TheEdge 140622

POWELL FACING CHOICE BETWEEN ELEVATED
US INFLATION AND RECESSION p19

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 392/2022

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: Govt to introduce flexible ceiling price to ensure food security, says Ismail Sabri p4
Caely’s forensic auditor quits as crucial information needed for audit gone missing p6
GST better than SST — World Bank p8
Berjaya Food proposes four-for-one bonus issue p14
WORLD: Bitcoin tumbles to 18-month low after latest DeFi lender blowup p21

Global inflation woes
push FBM KLCI to
lowest in 19 months

Report on Page 3.

tuesday june 14, 2022 2 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Ringgit weakens closer to 4.42
against US dollar on hot US inflation

Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/The Edge

by Justin Lim & Syafiqah Salim
theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):The ringgit The local note. There is anticipation of more aggressive US interest rate hikes to fight inflation.
weakened past 4.41 against a strengthen-
ing US dollar on Monday (June 13) after also depreciated last week. Ringgit weak- and with higher commodity prices. BNM’s
the US reported last Friday that May 2022 ened to RM4.402, back to the level last (Bank Negara Malaysia) recent increase of
inflation accelerated at a faster-than-ex- seen in Mar-20,” MIDF said. its policy rate also builds more monetary
pected month-on-month pace of 1%. space in the event of future adverse shocks.
Compared with a year earlier, US infla- Meanwhile, theWorld Bank Group said On the other hand, Malaysia’s narrowing
tion, as measured by the consumer price on Monday (June 13) the impact of rising fiscal space limits the government’s ability
index, rose 8.6%. interest rates in the US is expected to be less to cushion the impact of any new negative
severe for Malaysia compared with other shocks,” the World Bank said in its June
Such sentiment led to anticipation of East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries due 2022 Malaysia Economic Monitor report.
more aggressive US interest rate hikes to to factors including Malaysia’s flexible ex-
fight inflation. change rate and large international reserves. Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd
chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul
At 5pm on Monday, the ringgit depre- “Financial tightening shocks emanating Rashid said earlier on Monday the ringgit
ciated 0.39% to 4.4187 against the green- from the US can have negative spillovers is expected to remain weak on Monday as
back from the previous close of 4.4015 to output in the broader EAP region, in- the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee
last Friday. The local currency touched cluding Malaysia. However, Malaysia has (FOMC) members will likely maintain a
an intraday low of 4.4198. several factors in its favour that tend to re- hawkish stance when they meet onTuesday
duce the severity of such shocks due to its and Wednesday (June 14 and 15).
Over the last one year, the ringgit has flexible exchange rate, low US dollar-de-
traded at between 4.1125 and 4.4198 nominated external debt (0.9% of gross “The FOMC meeting this week is also
against the US dollar, which is strength- domestic product), large international re- crucial because the Fed staff will share
ening due to demand for the US dollar serves (US$115.6 billion or 5.9 months of their latest quarterly forecast.
by investors who intend to capitalise on import cover), and a deep domestic insti-
higher returns from their investments in tutional investor base. “So, it’s going to be a weak ringgit this
anticipation of US interest rate hikes. week along with other regional curren-
“[Economic] recovery prospects are also cies due to a stronger US dollar,” he told
The US Dollar Index, which measures promising, with the economy opening up, Bernama.
the value of the US dollar against a basket
of foreign currencies, rose 0.62% to 104.77.

“US dollar strengthened as Fed (US
Federal Reserve) remains hawkish,” MIDF
Amanah Investment Bank Bhd’s strategy
team wrote in a note on Monday.

Looking back, MIDF said the US dollar
appreciated against major currencies last
week as the US Dollar Index rose 2% to
a three-week high of 104.15.

“The stubbornly high [US] inflation in
May-22 led to increased expectations for
the Fed to remain aggressive to tighten its
monetary policy in the upcoming meetings.

“Following the broad strength in US
dollar, ringgit and other regional currencies

tuesday june 14, 2022 3 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Global inflation woes push FBM KLCI
to lowest in 19 months

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):The local stock by Sulhi Khalid & Justin Lim and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, which
market tumbled to the lowest level since No- theedgemarkets.com closed 3.12% or 78 sen lower at RM24.2,
vember 2020 on massive global sell-off,on fears ranking them the second and fifth top los-
over the stubbornly high inflation in the US, Biggest daily drop in ers respectively.
which could lead to more aggressive rate hikes. FBM KLCI since global
equity rout in March 2020 Consumer stocks Fraser & Neave Hold-
The benchmark FBMKLCI index — ings Bhd was the day’s third top loser, settling
which saw all its 30 constituents in blood- Decline in a day (%) down 78 sen or 3.8% at RM19.72, while
bath — plunged as much as 35.1 points 2.3% Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd was the
to 1,458.85 points on Monday (June 13), 4 sixth top loser as it closed at RM32.8 after
before narrowing the loss to 29.12 points or shrinking 66 sen or 1.97%.
1.95% to close at 1,464.83 points. 3 3.05 2.79
2 2.22 2.01 1.96 1.95 Two heavyweight glove counters Top
It was the largest single-day drop since Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings
March 7 this year.Year to date, the FBM- 1 Bhd were not spared from the sell-down,
KLCI has lost 6.55% from 1,567.53 points plunging 8.85% or 10 sen and 8.06% or 29
on Dec 31, 2021. 0 June Nov March Nov March June sen to RM1.03 and RM3.31 each.

Asian equities also took a beating on Mon- 15 30 31 1 7 13 When contacted by The Edge, Rakuten
day, with South Korea’s KOSPI Index being 2020 2021 2022 Trade Equity Research vice presidentThong
the top loser (-3.52%), followed by Hong Pak Leng said market sentiment was nega-
Kong’s Hang Seng Index (-3.39%) and Ja- tive on Monday, as investors took cue from
pan’s Nikkei 225 Index (-3.01%). a surprise US inflation data that raised the
possibility of an intensified monetary tight-
On the broader market, losers trounced ening from the US Federal Reserve.
gainers 1083 to 138, while 254 counters were
unchanged. This comes after the US Consumer Price
Index (CPI) reached a 40-year high as it rose
Bursa Malaysia’sTechnology Index suffered 8.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in May, adding to
the most with a 5.67% slump, taking cue from investors’ concerns about a recession caused
the US Nasdaq which tanked more than 3% by tightening monetary policies.
last Friday (June 10).The Dow Jones and S&P
500 lost 2.5% and 2.7% respectively. “We reckon the market undertone to
remain jittery, amid the heightened global
The Healthcare Index and Energy Index market risks and volatility. Notwithstanding
plunged 3.97% and 3.94% each. this, we reckon the market is oversold, hence
providing opportunities for investors to accu-
Worth noting is that the FBM ACE Mar- mulate stocks at attractive levels, given their
ket index also skidded 4.24%, compared with cheaper valuations,” he said.
the FBM Emas and FBM Small Cap, which
declined 2.39% and 3.71% respectively. Concurring with Thong’s view, TA Se-
curities chief investment officer Choo Swee
Heavyweight banking stocks lost strength, Kee said investors are extremely jittery about
with Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd,CIMB how high the US Federal Reserves (US Fed)
Group Holdings Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd is going to raise rates if inflation numbers do
tumbling 4.06%, 2.18%, 1.86% respectively. not come down over the next few months.

Of Bursa’s top losers list (by value), Ma- Similarly, Malacca Securities head of re-
layan Pacific Industries Bhd came in at search Loui Low said investors are worried
the top spot after it closed down 5.07% or about the hawkish US Fed, which could lead
RM1.62 to RM30.32. Also on the list are to more sell-down in the near term.
plantation stocks: Batu Kawan Bhd, which
settled 4.91% or RM1.30 lower at RM25.20 “Everyone is looking at selling in antic-
ipation of a high interest rate upcycle and
Regional indices more hawkish tone from the US Fed, after
the inflation numbers are still going up.”
Index Close YTD change Change on June 13
(June 13, 2022) (%) (%) The US Fed’s Federal Open Market Com-
South Korea KOSPI mittee is likely to maintain a hawkish stance
Hong Kong HSI 2,504.51 -15.89 -3.52 when its members meet on June 14 and 15.
Japan Nikkei 225 21,067.58 -9.96 -3.39
Thailand SET 26,987.44 -6.27 -3.01 Technically,Thong expects the KLCI to
Malaysia FBMKLCI 1,600.06 -3.47 -1.99 rebound once it reaches 1,450 points, consid-
Singapore STI 1,464.83 -6.55 -1.95 ering that the market is currently “oversold”.
Indonesia Jakarta Composite 0.50 -1.33
Philippines PSE 3,139.35 6.29 -1.29 “We anticipate the index to trend within
China Shanghai Composite 6,995.44 -9.20 -0.97 a wider range of between 1,450 and 1,480
6,467.01 -10.56 -0.89 points for the week with immediate support
Source: Bloomberg 3,255.55 at 1,450 points, while resistance at 1,490
points,” he added.

tuesday june 14, 2022 4 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Introducing Govt to introduce the effort to expand the agro-food eco-
a flexible ceiling price that changes according flexible ceiling system with the supply chain led by Gov-
to price input factors is one of the measures price to ensure ernment Investment Companies (GLCs),
to be taken by the government in a bid to Government-Linked Investment Compa-
ensure food security in the country, Prime food security, says nies (GLICs) and government agencies.
Minister Datuk Seri Ismail SabriYaakob. Ismail Sabri
He said this coordination was aimed
He said the measure was in line with Bernama at ensuring the quality, quantity and food
the direct and targeted assistance to those production were at the optimum level,
in need as announced before. bloomberg hence ensuring continuous supply.

Collaboration between the federal and “For example, the supply and price
state governments would also be intensi- of chicken can be controlled if the rele-
fied in the effort to increase the land size vant agencies were involved in the chicken
for agricultural use. breeding industry ecosystem right from
supplying chicks, chicken feed, transpor-
“This is to reduce dependence on food tation, marketing and so on,” he said.
imports. This matter will be further dis-
cussed in a meeting with the Menteri Be- Apart from that, he said the government
sar and Chief Ministers soon,” he said in would also enhance public-private coop-
a statement here on Monday (June 13). eration by giving focus on modernisation
efforts and encouraging smart agriculture
The Prime Minister said the introduc- to increase agricultural yields.
tion of the flexible ceiling price was one of
the decisions reached during the Economic “This initiative will be supported
Action Council (EAC) meeting which he through efforts to consolidate farmland,
chaired on Monday. idle land and waqf land,” he said.

He said the meeting discussed three Ismail Sabri said that in ensuring that
main issues related to food security, busi- agro-products continue to be marketable,
ness facilitation in Malaysia and skilled contract farming programmes will contin-
workers in the electrical and electronics ue to be encouraged where farmers and
(E&E) sector. breeders would have no problem match-
ing their production with market demand.
The meeting also involved presenta-
tions by Khazanah Research Institute He added that the government was also
(KRI), Malaysian Productivity Corpora- committed to carrying out research that
tion (MPC), Malaysian Semiconductor was viable and had the potential to be stra-
Industry Association (MSIA) and industry tegically utilised to meet global challenges
representatives. to ensure a more inclusive and compre-
hensive food security ecosystem for the
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said other wellbeing of the Malaysian Family.
decisions made during the meeting were

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):Local institu- Local institutions Meanwhile, foreign investors were net
tions finally turned net buyers once again at returned as sellers every trading day of the week from
RM244.9 million, after being net sellers for net buyers at Tuesday to Friday, continuing its net sell-
four consecutive weeks, MIDF Amanah In- RM244.9 mil ing trend which started on June 2 to mark
vestment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) said. last week six consecutive days of net selling.

In its weekly fund flow report on Mon- by Karina Imran “The steepest net selling days by for-
day (June 13), the research house said local Bernama eigners were Thursday and Friday at
institutions began the week as net sellers of RM189.1 million and RM183.2 million,
RM12.2 million onTuesday before turning respectively,” it said.
net buyers for the rest of the week.
The three sectors that saw the high-
“Their strongest net buying day was on est net selling by foreigners were finance
Thursday at RM129 million.They have been at RM182.8 million, utilities at RM87.4
net sellers for 19 out of 23 weeks this year. million and transport at RM76.4 million.

“To date, they have sold RM8.27 billion The only sectors which saw net buying
of equities,” it said, adding that the local by foreign investors were consumer, health-
retailers were also net buyers of RM192 care and property, amounting to RM23.6
million. million, RM7.2 million and RM4.8 mil-
lion, respectively.
The research firm also shared that the
local retailers were net buyers every day of In terms of participation, only retail in-
the week except onWednesday when they vestors saw a weekly growth in the average
net sold RM3.4 million of equities with daily trade value (ADTV) at 0.32%, while
the strongest net buying day on Friday at institutional investors and foreign investors
RM91.5 million. saw a reduction of 20.67% and 56.81%,
respectively.
It said local retailers had been net buy-
ers for 14 out of 23 weeks of 2022, seeing To date, international funds have been net
that they had been net buyers at RM1.31 buyers for 17 out of the 23 weeks of 2022,
billion to date. with a total net inflow of RM6.96 billion.

