PM SETS UP FIVE-MEMBER SPECIAL ADVISORY BODY IN MOF;

APPOINTMENTS ON PRO-BONO BASIS p4

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CEOMorningBrief
HOME: MRT Corp to conduct detailed study of MRT3 alignment, including ‘suitability’ of realignment p2
Recalibration fee of RM1,500 per foreign worker ‘exorbitant’, says Rehda p6
Perkeso emerges as Cypark’s substantial shareholder p9
WORLD: Turkish leader declares state of emergency as Türkiye-Syria quake death toll passes 5,100 p19
Five ways Hong Kong can triumph over Singapore with borders now open p26

Uncertain future
sparks selldown
in MyEG
Report on Page 3.

RM0.95
Feb 7, 2022

RM0.70
Feb 7, 2023
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CEOMorningBrief

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 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
the edge ceo morning brief
Read from desktop or mobile device.
You can print in A4 to read. Set print
mode to fit or shrink oversize page.
to get on emailing list
ceomorningbrief@bizedge.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): MRT Corp
Sdn Bhd, the asset owner of the Klang Valley
Mass Rapid Transit, is conducting a detailed
and comprehensive study of the proposed
MRT Circle Line (MRT3) alignment, in-
cluding the suitability of a realignment.
In several Twitter responses over the last
three days, MRT Corp said the detailed
and comprehensive study on the proposed
alignment is being done for the purpose of
minimising the social impact of the project
on the public, especially land acquisition.
“Upon the completion of the said study,
MRT Corp will conduct a Public Inspec-
tion of the MRT3 Railway Scheme for the
period of three months, where information
about the proposed MRT3 Project will be
displayed in selected locations.
“Members of the public will be able
to view the detailed information on the
proposed MRT3 Project and are encour-
aged to provide their feedback,” said MRT
Corp through its official twitter account
@MRTMalaysia when asked by members
of the public in regards to the proposed
alignment and stations of the MRT3.
A detailed alignment for the MRT3 has
Putrajaya MRT Line’s daily ridership to hit 200,000
within two years, says Loke
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Daily rid-
ership of the Putrajaya Mass Rapid Tran-
sit (MRT) Line is expected to hit about
200,000 within two years, after the launch
of its full operations next month, saidTrans-
port Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He said Phase 2 of the Putrajaya
MRT Line is now 99.9% complete, and
should attract more public transport us-
ers when it begins service in the middle
of next month.
“We hope it can hit daily ridership of
about 200,000 in one to two years. As
in any MRT or LRT (Light Rail Tran-
sit) service, it will take time to reach a
particular target.
“For MRT1 too, we started the
2 TheEdge CEO morning brief
published by
(266980-X)
. 603-77218000
tel
Level 3, Menara KLK, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6,
Mutiara Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia
h o m e
MRT Corp to
conduct detailed
study of MRT3
alignment,
including
‘suitability’ of
realignment
by kamarul azhar
theedgemarkets.com
not been revealed, despite MRT Corp call-
ing for tenders for both the project man-
agement consultancy (PMC) contract as
well as the civil construction packages.
In August last year, MRT Corp had
appointed the joint venture entity of HSS
Integrated Sdn Bhd and HSS Engineer-
ing Sdn Bhd for the PMC package worth
Bernama
Kajang Line with a low base, but it has
reached about 200,000 right now. It took
about two years to reach that,” he told a
news conference at the Sungai Buloh MRT
depot near here on Tuesday (Feb 7).
Loke said the Putrajaya MRT Line, which
cost RM30.53 billion in terms of construc-
tion and system installation, will cover 36
stations using 49 train sets operating at a
frequency of five minutes each initially.
Earlier, Loke took a test ride on the Pu-
trajaya MRT route from Putrajaya Sentral
to Kwasa Damansara, with a stop at the
Titiwangsa Station.
He said the ministry plans to expand the
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RM997.9 million. MRT Corp has yet to
award the civil construction packages.
Meanwhile, the due date for the sub-
missions for the systems turnkey contrac-
tor has been extended to the middle of
this month.
Following the progress of the project,
some groups have called for the author-
ities to hold dialogue sessions to discuss
issues concerning the alignment before it
is approved.
This is because many landowners and
homeowners have been in the dark con-
cerning the alignment of the MRT3, but
had already been given notice by the Land
Department on the possible acquisition of
their homes.
Meanwhile, Economy Minister Rafizi
Ramli had said he will meet MRT Corp
and Prasarana Malaysia Bhd to address his
constituents’ concerns over their homes be-
ing demolished to make way for the project.
The MRT3 Circle Line, estimated to cost
RM50.2 billion, is said to be the critical final
piece to complete Kuala Lumpur’s urban
rail network, with its 50.8km alignment run-
ning along the perimeter of the city.
Titiwangsa Station into a major transport
hub connecting the Monorail service, the
Ampang LRT Line, the MRT2 (the Pu-
trajaya route), and the proposed MRT3.
He said the site identified for the
project belongs to MRT Corp, which
is tasked with developing the project, in-
cluding procurement and tender matters.
“Initially, this (station expansion) was
planned together with the construction
of the MRT3, but I told MRT Corp that
probably we have to look at this and do
it earlier, before the construction [of the
MRT3],” he added.
Read the full story
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Uncertain future sparks
selldown in MyEG
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Shares of
MyEG Services Bhd closed 26.7% lower
at 70 sen on Tuesday — the lowest since
Nov 2020 — following news reports that
all immigration services and processes will
revert to the Immigration Department by
2025, including those being managed by
third parties such as MyEG.
Earlier, the counter gapped down on
market opening to 65.5 sen as it fell 30
sen or 31.4%. At market close of 70 sen,
MyEG saw its market value reduced by
almost RM2 billion to RM5.21 billion.
It was the most-active stock on Bur-
sa Malaysia with RM1.02 billion shares
changing hands.
New Straits Times on Monday quoted
immigration director general Datuk Seri
Khairul Dzaimee Daud as saying that the
Home Ministry had set aside RM900 mil-
lion for the roll-out of the National In-
tegrated Immigration System (NIISe) in
two years, and that the new system is ex-
pected to be a “game changer” that would
improve the department’s efficiency and
customer experience.
NIISe, which is currently developed by
Iris Corp Bhd, will replace the current Ma-
laysian Immigration System (myIMMS)
that the department has been using for
about 13 years. It will converge all immi-
gration transactions, including passport re-
newals, visa applications, applications and
renewals of permits for foreign workers
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MyEG
clarified that it has not held any meeting
with Putrajaya on converging all immigra-
tion transactions under the NIISe.
“The board of directors of the company
wishes to clarify that the company has not
held any meeting with either the Minis-
try of Home Affairs or the Immigration
Department of Malaysia on the intention
to converge all immigration transactions
under the NIISe,” it stressed.
Short-selling suspended
Shortly after market opening, Bursa sus-
pended short-selling of the stock for the
rest of the day under proprietary day
trading (PDT) and intraday short selling
(IDSS), after the stock dropped more than
15 sen or 15% from its reference price.
“Short-selling under PDT and IDSS
will only be activated the following trad-
ing day, on Wednesday, at 8.30am,” the
stock exchange regulator said in a filing.
Amid the heavy selling pressure, My-
EG’s co-founder and managing director
3 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
T U E S D AY M AY 1 8 , 2 0 2 1
T A B L E
by Tan Choe Choe, Hailey Chung
& Chester Tay
theedgemarkets.com
Latest analysts’ call on MyEG
Services Bhd
Target
Firm Recommendation Price (RM)
Affin Hwang
Investment Bank Hold 0.93
UOB Kay Hian Research Buy 1.30
MIDF Research Buy 1.00
Source: Bloomberg
Wong Thean Soon bought five million
shares or a 0.067% stake for RM3.69 mil-
lion or a 73.8 sen apiece, bringing his di-
rect and indirect stakes in the company to
12.4% and 17.27% respectively. The com-
pany itself also bought back two million
shares or a 0.03% stake on the open mar-
ket at RM1.44 million or 71.5 sen each.
Iris Corp, on the other hand, gapped
up to 13.5 sen from 12.5 sen at last Fri-
day’s close, and jumped to as high as 19
sen. The counter closed at 16.5 sen on
Tuesday. It had been trading below 16.5
sen after June 7, 2022.
Affin Hwang Investment Bank said in
a note on Tuesday that the news is neg-
ative for investor sentiment, and may af-
fect MyEG’s long-term earnings trajectory.
It downgraded the stock to “hold” from
“buy”, and cut its 12-month target price
(TP) for the stock to 93 sen from RM1.23.
It estimated that immigration-related
services contribute to 40%-50% of My-
EG’s revenue.
“These immigration-related services
include the renewal of foreign workers’
work permits (10%-15% of total revenue)
and other ancillary and commercial ser-
vices, such as renewal of foreign workers’
insurance and foreign worker job matching
(30%-35%). In May 2020, the government
extended MyEG’s contract for the provi-
sion of online renewal of foreign workers’
work permits for three years till May 2023.
The loss of services, if reverted to the Im-
migration Department as planned, may
impair MyEG’s long-term revenue (2025
and beyond) by about 20%.”
‘There could be changes to
deployment of NIISe project’
Affin Hwang IB, however, believes that
the full deployment of NIISe by 2025 is
4 THEEDGE CEO MORN
S A M P L E F O N T / C O L O U R
“likely a tall order”, following conversa-
tions it had with several industry players
and the financial results of the project’s
key contractor, Iris Corp.
“As such, there could be changes in
the development and deployment of NI-
ISe, which may: i) affect the timeline in
returning of foreign workers’ work per-
mit renewal services to the Immigration
Department; and ii) present new busi-
ness opportunities for industry players,
including MyEG,” it said.
Nevertheless, the news and policy risks
are expected to weaken investors’ interest
in MyEG, considering the material reve-
nue contribution from its immigration-re-
lated businesses.
“On the other hand, MyEG’s steady
2022-24 earnings outlook, stable revenue
from the road-transport businesses, excit-
ing new business opportunities (the Road
Transport Department’s e-testing system,
and blockchain initiatives), and potential
business opportunities from NIISe-relat-
ed works should help support its share
price,” it added.
Hence, while it maintained its earnings
forecast for the stock, it lowered the val-
uation multiple to 19 times its estimated
2023 price-earnings ratio (PER) — from
25 times — due to heightened policy risks.
“Key upside risks to our view are favour-
able changes in the Immigration Depart-
ment’s outsourcing policy, better-than-ex-
pected financial performance, strong pickup
in its blockchain business, and securing new
contracts to develop and deploy e-govern-
ment services. Downside risks to our view
are unfavourable changes in the government
policies, lower-than-expected financial per-
formance, and weak adoption of MyEG’s
Zetrix blockchain,” it added.
MIDF Research shared the same view,
noting that the policy risks would likely de-
ter investors from MyEG considering that
the company’s potential net income could
be lowered by almost 20% after 2025
Nevertheless, the research house likewise
believes that MyEG’s stable earnings fore-
cast for 2022-2023, steady sales from its
road transport businesses, and potential new
business opportunities from the NIISe and
initiatives such as the Road Transport De-
partment’s e-testing system and blockchain
projects, could support MyEG’s share price.
To account for the elevated policy
risks, MIDF has lowered its target price
for MyEG to RM1 from RM1.23, but
kept the stock on ‘buy’.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
PM sets up
five-member
special advisory
body in MoF;
appointments on
pro-bono basis
by chester tay
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Prime Minis-
ter Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has appoint-
ed five special advisers to assist and advise
him in his capacity as Minister of Finance.
The special advisory body, which will
be led by Petroliam Nasional Bhd adviser
Tan Sri Hassan Marican, will be manned
by professional groups and economic ex-
perts, said Anwar in a statement on Tues-
day (Feb 7).
The other four members of the special
advisory body are FVSB executive chair-
man Datuk Ahmad Fuad Md Ali; Sunway
University professor of economics DrYeah
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): The rally in
ATA IMS Bhd’s share price, which more
than doubled in the last two weeks, may be
due to “optimism about ATA IMS securing
a new major customer” that could boost
the group’s earnings prospects, according
to CGS-CIMB Research.
The research house said this in a note on
Monday (Feb 6) that analysed the potential
reason for the 127% jump in ATA IMS’ share
price to close at 46.5 sen last Friday, from
20.5 sen on Jan 20. As for its peers in the
electronic manufacturing services space,VS
Industry Bhd was up just 13% in the same
period, while SKP Resources Bhd rose 1%.
While CGS-CIMB noted that the rally
had sparked speculation about a corporate
exercise with the emergence of new share-
holders, it said “there are still uncertainties
surrounding this explanation given the lack
of information”.
Analyst Nagulan Ravi, who covers the
stock, said the strong interest in the stock
recently was driven mostly by retail buyers,
who net bought ATA IMS shares worth
RM3.8 million from Jan 3 to Feb 3, based
on fund flow data from Bursa Malaysia.
The potential new customer could boost
ATA IMS’s future earnings prospects, after
the company reported a core net loss of
RM23 million for the first six months end-
ed Sept 30, 2022 (6MFY2023), he said.
4 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
PM Anwar Ibrahim and Petroliam Nasional Bhd
adviser Tan Sri Hassan Marican
Kim Leng; University Malaya professor of
economics Prof Ulung Datuk Rajah Rasi-
ah; and Sarawak Energy Bhd’s chairman
Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi.
Anwar said the appointed members
of the special advisory body will not re-
ceive any form of remuneration from the
government.
ATA IMS rally
may be due to
optimism about
securing new
major customer,
says CGS-CIMB
by Hailey Chung
theedgemarkets.com
Assuming that ATA IMS has secured a
new multinational corporation customer
for box-built assembly products, the com-
pany could post FY2024 core net profit
accretion of RM31.5 million, and FY2025
core net profit accretion of RM105 mil-
lion, under a blue-sky scenario that the
roll-out of the first product model to the
customer is in June 2023, with four new
product models in February 2024, he said.
“In the bear-case scenario, assuming that
the roll-out of the first model is delayed to
October 2023 and the other three in Sep-
tember 2024, FY2024 and FY2025 [re-
spectively], core net profit [accretion] could
Sunway
University
professor of
economics Dr
Yeah Kim Leng
University
Malaya
professor of
economics Prof
Ulung Datuk
Rajah Rasiah
Sarawak Energy
Bhd chairman
Datuk Amar
Abdul Hamed
Sepawi
Read also: PM wants Cabinet, civil
servants to work as a team
come to RM6 million [for FY2024] and
RM21 million [for FY2025],” Nagulan said.
He said the target price for ATA IMS
would have a 79% upside to 83 sen per
share in the blue-sky scenario, but a 54%
downside in the bear-case scenario to 21
sen on the assumption of no new customer
wins for FY2024 to FY2025.
On the other hand, if ATA IMS liquidates
all its assets and pays off all its liabilities, the
group would be looking at equities available
for new ventures of RM593 million.
Nagulan observed that ATA IMS sat on
net cash of RM18.3 million as at end-Sep-
tember 2022, which represented net cash
per share of two sen.
“Based on a loan financing of 50% to
70%, ATA IMS could leverage up to gain
a war chest of RM1.2 billion to RM1.98
billion,” he said.
Nevertheless, Nagulan reiterated a
“reduce” call on the stock, as ATA IMS’
earnings prospects remain uncertain, while
awaiting further developments.
“We will only turn more bullish once
and if ATA IMS secures a major new cus-
tomer, which should serve as a strong re-
rating catalyst,” he said.
At market close on Tuesday, ATA IMS
shares were trading 1.5 sen or 3.2% low-
er at 45 sen, bringing the group a market
capitalisation of RM541.97 million.
 W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

