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Tag: Malaysia

  • Malaysia’s Astro group CEO Rohana to step down on Jan 31, 2019

    Malaysia’s Astro group CEO Rohana to step down on Jan 31, 2019

    Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd group CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan will step down from her role Jan 31, 2019 and will be succeeded by group chief content and consumer officer Henry Tan.

    In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Astro said Rohana, 55, will resign to pursue other goals. She will remain on the board of directors as a non-executive director following her resignation.

    “Rohana has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having led the team in setting many firsts and milestones for the media industry in Malaysia. We respect her decision to step down as group CEO and wish her all the very best and a bright future ahead,” said Astro chairman Tun Zaki Azmi.

    Rohana who has been with the group since 1995, is the principal architect of the company’s growth strategies which includes growing its presence in Southeast Asia.

    Under her tenure, Astro saw its customer base grow from two million to 5.5 million, while revenue grew RM1.79 billion to RM5.53 billion for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2018.

    “The business that we built at Astro over the years is attributable to one thing: the passionate, committed and talented individuals that make up Team Astro. It is my honour to have been part of this amazing team, moving as one, to achieve far more than I ever dreamt possible in a fast-evolving and dynamic industry. As Team Astro, our passion has always been to better serve our customers, which has been our privilege and our continued responsibility,” said Rohana.

    Her successor, Tan, has been with the group for more than 10 years.

    Yesterday, the group reported a 10.77% drop in net profit for the first quarter ended April 30, 2018 to RM174.72 million from RM192.35 million a year ago due to higher net finance cost. Revenue for the quarter fell 1.1% to RM1.31 billion from RM1.32 billion due to a decrease in subscription revenue.

    At 11.09 am, Astro’s share price fell 4.92% to RM1.74 with some 5.29 million shares done. Trading of Astro’s securities was temporarily halted between 9.39 am and 10.39 am.

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  • Malaysia exports in April up 14% to RM84.2b from a year ago

    Malaysia exports in April up 14% to RM84.2b from a year ago

    Exports grew 14% to RM84.2 billion in April 2018 from a year ago, driven by electrical and electronic (E&E) products, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, timber and timber-based products, palm oil and palm oil-based products, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural rubber recorded decreases in export volume and average unit value.

    This is the second highest monthly export value recorded for the year after March’s exports of RM84.5 billion.

    Imports expanded by 9.1% from a year ago to RM71.2 billion, supported mainly by capital goods, as intermediate goods and consumption goods imports fell.

    Malaysia’s total trade grew 11.7% from a year ago to RM155.4 billion in April, bringing the total trade balance to a surplus of RM13.1 billion (50.9%), according to the Statistics Department.

    FXTM global head of currency strategy & market research Jameel Ahmad said the annualised 14% growth in exports for April will certainly help provide positive momentum for the country’s second quarter gross domestic product (GDP), which is expected to continue growing above 5%.

    He noted that this will take away some concerns in the manufacturing sector which experienced the biggest decline in new orders since late 2016 and reduce risks, which could weigh down GDP prospects.

    Re-exports were valued at RM20.1 billion (+84.3%) in April and accounted for 23.9% of total exports. Domestic exports increased RM1.2 billion (1.8%) to RM64.1 billion.

    On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, Malaysia’s total trade in April saw an increase of RM1.2 billion or 0.8% from March, while the trade surplus stood 11% or RM1.6 billion, lower.

    Meanwhile, on a m-o-m basis, April exports decreased 0.3% or RM224.7 million from RM84.5 billion in March, mainly attributable to decreases in mineral fuels (1.3%) followed by animal and vegetable oils and fats (0.7%) and inedible crude materials (0.5%). However, in seasonally adjusted terms, exports registered an increase of 9.5%.

    Imports rose RM1.4 billion or 2.0% from RM69.8 billion contributed by consumption goods although on a seasonally adjusted terms, imports increased RM6 billion (8.8%) to RM74 billion.

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  • Govt said to be looking to replace CEO of Bursa Malaysia

    Malaysia is looking to replace the chief executive officer of the national stock exchange, two sources said today, the latest in a series of top management changes initiated by the newly elected government.

    The sources gave no reason why the government was considering replacing Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan at Bursa Malaysia. His term is due to end in March next year.

    A government adviser briefed by a minister said that the matter had been “one of the priorities” raised during a weekly Cabinet meeting today, but no conclusion was
    reached.

    “It was discussed … it’s just that they could not come to a decision,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

    Addressing a news conference after the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the issue had not been tabled. “I did not see it on the table,” he said.

    Two sources have said among the names being considered as potential replacements for Tajuddin include an external candidate based in Hong Kong, and two internal candidates.

