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Tag: report

  • Malaysia’s economy likely to slow in April to June 2019

    Malaysia’s economy likely to slow in April to June 2019

    Malaysia’s economy is likely to grow at a slow rate in April to June 2019 in view of the decline in the Leading Index (LI) in December 2018, according to the Statistics Department. Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the monthly change of LI decreased 1.4% to 117.3 points in December 2018 from 119.0 points in the previous month.

    “The declined in six out of seven components have weighed down the performance of the LI with the significant decreased by two components namely real imports of other basic precious & other non-ferrous metals and number of housing units approved, which posted negative 0.5% respectively,” he said in a statement.

    The annual change of LI also registered a negative growth of 1.7% in December 2018.

    The LI is designed to monitor the economic performance for an average of four to six months ahead.

    Meanwhile, the Coincident Index (CI), a measure of current economic activity, was unchanged in December 2018.

    The increased in real salaries & wages in manufacturing sector (0.2%) and real contributions to EPF (0.1%) were offset by the decreased in capacity utilisation in manufacturing sector (-0.2%) and Industrial Production Index (-0.1%).

    The annual change of CI grew at 3.6% as in the previous month.

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  • No more loss for Hong Kong’s Cathay

    No more loss for Hong Kong’s Cathay

    Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday it is expected to have swung back to profit in 2018, ending two successive losses as it embarks on a massive overhaul. The recovery also came in a year that saw it suffer an embarrassing data breach that dented its reputation and could could prove costly. The airline said it expects to record a consolidated profit of around US$293 million (RM 1.2 billion) for 2018, compared with US$160 million (RM651 million) losses the year before, according to a preliminary profit alert.

    The company’s share price jumped more than seven percent after the announcement as investors took comfort in the turnaround after two grim years for Asia’s largest carrier.

    “In 2018, the passenger business benefited from capacity growth, a focus on customer service and improved revenue management,“ the company said in a statement, adding its cargo sector was also “strong”.

    Cathay has been overhauling its business after posting its first losses in eight years in 2016, firing more than 600 workers and paring overseas offices and crew stations as it faced stiff competition from budget rivals on the mainland.

    It also added international routes and better services on board its flights in a bid to compete with well-heeled Middle Eastern long-distance carriers.

    The profit alert suggests those moves have paid off.

    The airline narrowed its losses to US$33.5 million for the first half of 2018 – a tenth of what their losses were for the same period in 2017. But the second half of the year appears to have brought Cathay squarely back into the black.

    Dickie Wong, an analyst with Kingston Securities, said Cathay is expected to further benefit from the end this year of costly fuel-hedging contracts.

    “I would say the unfavorable impact to Cathay would continue to reduce,“ he said.

    Wong said the introduction of premium economy had attracted new customers while ticket discounts helped it compete against budget carriers. But he said the company still had “much room to improve in their luxury classes” if it wants to take on Middle Eastern rivals.

    Cathay will announce its full-year result next month.

    But the year was not without trouble.

    In October it sparked outrage when it admitted to a massive breach five months after hackers made off with the data of 9.4 million customers, including some passport numbers and credit card details.

    The airline faces potentially steep payouts in Europe, which boasts strong protection laws and financial penalties for companies that do not swiftly own up to data breaches.

    British-based law firm SPG Law has already launched a group action against the carrier over the breach to help customers seek compensation.

    This year Cathay’s website mistakenly offered first and business class flights for a fraction of their value in two high-profile and costly blunders.

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  • Under Armour Thailand predicts sales growth

    Under Armour Thailand predicts sales growth

    Under Armour Thailand is targeting a 20-per-cent sales increase in the kingdom, according to the brand’s exclusive Asian distributor Triple Pte Ltd. The company is focusing on footwear sales to follow up on its gains in the apparel sector in a sporting goods market expected to see 5–7 per cent growth this year. It will also offer a wider range of branded products, including sleepwear.

    “Under Armour is a relatively new brand in Thailand, and it has huge potential to spread its wings here,” said company CEO Michael Binger during a visit to Thailand last week. “We want to grow our footwear business at a faster pace than in the past and expect footwear sales to increase to 35 per cent of total sales by 2020, up from 25 per cent last year.”