Helping to close the gap with financial inclusion

M
anagingyourmoneyhas
never been so easy. In
this rapidly digitising
world, basic financial
services are at your fingertips —
you can settle your bills, apply for a
loan, pay your insurance premium,
create a new investment portfolio,
or make retirement plans with just
a tap of your finger.
However, such services are out
of the reach of many people, es-
pecially vulnerable communities
like low-income households and
the elderly. Typically overlooked
by traditional banks, individuals in
this segment of society tend to find
their financial options restricted, no
thanks to their level of education,
health condition or lack of reliable
modes of transportation. Some do
not even have a savings account,
credit history or access to a nearby
automated teller machine.
This is why we believe financial
inclusion is so important and so ar-
dently championed by organisations
like the United Nations (UN), which
features it as a target in eight of 17 of
its 2030 Sustainable Development
Goals. These goals include eradicat-
ing poverty, ending hunger, improv-
ing health and well-being, reducing
inequality and promoting economic
growth and jobs.
What is financial inclusion?
According to the World Bank, finan-
cial inclusion means “individuals and
businesses have access to useful
and affordable financial products
and services that meet their needs
— transactions, payments, savings,
credit, and insurance — delivered in
a responsible and sustainable way.”
In a nutshell, it is about enabling
people to help lead better lives by
empowering them financially.
And where does Malaysia rank
in terms of providing this access?
According to Principal Financial
Group’s 2022 Global Financial In-
clusion Index, the country ranks
as the 20th most financially inclu-
sive market out of the 42 markets
globally analysed. It also ranks fifth
in terms of financial inclusion sup-
port provided to workers by their
employers.
Munirah Khairuddin, CEO and
country head of Principal Malaysia
(Principal), says, “Malaysia has tak-
en significant steps over the past
decade to accelerate financial in-
clusion for its population. The coun-
try’s federal statutory body that
manages the compulsory savings
plan and retirement planning for
private sector workers in Malaysia,
for example, is one of the world’s
oldest provident funds.”
How financial inclusion
affects society
So how exactly does financial inclu-
sion help? For one, you might see
better penetration of services as
financial institutions reach out to
the populace in smaller cities and
rural areas, either by growing their
physical presence there or provid-
ing the appropriate digital banking
solutions. This will enable unbanked
and underbanked individuals to
have easier access to services like
credit, bank accounts and account
statements.
If it sounds like it’s just about
convenience, it’s not. For instance,
the World Bank designed a study
to measure the impact of paying
factory workers in Bangladesh
directly into an account as com-
pared to paying them in cash. Ac-
cording to the World Bank’s lead
economist in the finance and pri-
vate sector research team of the
Development Research Group,
Leora Klapper, who designed the
survey, the research found that
If we can help ensure everyone
is more financially savvy, then
we’re one step closer to making
financial inclusion a reality.
— Munirah
workers whose wages are banked
into their accounts are more like-
ly to be thrifty and better able to
manage unexpected expenses. And
over time, they learnt to be savvier
financial customers. This is because
they had more privacy, security and
control over their finances.
Strengthening financial
capability
Despite Malaysia’s high internet
penetration, more than half of the
nation’s adult population remains
underbanked or unbanked. To en-
sure these individuals are not left
behind, policymakers and financial
institutions need to work on creating
new products or extending digital
offerings with more flexible require-
ments that are tailored to assist the
less privileged. For instance, some
insurers offer affordable insurance
plans with smaller coverage, while
some online brokerages provide
commission-free trading options.
At Principal, we are committed
to helping you reach your long term
financial goals. For example, you may
invest as little as RM10 in Principal
Islamic Money Market Fund through
Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s GOinvest.
Alternatively, you can opt for Prin-
cipal e-Cash Fund, the underlying
fund for GO+, by cashing in from
your eWallet balance or through a
bank transfer on your Touch ‘n Go
eWallet app. If it’s retirement sav-
ings you’re after, you could always
invest a portion of your Employees
Provident Fund savings in approved
unit trust funds with Principal via
the pension fund’s i-Invest online
platform.
But access to financial solutions
is only one aspect. Having access to
sound financial advice is just as im-
portant, and with Principal, clients
know they don’t have to be afraid
to ask. Principal is big on helping
with the lifting of society through
financial education, hosting webinars
with experienced financial profes-
sionals and sharing knowledge via
mass media publications.
“To help ensure all Malaysians
feel financially empowered, they
must possess the knowledge to
make smart decisions when it comes
to money. We believe being finan-
cially literate means being generally
less vulnerable to scams or budget-
ing mishaps and more successful at
achieving life goals,” says Munirah.
“If we can help ensure everyone is
more financially savvy, then we’re
one step closer to making financial
inclusion a reality.”
For more on Principal and its efforts
on financial inclusion, visit https://
www.principal.com/sustainability/
financial-inclusion