    Bursa Malaysia declined to comment. “We do not comment on speculative news,” a spokesman said.

  • AirAsia: Neither we nor CEO has received any notice from India’s CBI

    AirAsia: Neither we nor CEO has received any notice from India’s CBI

    Airasia Group Bhd and its CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes have not received any notices from the India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) contrary to reports which stated that Fernandes has been summoned for questioning on June 6.

    “We wish to state categorically that neither AirAsia Group nor Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, in his personal capacity, has received any such notice as of today,” the group said in a statement.

    If and when any such notice is received through formal and official channels, then in accordance with the sovereign laws of Malaysia we will abide by the due process of the letter of the law,” it added.

    AirAsia said both the group and Tony will fully cooperate with the respective authorities in India in the investigations.

    The group was referring to news reports quoting sources in which it was reported that AirAsia’s Indian unit allegedly broke rules while obtaining rights for international flights out of the country.

    CBI reportedly named Fernandes, the airline and others in a complaint, alleging they lobbied government officials “to secure mandatory approvals, some of them through non-transparent means”.

    Reuters quoted a CBI source on Friday as saying that Tony had been called for questioning in the case on June 6, adding that others would also be called as part of the investigation.

    In 2014 the low-cost carrier launched its domestic flight operations in India with local joint venture partner Tata Sons.

    At market close, Airasia’s share price rose 4.19% to close at RM3.23 with some 10.5million shares done.

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  • Courts Malaysia hurts Asia performance

    Courts Malaysia hurts Asia performance

    Regulation changes in Malaysia dragged down both revenue and profits for Southeast Asian electrical, IT and furniture retailer Courts Asia.

    For the year to March 31, Courts Asia had a 3.7 per cent dip in revenue to SG$713.1 million (US$532.5 million). Profits slipped to $8.1 million from $23.7 million.

    Meanwhile, distribution and marketing expenses “remained relatively stable” at $56.5 million, or 7.9 per cent of revenue, the group says.

    Revenue from Malaysia, which contributed to 26.2 per cent of total turnover, slid 15.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was mainly because of lower sales of goods and earned service charge income, says the group.

    Courts Asia executive director/group CEO Terence Donald O’Connor says the company faced headwinds in Malaysia following the introduction of the Consumer Protection (Credit Sale) Regulations 2017. This saw interest rates being capped at 15 per cent a year along with new compliance processes that led to a revenue drop.

    “The fall in revenue, coupled with an increased credit cost and a more prudent credit-sanctioning approach in Malaysia, affected our profitability,” says O’Connor.

    Taskforce

    As a result, Courts Asia has formed a transformation taskforce to look into business processes with the objective of driving productivity in Malaysia.

    Meanwhile, seven underperforming stores have been closed, ending with a footprint of 63 outlets. Other key actions taken in Malaysia include deploying a regional credit taskforce comprising executives with “specialised credit collections and marketing skill sets”.

    “While we agree that consumer sentiment has lifted with the changes sweeping through Malaysia, it will take time for it to filter through to discretionary spending,” says O’Connor. Initiatives such as zero rating GST from 6 per cent from today have been welcomed.

    In Singapore, Courts Asia’s performance remained strong at $25.2 million, the company says. Revenue from Singapore accounted for 69.9 per cent of the group’s top line, and increased 1.5 per cent. This was underscored by improved sales and follows an increased focus on driving an omni-channel approach with the relaunch of its online platform and the re-opening of Courts Megastore at Tampines in November.

    As part of its move toward offering furniture for the modern home, Courts Asia has refreshed its furniture range leading up to the Hari Raya festive season.

    For Indonesia, the group achieved 13.7 per cent growth in revenue in rupiah, thanks mainly to new stores. After “prudently widening its footprint”, Courts Asia now has 32 locations across the Jakarta region, including nine stores and 23 pop-ups.

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  • AirAsia Potentially Planning Launch of Esports Team, League, and Center

    AirAsia Potentially Planning Launch of Esports Team, League, and Center

    Malaysian low-cost airline, AirAsia, is looking to take its esports activities to new heights. In an Instagram post, Kamarudin Meranun—chairman of AirAsia and CEO of its parent company, Tune Group—says the company will develop its own team, league, and esports centre.

    With no formal announcement made by the airline yet, it’s not clear whether the company is launching own competition series, or simply become a named sponsor for an existing event.

    AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes acquired a majority stake in Mobile Legends esports organization Team Saiyan, earlier this year. The squad was subsequently rebranded, but this announcement suggests the airline could even be building its own esports team subsidiary.

