MALAYAN CEMENT TO TAKE OVER YTL CEMENT’S CEMENT AND READY-MIXED CONCRETE BIZ IN RM5.16B DEAL p7

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 www.theedgemarkets.com ISSUE 184/2021 CEOMorningBrief HOME: Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases jump to 4,765 today, with record 39 deaths reported p2 Maybank says Malaysian economic rebound on track but risk tilted to downside on MCO p10 WORLD: Major overhaul of WHO needed after failures, says Covid panel p16

BLOOMBERG US DoJ remits RM1.9b in 1MDB-related funds back to Malaysia Public Bank’s Report on Page 3. years of ‘disciplined cost control practices’ pay off when the going gets tough Report on Page 6. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Malaysia’s coronavirus curve climbs again amid third infection wave

Malaysia’s new 6000 Daily new cases 7-day moving average Covid-19 cases 5000 4,765 jump to 4,765 4000 4,121 3000

today, with record 2000 39 deaths reported 1000 0 Sept 1, 2020 May 12, 2021 BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Malaysia re- The total number of cases in the country A total of 3,124 Covid-19 patients were ported a record high of 39 Covid-19 deaths now stands at 453,222, while total deaths have discharged today, raising total recoveries to today, while new cases rose sharply to 4,765 risen to 1,761. The 39 patients who died in the 411,360, or 90.76% of total cases. Active cases from 3,973 yesterday. The new cases are the 24 hours as of noon today were aged between now stand at 40,101. highest since Jan 31 and the fourth highest 43 and 88 years, and included two foreigners. Another 20 new Covid-19 clusters were since the virus first landed on Malaysian Of the new deaths, 10 were registered in Johor, reported today, raising total clusters identified shores. eight in Kuala Lumpur, five in Selangor, three in the country to 1,840. Of that, 1,378 clus- Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hish- in Sabah, and two each in Kedah, Sarawak, ters have ended, leaving 462 active clusters. am Abdullah said the jump in new cases was Kelantan and Pahang. One death each was Twelve of the new clusters are workplace expected, and warned that daily infections registered in Perak, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, infections, while five involved the communi- could breach the 5,000 mark by mid-May. Terengganu and Putrajaya.Meanwhile, 4,578 ty. Of the remaining three clusters, one was Selangor contributed 2,082 new cases, of today’s 4,765 cases were locally transmitted, from a high-risk group, another was linked to followed by Kuala Lumpur (540), Sarawak including 461 cases involving foreigners. The a religious group, and the third was linked to (405), Johor (348), Kelantan (297), Penang seven imported cases, meanwhile, comprised an educational institution under the Ministry (259) and Kedah (226). five Malaysians and two foreigners. of Education.

More Covid-19 cases of South African, Indian variants detected in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Another 14 BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR “However, he tested positive on April Covid-19 cases of the South African vari- theedgemarkets.com 21, when he was brought to the emergen- ant have been detected in Malaysia, along cy and trauma unit after displaying severe with a second case of the Indian variant. screening. Of the remaining three, one case Covid-19 symptoms. His health declined Health director-general Tan Sri Dr each was detected from the Bangkahulu and and he passed away on May 1,” Dr Noor Noor Hisham Abdullah said the 14 cases Bayan Cenderawasih clusters, and another Hisham said. of the South African variant were detected one was detected from a person after being in Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor, and Negeri vaccinated. Read also: Sembilan. As for the latest case of the Indian variant, These raised to 62 the number of cases Dr Noor Hisham said it again involves a for- Emergence of new Covid-19 variants sees of that variant discovered in Malaysia so eigner, who has since passed away. Malaysia facing more challenging third far, he said in a statement. He said the deceased arrived in Malaysia wave — PM Muhyiddin Click here Seven of these cases were detected from on April 7 and went through a Covid-19 test the Kampung Dolmis cluster, while anoth- at the border, with two tests done on April 7 China’s Sinovac shot found highly er four were detected during close contacts’ and April 12, both showing a negative result. effective in real world study Click here

Note: Dear readers, there will be no CEO Morning Brief tomorrow (May 14) as we are taking a break for Hari Raya Aidilfitri. We will be back on Tuesday (May 18). For the latest news during the holidays, check out https://www.theedgemarkets.com/. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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US DoJ remits RM1.9b in 1MDB-related funds back to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): The US BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Department of Justice (DoJ) has remitted theedgemarkets.com Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the current some RM1.9 billion or US$452.36 million balance is sufficient to service 1MDB’s debt in funds related to 1Malaysian Develop- obligations for 2021 and 2022 only. He add- ment Bhd (1MDB) into Malaysia’s Asset 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC In- ed that this balance excludes the RM2.83 Recovery Trust Account. ternational Sdn Bhd’s remaining debts. billion that will be received from AmBank In a statement, the Ministry of Finance To date, the government has repaid Group and RM336 million from Deloitte. (MoF) said so far, the account had re- RM12.4 billion of 1MDB’s debt and “Negotiations are also currently ongo- ceived RM16.05 billion of seized and re- RM3.1 billion of SRC’s debt. The out- ing with KPMG. Once all recovered funds patriated 1MDB funds. The ministry add- standing debt balance which is composed in the Trust Account have been utilised, ed that any balance in the trust account, of principal and coupon, profit and interest the government will still have to continue which is under the custody of the Account- of bonds, sukuk and term loans stands at bearing the burden of servicing 1MDB’s ant-General’s Department of Malaysia, RM39.8 billion for 1MDB and RM2.57 debt obligations, which were backed by will be used to primarily repay and service billion for SRC. CONTINUES ON PAGE 4

The total of 1MDB’s remaining debts to be paid till maturity is RM39.8 billion, as follows:

DEBT PAYMENT YEAR 2021 YEAR 2022 YEAR 2023 YEAR YEAR 2039 (RM MIL) DATE 2024-2038* INTEREST INTEREST PRINCIPAL INTEREST PRINCIPAL INTEREST INTEREST PRINCIPAL 1MDB GIL Bond March 9 Paid 277.20 – 277.20 12,600.00 – – – 1MELL Bond April 18 Paid 211.31 – – – – – – 1MEL Bond May 11 Paid 220.13 7,350.00 – – – – – Sukuk IMTN May 29 143.75 143.75 – 143.75 – 2,156.25 143.75 5,000.00 1MDB GIL Bond Sept 9 277.20 277.20 – – – – – – 1MELL Bond Oct 18 211.31 211.31 7,350.00 – – – – – 1MEL Bond Nov 11 220.13 – – – – – – – Sukuk IMTN Nov 29 143.75 143.75 – 143.75 – 2,156.25 – – Total 996.14 1,484.65 14,700.00 564.70 12,600.00 4,312.50 143.75 5,000.00 Total sum 39,801.74 Source: Finance Ministry THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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FROM PAGE 3 SRC’s remaining principal and profit amounts to be paid till maturity the government’s guarantee and letter of are RM2.57 billion, as follows: support when these debts were created. YEAR PAYMENT INTEREST PRINCIPAL AMOUNT REMARKS “This recovery would not have been DATE achieved without the excellent coopera- 2021 Feb 26 7,417,372.60 350,000,000.00 357,417,372.60 Paid tion between the government of Malaysia March 29 7,962,250.68 350,000,000.00 357,962,250.68 Paid and the US government, particularly with the DoJ. On behalf of the government of Aug 27 12,132,953.43 400,000,000.00 412,132,953.43 Malaysia, we would like to thank the US Sept 28 12,775,758.90 400,000,000.00 412,775,758.90 government and look forward to the con- 2022 Feb 28 15,849,172.60 400,000,000.00 415,849,172.60 tinued cooperation between us,” he added. March 28 24,002,630.67 585,015,247.72 609,017,878.39 “The government’s current recovery ef- 2,565,155,386.60 forts are focused on parties who have caused Source: Finance Ministry losses to 1MDB and SRC during the ex- ecution of their duties, whether through Repayment of 1MDB’s debt obligation from 2017-2021 are as follows: direct or indirect involvement in 1MDB and SRC’s various operations and transac- SOURCE OF FUND/ AMOUNT YEAR SHAREHOLDER ADVANCE/ SETTLED USING TRUST TOTAL tions, as well as those who have wrongful- INTERCO LOAN BY ACCOUNT FUNDS ly received SRC monies disguised as CSR GOVERNMENT TO 1MDB (corporate social responsibility) activities. 2017 6,559,749,304 Nil 6,559,749,304 “All those involved will be made fully 2018 1,654,579,375 Nil 1,654,579,375 accountable for the wrongdoing caused to 2019 914,070,262 791,407,799 1,705,478,061 the country through their involvement in 2020 507,000,000 1,274,121,732 1,781,121,732 1MDB and/or SRC,” the statement read. 2021 220,130,000 478,248,754 698,378,754 It was reported on Monday that 1MDB and SRC had filed 22 suits against sever- 9,855,528,941 2,543,778,285 12,399,307,226 al entities to recover a total of more than Source: Finance Ministry RM96.6 billion. The writs filed by 1MDB are against a for various wrongdoing, including abuse Repayment of SRC loans’ principal total of nine entities — including two for- of power, breach of fiduciary duties in public and profit from 2014-2020 eign financial institutions — and 25 indi- office, breach of trust, conspiracy, dishon- are as follows: viduals for various wrongdoing, including est assistance, fraudulent breach of duties, breach of contractual, statutory, common knowing receipt, misfeasance and wrongful YEAR AMOUNT law and fiduciary duties; breach of trust; conversion. 2014 153,644,009.29 fraud; conspiracy to defraud; fraudulent The entities being sued include former 2015 202,107,274.20 misrepresentation; fraudulent breach of prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, 2016 212,998,345.39 duties and trust; fraudulent concealment; former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri 2017 296,116,566.17 fraudulent misappropriation; dishonest Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, as well 2018 500,869,531.05 assistance in misappropriation of funds; as former 1MDB chief executive officers 2019 681,255,256.56 negligence; knowing receipt; and unjust (CEOs) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Hal- enrichment. mi and Arul Kanda Kandasamy, as well as 2020 1,052,275,957.15 Meanwhile, the writs filed by SRC are foreign banks Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan TOTAL 3,099,266,939.81 against 15 individuals and eight entities and Coutts & Co. Source: Finance Ministry

BLOOMBERG THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

Wishing our Muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

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Public Bank’s years of ‘disciplined cost control practices’ pay off when the going gets tough

KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Business is all BY JOYCE GOH “In December 2020, further assistance via about strict cost control and risk management — theedgemarkets.com the Expanded Targeted Repayment Assistance even more so during these unprecedented times — was given by Public Bank to the customers who and Public Bank Bhd’s prudence in both over the BLOOMBERG are in the bottom 40% income group (B40) past decades is paying off, as the bank announced where a three-month deferment of repayments a record high quarterly profit this week. or 50% reduction of existing monthly instal- In an interview with The Edge, Public Bank ments was provided.” Bhd’s managing director and chief executive of- “On top of this, the group also provided fund- ficer Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said he believes that years ing assistance of more than RM3.4 billion to over of prudent risk management and disciplined cost 16,000 SME customers under the various special control practices have enabled the banking group financing schemes initiated by the government to build sufficient buffers to cushion the adverse and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM),” Tay noted. impact caused by the pandemic. Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek Public Bank is not stopping there, he assured, “This culture was built over the years.. It wasn’t noting that the group continues to engage with built overnight,” he explained over the phone. ings figures to a recovering economy as many its customers to assist them and the result “has He added that some of the prudent risk economic activities were already allowed to op- been very encouraging”. measures include controlling the banking erate normally in 1QFY21. “For instance, from 2018 to 2019, the group group’s asset quality, in which he believed “is Many customers of the bank are gradual- provided moratorium for more than 5,000 cus- important”. “The quality of loan at the source, ly getting back to their feet again financially, tomers with about RM900 million worth of or in other words the origination of a loan, is according to Tay. But he stressed that Public loans who were affected by floods.” more important than collection,” he noted. Bank is always ready to “handhold them again In 2020, apart from offering moratorium Significant pre-emptive provision has to be also whenever necessary”. for Covid-19 pandemic-affected customers, the set aside for potential risk on asset quality, Tay said. The improvement in the economy is greatly group continued to offer moratorium for more Tay acknowledged that Public Bank is not im- supported by the government and Bank Negara than 600 customers affected by floods, totalling mune to the adverse effects of Covid-19, noting Malaysia (BNM) with their ongoing proactive over RM90 million. the 12% drop in the group’s pre-tax profit in the policy support and guidance, Tay said. “Year to date, Public Bank has so far offered last financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20). “Policies such as the Home Ownership Cam- moratorium to over 1,600 customers affected The banking group also suffered the Day-1 mod- paign offering exemption of stamp duty, sales by floods with loans worth over RM370 mil- ification loss of RM498 million arising from the tax exemption on purchases of new vehicles as lion,” he said. Covid-19 pandemic-related relief measures. well as various financing schemes offered, such Tay added that Public Bank will ensure that However, Public Bank bounced back quick- as the Special Relief Facility, Targeted Relief and its customers continue to have “access to new fi- ly. The group achieved a record high quarterly Recovery Facility, Penjana SME Financing and nancing needs in the current challenging times”. net profit of RM1.53 billion for the first quarter others have all helped to put the whole econ- ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), up 15.11% omy on a better footing than the earlier stages Improving loan repayments from RM1.33 billion a year ago. of the pandemic,” he noted. The veteran banker, who has 60 years of experi- He highlighted the group’s sound funda- “Without these proactive stimulus measures ence in the industry, observes the improvements mentals that have been built and strengthened by the government and BNM, it will not be pos- in repayment trend in recent months. throughout the years for helping Public Bank sible for the financial institutions to sail through This, he said, shows that many borrowers navigate through these challenging times. these turbulent times,” he added. are gradually regaining their financial strength Public Bank’s cost–to-income ratio — always He also highlighted that Public Bank’s various to meet their repayment obligations. the gold star standard in the industry — stood financing and repayment assistance programmes Sharing the loan moratorium statistics with at 31.8% for 1QFY21, significantly lower than have benefitted about 1.8 million customers. The Edge, Tay said when BNM announced the the industry’s average of 42.8%. Upon expiry of the automatic loan moratorium six-month loan moratorium for all individuals “They have always been very vigilant on at the end of September 2020, Public Bank rolled and SMEs in 2020, about 30% of Public Bank’s cost,” observed a banking analyst who covers out the Targeted Repayment Assistance (TRA) customers continued to make repayments. Public Bank. relief programme comprising a three-month loan He assured that despite the improving re- “Public Bank has imposed certain cost con- moratorium for individuals who had lost their job payment trend, Pubic Bank’s TRA programme trol measures… but haven’t shared what these due to Covid-19; while a reduction in instalment will remain open to customers facing financial cost measures are. During normal times, the for at least six months was offered to individuals difficulties. cost will grow 5% to 6% but under current cost and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which “Ongoing engagement will continue and control measures, the cost is growing only 3%,” encountered reduced income. various flexible repayment packages will re- the analyst added. Tay said that given the varying financial con- main open for applications. We are committed On top of its low cost-to-income ratio, Pub- ditions of borrowers, “targeted repayment assis- to continuing assist customers who are still fi- lic Bank is also known for its asset quality. Its tance will be more effective and suitable to cater nancially impacted by the pandemic,” he said. gross impaired loan ratio is at 0.4%, well below to customers with different financial constraints”. the segment’s 1.6%. He noted as of to date, about 12% of the bank’s customers have applied for the TRA and more Read also: Public Bank’s record quarterly profit Not a fair weather friend than 90% of these TRA customers are making re- supports positive outlook on Malaysian banks Tay attributed the strong set of quarterly earn- payments in accordance to the rescheduled terms. — analysts Click here THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Malayan Cement Hong Leong to take over group moves YTL Cement’s 27% stake in cement and Eco World ready-mixed International concrete biz in from flagship RM5.16b deal company in restructuring BY TAN SIEW MUNG “YTL Cement will consolidate similar theedgemarkets.com operating businesses under a singular um- exercise brella,” it said, adding the deal is expected KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): YTL Ce- to further improve operational efficiencies ment Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Corp Bhd, and business outcomes by leveraging shared BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR today inked an agreement to sell its entire expertise, experience and resources, and to theedgemarkets.com cement and ready-mixed concrete opera- eliminate overlapping functions. tions in Malaysia to its 76.98%-owned sub- The partial settlement of the considera- KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Hong Leong sidiary Malayan Cement Bhd, for RM5.16 tion via shares and ICPS issuance is to ena- Company (Malaysia) Bhd is no longer the billion in a cash and stock deal. ble Malayan Cement to optimise its cash re- ultimate shareholder of the 27% stake in Under the agreement, Malayan Cement serves and gearing levels, YTL Cement said. Eco World International Bhd (EWI) owned will acquire 12 companies under YTL Ce- The strategic realignment will foster by the Hong Leong group following an in- ment. All of these companies have an es- value creation for shareholders of Malayan ternal restructuring. tablished track record of operational profit, Cement and allow investors to invest direct- Hong Leong Company and HL Hold- YTL Cement said in a statement. ly on a focused basis in Malaysia’s leading ings Sdn Bhd have ceased to be substantial Of the total consideration, which YTL building materials company, it said. shareholders of EWI, according to filings Cement said is still subject to adjustments “This exercise will also significantly re- with Bursa Malaysia today. The reason cited at the point of completion, RM2 billion will duce related party transactions (RPTs) and was internal restructuring. be settled in cash. Malayan Cement will then conflicts of interest between YTL Cement Hong Leong group’s 27% stake remains issue 375.5 million new shares to YTL Ce- and Malayan Cement. The intention is also with GLL EWI (HK) Ltd. ment to satisfy RM1.41 billion, and issue to improve governance across both groups According to its annual report for the 466.7 million new irredeemable convertible and lower the administrative and compli- financial year ended Oct 31, 2020 (FY20), preference shares (ICPS) for the remaining ance costs incurred through the monitoring GLL EWI (HK) is the group’s second-larg- RM1.75 billion. and management of these issues,” it said. est shareholder, with 648 million shares rep- The new Malayan Cement shares and Recall that Malayan Cement’s minority resenting the 27% stake. ICPS will be issued at RM3.75 per share/ shareholders had previously in September For its first quarter ended Jan 31, 2021 ICPS, which was also the price per share 2019 blocked a resolution that mandat- (1QFY21), EWI saw its net profit jump that YTL Cement paid for the acquisition ed the company undertake RPTs worth by more than 10-fold to RM56.03 million, of its 76.98% equity interest in Malayan RM3.51 billion with YTL Cement, just from RM5.19 million a year ago, thanks Cement in 2019, which was premised on three months after YTL Cement bought mainly to profit recognition of the group’s the potential synergies that would arise from the controlling stake in Malayan Cement Melbourne project. the integration of businesses between the (then known as Lafarge Malaysia Bhd). Quarterly revenue swelled to RM303.28 two groups. At the time YTL Cement said the setback million from RM51,000. YTL Cement’s shareholding in Malay- was not due to the nature of the RPTS but The group declared an interim dividend an Cement is expected to increase to ap- because the deatils were not well explained. of one sen, to be paid on April 28. This is proximately 78.58% upon completion of The RPTs were then reduced to RM1.87 EWI’s maiden dividend since its listing in the proposed transaction and the ongoing billion and subsequently got the greenlight 2017. EWI said it delivered RM408 million private placement of up to 85 million new from shareholders in January 2020. sales in the first four months of the current Malayan Cement shares announced on April YTL Cement’s latest proposed trans- financial year. 15, 2021, assuming no conversion of the action with Malayan Cement is subject Sales in the first quarter totalled RM312 ICPS to be issued. to approval by the latter’s shareholders million, slightly in excess of RM100 million “Therefore, Malayan Cement will apply at an extraordinary general meeting to be a month, which is similar to the rate record- to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd for approv- convened. ed in the previous first quarter. al for a lower public shareholding spread Malayan Cement shares closed 5 sen Shares in EWI closed unchanged at 55 of 20% in due course,” YTL Cement said. or 1.82% higher at RM2.80 today, valuing sen apiece, valuing it at RM1.32 billion. It It described the proposed transaction as the group at RM2.38 billion. YTL Ce- saw 1.31 million shares done. a natural progression towards increasing the ment is 98%-owned by YTL Corp, whose size of Malayan Cement’s cement and ready- shares settled 1 sen higher at 69 sen to- (The previous version of this article reported that mixed concrete businesses, bolstering prof- day, giving it a market capitalisation of Hong Leong Group had ceased to be a substan- itability and value enhancement. RM7.51 billion. tial shareholder of EWI. We regret the error.) THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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E&O has no merger plans for now, says chairman Tee