TUESDAY JUNE 14, 2022 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

tuesday june 14, 2022 6 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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SCIB says not
aware of any
funding for
RM30.75 mil

lamp pole
project

Caely’s forensic The appointment came after one of its inde- by shazni ong
auditor quits pendent non-executive directors received an theedgemarkets.com
as crucial anonymous package containing documents,
information raising concerns over several suspicious trans- KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Sar-
actions involving Caely, as circumstances that awak Consolidated Industries Bhd
needed for audit led to the forensic investigation. (SCIB) has said all construction
gone missing costs of the controversial RM30.75
On April 20, the lingerie maker an- million lamp pole replacement pro-
by sulhi khalid nounced that the Malaysian Anti-Corrup- ject in Kuala Lumpur will be borne
theedgemarkets.com tion Commission (MACC) had issued a by Ennova Sdn Bhd.
freeze order on all the operational bank
KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Caely accounts of the company and its subsid- These include the rental of each
Holdings Bhd has announced that its au- iaries. Two of its board members, name- erected pole, in accordance with the
ditor,Virdos Lima Consultancy (M) Sdn ly executive director and chief executive agreed rental price between Enno-
Bhd, could not continue with its forensic officer Lim Chee Pang and independent va and Kuala Lumpur City Hall
audit as critical information is not available. non-executive director Lim Say Leong, (DBKL), SCIB said in a bourse fil-
subsequently resigned on April 29. ing on Monday (June 13).
In a Bursa Malaysia filing, the board
of Perak-based lingerie maker said its ex- On May 18, three shareholders of the The precast concrete maker said
ternal auditor has notified it that for vari- troubled lingerie maker who collectively held it is furnishing additional informa-
ous financial periods, key documents such at least 10% of the company called for an ex- tion to clarify media reports on the
as, but not limited to, invoices, payment traordinary general meeting (EGM) to dis- appointment by Ennova of SCIB’s
vouchers, receipts, and agreements, could cuss various issues, including the removal of subsidiary, SCIB Properties Sdn
not be located. On top of that, various its newly appointed executive chairmanWong Bhd (SCIBP), as a subcontractor
company electronic devices that were as- Siaw Puie and six other existing directors. of the project.
signed to key suspects in their investiga-
tions had been removed and/or could not The EGM is slated to be held on “The company is not aware of
be located at the premises of Caely. Wednesday (June 15). any funding or financing arrange-
ment for the contract by DBKL,”
“These electronic devices may contain On June 2, the group redesignatedWong added SCIB.
key Electronic Stored Information such as, as group executive vice chairperson.This
but not limited to, email communications, was her second redesignation within two SCIB announced on June 7 that
documents, spreadsheets, presentations, months. She was redesignated to be the ex- SCIBP had received a contract from
etc,” the board said in the filing. ecutive chairman on May 17 when she was Ennova to provide project engineer-
an executive director. She joined Caely’s ing services for DBKL’s integrated
This information, the auditor said, was board as an executive director on April 28. smart lamp pole replacement within
vital for them to form their investigation con- the KlangValley, involving 200 units
clusions as it sought various complex and The group clarified on June 3 that the of poles (monopoles).
unusual accounting entries that were entered freeze order on its bank accounts still
into Caely’s wholly-owned subsidiary Caely stood, two months after the MACC sus- The project was subsequently
(M) Sdn Bhd’s accounting general ledger pended its accounts. questioned by critics, especially
that would require to be traced, checked, regarding why RM30.75 million
and verified against supporting documents. For the fourth financial quarter ended was needed to replace 200 lamp
March 31,2022 (4QFY22),its net loss shrank posts, and why the contract was giv-
Caely appointedVirdos Lima in early April to RM9.29 million from RM23.46 million en to SCIB through a third party
to conduct a forensic audit on allegations of due to an improvement in property develop- (Ennova).
suspicious and irregular transactions at Caely. ment cost on account of lower provision of
impairment amounting to RM7.2 million. Following the criticisms, DBKL
denied appointing SCIB or author-
Quarterly revenue slipped 17% to ising any third party to appoint
RM10.66 million from RM12.85 million SCIB to undertake projects for
partly due to the sale cancellation amounting DBKL.
to a reduction in revenue of RM4.2 million.
SCIB’s share price finished
Shares in Caely finished unchanged at 2.38% or half a sen lower at 20.5
38 sen on Monday, giving it a market cap- sen, bringing a market capitalisation
italisation of RM98.13 million. of RM119.32 million.

TUESDAY JUNE 14, 2022 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

tuesday june 14, 2022 8 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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GST better than SST —World Bank

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):World Bank by Syafiqah Salim ardised. In addition, given existing spending
Group lead economist for Malaysia Dr theedgemarkets.com rigidity, the consolidation is done through
Apurva Sanghi said on Monday (June 13) a combination of measures to raise revenue
the goods and services tax (GST) is better dul Aziz said the Ministry of Finance is collection and at the same time, efforts to
than the sales and service tax (SST) because looking at introducing the Fiscal Responsi- raise spending efficiency.
the GST broadens a country’s tax base and bility Act by tabling the bill at the Malaysian
brings in more revenue. Parliament’s next session — scheduled to “In particular, putting in plans to move
start on July 18 — to boost tax collection, towards a more targeted subsidy framework
“More than 170 countries around the which will be crucial to replenish the na- that would benefit lower income households
world have adopted some kind ofVAT (val- tion’s coffers to finance the nation’s devel- becomes even more relevant and timely.
ue added tax)/GST system, and that’s one opmental and longer-term reform plans. In addition, a properly designed and im-
reason why the GST is more efficient than plemented Fiscal Responsibility Act could
the SST. It (GST) is regressive because it Tengku Zafrul, who officiated at the Ma- contribute to the achievement of long-term
is a tax on consumption and 60% of the laysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) In- fiscal sustainability,” the World Bank said.
economy depends on consumption. ternational Accountants Conference 2022,
which was held virtually lastWednesday and TheWorld Bank said Malaysia’s efforts
“GST broadens the tax base and brings Thursday, said the proposed Fiscal Respon- to rebuild its fiscal buffers through increased
in more revenue,” he said at a virtual media sibility Act aims to “broaden our tax base — revenue collection and enhanced spend-
briefing on Monday in conjunction with the including taxing the shadow economy — and ing efficiency should remain a key policy
World Bank’s June 2022 Malaysia Econom- improve tax compliance and administration priority.
ic Monitor report publication. towards helping boost tax collection”.
“Going forward, for Malaysia, efforts to
Apurva said GST may also increase On Monday, the World Bank said in its increase revenue collection through a more
compliance costs for businesses such as June 2022 Malaysia Economic Monitor re- progressive tax framework need to be accel-
small and medium enterprises (SMEs). port that over the medium term, it is essen- erated, with a clear implementation time-
tial for Malaysia to rebuild its fiscal buffers line. These measures may include remov-
“This is a lesson learned from Malaysia’s and that the country’s current fiscal land- ing exemptions from consumption taxes
GST 1.0 experience, which is important for scape reveals two important things. on non-essential items; expanding capital
SMEs, especially micro enterprises, to have gains taxes; and exploring other forms of
a sufficient transition period, to set a thresh- According to theWorld Bank, Malaysia’s progressive taxes, including wealth taxes.
old to exclude small and micro enterprises medium-term fiscal consolidation needs
at least initially, and to really streamline and to be gradual and the nation’s expendi- “Together with these revenue-enhancing
make the whole tax refund process more ef- ture- and revenue-based measures are im- measures, measures to improve spending ef-
ficient,” Apurva said. portant although expenditure-based fiscal ficiency should also be introduced. Achiev-
consolidation measures are preferable to ing spending efficiency, in social sectors
Looking back, Malaysia announced a revenue-based ones. such as education, could entail the reallo-
GST of 6% beginning April 1, 2015 before cation of spending items. In addition, better
the SST scheme was reimplemented in the “The pace of medium-term fiscal con- targeting of social safety nets programmes
country on Sept 1, 2018 to replace the GST. solidation should be gradual, to ensure that through more effective targeting could raise
near-term economic recovery is not jeop- spending efficiency,” the World Bank said.
LastWednesday (June 8), Finance Min-
isterTengku Datuk Seri ZafrulTengku Ab-

US rate hike shock impact ‘less severe' for Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): The World by Syafiqah Salim “This strong recovery in household
Bank Group said on Monday (June 13) the theedgemarkets.com spending is premised on further dissipa-
impact of rising interest rates in the US is ex- tion of public health concerns in absence of
pected to be less severe for Malaysia compared and with higher commodity prices. BNM’s a severe resurgence of Covid-19 caseloads,
to other EastAsia and Pacific (EAP) countries (Bank Negara Malaysia) recent increase of its as well as continued policy support and
due to factors including Malaysia’s flexible policy rate also builds more monetary space gradual improvements to employment and
exchange rate and large international reserves. in the event of future adverse shocks. On the income prospects,” the World Bank said.
other hand, Malaysia’s narrowing fiscal space
“Financial tightening shocks emanating limits the government’s ability to cushion the The World Bank said Malaysia’s GDP
from the US can have negative spillovers impact of any new negative shocks,” theWorld is projected to expand 5.5% in 2022 after
to output in the broader EAP region, in- Bank said in its June 2022 Malaysia Economic growing 3.1% in 2021.
cluding Malaysia. However, Malaysia has Monitor report.
several factors in its favour that tend to re- Looking ahead, the World Bank said it
duce the severity of such shocks due to its Meanwhile, theWorld Bank said Malaysia’s expects Malaysia’s GDP to expand 4.5%
flexible exchange rate; low US dollar-de- economy, as measured by GDP, is projected in 2023 and 4.4% in 2024.
nominated external debt (0.9% of GDP); to expand 5.5% in 2022 from a year earlier,
large international reserves (US$115.6 bil- driven mainly by a robust rebound in con- Malaysia’s inflation, as measured by the
lion or 5.9 months of import cover); and a sumption demand. consumer price index (CPI), is projected to
deep domestic institutional investor base. increase.TheWorld Bank said the country’s
The World Bank said Malaysia’s private headline CPI is projected to increase but re-
“[Economic] recovery prospects are also consumption growth is forecast to reach 8.5% main relatively manageable at between 2.5%
promising, with the economy opening up, in 2022, its fastest pace since 2008. and 3.5% in 2022 compared to 2.5% in 2021.

continues on Page 9

tuesday june 14, 2022 9 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Mass Rapid MRT Corp says ferent joint ventures (JVs) or consortiums.
Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) MRT3 open Compared to the MRT1 and MRT2
is currently the running open tender pro-
cess for the MRT3 Circle Line’s four main tender process projects, it said more companies will be able
contract packages with an approach that to transform to participate atTier 1 in the MRT3 project.
will transform the construction sector and construction
rejuvenate the economy. sector, rejuvenate “For all civil main contractor packag-
es, bumiputera participation is mandatory.
The tender briefing for the project man- economy Industry players must form JVs or consor-
agement consultancy (PMC) package was tiums with bumiputera construction com-
held early last month and the tender brief- Bernama panies.
ings for the three civil main contractors
packages were completed last week. Sam Fong/The Edge “Additionally, all tenderers are required
to submit an economic enhancement pro-
In a statement on Monday (June 13), Mohd Zarif: It is MRT Corp’s intention to have posal to catalyse economic activities beyond
MRT Corp said unlike the MRT2 Putrajaya capable bumiputera players participating in the the construction sector,” it shared.
Line project which had one main turnkey MRT3 project and, more importantly, they must
contractor only at Tier 1, the MRT3 pro- be active members of their JV/consortium with A mandatory element of the tender pro-
ject will see five Tier 1 main contractors cess is for all partners in the JV/consortium
be appointed to lead its implementation. their own work scope. to declare their ultimate beneficial owner-
ship through a statutory declaration, it said.
“MRT3 construction activities will be
further distributed at Tier 2 to many mid- The concept of beneficial ownership is
size and small construction companies as not limited to ownership through holding
work package contractors (WPCs). of interest in a legal entity but extends be-
yond the ownership structure, in accord-
“Similar to the MRT1 and MRT2 pro- ance with the Companies Commission of
jects, the appointment of MRT3’s WPCs Malaysia’s Guideline For The Reporting
will be done through tender exercises start- Framework For Beneficial Ownership of
ing from next year. Hence, there will be Legal Persons, it explained.
plenty of opportunities for local construc-
tion companies to participate regardless of It covers both from the perspective of
size,” the company said. ownership and control, it noted.