Disclaimer: The information in this article has been derived from sources believed to be
reliable. However, we do not independently verify or guarantee its accuracy or validity.
It contains general information only on investment matters, should not be considered
a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. The
information it contains does not take into account any investor’s investment objectives,
particular needs or financial situation. Investors should consider whether an investment
fits their investment objectives, particular needs and financial situation before making
any investment decision. The data presented is for information purposes only and is not a
recommendation to buy or sell any securities or adopt any investment strategy. This material
is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research, or investment advice regarding a
particular investment or the markets in general, nor is it intended to predict or depict the
performance of any investment. All expressions of opinion and estimates in this article are
subject to change without notice. This article is not intended to be, nor should it be relied
upon in any way, as a forecast or guarantee of future events or investment advice regarding a
particular investment or the markets in general.
We recommend that investors read and understand the contents of the funds’
prospectus and product highlights sheet available on the Principal website, which have
been duly registered with the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). Registration of these
documents neither amounts to nor indicates that the SC has recommended or endorsed the
product or service. There are risks, fees and charges involved in investing in the funds. This
article has not been reviewed by the SC.
Environmental, social and governance responsible investing (ESG) is qualitative and
subjective by nature, and there is no guarantee that the criteria utilised or judgment exercised
will reflect the beliefs or values of any one particular investor. Information regarding
responsible practices is obtained through voluntary or third-party reporting, which may or may
not be accurate or complete, and such information is used to evaluate a company’s commitment
to, or implementation of, responsible practices. Socially responsible norms differ by region. ESG,
while a component of our investment analysis, is only one part of the overall assessment in our
decision-making activities. ESG criteria may present additional advantages or risks and do not
protect against market risks or volatility. You should not make any investment assumptions
based solely on the information contained herein. There is no assurance that the socially
responsible investing strategy and techniques employed will be successful.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): The Real
Estate and Housing Developers’ Asso-
ciation Malaysia (Rehda) has expressed
concerns over the government’s deci-
sion to maintain the recalibration fee at
RM1,500 under the Labour Recalibra-
tion Programme or Program Rekalibra-
si Tenaga Kerja (RTK) 2.0, saying the
amount is too high for businesses.
In a press statement on Tuesday (Feb
7), Rehda said that the fee is exorbitant for
businesses, as a high number of workers is
utilised in a single project that adds up to a
hefty sum that may not be financially viable.
This comes after Home Minister Da-
tuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said
on Jan 27 that the recalibration fee to hire
undocumented migrants in Malaysia un-
der the RTK 2.0 will remain at RM1,500
per person.
“We believe that the fee should be kept
as low as possible to encourage related busi-
nesses to take part in the programme. Oth-
erwise, the high amount can be a deterrent,”
said Rehda Malaysia president Datuk NK
Tong in the statement.
“Through the programme, the govern-
ment’s aim should be to help the industries
and the nation’s economy recover, so com-
panies can offer more jobs to more workers
and be profitable to pay taxes.”
“The programme itself should not be
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Foreign in-
vestors continued to sell Malaysian equities
for the fourth consecutive week last week,
dumping RM380.8 million worth of stocks
— up 89.6% from the previous week — de-
spite it being a shortened four-day trading
week due to the Federal Territory Day cel-
ebration on Wednesday (Feb 1), according
to MIDF Research.
They net bought RM35.6 million on
Thursday last week (Feb 2), but net sold
RM48.6 million on Monday (Jan 30),
RM98.9 million on Tuesday (Jan 31) and
RM68.1 million on Friday (Feb 3), its an-
alyst Royce Tan Seng Hooi wrote in a note
Tuesday (Feb 7).
The latest outflows raised the year-to-
date foreign investors’ net sold quantum
to RM89.1 million.
Weekly Net Foreign Fund Flows into Equity by Market (USD’m)
Week Ended India Indo Korea M’sia
06-Jan -708.7 -140.4 802.2
13-Jan -1,120.5 -193.4 1,384.4 -10.6
20-Jan -21.1 41.9 1,078.0 -39.1
27-Jan -219.9 114.0 2,290.5 -13.6
03-Feb -2,152.8 52.6 1,110.6 -42.2
Source: Respective stock exchange statistics as reported on Bloomberg.
These figures are subject to revisions.
6 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
Recalibration fee
used as a source of income for the govern-
ment,” urged Tong.
of RM1,500 per
The association added that the govern-
ment should continue to assist businesses
foreign worker
as costs increase, but commended the abol-
ishment of documentation fees for hous-
‘exorbitant’,
ing loans.
“By reverting to a lower fee, any savings
says Rehda
can be passed to potential homebuyers in
terms of lower house prices, even as de-
velopers struggle to keep prices down in
the face of persistent and rising inflation.”
by Sufi Muhamad Nevertheless, in the statement, Tong
theedgemarkets.com encourages employers with illegal migrant
workers to join the recalibration programme
to ensure workers’ protection, while projects
Low Yen Yeing/
The Edge and businesses can resume without issues.
“We hope our members will adhere to
this law, as reluctance to do so may affect
the developments of your current projects
and planned developments in the future,”
said Tong.
According to the Immigration Depart-
ment of Malaysia’s website, other costs
under the RTK 2.0 include levies accord-
ing to sectors — such as RM1,850 for the
construction, manufacturing, mining, se-
curity guards and the services sectors, and
RM640 for the agricultural and plantation
sectors — in addition to a processing fee
of RM125, a RM60 pass, and visa fees de-
Rehda Malaysia president Datuk NK Tong pending on the worker’s nationality.
Foreign
“There may be renewed signs of political
uncertainties that have emerged following
investors sold
the sacking and suspension of senior and
influential Umno members, as the party
RM380.8 mil
is part of the unity government. The ap-
pointment of the prime minister’s daugh-
worth of
ter as his economic and senior advisor also
sparked debates from various parties, who
Malaysian
have alleged nepotism and cronyism and
that it would affect the country’s corrup-
equities last week
tion perception index ranking,” Tan noted.
Local institutions, meanwhile, “main-
tained their shopping spree on Bursa Ma-
laysia, net buying RM130.6m (million) last
theedgemarkets.com week”, he said. “This is their fourth con-
secutive week of net buying...Year-to-date,
local institutions have net bought RM816
million”.
Local retailers were net buyers last week,
totalling RM49.4 million, reversing their
net selling trend seen in the last three weeks,
he said.
In terms of participation, there was an
Phil Taiwan Thai Viet Total
increase in average daily trading volume
16.5 19.6 306.5 216.5 69.6 581.8
(ADTV) across the board by 64.7%, 19.6%
-0.8 3,137.3 313.6 -64.5 3,445.5
and 7.8% from foreign investors, local in-
83.0 1,103.4 45.5 107.6 2,399.3 stitutions and local retailers respectively,
32.7 0.0 88.9 22.3 2,314.9 Tan added.
9.9 4,429.1 -272.4 71.6 3,206.5
Read the full story
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): LPI Cap-
ital Bhd posted a stronger net profit of
RM83.57 million for the fourth quarter
ended Dec 31, 2022 (4QFY2022), up
14.4% from RM73.07 million for the pre-
vious year’s corresponding quarter, mainly
contributed by an increase in investment
income and a lower provision for fair value
losses on investment.
Revenue for the quarter rose a mar-
ginal 0.96% to RM433.17 million from
RM429.04 million previously, on high-
er tax-exempt dividend income received
from its equity investment, its bourse filing
showed. Earnings per share rose to 20.97
sen from 18.34 sen.
In particular, the group’s wholly owned
insurance subsidiary Lonpac Insurance
Bhd’s profit before tax (PBT) grew 15.1%
to RM114.1 million from RM99.1 million,
due mainly to lower fair value loss provi-
sion on investment and higher interest in-
come. Lonpac registered a 2.2% increase
in gross premium income to RM371.1 mil-
lion, while net earned premium income
rose 4.6% to RM268.2 million.The group’s
investment holding segment also recorded
a higher PBT of RM6.9 million — as com-
pared to a loss of RM1.5 million previous-
ly — on higher dividend income received.
The group declared a second interim
dividend of 35 sen per share — down from
45 sen for FY2021 — which amounts to a
payout of RM139.4 million. Together with
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Hartale-
ga Holdings Bhd, the world’s largest ni-
trile glove maker, slipped into the red in
the third financial quarter ended Dec
31, 2022 (3QFY2023), with a net loss of
RM31.91 million compared to a net profit
of RM259.06 million a year ago, on signif-
icant moderation in average selling prices
(ASPs) and lower sales volume, along with
higher energy and labour costs.
Chief executive officer Kuan Mun Le-
ong also attributed the weak quarterly per-
formance to intensified competition in the
glove sector, with softer sales demand ow-
ing to excess glove inventories and stock
adjustment in the supply chain.
It also represented the second loss-mak-
ing quarter for the group in 12 months,
having recorded a net loss of RM197.9
million on a revenue of RM968.69 million
for 4QFY2022.
As a result, Hartalega recorded a loss
per share of 0.93 sen for 3QFY2023, com-
pared to earnings per share (EPS) of 7.58
sen for 3QFY2022.
Revenue for 3QFY2023 fell 54% year-
on-year (y-o-y) to RM461.84 million from
RM1.01 billion. It was the group’s weak-
est quarterly revenue since 3QFY2017,
7 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
For the full FY2022, LPI Capital’s net
profit dropped 19.75% to RM276.61 mil-
lion from RM344.68 million for FY2021,
mainly dragged by the general insurance
segment, which saw a 15.2% drop in income
to RM338.9 million from RM399.7 million.
“The underwriting surplus decreased
by 24.9% or RM94.6 million to RM285.1
million from RM379.7 million reported
for the previous financial year, mainly due
LPI Capital’s
to lower net earned premium income and
higher net claims incurred as well as higher
4Q profit rises
management expenses.
“The investment holding segment re-
14% on increased
corded a lower profit before tax of RM34.6
million, as compared to RM37.6 million
investment
reported for FY2021, mainly due to lower
tax-exempt dividend income received from
income, lower
its equity investment,” it said.
Revenue for the year fell 3.5% to
provisions
RM1.66 billion from RM1.71 billion, due
to lower revenue from the general insurance
segment and lower dividend income re-
ceived from its investment holding segment.
by Priyatharisiny Vasu “We will continue to drive our digital
theedgemarkets.com transformation to improve customer experi-
ence and enhance operational efficiency.The
the first interim dividend of 25 sen per LPI group’s prudent underwriting approach
share amounting to RM99.6 million that and diversified business development chan-
was paid in August 2022, the group’s total nels will facilitate it to weather the numerous
dividend payment for FY2022 is RM239 challenges in FY2023,” the company said.
million, representing 86.4% of the group’s LPI shares slipped two sen or 0.16%
net profit — as opposed to its previous pay- to RM12.88 sen on Tuesday, giving the
out of 85.5% of group profit for FY2021. group a market value of RM5.13 billion.
EPS came in lower at 2.48 sen for 9MFY2023,
Hartalega books
compared with RM1 for 9MFY2022.
Revenue for the period fell 72.7% to
3Q net loss of
RM1.89 billion, from RM6.92 billion for
9MFY2022.
RM32 mil, hit by
“On top of the significant reduction in
revenue, the 9MFY2023 performance was
glove oversupply
also affected by higher energy and labour
costs, partly offset by lower raw material
costs and other operating expenses,” Har-
talega said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia
by Adam Aziz on Tuesday (Feb 7).
theedgemarkets.com It expects pressure on operating margins
to continue, amid current softened ASPs
of rubber gloves.
In a separate statement, Kuan said that
in view of the challenging landscape, the
group had taken proactive measures to en-
sure prudent cost management, enhance
operational efficiencies, and optimise pro-
ductivity through automation initiatives. “We
will continue to align our Next Generation
Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex
when Hartalega recorded a revenue of (NGC) 1.5 expansion plan with the current
RM456.29 million. market supply and demand dynamics.”
The weak quarterly performance also At market close, shares in Hartalega were
dragged Hartalega’s net profit down by 97.5% down four sen or 2.5% to settle at RM1.63,
y-o-y to RM84.71 million for the nine-month translating into a market capitalisation of
period ended Dec 31, 2022 (9MFY2023). RM5.42 billion for the company.
W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Perkeso emerges
as Cypark’s
substantial
shareholder
by Chester Tay
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): The So-
cial Security Organisation (Perkeso) has
emerged as Cypark Resources Bhd’s sub-
stantial shareholder, after acquiring 42.05
million shares or a 5.49% stake via a di-
rect deal.
Cypark told Bursa Malaysia that the
acquisition was done last Friday (Feb 3),
but the transacted price was not disclosed.
Perkeso is not the first notable institu-
tional investor that was attracted to Cypark
recently. Slightly over a month ago, the re-
newable energy company announced that
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Aemu-
lus Holdings Bhd has slipped into the
red with a net loss of RM4.77 million
in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2023
(1QFY2023), compared to a net profit of
RM4.53 million a year earlier, dragged
down by lower revenue.
The company posted a loss per share
of 0.75 sen, against earnings per share of
0.73 sen for 1QFY2022, the automated
test equipment (ATE) maker’s bourse fil-
ing showed.
Quarterly revenue dropped 47% to
RM9.85 million from RM18.58 million a
year before, which the company attributed
to cautious capital expenditure spending
from customers who foresee a slowdown
in the semiconductor industry, and de-
ferment of delivery due to slowdown in
customers’ expansion pace.
Aemulus’ other expenses during the
quarter increased by RM1.93 million com-
pared with 1QFY2022, mainly due to the
strengthening of the ringgit against the
US dollar and yuan.
On prospects, Aemulus said capital
spending by its customers has reduced
significantly and the market is expected
to take a breather for a period of three
to six months.
“In view of that, our cash flow control
and management which we highlighted
last quarter have delivered positive results.
We have reduced our inventory and we
expect to reduce it further next quarter,”
it said.
Aemulus said it will crank up business
9 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
Jakel Capital — the investment arm of tex-
tile trading and property developer Jakel
Group — had emerged as its single largest
shareholder with a 27.33% stake after sub-
scribing to a private placement exercise.
Cypark shares have seen increasing in-
terest of late, with its share price more
than doubling in January alone, resulting
in an unusual market activity query from
Bursa Malaysia on Jan 31.
In response, Cypark said the increase in
its share price was due to the emergence
of Jakel Group’s investment arm as the
largest shareholder.
Last week, the group announced that
its wholly owned unit had received the
confirmation of feed-in-tariff commence-
ment from Sustainable Energy Develop-
ment Authority to operate a solid waste
modular advanced recovery and treatment
waste-to-energy plant at Ladang Tanah
Merah, Port Dickson, in Negeri Sembilan.
Shares of Cypark closed five sen or
4.6% lower at RM1.03 on Tuesday, giv-
ing it a market capitalisation of RM796.3
million.
Aemulus slips
into the red in
1Q as revenue
drops 47%
by Justin Lim
theedgemarkets.com
development activities in the automotive
market in the coming quarters. Despite
observed delays in customer projects, the
overall business landscape remains pos-
itive, it added.
For the PC market, which has de-
clined at the start of 2023, the compa-
ny is still hopeful that the network pro-
cessor segment which contributes to its
enterprise storage market will be able
to grow further, if not hold its current
demand position.
It added that the smartphone and tab-
let market has declined sharply and will
continue to do so in the next few quarters.
“This may give short term impact to us
but we expect a recovery within three to
six months. The easing in travelling and
quarantine restrictions in China shall help
in such recovery,” the company said.
Aemulus’ share price closed down two
sen or 4.21% at 45.5 sen on Tuesday, giv-
ing the company a market capitalisation
of RM304 million.
Proven Venture
Capital owns