    The Esports Observer reached out to AirAsia, who declined to provide more details at this point in time.

    The airline is also a sponsor of Mineski’s Dota 2  team, and runs an esports program for its employees: the AirAsia Allstars Esports Club. Tony Fernandes, who is also a majority shareholder of the Queens Park Rangers soccer club, has also previously hinted at a potential partnership with Singapore-gaming brand Razer

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  • Petronas buys 25% stake in LNG project in Canada

    Petronas buys 25% stake in LNG project in Canada

    Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is acquiring a 25% stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Kitimat, Canada after it scrapped plans for the Pacific NorthWest LNG project in the country last July due to challenging market conditions as a result of prolonged depressed prices.

    Petronas said in a statement that its wholly owned entity the North Montney LNG Ltd Partnership had entered into a purchase and sales agreement for the deal. The purchase sum was not disclosed.

    Other shareholders of the project are Royal Dutch Shell plc’s subsidiary Shell Canada Energy (40%), PetroChina Canada Ltd (15%), Mitsubishi Corp’s subsidiary Diamond LNG Canada Ltd (15%) and Kogas Canada LNG Ltd (5%).

    The transaction is subject to international regulatory approvals and the completion of other associated agreement. It is slated for completion in the next few months.

    “Petronas is pleased to be part of the LNG Canada project. As one of the world’s largest LNG producers, Petronas looks forward to adding value to this venture through our long-term expertise and experience across the LNG value chain. We are committed to deliver LNG and natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel in the world, to the growing global energy market,” said Petronas president and group CEO Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.

    “Petronas is in Canada for the long-term and we are exploring a number of business opportunities that will allow us to increase our production and accelerate the monetisation of our world-class resources in the North Montney. LNG is just one of those opportunities,” he added.

    The proposed project includes the design, construction and operation of a gas liquefaction plant and facilities for the storage and export of LNG, including marine facilities.

    The plant will initially consist of two world-scale LNG processing units referred to as “trains”, with an option to expand the project in the future to four trains.

    Canada is Petronas’ second largest resource holder after Malaysia, with vast unconventional gas and oil resources in the North Montney.

    Petronas and its North Montney joint venture partners are one of the largest natural gas resource owners in Canada with over 52 trillion cubic feet of reserves and contingent resources.

  • Pos Malaysia’s Q4 profit nearly triples to RM29m on higher contribution from courier biz

    Pos Malaysia’s Q4 profit nearly triples to RM29m on higher contribution from courier biz

    Pos Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018 almost tripled to RM29.03 million from RM9.89 million a year ago, mainly due to higher contribution from the courier business coupled with improved cost management.

    Against the same quarter the previous year, its revenue increased 3% to RM653.08 million from RM653.55 million.

    For the full year period, Pos Malaysia’s net profit jumped 13.9% to RM93.25 million from RM81.88 million a year ago, while revenue was up 18.7% to RM2.47 from RM2.08 billion.

    Pos Malaysia the group’s future performance is mainly driven by the continued growth in e-commerce.

    “Technology and e-commerce remains a key platform to spur the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the country. As the key player in the e-fulfilment space and with the widest last mile delivery network, the group is a key beneficiary of e-commerce growth in Malaysia. This will also benefit our end-to-end logistics businesses as heightened economic activity should increase the need for our services. Accordingly, we are generally optimistic Pos Malaysia’s prospects remain positive.”

    Pos Malaysia’s share price fell 5 sen or 1.4% to close at RM3.55 on some 197,200 shares done.

  • Allianz Malaysia Q1 earnings rise 30% to RM87m

    Allianz Malaysia Q1 earnings rise 30% to RM87m

    Allianz Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 jumped 29.9% to RM87.23 million from RM67.17 million a year ago, due mainly to higher contribution from both general and life insurance segments.

    Its revenue grew 5.2% to RM1.27 billion compared with RM1.21 billion in the previous year’s first quarter, thanks to higher gross earned premiums and investment income.

    Allianz said the general insurance industry will likely see some volatility in a fully liberalised environment, which can be expected to remain for up to two to three years, as seen in other markets where detariffication has taken place.

    Competition is likely to intensify in the run up to the anticipated next phase of liberalisation in 2019. The general insurance segment aims to maintain its market leadership in 2018 and will continue to drive initiatives to ensure a profitable portfolio and create value for its customers and distribution partners. It will also leverage on digital assets to enhance its processes and service proposition to customers.

    Meanwhile, the life insurance industry grew at a softer pace with total industry new business recorded a growth of 1.9% in 2017 and 3.1% in first quarter of 2018. The segment will continue to strengthen its agency force with a focus on increasing productivity.