For now, MRT Corp noted that the fo- The minimum required percentages
cus is on appointment of civil main con- of effective bumiputera ultimate benefi-
tractors at Tier 1 and based on the tender cial ownership are 31% for CMC301 and
requirements, there could be six to nine CMC302, and 20% for CMC303, and the
companies which will eventually be awarded percentage of bumiputera work share atTier
as the civil main contractors in three dif- 2 will be at least of the same value as the
effective bumiputera ultimate beneficial
ownership in respective packages, it said.

from Page 8 “We therefore expect future movements in a country’s economic growth.
the OPR (overnight policy rate) to be largely He said economic growth ultimately de-
“This forecast assumes that the ceiling on driven by domestic economic conditions to re-
retail fuel prices and price controls on selected spond to forex (foreign exchange) volatility,pref- pends on investments or structural reforms,
food items remain unchanged throughout the erably at a gradual and measured pace,” he said. which trigger a supply response to manage
year, limiting the upward pressure in inflation the current economic environment.
from higher global oil and food prices. On May 11, 2022, BNM’s Monetary Poli-
cy Committee increased the OPR by 25 basis “Policies beyond interest rates, in par-
“Underlying inflation (which excludes points to 2% from a record low of 1.75% as ticular supply side policies, need to do the
volatile food and energy prices), however, is global inflationary pressures have increased heavy lifting. So, increasing interest rates
expected to average higher this year, reflect- sharply and after taking into account that the cannot solve supply chain bottlenecks.They
ing the broadening of price pressures from sustained reopening of the global economy cannot get you more chicken, they cannot
higher commodity prices, various constraints and improvement in labour markets continue get you more computer chips. So, this has
on supply, as well as the continuing recovery to support the recovery of economic activity nothing to do with increasing interest rates.
in demand and narrowing degree of spare ca- from the impact of Covid-19-driven move-
pacity in the economy,” theWorld Bank said. ment restrictions. “And finally, for a central banker, no
matter where in the world, it’s not so much
World Bank lead economist for Malay- “Inflationary pressures have increased important to realise inflation as it is to real-
sia Dr Apurva Sanghi fielded questions sharply due to a rise in commodity prices, ise inflation expectations, because if infla-
at a virtual media briefing on Monday in strained supply chains and strong demand tion expectations are high today, they can
conjunction with the World Bank’s June conditions, particularly in the US. lead to high inflation tomorrow.
2022 Malaysia Economic Monitor report
publication. “For the Malaysian economy, latest indica- “So monitoring inflation expectations
tors show that growth is on a firmer footing, and managing them will be critical going
Reporters had asked Apurva whether driven by strengthening domestic demand forward,” Apurva said.
the World Bank expects BNM to further amid sustained export growth,” BNM said
raise interest rates in 2022. in a statement then. On Malaysia, Apurva said the country’s
potential interest rate hikes should be seen as
“I believe BNM is more concerned According to Apurva on Monday, in- a broader step toward global monetary policy
about stability and volatility than main- terest rate policy alone cannot safeguard normalisation and preventing inflation expec-
taining the Malaysian ringgit per se. tations from becoming entrenched.

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):The pros- Prosecution: QC He had also represented Dr Agnes
ecution is objecting to former premier lacks experience Taylor (the ex-wife of Charles Taylor, the
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bid to engage in local law and former president of Liberia) who faced
a queen’s counsel (QC) to represent him can’t speak BM, charges of torture said to have been com-
in his final appeal against his conviction so can’t appear mitted during the first Liberian civil war
in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case. and whose case went to the UK Supreme
for Najib Court, and for Operation Kenova and its
In an affidavit filed at the High Court investigation of the activities of the alleged
sighted by theedgemarkets.com, the prose- by Timothy Achariam British military intelligence agent known
cution questioned Jonathan Laidlaw QC’s theedgemarkets.com as “Steak Knife” in Northern Ireland.
experience in the Malaysian court system.
The affidavit also noted that the Ma- However, the prosecution argued that
Previously, Najib’s lawyerTan Sri Sha- laysian courts have not allowed for an despite his qualifications, Laidlaw does
fee Abdullah said that Laidlaw should be ad hoc admission in criminal cases since not have any knowledge of the Malaysian
admitted to practise as an advocate and 1971. criminal justice system.
solicitor of the High Court of Malaya for
Najib’s appeal at the Federal Court as he “If this honourable court ignored the “The qualifications of the applicant
possesses “special qualifications, experi- political standing of the appellant (Na- (Laidlaw) has nothing to do with the said
ence and expertise which is not availa- jib) in these appeals, then this case is just charges, in these appeals and hence the
ble amongst advocates and solicitors in another criminal matter which does not qualification or experience from foreign
Malaysia”. deserve any special consideration, for the jurisdiction do not count for ad hoc ad-
admission of any foreign lawyer to argue mission of the applicant to the High Court
However, the prosecution contended these pending Federal Court appeals,” of Malaysia, especially without any knowl-
that the QC does not have certain qual- it read. edge of the Malaysian criminal justice sys-
ifications under subsection 11(2) of the tem,” the affidavit read.
Legal Profession Act 1976 (Act 166), in- Laidlaw has acted in high profile cas-
cluding Bahasa Malaysia qualifications. es such as Radovan Karadzic’s case in It also stated that Shafee has special
The Hague, the Edward Snowden leaked qualification to handle the appeal.
“The applicant does not have Bahasa sensitive papers case before the Division-
Malaysia qualifications as required under al Court, a cricket match-fixing trial, as Therefore, the application to admit
subsection 11(2) of Act 166 to succeed well as for Rebekah Brooks in the News Laidlaw to conduct the appeal should
in the ad hoc application under section International phone-hacking trial, and for be dismissed, the prosecution asserted.
18 of the act,” the affidavit read. lawmakers both from the House of Com-
mons and the House of Lords. The High Court has set June 16 for
The prosecution also argued that the case management in the QC application.
QC has not demonstrated any special Click here for the full story
qualification and experience in relation Read also: AmBank received instructions
to local law and procedure with regards to convert over RM2 bil in Najib’s private
to the charges. account into US currency Click here

He has not shown that he has “superi-
or knowledge to argue the appeals before
the Federal Court, as compared to local
advocates and solicitors”.

SHAH ALAM (June 13):A former director Rembau Umno “For example, in times of disaster and
of Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) told the division received the like, I would help under humanitarian
High Court here on Monday (June 13) that aid programmes. If there were by-elections,
Khairy Jamaluddin’s Rembau Umno division RM50,000- I would also help,” he said.
received contributions from the company RM200,000 from
but the money was not given directly to the The 16th prosecution witness said the
former youth and sports minister. UKSB, says financial aid was extended according to
witness needs and not given on a monthly basis.
Wan Quoris ShahWan Abdul Ghani, 42,
said contributions of between RM50,000 Bernama Ahmad Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges
and RM200,000 were given by UKSB to of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56
the Umno division as political aid and for cords of payments made by UKSB to sev- million from UKSB for himself as the then
disaster relief and humanitarian activities. eral individuals between 2014 and 2018. home minister to extend the contract of the
company as the operator of the one-stop cen-
He said the contributions were channelled Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Da- tre service in China and theVLN system as
through the Rembau division and not given tukWan ShaharuddinWan Ladin during ex- well as to maintain the contract agreement
directly to Khairy, also known as KJ, who amination-in-chief on the ways he helped to supply theVLN integrated system to the
was then the deputy head of the division. Khairy, Wan Quoris Shah said: “Political same company by the Home Ministry.
aid for KJ was not only at the division level
Earlier, the 15th prosecution witness, for- but also at the national level because at that For another seven counts, he was
mer UKSB director Harry Lee Vui Khun, time he was a politician at the national level.” charged with obtaining for himself
told the court that “KJ” and “bomoh” were S$1,150,000, RM3 million, €15,000 and
among words recorded in the UKSB ledger, US$15,000 from the same company with
which was presented in the corruption trial official links with his official duty.
of former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Read also: Ahmad Zahid would help UKSB
Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. after receiving money,says witness Click here

The UKSB ledger, also known as “Buku
555”, tendered in the trial contained re-

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Scien- Higher raw operational challenges due to the ongoing
tex Bhd’s net profit for the third financial material, freight geopolitical tension, global supply chain
quarter ended April 30, 2022 (3QFY22) challenges, shortage of labour and rising
fell 19.6% to RM88.33 million from costs pull inflationary pressures which have led to
RM109.88 million a year earlier amid ris- Scientex 3Q net volatility in raw material prices and ele-
ing raw material prices and freight costs in profit down 20% vated operational costs.
the consuming packaging products. y-o-y; four sen
dividend declared Commenting on the group’s prospects,
Earnings per share declined to 5.7 sen Scientex said it continues to strengthen and
from 7.09 sen previously, the group’s fil- BY SYAFIQAH SALIM enhance its operational and supply chain
ing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday (June theedgemarkets.com efficiencies and expand its capacity in are-
13) showed. as of competitive strengths to maintain its
The company declared an interim div- competitive edge and manage rising costs.
However, quarterly revenue went idend of four sen per share, to be paid on
up slightly to RM993.84 million from July 22. “As part of its growth strategy, the
RM976.8 million, helped by its packag- group’s ongoing capacity and capability
ing segment. Packaging revenue stood at For the cumulative nine-month pe- expansion plans remain on track. Our new
RM749.7 million from RM671.5 million riod (9MFY22), the group’s net profit robotic stretch film plant is expected to be
previously contributed from both its in- dropped 9.4% to RM284.89 million from commissioned in the second half of 2022.
dustrial and consumer packaging prod- RM314.58 million a year prior. Nine- In addition, innovating sustainable and val-
ucts, driven mainly by its export markets month revenue, however, grew 7.02% to ue-added products in line with customer
as well as increase in average selling price. RM2.87 billion from RM2.69 billion. needs and market trends remains one of
our core focuses as we seek to expand our
Scientex’s operating profit stood While overall demand for the group’s market presence,” it said.
at RM123.3 million, down 17% from packaging products has remained stable,
RM146.8 million a year ago, due to chal- Scientex said it will closely monitor the On its property segment, the group said
lenges of rising raw material prices and the segment was affected by slower pro-
freight costs mainly under the consuming gress due to labour shortages, deferment
packaging products. of Certificate of Completion & Compliance
(CCC) in certain projects due to shortage
Its property division is facing the chal- of materials for the installation of power
lenge of rising costs. Scientex said with supply infrastructure as well as delay in ob-
the increase in material cost, it is also con- taining permits and approvals for new prod-
stantly reviewing the pricing of its products uct launches from the relevant authorities.
whilst maintaining its product affordability.

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Bermaz Bermaz Auto sales volume from its domestic Mazda op-
Auto Bhd’s (BAuto) net profit for the 4Q net profit erations, which were adversely impacted in
fourth financial quarter ended April 30, grows nearly 18%, the first financial quarter by the lockdown
2022 (4QFY22) grew 17.8% to RM78.7 declares dividend under Phase 1 of the National Recovery
million from RM66.83 million in the same Plan (NRP).
period last year largely due to higher profit of 4.5 sen
contribution from Mazda’s domestic op- On prospects, the group said it has con-
erations plus positive contribution from BY SHAZNI ONG tinued to register encouraging financial re-
Peugeot’s operations. theedgemarkets.com sults for its current quarter mainly due to,
inter alia, the current sales tax exemption
Meanwhile, the automaker announced nancial year ended April 30, 2022 (FY22) incentives on vehicles.
the redesignation of Datuk Lee Kok Chuan to 8.75 sen per share compared with 6.5
as the group chief executive officer (CEO) ef- sen per share for FY21. BAuto, however, cautioned that the cur-
fective June 13. He was the CEO previously. rent ongoing shortages of chips and compo-
BAuto’s annual net profit increased nents and shipment delay and the continued
The group noted improved margin from 16.35% to RM155.72 million in FY22 from lockdowns in China due to the Covid-19
sales mix of completely knocked-down RM133.84 million in FY21. pandemic will continue to pose challenges
(CKD) models, strengthening of the ring- for the automotive sector and will impact
git against the Japanese yen and reversal of In addition, the automaker said Maz- the recovery of vehicle sales.
provisions no longer required contributed da operations in the Philippines contrib-
to the higher profit. uted positively in the current financial year “Although the current sales tax exemption
compared with the preceding financial year, incentives had kept vehicle prices relatively
Quarterly revenue soared 40% to which was adversely impacted by the Cov- low in a period of rising input costs, they may
RM897.36 million from RM641.2 million id-19 pandemic. however not be sufficient to boost sales as
a year ago mainly due to the higher overall most automotive players are facing difficulties
sales volume from the group’s Mazda,Peuge- Annual revenue was up marginally by in fulfilling back orders due to the ongoing
ot and Kia operations as consumers rushed 1.63% to RM2.32 billion from RM2.29 shortages of chips and components,” it said.
to register vehicles before the expiration of billion in FY21, largely due to sales contri-
the sales tax exemption incentives in June. butions from its newly acquired Peugeot As such, BAuto said the launching of new
and Kia marques and partly offset by lower or new facelift models of the group’s existing
BAuto declared a fourth interim dividend marques, namely Mazda, Peugeot and Kia,
of two sen single-tier dividend per share, is still very much dependent on the market
as well as a special dividend of 2.5 sen sin- sentiments and economic conditions then.
gle-tier dividend per share, with both div-
idend payments payable on Aug 4. These BAuto’s share price finished two sen or
bring the total dividend declared for the fi- 1.11% lower at RM1.78, bringing a market
capitalisation of RM2.07 billion.