14% of BTM
Resources after
rights issue
by Chester Tay
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): BTM
Resources Bhd said Proven Ven-
ture Capital PLT has emerged as
its substantial shareholder with a
14% stake, after acquiring 153.32
million shares through the compa-
ny’s rights issue.
With this, Proven Venture is likely
to be one of the largest sharehold-
ers in BTM Resources after theYong
family, which is led by managing
director Datuk Seri Yong Tu Sang.
Yong owned a 8.9% direct interest
and 18.45% indirect interest in the
company as at Jan 10.
Proven Venture is reported to be
jointly owned by 34 limited part-
ners consisting of high-net-worth
entities and individuals.
The firm owns a 5% stake in
Local Assembly Sdn Bhd, a lit-
tle-known Johor-based electronic
manufacturing services (EMS) pro-
vider that is in the midst of a reverse
takeover of LTKM Bhd.
BTM Resources had undertake
a six-for-one rights issue, priced
at eight sen per share, along with
free detachable warrants. The total
number of rights shares and war-
rants were 921.57 and 307.19 mil-
lion, respectively.
The rights issue, which was un-
der-subscribed by 10.2%, helped
raise some RM73.73 million in to-
tal for the Terengganu-based wood
processing company, which has been
loss-making since the financial year
ended Dec 31, 2017 (FY2017).
In 9MFY2022, the group re-
corded a slightly reduced net loss
of RM4.36 million, compared with
RM4.97 million in the previous
corresponding period, while reve-
nue grew 11% to RM5.95 million
from RM5.38 million.
Shares of BTM Resources
closed unchanged at six sen on
Tuesday (Feb 7), valuing the group
at RM71.83 million.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
No evidence
of companies
reshoring from
China, say ADB
economists
by izzul ikram
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): In spite of
the geopolitical tension between China and
the US, economists from the Asian Devel-
opment Bank (ADB) saw no evidence of
companies reshoring their operations away
from the world’s second-largest economy.
During the launch of its Asian Economic
Integration Report 2023 on Tuesday (Feb
7), ADB chief economist Albert Park said
that based on the latest data, he does not
see evidence that points towards reshor-
ing occurring.
“I think some people argued that there
is suggestive evidence of supply chains be-
ing diversified, especially for some goods
from some multinationals moving out of
China to diversify geopolitical risk, but
there is no strong evidence of reshoring
in my view,” he said, adding that it makes
sense as it would be very inefficient.
ADB economist Rolando Avendano
continued that the data does not show a
reshoring effect on the global value chain
front nor on the foreign direct investment
(FDI) side.
“There is maybe some divestment for
example, and some reallocation but the
effects are not as strong,” Avendano said.
“To give an example, China, which is
still the main FDI recipient in the region
(Asia), has very strong FDI linkages across
all sectors despite the discussions on pos-
10 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
sible reshoring or diversification of the in-
vestments,” he added.
Climate policy: decarbonisation or
protectionism?
Linking geopolitics with the climate, Lee
Kuan Yew School of Public Policy direc-
tor of Institute for Environment and Sus-
tainability Benjamin Cashore said the EU
and the US have to start involving Asia in
climate policymaking.
Cashore said that while the US and
the EU have implemented climate poli-
cies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act
2022 and the Carbon Border Adjustment
Mechanism (CBAM), Asia has just been
on the receiving end of such policies.
“The EU and the US also have to make
massive changes just to get up to where
they should be, or otherwise they’re harm-
ing Asia and Southeast Asia more than
they’re actually helping them.
“The CBAM is geopolitics, so is it the
EU’s protectionist effort or are they going
to help the decarbonisation efforts tak-
ing place in the region (Asia),” Cashore
questioned.
Instead of Asia just being on the receiv-
ing end of the EU or US’ climate policies,
Cashore said the region should be involved
in the policy design conversation.
“Fifteen years ago, China was produc-
ing and giving incentives and subsidies to
companies to produce solar panels, giving
to the world cheap solar energy, and the
US launched a protectionist claim against
China for dumping solar panels on US
consumers, thinking more of their indus-
trial interests versus the climate.
“They (the US) won, and a Chinese solar
panel company calledYingli went out of busi-
ness as a result of this,” Cashore explained.
“So it works in both directions too, and
how we think about unifying geopolitics
and protectionism around decarbonisation
is one of the most important questions,”
he added.
IPI grew 6.9% in
2022 driven by
manufacturing,
mining output
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Malay-
sia’s industrial production index (IPI)
for 2022 narrowed to 6.9% from 7.2%
recorded in 2021, driven by the man-
ufacturing index (8.2%), electricity in-
dex (4.5%), and mining index (2.8%),
according to the Department of Sta-
tistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr
Mohd Uzir Mahidin said for the fi-
nal quarter of 2022 (4Q2022), the
index grew at a slower rate of 4.1%
compared to 4Q2021, attributed to
the growth in manufacturing (4%)
and mining (6.2%) indices.
“In December, the index’s growth
slipped to 3.0% from 4.8% recorded
in November, driven by the mining
index (4.1%) and manufacturing in-
dex (3.0%),” he said in a statement.
He said output in the manufactur-
ing sector expanded by 3.0% in De-
cember 2022, driven by electrical and
electronics products (7.2%), transport
equipment and other manufactures
(8.5%), food, beverages and tobac-
co products (3.4%), and non-metal-
lic mineral products, basic metal and
fabricated metal products (2.2%).
Smaller declines were recorded in
the output of petroleum, chemical,
rubber and plastic products (0.9%),
and textiles, wearing apparel, leather
products and footwear (0.5%).
Meanwhile, the production of
wood products, furniture, paper
products and printing continued to
decline by 4.3% versus a 3.6% de-
cline in November 2022.
Read also: December manufactur-
ing sales up 8.6% to RM156.3 bil,
says DOSM
W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): ACE Mar-
ket-listed education and human resource
provider SMRT Holdings Bhd has pro-
posed to acquire 1.8 million shares or the
remaining 36% stake not already owned by
the group in N’osairis Technology Solutions
Sdn Bhd (NTS) from Permata Kirana Sdn
Bhd for RM72 million cash.
This is part of the group’s strategy to
streamline its operations and purely focus
on its technology business, said SMRT.
SMRT’s filing with Bursa Malaysia on
Tuesday (Feb 7) showed that NTS, an in-
formation technology (IT) managed ser-
vice provider, is currently a 64%-owned
subsidiary of SMRT. NTS is a profitable
company, posting a net profit of RM20.11
million on revenue of RM51.1 million for
the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021.
As part of its plan to become a pure play
IT solutions company, SMRT said it is also
proposing to dispose of its entire stake in
SMR Education Sdn Bhd to Special Flagship
Holdings Sdn Bhd (SFHSB) for RM49.46
million cash, allowing the group to exit its
education business that has not been a strong
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): MNRB Hold-
ings Bhd posted a net profit of RM71.23
million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31,
2022 (4QFY22) compared to a net loss of
RM22.1 million a year ago, driven by im-
proved underwriting performance on top
of higher investment income.
Quarterly revenue grew 10.6% to
RM924.8 million compared with RM836.3
million in 4QFY21, mainly attributed to
higher gross premiums generated by the
reinsurance and takaful subsidiaries.
Earnings per share improved to 9.1
sen against loss per share of 2.8 sen a year
ago, MNRB’s filing with Bursa Malaysia
on Tuesday showed.
The reinsurance group slipped into the
red in 4QFY21 due to lower investment
income and higher net claims and benefits
incurred including claims arising from the
December 2021 flood in Malaysia.
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2022
(FY22), MNRB’s net profit jumped 13.7%
to RM71.8 million compared with RM63.3
million posted in FY21, while its annual rev-
enue came in higher at RM2.64 billion, an
increase of 14.5% compared with RM2.3
billion in the previous year.
Its investment holding segment’s revenue
for the financial period was RM68.9 million
compared with RM126.3 million reported
in the same period last year.
The lower revenue was mainly due to
a reduction in dividend income received
from the subsidiaries as only RM23 mil-
lion was received in the financial period
compared with RM81 million received
12 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
SMRT Holdings
seeks to exit
education
business, become
a pure play IT
solutions firm
theedgemarkets.com
contributor to the group’s financials.
SMR Education is principally involved in
investment holdings where it currently holds
42.08% of Minda Global Bhd (MGB). As
such, post proposed disposal, SMRT will
cease to hold 100% equity interest in SMR
Education and 42.08% in MGB.
SMRT said it will fund the RM72
million deal via a combination of funds
raised from the proposed disposal, inter-
MNRB posts
RM71.2 mil net
profit in 4Q22
amidst strong
underwriting
performance
by Priyatharisiny Vasu
theedgemarkets.com
in the same period last year.
Revenue for the reinsurance business
for FY22 increased by 13.4% to RM1.5
billion compared with RM1.3 billion in
the same period last year, mainly driven
by the increase in the general reinsurance
business both from overseas and local port-
folios by RM142.3 million and RM12.8
million respectively.
While retakaful business revenue for
nal funds and/or bank borrowings.
It added that the two proposed deals are
deemed related party transactions (RPTs)
as Tan Sri Palan Ramanathan Chettiar and
his spouse Puan Sri Kamatchi Valliam-
mai Malayandi are major shareholders
of SMRT. Their son Maha Ramanathan
Palan, who is the group managing director
of SMRT, is also a shareholder of NTS and
Permata Kirana. SFHSB is jointly owned
by Palan (with a controlling equity interest
of 99.99%), while the remaining 0.01%
equity interest is held by Kamatchi.
Quantephi Sdn Bhd has been appoint-
ed as independent adviser to advise the
non-interested directors and non-interested
shareholders of SMRT.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances,
the two proposed deals are expected to be
completed by the second quarter of 2023.
UOB Kay Hian Securities (M) Sdn Bhd
has been appointed by the company to act
as the principal adviser for the proposals.
SMRT shares closed up 0.5 sen or 2.78%
at 18 sen on Tuesday, translating into a mar-
ket capitalisation of RM82.79 million.
FY22 went up by 11.1% from RM52.8 mil-
lion to RM58.6 million, mainly attributed
to reinstatement contribution following the
flood and fire losses.
Similarly, revenue for general takaful
business increased by RM117.6 million or
31.8% from RM370 million to RM487.6
million from the corresponding period.
Significant increase in revenue was
achieved due to the concerted effort to grow
across all classes and channels of business.
Looking forward the group expects
healthy premium/contribution growth
contributed especially through our banca
partnership supported by higher business
volumes through managing general agents
and overseas treaties.
“The takaful businesses continue to
strengthen the business growth and profit
by capturing a wider market share through
incremental improvements to the quali-
ty of customer service, development of
newer and more relevant products and
investment in digitalisation.
“The reinsurance/retakaful segment is
expected to expand despite a hardening
market from the significant price rises and
tighter terms and conditions,” said MNRB
in the filing.
The group also anticipates volatility to
reduce its investment return in the coming
quarters, with a moderation in rate hikes
in the US and locally as inflation numbers
are improving.
Shares of MNRB closed 0.54% or half
sen lower at 92 sen giving the company a
market value of RM716.52 million.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Kerjaya Prospek clinches another
Seri Tanjung Pinang construction
project worth RM398 mil
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Kerjaya
Prospek Group Bhd has accepted
another contract for the Seri Tanjung
Pinang (STP) development in Penang,
this time worth RM398 million, for
the construction of coastal protection
structure. The contract involves Phases
2B and 2C of the STP reclamation
project in Tanjung Tokong, Penang, the
group said in a bourse filing. The job was
awarded by Tanjung Pinang Development
Sdn Bhd (TPD), an indirect subsidiary
of Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O). TPD
holds the concession rights to both
phases of the STP reclamation project.
Kerjaya Prospek said the contract would
commence on April 10, and be completed
within 36 months. “The contract is
expected to provide an additional stream
of revenue for the group over the next
three years,” the construction outfit said.
Signature International appointed
as Teka’s authorised dealer
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Signature
International Bhd said it has been
appointed as the authorised dealer of
built-in kitchen appliance specialist Teka
Kuchentechnik (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. In a
bourse filing, the kitchen cabinet provider
said it was allowed to sell Teka kitchen
products at the assigned sales area or
point of sales of Signature in the country.
The one-year deal came into force on Jan
1, Signature said, adding that it expects
the agreement to contribute positively to
its earnings and net assets for the financial
year ending Dec 31, 2023 onwards. Teka
Malaysia is principally engaged in the
business of built-in kitchen appliances,
including distributing kitchen appliances
to project customers and retail dealers. —
by Sufi Muhamad
13 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
news In brief
Kerjaya Prospek has accepted multiple
contracts in the STP project in past years.
This includes a 40-month contract worth
RM154.4 million to build a temporary
coastal protection structure for Phases
2B and 2C of the reclamation project,
which was awarded in September 2020.
The latest contract further increased the
group’s order book to RM4.7 billion, said
Kerjaya Prospek chief executive officer
and executive director Tee Eng Tiong in a
statement. — by Hailey Chung
reuters
AirAsia to lease 15 new planes to meet
demand driven by China’s reopening
SINGAPORE (Feb 7): AirAsia plans to take
on lease 15 additional aircraft to meet travel
demand from China now that it has reopened
its borders, the CEO of the budget carrier’s
parent company Capital A Bhd said. “We are
so bullish on growth that we’re in negotiations
now to sign 15 new aircraft from lessors,”
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes told Reuters on the
sidelines of an event. “The fact that we are
talking about new planes means things are
coming back.” Fernandes said that Capital
A now has three tailwinds: strengthening
Asian currencies, prices of oil falling from
their peaks, and China’s reopening. “The
uncertainty of routes have now gone with
China opening.... And there’s a clear path to
normalcy, to 2019 pre-Covid,” Fernandes said.
The 15 aircraft are on top of the 326 planes
already on the company’s order book until
2030. Currently, AirAsia has 150 planes in the
air and expects to put all 204 of its fleet back
in service by August. — Reuters
Sancy, in which tycoon Shahril
Shamsuddin has a stake, seeks LEAP
market listing
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Sancy Bhd, in
which tycoon Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin
owns direct and indirect stakes of
20.25%, is seeking a listing on Bursa
Malaysia’s LEAP Market. The digital
healthcare solution provider will have an
issued capital of 679.17 million shares
upon listing. Based on a reference listing
price of 12 sen a share, the company is
slated to have a market capitalisation
of RM81.5 million upon its tentative
listing this month subject to the stock
exchange’s approval, according to the
company’s information memorandum
filed with the bourse. Sancy said
it provides a range of healthcare
information technology solutions,
system integration and information
and management system solutions that
facilitate the management, support and
coordination of the activities within the
organisation of healthcare providers.
As at Jan 20, the company’s substantial
shareholders were Sancy Consulting Sdn
Bhd with a 45.33% direct equity interest,
Sancy Holdings Sdn Bhd (22.82%) plus
Sapura Capital Sdn Bhd (10.25%) and
businessman Shahril (10%). From the
RM7.67 million in proceeds raised from
the subscriptions, Sancy said it is to
use RM6.67 million (87%) for working
capital requirements and the remaining
RM1 million (13%) for estimated listing
expenses. — by Izzul Ikram
Abrdn emerges as substantial
shareholder in CTOS
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Abrdn Holdings
Ltd (formerly known as Aberdeen Asset
Management PLC) has emerged as CTOS
Digital Bhd’s substantial shareholder, after
acquiring 120.99 million shares. The latest
purchase puts Abrdn, with a 5.238% stake,
as the third largest shareholder in the
company, putting it behind Creador and
the Employees Provident Fund. The 120.99
million shares were transacted on Feb 2,