    Allianz said the group will remain focused on delivering sustainable results of its insurance businesses to its shareholders in 2018.

  • CIMB pledges RM75m to train talent to meet digital ambitions

    CIMB pledges RM75m to train talent to meet digital ambitions

    CIMB Group Holdings Berhad has pledged RM 75 million over the next three years to the CIMB 3D Academy, to enhance the digital quotient in all job roles; to enable the group’s digital transformation; and to build an agile, innovative, tech-savvy workforce across the board.

    The Academy – premised on digital, data and disruption – is aimed at helping CIMB embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) to propel its digital ambitions via a group-wide people development initiative.

    The group aims to equip its 36,000-strong workforce – across all levels and categories – with digital knowledge and skills appropriate to their jobs, by end-2019, through an estimated two million staff learning hours.

    The group-wide people development initiative’s competency framework will be anchored on various pillars including digital world awareness; agile & entrepreneurial thinking; and data science & analytics / data-driven decision making.

    CIMB Group CEO Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said in a statement today, “As a leading ASEAN universal bank, CIMB has always prioritised our most valuable asset, our people. With the 4IR fast eclipsing existing digital revolution, we want to make CIMB the most powerful incubator possible for the development of talent, to propel the Group’s next growth phase. In tandem with the digitisation of our core with a data-first principle, the CIMB 3D Academy is a crucial component to help us develop a workforce with the right skillset to help achieve our digital ambitions.

    Through the Academy, our staff will be trained for agility, adaptability, creativity and an open mind to, among others, think like an entrepreneur and disrupt conventional thinking, in order to identify and reap opportunities to improve the Group’s value proposition for our 13 million customers and stakeholders across Asean.”

    The Academy will spearhead digital training with the goal of enhancing the group’s business powered by improvements in competency, mindsets and relationships within the workforce. A core group of roles to be developed include emerging ones such as agile leader, agile coach, scrum master, scrum product owner, and tech geek. Other digital-centric roles include data
    scientist, data engineer, data analysts, design thinker, UI/UX designer, as well as digital marketer.

    The 3D modules, which will be conducted primarily through a digital and interactive platform, will be developed both in-house and by external curriculum developers.

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  • Malaysian economy to continue to grow in Q3

    Malaysian economy to continue to grow in Q3

    Malaysia’s economy is poised to continue to grow in the third quarter of the year, according to the Department of Statistics.

    The Leading Index (LI), which monitors the economic performance in average of four to six months ahead, saw an annual change of 0.3% against 1.8 % in the previous month.

    On a monthly basis, the LI contracted 0.5%, mainly attributable to the deceleration in the number of housing units approved by 0.7%.

    Meanwhile, the Coincident Index (CI), which examines the current economic activity, rose 0.6 % in March 2018 on the back of the increase in real contribution to EPF (0.4%), volume index of retail trade (0.3%), total employment in manufacturing sector (0.2%) and real salaries & wages in manufacturing sector (0.1%).

    The annual change of CI stepped up to 3.4% in the reference month as compared with 3.1% in February 2018.

    Meanwhile, the Diffusion Index for CI remained at 66.7% since January 2018, while the Diffusion Index for LI was below 50% for two consecutive months.

  • High public debt can hamper growth: AmBank Research

    High public debt can hamper growth: AmBank Research

    AmBank Research (AmResearch) which projects the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita recede by 0.007% with every 1% gain in public debt and debt service, also foresees a near-term volatility in the local and global equity markets, thanks to noises from the domestic and international front.

    “From our analysis, we found an inverse and significant impact between public debt as well as debt service against the GDP based on per capita. It implies that a 1% gain each in debt and debt service, will lower GDP per capita significantly by 0.007% and 0.22% respectively. We also found that a government consumption presents a negative and significant impact on GDP per capita with a drop of 0.05% for every 1% rise,” it said while noting that the current debt level of RM1.09 trillion to the GDP was in line with its projection of over a trillion ringgit in 2018.

    A high public debt will result in more spending on servicing the interest for the borrowings, thus straining resources. This is reflected in the low ratio of operating and development expenditure to debt at 0.20x and 0.04x respectively in 2017 from a high of 0.50x and 0.14x respectively in 2008 which is also the lowest reading since 1988.

    Noting that public debt levels had been on an upward trend since 2004, the research house said the government’s inability to curb the growth in operational expenditure over development expenditure in its budget especially in Budget 2018, raised concerns on the risk of falling into a debt overhang situation which can potentially hamper the sustainability of growth and transformation measures.