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Property BY JUSTIN LIM tion of the Movement Control Order or developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd does theedgemarkets.com MCO 3.0 will be a temporary blip for not plan to merge with any entities in the the property and construction sectors. near term, including with construction in E&O that Amazing Parade didn’t own. “Since the MCO started last week, player Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, ac- The closing date for the takeover offer is property sales have dropped slightly. cording to the majority shareholder of next Tuesday (May 18). Amazing Parade’s Also, there are some delays in construc- both companies, Datuk Tee Eng Ho. shareholders are Eng Ho (25%) and his tion works, but the impact is not as sig- This is because there is no synergy to spouse Datin Toh Siew Chuon (25%), and nificant as when the first MCO was -im be derived by merging the two compa- Eng Ho’s brother Tee Eng Seng (50%). plemented a year ago, when construction nies at this juncture, said Tee, who is also Through Amazing Parade, Eng Ho works were completely halted,” he said. co-founder and non-executive chairman holds a 55.2% stake in E&O as of May “Overall, there will be some impact to of Kerjaya Prospek. Maybe this can be re- 11. Eng Ho also has a 71.16% stake in businesses, but not that bad as as long visited in the next five or 10 years, he said. Kerjaya Prospek via Amazing Parade and as the government allows us to continue The same is true for Kerjaya Prospek Egovision Sdn Bhd as of Aug 28, 2020. running our businesses,” he added. Property Bhd (KPPB), another listed He also holds 56.39% in KPPB via Java- On the issue of rising steel prices, Tee property development entity in which wana Sdn Bhd as on April 13. said the margin of construction business- Eng Ho has stakes, as he feels these two Together with his appointment today, es will be affected. companies serve different segments. E&O also announced three new independ- “The way I see it [the uptrend in steel “KPPB is serving the mid-tier market ent and non-executive directors, following bars] will last until year-end. I do not property segment, not focusing on town- the resignation of its previous chairman think the uptrend in steel bars is sus- ship developments, while E&O is serving and six directors. tainable. the high-end property segment. Hence, Separately, Kerjaya Prospek announced “Whenever new contracts come in, there is no synergy to be derived from today that Eng Hoo has been redesignated we will adjust (our pricing) to new pric- merging these two companies,” he said. as non-executive chairman from executive es accordingly, so the margin squeeze Eng Ho, who was appointed as E&O’s chairman previously, while his brother Tee will not be so badly affected,” he added. chairman today after his private vehi- Eng Tiong has been made chief executive Shares in Kerjaya Prospek closed one cle Amazing Parade Sdn Bhd bought a officer and executive director. sen or 0.81% higher at RM1.24, bring- 10.89% stake in E&O from Sime Darby It also appointed two independent and ing it a market capitalisation of RM1.54 Bhd in March that raised its sharehold- non-executive directors to replace the same billion, while KPPB ended unchanged ing to 42.71% from 31.82%, said this at number of people who have resigned. at RM1, with a market cap of RM400 a virtual press briefing about the changes million. in E&O’s board of directors today. MCO 3.0 a temporary blip for E&O shares price also closed un- The stake buy also triggered a manda- property and construction sectors changed at 60 sen, giving it a market tory general offer for the rest of the shares Meanwhile, Eng Ho said the reimposi- cap of RM874 million. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): AirAsia expand our services now to support AirA- Group Bhd said today its wholly-owned AirAsia Group sia Group and other airlines in the region. subsidiary Asia Digital Engineering Sdn “AirAsia Group has been sending aircraft Bhd (ADE) had obtained the Civil Avia- subsidiary to other MRO operators for scheduled base tion Authority of Malaysia’s (CAAM) base maintenance, which will now be able to be maintenance approval, which allows ADE gets Malaysian serviced locally in Malaysia [and hence] to offer aircraft maintenance, repair and delivering significant efficiencies, including overhaul (MRO) services. regulator’s reduced maintenance cost,” he said. “With the approval, ADE will now not Globally, Mahesh said ADE had received only perform regular line maintenance, but approval to approvals from the Directorates-General of also base maintenance (hangar or C-checks) Civil Aviation of India and Indonesia, and for AirAsia Group’s airlines, and will also be offer aircraft that ADE will continue to work with other available to support third-party airlines for aviation authorities in ASEAN as well as the aircraft MRO,” according to budget airline maintenance European Union Aviation Safety Agency for AirAsia Group’s statement today. further approvals to offer MRO services. ADE CEO Mahesh Kumar claimed in services He claimed that ADE’s operations are the statement that ADE is now poised to highly driven by big data and state-of-the- become not just the biggest MRO service art digital technologies. provider in Malaysia, but also one of the BY TRISTAN DIELENBERG Being a fully integrated digital compa- biggest in ASEAN and beyond following theedgemarkets.com ny, ADE strives for operational excellence the CAAM’s approval. through enhanced visibility, intelligence and Mahesh said ADE always believes Ma- SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE decision-making enabled by data, accord- laysia should be the strategic hub for aircraft ing to him. maintenance in the region and beyond to “By combining data from our daily oper- create jobs and economic benefits for the ations with other external data sources, we future. can provide our customers with the most “Based on demand, we are looking to comprehensive end-to-end solutions to expand our aircraft maintenance facilities meet their needs,” Mahesh said. and services at KLIA (the Kuala Lumpur As at 11.53am on Bursa Malaysia today, International Airport), Johor and other air- AirAsia Group shares were traded down ports in Malaysia by either utilising existing two sen or 2.42% at 84.5 sen, with a mar- hangars or building new hangars,” he said. ‘ADE will now not only perform regular line ket value of about RM2.82 billion. “ADE has made great progress since it maintenance, but also base maintenance (hangar AirAsia Group has 3.34 billion issued or C-checks) for AirAsia Group’s airlines,’ says was launched in the midst of the pandemic AirAsia Group in a statement today. shares, according to its latest quarterly fi- in September last year. We are thrilled to nancial report.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Salcon ness will trigger the threshold above in the Bhd said its proposed rubber glove busi- Salcon to seek immediate future, and therefore intends ness may be one of the major contributors to seek the shareholders’ approval for the to its revenue and net profit, and there- shareholders’ proposed diversification,” it said. fore is seeking its shareholders’ approv- Previously, the group said the proposed al for the proposed diversification at an approval for acquisition comes with a profit guarantee extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of RM10 million a year for the coming to be convened. glove venture, as three financial years ending Dec 31, 2021 In a filing with the bourse, the water (FY21) until FY23. and wastewater engineering firm said it it may become “With an annual production of over 336 had completed the acquisition of the re- million gloves from four single former pro- maining 10% equity interest in Nusantara major revenue duction lines in their factory located in Jasakita Sdn Bhd (NJSB), making the latter Zurah Industrial, Rasa, Hulu Selangor, JR a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group. contributor is currently operating beyond its capacity,” Last November, NJSB had entered into said Salcon. a share sale agreement (SSA) with Gane- In order to cater to the spike in demand san Subramaniam to acquire 1.02 million BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS in specific export markets, the group is ordinary shares or 51% stake in JR En- theedgemarkets.com targeting to ramp up its production ca- gineering and Medical Technologies (M) pacity by an additional 12 lines to a total Sdn Bhd (JREMT) for RM28.56 million. quirements, a company is required to ob- of 16 production lines within a year, at an JREMT is involved in the business of tain shareholders’ approval in a general estimated capital expenditure of RM150 manufacturing and trading of latex, nitrile meeting for any proposal that results in million, to be funded via internally gener- and medical gloves. either the diversion of 25% or more of ated funds and bank borrowings. It anticipates the glove business to im- Salcon’s net assets to an operation which This will bring the group’s total annual mediately contribute to the group’s earn- differs widely from its existing operations, production capacity to three billion pieces. ings amid the global demand for rubber or the contribution from such an operation Salcon closed unchanged at 23 sen, giv- gloves due to the Covid-19 pandemic. of 25% or more to Salcon’s net profits. ing a market capitalisation of RM232.86 As per Bursa Malaysia’s Listing Re- “The board expects that the glove busi- million. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 10 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Maybank Today, the Maybank Investment Bank Investment Bank Bhd economists said Maybank says economists said the outlook of the Ma- today while the outlook of the Malaysian laysian economy rebounding in 2021 is economy rebounding in 2021 is on track, Malaysian on track after a recession last year as real the risk to growth remains tilted to the GDP’s year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction downside due to the latest round of the economic rebound narrowed further in 1Q21 after shallowing Covid-19-driven movement control order in the second half of 2020 (2H20) from a (MCO 3.0) enforced nationwide. on track but risk slump in 2Q20. In a note today, Maybank Investment “Furthermore, the base effect that Bank economists Suhaimi Ilias, Dr Zamros tilted to downside boosted March 2021 GDP will continue to Dzulkafli, Ramesh Lankanathan and Wil- be at work, especially in 2Q21,” they said. liam Poh Chee Keong said they are keeping on MCO the research firm’s full-year 2021 economic CGS-CIMB also sees downside risk to growth forecast for Malaysia as measured its full-year GDP growth forecast of by gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.1% BY SYAFIQAH SALIM 5.7% for the time being. theedgemarkets.com Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn “Review of our forecasts will be guid- Bhd economists Michelle Chia and Lim ed by the dynamics of the pandemic and SAM FONG/THE EDGE Yee Ping wrote in a note today that the containment measures, vaccination pro- research house still expects Malaysia to re- gress and input from our monthly GDP cord sequential economic gains for the re- estimates. The official forecast is [within maining quarters of 2021, although the ex- the] range of +6% to +7.5%,” they said. tended strict MCO and recurring waves of The Malaysian economy registered a de- Covid-19 infections pose downside risk to cline of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2021 its full-year GDP growth forecast of 5.7% (1Q21) from a year earlier, supported main- for the country. ly by an improvement in domestic demand “We estimate each month of the MCO and export performance, particularly for 3.0 to subtract 0.3 percentage point from electrical and electronic products, as the headline GDP growth. In the interim, con- country contended with the impact of the tinuing disbursements of fiscal measures, MCO and continued closure of international such as wage subsidies, cash transfers and borders to curb the spread of the Covid-19 credit facilities, are expected provide a par- pandemic, according to Bank Negara Ma- tial buffer. laysia’s (BNM) statement yesterday. “In addition, i-Sinar withdrawals, which “The Malaysian economy registered a BNM estimates to contribute one to three smaller decline of 0.5% in 1Q21 (4Q20: percentage points to its baseline GDP growth -3.4%). On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) In a note today, Maybank Investment Bank forecast for 2021, began in March and will seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy reg- economists kept their full-year 2021 economic provide six months of cash flow relief to ap- growth forecast for Malaysia as measured by istered a growth of 2.7% (4Q20: -1.5%),” GDP at 5.1% for the time being. proved EPF (Employees Provident Fund) BNM said. members,” the economists said.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Yenher putera investors while the remaining 38.69 Holdings Bhd has obtained approval from Animal health million shares will be offered to institu- the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) tional and selected investors. to list on the Main Market of Bursa Ma- products maker The plant it intends to build will be laysia, from which it hopes to raise funds compliant with good manufacturing prac- for a manufacturing plant to expand its Yenher secures tices. The proceeds to be raised from the production capacity. IPO will also be used to buy new machin- The animal health and nutrition prod- SC nod for Main ery and equipment, as well as for working uct manufacturer and distributor’s initial capital. public offering (IPO) will involve a public Market listing “The SC’s approval is a significant mile- issue of 64.43 million new shares and an stone in Yenher’s journey to becoming a listed offer for sale of up to 41.76 million existing entity. We are optimistic that our expansion shares, altogether representing 35.40% of BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR will go hand in hand with the listing, enhanc- its enlarged issued share capital. theedgemarkets.com ing our financial position and our corporate Under the public issue portion, 15 profile, which is in line with our objective million shares will be made available for of becoming a one-stop solution provider subscription by the public, with another to our customers by offering them a wide 15 million shares allocated for eligible di- range of animal health and nutrition prod- rectors, employees and persons who have ucts coupled with our value-added services, contributed to its success. The remaining for their livestock,” said Yenher managing 34.43 million shares will be set aside for director Cheng Mood Tat said. subscription by Bumiputera investors. RHB Investment Bank Bhd is the sole As for the sale of existing shares, 3.07 principal adviser, underwriter and place- million shares will be placed out to Bumi- ment agent for Yenher’s IPO and listing. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 12 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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RHB remains bullish on NFOs despite potentially lower ticket sales amid MCO 3.0

BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): RHB Research remained bullish on number forecast operators (NFOs) Magnum Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) de- spite the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0) that comes into force today, which could impact ticket sales. In a note today, RHB Research an- alyst Loo Tungwye said the lockdown is expected to slow down the path to full ticket sales recovery for Magnum, as punters may exercise caution during this period and avoid going to crowded places. He added that some may buy from illegal operators due to the ease of trans- action, and this may chip away some rev- enue from the legal NFOs. “However, ticket sales should recov- Analysts’ calls on Magnum, BToto er strongly under a normalised business Research house Magnum Bhd Berjaya Sports environment, given the fairly inelastic Toto Bhd (BToto) nature of the business,” he said. Call TP Call TP For the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21), RHB Research Buy 2.73 Buy 2.34 the analyst said ticket sales hovered at Maybank Kim Eng Buy 2.54 Buy 2.37 20% of pre-pandemic levels during Kenanga Investment Market perform 2.15 Outperform 2.45 MCO 2.0, when most outlets were tem- porarily closed from Jan 13 to Feb 15, DBS Bank Buy 2.45 Buy 2.75 although ticket sales were able to recov- CGS-CIMB Add 2.35 Add 2.35 er swiftly since outlets reopened on Feb UOB Kay Hian Buy 2.35 Buy 2.46 16 to around 80% to 85% of pre-pan- Affin Hwang Investment - - Sell 1.80 demic levels. TA Securities - - Buy 2.38 Based on its jackpot prize compila- Public Investment Bank - - Outperform 2.60 tion, the research house estimates that Hong Leong Investment Bank - - Buy 2.40 Magnum’s 1QFY21 average jackpot Source: Bloomberg ticket sales fell 18% quarter-on-quar- ter (q-o-q) and 32% year-on-year (y-o-y) despite a bigger average jackpot size. RHB Research is forecasting Magnum dividend yield for FY22 and FY23. Meanwhile, BToto’s average jackpot to record net profit of RM207 million “While MCO 3.0 is expected to dis- sales for the third quarter ended March for the financial year ending Dec 31, rupt the ticket sales recovery, these are 31, 2021 (3QFY21) is estimated to have 2021, on the bank of RM2.39 billion in just short-term hurdles, especially with fallen 29% q-o-q and 53% y-o-y, partly revenue, versus last year’s net profit and the rollout of vaccines. Once the vaccina- due to a lower average jackpot size. revenue of RM21 million and RM1.67 tion curve steepens and Covid-19 cases Loo said the 3QFY21 prize payout billion respectively. [lessen], we expect ticket sales to recov- could be higher as the Supreme 6/58 Meanwhile, it cut its FY21 to FY23 er strongly under a normalised business lotto game, with a RM48 million prize forecasted earnings for BToto by 2.1%, environment. money, was won in early January 2021. 8.2% and 3.6% after lowering its ticket “NFOs are known to be resilient and Post earnings changes, the research sales assumptions, with a lower target demand is fairly inelastic, even in a dull house lowered its target price on Mag- price of RM2.34. macroeconomic environment,” Loo said. num to RM2.73, although it continues For FY21, the research house expects At 11.30am, Magnum fell one sen or to like the stock for its attractive FY22 BToto to post net profit of RM193 mil- 0.47% to RM2.10, giving a market cap- forecasted yield of 7.6%, with the coun- lion, on the back of RM4.92 billion in italisation of RM3.02 billion. ter remaining as its preferred pick for revenue. BToto dipped two sen to RM2.01, being a pure-play NFO. It maintained It maintained its “buy” call on the translating to a market capitalisation of its “buy” call on the stock. counter, backed by the attractive 7.9% RM2.74 billion. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 13 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Palm oil is The market is now closed for the Eid-al- the latest product to be swept up in the global Palm oil joins Fitr holiday and reopens Monday. The price commodity rally, deepening concerns about jump comes just as India, the world’s biggest food inflation that’s already at the highest in global farm boom importer of palm oil, is suffering from the seven years. globe’s worst health crisis because of Covid. The world’s most consumed edible oil, in new threat to “Most Indian buyers are either on the used in everything from chocolate to lipstick sidelines or just buying hand-to-mouth due and soap, sprinted through RM4,500 a ton food inflation to high prices,” said Gnanasekar Thiagara- in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to climb jan, head of trading and hedging strategies 4% to the highest ever level. at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental. But palm Prices of farm crops from soybeans to BY ANURADHA RAGHU is cheaper than soyoil and is a reason for wheat, corn and vegetable oils have soared at a Bloomberg strong exports from Malaysia despite weak time when industrial commodities have been seasonal demand. climbing too, threatening to rekindle global Benchmark palm oil futures climbed Palm’s relative cheapness could lead to inflation and spur increases in interest rates. 4% to RM4,525 a ton, before closing at replacement of soybean oil. “There’s defi- A United Nations gauge of world food RM4,524 in Kuala Lumpur. That followed nitely substitution happening in India and costs climbed for an 11th month in April, a rally in farm prices overnight when soy- China as palm is the cheapest edible oil in the extending its rally to the highest since 2014. beans burst through US$16 a bushel and market,” said Paramalingam Supramaniam, The increases are squeezing consumer spend- soybean oil, a direct rival of palm, climbed director at Selangor-based broker Pelindung ing power at a time when many around the to the highest since 2008. Crop prices have Bestari. “It’ll mostly take place in cooking world are struggling to cope with the Cov- been rising because of weather damage and oil. Products like instant noodles will remain id-19 pandemic, poverty and hunger. booming demand from China. unchanged.”