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Berjaya Berjaya Food A strong rally on
Food Bhd (BFood), whose share price has proposes four-for- post-pandemic recovery
more than doubled year to date, has pro-
posed a bonus issue of up to 1.56 billion one bonus issue Berjaya Food Bhd RM
shares on the basis of four bonus shares
for every one share held. by izzul ikram 5 RM4.80
theedgemarkets.com
In a bourse filing on Monday (June 13), 4
the Starbucks and Kenny Rogers Roasters nus price for the group’s shares is expected
franchise operator said the entitlement date to be between 59.63 sen and 94.35 sen. 3
will be determined later after all relevant
approvals for the proposed bonus issue BFood said the bonus issue is aimed at 2 June 13, 2022
have been obtained. potentially enhancing the marketability of RM1.958
its shares on the Main Market and there-
BFood said it had an issued share cap- by providing an opportunity for greater 1
ital of 389.53 million shares as at June 9, participation from existing shareholders June 1, 2021
set to be increased to 1.95 billion shares of the company and new investors.
upon the completion of the proposed Source: Bloomberg
bonus issue. The proposed bonus issue is subject to
the approvals of Bursa Securities — for the BFood said that barring any unforeseen
The group noted that its share price listing and quotation of the bonus shares circumstances and subject to all requisite ap-
adjusted for the bonus issue will not be — shareholders of BFood, and any other provals, the proposed bonus issue is expected
less than 50 sen based on the daily vol- required relevant authorities. to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
ume-weighted average market price
(VWAMP) for the three-month period “The application to Bursa Securities in BFood’s share price has rallied 123%,
before the application date — pursuant respect of the proposed bonus issue is ex- or RM2.65, from around RM2-level to
to Paragraph 6.30(1A) of the Main Mar- pected to be submitted within one month RM4.80 on Monday, giving the coffee
ket listing requirements of Bursa Malaysia. from [June 13],” the group said. chain operator a market capitalisation of
RM1.87 billion.
Based on the lowest dailyVWAMP dur-
ing the three-month period and the five-day
VWAMP up to June 9, the theoretical ex-bo-

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Pharma- Pharmaniaga “So now we are pursuing more oppor-
niaga Bhd’s new logistics and distribution says new contract tunities, working with more players to be
concession agreement with the Ministry of with MoH to be able to distribute products from multi-
Health (MoH) will be completed by the ple suppliers to multiple clients as well,”
end of the year, said its group managing completed by he said.
director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope. year-end
Mohamed Iqbal went on to say that as
“The group is finalising the logistics and by izzul ikram Pharmaniaga eyes these opportunities, the
distribution contract extension agreement theedgemarkets.com company has also set its sights on potential
with the MoH, slated to be completed by mergers and acquisitions.
the end of 2022,” he said during a media ed that the company has positioned itself
briefing on Pharmaniaga’s financial per- to pursue more opportunities under the However, he did not disclose further
formance on Monday (June 13). agreement. He said Pharmaniaga aims to details on these plans.
expand on the variety of products it sup-
Previously, Pharmaniaga had said that plies to government hospitals under the “We are also looking at potential merg-
the agreement was slated for completion in new agreement. ers and acquisitions.We have not finalised
the third quarter of the year.The current anything yet, [but] we are working on a
concession agreement it has with the min- “We are now pursuing more opportu- few and once we have some new devel-
istry is set to expire by the end of this year. nities. If we are delivering 100 products opment, then we will make the necessary
to a government hospital, if we deliver announcement,” he said.
Pharmaniaga deputy managing direc- another 20 other products, it does not
tor Mohamed Iqbal Abdul Rahman add- cost as much. He added that Pharmaniaga expects
a revenue of approximately RM1.5 bil-
Low Yen Yeing/The Edge Zulkarnain: The group lion and a growth of 2% per annum from
is finalising the logistics the concession agreement if it is positive,
and distribution contract while local distribution is to grow by “dou-
extension agreement with the ble-digit” moving forward.
MoH, slated to be completed
“Unless there is a merger and acqui-
by the end of 2022. sition, then we will [redo] our numbers,”
he added.

At market close on Monday, shares in
Pharmaniaga slipped 2.5 sen or 3.9% to
61.5 sen, giving the company a market
capitalisation of RM805.62 million.
Read also: Pharmaniaga in ‘very serious’
talks with IDB for Covid-19 vaccine deal
Click here

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news In brief

Coastal Contract wins new and Bursa reverses decision on extension of time sought by Anzo to submit
extended charter contracts worth regularisation plan
RM252 mil
KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Coastal KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Bursa Securities has granted Anzo Holdings Bhd
Contracts Bhd has secured a charter a further extension of time until Oct 31 to submit its regularisation plan. The
contract for a vessel and the extension of integrated contractor and timber service provider said the extension was granted
an existing charter contract for a liftboat, after due consideration of all facts and circumstances of the matter, including
for a total value of RM252 million. In a written representations. Bursa may proceed to suspend and delist the company if it
Bursa Malaysia filing, the group said the fails to submit the regularisation plan within the extended timeframe, added Anzo
new contract is for a period of five years in a bourse filing. On April 26, the bourse regulator rejected Anzo’s application
commencing in June, while the contract for an additional six months to submit its regularisation plan, from the April 10
extension is for two years commencing deadline. Subsequently, as Anzo failed to submit its regularisation plan by April 10,
in September with two annual extension Bursa asked the company to furnish it with representations by May 6, as to why
options. “The contracts are expected it should not be suspended and delisted. Anzo had triggered Paragraph 8.03A(2)
to contribute positively to the earnings (b) of the Main Market listing requirements in October 2019, based on its results
and net assets of the company for the for the financial year ended July 31, 2019, when it had an insignificant business or
financial year ending June 30, 2022 and operations. — by Izzul Ikram
the financial periods thereafter,” the group
said. Shares in Coastal Contracts finished Destini delivers six MD530G EcoFirst seeks to raise RM22 mil via
seven sen or 3.76% lower at RM1.79, helicopters to Malaysian army private placement
giving the group a market capitalisation of
RM964.4 million. — by Sulhi Khalid KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Destini Bhd KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): EcoFirst
has completed the delivery of six MD530G Consolidated Bhd has proposed a private
InNature to sell Natura business to helicopters to the Malaysian army, after placement to raise up to RM22.09 million
Natura AP for RM2.04 mil concluding the Final Acceptance Test. In a for working capital purposes. The exercise
KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): InNature Bhd statement Monday (June 13), Destini said entails the issuance of up to 56.39 million
is disposing of its entire 2.6 million shares with the delivery of the six multipurpose new shares or 4.84% of its total number of
and 5.2 million redeemable preference armed reconnaissance helicopters, the issued shares, said the property developer
shares in its wholly owned subsidiary Ola group could leverage its expertise in in a bourse filing. At an illustrative price
Beleza Sdn Bhd to Natura Cosmetics Asia maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of 39.18 sen per share, EcoFirst would
Pacific Pte Ltd (Natura AP) for RM2.04 to secure MRO services on the helicopters raise up to RM22.09 million in proceeds,
million cash. Ola Beleza is engaged in the and on other army air unit assets. “Halaman of which RM21.72 million is to be used
distribution and commercialisation of Optima Sdn Bhd (HOSB) was awarded the for working capital purposes, while the
Natura products in Malaysia. InNature contract to deliver the helicopters, worth remaining RM820,000 is to be utilised for
group managing director Datin Mina RM321 million, by the Ministry of Defence the expenses of the private placement.
Cheah–Foong said the disposal was a in 2015. “In 2017, Destini Group acquired The group said the exercise would enable
mutual decision between InNature and a 70% equity interest in HOSB through its it to raise additional funds expeditiously
Natura & Co given the evolving operating wholly-owned subsidiary Destini Prima without having to incur interest costs or
environment post-pandemic. “Following Sdn Bhd,” Destini said in a filing with service principal repayments, as compared
the completion of the disposal, Natura & Bursa Malaysia on Monday. The MD530G to bank borrowings. — by Izzul Ikram
Co will take over the Natura business in helicopters are manufactured by United
Malaysia, whereas InNature will focus on States aerospace company MD Helicopter Nestcon unit accepts RM118.05 mil
growing further our core business in all Inc. The helicopters will be stationed in the construction contract from Nescaya Etika
our markets.” — by Izzul Ikram Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom)
and the army’s air base in Kluang, Johor. — KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Nestcon has
Bernama accepted a letter of award from Nescaya Etika
Sdn Bhd (NESB) to be the principal contractor
to undertake the construction and completion
of the main building and infrastructure
works for the Phase 1 development project
undertaken by NESB for RM118.05 million.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday
(June 13), it said the project for Picoland Sdn
Bhd involves the construction of a 38-storey
building in Kuala Lumpur. The company said
payment to Nestcon Builders would be made
progressively based on the actual work done
as valued and certified by the architect. The
completion period for the project is within
twenty eight months and fifteen days from
the date of site possession on July 1, 2022,
on or before Nov 15, 2024, said Nestcon. —
Bernama

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PUTRAJAYA (June 13):The death penal- Death penalty 708) and Kidnapping Act 1961 (Act 365).
ty still exists in Malaysian law even though still exists in Wan Junaidi said the amendment relat-
the government has, on June 8, decided to Malaysian law,
abolish the mandatory death penalty, ac- only mandatory ed to the abolition of the mandatory death
cording to Minister in the Prime Minister’s death penalty to penalty will be tabled for first reading in
Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk be abolished Parliament in October, and it is expected
Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. — minister that the provision of the law can be re-
alistically abolished either in January or
He said the government had agreed to Bernama February next year.
abolish the mandatory death penalty and
substitute it with other sentences which The minister said the Special Commit- “The government’s decision is a bold step
are subject to the discretion of the court. tee on Substitute Sentences for the Man- forward (for Malaysia’s criminal justice sys-
datory Death Penalty led by former Chief tem) to be seen as more humane,” he said.
“The government, through the Cabi- Justice Tun Richard Malanjum made the
net meeting, agreed in principle on June recommendation on the new sentencing He said a public survey will also be car-
8 to do away with the mandatory death policy based on three principles. ried out on the abolition of the mandatory
penalty, but it is still being implemented death penalty and if there are more objec-
at the court. For offences causing death, the death tions than support, the matter will be taken
penalty at the court’s discretion will be back to the Cabinet to decide.
“The sentence is governed by existing maintained; for offences not causing death,
laws (which have yet to be amended),” he the death penalty should not be imposed Wan Junaidi said many quarters had
told a press conference here on Monday by the court; and if the death penalty is questioned the implications of the abolition
(June 13). not imposed, the offender can be punished of the mandatory death penalty for drug
with whipping, he said. trafficking offences under Section 39B of
According to him, the mandatory death the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234).
penalty refers to the provisions for criminal He said the special committee had also
offences in which the convicted offender studied substitute sentences for 22 offences For that, he explained that Section 39B
would be sentenced to death without ex- carrying the death penalty including under of Act 234 no longer provides a manda-
ception as the judge has no other choice but the Penal Code (Act 574), Arms Act 1960 tory death penalty as it had been substi-
to hand down the sentence for the offence, (Act 206), Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act tuted with the death penalty at the court’s
such as under Section 302 of the Penal Code. 1971 (Act 37), the Armed Forces Act 1972 discretion through the Dangerous Drugs
(Act 77),Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Amendment) Act 2017 (Act A1558) ef-
Wan Junaidi said the death penalty at (Act 655), Strategic Trade Act 2010 (Act fective March 15, 2018.
the court’s discretion means that the judge
will have options to sentence the person Wan Junaidi said the government had
found guilty of a crime to either death or also accepted and taken into considera-
life imprisonment or whipping. tion the recommendations from the spe-
cial committee in regard to the direction
“It will be up to the discretion of the of the criminal justice system in Malaysia.
judge to decide depending on the type and
the level of seriousness of the offence, trend He said this includes the introduction
of punishment, condition of the victim, co- of pre-sentencing procedures, a sentencing
operation and regret expressed by the of- council and a sentencing guideline, as well
fender, as well as other factors to impose a as the setting up of a law commission, pris-
substitute sentence on the offender,” he said. on reform and the execution of sentences
based on restorative justice.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 13):The High KVDT2 project respondents over the termination of the
Court was on Monday (June 13) told to be continued company’s contract in KVDT2 project.
that the government had decided to allow by Dhaya Maju
Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd to contin- LTAT, says Senior Based on the statement of claims, Dhaya
ue with the KlangValley DoubleTracking Federal Counsel Maju LTAT among others alleged that to
Phase 2 (KVDT2) project. date, the official notice of termination had
Bernama not been issued to the company and it was
Senior Federal Counsel Asliza Ali said not aware of the termination until it was
the matter was decided during the Cabinet “The plaintiff (Dhaya Maju) will with- announced by Wee in a media statement.
meeting on May 18. draw its suit after the contract is signed by
both parties (government and Dhaya Maju). Apart from compensations, Dhaya
Asliza who was representing the gov- Maju LTAT, a joint-venture between
ernment and Transport Minister Datuk “The court set June 30 for the parties Dhaya Maju Infrastructure (Asia) Sdn Bhd
Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong in a suit, made the to announce on the development of the and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera
announcement during online case man- settlement of the suit,” she said. (LTAT), which was incorporated on June
agement before Justice Datuk Lim Chong 5, 2017 under the Companies Act 2016,
Fong on Monday. On Oct 27, 2020, Dhaya Maju LTAT sought the declaration of the contract ter-
filed a suit against the government, Wee, mination was null and void.
“The KVDT2 project would be contin- Opus Consultants (M) Sdn Bhd and
ued by Dhaya Maju LTAT with the contract Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) as The dispute arose after Finance Min-
cost of RM4.475 billion, as well as the im- ister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul
plementation terms, staying as agreed in the Aziz issued a list of 101 projects valued
Letter of Acceptance dated Aug 19, 2019,” at RM6.61 billion awarded via direct nego-
she said when contacted on Monday. tiation during the Pakatan Harapan admin-
istration and it also involved the KVDT2
In this regard, Asliza said both parties project valued at RM4.475 billion awarded
in the suit had also reached an agreement to Dhaya Maju LTAT.
to settle the suit.