    As part of this year’s expansion plans, Triple Pte is planning exploratory Under Armour Thailand outlets in the country’s north, with a shop-in-shop scheduled for the Mall Nakhon Ratchasima as well as a potential new shop in popular tourist destination Chiang Mai. It will also launch another branch in suburban Bangkok.

    “We see huge potential in the sporting goods business in Thailand,” said Binger, “and we feel confident in our capability to propel Under Armour to success here because we are an alternative brand for people looking for innovative performance shoes.”

    Thailand is Under Armour’s second fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia after Singapore.

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  • Petronas Gas Q4 profit weighed down by Kimanis Power

    Petronas Gas Q4 profit weighed down by Kimanis Power

    Petronas Gas Bhd’s net profit fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 fell 34.7% to RM317.90 million from RM486.70 million a year ago, largely attributed to share of losses from a joint venture company, Kimanis Power Sdn Bhd. The losses were due to de-recognition of deferred tax assets amounting to RM124.3 million (being 60% share of the group) in relation to certain tax benefits which now have a seven-year utilisation limit under the new Finance Act 2018.

    Its revenue grew 4.9% to RM1.39 billion compared with RM1.32 billion in the previous year’s corresponding quarter mainly contributed by the second liquiefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Pengerang, Johor which commenced commercial operations in November 2017, coupled with higher revenue from utilities and gas transportation segment.

    The group has approved a fourth interim dividend of 22 sen per share amounting to RM435.3 million in respect of the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018.

    For the full-year period, Petronas Gas’ net profit grew 0.98% to RM1.81 billion from RM1.79 billion a year ago, while revenue of RM5.5 billion was the highest in history, an increase of 12.3% compared to RM4.90 billion last year.

    The Energy Commission has approved the tariffs for the gas transportation and regasification services for 2019. While the tariffs are expected to affect the group’s transportation and regasification business segment revenues in 2019, both segments are anticipated to continue contributing positively to its earnings.

    The group’s gas processing segment is expected to deliver improved earnings pursuant to the higher fixed remuneration charge under the second term of the 20-year Gas Processing Agreement effective from 2019 until 2023.

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  • Malaysia property market to remain flat in 2019: Rahim & Co

    Malaysia property market to remain flat in 2019: Rahim & Co

    The property market is expected to remain flat this year before picking up again next year, said Rahim & Co International Sdn Bhd. Executive chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman said the property market will remain flat across all sectors this year, except for the warehousing sub-sector, which will be driven by growth of e-commerce.

    He said the overall market will take about 12 months to begin picking up, in line with the anticipated resolution of the trade war between the US and China.

    Rahim & Co director of research Sulaiman Akhmady Mohd Saheh said the residential market will take one to two years to improve due to affordability issues while the office market will remain slow for more than a year due to incoming supply.

    He said asking rents for offices have dropped 20% while effective rents have dropped 8-10%.

  • Hanoi, HCMC among 20 most expensive cities in Southeast Asia

    Hanoi, HCMC among 20 most expensive cities in Southeast Asia

    A new index puts Hanoi 13th and HCMC 15th on the list of 20 most expensive Southeast Asian cities. The new Cost of Living Index for the region has been compiled by Numbeo.com, the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. According to Numbeo, a person spends on average $447.25 a month in Hanoi exclusive of rent. For a four-person family, this figure would be $1,601. Hanoi’s cost of living ranks 316th among 440 cities in the world.

    Meanwhile, in HCMC, the average monthly expense for a single person excluding rent is $434.94, and $1,562 for a family of four. HCMC ranks 320th out of 440 cities in the world, and is 61.50 percent less expensive than New York.

    This year, Singapore, Southeast Asia’s biggest business hub, remains the most expensive city in the region. The city-state is immediately followed by Bangkok of Thailand. Yangon in Myanmar is in third place, a surprise as the city did not even make the top 30 in mid-2018.

    Many Southeast Asian capitals are featured in the list, with Phnom Penh of Cambodia ranked fifth, Jakarta of Indonesia, 11th, and Manila of the Philippines, 14th.

    Numbeo says that its survey has taken into account several factors including house rents, cost of eating out, and purchasing power needed to live a comfortable life to come with a cost of living index for 20 major cities in Southeast Asia.