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Kossan Rubber founder’s brother Cabnet to acquire 100% stake in CEE passes away M&E Engineering Sdn Bhd for RM16m KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Glove KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Building manufacturer Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd management solutions provider CabNet said its managing director Tan Sri Lim Kuang Holdings Bhd is buying engineering services Sia’s brother Lim Kuan Hwa has passed away. firm CEE M&E Engineering Sdn Bhd (CMESB) “The third brother, Lim Kuan Hwa, passed for RM16.29 million, cash, which would away on Sunday, May 9,” the group said in a enable it to extend its business activities to WhatsApp message to The Edge. He was not include electrical engineering services from Khazanah lists US$1b bonds on on the board of Kossan, the group said. “The medium and low voltage to extra-low voltage Singapore Exchange family appreciates the concern and would as well as mechanical engineering services. KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Khazanah like to be given space and privacy in these In a bourse filing, Cabnet said it is buying Nasional Bhd’s special purpose vehicle trying times as they mourn the loss of a loved CMESB from Murugesu Vindasamy, Tan Tian Dua Capital Ltd has listed its US$1 one,” it added. Kossan also clarified that its Yee and Kong Tze Senn. The deal comes with billion (about RM4.13 billion) bonds on founder Kuang Sia, who is also the group’s a two-year profit guarantee of RM4 million Singapore Exchange Securities Trading managing director and chief executive for the financial years ending Aug 31, 2021 Ltd.The bonds comprise a five-year officer, is well. There was some confusion and 2022. As at April 30, CMESB’s secured US$400 million in nominal value sukuk earlier after a Facebook posting had wrongly contracts amounted to RM78.28 million, of due 2026 and a 10-year US$600 million stated that the Kossan founder had passed which the unbilled amount to be recognised in nominal value sukuk due 2031, Dua away. Kossan’s share price closed nine sen as revenue is RM37.01 million. The contracts Capital said in a bourse filing. The lead or 2.17% higher at RM4.24 today, valuing are expected to provide earnings visibility managers and bookrunners of the bonds the group at RM10.82 billion. — by Tan Siew up to FY22, CabNet said. — by Justin Lim/ are CIMB Bank Bhd, Labuan Offshore Mung/theedgemarkets.com theedgemarkets.com Branch, DBS Bank Ltd, JP Morgan Securities plc, MUFG Securities EMEA plc, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp BLand disposes of 4.22% stake in BFood for RM27.6m Ltd (OCBC), KFH Capital Investment KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) has sold 15 million shares or a Company KSCC and Warba Bank KSCP. 4.22% stake in Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) over the past two days via direct business Khazanah said last week that the bonds transactions for RM27.61 million or an average price of RM1.84 per share. Following were launched at an initial price guidance the disposals, BLand and its subsidiaries hold 11.55 million BFood shares or a 3.25% of 125 basis points (bps) over the five- stake. The net proceeds from the disposals will be used for working capital, BLand said year US Treasury yield and 150bps over in a bourse filing, adding the disposals also enabled it to cash out part of its investment the 10-year US Treasury yield. Proceeds in BFood. “There is no gain or loss arising from the disposal,” it added. BLand shares from the issuance will be used for general ended unchanged at 29 sen, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM1.45 investments, refinancing of borrowings billion. The counter saw 1.63 million shares traded. BFood shares rose four sen or and working capital requirements of 1.99% to close at RM2.05, valuing the company at RM785 million. Its trading volume Khazanah that are shariah-compliant. —­ by today was 174,900 shares. — by Justin Lim/theedgemarkets.com Tan Siew Mung/theedgemarkets.com THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 14 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram

Sri Ram says no conflict of interest in acting for Wong & Partners in 1MDB civil suit

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Former Fed- BY TIMOTHY ACHARIAM ment, and/or individuals duly authorised eral Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram theedgemarkets.com to instruct on their behalf and acted with has said there is no conflict of interest in him the required degree of care and skill”. representing law firm Wong & Partners and Chia as he is an important prosecution Ambiga has also confirmed with theedge- its partner Brian Chia Hock Gee against a witness in the 1MDB-Tanore trial as well. markets.com that she is indeed acting as US$1 billion suit filed against them by 1Ma- “There is no conflict. Brian is an im- counsel for Wong & Partners in this matter. laysia Development Bhd (1MDB). portant witness for me in the ongoing Najib, former Treasury secretary-gen- This comes after reports saying 1MDB 1MDB-Tanore trial,” he said. eral Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar, as well and its former subsidiary SRC International “He is a member of Wong & Partners and as former 1MDB chief executive officers Sdn Bhd had filed several civil suits to recov- is the primary target for the suit. I have to Datuk Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi and Arul er billions of dollars in losses suffered by the defend him in both arenas,” said Sri Ram. Kanda Kandasamy are among those who firms. Six suits were filed by 1MDB and its Wong & Partners said it is “very disap- are being sued. subsidiaries, while another 16 were by SRC. pointed” by the decision of 1MDB to file One of the six suits filed by 1MDB was One of the suits was against Wong & Part- a civil suit against the firm. against Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Ltd, ners and Chia for a sum of US$1 billion and In its statement, Wong & Partners said Coutts & Co Ltd, JP Morgan (Switzerland) payment of legal fees of RM664,821.21 for its role in 1MDB was merely in an “advi- Ltd and two PetroSaudi companies for al- their alleged role in the fraud. The law firm sory capacity” and that it had acted with leged negligence, breach of contract, conspir- had represented 1MDB in the past. the required degree of care and skill in acy to defraud the company and dishonest Wong & Partners in a statement on its carrying out its work. assistance to defraud to the total amount of website said Sri Ram and former presi- “Following a comprehensive review of US$4.923 billion (about RM20.22 billion). dent of the Malaysian Bar Datuk Ambiga our work for 1MDB, and with the advice Also named in the suits were fugitive busi- Sreenevasan were acting as counsels on of our counsel — retired Federal Court nessman Jho Low, his father Tan Sri Low the firm’s behalf. judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram and for- Hock Peng, sister Low May Lin and ac- Sri Ram is also acting as appointed pros- mer president of the Malaysian Bar Datuk complice Eric Tan Kim Loong from whom ecutor for the Attorney General’s Chambers Ambiga Sreenevasan — we firmly believe 1MDB is seeking a total of US$1.402 billion. in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore criminal trial that the plaintiff’s claim has no merit and A suit was also filed against Najib’s step- against former prime minister Datuk Seri no basis in fact and law. son and Hollywood producer Riza Aziz. Najib Razak for which he is charged with “As such we will vigorously defend the 1MDB is said to have sought US$250 power abuse and money laundering involv- firm and our lawyers against these baseless million from The Wolf of Wall Street ing over RM2 billion of 1MDB funds. allegations,” the firm said. award-winning producer. 1MDB is claim- Speaking to theedgemarkets.com, Sri Wong & Partners said that throughout ing wilful blindness, reckless indifference Ram said there is no conflict of interest its engagement by 1MDB, “the firm was and the need to investigate the source of in this instance and that he has to defend instructed by the 1MDB board, manage- Riza’s funds. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 15 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Sarawak state BERNAMA Bukit Aman election not the investigating priority now, says alleged Abang Johari misconduct, abuse of power Bernama by senior officer KUCHING (May 12): The Sarawak state election is not a priority of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government for the Bernama time being and it is focusing on efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, which is still KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): The po- a threat. lice are conducting an investigation into Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang a senior state police officer over allega- Johari Tun Openg said the priority is now tions of misconduct and abuse of power, containing Covid-19 as the disease had said Bukit Aman Integrity and Stand- taken many lives in the state. infections in line with the policy “Trace, ards Compliance Department (JIPS) “The GPS government will give pri- Test, Quarantine and Isolate”, which is director Datuk Zamri Yahya. ority to efforts to fight Covid-19. Other more practical. He said the investigation was being matters such as the state election could be He said the Sarawak government would carried out following several complaints [done] later when the situation permits,” continue to obtain adequate vaccine sup- made against the he said in a message in conjunction with ply, including through negotiation and own senior police of- Hari Raya Aidilfitri tomorrow. procurement from suppliers, to complete ficer. According to him, the increase in in- immunisation in the state by August. “JIPS has be- fections lately was worrying, with Sarawak “Besides, the state government also gun a thorough and becoming among the top states in terms needs to obtain the approval of the fed- transparent investi- of daily new cases in the past few weeks. eral government to gazette private hospi- gation. “The situation was quite [in] control be- tals as vaccination centres to expedite the “Appropriate fore this at two-digit levels but it has wors- immunisation process, especially in urban action will be taken if there is evidence ened, which is worrying to us. The SDMC areas,” he said. leading to the existence of any miscon- (Sarawak Disaster Management Commit- He said it would be the second time Ai- duct and abuse of power by the individ- tee) is receiving public criticisms,” he said. dilfitri is celebrated in a controlled manner, ual,” said Zamri in a statement today. However, Abang Johari is confident the but he believes the constraints which all Zamri said the police would not pro- criticisms would not break the spirit of have to be go through would not weaken tect any senior officer, officer and -po members of the committee to continue the determination of Muslims in the state. liceman involved in any malpractice, doing their best to curb the spread of Cov- “We understand the desire to celebrate misconduct and abuse of power. id-19, taking into consideration relevant the victory [after one month of fasting] Recently, a post that went viral on data and factors. with family members and friends, but with Facebook claimed that the senior officer According to him, the SDMC had taken the spread of the pandemic, the teachings was protecting gambling and smuggling measures to continue the enhanced move- of the religion tell us to give priority to the syndicates as well as secret societies in ment control order (EMCO) in places with safety of life and health,” he said. the state.