said CTOS in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Feb
7), without disclosing the transacted price.
Interestingly, private equity firm Creador
pared down its shareholding in CTOS to
14.25% on Feb 2 from 26.6% previously,
after disposing of 284.81 million shares via
Inodes Ltd. The disposal was undertaken
through a placement, in which the
placement shares were priced at RM1.45
each. Creador raised a total of RM413
million after completing the placement of
284.81 million in CTOS. — by Justin Lim
 W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3
L
uxury jewellery house Tiffany & Co is making a
clear statement to the world — that inclusivity
is the way forward — with the launch of its new
Lock collection.The set of four gender-neutral bracelets,
which first made its debut in the US in September 2022,
marked its global release on Jan 2 this year.
Lock bangle in 18-carat rose gold with diamonds
Fronting the Tiffany Lock campaign is superstar Rosé
of the hot-selling South Korean girl group Blackpink.The
New Zealand-born singer is no stranger to the jewellery
house.She has been a global brand ambassador for Tiffany
since 2021 and debuted as the face of the Tiffany HardWear
collection in the same year. Rosé is currently on the road,
travelling the world for Blackpink’s Born Pink tour.
In the new campaign, Rosé is seen togged up in
sparkling diamond Lock bangles that highlight the
versatility of the designs and the inclusive spirit
embodied by the all-gender fine jewellery collection.
The classic Tiffany padlock reimagined
“No rules. All welcome.” is the spirit behind the new
Tiffany Lock collection, a series of four 18-carat yellow
and rose gold bracelets designed for all, eschewing
gender norms.Available with pavé diamonds or in metal-
only styles, each bracelet is equipped with a clasp that
features an innovative swivelling mechanism that took
over a year to develop and clicks into place like a real
padlock.
“Tiffany Lock is an elegant interpretation of an
archival functional design,” says Alexandre Arnault,
Tiffany & Co’s executive vice-president for product and
communication. “Defined by modern, clean lines and a
breakthrough clasp mechanism,Tiffany Lock represents
an exciting new pillar to our diamond and gold jewellery
offering. We are thrilled to unveil our latest icon.”
14 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
All are
invited
Tiffany & Co’s new gender-
neutral bracelet collection
is the embodiment
of inclusivity and
togetherness
Blackpink’s Rosé opens 2023
with a bang as the star of the
new Tiffany Lock collection
A Tiffany artisan’s rendition of an open Lock bangle
The design of the Lock bangle is derived from the
padlock, an important motif from The Tiffany Archives.
Back in the 1870s, the American jewellery store sold actual
working padlocks as part of its objects and homeware
collections, meant for securing dog collars and diaries.
From about the 1950s,all manner of Tiffany merchandise
from key rings to money clips, brooches and necklaces
began to adopt design elements evoking padlocks. The
past 20 years have introduced new takes on the padlock
motif with Return to Tiffany jewellery featuring more of
the familiar lock-inspired shapes. Recent designs from
Tiffany HardWear offer a fresh take on the enduring motif.
Return to Tiffany key ring, 1999
Today, the new Tiffany Lock collection brings
everything full circle, transforming a house heritage
motif into an audacious symbol of togetherness and
inclusivity. Additional Tiffany Lock styles, including
an array of rings, earrings and pendants with multiple
colourways, will be launched later in the year.
Tiffany Lock is now available at Tiffany & Co boutiques
and on Tiffany.my
The Bronze Eroded
Tiffany Padlock
Tiffany & Co celebrates the launch of the new Lock collection
in a collaboration with New York-based contemporary artist
Daniel Arsham,who has created a special series of 99 sculptures.
The sculptures, each entitled “Bronze Eroded Tiffany Padlock”,
reimagine a padlock from an archival Tiffany design through
Arsham’s unique distorted art style.
The padlock-inspired sculpture is both an ode to
the jeweller’s heritage and an expression of Arsham’s
“Future Relics” aesthetic, where contemporary objects are
recontextualised through the lens of an imagined future. Each
sculpture requires more than 400 hours of hand-applied patina
treatment.
Tiffany & Co padlock, 1883
Housed within the sculpture is a limited-edition Tiffany
& Co x Arsham Studio Lock bangle. Limited to just 99 pieces,
each 18-carat white gold Lock bangle is handcrafted and set
with more than three carats of diamond and one carat of
tsavorites, a vivid green legacy gemstone that the jewellery
house introduced to the world in 1974.
“The Bronze Eroded Tiffany Padlock” marks the third
creative venture between Tiffany and Arsham Studio since
the beginning of their partnership in 2021. “It’s very personal
to me, but there’s also an element of history in there — a
link between generations of craft, between function and
design, between craftsmanship and beauty,” says Arsham,
reflecting on his relationship with the storied American
jeweller. “These are the elements that make Tiffany so unique
— the elements that allow it to consistently hone the ‘sweet
spot’ between heritage and modernity. I wanted to create an
artwork to celebrate that.”
The “Bronze Eroded Tiffany Padlock” comes encased in
a custom-made Tiffany Blue art-handling crate with metal
hardware.An additional blue box accompanying the purchase
holds dual-branded white handling gloves.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Yu denies assisting in money laundering
using Najib’s accounts
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Former
AmBank customer relationship manager
Joanna Yu Ging Ping on Tuesday (Feb 7)
denied assisting in money laundering ac-
tivities with regard to Datuk Seri Najib
Razak’s bank account.
Testifying under cross examination by
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the
51-year-old Yu said she did not think the
then prime minister could have been in-
volved in money laundering.
Shafee had questionedYu over the Black-
berry messenger exchanges she had with
fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (better
known as Jho Low), following previous trans-
fers made in United States (US) dollars and
where she had asked Jho Low to use other
currencies because there had been queries.
Jho Low had wanted to transfer US$15
million into Najib’s account and toldYu that
he would be transferring 15 “American pies”
(his code name for the US dollar).Yu suggest-
ed that the transfer be made in GBP (British
pound sterling) as prior to this, she stated that
there were queries from the Wells Fargo bank
following a huge transfer made in the past.
“I was informed from the remittance
division that there were two queries made
by Wells Fargo over such a huge transfer
and they wanted to know who the recipient
was. This follows that the US dollar was
being watched by some people and there
was a query from Wells Fargo,” she said.
Shafee: When you suggested British
pounds, it was to stop (prevent) a query
over funds coming in and out?
Yu: I did that so as not to disclose the
PM’s name (who owns the account).
Shafee: When you are suggesting to
do it in GBP, aren’t you participating in a
money laundering offence?
Yu: It is to protect the identity of the
account holder, as this was the instruction
from Jho Low.
Shafee: You believed wholesale what
Jho Low said?
Yu: Yes, I believed that.
Shafee: On hindsight, you assisted Jho
Low in a money laundering offence?
Yu: The request was to keep Datuk Seri
Najib’s account confidential, as he is the
[then] prime minister of Malaysia. It did
not strike me as somebody using the PM’s
account in doing money laundering.
The witness, the 41st by the prosecution,
further said the remittance and compliance
division of the bank told Wells Fargo that
15 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
by Hafiz Yatim & Tarani Palani
theedgemarkets.com
everything was in order with regard to the
previous transfer in American dollars.
Nevertheless, as mentioned in court,
Jho Low managed to transfer £750,000
to Najib’s account on June 18, 2014.
Yu: I believe Najib was kept informed
The former customer relationship man-
ager said she did not know that AmBank’s
former group managing director Ashok
Ramamurthy had grilled the remittance
and compliance division of the bank over
the huge transfer of funds.
Yu also agreed that the confidentiality of
the client does not remove her from her duty
to report on money laundering (activities).
She agreed with Shafee that Najib had
never told the bank that he (Najib) should
be treated above the law.
Shafee: This information released —
that this money was kosher (clean) or ha-
lal — you would have protected the PM
rather than harm him?
Yu: I believe he (Najib) was kept informed
as he issued cheques and kept using his credit
card. The money was there for him to use.
At this time, Shafee argued that his cli-
ent (Najib) believed that the money was
from a Saudi donation.
Yu replied that she believed it was Jho
Low’s responsibility to update Najib on
the account.
When pressured further by Shafee, the
witness agreed that she did not know that
Jho Low was (allegedly) a conman.
The former customer relationship manager
agreed that Najib may not know the state of
his banking account, and had he known, he
would not issue cheques if there was no money.
Shafee: There is a distinct possibility
that he (Najib) [did] not know the state
of the account?
Yu: It is possible.
Shafee: [If] nobody [had gone] round
to top-up (Najib’s account) as there was no
more donation money, he (Najib) would
have closed the account?
Yu: I am not sure what the PM thinks,
but the cheque issued by him would have
bounced. I was asked by Jho Low and Nik
Faisal Ariff Kamil (Najib’s mandate hold-
er for the account) who asked on several
occasions not to let the cheques bounce.
When suggested by Shafee that she,
along with Jho Low, had perpetrated fraud,
Yu disagreed, as she believed they were
protecting the PM.
“I was told there were funds incom-
ing (to supplement the issuance of the
cheques),” she added.
Yu agreed that it was possible that Na-
jib may have closed the account if he had
discovered that there were no more funds
in the account.
“It is possible, but I would not know
what he would do,” she added.
Najib closed four of his banking ac-
counts and credit card accounts between
Aug 30, 2013 and March 9, 2015.
Shafee: Jho Low was “helter-skelter”
over insufficient funds to conceal state of
affairs from Najib.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Shafee
also ventured that Jho Low was always
“helter-skelter” over insufficient funds and
cheques that could possibly bounce. This,
Shafee said, could be due to Low wanting
to conceal the “truth” about Najib’s ac-
counts from the former premier.
Yu said what she believed was that
Low’s behaviour was possibly because he
wanted to avoid the embarrassment or neg-
ative impact if the then prime minister’s
cheques were to bounce.
She also confirmed that a cheque issued
from Najib’s accounts had never bounced.
“We have returned the cheques on cer-
tain occasions but [the cheques have nev-
er] bounced,” she said, adding that the
cheques were returned due to wrong dates
or some similar technicality.
Shafee then suggested to Yu that Jho
Low had avoided the cheques from bounc-
ing because that would have alerted Na-
jib about the “truth” of the state of his
accounts.
Yu disagreed, adding that she did not
know what transpired between Jho Low
and Najib.
The former prime minister, who is cur-
rently serving a 12-year jail sentence (and
has been issued a RM210 million fine) due
to his conviction in the SRC Internation-
al Sdn Bhd case, is facing four charges of
abuse of power and 21 counts of money
laundering in this 1Malaysia Development
Bhd (1MDB) trial.
The trial before judge Datuk Collin
Lawrence Sequerah continues on Wednes-
day (Feb 8).
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
PUTRAJAYA (Feb 7): The Federal Court
and the High Court here were informed on
Tuesday (Feb 7) that SRC International Sdn
Bhd will have a new set of solicitors repre-
senting it, replacing the previous one from
Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership.
With that, the scheduled SRC International
hearing of the suit against former prime minis-
ter Datuk Seri Najib Razak and six others at the
High Court later this month had to be vacated.
This was indicated to High Court (com-
mercial division) judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz
Zainol Abidin following case managementon
Tuesday morning. He has fixed Feb 28 for
the new solicitors to update the court as un-
derstood by The Edge.
Initially, Ahmad Fairuz had fixed Feb 13 to
Feb 23 this year for the hearing of the suit.
Similarly, with regard to Najib’s appeal for
the RM42 million Mareva injunction imposed
against him — in relation to the suit filed by
SRC International and Gandingan Mentari
that was obtained by the High Court and af-
firmed by the Court of Appeal, the apex court
deputy registrar Mazuliana Abdul Rashid was
also informed on Tuesday by the represent-
ative from Rosli Dahlan Saravana that new
solicitors for SRC International and Gandin-
gan Mentari had been pulled in.
Hence, Mazuliana has fixed Feb 22 for case
management for parties to update the apex court.
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Minister of
Finance Inc (MOF Inc)-owned Perba-
danan Nasional Bhd (Pernas) on Tuesday
(Feb 7) obtained a RM46 million summary
judgment from the High Court against Ser-
ba Dinamik Holdings Bhd’s group manag-
ing director Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim
Abdullah and two former senior executives
of Serba Dinamik subsidiaries.
The summary judgment was granted by
judge Ong Chee Kwan, who also allowed Pernas
to strike out Mohd Abdul Karim’s counterclaim.
A summary judgment is where the plain-
tiff that filed the suit could obtain a judgment
or decision without going through a trial.
The other two former executives are
Rosland Othman and Rosli Hamat.
Rosland was previously a senior vice-pres-
ident (special project) under Serba Dinamik
Group Bhd (SDGB), while Rosli was a senior
vice-president (investment) of Serba Dinamik
International Ltd (SDIL). Rosland and Rosli
are the first two defendants while Mohd Ab-
dul Karim was named as the third defendant.
Both SDGB and SDIL are Serba Dina-
mik’s subsidiaries.
When contacted, Pernas’ counsel Wafiy
Azman confirmed the outcome to The Edge
on Tuesday.
“Yes, the court allowed Pernas’ summa-
ry judgment application and allowed judg-
ment in the sum of approximately RM46
16 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
SRC International
would appoint
new solicitors in
its suit against
Najib, courts told
by Hafiz Yatim
theedgemarkets.com
Rosli Dahlan Saravana was the solicitor
for the 16 suits filed by SRC Internation-
al and six by 1Malaysia Development Bhd
(1MDB). However, it remains unknown if
the law firm will represent 1MDB. All those
suits were filed in May 2021 by the firm.
SRC’s US$1.18 billion claim
SRC International filed the US$1.18 billion
suit against Najib and six former senior of-
ficers of SRC that included its former man-
aging director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
The company claimed Najib as the advi-
sor emeritus and leader of the government
who supported the company and gave the
go-ahead for it to get the RM4 billion Retire-
MOF Inc-owned
Pernas obtains
summary judgment
against Mohd Abdul
Karim, two others
by Hafiz Yatim
theedgemarkets.com
million to be entered against Rosland, Rosli
and Datuk Karim.
“The court also allowed Pernas to strike
out Datuk Karim’s counterclaim,” Wafiy
confirmed.
Rosland and Rosli were represented by coun-
sel Saiful Hadi while Frank Wong and Habizan
Rahman appeared for Mohd Abdul Karim.
In a statement of claim filed in April last
year, the company said it entered an invest-
ment agreement and a put option agree-
ment with Rosland and Rosli on Jan 24,
2018, under which Pernas agreed to pur-
chase 13.5 million Serba Dinamik shares.
The purchase price was not stated.
Under the deal, the parties agreed that
should Serba Dinamik shares fall below RM3
ment Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) loans
in 2011 and 2012, leading to the bulk of the
funds being transferred overseas.
It claimed that Najib changed the invest-
ment structure of which the loans were sup-
posed to be utilised, going against Bank Ne-
gara Malaysia (BNM)’s requirements.
The firm further showed the money trail in
the utilisation of the fund, including a sum of
US$120 million that had allegedly gone into
Najib’s account or placed under his control, and
a sum of US$82,000 that was allegedly trans-
ferred to Najib’s proxy Nik Faisal.
Besides naming Najib and Nik Faisal,
the firm named former board members Da-
tuk Suboh Md Yassin, Datuk Shahrol Azral
Ibrahim Halmi,Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Datuk
Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin and
Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar
as defendants. However, five of them were
later dropped as defendants.
The firm obtained a judgement in default
against Nik Faisal on Nov 1, after he failed
to enter an appearance in the suit.
Later, Ahmad Fairuz allowed Najib’s ap-
plication to bring third party notices against
Suboh, Shahrol Azral, Ismee, Azhar and Che
Abdullah back into the claim late last year.
Read the full story
per share, Rosland and Rosli would pay Per-
nas the difference between RM3 and the
actual share price it fell to, within seven days
after a notice from Pernas.
Pernas also inked a put option agree-