  • HSBC pre-tax profit up 16% at US$19.9 bn in 2018

    HSBC pre-tax profit up 16% at US$19.9 bn in 2018

    Banking giant HSBC said on Tuesday that pre-tax profit rose 16% to US$19.9 billion last year with growth across its global businesses despite a “challenging external environment in the fourth quarter”. The results capped the first full year at the helm of the Asia-focused bank for chief executive officer John Flint, who has vowed growth while keeping a lid on costs as trade tensions between the United States and China rumble.

    However, earnings in the last three months of 2018 came in below expectations as Washington’s trade war began to bite globally and hammered the stock markets, especially in Hong Kong and China.

    Adjusted pretax profit fell one percent to US$3.39 billion in October-December, missing the US$4.4 billion consensus average by Bloomberg Newsderived from estimates compiled by the bank.

    Global markets adjusted revenue was down US$202 million to US$1.1 billion over the same period, while wealth management dropped 18%, also to US$1.1 billion.

    Overall the year saw strong growth for HSBC with net profit ballooning 30%to US$12.6 billion while adjusted pre-tax profit rose three percent to US$21.7 billion.

    The bank had to lay off tens of thousands of staff as part of a wide-ranging overhaul that also saw it sell its Brazil operations in 2015.

    But it showed a healthy doubling of profits by 2017, a year that also saw it nominate Mark Tucker as chairman, breaking a longstanding tradition of appointing insiders to the post.

    In a statement attached to Tuesday’s earnings, Tucker and Flint said the bank was prepared to weather fallout from both a possible deterioration in the trade talks between Washington and Beijing and Britain’s impending departure from the EU.

    “The fundamentals for growth in Asia remain strong in spite of a softer regional economic outlook,“ Tucker said in a statement attached to the annual report.

    “The system of global trade remains subject to political pressure, and differences between China and the US will likely continue to inform sentiment in 2019,“ he added.

    With Brexit looming, HSBC followed the other major British financial giants in ring-fencing its UK bank.

    “We continue to prepare for the UK’s departure from the EU” Flint said, adding its operations in France “gives us a major advantage in this regard”

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  • Carlsberg Malaysia declares highest ever dividend payout for FY18

    Carlsberg Malaysia declares highest ever dividend payout for FY18

    Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd has declared its highest dividend payment amounting to RM1 per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) following a record performance for the year. Managing director Lars Lehmann said this is equivalent to a 110.3% payment of the group’s FY18 net profit, in line with its dividend policy to declare at least 75% of the group’s quarterly net profit and a special dividend in the event of surplus cash after considering future cash requirements.

    The group declared a fourth quarter (Q4) interim dividend of 16.6 sen per share. It also proposed a final interim dividend of 22.4 per share plus a special dividend of 9.3 sen amounting to 48.3 sen per share.

    Together with the interim dividends declared for the first nine months of FY18 amounting to 51.7 sen, the total dividends for FY18 amount to RM1 per share.

    Carlsberg’s Q418 net profit rose 34.9% to RM67.45 million from RM50.01 million a year ago thanks to strong sales in the Malaysian operations, higher profits from Carlsberg Singapore Pte Ltd as well as higher profit contribution from Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC.

    Revenue grew 22.3% to RM525.65 million compared with RM429.94 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

    For FY18, the group’s net profit jumped 25.3% to RM277.15 million from RM221.17 million a year ago, while revenue grew 12.1% to RM1.98 billion from RM1.77 billion.

    Looking ahead, Carlsberg warned that rising prices for raw and packaging materials will see costs increasing 5%-10% if it is unable to mitigate such effects. Lehmann, however, stressed that the group is improving its efficiency.

    “There’s a bit of headwinds for increase in prices of raw materials like malt and packaging materials like cans that are not specific to Malaysia but globally. There’s a bad harvest in Australia for barley and the prices are going up,” he told a media and analyst briefing after announcing its FY18 financial results today.

    He added that the group will continue its focus and execution on the third year of SAIL’22 strategy in both Malaysia and Singapore, while areas of growth for FY19 are its premium brands like Connor’s, Somersby, 1664 Blanc and Asahi Super Dry.