T U E S D A Y J U N E 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 17 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

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Powell facing choice between elevated
US inflation and recession

WASHINGTON (June 13): Federal Reserve by Rich Miller Former International Monetary Fund
(Fed) chair Jerome Powell is facing an in- Bloomberg chief economist Olivier Blanchard bemoaned
creasingly grim calculus after yet another hot the “screw-up” by the Fed and other cen-
inflation reading last week: He probably has bloomberg tral bankers in allowing inflation to get out
to push the economy into recession in order of control.
to regain control of prices. Jerome Powell
Blanchard, now a senior fellow at the Pe-
After spending much of last year sounding An increasing number of terson Institute for International Economics,
a bit like the inflation-tolerant, former central economists say it may take said that central banks should stop tighten-
bank chief Arthur Burns, Powell has increas- an economic contraction ing policy when inflation drops to 3% and
ingly taken on the mantle of inflation-slayer and higher unemployment set that as the new price target, rather than
— and Fed icon — PaulVolcker. It is a role he to bring inflation down to risking a recession by pushing it down to 2%.
is likely to embrace with relish onWednesday,
when he speaks with reporters after a widely more tolerable levels. Blinder said the Fed has to balance two
expected decision by the Fed to raise interest competing risks.
rates by another half-percentage point. at a fresh 40-year high of 8.6% in May from
a year earlier. The longer inflation stays elevated, the
But so far at least, he has shied away from greater the chance it becomes entrenched
endorsing the tough monetary medicine — Yields on 10-year USTreasuries touched in the economy.That was what happened in
and punishingly deep recession — that it took 3.28% on Monday, surpassing a peak in the 1970’s when Burns was Fed chair and
forVolcker to break the back of inflation four 2018 to trade at the highest since 2011, it was the primary reason why Volcker sub-
decades ago. While Powell has recently ac- and interest-rate futures signalled 175 ba- sequently had to put the economy through
knowledged that getting price pressures un- sis points of tightening through September, such a wringer to get inflation down.
der control could require some pain — and implying a 75 basis-point increase at one of
maybe even higher unemployment — he has the next three Fed meetings. But overly aggressive action to tackle persis-
steered clear of talking about a recession. tent price pressures carries dangers as well, said
The path and ultimate destination of the Princeton University professor. It could
That is perhaps understandable, given how interest rates in coming months will part- push the economy into a very severe reces-
fraught politically that is, especially for Pres- ly depend on how quickly — and how far sion that sends unemployment skyrocketing.
ident Joe Biden’s Democratic Party ahead of — policymakers want inflation to cool and ‘Burnsian mistake’
midterm elections in November. how much pain they are willing to put the Deutsche Bank economist Peter Hooper, who
economy through to achieve that. was among the first onWall Street to forecast
“The chairman of the Fed doesn’t want a recession, said it would be a “Burnsian mis-
to let the ‘r’ word slip out of his mouth in The personal consumption expenditures take” if the Fed backed off from its 2% price
a positive way, that we need a recession,” price index — the Fed’s favoured inflation target.And that is a mistake he said that Powell
former US central bank policymaker Alan gauge — rose 6.3% in April from a year does not want to make.
Blinder said. “But there are a lot of euphe- earlier, more than three times the central
misms and he’ll use them.” bank’s 2% goal. Stripping out volatile food At least for now, Powell has something
and energy costs, core prices increased 4.9%. that Burns did not have: political support
An increasing number of economists — for taking action to combat inflation.
including ex Fed vice chair Blinder — say it Ethan Harris, head of global economics
may take an economic contraction and high- research at Bank of America Corp, said the Biden, who held a rare meeting with Pow-
er unemployment to bring inflation down Fed would probably be willing to compromise ell last month, has repeatedly reaffirmed the
to more tolerable levels, much less back to and accept a plateauing of inflation at 3%, Fed’s independence to do what it thinks is
the Fed’s 2% price target. with the idea of addressing the overshoot of its necessary to tackle surging prices. And the
target gradually over time.That would allow president has also made clear that he consid-
“I’ve become more pessimistic about the it to avoid pushing the US into a downturn. ers high inflation to be the No 1 economic
opportunity of stabilising inflation at an ac- issue facing the US.
ceptable level without a recession,” said JP- “Recall that the great inflation fighter
Morgan Chase & Co chief economist Bruce PaulVolcker backed off with inflation down “Inflation is the bane of our existence,”
Kasman. He sees a dynamic developing in to 4%,” Harris said. Biden told ABC television late-night host
which a protracted period of high inflation Jimmy Kimmel in a June 8 interview.
and a tight labour market leads to elevated
wage demands and more costs for companies. Read also:
UK economy shrinks unexpectedly as
In research published on June 6, Bloomb- Covid-19 testing winds down
erg Economics chief US economist Anna “The British economy shrank in April at
Wong and her colleagues put the chances the sharpest pace in more than a year as the
of a recession this year at one in four and of government wound down Covid-19 testing,
one next year at three in four. “A downturn raising the risk that the economy contracts in
in 2022 is unlikely, but recession in 2023 will the second quarter. GDP fell 0.3% from March
be tough to avoid,” they wrote. when output declined 0.1%.”
Click here
Investors are taking note. Bond yields
jumped and stock prices tumbled on con-
cern the Fed will slam harder on the policy
brakes after news that consumer prices rose

t u e s d a y j u n e 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 20 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

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reuters That’s upgraded from only fully pricing half- Global
point hikes previously.The last 75-basis-point commodity
A Fed rate hike hike by the Fed was made in November 1994. shock is on
of 75 basis points track for 1970s
The shift in tightening bets after last Fri- level, Citi says
is a done deal day’s inflation numbers has sparked a global
for traders equity sell-off and pushed the US S&P 500 by Enda Curran
closer to a bear market. A closely-watched Bloomberg
by Kristine Aquino & Alice Gledhill part of the US yield curve inverted on Mon-
Bloomberg day (June 13), reflecting concern that ag- HONG KONG (June 13): Global
gressive rate hikes will push the economy buyers of commodities are on track to
(June 13):Traders are betting the US Fed- into a recession. pay producers US$5.2 trillion more
eral Reserve (Fed) will raise rates by three in 2022 than they did in 2019 thanks
quarters of a percentage point at least once All eyes will be on this week’s Fed state- to surging prices, according to a new
in its next three meetings to cool the hottest ment and chair Jerome Powell’s post-meet- base case analysis from Citigroup Inc.
inflation in four decades. ing press conference, where policymakers’
characterisation of inflation and long-term That increase is the equivalent of
Money markets are pricing 175 basis points forecasts for the federal funds target — the 5% of world gross domestic product,
by its September decision, implying two half- so-called dot plot — will be critical. the analysts wrote in a Monday note.
point and one 75-basis-point hikes, according In a scenario where forward prices for
to interest rate swaps tied to Federal Open “The high inflation print has put a dent to the second half of this year materi-
Market Committee policy outcome dates. the peak inflation (and the peak Fed hawkish- alize, buyers would be paying $6.3
ness narrative),” Mohit Kumar, an interest rate trillion more than during 2019, or
strategist at Jefferies International Ltd, wrote 6.2% of GDP.
in a note to clients on Monday. “From a Fed
perspective, the question is whether they will In either case, such a shock would
need to respond even more forcefully with be on the scale of what the world ex-
a 75-basis-point hike in the June meeting.” perienced during the early 1970s oil
crisis, when taken as a share of global
US Treasuries and European bonds fell GDP, the analysis found.
on Monday.
“The longer the commodity shock
The yield on the two-year US note, which persists, the bigger the negative im-
is most sensitive to rate hikes, jumped as pact on commodity consumers and
much as 18 basis points to 3.25%, its highest on net, global growth and equities,”
since December 2007. That saw the curve the analysts wrote.
between two and 10-years invert for the first
time since April. They highlighted Europe and
some emerging economies as among
TOKYO (June 13):The yen fell to a 24-year Yen tumbles to the most vulnerable to a growth hit
low and Japanese bonds tumbled on Mon- lowest since 1998, if the shock stretches on, along with
day, prompting a warning from the Bank sparking Kuroda euro credit. South American curren-
of Japan (BOJ) as its easy monetary policy cies should benefit, they added.
increasingly feels the strain of rising interest warning
rates globally. A higher-for-longer scenario
by Chikako Mogi & Toru Fujioka would fuel the risk of a recession in
The currency fell more than 0.5% to Bloomberg Europe and hurt European produc-
135.19 per dollar, the lowest since Octo- tion competitiveness, the Citi analysts
ber 1998, as Treasury yields extended Fri- bloomberg wrote.They estimated that commod-
day’s inflation-shock driven gains and the ity-driven inflation is already cutting
BOJ offered to buy more bonds to cap local Kuroda said in response to questions in par- European households’ real disposable
equivalents. liament. “They increase uncertainties and incomes by 2% annually.
make it hard for businesses to make plans.”
That prompted BOJ governor Haruhiko Click here for the full story Though a commodities boom
Kuroda to deliver his clearest warning yet would have “both winners and los-
that the impact of rapid slides in the curren- ers,” they wrote, the impact would be
cy are damaging for the economy. bearish for consumption and global
growth.
The yen has tumbled almost 15% this
year — the worst-performing major curren- “The degree of bearishness will
cy — as the BOJ keeps rates anchored to be dependent on the pass through
boost a sluggish economy while US yields to wages and the resulting policy re-
surge on bets for continued Federal Reserve sponse, and is likely to be partly offset
(Fed) hikes. by a revenue ‘recycling’ by produc-
ers,” the analysts wrote.
Friday’s shock higher-than-expected US
inflation print has heaped pressure on the
Fed to intensify monetary tightening, boost-
ing the dollar. In sharp contrast, the BOJ
looks set to maintain its super-loose stance
at its meeting later in the week.

“A recent rapid depreciation of the yen is
undesirable and negative for the economy,”

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(June 13): Bitcoin plunged to the lowest Bitcoin tumbles made by Celsius, according to data track-
in about 18 months after the freezing of to 18-month low er Block Analitica. If Bitcoin falls below
withdrawals by the Celsius lending plat- after latest DeFi US$22,534.89, the position will be liqui-
form added to concern that systemic risk lender blowup dated, adding more sell pressure for Bit-
in the crypto ecosystem will accelerate the coin, the analytics firm said.
digital-asset market meltdown. by Joanna Ossinger & Suvashree Ghosh,
David Pan & Muyao Shen Data shows that the address used 17,919
The world’s largest digital token tum- Bloomberg wrapped Bitcoin, a version of Bitcoin that
bled as much as 17% to US$22,603 — can be used in decentralized finance, as col-
its lowest since December 2020. Other The selloff comes as traders are boosting lateral for a loan worth US$278,490,419
cryptocurrencies also declined as a broad- bets for a more aggressive pace of Federal in the decentralized stablecoin DAI.While
er sell-off continued.The MVIS Crypto- Reserve tightening after data Friday showed the blockchain explorer Etherescan didn’t
Compare Digital Assets 100 Index, which US inflation jumped to a fresh 40-year high labeled the wallet as Celsius, a wallet from
measures 100 of the top tokens, dropped in May. Cryptocurrencies, which have strug- Celsius sent additional 2,000 wrapped Bit-
as much as 17%. And the total market gled amid the Fed’s policy in recent months, coin to support the position. Celsius did
value, which topped US$3 trillion in No- have been hit particularly hard.The collapse not immediately respond to a request for
vember, dropped below US$1 trillion as of theTerra/Luna ecosystem last month, and comment on the wallets.
of 10:54 a.m. NewYork time on Monday, lender Celsius pausing withdrawals Mon-
according to CoinGecko. day morning Asia time, have further eroded Ether declined as much as 20% to its
confidence in the space. lowest level since January 2021. Avalanche
“The fundamentals to support stabili- dropped as much as 20%, Solana up to
zation and recovery just aren’t there,” said “If you do get long, perhaps think about 19% and Dogecoin as much as 20%.
Steven McClurg, co-founder and CIO at doing so with either a long call spread or
crypto fund managerValkyrie Investments. short put spread to limit risk” on Bitcoin “If Ethereum continues to bleed toward
“Things can and likely will get worse be- futures, said Rick Bensignor, president of US$1,200 (the 200-week moving average),
fore they get better.” Bensignor Investment Strategies and a for- the outlook for other altcoins becomes even
mer strategist at Morgan Stanley. “If this bleaker,” said AntoniTrenchev, co-founder
The shares of companies that have em- dives, there’s no reliable support nearby.” and managing partner of crypto lender Nexo.
braced crypto also tumbled. MicroStrategy
Inc, the software company that made buy- Traders speculated that Celsius could Read also:
ing Bitcoin as part of its corporate strategy, face further risks if the broader market Crypto lender Celsius stops withdrawals,
fell as much as 28%. Jack Dorsey’s Block selloff deepens. A loan worth more than fuels market slump
Inc dropped by as much as 10%. Bitcoin US$278 million, one of the biggest sin- “Celsius Network Ltd paused withdrawals,
miners Marathon Digital Holdings Inc and gle loans on decentralized lending plat- swaps and transfers on its platform, fueling a
Riot Blockchain Inc slumped as much as form MakerDAO, is labeled as a loan broad cryptocurrency selloff and prompting
19% and 16% respectively. a competitor to announce a potential bid for
its assets. Crypto markets slumped after the
Binance, the largest crypto trading plat- Celsius announcement.”
form, temporarily suspended withdraw- Click here
als of the Bitcoin network because of an
transaction processing issue.Withdrawals
were still being made on other networks.