BERNAMA programme in Langkawi last week. Dr Mahathir The Langkawi Member of Parliament said he was informed that he had violated apologises, ready the SOPs by not recording his body temper- ature when entering Surau Tsunami Batu to face the music Arang in Kuala Teriang, Kuah for a Rama- dan aid distribution programme on May 8. for defying SOPs “This was an offence. It shouldn’t have been done. I am sorry for not complying with the SOPs. I will face the music ac- Bernama cording to the relevant law,” he said in his Facebook post. KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Former He said the SOPs should be adhered prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Moham- to by everyone as it could help curb the ad today offered an apology, saying that he is spread of Covid-19. ready to face the music for defying the stand- “We shouldn’t take this lightly. Again, ard operating procedures (SOPs) during a I apologise for defying the rules,” he said. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 16 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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Major overhaul of WHO needed after failures, says Covid panel

MELBOURNE (May 12): The World BY JASON GALE ization should help broker an agreement Health Organization should be overhauled Bloomberg among major vaccine-producing countries and given more authority to investigate glob- and manufacturers on voluntary licensing al disease threats, according to a review of precautionary approach, according to Clark. and transferring vaccine technology to third the international Covid-19 response that The “slow and deliberate pace” with which parties. found a myriad of failures, gaps, and delays information is treated under the Internation- allowed the coronavirus to mushroom into al Health Regulations and the alert system IP rights a pandemic. used were out of step with a fast-moving “If actions do not occur within three While stopping short of assigning blame respiratory pathogen and the swift availa- months, a waiver of intellectual property to any particular factor, the report released bility of information through digital tools rights under the Agreement on Trade-Re- Wednesday by an independent panel co- and social media, the panel found. lated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights chaired by former New Zealand Prime Min- should come into force immediately,” John- ister Helen Clark linked the severity of the WHO ‘hindered’ son Sirleaf said. global outbreak to deficiencies across gov- The WHO should have the power to inves- While manufacturing needs to be scaled ernments, the WHO and other multilateral tigate outbreaks speedily, with guaranteed up urgently, the panel called on wealthy organizations, and regulations that guide rights of access and with the ability to pub- countries with adequate vaccine coverage official actions. lish information without waiting for a mem- to commit to providing at least 1 billion dos- The panel also called for an agreement ber state’s approval, Clark said. es no later than Sept 1 to 92 countries that to waive vaccine patents, limited terms for “Sensitivities about sovereignty cannot lack adequate supplies, and to increase that WHO leaders, and an oversight body and delay alerting the world to the threat of a to a total of 2 billion by mid-2021. legally binding treaty to bolster the preven- new pathogen with pandemic potential,” The panel also called for: tion and response to future pandemics. The she told Monday’s media briefing. • The creation of a Global Health Threats international system, the panel said, remains The elevation of the Covid-19 threat Council that will maintain political com- unfit to avoid another disease from spiralling to WHO’s highest level of alert on Jan 30, mitment to pandemic preparedness and into one matching Covid-19, which threat- 2020, failed to trigger an urgent, coordinat- response and hold actors accountable. ens to cost the world economy US$22 tril- ed, worldwide response, the panel found. • A Pandemic Framework Convention lion by 2025. It called for disease surveillance and alert within six months to address gaps in “The situation we find ourselves in today systems to be overhauled to function at international regulations, and to clarify could have been prevented,” former Liberia “near-instantaneous speed” to detect and responsibilities between states and in- President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the panel’s verify signals of potential outbreaks. ternational organizations. other co-chair, told reporters over Zoom • A special high-level session of the United Monday. “This was partly due to a failure ‘Sowed distrust’ Nations General Assembly to agree on to learn from the past.” Most countries failed to heed the warning, a political declaration on transforming In the first weeks of the pandemic, the choosing to “wait and see,” rather than take pandemic preparedness and response. WHO could have warned countries to firmer measures that could have contained • Strengthening of the authority and fi- assume that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the virus, Clark said, adding that February nancing of the WHO, including by de- spreading among people as a precaution, was “a month of lost opportunity.” veloping a new funding model to end according to the panel, which was estab- “For some, it wasn’t until hospital ICU earmarked funds and to increase mem- lished at the request of the World Health beds started to fill that more action was tak- ber-state fees. Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body, en — and by then it was too late,” she said. • An international pandemic-financing fa- a year ago. “There were also countries which devalued cility capable of disbursing US$5 billion WHO also could have declared the science, denied the severity of Covid-19, de- to US$10 billion a year for preparedness outbreak in Wuhan, China, a public health layed responding, and sowed distrust among and US$50 billion to US$100 billion in emergency of international concern — the their citizens — with deadly consequences.” the event of a crisis. highest level of global alert — earlier by at Although missed opportunities and fail- • A single, seven-year term for the WHO least Jan 22, Clark said. ure to act characterized much of the early director-general and regional directors. The role of the WHO and its direc- response to Covid-19, the panel found ar- tor-general have been contentious from the eas in which early action was taken to good “Covid-19 is the 21st century’s Cherno- early days of the pandemic as governments effect: the rapid containment of the virus byl moment — not because a disease out- sought to understand how the virus emerged by some countries, including South Korea, break is like a nuclear accident, but because and was allowed to spread unchecked. Vietnam and New Zealand, and the unprec- it has shown so clearly the gravity of the The United Nations agency came under edented speed at which the virus genome threat to our health and well-being,” the blistering criticism from former US Pres- was sequenced and vaccines were developed. report said. “It has caused a crisis so deep ident Donald Trump, who claimed it had “Science delivered when the world need- and wide that presidents, prime ministers coddled China, allowing it to conceal the ed it most, and the world benefited wher- and heads of international and regional bod- origin of the virus, and threatened to with- ever there was open sharing of data and ies must now urgently accept their respon- hold funding. knowledge,” according to Johnson Sirleaf. sibility to transform the way in which the The WHO was hindered by its regula- The Harvard-educated former banker world prepares for and responds to global tions, which aren’t conducive to taking a said the WHO and the World Trade Organ- health threats.” THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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US consumer prices jump most since 2009, outpacing estimates

WASHINGTON (May 12): US consum- BY READE PICKERT The core CPI measure, which was er prices climbed in April by the most Bloomberg also biased higher by the base effect, since 2009, topping forecasts and inten- rose 3% from 12 months ago. That was sifying the already-heated debate about BLOOMBERG the largest since 1996. For the last year how long inflationary pressures will last. the annual core inflation metric had held The consumer price index (CPI) in- below 2%. creased 0.8% from the prior month, re- Wednesday’s report offers insight into flecting gains in nearly every major cat- bubbling price pressures across parts of egory and a sign burgeoning demand the economy. Wages have shown signs of is giving companies latitude to pass on picking up, and supply chain challenges higher costs. Excluding the volatile food have elongated delivery times and driven and energy components, the so-called materials prices higher. core CPI rose 0.9% from March, the While challenging for producers, most since 1982, according to Labor swelling consumer demand has also Department data on Wednesday. given firms more confidence that they The gain in the overall CPI was twice will be able to pass along some of the as much as the highest projection in a new costs. If sustained, the production Bloomberg survey of economists. Sim- bottlenecks could pose a risk of an ac- ilar to last week’s monthly jobs report, celeration in consumer inflation. forecasters are struggling to get a han- Fed chair Jerome Powell has said the dle on the rapidly reopening economy. upward pressure on prices from the re- The report showed sharp increases in Excluding the volatile bound in spending and supply bottle- prices for motor vehicles, transportation food and energy necks will have only a “transitory” im- services, and hotel stays as businesses components, the so- pact on inflation, but many disagree. hardest hit by the pandemic reopen more called core CPI rose Bond market expectations for the pace broadly and vaccinated Americans re- 0.9% from March, the of consumer price inflation over the next sume social activities and travel. most since 1982. five years surged earlier this week to its Treasuries fell on the inflation sur- highest level since 2006. prise, with the 10-year yield touching 1.66%, while S&P 500 futures remained Reopening effect lower. The Labor Department’s data showed The annual CPI figure surged to While Federal Reserve (Fed) officials a 10% surge in the cost of used vehicles 4.2%, the most since 2008 though a and economists acknowledge the tempo- that accounted for more than a third of figure distorted by the comparison to rary boost, it is unclear whether a more the increase in the overall CPI. New-ve- the pandemic-depressed index in April durable pickup in inflationary pressures hicle prices also picked up. 2020. This phenomenon — known as is underway against a backdrop of soar- Shelter costs, which make up a third the base effect — will skew the May fig- ing commodities costs, trillions of dol- of the overall CPI, jumped by the most ure as well, likely muddling the ongoing lars in government economic stimulus, in two years as rents and hotel stays ad- inflation debate. and incipient signs of higher labor costs. vanced. Prices at hotels and motels in- creased by the most on record, while airfares also posted the biggest gain on record — a reflection of a broader reo- pening of the economy. Transportation services, which in- clude auto rental, car insurance, and public transportation, showed the larg- est increase since 1975.

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China’s soaring factory costs send inflation signal to the world “China’s factories have spent months absorbing shocks, including soaring prices for raw materials, a scramble for semiconductors, and even the blockage of the Suez Canal.” Click here THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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BRUSSELS (May 12): Amazon on Wednes- carmaker has appealed to the EU Court day won its fight against an EU order to pay Amazon wins of Justice, Europe’s highest. about 250 million euros (US$303 million) in Vestager has successfully made Ireland, back taxes to Luxembourg as Europe’s sec- court fight Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium ond highest court dealt a blow to the bloc’s change their tax ruling practices, and spurred crackdown against unfair tax deals for mul- against US$303m the Organisation for Economic Coopera- tinationals. tion and Development (OECD) to aim for In a separate case, French utility Engie EU tax order, a global deal on how multinational compa- however lost its appeal against an EU or- nies are taxed. der to pay back taxes of 120 million euros Engie loses The European Commission in its 2017 (US$145.7 million) to Luxembourg. ruling said the Grand Duchy spared the US The Luxembourg-based General Court online retailer from paying taxes on almost said Amazon had not enjoyed a selective ad- BY FOO YUN CHEE three-quarters of its profits from EU oper- vantage in its tax deal with Luxembourg. Reuters ations by allowing it to channel profits to “The Commission did not prove to the a holding company tax-free. requisite legal standard that there was an to iPhone maker Apple to pay 13 billion In its 2018 decision on Engie, the EU undue reduction of the tax burden of a Eu- euros (US$15 billion) in Irish back taxes. said the arrangement with Luxembourg au- ropean subsidiary of the Amazon group,” The same court in 2019 rejected her thorities artificially reduced the company’s the judge said. order to Starbucks to pay up to 30 mil- tax burden, which meant it paid an effec- The Amazon ruling is a setback for Euro- lion euros in Dutch back taxes and also tive corporate tax rate of 0.3% on certain pean Competition Commissioner Margrethe overturned an order demanding Belgium profits in Luxembourg for about a decade. Vestager, who has aggressively used the bloc’s revoke a tax break that benefited 39 mul- The court sided with the Commission, state aid rules to tackle sweetheart tax deals tinationals including BP and BASF. saying the French utility had benefited from between multinationals and EU countries. The EU competition enforcer however a tax advantage. Vestager has a mixed record so far. found court support for its order to Fiat The cases are T-816/17 Luxembourg The biggest setback was last year when Chrysler Automobiles to pay back taxes up v Commission & T-318/18 Amazon EU v the General Court threw out her order to 30 million euros to Luxembourg. The Commission.