ment with the duo, which gave Pernas the
right to sell the shares it bought from the
duo at an agreed option price that would
take into consideration Pernas’ investment
cost, at 12% interest per year.
Rosland and Rosli, according to the state-
ment of claim, then inked a supplementary
option agreement on June 27, 2019, which
stipulated that if the duo failed to buy the
Serba Dinamik shares owned by Pernas
should Pernas exercise its put option, then
Mohd Abdul Karim would be required to
complete the acquisition.
Pernas claimed that Mohd Abdul Karim
was prepared to absorb the losses that could
be suffered by Pernas should Serba Dina-
mik’s share price fall below RM3.
When Serba Dinamik shares fell in 2021,
Pernas started to claim from the duo, but
they failed to pay up, and the company exer-
cised its put option to sell its Serba Dinamik
shares to the duo at RM46.44 million. But
neither Rosland nor Rosli was able to fulfil
the agreement.
Read the full story
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Prosecution
drops appeal to
forfeit RM192 mil
in 1MDB-related
funds from Umno
by Hafiz Yatim
theedgemarkets.com
PUTRAJAYA (Feb 7):The prosecution has
withdrawn all its related forfeiture appeals
at the Federal Court relating to 1Malaysia
Development Bhd funds that former pre-
mier Datuk Seri Najib Razak transferred
to several political and business entities,
including RM192 million to Umno.
The other entities are Wanita MCA
(RM300,000), Kedah Umno (RM1.05
million), Pahang Umno (RM2.48 million),
Habib Jewels Sdn Bhd (RM100,000),
K&Z Enterprise Sdn Bhd (RM138,360),
Perano Sdn Bhd (RM337,635), Binsabi
Sdn Bhd (RM827,250) and Hatatex Trad-
ing Sdn Bhd (RM111,590).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Samihah
Rhazali when contacted confirmed the
withdrawal of the appeals.
The Edge also caught sight of a letter of
withdrawal dated Feb 2 relating to Umno,
signed by the Attorney General’s Cham-
bers’ appellate and trial division head
Manoj Kurup.
“Referring to the decision made by the
three-member Court of Appeal bench dat-
ed Sept 2, 2021, the prosecution hence
gave notice that it does not intend to pur-
sue the appeal,” the letter read.
In the 2021 decision, a three-member
bench comprisng Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul
Jalil, Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Da-
tuk Abu Bakar Jais upheld the High Court’s
decision in not allowing the forfeiture.
The bench ruled that there were no er-
rors in the High Court’s decision for the
Court of Appeal to disturb and intervene
in the matter.
The political and business entities were
part of 40 parties named by the Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
in the forfeiture exercise in its pursuit of
recovering funds that were from 1MDB
said to be paid by Najib.
On Jan 30 this year, the prosecution
withdrew its appeal at the Court of Ap-
peal over losing the forfeiture of a total of
RM21.77 million to politicians, political
parties and business entities.
The latest withdrawal of appeal involves
RM197.344 million, the biggest amount
in MACC’s forfeiture attempt.
17 TheEdge CEO morning brief
h o m e
MAIPs allowed
to intervene in
custody order
granted to single
mum Loh
Bernama
PUTRAJAYA (Feb 7): The Court of Ap-
peal on Tuesday (Feb 7) allowed the Per-
lis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs
Council’s (MAIPs) appeal to intervene in
the custody order granted to single moth-
er Loh Siew Hong whose three children
were converted to Islam by her Mus-
lim-convert ex-husband.
The decision was delivered by a
three-member bench comprising judges
Datuk Has Zanah Mehat, Datuk See Mee
Chun and Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd
Ghazali.
In delivering the court’s decision, Has
Zanah said based on the reading of two
provisions — Order 15 Rule 6 of the Rules
of Court 2012 and Section 96 of the Law
Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976
— it would confer MAIPs a legal right
to intervene.
She said the present issue before the
court was whether MAIPs has the right
to intervene to vary the custody order
granted by the High Court.
“Therefore, there was no necessity for
us to dwell on the legality or otherwise of
the conversion of the children,” she said
in allowing MAIPs’ appeal to set aside
the decision of the High Court.
On June 15 last year, High Court
judge Evrol Mariette Peters dismissed
MAIPs’ application to intervene after
finding that MAIPs had failed to show
that it was an interested party in relation
to the children.
MAIPs’ counsel Mohamed Haniff
Khatri Abdullah said following Tues-
day’s court decision, the religious coun-
cil would file an application in the High
Court in Kuala Lumpur to vary the cus-
tody order in the divorce petition between
Loh and her ex-husband Muhammad
Nagahswaran Muniandy.
In the divorce petition, Loh, 35, has
been granted sole custody, care and
control over her three children, a pair of
15-year-old twin girls and an 11-year-
old boy.
MAIPs filed the application to inter-
vene on March 7 last year to enable the
religious authority to have the locus standi
(legal standing) to apply to vary the terms
of the custody order granted to Loh.
On Feb 21 last year, the three siblings,
who were placed under the care of the
Social Welfare Department, were released
to Loh after the High Court allowed her
habeas corpus application.
Loh has also filed a judicial review
application to challenge her children’s
conversion to Islam which she claimed
was done by her ex-husband without her
consent. The High Court is scheduled to
hear her judicial review application on
March 21.
In the court proceedings on Tuesday,
Mohamed Haniff submitted that MAIPs
has the statutory duty to look after the
well-being, education and guidance of
Muslim converts and also to offer finan-
cial assistance from tithe funds.
Loh’s lawyer A Srimurugan, howev-
er, argued that MAIPs should not be al-
lowed to intervene as there was nothing
on record to suggest that Loh would act
contrary to her children’s faith or try to
convert them out or that she was in need
of financial help.
W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3
Turkish leader declares state of emergency as
Türkiye-Syria quake death toll passes 5,100
ANTAKYA,Türkiye (Feb 7):Turkish Presi-
dent Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a
state of emergency in 10 provinces devastat-
ed by two earthquakes that killed more than
5,100 people and left a trail of destruction
across a wide area of southern Türkiye and
neighbouring Syria.
A day after the quakes hit, rescuers
working in harsh conditions were strug-
gling to dig people out of the rubble of
collapsed buildings in a “race against time”.
As the scale of the disaster became ever
more apparent, the death toll looked likely
to rise considerably. One United Nations
(UN) official said it was feared thousands
of children may have been killed.
Thousands of buildings were toppled,
hospitals and schools wrecked and tens of
thousands of people were injured or left
homeless in several Turkish and Syrian
cities by the magnitude 7.8 quake — the
deadliest in Türkiye since 1999 — and a
second one hours later.
Bitter winter weather hampered rescue
efforts and the delivery of aid, and made
the plight of the homeless even more mis-
erable. Some areas were without fuel and
electricity.
Aid officials voiced particular concern
about the situation in Syria, already afflict-
ed by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12
years of civil war.
In a speech on Tuesday, Erdogan de-
clared the 10 Turkish provinces affected
as a disaster zone and imposed a state of
emergency in the region for three months.
This will permit the president and Cabi-
net to bypass Parliament in enacting new
laws and to limit or suspend rights and
freedoms.
The government planned to open up
hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya, to
the west, to temporarily house people
impacted by the quakes, said Erdogan,
who faces a national election in three
months’ time.
The death toll in Türkiye had risen to
3,549 people, Erdogan said. In Syria, the
toll stood at just over 1,600, according to
the government and a rescue service in the
insurgent-held northwest.
‘Every minute, every hour’
Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million
people were affected in an area spanning
roughly 450km (280 miles) from Adana
in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and
300km from Malatya in the north to Hatay
in the south. Syrian authorities have re-
19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
W O R L D
BY ECE TOKSABAY & HUSEYIN HAYATSEVER
Reuters
REUTERS
ported deaths as far south as Hama, some
100km from the epicentre.
“It’s now a race against time,” World
Health Organization (WHO) Director
General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
said in Geneva. “Every minute, every hour
that passes, the chances of finding survivors
alive diminishes.”
Across the region, rescuers toiled
through the night and into the morning
searching for survivors as people waited in
anguish by mounds of rubble, clinging to
the hope that friends and relatives might
be found alive.
In the Turkish city of Antakya, capital
of Hatay province near the Syrian border,
a woman’s voice was heard calling for help
under a pile of rubble. Reuters journalists
saw the body of a small child lying lifeless
nearby.
Weeping in the rain, a resident who
gave his name as Deniz wrung his hands
in despair.
“They’re making noises but nobody is
coming,” he said. “We’re devastated, we’re
devastated. My God... They’re calling out.
They’re saying, ‘Save us’ but we can’t save
them. How are we going to save them?
There has been nobody since the morning.”
Families slept in cars lined up on the
streets.
Ayla, standing by a pile of rubble where
an eight-storey building once stood, said
she had driven to Hatay from Gaziantep
on Monday in search of her mother. Res-
cuers from the Istanbul fire department
were working in the ruins.
“There have been no survivors yet,”
she said.
Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Man-
agement Authority said 5,775 buildings
had been destroyed in the quake and that
20,426 people had been injured.
A large fire was still burning on Tuesday
at Türkiye’s southern port of Iskenderun.
Drone footage from Hatay showed dozens
of collapsed apartment blocks, indicating
the true death toll was likely to be far great-
er than the current tally.
In Geneva, Unicef spokesperson James
Elder said: “The earthquakes ... may have
killed thousands of children”.
Scores of schools, hospitals and other
medical and educational facilities had been
damaged or destroyed, he said.
Syrian refugees in northwest Syrian and
in Türkiye were among the most vulnerable
people affected, Elder said.
‘Terrifying scene’
In the Syrian city of Hama, Abdallah al Da-
han said funerals for several families were
taking place on Tuesday.
“It’s a terrifying scene in every sense,”
said Dahan, contacted by phone. “In my
whole life I haven’t seen anything like this,
despite everything that has happened to us.”
Mosques opened their doors to families
whose homes were damaged.
The death toll in Syrian govern-
ment-held areas rose to 812, state news
agency Sana reported. In the rebel-held
northwest, the toll was more than 790, ac-
cording to the Syrian civil defence, a rescue
service known as the White Helmets and
famous for digging people from the rubble
of government air strikes.
“There are lot of efforts by our teams,
but they are unable to respond to the ca-
tastrophe and the large number of collapsed
buildings,” group head Raed al-Saleh said.
Time was running out to save hun-
dreds of families trapped under the rubble
of buildings and urgent help was needed
from international groups, he said.
A UN humanitarian official in Syria said
fuel shortages and the harsh weather were
creating obstacles.
“The infrastructure is damaged; the
roads that we used to use for humanitari-
an work are damaged,” UN resident coor-
dinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told Reuters
from Damascus.
Poor internet connection and damaged
roads between some of the worst-hit Turk-
ish cities, homes to millions of people, also
hindered efforts to assess the impact and
plan help.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): A new Euro-
pean Union law preventing the import of
commodities linked to deforestation risks
sidelining small farmers who are unable to
meet the burdensome cost of compliance,
the head of the Roundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil (RSPO) said on Tuesday.
Joseph D’Cruz told Reuters that larger
RSPO-certified members will not face dif-
ficulties complying with EU requirements,
as their certification standards already pro-
hibit deforestation and the conversion of
primary forests.
“There is a human, social and develop-
mental cost there, which smaller, marginal
producers may be forced to bear in order
for the EU deforestation regulation to be
implemented the way it is being set up right
now,” the RSPO chief executive officer said
in an interview.
The EU in December agreed on a new
deforestation regulation that requires com-
panies to produce a due diligence statement
showing when and where their commodities
were produced and provide “verifiable” in-
formation that they were not grown on land
deforested after 2020, or risk hefty fines.
The regulation has been welcomed by envi-
ronmentalists as an important step in protect-
ing forests, as deforestation is responsible for
about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The law will apply to palm oil, soy, beef,
wood, cocoa and coffee, and some derived
products.
LONDON (Feb 7): Central banks face mount-
ing losses on the trillions of dollars of bonds
they bought in the past 15 years of rolling cri-
ses, a paper from the Bank for International
Settlements (BIS) said, warning that the defi-
cits could leave them open to political attack.
Having rapidly raised interest rates to
fight inflation, the Federal Reserve and
its European peers are now making huge
interest payments to commercial banks
on deposits they themselves created with
their massive support efforts, which were
known as quantitative easing (QE).
The Fed’s cumulative loss from its quan-
titative easing now stands at almost US$26
billion. The Swiss National Bank made a
loss of 132 billion Swiss francs (US$143
billion) last year, while the European Cen-
tral Bank (ECB) now pays 2.5% interest on
four trillion euros that commercial banks
got for free during the crisis years.
The US Treasury will not need to worry
about bailing out the Fed, which can simply de-
fer any loss. But the Treasury will still be miss-
ing the US$50 billion to US$100 billion the
Fed’s bond profits used to provide each year.
The ECB and a number of national cen-
tral banks in Europe have issued warnings,
though. Britain’s government, which has
20 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
EU deforestation
Small, sustainable producers across Asia,
Africa and Latin America who benefit the
law risks
most from access to premium markets will
not be able to sell to the EU because they
sidelining
lack a supply chain that can demonstrate
traceability from the farm to the European
small farmers,
market, D’Cruz said.
More than seven million smallholders glob-
says palm oil
ally cultivate palm oil for a living, according
to RSPO data. In top producers Indonesia
watchdog
and Malaysia, smallholders account for about
40% of the total area for palm oil production.
The two countries have accused the EU
of blocking market access for their palm oil,
by Mei Mei Chu with Malaysia saying it could stop exports
Reuters to the bloc.
bloomberg Market share
Activists have for years accused the palm
oil industry of rampant clearing of South-
east Asian rainforests and abuse of workers’
rights, although the RSPO has addressed
these issues in their certification criteria.
Market share for RSPO-certified sustain-
able palm oil has stayed at 19.8% for years,
due to stagnating demand for the more pricey
certified product, especially in price-sensitive
markets like India and China.
RSPO is focusing on opportunities in In-
dia and China, where consumer perceptions
of sustainability are changing, D’Cruz said.
“When those perceptions shift, I think
demand will reach a tipping point and start
to grow quite significantly.”
Post-QE bond
The BIS’s paper said that when bail-
outs were required they risked raising the
losses rising
ire of taxpayers and politicians who then
took aim at central banks’ independence.
reality for central
“If there is macroeconomic mismanage-
ment and the state lacks credibility, losses may
banks — BIS
erode the central bank’s standing, which may
jeopardise its independence and could even
lead to the currency’s collapse,” the paper said,
referring to the worst-case scenario.
by Marc Jones There were dozens of past examples
Reuters from developing economies, including Mex-
ico, Chile, the Czech Republic and Israel,
reuters where central banks can operate without
major difficulties in negative equity, it said.
To head off any political barbs, how-
ever, the banks should communicate that
the measures that led to the losses were
undertaken to ensure price and econom-
ic stability which has a long-term benefit.
“To maintain the public’s trust and to
preserve central bank legitimacy now and
in the long run, stakeholders should appre-
ciate that central banks’ policy mandates
come before profits,” the paper said.
received more than 120 billion pounds in
profits from the Bank of England since 2009,
has already set aside 11 billion pounds for Read also: Australia raises key rate
the central bank. to 10-year high, sees more to come
 W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