NEW YORK (June 13): Cryptocurren- MicroStrategy “Crypto fans have become used to volatile
cy-related stocks plunged on Monday as leads crypto stock rides, but these roller-coaster descents are
Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest level in 18 sell-off as Bitcoin increasingly hard to stomach,” said Susannah
months amid a deepening sell-off in risk Streeter, senior investment and markets ana-
assets and after a crypto lender halted with- unravels lyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.“With the era
drawals from its platform. of cheap money coming rapidly to an end,
by Matt Turner traders are becoming much more risk-averse
MicroStrategy Inc, which over the last two Bloomberg and turning their backs on crypto assets.”
years has amassed more than 129,000 Bit-
coin tokens, led the slump, plunging as much Bloomberg Crypto stocks have been under pressure
as 28% — its biggest drop since 2017. Oth- for months as the prospects of higher in-
er crypto stocks including Marathon Digital terest rates, a possible recession, and the
Holdings Inc, Riot Blockchain Inc, and Coin- collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem in
base Global Inc also saw outsized declines of May weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
at least 15% each.The MVIS CryptoCompare The CoinShares Blockchain Global Equity
Digital Assets 100 Index, which measures the Index, which tracks 49 firms from around
100 largest digital assets, sank as much as 15%. the globe with crypto exposure, has fallen
more than 38% so far this year, on pace for
The sharp move lower in Bitcoin came its worst annual performance on record.
as crypto lender Celsius Network Ltd
said it was pausing withdrawals, swaps, While risk assets more broadly were
and transfers on its platform. Concerns lower on Monday morning, the plunge by
surrounding the sustainability of the high crypto stocks has been exacerbated by the
yields offered by the firm have surfaced rapid drop in Bitcoin prices. The world’s
in recent weeks following the collapse of largest digital asset sank as much as 15%
theTerraUSD stablecoin, which promised and broke below the US$24,000 level as
yields of as much as 20% to depositors. it fell for a seventh day in a row.

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NEWYORK (June 13): Among the caval- reuters inflation by raising interest rates.With the
cade of challenges facing corporate Amer- Federal Reserve leading the charge, the
ica, from historically high inflation to the ‘Dollar ate my dollar is off to its best start to a year since
lingering effects of the pandemic, a familiar profit’ is corporate 2010, extending its gains over the past 12
lament is beginning to dominate C-suite America’s lament months to more than 22% versus the yen
conversations once again: the meteoric as- and 15% against the euro.
cent of the dollar. once again
For many companies dependent on
Microsoft Corp became the latest US by Amelia Pollard, Liz Capo McCormick overseas sales, it’s set to be a gut punch to
firm to make headlines for pointing a finger & Robert Fullem their bottom lines.That’s because a strong-
at the surging greenback, accusing it of eat- Bloomberg er greenback lessens the value of their for-
ing away at its profits in a rare mid-season eign revenue when translated back into
earnings forecast revision.The US curren- A stronger greenback dollars. It also makes their products less
cy soared on Monday to the highest since lessens the value of their competitive as prices rise in local currency
April 2020, driven by jumping Treasury foreign revenue and also terms, reducing demand.
yields and expectations for the Fed to de- makes their products less
liver bigger rate hikes in coming months. competitive as prices rise “There’s concern about the dollar pric-
in local currency terms, ing US companies out of the global mar-
Microsoft joins Biogen Inc,CostcoWhole- ketplace, which is very significant when you
sale Corp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co reducing demand. consider some of our largest cap companies
and Salesforce Inc, all of which have be- have the greatest bulk of their businesses
moaned the stronger dollar in recent weeks. overseas, or at least sizable amounts,” said
Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at
After years of relatively serene global LeutholdWeeden Capital Management in
currency markets, foreign-exchange volatil- Minneapolis.
ity has come roaring back as central banks
around the world look to rein in runaway To be sure, earnings revisions based
on foreign-exchange fluctuations are of-
ten brushed off by investors more con-
cerned with operational performance. In
fact some market watchers say currency
volatility is too often used as a convenient
veil for a poor quarter.

Yet it’s clear that this go around, the
stronger dollar is having a tangible impact
on corporate results.
Click here for the full story

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO/ China’s ment to make semiconductors,” said US
TAIPEI (June 13): China’s semiconduc- chipmaking House Representative Michael McCaul,
tor industry is showing signs of flourishing power grows a Republican from Texas.
even in the face of Biden administration despite US effort
efforts to counter its growth, raising alarm to counter it The semiconductor industry became
bells in Washington. a key battleground during the Trump ad-
by JEnny Leonard, Ian King & Debby Wu ministration’s trade war with China. Pres-
Chinese orders for chip-manufacturing Bloomberg ident Joe Biden then inherited a set of
equipment from overseas suppliers rose rules aimed at restricting some Chinese
58% in 2021, making it the biggest mar- Bloomberg companies’ access to technology. While
ket for those products for a second year some parts of the US government want
running, according to data provided by to extend that into a more blanket ban,
industry body Semi. others are resisting what they see as an
unnecessary escalation.
While those figures appeared in April,
the flood of machinery headed to China The global chip shortage, which dis-
is now drawing more attention — espe- rupted supplies of everything from cars to
cially as a legislative push to bolster the smartphones, further inflamed tensions.
US chip industry with investments and
incentives falters.The US Department of Biden ordered a review of supply-chain
Commerce, meanwhile, appears unwilling vulnerabilities last year and found that —
to crack down harder on Beijing, irking while the US maintains a healthy share of
critics. chip design and manufacturing equipment
— the industry is “highly dependent” on
“If the Biden administration is serious overseas sales, notably in China.
about securing the semiconductor supply
chain in the United States and allied and That dilemma was evident in the latest
partner countries, it’s absurd to let the Chi- industry figures for 2021.
nese Communist Party buy up and stock- Click here for the full story
pile the global supply of tools and equip-

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A US$17 bil loss facing unprecedented selling pressure Thailand
puts Indian IPO by foreigners.The benchmark S&P BSE approves
among top Asia Sensex is down more than 9% this year. US$1 bil
Foxconn-PTT
wealth losers LIC’s shares are poised to fall for a EV battery JV
10th consecutive session, slipping as
by John Cheng & Ashutosh Joshi much as 5.6% Monday, after a manda- by Kitiphong Thaichareon &
Bloomberg tory lock-up period for anchor investors Satawasin Staporncharnchai
ended Friday. The rout has worried In-
HONG KONG/MUMBAI (June 13): dia’s government, with officials saying Reuters
An eye-popping US$17 billion wipeout the company’s management will “look
in market value has made Life Insurance into all these aspects and will raise share- BANGKOK (June 13): Thailand’s
Corp of India one of the biggest wealth holders’ value.” investment agency on Monday ap-
destroyers among Asia’s initial public of- proved a joint venture (JV) worth
ferings this year. LIC’s long-delayed IPO was dubbed 36.1 billion baht (US$1.04 billion)
India’s “Aramco moment” in reference between Taiwan’s Foxconn and Thai-
Having plunged 29% since its May to Gulf oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil land’s PTT to produce batteries for
17 debut, India’s biggest ever IPO now Co’s US$29.4 billion listing in 2019, electric vehicles (EVs).
ranks second in terms of market capi- the world’s largest. It was part of Prime
talization loss since listing, according to Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to ex- The Horizon Plus Co project is
data compiled by Bloomberg. The drop pand the nation’s capital markets. The one of several investment applica-
puts it just behind South Korea’s LG share sale, which was oversubscribed by tions worth a total of 209.5 billion
Energy Solution Ltd., which saw a more nearly three times, was aimed at narrow- baht in manufacturing and infra-
than 30% peak-to-trough decline in its ing the government’s budget deficit after structure that were approved on
share price after an initial spike on debut. spending increased during the pandemic. Monday, the Board of Investment
(BOI) said in a statement.
Almost a month after listing, LIC’s More pain could be ahead for the
US$2.7 billion IPO has turned out to stock given its lackluster quarterly re- “The joint venture project will
be one of Asia’s biggest new stock flops sults, according to Avinash Gorakshakar, support investment in the EV in-
this year, as rising interest rates and in- head of research with discount broker- dustry and build up on the policy to
flation levels globally hurt demand for age Profitmart Securities Pvt. “The man- become Southeast Asia’s EV manu-
share sales and with India’s stock market agement’s communication with investors facturing hub,” BOI chief Duangjai
is confusing. They haven’t held an an- Asawachintachit said.
alyst call after the results,” he said. “So
there is no clarity on how the company The approved projects also in-
is planning to grow, what is going to be cluded a 162.3 billion baht invest-
its strategy.” ment by CP Group’s Asia Era One
Co in a high-speed rail project con-
Reuters necting the three airports located in
Bangkok and the Eastern Economic
LG Energy Corridor.
Solution to invest
The BOI also approved enhanced
US$568 mil in benefits for investments in EV bat-
South Korean tery production for both existing and
new projects, including a 90% re-
factories duction of import duty on raw and
essential materials for five years in
SEOUL (June 13): LG Energy Solution by Heekyong Yang & Joyce Lee case the output is sold domestically.
said on Monday it will invest 730 billion Reuters
won (US$567.76 million) to expand its Reuters
production capacity at its Ochang pro- cal battery cells.
duction site in South Korea. The new lines at the Ochang produc-

The South Korean battery maker, tion site would be ready for mass pro-
which countsTelsa Inc, General Motors duction by the second half of 2023, the
Co, and Volkswagen AG among others company said in a statement.
as customers, said it planned to invest
580 billion won to add 9 gigawatt-hours In March, LG Energy Solution an-
(GWh) worth of production capacity of nounced a plan to invest 1.7 trillion won
4680 cylindrical batteries at its No 2 to build a battery factory in the US state
Ochang factory. of Arizona by 2024 to meet demand from
North American customers.
LG Energy Solution also said it
would invest 150 billion won in the No The company’s Arizona factory is set
1 Ochang factory to add 4 GWh worth to make cylindrical cells, a type of bat-
of production capacity of 2170 cylindri- tery that has been used in Tesla and Lu-
cid vehicles.