(May 12): Moves by Apple Inc. and Goog- Adtech firms that develop alternative le that make it harder for brands to track Apple, Google tools to target consumers have seen a rise billions of consumers are creating a mon- in demand, in particular contextual adver- ey-making opportunity for advertising com- privacy shift helps tising companies that target ads based on panies that were hit hard by the pandemic. the content of web pages, not who is view- Google is phasing out third-party on- ad firms recover ing them. line tracking cookies and Apple is requiring One such company, GumGum Inc., just app owners to ask for explicit permission to from pandemic raised $75 million from Goldman Sachs track users across other companies’ apps. Group Inc. That came with a $700 million The changes make it harder for companies valuation, according to a person familiar to follow our every move online, so mar- BY WILLIAM SCHOMBERG & ANDY BRUCE with the matter. keters are devising new ways for brands Reuters Companies like BMW AG and Voda- to find out what consumers are doing and fone Group Plc have turned to GumGum pitch products to them. “As customer acquisition on Facebook for help with recent campaigns. Head- It won’t threaten the tech giants’ status gets more expensive as these changes roll phone-maker Bose Corp. worked with as gatekeepers to billions of consumers, a out, this is set up to be one of the most GumGum to market its earbuds for sleep role that’s only growing as more economic powerful channels going forward,” said Josh on technology websites and target keywords activity shifts online. Yet it’s an opportuni- Knopman, Caraway’s director of growth. like “night”. ty for ad agency groups such as WPP Plc, WPP is creating a new unit geared to “The industry over-used the cookie, Omnicom Group Inc. and Publicis Groupe helping clients better use first-party data. clearly,” said GumGum Chief Executive SA to reassert their relevance. An early customer is Walgreens Boots Al- Officer Phil Schraeder. “Contextual is a Caraway Home Inc., an online seller of liance Inc., with WPP taking data from the good alternative to cookies because it will kitchenware, expects the privacy changes retailer’s customer loyalty platforms to craft be here to the end of time.” will increase the cost of finding new cus- its media strategy. Some in the industry say the changes tomers on Facebook, and decrease the ef- Publicis is also seizing on Google’s cook- will force companies to shift the way they fectiveness of its targeting. ie announcement by partnering with ad engage with customers. For Cory Munch- A month ago, Caraway signed a deal technology company The Trade Desk Inc. bach, chief operating officer at first-party with marketing tech firm Impact Tech to offer digital identifiers that give consum- data firm BlueConic Inc. it’s going to re- Inc. to connect with bloggers and Insta- ers anonymity and the ability to manage quire a “fundamental rethink” by brands gram influencers. Impact’s platform will privacy preferences, while still letting ad- and publishers. show Caraway how many sales it achieves vertisers see some of their online activity. “This should be good for ad agencies,” when its products get a mention, and the “Already in beta the adoption is really said Matthew Bloxham, an analyst at kind of content that’s most effective — for strong,” said Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk’s Bloomberg Intelligence. “The heightened example, whether an interior design blog chief technology officer and co-founder. business complexity means their services drives more revenue than a blog focused “That press release that Google made is are in greater demand from clients, and I on motherhood. the best thing that ever happened to us.” think most of the agencies are seeing that.” THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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(May 12): Japan’s parliament approved a navirus vaccinations, contributing to a law to set up a new Digital Agency as the Japan passes slow rollout that has irked the public and government’s handling of the coronavirus ranked among the slowest in developed pandemic, including stumbles in its vac- digital law as nations. cine rollout, underscored the country’s Last year, many waited months for need to catch up on technology. virus underscores emergency cash handouts meant to help The bill, which passed in the upper them weather the economic hit of the house Wednesday following approval in tech struggles coronavirus pandemic, while the process the more powerful lower house last month, went far more smoothly in places such as establishes an agency aimed at bringing neighboring South Korea. greater digitalization to ministries and ad- BY ISABEL REYNOLDS A survey published by broadcaster ministrative bodies. The Digital Agency, to Bloomberg JNN on Monday found that support for be launched in September with an initial Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet staff of 500, will also plan a nationwide BLOOMBERG fell to 40%, its lowest since he took office shift of local government processes into in September. More than 60% of respond- the cloud and try to help facilitate digi- ents said they didn’t approve of the gov- talization in the private sector. ernment’s virus management and about From delayed cash handouts at the be- three quarters didn’t think the government ginning of the pandemic last year to the would meet its target of vaccinating those low uptake of remote work and problems aged 65 and over by the end of July. with online booking systems for vaccina- Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, urged tion appointments, the virus has highlight- a rethink of traditional clerical practices ed Japan’s difficulty in taking advantage last year when he was prime minister, after of more efficient ways of working. the custom of hand-stamping paperwork Many Japanese in recent days have was found to be hampering government struggled to access websites at local au- targets for reducing the number of com- thorities to book appointments for coro- muters to rein in virus infections.

TOKYO (May 12): Former Nissan Motor ¥1 billion a year to disclose their com- executive Greg Kelly denied helping ousted In court, former pensation. boss Carlos Ghosn hide earnings, saying Both Nada and Ohnuma, the head of at his trial in Tokyo on Wednesday that his Nissan executive Nissan’s secretariat office, agreed to co- only goal had been to retain a chief exec- operate with prosecutors and did not face utive officer (CEO) who could have been Kelly denies charges. lured away by a rival automaker. Kelly, who has been on bail in Japan Ghosn escaped to Lebanon in Decem- helping Ghosn since his release from jail at the end of 2018, ber 2019 hidden in carry-on luggage on a faces prosecution alone after Ghosn fled. private jet that flew out of Kansai Airport, hide earnings Kelly’s wife, Dee, who lives with him in while he awaited trial on charges of finan- Japan, has attended most court sessions, cial wrongdoing, including understating sitting in the public gallery near her hus- his compensation in financial statements. BY TIM KELLY band and taking notes. Kelly and Ghosn, who also denies the Reuters On Wednesday, Kelly also denied know- charges, have both said they are victims of ing details of Ghosn’s remuneration before a boardroom coup by former colleagues BLOOMBERG 2010, apart from being aware that Ghosn worried the latter would push through a had cut the amount to keep it below the merger between Nissan and Renault SA, disclosure threshold. its largest shareholder. He said Ohnuma was responsible for Taking the witness stand for the first discussing compensation details and that time since his trial began in September, any final decision was made by Ghosn. Kelly said, “I didn’t conspire with Mr If convicted, Kelly could face a jail term Ghosn or other people,” according to a of up to 15 years and a fine of ¥10 mil- court pool report. lion. Japan’s conviction rate is about 99%, Dressed usually in a dark suit and red but a ruling may not come until next year. striped tie, Kelly has sat quietly through Ghosn also faces two separate breach months of testimony from witnesses such of trust charges that he enriched himself as former CEO Hiroto Saikawa, former at Nissan’s expense through US$5 million vice president in charge of legal affairs Hari in payments to a Middle East car dealer- Nada, and Toshiaki Ohnuma, an official ship, and temporarily transferred personal who oversaw details of Ghosn’s compen- Greg Kelly financial losses to his employer’s books. sation. The trial of the American father and Prosecutors have used that testimony to through deferred payments. son, Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor, ac- accuse Kelly of being an accomplice in a That was prompted by rules introduced cused of helping him escape, begins in scheme to hide ¥9.3 billion (US$86 mil- in 2010 by financial regulators to force Tokyo on June 14, after US authorities lion) of Ghosn’s earnings over eight years company executives earning more than extradited the pair in March. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 20 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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BLOOMBERG China signals BlackRock renewed effort expands China on property tax footprint with wealth Bloomberg management (May 12): Chinese policy makers signaled tax. Starting a trial this year is very likely.” they may revive efforts to introduce a na- President Xi said last month that Chi- licence tional property tax, as surging home prices na mustn’t allow the gap between the rich raise concerns over a widening wealth gap. and poor to widen further, according to A trial of real estate tax reform was dis- a speech published on the website of Qi- Reuters cussed at a seminar held Tuesday by offi- ushi Journal under the Chinese Commu- cials from China’s ministry of finance, top nist Party’s Central Committee. Residents SHANGHAI (May 12): BlackRock Inc legislature, housing ministry and taxation “becoming well off together,” a concept has received a licence in China for a administration, according to a statement more frequently mentioned by Xi in the majority-owned wealth management on the finance ministry’s website. The par- past year, is a “major political issue,” in- venture, expanding its footprint in the ticipants listened to opinions on the trial stead of an economic one, he stressed in country’s fast-growing asset manage- from local officials and some scholars. the speech. ment market. The wording marks the first time Chi- A renewed fear of missing out on prop- The U.S. fund giant said on nese policy makers mentioned a real estate erty gains has spread across China’s biggest Wednesday its wealth management tax trial, after years of pushing toward for- cities since last year as people seek to pro- venture with a unit of China Construc- mal legislation on the levy, said Yan Yuejin, tect their wealth against inflation following tion Bank Corp (CCB) and Singapore an analyst at E-House China Enterprise the pandemic. Despite more meticulous state investor Temasek Holdings (Pte) Holdings Ltd.’s research institute. curbs deployed by local authorities, home Ltd can now start business. The move comes as authorities tack- prices grew at the fastest pace in seven The venture, 50.1% owned by le a jump in residential property prices months in March. BlackRock and 40% by CCB’s wealth and President Xi Jinping vows to address A national tax on home ownership has management unit, will draw on Black- wealth disparities in the world’s sec- long been seen as a key way to cool spec- Rock’s investment expertise and CCB’s ond-largest economy. Real estate was the ulation, while also running the risk of de- vast distribution network, the U.S. firm biggest driver of gains in household assets pressing market sentiment. China voiced said in a statement. last quarter, overshadowing areas including the idea for the first time in 2013, before BlackRock will “support China in financial investment, according to research work on drafting the law began, but little building a sustainable ecosystem for by Chengdu’s Southwestern University of progress has been made since. In 2018, investing,” Chairman and CEO Lau- Finance and Economics. Premier Li Keqiang said the government rence Fink said in the statement. “Official news on the seminar is a strong will press ahead with the tax, yet in 2019, “The Chinese market represents a signal sent by the ministry of finance,” said officials were still refining the draft. significant opportunity to help meet Shi Zhengwen, a professor at China Uni- In March, the government again the long-term goals of investors in Chi- versity of Political Science and Law in Bei- pledged to push forward with the legisla- na and internationally.” jing. “China may roll out a trial in some cit- tion as part of its new five-year plan cov- China opened its massive financial ies first, before finalizing legislation on the ering 2021 to 2025. sector last April as part of an interim Sino-U.S. trade deal. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the Chi- na Banking and Insurance Regulatory PAR IS (May 12): Danone, under pressure Commission (CBIRC), said in March from investment funds over its returns, will Food group that Chinese regulators welcome more sell a 9.8% stake in China Mengniu Dairy foreign entry into China’s financial sec- Co, the food group said on Wednesday. Danone to sell tor, including the wealth management China Mengniu Dairy has an equity space. market capitalisation of around HK$166 stake in China Amundi has set up a wealth man- billion (US$21.4 billion) meaning a sale of agement joint venture with Bank of Danone’s stake could reap around US$2.1 Mengniu Dairy China, and Schroders has applied to billion, based on latest market prices. partner with Bank of Communica- The French company, whose brands in- tions (BOCOM) in wealth manage- clude Actimel yoghurt and Evian water, BY SUDIP KAR-GUPTA ment. said the sale would take place via an ac- Reuters BlackRock CCB Wealth Manage- celerated bookbuilding process. ment Ltd, which received the licence Former Danone boss Emmanuel Faber returns compared with some rivals. from CBIRC, will expand BlackRock’s was abruptly ousted as chairman and chief French business paper Les Echos re- presence in China. executive officer (CEO) earlier this year fol- ported this week that Antoine de Saint-Af- BlackRock already owns a mutual lowing clashes with some board members frique was the front runner to be named fund venture with Bank of China, and over strategy and calls from activist funds as Danone’s new CEO. Danone declined is setting up a wholly-owned mutual for him to resign over the group’s lacklustre to comment on that report. fund house in the country. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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BLOOMBERG UK economy, NEWS IN BRIEF gearing up for SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son isn’t so sure recovery, grew about Bitcoin (May 12): SoftBank Group Corp founder more than Masayoshi Son isn’t sure if Bitcoin is headed to the moon. Asked about the growing number expected in March of firms such as Tesla Inc that have invested in the cryptocurrency, Son was noncommittal. “There’s a lot of discussion over if it’s a good thing BY WILLIAM SCHOMBERG & ANDY BRUCE or a bad thing, what’s the true value or is it in a Reuters bubble — honestly speaking, I don’t know,” Son said at the tech and investing giant’s earnings LONDON (May 12): Britain’s pandem- news conference. However, Son added that the ic-battered economy grew more strongly popularity of the cryptocurrency has made it into than expected in March as it gathered speed a platform that “can’t be ignored,” like diamonds for a bounceback from its coronavirus slump or bonds, he said. “There’s no need to reject” the of 2020, official data showed on Wednesday. “Despite a difficult start to this year, eco- cryptocurrency either, he said. “We are always The 2.1% growth from February was led nomic growth in March is a promising sign having such internal discussions,” he added. A by the reopening of schools which, alongside of things to come,” finance minister Rishi growing number of global firms including Tesla, Covid-19 testing and vaccinations, pushed Sunak said. Square Inc and Japan’s Nexon Co have moved up activity in the public sector and by retail- “As we cautiously reopen the economy, I to purchase Bitcoin in recent months, with more ers as consumers spent some of their lock- will continue to take all the steps necessary starting to accept the cryptocurrency as a form down savings. to support our recovery.” of payment. While Japan was an early leader in There was also a burst of work in the Britain’s economy remained 8.7% smaller Bitcoin acceptance, few firms have to date joined construction sector ahead of the expiry of a than at the end of 2019. The BOE expects this trend. Of late, SoftBank has been placing tax break for homebuyers. it will be back to its pre-pandemic size by some of its assets in “highly liquid” US stocks Analysts polled by Reuters had expect- the end of this year. such as Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc. The ed monthly growth of 1.3% for the world’s firm today said it was holding such positions “in fifth-biggest economy. More reopening ahead readiness for future investment opportunities.” “Businesses and the government alike Prime Minister Boris Johnson allowed — Bloomberg will feel this data marks a turning point,” non-essential shops to reopen and outdoor Ana Boata, head of macroeconomic research hospitality to resume in April in England and US removes Xiaomi from government at trade credit insurer Euler Hermes, said. there have been signs that the economy ac- blacklist, parties to resolve litigation “With the ongoing easing of restrictions, celerated in response. BENGALURU/SHANGHAI(May 12): The US confirmed this week by the prime minister, Further relaxations are due to take place Department of Defense will remove Chinese there’s hope that this could be the start of next week before the lifting of almost all re- smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp from a a long hot summer for British businesses.” maining restrictions in late June. government blacklist, a court filing showed. Over the first three months of 2021, when The ONS data showed Britain’s domi- The filing stated that the two parties would the country was under a third lockdown, nant service industry grew by 1.9% in March agree to resolve their ongoing litigation without gross domestic product shrank by 1.5%, the from February, its strongest growth since last further contest, bringing to an end a brief and Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. August, while manufacturing and construc- controversial spat between the hardware Although a less severe hit than initially tion also grew more strongly than expected company and Washington. Xiaomi did not feared, Samuel Tombs, an economist with by analysts in the Reuters poll. immediately respond to a Reuters request for Pantheon Macroeconomics, said it meant Separate trade figures showed Britain im- comment. Earlier this year the US Department Britain almost certainly remained the lag- ported more goods from non-EU countries of Defense, under the Trump administration, gard among the Group of Seven (G7) rich than EU countries during the first quarter designated the firm as a company with ties to countries for the fourth quarter in a row. for the first time since records began in 1997. China’s military and placed it on a list that would However, British gross domestic prod- The ONS warned it was too soon to say restrict US investment in the company. Xiaomi uct (GDP) looked on course to grow by if this was the start of a trend or just short- quickly responded by filing a lawsuit against the 5% in the April-to-June period “which term disruption. US government, calling its placement “unlawful should mean that the UK finally hands “Exports of goods to the EU continued to and unconstitutional” and denying any ties to over the wooden spoon to another G7 increase in March and are now almost back China’s military. In March, under the new Biden economy”. to their December level,” ONS statistician administration, a federal judge temporarily The Bank of England (BOE) said last Darren Morgan said. “However, imports blocked enforcement of the blacklisting. — week it expected the economy would recov- from Europe remain sluggish.” Reuters er quickly as the country speeds ahead with Business investment fell by almost 12% Europe’s fastest vaccination programme in the January-March period. The ONS said Read also: and coronavirus restrictions are lifted. some companies brought forward invest- Its forecast for 7.25% growth in 2021 ment plans to late 2020 to avoid disruption After US$260b slide, Alibaba aims to would be the fastest since a Second World caused by leaving the EU’s single market show worst is over Click here War rush to rearm although by compari- while others delayed plans for early 2021 son GDP collapsed by 9.8% in 2020, its to take advantage of a new tax break that WEF still proceeding with Singapore deepest slump in over three centuries. launched in April. meeting even as virus spikes Click here THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 22 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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SoftBank CEO seeks respect to go with record US$18 billion profit