    The inability to reduce the operating expenditure, may lead to the need to improve revenue collection while simultaneously driving GDP, which in turn will help improve the debt-to-GDP ratio and fiscal balance position.

    Meanwhile, the rising government guaranteed loans and Public Private Partnership (PPP) lease repayments that lacks transparency suggests an easy way to shift the debt figures, while holding public debt below the 55% level.

    Since 2004, public debt saw an average rise of 10.2% or equivalent to an average of RM252 billion per annum between 2004 and 2009, while fiscal deficit widened from -4.3% in 2004 to -4.8% in 2008 due to higher spending on development activities amounting to RM27.5 billion in 2004 and RM41.9 billion in 2008.

    Operating expenditure rose from RM91.3 billion in 2004 to RM153.3 billion in 2008.

    The surge in total public debt was even more glaring from 2009 onwards as it jumped from RM362 billion to RM925 billlion, translating to an average growth of 13.4% or equivalent to RM639 billion per year.

    Although the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP narrowed from -6.7% in 2009 to -3% in 2017 due to lower spending on development activities, which shrank from RM49 billion in 2009 to RM43 billion in 2017, operating expenditure rose from RM157 billion in 2009 to RM218 billion in 2018.

    On lowering the public debt, debt servicing, and government consumption to improve growth, Ambank Research opines the focus areas should be (1) improving the monitoring of the expenditure in each area of the economic activities, especially at the micro level; (2) greater transparency on government-guaranteed loans under public-private partnerships that may not be fiscally responsible; (3) improving and effectively managing government consumption; (5) targeting high-impact and productive businesses to drive growth; (6) boosting investors’ and household confidence by addressing leakages; and (6) an attractive ringgit to support overall business competitiveness.

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  • CIMB Malaysia to recognise RM920m gain from disposal of stake in CIMB-Principal Asset Management

    CIMB Malaysia to recognise RM920m gain from disposal of stake in CIMB-Principal Asset Management

    CIMB Group Holdings Bhd is expected to recognise a gain of about RM920 million following the completion of the divestment of its 20% stake in CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd and 10% equity interest in CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd to Principal Financial Group for RM470.29 million today.

    This, however, is lower than the initial expectation of RM950 million.

    The banking group told Bursa Malaysia that its common equity tier 1 ratio will also see an increase of 15 basis points, subject to final adjustments.

    Following the corporate exercise, CIMB’s shareholding in CIMB-Principal Asset Management Group and CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management will be reduced to 40% with the balance 60% owned by Principal Financial Group.

    “Asset management continues to be an integral part of our regional banking business and this shareholding realignment enables CIMB-Principal to have more scale and improved global investment expertise. We expect this change to improve our ability to deliver better products to our clients, while creating sustainable long term value for CIMB group,” said CIMB group CEO Zafrul Aziz.

    CIMB and Principal Financial Group have partnered in the region since 2004 and have grown their operations across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

    The CIMB-Principal Asset Management group of companies has more than RM80 billion in assets under management and is one of the largest asset managers in the region.

    At the noon break, CIMB shares gained 8 sen or 1.3% to RM6.13 on some 8.95 million shares done.

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  • Q1 sales growth quarter for 7-Eleven Malaysia

    Q1 sales growth quarter for 7-Eleven Malaysia

    In a first quarter marked by expansion and sales growth, 7-Eleven Malaysia saw its net profit soar 11.6 per cent from the same period a year ago.

    Total sales growth for the quarter was 2.5 per cent, while the gross profit margin continued to improve, says the company.

    Driven by store openings, higher customer counts and improved consumer promotions, the group’s revenue for the quarter grew by 2.5 per cent to RM535.7 million (US$134.4 million).

    Gross profit of RM171 million improved by 7 per cent, and this was mainly attributed to the increase in revenue and improvement in gross margin by 1.3 points.

    Profit after tax was RM8.9 million, up 11.6 per cent.

    One2Pay mobile wallet launched in January, with payments and top-ups enabled in all stores, while continued store expansion took the total network to 2235 outlets.

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  • Aeon Malaysia share price jumps 6.52% on higher Q1 earnings

    Aeon Malaysia share price jumps 6.52% on higher Q1 earnings

    Aeon Co (M) Bhd rose as much as 6.52% in early trade to RM2.45 after reporting a 6.63% jump in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

    At 11.23am, the stock was trading at RM2.42 with 941,700 shares done.

    Aeon’s net profit for the first quarter stood at RM27.94 million compared with RM26.20 million recorded a year ago.

    Revenue for the period grew to RM1.11 billion from RM1.07 billion on the back of higher revenue from its retail and property management service businesses.

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