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bloomberg unit to a list of firms warranting close mon- Battery giant
itoring after a series of scandals, according CATL said to
Credit Suisse to a person with knowledge of the matter. kick off US$6.7
added to UK The regulator cited concern over its risk bil placement
regulator’s controls, governance, and culture.
watchlist on risk by Pei Li, Dong Cao, Danny Lee
Officials have asked the firm’s top man- & Low De Wei
concerns agement to offer evidence of the steps it Bloomberg
would take to make improvements going
by Marion Halftermeyer forward, the person said, who asked not to HONG KONG/BEIJING (June 13):
Bloomberg be identified discussing private matters. Contemporary AmperexTechnology Co
Ltd, the world’s biggest maker of bat-
ZURICH (June 13):The UK’s financial reg- “We do not comment on our discussions teries for electric cars, has kicked off an
ulator has added Credit Suisse Group AG with regulators, nor would it be appropriate A-share private placement that could
to a watchlist over concerns that it has not for us to do so,” Dominik von Arx, a spokes- raise about 45 billion yuan (US$6.7 bil-
sufficiently addressed risky culture as the person for the bank, said in an emailed state- lion), according to terms of the deal seen
lender struggles to draw a line under a series ment. “As we have summarised before, we by Bloomberg News.
of scandals and turbulence. are now well advanced in executing the plan
to strengthen our businesses and our risk The Ningde, Fujian-based company
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) culture.” has set a floor price of 339.67 yuan for
told Credit Suisse last month it was adding the placement, the terms show. It plans
the bank’s UK operations and international The Financial Times (FT) reported the to price the share sale on Wednesday,
news earlier, citing a letter to the bank’s sen- according to people familiar with the
ior management from the regulator. Only matter, who asked not to be identified
20 or so firms are typically on the list at any as the information is private.
one point, the FT said.
The placement includes a greenshoe
The FCA declined to comment. option that could take the deal size to
Over the past two years, Credit Suisse has about US$6.87 billion, IFR reported
seen a US$5.5 billion hit from Archegos, the earlier on Monday, citing unidentified
collapse of partner Greensill Capital, and a people. A representative for the compa-
string of profit warnings that eroded investor ny, better known as CATL, didn’t imme-
confidence, weakened key businesses, and diately reply to requests for comment.
prompted an exodus of talent.
As part of a push to cut costs after warn- CATL flagged the placement earli-
ing of a second-quarter loss, Bloomberg re- er, saying in a filing to the Shenzhen
ported last week that Credit Suisse was stock exchange in November that it was
considering job cuts.The reduction in head- cutting its size to 45 billion yuan, from
count may come as the bank preps an update 58.2 billion yuan. Proceeds will be used
to investors on risk, compliance, technology, for the production and upgrade of lith-
and wealth management on June 28. ium-ion battery manufacturing in four
Chinese cities, as well as research and
LONDON (June 13): BP plc sold out of Can- BP sells out of development.
ada’s oil sands, divesting its stake in the Sunrise oil sands, snaps
project to Cenovus Energy Inc while acquiring up Canadian Shares in CATL fell 2.4% to close at
offshore exploration from the same company exploration instead 443.03 yuan in Shenzhen on Monday,
in the east of the country. bringing losses for the year to almost
by Laura Hurst 25%.The company has a market value
The oil-sands disposal aligns with BP’s Bloomberg of about US$153 billion.
plans to divest polluting projects as inves-
tors demand greater efforts to tackle climate ered resource to our existing portfolio.” The battery making giant has been
change. Companies such as Shell plc and The offshore oil project, operated by under pressure in recent months after
ConocoPhillips have also offloaded such ven- posting its sharpest-ever drop in quar-
tures, which have a particularly high carbon Equinor ASA, won governmental approval terly earnings for the first quarter and
footprint because of the energy required to earlier this year despite environmental oppo- disclosing a sizable derivatives liability.
extract bitumen from deposits underground. sition.The US$12 billion development is esti-
mated to have recoverable reserves of around The company also weathered mar-
Cenovus agreed to buy BP’s 50% interest 300 million barrels of oil. ket rumors last week, including that a
in Sunrise for C$600 million (US$467 mil- large futures loss may have dented its
lion) in cash and a contingent payment of as BP plans to reduce its total oil and gas pro- second-quarter earnings and that vice
much as C$600 million which expires after two duction 40% by 2030 and said it will focus chairman Huang Shilin cut his stake re-
years.The Calgary-based company will also on “resilient hydrocarbons” — those which cently for cash.
hand over its 35% interest in the Bay du Nord have a lower cost and carbon footprint.The
oil project off Newfoundland and Labrador. London-based major has also said it will no CATL denied such speculation on
longer explore for fossil fuels in new countries. both counts, noting Huang’s interest re-
“This is an important step in our plans mained unchanged after he transfered
to create a more focused, resilient, and com- about 2 million shares to six private
petitive business in Canada,” BP senior vice funds that he owned.
president for the Gulf of Mexico and Canada,
Starlee Sykes, said in a statement. “Bay du
Nord will add sizeable acreage and a discov-

t u e s d a y j u n e 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 25 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

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London London-listed Go-Ahead received a se- Bloomberg
double-decker ries of offers from each suitor, which it’s
bus operator been reviewing with its financial adviser Bids for India
Go-Ahead attracts Rothschild & Co, it said in the statement. cricket rights
It’s now granted due diligence to both par- touch US$6 bil
two suitors ties, as the latest proposals are at a level on auction day 1
that Go-Ahead’s board would recommend
by Vinicy Chan & Dinesh Nair, to shareholders if the bids are firmed up. — sources
Christopher Jasper & Ruth David
Shares of Go-Ahead jumped after the by P R Sanjai & Saritha Rai
Bloomberg company confirmed the takeover interest. Bloomberg
The stock was up 19% at 9:40 a.m. Monday
(June 13): Go-Ahead Group Plc, the big- in London, giving the company a market MUMBAI/BANGALORE (June
gest operator of London’s iconic dou- value of £620 million (US$759 million). 13):The auction of broadcast rights
ble-decker buses, has attracted takeover for India’s coveted cricket league saw
interest from two suitors as investors bet Each bidder has until July 11 to an- heated competition on the first day
on a revival in the UK transport industry. nounce formal plans to make an offer, as bids went past 450 billion rupees
according to the statement. There’s no (US$5.8 billion), according to peo-
A consortium of Australian bus opera- certainty about the terms of any poten- ple familiar with the proceedings.
tor Kinetic Holding Co, which is backed by tial takeover, Go-Ahead said.
Canadian pension manager OPTrust, and The sum offered by the end
Globalvia Inversiones SAU made an unso- Go-Ahead runs nearly a quarter of Lon- of Sunday for the Indian Premier
licited approach for Go-Ahead, according to a don’s buses, including some of the city’s League’s (IPL) rights already ex-
statement Monday.The company also received zero-emission fleet.The company operates ceeded the floor price of 328 billion
separate takeover interest from Sydney-listed Govia Thameslink, the UK’s biggest rail- rupees set by India’s cricket board
transport operator Kelsian Group Ltd., it said. way company, which is in charge of com- and is nearly three times what the
muter-train services into London as well sport’s local governing body got in
as the Gatwick Express line to one of the the last auction in 2017. Bidding will
capital’s airports. resume on Monday.
Click here for the full story
A representative for the Board
TOKYO (June 13): Blake Lemoine, a soft- Google suspends of Control for Cricket in India, or
ware engineer on Google’s artificial intel- AI engineer who BCCI, declined to comment on the
ligence (AI) development team, has gone made sentient bidding progress.
public with claims of encountering “sentient”
AI on the company’s servers after he was sus- bot claims Global media giants are battling
pended for sharing confidential information for a five-year contract for one of
about the project with third parties. by Vlad Savov the world’s most popular sporting
Bloomberg events. Bidders include current
The Alphabet Inc unit placed the re- rights holder Walt Disney Co, Sony
searcher on paid leave early last week on Bloomberg Group Corp,Viacom 18 Media Pvt
claims he breached the firm’s confidential- — a venture between Reliance In-
ity policy, he said in a Medium post titled Blake Lemoine dustries Ltd and Paramount Glob-
“May be fired soon for doing AI ethics al — and local entertainment firm
work”. In the posting, he drew a connec- are not sentient,” Google spokesperson Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
tion to prior members of Google’s AI eth- Brian Gabriel said in response. “Our team
ics group, such as Margaret Mitchell, who — including ethicists and technologists The IPL is a multi-week tourna-
were eventually dismissed by the company — has reviewed Blake’s concerns per our ment typically held in April and May
in a similar fashion after raising concerns. AI principles and have informed him that every year.
the evidence does not support his claims.” Click here for the full story
TheWashington Post on Saturday ran an
interview with Lemoine, wherein he said he The company said it does not comment
concluded the Google AI he interacted with on personnel matters when asked about
was a person,“in his capacity as a priest, not a Lemoine’s suspension.
scientist”.TheAI in question is dubbed LaM-
DA, or Language Model for Dialogue Ap-
plications, and is used to generate chat bots
that interact with human users by adopting
various personality tropes. Lemoine said he
tried to conduct experiments to prove it, but
was rebuffed by senior executives at the com-
pany when he raised the matter internally.

“Some in the broader AI community
are considering the long-term possibility
of sentient or general AI, but it doesn’t
make sense to do so by anthropomorphis-
ing today’s conversational models, which

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Baltic Exchange shipping updates

A weekly round up of tanker and dry bulk market (June 10, 2022)

Capesize points over the week to close at 2,629 and the
P5TC weighted average lost US$2,001 to close
The Capesize market softened this week as glob- This report is at US$23,662. Owners in the east were hold-
al market concern’s kept the headwinds coming. produced by the ing firm at the start of the week, however by the
The softening of values was felt across all Cape- Baltic Exchange. week end trips for Indonesia/India were lower
size 5TC routes as the index lowered through- than last done with owners reducing offers to
out the week by -4609 to US$19,665. Friday The Baltic Exchange, a wholly- find cover. As the week progressed there were
saw a slight uptick in value but little could be owned subsidiary of Singapore increasing cargoes for NoPac on forward dates
read into it at this stage.The impact of sharply Exchange, is the world’s but this did not offer much prompt support.
rising fuel prices countered much of the slide in only independent source of The Atlantic was likewise under pressure with a
rate levels on voyage routes as the main Cape- maritime market information rising tonnage list competing for limitedTrans-
size volume routes Brazil to China C3 andWest for the trading and settlement atlantic and ECSA business further eroding
Australia to China C5 settled at US$31.37 and of physical and derivative rates for the latter. There was a period fixture
US$12.495 respectively. contracts. with a 2010, 82,000-dwt fixed for 12 months
at US$29,000. However it was reported that
While some routes like Indonesian to India Its international community period enquiry has weakened amid losses on
for coal remain relatively busy the overall fix- of over 650 members the FFA market over the week, despite a small
ture volume in the Pacific remains insufficient encompasses the majority of rally at the close.
to push the market. There are said to be some world shipping interests and
pockets of resistance emerging from owners in commits to a code of business Ultramax/Supramax
the Pacific. The ballaster lineup is heard to be conduct overseen by the Baltic. With many people away from their desks due
well-stocked currently. This is keeping the At- to Posidonia the market in many areas saw a
lantic routes well tonnaged which lessens the For daily freight market reports change in direction as rates from key areas
possibility for any dramatic sparks in value.With and assessments, please visit such as the US Gulf and East Coast South
the large Posidonia event currently being held www.balticexchange.com. America fell away. From Asia limited fresh en-
in Greece, this week’s attention is surely dis- quiry also appeared from the south but further
tracted, while next week it should be back to north limited support remained for backhaul
all hands on deck. runs. Period activity was limited, but a 64,000-
dwt was heard fixed for one year delivery Chi-
Panamax na at US$31,000 with redelivery worldwide. In
Another week interrupted by holidays in Asia the Atlantic, from the Continent a 63,000-dwt
and Europe, combined with many market play- was fixed for a scrap run to the East Mediterra-
ers in Greece for Posidonia, that has led to a nean in the low US$19,000s. From the South
rather lacklustre seven days with falling sen- Atlantic. Ultramax size was fixing very low
timent, rising tonnage lists and subsequently
falling rates across the board.The BPI lost 222 co n ti n ues o n Pag e 2 7

T u e S D A y J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 27 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