TOKYO (May 12): Masayoshi Son is now BY PAVEL ALPEYEV & TAKAHIKO HYUGA SoftBank had a portfolio of 224 compa- in the history books for delivering the larg- Bloomberg nies across three different funds as of the est-ever quarterly profit for a Japanese com- end of March. pany, but he is still having a hard time getting BLOOMBERG Son did take a victory lap in touting his the respect he thinks he deserves. returns so far. He said that limited partners SoftBank Group Corp on Wednes- in the first Vision Fund now have a blended day reported net income of ¥1.93 trillion internal rate of return of 22%, compared (US$17.7 billion) for the three months end- with negative 1% a year ago. SoftBank’s own ed March 31, with essentially all of that com- IRR for the fund is 39%, while its IRR for ing from Son’s successful investment in the the second Vision Fund is 119%. newly public Coupang Inc. That is near- SoftBank also boosted the capital com- ly twice the ¥1 trillion tally from the next mitted to its Vision Fund 2 to US$30 bil- highest Japanese company, Toshiba Corp. lion, up from US$20 billion. Yet, even as Son prepared to deliver the “The problem facing SoftBank is that the widely anticipated record results, his stock good news is already out,” Atul Goyal, sen- price suffered the steepest two-day dive in Son argued that ior analyst at Jefferies. “What is less visible eight months. His shares have dropped 14% investors are not are the potential losses on blue-chip public from their peak in March. Investors are skit- giving him credit yet stock investments and derivatives. The neg- tish about whether SoftBank will keep buy- for the value he is atives are pretty opaque and that’s where ing back its own stock and profiting from a creating at SoftBank. investors will be looking at during earnings.” global surge in technology shares. Son’s controversial programme of trad- In a presentation after results, Son ar- ing options cost him during the quarter. The gued that investors are not giving him credit company posted a ¥33 billion derivatives yet for the value he is creating at SoftBank. lot of factors that go into such a decision loss in the period. While the overall profit With holdings like Coupang and Alibaba and it cannot just be deployed to prop up in the asset management arm was ¥46 bil- Group Holding Ltd, the net asset value for the share price. lion in the period, the business still posted the company is now north of ¥15,000 a Son tried to keep the attention on his a full-year loss of ¥67 billion. share, he said, more than 60% higher than start-up successes. Coupang, the South SoftBank held a total of US$19.9 bil- the current share price. Korean e-commerce leader, contributed lion of “highly liquid” securities as of the “In simple terms, they’re undervalued,” US$24.5 billion to Vision Fund’s profit end of quarter, including a US$6.2 billion Son said, pacing a stage in Tokyo with a in the fourth quarter. Auto1 Group SE, a investment in Amazon.com Inc, US$3.2 black turtleneck and matching black blazer. German wholesale platform for used cars billion in Facebook Inc, and US$1 billion SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment arm which went public in February, contribut- in Microsoft Corp. The operation is man- went from being the source of the biggest ed US$1.8 billion of the gains, while Uber aged by its asset management subsidiary loss in SoftBank’s history a year ago to the posted a US$200 million loss. The Japanese SB Northstar, where Son personally holds main driver of earnings, with a ¥2.3 tril- conglomerate does not have to sell equi- a 33% stake. lion profit in the March quarter. The rally in ty holdings to book income, so most of its The investments were accompanied by tech shares boosted Vision Fund profits to profits are unrealised. derivatives that amplified exposure, a strat- three consecutive records, raising the value “The discount SoftBank is trading at, egy that triggered a backlash from investors. of holdings in the likes of Uber Technolo- around 30%, has widened again in recent The fair value of SoftBank’s futures and gies Inc and paving the way for public list- months, but it’s a far cry from the gap that options positions came to US$1.6 billion ings from start-ups such as Coupang and Son has railed against historically,” said Kirk at the end of March, compared with little DoorDash Inc. Boodry, an analyst at Redex Research in To- over US$1 billion the previous quarter and “Our profit and revenue are both meas- kyo. “I get his points, but the last two years US$2.7 billion the one before. Long call ured in trillions of yen, but just a year ago we have shown there can be extreme volatility options on listed stocks have dwindled to had a record loss,” Son said at the briefing. in returns and little agreement on future US$1.6 billion from US$4.69 billion half “For SoftBank, profits and losses in trillions prospects.” a year ago and short call options on list- of yen are the new normal.” Son has said that SoftBank could see be- ed stocks declined to US$84 million from What has really driven SoftBank shares tween 10 and 20 public listings a year. Grab US$1.26 billion of value. though, has been its buy-backs. Beginning Holdings Inc will go public in the US by During his presentation in Tokyo, Son in March of last year, Son announced he July through the largest-ever merger with a admitted to mistakes with start-ups, naming would sell assets and repurchase ¥2.5 tril- blank-cheque company, valuing the South- specifically WeWork, Greensill, and Kater- lion of his own shares. east Asian ride-hailing and delivery giant at ra. But he argued that SoftBank’s successes SoftBank has now spent all of the money about US$40 billion. Its Chinese counter- have more than made up for such missteps. it has allocated — and investors have been part Didi Chuxing has filed with the US He said his attitude has not changed that anticipating more buy-backs. But Son did Securities and Exchange Commission for much from a record loss a year ago to a re- not commit to further repurchases. an initial public offering that could value cord profit now. “Yes, we will consider buying back our the company as high as US$70 billion to “I’m not overjoyed or depressed so easily, own shares,” he said, stressing there are a US$100 billion. just stay calm,” he said. THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 23 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

WORLD

Lex Greensill says his investors knew what they were buying

(May 12): Lex Greensill told lawmakers that BY LUCCA DE PAOLI, ALEX MORALES resentative for Greensill, but not directly on investors in loans packaged by his firm were & JONATHAN BROWNING its supply chain financing, according to the aware of the risks and denied being a “fraud- Bloomberg letter. A representative for ster” in his first public appearance since Greensill declined to comment. Officials at Greensill Capital collapsed into insolvency Greensill but sold them at the same price Mirabella didn’t respond to calls and emails in March. he’d bought them for as he became a big- seeking comment. The former Morgan Stanley banker, who ger customer of the lender Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, founded the eponymous firm in 2011, faced • said Greensill Capital owes council tax on former Prime Minister and Greensill’s lobbyist questions from the UK’s Treasury Select its London offices David Cameron and the Bank of England also Committee, which is examining what les- • acknowledged his company had an over-re- sent letters to lawmakers ahead of the hearing. sons should be learned from the demise of liance on insurance generally and had pur- the lender. chased too much from one particular in- Cameron’s texts Greensill told lawmakers that the vast ma- surer Sunak wrote his team followed “normal” pro- jority of loans it made were backed by real • blamed Covid, risk concentration and Ba- cedures at all stages as Cameron lobbied the assets, even those tied to sales that hadn’t Fin’s actions for Tokio Marine’s decision Treasury to allow Greensill to access the Bank yet occurred. to withdraw its coverage of England’s Covid Corporate Finance Facil- “Every asset that we ever sold was correctly • said former UK Prime Minister David ity last year. described and that information was prepared Cameron wasn’t a director of Greensill, Sunak and Cameron released details and made available to our investors, to our but regularly attended board meetings of more than 150 calls, emails, text and auditors and to our regulators,” 44-year-old • flagged last year Greensill funded US$143 Whatsapp messages and meetings relating Greensill told the committee on Tuesday. billion of receivables, less than 20% of to Greensill. Greensill said that it specialized in working those were future receivables Greensill’s initial request was rejected be- capital finance, a humdrum form of lending • suggested the ultimate form of security cause of factors including the ineligibility of where banks buy invoices from companies at the lender had was bricks-and-mortar financial institutions, a plan to submit non-in- a discount. The company also offered a more vestment grade assets, and use of some foreign exotic form of financing it termed “future re- At the end of 2020, Greensill was working currencies, Sunak said in the letter. ceivables,” loans that were extended on the with German regulator BaFin on a plan to After Greensill was barred from accessing basis of the prospect of future invoices, and reduce the concentration of risk to a single the program, Cameron texted Sunak to say then insured. Such lending has a far higher client at its Bremen-based banking unit. the refusal was “nuts,” according to the doc- risk profile than the funds that bought Green- Eventually, that made Greensill realize that uments. At the time, he also contacted Prime sill products. the business was at risk, and led to the ap- Minister Boris Johnson’s senior aide and sent The collapse of Greensill has drawn in- pointment of restructuring advisers at the end texts to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove tense scrutiny from Germany to Australia as of December, he told the committee. to lobby for Greensill. its swift unraveling left investors facing several The government then investigated an al- billion dollars in potential losses. Tough talk ternative workaround that would have allowed The firm, with the backing of SoftBank Greensill faced often hostile questions from eligible companies to access funds for supply Group Corp and General Atlantic LLC, went many of the panel members, especially those chains via a special purpose vehicle managed from a small startup to a tech unicorn with an from the opposition Labour Party. Rushanara by Greensill. It was abandoned because in- estimated US$7 billion valuation at one point. Ali accused him of running what amounted dustry experts found it ineffective, Sunak said. It collapsed in March after a key insur- to a “Ponzischeme” that smacked of “fraud- The former Prime Minister wrote that he ance partner didn’t renew coverage on loans ulent behaviour.” first became aware of Greensill’s problems in Greensill made to key customers, including Siobhain McDonagh asked him outright: December 2020 following a call he received British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG “Are you a fraudster?” and Angela Eagle said: from the founder. Cameron will appear on Alliance and West Virginia miner Bluestone “it looks increasingly like you were securitiz- the Treasury Select Committee on Thursday. Resources. ing invoices that didn’t really exist.” Greensill Greensill emphasized the role of the trade denied the allegations. credit insurer, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Earlier on Tuesday, the UK’s Financial Read also: in the firm’s collapse while apologizing for Conduct Authority told the committee it’s exposing his company to concentration risks. investigating Greensill. The property pitch that wiped out US$1b “It is deeply regrettable that we were let The FCA’s Chief Executive Officer Nikh- in investor money down by our leading insurer, whose actions il Rathi wrote in a letter that the regulator is “The pitch was as compelling as it as was assured Greensill’s collapse,” he said. “I bear “cooperating with counterparts in other UK dramatic: A German-born son of a British complete responsibility for the collapse of enforcement and regulatory agencies” and army officer would transform old monasteries, Greensill Capital.” working with German, Australian and Swiss historic military sites and castles into gleaming Greensill also: authorities looking into Greensill entities. apartments. Potential investors would get • said that Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance The agency has oversight of some Greensill double-digit returns after two to five years, was not Greensill’s biggest customer by entities both under its anti-money laundering with Germany’s reputation as a safe place to assets rules and through a separate regulated firm do business providing additional reassurance.” • revealed Gupta at one point held shares in Mirabella Advisers LLP, which acted as a rep- Click here THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021 24 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