  • 2018 sales of EV doubled in Korea

    2018 sales of EV doubled in Korea

    Hyundai Motor Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun laid out a plan to develop 44 electric vehicle models (EVs) and sell 1.67 million of the cars by 2025 during his New Year’s message held at the beginning of this year. The goal was a dramatic increase on the 38 models he planned to have by 2025 at the start of 2018. The revised goal is rooted in the fact that EVs are growing at an unprecedented pace in the global auto industry.

    According to U.S. market research firm S&P Global Platts, the number of electric cars sold worldwide exceeded 2 million in 2018 including plug-in hybrids, double the 1 million sold in 2017.

    This achievement came seven years after Tesla rolled out its Model S, opening the era of EVs, and more than two decades since Toyota released the world’s first hybrid, the Prius.

    Among the total number of EV cars sold, battery-electric vehicles sold 1.45 million units last year, followed by plug-in hybrids at 550,000 units.

    The most popular model was Tesla’s Model 3, which started mass production last year. Unlike the Model S and X, which cost over 100 million won ($88,850), the Model 3 was released as a more affordable model with a price tag around 50 to 60 million won. It sold 146,846 units, taking the top spot.

    Four Chinese companies ranked high in the top 10. The EC Series from Beijing Automotive Group ranked second. BYD’s eco-friendly plug-in hybrid, the e5, and JAC Motor’s iEV E/S were also on the list. Among Japanese cars, Nissan’s Leaf placed third while Toyota’s Prius Prime was ninth and Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid placed 10th.

    Hyundai and Kia both made it to the top 10 list of automakers for the first time. Combined, the two sold 90,860 units last year, taking the eighth spot.

    Tesla sold the most cars, at 245,240, followed by China’s BYD at 229,338. German brands, traditionally strong players in the vehicle market, had BMW at fifth and Volkswagen at ninth.

    Industry analysts project the market for electric cars will expand at an even faster speed. Deloitte, a global consulting firm, expects 4 million EVs to be sold in 2020 and 14 million in 2025. By 2030 it expects EV sales to hit 21 million.

    Considering that 98 million cars are sold worldwide annually, within 20 years one of every five cars purchased will be an EV.

    Experts say that while the United States and China have led the growth of the EV market, that is likely to change in the future.

    Deloitte forecast that cost reductions from technology development will pull down the price of EVs to be on a par with diesel cars by 2022. This means the product sector will gain price competitiveness, no longer relying on government subsidies.

    The market will also get more competitive. Toyota and Volkswagen are both planning to release new electric cars in the near future, with Volkswagen aiming to make 25 percent of the cars it produces EVs by 2025. Its investment in electric cars is already worth 20 billion euros ($2.25 billion).

    According to consulting firm AlixPartners, Volkswagen Group is planning to release 55 EV models by 2022. This accounts for half of all EV models slated for release by then.

    “Government subsidies played a big role in enabling Chinese firms to sell large numbers of EVs, but its finances have hit the limit,” said Kwon Yong-ju, a professor from Kookmin University’s department of automotive & transportation design.

    “With European companies having accumulated technology and capital while waiting for the commercialization of EVs, the future could be quite different from now.”

    “Major countries, like the United States and Europe, have tightened regulations toward environmental pollution more than before,” said Koh Tae-bong, head of research center at Hi Investment & Securities. “For car companies, it is inevitable that they will expand the amount of electric cars they make.”

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  • Cola, sugar prices shoot up 10% in Korea

    Cola, sugar prices shoot up 10% in Korea

    Processed food prices rose in January, with soybean paste, sugar and cola all jumping up around 10 percent compared to a year earlier. The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) said Monday that 18 of 26 major processed foods measured both in 2018 and 2019 cost more in January than the previous year. The highest price hikes on year included sugar at 11 percent, soybean paste at 9.8 percent and cola at 9.7 percent. Among processed grain foods, instant rice products rose the most, by 5.6 percent. Prices for cup ramyeon noodles, one of the country’s favorite snacks, rose 3.4 percent.

    The KCA releases prices for a basket of around 30 major processed food categories every month. The basket price data serves as a separate indicator of real price changes for consumers. Other tracked products include beer, coffee mix and curry.

    Compared to the previous month, the average basket price for January rose 0.2 percent to 122,686 won ($109) from 122,491 won. Soybean paste prices rose on month by 4.7 percent and curry by 1.4 percent. Average cola prices rose 6.0 percent from December. The soft drink’s price rose last month after two months of declines.