PRESENTED BY | M A I N PA R T N E R | O F F I C I A L S O L A R PA R T N E R | S U P P O R T I N G PA R T N E R | SUPPORTED BY |

The Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards (BMSPA) introduced by EdgeProp Malaysia in 2017 to
benchmark Malaysian property management practices against the best-in-class globally, has not only
raised the bar for the industry, but also kick-started the urgently-needed conversation among property
stakeholders for Malaysian real estate to be designed, built and maintained sustainably.

To step up the efforts to promote the awards and its objectives, the awards will now be hosted by
The Edge Malaysia and will assume the name, The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards.

AWA R D S O B J E C T I V E
Promote sustainable real estate in Malaysia
through recognition of:

ter
• Malaysia’s best property management

n
practices
• Property in Malaysia designed and built
for sustainability E w!
NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES
(NO FEES REQUIRED)
HOW TO ENTER
Download entry forms on
no
• All Residential, Office, Mixed Development,
Specialised and Retail properties managed bmspa.theedgemarkets.com
in-house/by property building managers
For enquiries, contact
• Strata and Non-strata buildings The Edge Corporate Communications at:
• Re-purposed buildings BMSPA@bizedge.com

ALSO OPEN FOR SUBMISSION SUBMISSION DEADLINE

(NO FEES REQUIRED)
• The Edge Malaysia’s Responsible Developer:
Building Sustainable Development Award
• The Edge-ILAM Malaysia’s Sustainable
Landscape Award
All entries must reach The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd,
Lobby Level, Menara KLK, No. 1 Jalan PJU 7/6,
Mutiara Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
by 5pm, Friday, 24 February 2023
Awards results audited by Deloitte
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Oil giants’
US$68 bil profits
set to fuel UK
tax debate
by Simon Lee
Bloomberg
(Feb 7): The stellar annual profits of Shell
plc and BP plc — almost US$68 billion
combined — are set to intensify the debate
on UK taxation as households suffer a cost-
of-living crisis driven partly by rocketing
oil and gas prices.
Homes in Britain saw energy bills more
than double last year, while motorists paid
record prices at the pump. The soaring
profits of oil and gas producers, and the
deluge of cash they channelled to share-
holders, have sparked the ire of politicians
and unions, many of whom have called for
higher windfall taxes.
BP reported full-year adjusted profit of
MANILA (Feb 7): Philippine annual inflation
blew past expectations in January to reach a
fresh 14-year high on surging food prices, rais-
ing the chance of the central bank delivering a
bigger interest rate hike to tame prices when
it meets this month.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose
8.7% in January, the statistics agency said
on Tuesday (Feb 7), well above the 7.7% fore-
cast in a Reuters poll and topping the 8.1%
rate in December, when the central bank had
expected prices to peak.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile
food and fuel items, also increased to a more
than two-decade high of 7.4%, from Decem-
ber’s 6.9%, suggesting price pressures remain
broad.
The Philippine central bank, which had
forecast the January CPI to come in between
7.5% and 8.3%, said on Saturday it will focus
on inflation rather than the US Federal Re-
serve’s most recent 25-basis point hike, when
it meets on Feb 16 to review interest rates.
Given the faster-than-expected inflation in
January, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
looks certain to hike interest rates by at least
25 basis points, and with a bigger 50 basis
points likely to be on the table, ING econo-
mist Nicholas Mapa said in a tweet.
The Philippines’ broader stock index
dropped 0.4% in early trade on expectations
of a larger rate hike, while the peso had slipped
0.5% at 54.73 per dollar as of 0211 GMT.
The main factor behind January’s red-hot
inflation was the 11.2% annual rise in food
22 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
reuters
US$27.65 billion on Tuesday, an all-time
high, with earnings at its retail division
more than tripling as petrol prices surged.
The company announced a 10% increase
in the dividend and an extra US$2.75 bil-
lion of share buybacks.
Shell posted a record US$39.87 billion
result last week and moved ahead with a
further US$4 billion of buybacks, plus a
planned 15% dividend hike.
Read also: BP adds to Big Oil cash gusher
with dividend hike, buybacks
Philippine
inflation beats
expectations, lifts
chance of bigger
rate hike
by Neil Jerome Morales
& Enrico Dela Cruz
Reuters
inflation, the quickest pace since 2009, and
compared with the previous month’s 10.6%,
and the 1.6% rate in the same month last year.
BSP governor Felipe Medalla has previ-
ously signalled further rate hikes in the cen-
tral bank’s first two policy meetings this year
to bring inflation back within a target range
of 2% to 4%.
Elevated inflation, plus the need to main-
tain interest rate differentials between the US
and the Philippines, have forced the central
bank to embark on aggressive tightening, with
the benchmark rate rising by a total of 350
basis points last year.
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Bal-
isacan said after the data was released that the
impact of the central bank’s series of rate hikes
in 2022 should be felt this year and result in
a moderation in inflation starting in 2023.
Taiwan’s
exports fall
by most since
2009 as world
demand
weakens
by Samson Ellis & Chien-Hua Wan
Bloomberg
(Feb 7): Taiwan’s exports fell by the
most since 2009 last month as waning
global demand for technology prod-
ucts and the Lunar New Year holiday
weighed on international trade.
Overseas shipments declined
21.2% in January from a year ago
to US$31.5 billion, the lowest since
February 2021, data fromTaiwan’s Fi-
nance Ministry showed on Tuesday.
Semiconductor exports fell 18.3%, the
most in 14 years.
Weak demand, the war in Ukraine,
and uncertainty surrounding China’s
post-Covid reopening mean it is un-
likely exports will pick up in the near
future, with the ministry not expecting
a turning point before the second half
of this year, the ministry’s chief statis-
tician Beatrice Tsai said at a briefing
on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s numbers may not be the
nadir forTaiwan trade.The island’s key
manufacturers predict further substan-
tial declines in both output and new
business in the coming months, ac-
cording to S&P Global’s Taiwan man-
ufacturing PMI survey published last
week, as the US and European econo-
mies teeter on the brink of contraction.
New export orders provide little
cause for optimism. Overseas orders to
Taiwanese firms fell more than 23% in
both November and December from
a year earlier, the fastest pace of con-
traction since 2009.
However, industry heavyweightTai-
wan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co offers a sliver of positivity for the
island’s economy.While it cut its reve-
nue forecast for the year, it still foresees
sales growing in 2023 while most of
its global competitors are bracing for
a downturn.
Imports shrank 16.6%, the most in
three years, leaving a shrinking trade
surplus of US$2.3 billion.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Adani stocks climb after eight-day
rout wiped out US$118 bil
(Feb 7): Adani Enterprises Ltd surged,
leading gains as most of the Indian con-
glomerate’s stocks rose after its founders
pre-paid some debt and traders covered
short positions.
The flagship’s shares rallied as much
as 25% before finishing up nearly 15% in
Mumbai on Tuesday. That helped trim the
slide in the group’s market capitalisation
to US$115 billion since US-based Hin-
denburg Research released a report on Jan
24 alleging market manipulation and ac-
counting fraud — claims that Adani has
repeatedly denied.
The reprieve came as Gautam Adani
and his family prepaid US$1.11 billion
worth of debt, in a bid to calm a selloff that
sparked fears of a contagion across India’s
economy and markets. Adani Ports & Spe-
cial Economic Zone Ltd said on Tuesday
that it will repay debt of around 50 billion
rupees (US$605 million) in the year start-
ing April, helping the billionaire’s firm to
improve a leverage metric at a time when
its financial health and that of other group
companies has come under intense scru-
tiny and concerns have grown over their
access to funding.
Six of the group’s 10 stocks ended high-
er on Tuesday. They had seen a combined
US$118 billion in value erased in the pre-
vious eight sessions.
“The recovery is happening due to a
variety of factors: the prepayment, short
covering and technicals all are driving it,”
said Deven Choksey, managing director at
KRChoksey Holdings in Mumbai. “The
group is expected to take more corrective
actions going forward.”
Adani Wilmar Ltd climbed by the 5%
23 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
by Ishika Mookerjee, Abhishek Vishnoi,
Harry Suhartono & Ashutosh Joshi
Bloomberg
bloomberg
limit on Tuesday. Adani Ports ended 1.4%
higher after the debt repayment announce-
ment, even as it reported third-quarter net
income that missed the average analyst es-
timate. Adani Transmission Ltd finished
little changed after posting a 78% gain in
third-quarter profit on Monday. New Delhi
Television Ltd was due to announce results.
“Amid news of prepayment of loans, the
rally in Adani group shares looks more of a
tactical bounce from oversold levels,” said
Nitin Chanduka, a strategist at Bloomberg
Intelligence.
Hindenburg’s accusations have pro-
pelled long-held concerns about the Adani
Group’s debt-fueled expansion onto the
global stage, and opposition lawmakers
forced parliamentary hearings to be ad-
journed for three days as they demanded
answers.
Some of Adani’s dollar bonds fell into
distressed territory following the criticisms,
with debt investors holding initial conver-
sations with financial advisers and lawyers
to weigh their options.
Easing Volatility
Shares in flagship Adani Enterprises had
tumbled more than 50% from when Hin-
denburg published its short-selling report
through Monday, the steepest decline of
the four stocks in the group that have un-
derlying derivatives.
The ratio of put-to-call options on the
stock, as measured by open interest, slid
to a six-month low at the end of last week,
briefly dropping to about two standard
deviations below the 24-month average.
Whenever the ratio has breached that lev-
el in the past, a reversal in the shares has
taken place, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg based on regression analysis.
“The volatility levels in the stocks have
reduced and swings could narrow further
if there are no negative catalysts or news
developments,” said Deepak Jasani, head
of retail research at HDFC Securities Ltd.
“The force of selling may reduce and that
may give a small boost to prices.”
In the credit market, some of dollar
bonds issued by the Adani Group of com-
panies clawed back their daily losses. Nine
of 15 dollar bonds issued by the group rose,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The gain was led by Adani Renewable En-
ergy’s debt due in 2039, which jumped 0.9
cents as of 1:34 p.m. in Mumbai.
Hindenburg Research alleged that a web
of Adani-family controlled offshore shell
entities in tax havens were used to facilitate
corruption, money laundering and taxpayer
theft. The conglomerate has called the re-
port “bogus” and threatened legal action.
Adani gave a video speech last week, stating
that the group’s balance sheet is healthy.
Investors are keenly watching the
group’s actions, with some saying it will
take a lot more effort to restore the mar-
ket’s confidence.
The repayments “can provide some re-
lief but it won’t be a change of trend, which
is down,” said Sameer Kalra, founder of
Target Investing in Mumbai. “We need to
keep watching how much more repayment
happens, how the capex goes.”
Read also: Adani Group share clues can
be seen in surging options market
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
JAKARTA (Feb 7): Indonesia will review
its palm oil export quota ratios amid rising
prices of domestic cooking oil, the Coor-
dinating Ministry of Maritime and Invest-
ment Affairs said.
Indonesia imposes a so-called Domes-
tic Market Obligation (DMO) on palm oil
whereby companies are allowed to export
only after they have sold a portion of their
production at home.
The government regulates the price of
palm oil sold under the DMO scheme,
which is channeled to a cheap cooking oil
programme.
Authorities will also review the price
set for the DMO, the statement issued
late on Monday said. Under the DMO,
crude palm oil price is currently capped at
9,300 rupiah (US$0.61) per kilogramme
and olein price is capped at 10,300 rupiah.
Indonesia currently allows companies
to export six times the volume they have
sold to the domestic market.
Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil pro-
(Feb 7):The world should end this season with
its first sugar surplus in four years, but you
wouldn’t know it from how prices have surged.
Futures hit a six-year high last week,
threatening more inflationary pain by in-
creasing the cost of making baked goods,
candy and soft drinks. While top exporter
Brazil is set to collect a much bigger crop,
those supplies won’t arrive until harvesting
starts around April — and right now the
market is tightening.
That’s because weaker output will likely
force India to cap exports, while Europe-
an production has been hit by drought and
now faces uncertainty after a pesticide ban.
Plus, Indian mills are diverting more cane to
make ethanol and China’s reopening could
lift demand.
There are already signs that sugar’s rally
is feeding through to higher retail prices for
goods in grocery stores in the US and Europe.
“The biggest concern is stocks are tight
24 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
ducer, would suspend some existing palm
Indonesia to
oil export permits until the end of April,
officials said on Monday, as exporters had
review its palm
accumulated large quotas for shipments
from late last year.
oil export quota
However, authorities said companies
could get additional export quotas if they
ratio — ministry
supply the domestic market.
Industry group Indonesia Palm Oil
Board reiterated on Tuesday that palm oil
companies had little urgency to increase
by Bernadette Christina Munthe their DMO sales to secure export quota,
Reuters due to weak demand for their exports and
high export levies.
“The US$52 export tax per tonne
should be suspended until after Eid al-
Fitr,” chairman Sahat Sinaga told report-
ers, so palm oil companies were encour-
aged to export and in turn increase their
DMO fulfillment to secure more export
quota.
Malaysia’s benchmark palm oil contract
rose more than 2% on Tuesday, following
Indonesia’s move.
Sugar’s rally to
Association last week cut its shipment out-
look to about six million tons for this season
six-year high on
after bad weather hurt yields, indicating the
government is unlikely to allow extra volumes.
borrowed time
Plus, India’s push to boost ethanol pro-
duction could see more cane diverted to
as glut looms
make the biofuel, rather than sugar.
Brazil’s crop
Brazil should collect one of its best-ever crops,
Bloomberg after drought and frost hurt previous harvests.
But good weather would allow processing to
globally,” said Rahil Shaikh, managing direc- start early, increasing competition for termi-
tor of trader Meir Commodities India Pvt. nal space during the peak shipment period
“As of now the curtains are down on addition- for record soy supplies — so producers and
al Indian exports. If there is any shock from traders are bracing for port congestion.
Brazil then the world market will be on fire.” Limited export capacity may push up
Here’s what’s happening in the market: physical sugar premiums, said Ana Zancan-
er, an analyst for trader Czarnikow Group
Indian exports Ltd’s Czapp app. An increase in fuel prices
How much the No 2 grower will export has recently raised concerns that Brazil’s mills
been a key question.The Indian Sugar Mills could turn more cane into ethanol, although
sugar remains more profitable for them.
European headache
Europe is already having to import more
sugar after a heat wave and drought hurt
output. Now, a European Union ruling re-
inforcing a ban on neonicotinoids — a type
of pesticide considered harmful to bees —
further threatens production.
In a sign of tight supply, traders say some
European food companies are still paying
more than £1,000 (US$1,204) a ton for
refined sugar in the spot market. That’s
much more than usual, squeezing margins.
Read the full story
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
PARIS (Feb 7): Trade unions launched a
third wave of nationwide strikes on Tues-
day against President Emmanuel Macron’s
plans to make the French work longer be-
fore retirement, as the legislation started its
bumpy passage through parliament.
Rail services were cancelled, schools dis-
rupted and refinery deliveries halted as
workers across multiple sectors walked out,
and unions urged the public again to take
to the streets in big numbers.
The government says people must work
two years longer - meaning for most until
the age of 64 - in order to keep the budget
of one of the industrial world’s most gen-
erous pension systems in the black.
The French spend the largest number of
years in retirement among OECD countries
- a deeply cherished benefit that a substantial
majority are reluctant to give up, polls show.
Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt dis-
missed opposition accusations that the
government was in denial over the scale
of street protests across the country last
month, and said change was needed.
“The pension system is loss-making and
if we care about the system, we must save
it,” the minister told RMC radio.
Philippe Martinez, leader of the hard-
left CGT trade union, said Macron was
playing “a dangerous game” in pressing
ahead with a deeply unpopular reform at
a time households are facing high inflation.
TotalEnergies said deliveries of refined
oil products from its sites had been sus-
(Feb 7): London house prices flatlined in
December, recording their worst perfor-
mance in more than three years, one of
the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders said.
The cost of an average home in the capi-
tal hit £530,396 (US$637,720) in January,
unchanged from a year earlier, according to
Halifax.This was the slowest rate of growth
since November 2019, when prices fell by
1% from the previous year.
Compared to a month earlier, prices
fell 2% from £541,472. While London’s
house price growth has lagged many other
areas of the UK “for some time”, according
to Halifax, the price of a typical home is
still around a quarter of a million pounds
above the UK national average.
The signs of a slowdown in the UK’s
largest city came as Britain’s wider hous-
ing market stabilized in January, breaking
four months of decline.
Halifax said its measure of property
prices was unchanged last month after an
1.3% drop in January. It said the annual
pace of growth slowed to 1.9% from 2.1%.
The figures indicated more strength
than rival lender Nationwide Building So-
ciety, which recorded the longest string of
25 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
Unions and leftwing opponents say the
Third wave of
money can be found elsewhere, notably from
the wealthy. Conservative opponents, whose
strikes over
support Macron needs for a working ma-
jority in the National Assembly, want con-
pension reform
cessions for those who start working young.
More than a million people marched
keeps pressure
in cities across France during the first two
days of strike action in January, as public
on Macron
pressure intensified against a government
that insists it will stand its ground on the
reforms main planks.
In parliament, more than 20,000
by Tangi Salaün & Dominique Vidalon amendments lie before lawmakers, the
Reuters vast majority from the leftwing Nupes al-
liance. However, because the reform has
been tacked onto an annual social securi-
ty bill, the government may send it to the
Senate after just two weeks.
In a concession to conservatives, Prime
Minister Elisabeth Borne has offered to
let some people who start work early also
retire early - but Les Republicains (LR)
lawmakers are divided over whether the
reuters
proposed starting age of 20-21 is low
enough.
pended due to the strike. Electricity pro- “Someone who starts work earlier,
duction was down just 3.7 gigawatts (GW) stops working earlier. What’s so difficult
and data from grid operator RTE showed to understand @Elisabeth_Borne,” Aure-
minimal imports in the energy mix. lien Pradie, a lead LR critic of the current
proposal, tweeted.
Concessions
The government says the reform will allow
gross savings of over 17 billion euros ($18 Read also: France’s trade deficit doubled
billion) per year by 2030. to record high in 2022 on energy imports
declines since 2008 in its widely watched
London house
figures. The two lenders calculate house
prices based on the mortgages they write
prices flatline
for homebuyers. Both expect the market to
weaken this year along with the economy
in worst
and consumer spending power.
“We expected that the squeeze on
performance
household incomes from the rising cost
of living and higher interest rates would
since 2019
lead to a slower housing market, particu-
larly compared to the rapid growth of re-
cent years,” said Kim Kinnaird, director of
Halifax mortgages. “As we move through
by Lucy White 2023, that trend is likely to continue as
Bloomberg higher borrowing costs lead to reduced
demand.”
Halifax said this month’s figures repre-
sent the weakest in three years, since the
pandemic brought the property market
to a standstill. The rate of growth slowed
across all regions.
Prices are down around 4% from their
peak in August last year, Kinnaird said on
Bloomberg Radio. But they are still up more
than 18% on pre-pandemic levels.
Bloomberg
Read the full story
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3 26 TheEdge CEO morning brief

w o r l d

HONG KONG (Feb 7): With the full re- es’ placements and high-yield debt exchang-

Five ways
opening of Hong Kong’s border with Chi- es have accounted for most corporate dol-
na on Monday (Feb 7), and the city drop- lar-bond issuance in Asia ex-Japan since the

Hong Kong can

ping vaccine requirements for all visitors, the fourth quarter of 2022. Some Chinese prop-
campaign to rebuild the territory’s battered erty developers, with sound financial health,

triumph over
economy is full speed ahead. But can the city could tap the market again in this year as Bei-
reclaim its crown as the region’s top finance jing might ease leverage rules. Offshore Chi-

Singapore with
hub from Singapore, whose earlier reopening nese financial institutions are another group
from Covid-19 gave it a significant head start? of potential issuers. All these might support

borders now open

Cross-border travel with China is expect-
ed to boost Hong Kong’s population, give
the city a wealth injection and help lift its
economy out of the doldrums. Yet Singa-
pore’s tension-free ties with theWest and cor-
porate-tax incentives remain very attractive.
Here are five areas in which Hong Kong
could triumph over rival Singapore, ac-
cording to Bloomberg analysts.
The stock market
Hong Kong could keep capturing far more
equity business than Singapore in the next
five years due to the China factor.The city’s
initial public offerings (IPOs) by deal val-
ue could triple to about US$40 billion in
2023 driven by China’s reopening, its policy
shift toward growth and pent-up demand
for capital. During last year’s drought, Hong
Kong Exchanges still had 82 IPOs, raising
US$13.4 billion, compared with only 11
deals and less than US$1 billion in Singa-
pore. Through 2023, more Chinese com-
panies listed in the US may seek listings in
Hong Kong, boosting the city’s market cap
from the current US$5 trillion, versus Sin-
gapore’s US$630 billion. Hong Kong’s daily
stock-trading turnover averaged US$15.9
by Alex Millson
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
billion and Singapore’s, US$865 million last
year. Hong Kong can keep its lead in equity
business unless there are extensive sanctions
against China by Western governments.
Dollar bonds
The China factor will continue to keep Hong
Kong ahead of Singapore in the dollar-bond
business, despite China’s property-bond in-
stability and elevated US Treasury yields.
China’s local-government owned enterpris-
demand for fixed-income traders and bankers
in Hong Kong more than Singapore.
Finance salaries
Finance professionals can get paid a lot
more in Hong Kong than in Singapore,
which can affect decisions when picking
work locations. In 2023, industry workers
in both cities might expect salary increas-
es of about 4%, based on Mercer’s survey.
Average total compensation, including both
salary and bonus, approaches US$300,000
for finance workers in Hong Kong — 52%
higher than in Singapore, based on eFinan-
cialCareers’ report in 2022. For profession-
als with over 10 years of experience, the pay
disparity could reach up to 66%. And effec-
tive tax rates for high earners are lower in
Hong Kong, due to a 15% standard rate,
whereas they can pay more than 20% Sin-
gapore. In short, people working in the front
office, private equity and hedge funds can
get much bigger pay checks in Hong Kong,
while differences might be smaller for back-
and middle-office posts.
Read the full story

Singapore could
(Feb 6): Deputy Prime Minister Heng illegal payments to officials of Brazil’s
Swee Keat said that Singapore could re- state-controlled oil company Petroleo

review Keppel
view a decision not to prosecute key figures Brasileiro SA. Keppel’s US unit pleaded
at Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd over a guilty while the Singapore-based parent

O&M bribery
major bribery case involving payments to entered into a deferred-prosecution agree-
Brazil’s state-run energy company if there’s ment with the US government.