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from Page 26 ently traded upwards coming up 55 points Suezmax
toWS213.33.The far east MR market has Rates for the 135,000mt Black Sea/Au-
US$20,000s plus around US$1 million also been extremely busy this week. gusta were steady this week at close
ballast bonus. From Asia, a 61,000-dwt to WS112.5 (a round-trip TCE of
open Manila fixed a trip via Indonesia re- In the west the LR’s have jumped as a US$10,700/day), while the 130,000mt
delivery West Coast India at US$35,000. mid-week cargo widely reported fixed a Nigeria/UKC route saw rates climb 2.5
Whilst for Pacific rounds a Supramax was US$4m for a Med/East, has helped lead points to a shade above WS93 (a round-
heard to have fixed around US$30,000 for the index up to US$4.18m (+US$650k) trip TCE of about $1,700/day). In the
an Australian round voyage. taking the round trip TCE back into the Middle East rates for the 140,000mt Bas-
black (US$3,000 /day) by time of writ- rah/West Mediterranean rose a modest 1.5
Handysize ing. The LR1’s of TC16 remained stable points to almost WS55.
With Posidonia and holidays this week, creeping up fromWS235 toWS240 levels
activity was limited and sentiment was over the week. Aframax
negative. In East Coast South Ameri- The 80,000mt Ceyhan/Mediterranean
ca due to a lack of enquiry, levels have MR’s in Northwest Europe have been market saw a rebound this week, with rates
dropped considerably with a 38,000-dwt the talk of the town this week, peaking improving 14 points toWS132.5/135 lev-
fixing from Recalada to the Continent at at their highest level since April 2020 el (a round-trip TCE of about US$8,00/
US$26,500, and 34,000-dwt fixing from from a notable lack of tonnage.TC2 37k day). In Northern Europe rates remained
Fazendinha to Morocco with an intend- UK-Continent/US Atlantic Coast hiked flat at about WS140 for the 80,000mt
ed cargo of grains at US$22,000. There 69.44 points toWS394.72 andTC19 37k Hound Point/UK Continent trip (a dai-
is a similar story in the US Gulf and a UK-Continent/West Africa followed suit ly round trip TCE of US$9,800) and at
33,000-dwt fixed from South West Pass to WS404.29 (+71.43). WS165 for the 100,000mt Primorsk/UK
to Morocco at US$16,000. A 34,000-dwt Continent route (which shows a round
was rumoured to have been placed on In the USG, freight rates have dropped trip TCE of US$28,500/day). Across the
subjects for a trip from South West Pass significantly this week. TC14 38k US Atlantic, the markets were ever so slightly
to East Coast Mexico at US$13,500. A Gulf/UK-Continent has lost 68.57 firmer for the week. Rates for 70,000mt
32,000-dwt was fixed from Port Arthur points WS177.86. TC18 38k US Gulf/ EC Mexico/US Gulf route rose 2 points to
to West Coast Central America with an Brazil has followed suit, dropping 92.14 WS180 (a round-tripTCE of US$15,900/
intended cargo of petcoke at US$18,000. points to WS250. The MR Atlantic bas- day) and for the 70,000mt Caribbean/US
In Asia, levels have also softened, with a ket TCE dropped from U$43,513/day to Gulf route gained 2.5 points to WS175
32,000-dwt fixed from CJK to South East US$38,042/day. On the Handymax, open (a round-trip TCE of Atlantic trip of
Asia at US$23,000. A 38,000-dwt open cross Mediterranean enquiry slowed to- 70,000mt US Gulf/UK Continent, rates
Laem Chabang was rumoured to have wards the end of the week, the TC6 in- increased 3.5 points to almost WS170
fixed via Australia to South East Asia at dex dropped 6.25 points to WS408.75 . (US$11,800/day round-tip TCE).
US$28,500. In the Baltic TC9 held around the mid
WS420’s all week. Baltic Exchange News
Clean The Baltic Exchange runs a series of pro-
LR’s in the Middle East Gulf saw a wel- VLCC fessional training courses through its Acad-
come upturn after several weeks of be- VLCC rates were flat this week, with emy.When possible, these take place in key
ing under pressure. TC1 75k Middle 280,000mt Middle East Gulf/USG (via shipping centres but are also available as an
East Gulf/Japan has gained 24.29 points Cape of Good Hope) being assessed at e-learning option.The courses are designed
to WS215 and its round trip TCE back WS25.5, while rates for the 270,000mt to help shipping, finance and commodity
up to over US$20,000/day. TC5 55k Middle East Gulf/China trip were up a executives build on their knowledge of the
Middle East Gulf/Japan also saw a sim- meagre 0.5 points to just shy of WS45 (a maritime markets. The courses are led by
ilar rise of 27.86 points to WS258.57. round trip TCE of minus US$22,200/ experts and deliver a high-level education,
An LR1 trip west (TC8) ticked over the day). combining theory with real-life practical
US$60pmt by the end of the week settling examples. See online for more details.
at US$62.29pmt (US$4.04m).TC17 35kt In the Atlantic, markets the rate for
Middle East Gulf/East Africa has consist- 260,000mtWest Africa/China were steady
at the WS45.5 mark (minus US$20,800/
day round-trip TCE), while the rate for
270,000mt US Gulf/China voyage re-
mained unchanged at US$5.37m (a round
voyage TCE of minus US$23,400/day).

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

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

T U E S D A Y J U N E 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 28 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

MARKETS

CPO RM 5,793.00-127.00 OIL US$ 120.42-1.59 RM/USD 4.4177 RM/SGD 3.1802 RM/AUD 3.0771 RM/GBP 5.4002 RM/EUR 4.6218

Top 20 active stocks

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

FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 154.30 -0.005 0.010 0.00 59.2

BCM ALLIANCE BHD 83.80 0.000 0.025 -16.67 50.9

SAPURA ENERGY BHD 77.90 0.000 0.050 0 799.0

TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 77.80 -0.100 1.030 -60.23 8,247.4

DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 71.70 -0.070 0.905 19.08 2,856.4

MNC WIRELESS BHD 51.10 0.000 0.015 0.00 34.3

HIBISCUS PETROLEUM BHD 47.20 -0.060 1.210 48.47 2,435.0

TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 36.10 -0.010 0.085 -32.00 290.9

YONG TAI BHD 33.70 -0.005 0.085 -34.62 118.5 World equity indices

SERBA DINAMIK HOLDINGS BHD 32.70 -0.010 0.100 -71.43 371.0

WIDAD GROUP BHD 28.70 0.000 0.360 -1.37 990.9 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

MY EG SERVICES BHD 27.00 -0.025 0.885 -17.29 6,536.2 (%) (%)
DOW JONES 31,392.79 -880.00 -2.73 INDONESIA 6,995.44 -91.21 -1.29
SOUTH MALAYSIA INDUSTRIES 24.00 0.005 0.420 110.000 88.2

PUBLIC BANK BHD 23.40 -0.050 4.480 7.69 86,959.9 S&P 500 3,900.86 -116.96 -2.91 JAPAN 26,987.44 -836.85 -3.01

DYNACIATE GROUP BHD 21.70 -0.025 0.115 15.00 112.3 NASDAQ 100 11,832.82 -436.96 -3.56 KOREA 2,504.51 -91.36 -3.52

PERTAMA DIGITAL BHD 21.30 0.005 0.870 50.000 377.0 FTSE 100 7,203.62 -113.90 -1.56 PHILIPPINES 6,467.01 -63.03 -0.97

TWL HOLDINGS BHD 20.70 -0.005 0.070 40.00 248.5 AUSTRALIA 6,931.98 -87.77 -1.25 SINGAPORE 3,139.35 -42.38 -1.33

NWP HOLDINGS BHD 20.00 0.010 0.265 8.16 139.5 CHINA 3,255.55 -29.28 -0.89 TAIWAN 16,070.98 -389.14 -2.36

DATASONIC GROUP BHD 18.50 -0.020 0.530 29.27 1,518.1 HONG KONG 21,067.58 -738.60 -3.39 THAILAND 1,600.06 -32.56 -1.99

HIAP TECK VENTURE BHD 18.30 -0.035 0.31 -38 540.1 INDIA 52,846.70 -1,456.74 -2.68 VIETNAM 1,227.04 -57.04 -4.44

Data as compiled on Jun 13, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jun 13, 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)

EQUITIESTRACKER HOLDINGS BHD 0.160 60.00 150.0 0.00 39.3 FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 0.010 -33.33 154,331.6 0.00 59.2

DGB ASIA BHD 0.020 33.33 57.7 -33.33 34.0 CHINA AUTOMOBILE PARTS 0.010 -33.33 1,115.0 0.00 13.6

SANICHI TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.030 20.00 641.4 20.00 42.1 PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 0.015 -25.00 1,199.3 -40.00 28.6

MARINE & GENERAL BHD 0.090 20.00 212.4 63.64 65.1 DOLOMITE CORP BHD 0.020 -20.00 250.0 -33.33 11.8

POWERWELL HOLDINGS BHD 0.22 18.92 4441.6 10 127.7 IMPIANA HOTELS BHD 0.020 -20.00 1,938.5 -73.33 28.9

TAS OFFSHORE BHD 0.235 17.50 59.6 -7.84 41.1 EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.020 -20.00 16,672.4 33.33 60.9

IQZAN HOLDING BHD 0.045 12.50 14.1 -10.00 10.0 PRICEWORTH INTERNATIONAL 0.130 -18.75 9,158.2 116.67 176.7

MMAG HOLDINGS BHD 0.060 9.09 3293.1 -20.00 78.8 VERTICE BHD 0.110 -18.52 3,927.0 -50.00 35.1

OLYMPIA INDUSTRIES BHD 0.070 7.69 1298.3 -17.65 71.6 DYNACIATE GROUP BHD 0.115 -17.86 21,652.0 15.00 112.3

LKL INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.070 7.69 3888.1 0.00 68.0 FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 0.025 -16.67 6,481.9 -37.50 159.3

VIZIONE HOLDINGS BHD 0.080 6.67 439.3 0.00 163.7 SCOMI ENERGY SERVICES BHD 0.025 -16.67 262.0 -54.55 11.7

INDUSTRONICS BHD 0.090 5.88 85.0 -18.18 37.1 EMICO HOLDINGS BHD 0.275 -14.06 3,656.6 -14.06 33.8

GOLDEN PHAROS BHD 0.315 5.00 5.9 6.78 44.2 SDS GROUP BHD 0.335 -12.99 6,678.9 13.56 136.0

SASBADI HOLDINGS BHD 0.125 4.17 58.0 -7.41 53.1 MALAYSIA SMELTING CORP BHD 2.750 -12.70 3,630.3 -15.38 1155.0

JENTAYU SUSTAINABLES BHD 0.395 3.95 4075.9 -9.15 127.7 EKSONS CORP BHD 0.520 -12.61 243.7 -20.00 83.1

NWP HOLDINGS BHD 0.265 3.92 19987.8 8.16 139.5 ALAM MARITIM RESOURCES BHD 0.035 -12.50 487.2 40.00 53.6

HANDAL ENERGY BHD 0.140 3.70 1.3 -30.00 32.3 FAST ENERGY HOLDINGS BHD 0.035 -12.50 4,846.4 -63.16 25.8

NICHE CAPITAL EMAS HOLDINGS 0.140 3.70 1616.8 7.69 122.9 MCLEAN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 0.185 -11.90 207.2 -22.92 36.5

GOLDEN LAND BHD 0.430 3.61 18.9 3.61 92.2 TFP SOLUTIONS BHD 0.075 -11.76 81.0 -28.57 43.8

COUNTRY VIEW BHD 0.980 3.16 5.0 -2.00 98.0 HONG SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 1.650 -11.76 845.9 -38.66 4214.4

Data as compiled on Jun 13, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jun 13, 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)

EQUITIESTRACKER HOLDINGS BHD 0.16 0.060 150.0 0.00 39.3 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 30.320 -1.620 165.5 -38.57 6030.5

ATLAN HOLDINGS BHD 2.82 0.040 5.9 3.68 715.3 BATU KAWAN BHD 25.200 -1.300 34.4 11.01 9917.8

TAS OFFSHORE BHD 0.24 0.035 59.600 -7.84 41.1 HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.420 -0.780 220.6 6.23 21095.4

POWERWELL HOLDINGS BHD 0.22 0.035 4441.6 10.00 127.7 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 24.200 -0.780 1363.3 11.11 26091.4

COUNTRY VIEW BHD 0.98 0.030 5.0 -2.00 98.0 FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 19.720 -0.780 161.7 -20.29 7232.9

YNH PROPERTY BHD 3.19 0.030 23.3 20.38 1685.9 DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES 32.800 -0.660 3.6 -2.15 2099.2

TOMEI CONSOLIDATED BHD 0.99 0.020 1114.7 8.20 137.2 HENGYUAN REFINING CO BHD 5.250 -0.550 6711.5 35.66 1575.0

ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD 12.80 0.020 98.2 -0.47 2277.9 PETRON MALAYSIA REFINING 6.440 -0.550 1191.9 47.03 1738.8

STELLA HOLDINGS BHD 0.98 0.015 56.7 2.08 65.7 PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 20.520 -0.540 295.8 -0.39 20385.7

MARINE & GENERAL BHD 0.09 0.015 212.4 63.64 65.1 SARAWAK OIL PALMS BHD 4.750 -0.460 1516.0 36.10 2776.3

GOLDEN LAND BHD 0.43 0.015 18.9 3.61 92.2 VITROX CORP BHD 7.220 -0.410 478.0 -27.51 6820.2

GOLDEN PHAROS BHD 0.32 0.015 5.9 6.78 44.2 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 24.080 -0.400 104.2 15.55 7274.5

JENTAYU SUSTAINABLES BHD 0.40 0.015 4075.9 -9.15 127.7 MALAYSIA SMELTING CORP BHD 2.750 -0.400 3630.3 -15.38 1155.0

CN ASIA CORP BHD 0.34 0.010 643 -29.47 61.7 GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 3.420 -0.380 4052.1 -49.18 4282.3

GE-SHEN CORP BHD 1.14 0.010 93.6 -14.29 125.4 TEXCHEM RESOURCES BHD 3.280 -0.350 2136.8 182.76 386.0

CYCLE & CARRIAGE BINTANG BHD 2.75 0.010 21 28.50 277.0 AEON CREDIT SERVICE M BHD 14.400 -0.340 190.2 5.73 3676.4

PETRA ENERGY BHD 0.73 0.010 273.2 -5.19 234.3 PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 26.980 -0.340 13.6 -6.64 1638.9

MBM RESOURCES BHD 3.25 0.010 181.6 4.77 1270.4 TA ANN HOLDINGS BHD 4.560 -0.340 1277.5 29.91 2008.5

PINEHILL PACIFIC BHD 0.39 0.010 45.4 -25.96 57.7 PPB GROUP BHD 15.560 -0.320 553.3 -9.01 22135.7

VERSATILE CREATIVE BHD 0.51 0.010 48.7 -25.19 141.4 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 132.000 -0.300 69.7 -1.64 30954

Data as compiled on Jun 13, 2022 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Jun 13, 2022 Source: Bloomberg