MARKETS

CPO RM 4,524.00174.00 OIL US$ 68.53-0.02 RM/USD 4.1295 RM/SGD 3.1072 RM/AUD 3.2180 RM/GBP 5.8295 RM/EUR 5.0060

Top 20 active stocks NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET (MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 211.6 -0.005 0.060 -90.77 382.3 GREEN OCEAN CORP BHD 71.7 0.000 0.045 -50.00 77.6 MTOUCHE TECHNOLOGY BHD 65.6 0.005 0.285 -16.40 41.7 PERMAJU INDUSTRIES BHD 64.3 0.000 0.145 -17.14 110.9 TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 55.7 0.010 0.145 190.00 208.2 MINDA GLOBAL BHD 33.9 0.020 0.145 141.67 191.7 UCREST BHD 33.1 0.005 0.300 93.55 186.5 CAREPLUS GROUP BHD 29.1 0.050 2.410 17.86 1325.7 LKL INTERNATIONAL BHD 28.5 -0.005 0.355 -61.20 182.7 ADVENTA BHD 28.2 -0.030 2.160 41.18 330.0 World equity indices PUBLIC BANK BHD 26.2 0.040 4.140 0.49 80360.3 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE SEALINK INTERNATIONAL BHD 22.2 0.000 0.300 57.89 150.0 (%) (%) DAGANG NEXCHANGE BHD 21.4 0.015 0.665 195.56 1578.9 DOW JONES 34,269.16 -473.66 -1.36 INDONESIA 5,938.35 -37.44 -0.63 TECHNA-X BHD 21.2 0.000 0.125 -21.88 244.1 S&P 500 4,152.10 -36.33 -0.87 JAPAN 28,028.89 -579.70 -2.03 PUC BHD 20.9 0.015 0.140 -12.50 124.4 NASDAQ 100 13,351.27 -7.81 -0.06 KOREA 3,147.30 -62.13 -1.94 SASBADI HOLDINGS BHD 20.8 0.015 0.210 40.00 88.4 FTSE 100 6,947.99 -175.69 -2.47 PHILIPPINES 6,236.40 -90.43 -1.43 SAPURA ENERGY BHD 20.7 0.000 0.135 8.00 2157.2 AUSTRALIA 7,026.20 -70.77 -1.00 SINGAPORE 3,124.30 -19.97 -0.64 KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 20.2 0.005 0.075 -48.28 199.3 CHINA 3,441.42 -0.43 -0.01 TAIWAN 15,619.97 -963.16 -5.81 MALAYSIAN BULK CARRIERS BHD 19.3 0.000 0.720 33.33 720.0 HONG KONG 27,910.60 -103.21 -0.37 THAILAND 1,560.90 -18.03 -1.14 XOX BHD 18.8 0.000 0.055 -50.00 216.4 INDIA 48,818.22 -343.59 -0.70 VIETNAM 1,253.52 -2.52 -0.20 Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 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) QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.430 30.00 778.6 43.00 82.9 EDUSPEC HOLDINGS BHD 0.015 -25.00 190.0 -25.00 33.4 TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 5.920 26.23 2724.4 649.37 267.0 LAMBO GROUP BHD 0.015 -25.00 2395.8 -50.00 74.8 EA HOLDINGS BHD 0.030 20.00 7490.1 0.00 152.2 PRICEWORTH INTERNATIONAL BHD 0.015 -25.00 11509.1 -50.00 67.6 MINDA GLOBAL BHD 0.145 16.00 33899.1 141.67 191.7 SAPURA RESOURCES BHD 0.530 -8.62 15.9 15.22 74.0 HENG HUAT RESOURCES GROUP 0.995 15.03 836.0 304.65 117.4 EKA NOODLES BHD 0.055 -8.33 499.8 -21.43 17.2 BIG INDUSTRIES BHD 0.840 13.51 6639.6 84.62 44.4 NOVA MSC BHD 0.115 -8.00 14340.9 27.78 132.3 MAGNA PRIMA BHD 0.600 13.21 57.9 -31.82 199.6 GAMUDA BHD 3.300 -7.82 14642.2 -15.17 8294.6 FINTEC GLOBAL BHD 0.045 12.50 15507.5 -43.75 159.6 FOCUS DYNAMICS GROUP BHD 0.060 -7.69 211594.0 -90.77 382.3 PUC BHD 0.140 12.00 20909.5 -12.50 124.4 ORION IXL BHD 0.060 -7.69 138.6 -25.00 51.4 ALCOM GROUP BHD 1.000 11.11 2868.0 68.07 134.3 BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.140 -6.67 3980.1 -54.10 87.6 PHARMANIAGA BHD 4.280 10.88 2945.5 -14.40 1120.1 ATTA GLOBAL GROUP BHD 0.535 -6.14 72.0 20.22 111.9 KAMDAR GROUP M BHD 0.360 10.77 6770.5 35.85 71.3 ENCORP BHD 0.255 -5.56 107.1 8.51 80.7 TIGER SYNERGY BHD 0.060 9.09 4886.7 -50.00 88.1 ARK RESOURCES HOLDINGS BHD 0.510 -5.56 84.8 75.86 32.3 DIGISTAR CORP BHD 0.060 9.09 1017.5 -34.10 51.2 OSK VENTURES INTERNATIONAL 0.460 -5.15 18.0 -6.12 90.4 INDUSTRONICS BHD 0.255 8.51 7524.7 41.67 63.8 UMS HOLDINGS BHD 1.910 -4.98 6.5 6.11 77.7 INNITY CORP BHD 0.590 8.26 14.0 53.25 82.2 ANN JOO RESOURCES BHD 2.900 -4.92 3271.2 84.71 1566.3 KEJURUTERAAN ASASTERA BHD 0.680 7.94 848.5 16.57 1150.4 IQ GROUP HOLDINGS BHD 1.010 -4.72 43.1 5.21 88.9 KUMPULAN JETSON BHD 0.280 7.69 11495.2 12.00 65.1 MR DIY GROUP M BHD 3.700 -4.64 9307.6 18.59 23223.4 IMPIANA HOTELS BHD 0.070 7.69 1028.5 -12.50 75.0 ARTRONIQ BHD 0.435 -4.40 2450.7 -13.86 125.7 AE MULTI HOLDINGS BHD 0.07 7.69 446 -46.15 38.8 KYM HOLDINGS BHD 0.355 -4.05 121.2 1.43 53.2 Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg

Top gainers (ranked by RM) Top losers (ranked by RM) NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (RM MIL) (%) (RM MIL) TRANSOCEAN HOLDINGS BHD 5.920 1.230 2724.4 649.37 267.0 PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD 19.100 -0.420 77.3 -10.75 18975.0 PHARMANIAGA BHD 4.280 0.420 2945.5 -14.40 1120.1 GAMUDA BHD 3.300 -0.280 14642.2 -15.17 8294.6 GENTING PLANTATIONS BHD 8.890 0.400 690.2 -8.67 7976.1 CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 21.860 -0.240 129.2 -5.94 6683.7 QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS 1.430 0.330 778.6 43.00 82.9 MR DIY GROUP M BHD 3.700 -0.180 9307.6 18.59 23223.4 PPB GROUP BHD 18.660 0.320 308.6 0.76 26545.7 ANN JOO RESOURCES BHD 2.900 -0.150 3271.2 84.71 1566.3 NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 136.000 0.300 11.8 -2.09 31892.0 TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD 5.640 -0.140 2129.5 4.25 21283.7 HONG LEONG BANK BHD 17.700 0.300 894.6 -2.75 38368.6 IHH HEALTHCARE BHD 5.450 -0.130 8537.5 -0.91 47846.0 AJINOMOTO MALAYSIA BHD 15.880 0.280 4.1 -0.87 965.5 PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP 8.100 -0.120 1568.1 9.02 64800.0 KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD 22.500 0.240 293.7 -4.98 24267.5 BURSA MALAYSIA BHD 8.200 -0.120 1243.3 -0.32 6636.3 FAR EAST HOLDINGS BHD 3.200 0.200 1.1 13.48 1900.3 SIME DARBY PLANTATION BHD 4.560 -0.110 5456.7 -8.19 31393.7 PERUSAHAAN SADUR TIMAH M’SIA 4.270 0.200 27.1 9.49 551.2 UMS HOLDINGS BHD 1.910 -0.100 6.5 6.11 77.7 LOTTE CHEMICAL TITAN HOLDING 3.380 0.180 7343.1 22.02 7682.7 KOTRA INDUSTRIES BHD 2.400 -0.090 16.4 -19.73 355.0 HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 16.880 0.180 75.2 -6.53 19331.7 PANASONIC MANUFACTURING M’SIA 31.200 -0.080 2.1 1.30 1895.3 HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 24.880 0.180 128.1 8.08 7516.2 KOBAY TECHNOLOGY BHD 4.500 -0.080 72.0 88.28 450.4 TOP GLOVE CORP BHD 5.350 0.170 12222.5 -12.58 42823.4 PMB TECHNOLOGY BHD 5.510 -0.080 23.4 20.31 1133.8 RHB BANK BHD 5.270 0.160 3412.1 -3.30 21132.9 PENTAMASTER CORP BHD 4.700 -0.070 2713.8 -6.93 3347.9 MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES 36.200 0.160 103.2 39.45 7200.1 MISC BHD 6.730 -0.070 2731.3 -2.04 30041.0 DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES BHD 34.880 0.160 6.0 -6.99 2232.3 IQ GROUP HOLDINGS BHD 1.010 -0.050 43.1 5.21 88.9 D&O GREEN TECHNOLOGIES BHD 4.100 0.160 7224.0 79.82 4834.1 GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 5.200 -0.050 2492.2 14.29 6510.4 SUPERMAX CORP BHD 4.770 0.140 13709.8 -20.63 12486.1 CHOO BEE METAL INDUSTRIES BHD 1.8 -0.05 370.4 9.09 235.3 Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on May 12, 2021 Source: Bloomberg