case with new

new evidence that warrants doing so. Sembcorp Marine, in which state in-
The city-state on Monday (Feb 6) vestment firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd is

defended a decision not to press charg-
es against six former senior managers of
Keppel O&M for their alleged involvement
in a bribery scandal that cost the company
US$422 million in total fines. Indranee
Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Office, told the city-state’s parliament on
Monday there was not enough sufficient
evidence to establish any criminal charge
beyond a reasonable doubt against a spe-
cific individual.
“But if new evidence comes to light, this
decision can be reviewed,” Heng posted
to Facebook on Tuesday. “Corruption has
no place in our society and our economy.
This has not and will not change.”
“Trust in our rule of law and transpar-
ency has enabled Singapore to thrive as a
evidence
by C hanyaporn Chanjaroen
& Philip J Heijmans
Bloomberg
vibrant economy,” he continued. “Many
are understandably concerned that the gov-
ernment had not mounted charges against
former Keppel employees involved in the
corruption scandal.”
Such cases are rare in Singapore, ranked
fifth least corrupt on Transparency Inter-
national’s latest annual index.
Keppel O&M agreed in 2017 to pay
US$422 million to end a US probe into
the biggest shareholder, agreed to acquire
Keppel O&M last year.
Last month, Singapore’s Corrupt Prac-
tices Investigation Bureau issued “stern
warnings” to the six former senior man-
agers of Keppel O&M in lieu of prose-
cution for offences punishable under the
corruption law.
The unnamed individuals allegedly had
conspired to pay a total of US$55 million
in bribes to foreign consultants involved in
the company’s business interests in Bra-
zil, according to the CPIB statement in
January. The anti-graft agency cited the
cross-jurisdiction nature and complexity
of the case, along with difficulties in ob-
taining evidence for prosecution, for not
taking further action.
 w e d n e s d ay f e b r u a ry 8 , 2 0 2 3
Baltic Exchange shipping updates
A weekly round-up of tanker and dry bulk market (Feb 3, 2023)
Capesize
As China returned from their Lunar New
Year holidays there was hope in some
quarters that the market would see a re-
covery from the steep declines of January.
There was optimism that a floor had been
found, as there were only marginal dai-
ly falls. However, the rot continued with
weaker fixtures reported generally and a
largely flat C5 West Australia market. The
Capesize TC Average finished the week at
US$3,561. The backhaul C16 route saw
limited activity, a fixture from RBCT to
Denmark at US$6 led the TC route down.
There was activity from Brazil and a New-
castlemax fixed at US$17 for index dates.
By the finish, Baltic Capesize fixtures were
reported at US$15.50/US$16.00 levels.
It was a slow start to the week on the C5
route. As the week progressed all majors
were active, with the trading band set be-
tween US$6.30 and US$6.45. Period wise
it was quiet, a 2005 177,000-dwt was re-
ported fixed for five to eight months ba-
sis prompt delivery China at US$13,000.
Panamax
It proved to be another week of steady
declines for the Panamax market. With a
heavy ballaster list and increased tonnage
count, resistance from owners was mostly
scarce. This resulted in charterers driving
down bids, especially in the Atlantic region
with Asia marginally bucking the trend. In
the Atlantic, aside from some brief NC
South America grain demand in the ear-
ly part, it has been lacklustre with both
P1A and P2A routes. Both came under
pressure with little sign of abating. A cou-
ple of 76,000-dwt were reported midweek
basis aps EC South America delivery for
trips across to Continent-Mediterranean
at US$10,000, which highlighted well the
downfall here. In Asia, the market fared
marginally better — especially for clean
led business. However, with a weak and
pessimistic EC South America market
South East Asia positions saw little joy.
Rates for the limited Indonesia coal trades
were severely discounted by the smaller
and older units.
Ultramax/Supramax
A story of split fortunes over the last week
for the sector.The Atlantic remained in the
27 TheEdge CEO morning brief
w o r l d
doldrums with an oversupply of prompt
tonnage in the North and South Atlantic.
The Continent and Mediterranean lacked
fresh impetus. But by contrast, the Asian
market saw healthy demand with better
levels of fresh enquiry in Southeast Asia.
Further north, there was again better
demand from the North Pacific and for
backhaul requirements to the Atlantic.
Although demand for period remained,
there was little reported. From the At-
lantic, a 61,000-dwt fixed delivery South
America for a trip to the West Mediter-
ranean at US$12,000, whilst a 63,000-
dwt open US Gulf fixed a trip to the Far
East with petcoke at around US$14,000.
From Asia, a 60,500-dwt fixed delivery
SE Asia via Dampier redelivery Indonesia
at US$12,500. Further north, an Ultra-
max was heard to have fixed a trip deliv-
ery North China redelivery Black Sea ex-
cluding Russia and Ukraine at US$8,000.
Handysize
BHSI made small gains as positive sen-
timent in Asia continued, as more en-
quiry entered the market. In Asia, a
32,000-dwt fixed delivery Vancouver for
a trip to China with an intended cargo of
grains at US$12,500. A 32,000-dwt fixed
from South Korea to Southeast Asia at
US$5,500 after failing on subjects for
similar business at US$4,500 earlier in
the week. The Atlantic saw more activity,
with a 33,000-dwt fixing from Poland to
Turkey with an intended cargo of scrap at
US$7,500 and a 32,000-dwt fixing from
Brazil to China at US$14,000 with an in-
tended cargo of logs. A 33,000-dwt fixed
from Alexandria to the Spanish Mediter-
ranean at US$8,500 with an intended car-
go of steels. Period was also more active
with a 28,000-dwt fixing basis delivery
China for three to five months trading
at US$9,100. In the Atlantic, a 28,000-
dwt was rumoured to have been fixed for
around six months at about US$9,000.
Clean
The BCTI finished the week at 626, down
from 659 the previous week.
In the Middle East Gulf, freight lev-
els have fallen with cargos not covering
available tonnage. Most routes have con-
sequently registered continued decreases
from where they were this time last week.
The LR2s of TC1, 75,000 Middle East
Gulf / Japan, declined from WS106.88 to
WS95.63 (-WS11.25) a round-trip TCE
of US$10,068 per day. LR1s have also
seen a similar downward trajectory over
the last week with TC5, 55,000 Middle
East Gulf / Japan, declining 7.14 points
to WS126.43. On TC8 Middle East Gulf /
UK Continent, again the rates were barely
budging from last week’s numbers finish-
ing at US$42.95/mt (a lumpsum equiva-
lent of approximately US$2.79m).
The MRs of TC17, 35,000 Middle
East Gulf / East Africa, showed some re-
covery resulting in an increase of 98.63
points to WS237.92 a round-trip TCE of
US$24,667 per day. West of Suez, on the
LR2s, TC15, 80,000 Mediterranean / Ja-
pan, have also softened losing US$283,333
and finishing the week at US$2,391,667.
The LR1s of TC16 60,000 Amsterdam /
Offshore Lomé were mostly flat, ending
the week up WS4.29 points at WS135.
Read the full report
 W E D N E S D AY F E B R U A RY 8 , 2 0 2 3 28 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

M A R K E T S

CPO RM 3,945.006.00 OIL US$ 81.840.85 RM/USD 4.3027 RM/SGD 3.2436 RM/AUD 2.9863 RM/GBP 5.1674 RM/EUR 4.6089

Top 20 active stocks

NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET
(MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
MY EG SERVICES BHD 1015.36 -0.255 0.700 -19.54 5206.60
IRIS CORP BHD 263.16 0.040 0.165 26.92 538.40
TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 147.48 0.010 0.080 45.45 273.90
SERBA DINAMIK HOLDINGS BHD 112.90 0.000 0.020 100.00 74.20
VELESTO ENERGY BHD 68.40 0.000 0.245 63.33 2012.80
HONG SENG CONSOLIDATED BHD 67.45 0.005 0.195 -11.36 996.10
PT RESOURCES HOLDINGS BHD 58.91 0.030 0.610 12.96 326.40
ZEN TECH INTERNATIONAL BHD 58.71 0.000 0.065 225.00 84.90
DATASONIC GROUP BHD 51.61 -0.035 0.460 0.00 1303.00
VINVEST CAPITAL HOLDINGS BHD 51.33 0.000 0.235 23.68 227.70 World equity indices
BSL CORP BHD 50.17 0.045 0.105 -19.23 276.30 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
PERDANA PETROLEUM BHD 48.89 -0.020 0.180 44.00 399.10 (%) (%)
EA TECHNIQUE M BHD 39.79 -0.050 0.290 70.59 153.80 DOW JONES 33,891.02 -34.99 -0.10 INDONESIA 6,935.30 61.51 0.89
DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 38.92 -0.025 0.650 27.45 2051.60 S&P 500 4,111.08 -25.40 -0.61 JAPAN 27,685.47 -8.18 -0.03
TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 34.66 -0.010 0.840 -7.18 6726.20 NASDAQ 100 12,464.51 -108.85 -0.87 KOREA 2,451.71 13.52 0.55
AIMFLEX BHD 34.45 -0.01 0.170 13.33 249.70 FTSE 100 7,865.25 28.54 0.36 PHILIPPINES 6,881.26 -55.35 -0.80
PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 30.40 -0.005 0.020 33.33 38.10 AUSTRALIA 7,504.14 -34.84 -0.46 SINGAPORE 3,380.84 -5.09 -0.15
XOX BHD 30.22 0.000 0.020 33.33 101.00 CHINA 3,248.09 9.40 0.29 TAIWAN 15,400.91 8.09 0.05
ITMAX SYSTEM BHD 30.00 -0.090 1.500 5.63 1542.10 HONG KONG 21,298.70 76.54 0.36 THAILAND 1,680.49 -1.62 -0.10
DATAPREP HOLDINGS BHD 29.03 -0.010 0.245 8.89 165.30 INDIA 60,286.04 -220.86 -0.37 VIETNAM 1,065.84 -23.45 -2.15
Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 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)
DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.015 50.00 1,205.6 -40.00 20.1 EA HOLDINGS BHD 0.010 -33.33 3,965.0 -33.33 64.5
EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.020 33.33 425.1 0.00 60.9 AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.020 -33.33 1,111.3 -20.00 43.3
IRIS CORP BHD 0.165 32.00 263,164.2 26.92 538.4 JERASIA CAPITAL BHD 0.040 -27.27 228.0 14.29 3.3
PERAK CORP BHD 0.300 27.66 2.5 20.00 30.0 MY EG SERVICES BHD 0.700 -26.70 1,015,360.4 -19.54 5,206.6
KHEE SAN BHD 0.140 27.27 344.0 0.00 19.2 DGB ASIA BHD 0.015 -25.00 1,777.0 0.00 26.8
TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 0.080 14.29 147,482.5 45.45 273.9 METRONIC GLOBAL BHD 0.020 -20.00 1,674.8 0.00 30.6
KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.045 12.50 3,157.7 12.50 29.2 PASUKHAS GROUP BHD 0.020 -20.00 30,406.0 33.33 38.1
OLYMPIA INDUSTRIES BHD 0.095 11.76 5,770.7 26.67 97.2 JOE HOLDING BHD 0.020 -20.00 748.6 0.00 61.2
SARAWAK CABLE BHD 0.100 11.11 1,468.9 53.85 39.9 TALAM TRANSFORM BHD 0.020 -20.00 11,524.8 33.33 85.9
KEIN HING INTERNATIONAL BHD 2.400 9.09 1,421.1 13.21 261.4 MLABS SYSTEMS BHD 0.020 -20.00 80.0 0.00 29.0
MARCO HOLDINGS BHD 0.190 8.57 3,668.6 11.76 200.3 TECHNA-X BHD 0.025 -16.67 22,003.8 0.00 55
HENG HUAT RESOURCES GROUP 0.520 8.33 9,224.3 9.47 419.6 XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 0.025 -16.67 2,797.2 0.00 52.9
SINARAN ADVANCE GROUP BHD 0.070 7.69 807.2 -6.67 64.0 BSL CORP BHD 0.105 -16.00 50,168.0 -19.23 276.3
ASDION BHD 0.075 7.14 3,682.7 -21.05 29.7 EA TECHNIQUE M BHD 0.290 -14.71 39,787.9 70.59 153.8
KEY ASIC BHD 0.075 7.14 1,436.9 15.38 102.4 ALAM MARITIM RESOURCES BHD 0.030 -14.29 2,165.5 20.00 46.0
YKGI HOLDINGS BHD 0.155 6.90 8905.7 34.78 75.2 G3 GLOBAL BHD 0.030 -14.29 5,083.1 0.00 87.1
EFFICIENT E-SOLUTIONS BHD 0.235 6.82 1,721.4 23.68 166.6 ANEKA JARINGAN HOLDINGS BHD 0.195 -13.33 2243.0 30.00 115.4
TFP SOLUTIONS BHD 0.080 6.67 3,729.4 23.08 46.8 IVORY PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 0.070 -12.50 14.3 -12.50 34.3
TASCO BHD 1.020 6.25 5,452.0 13.33 816.0 AXTERIA GROUP BHD 0.200 -11.11 5,963.6 37.93 99.7
PROLEXUS BHD 0.525 6.06 5,289.8 15.38 144.9 HUBLINE BHD 0.040 -11.11 532 0 171.6
Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 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)
FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 26.000 1.000 277.8 20.48 9,536.2 HEXTARTECHNOLOGIES SOLUTIONS 28.200 -0.800 26.90 65.30 3,627.9
PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 23.500 0.540 1.7 2.62 1,427.5 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 135.100 -0.500 138.60 -3.50 31,681.0
UNITED PLANTATIONS BHD 15.780 0.280 971.0 3.14 6,521.9 PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 22.060 -0.440 335.60 -4.09 21,915.6
CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 24.300 0.200 327.9 6.21 7,429.7 HONG LEONG BANK BHD 20.180 -0.300 1,497.50 -1.85 43,744.5
KEIN HING INTERNATIONAL BHD 2.400 0.200 1,421.1 13.21 261.4 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO 12.600 -0.280 203.80 12.30 3,597.7
PMB TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.590 0.200 2,257.0 9.29 5,796.9 MY EG SERVICES BHD 0.700 -0.2551,015,360.40 -19.54 5,206.6
DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES BHD 29.880 0.180 13.0 -1.19 1,912.3 HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 18.300 -0.200 406.00 -1.61 20,958.0
CHIN HIN GROUP BHD 4.010 0.160 3,435.2 24.15 7,095.3 KOTRA INDUSTRIES BHD 6.010 -0.190 61.60 -8.94 889.4
SFP TECH HOLDINGS BHD 2.750 0.100 4,337.9 52.78 2,200.0 TENAGA NASIONAL BHD 9.390 -0.180 3,694.20 -2.49 54,021.4
AMWAY MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BHD 5.580 0.100 40.0 11.60 917.3 PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 8.150 -0.160 6,501.80 -5.23 65,200.0
FORMOSA PROSONIC INDUSTRIES 3.700 0.100 999.2 14.55 948.5 MALAYSIA AIRPORTS HOLDINGS 7.030 -0.150 1,518.50 7.16 11,664.1
LYSAGHT GALVANIZED STEEL BHD 1.990 0.090 21.0 4.74 82.7 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 29.300 -0.140 642.10 16.27 8,851.5
MAXIS BHD 4.100 0.080 2,547.6 6.77 32,103.6 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 21.880 -0.140 722.60 -2.15 23,596.0
MASTER-PACK GROUP BHD 2.610 0.080 240.1 11.06 142.6 PERAK TRANSIT BHD 1.060 -0.120 5,545.10 -17.19 753.7
RAPID SYNERGY BHD 16.460 0.080 5.1 3.13 1,759.5 SAM ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT 4.930 -0.120 1218.8 0 2670
MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 34.800 0.080 134.8 21.00 6,921.6 BOX-PAK MALAYSIA BHD 0.840 -0.100 2.60 -3.45 100.8
NEW HOONG FATT HOLDINGS BHD 2.800 0.070 3.0 -2.44 231.5 FRONTKEN CORP BHD 3.200 -0.100 3,443.80 3.90 5,031.7
HONG LEONG INDUSTRIES BHD 8.970 0.070 24.8 -2.5 2865.7 D&O GREEN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 4.810 -0.100 967.60 12.38 5951.6
SARAWAK OIL PALMS BHD 2.670 0.070 136 2.69 2376.7 AMMB HOLDINGS BHD 3.970 -0.100 6,474.40 -4.11 13,138.4
PERAK CORP BHD 0.300 0.065 2.5 20.00 30.0 KOBAY TECHNOLOGY BHD 3.190 -0.090 430.5 17.28 1034.1
Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Feb 7, 2023 Source: Bloomberg