

PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 21.04 0.12 428.3 2.14 20902.3 UPA CORP BHD 2.09 -0.06 2.1 -8.73 161.4

MALAYSIA AIRPORTS HOLDINGS BHD 6.42 0.120 947.3 7.36 10652.0 HAP SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 7.40 -0.06 369.1 -3.90 18423.6

GENETEC TECHNOLOGY BHD 2.45 0.11 8166.4 -19.29 1669.1 KOSSAN RUBBER INDUSTRIES BHD 1.86 -0.06 2910.9 -3.12 4746

SARAWAK OIL PALMS BHD 5.63 0.11 1103.6 58.15 32222 SAM ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT 4.58 -0.06 133.6 -18.21 2479.6

Data as compiled on Mar 22, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Mar 22, 2022 Source: Bloomberg