    The KCA reported that the basket’s price was most affordable from large retail stores compared to traditional markets, department stores and large-size supermarkets.

    Meanwhile, products that declined in price on year included cooking oil at minus 6.1 percent, orange juice at minus 5.3 percent and red pepper paste at minus 4.9 percent.

    The data comes as consumer prices for January rose by 0.8 percent from 2018, according to Statistics Korea. The consumer price index for “living necessity food” rose 2.6 percent last month from the previous year.

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  • Amazon enjoys positive performance with increases in sales, profit

    Amazon enjoys positive performance with increases in sales, profit

    Global online shopping platform Amazon reported growth in both net sales and profit for the fourth-quarter 2018 and full-year, adding its Alexa use and Prime membership continues to thrive, particular in the all-important holiday season. For the fourth quarter ending December 31, net sales increased 20% to $72.4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $60.5 billion in fourth quarter 2017. Excluding unfavourable foreign exchange rates, sales increased 21%.

    Amazon said net income for the quarter increased to $3 billion in the fourth quarter, or $6.04 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.9 billion, or $3.75 per diluted share, in 2017.

    For the twelve months ending December 31, Amazon’s net sales increased 31% to $232.9 billion, up from $177.9 billion in 2017. Excluding the $1.3 billion favorable impact exchange rates, net sales increased 30% compared with 2017.

    For the full-year 2018, Amazon’s net income increased to $10.1 billion, or $20.14 per diluted share, compared with net income of $3 billion, or $6.15 per diluted share.

    In the earnings announcement, Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, praised the recent holiday season, in particular, the Amazon customer uptake of Alexa, the voice activated shopping device and its associated Echo products.

    “Alexa was very busy during her holiday season. Echo Dot was the best-selling item across all products on Amazon globally, and customers purchased millions more devices from the Echo family compared to last year,” said Bezos.

    “The number of research scientists working on Alexa has more than doubled in the past year, and the results of the team’s hard work are clear. In 2018, we improved Alexa’s ability to understand requests and answer questions by more than 20% through advances in machine learning, we added billions of facts making Alexa more knowledgeable than ever, developers doubled the number of Alexa skills to over 80,000, and customers spoke to Alexa tens of billions more times in 2018 compared to 2017. We’re energized by and grateful for the response, and you can count on us to keep working hard to bring even more invention to customers,” he added.

    Other highlights for Amazon in 2018 included the increase in Prime memberships. During the holiday season alone, tens of millions of customers worldwide started Prime free trials or began paid memberships. More customers signed up for Prime worldwide in 2018 than ever before, said Amazon.

    In Asia, Amazon Fashion launched Prime Wardrobe in Japan, allowing Prime members to order clothing, shoes, and accessories and only pay for what they keep.

    Looking ahead to the first quarter 2019, net sales are expected to be between $56 billion and $60 billion, up 10% to 18% compared with first quarter 2018. Meanwhile, operating income is expected to be between $2.3 billion and $3.3 billion.

  • Record earnings for Maybank Indonesia

    Record earnings for Maybank Indonesia

    PT Bank Maybank Indonesia Tbk’s (Maybank Indonesia) profit after tax and minority interests (patami) for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 surged 21.6% to a new high of Rp2.2 trillion (RM640 million) on the back of higher net interest income (NII) and continued improvement in asset quality.

    The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) jumped 20.5% to a record Rp3 trillion, its highest achievement to date, while NII grew 5.2% to Rp8.1 trillion in December 2018 compared with Rp7.7 trillion in the previous corresponding period, it said in a statement today.

    Additionally, it said continuous implementation of disciplined pricing coupled with improved operational efficiencies enabled the bank to contain pressures on interest margin, resulting in improvement in net interest margin by 7 basis points (bps) to 5.2%.

    The bank’s asset quality also improved significantly as reflected by lower non-performing loan (NPL) levels of 2.6% (gross) and 1.5% (net) as at Dec 31, 2018 compared with 2.8% (gross) and 1.7% (net) respectively in the previous year.

    Following that, Maybank Indonesia was able to reduce its loan loss provisions by 38.6% to Rp1.3 trillion as of December 2018.

    Its loans grew 6.3% to Rp133.3 trillion from Rp125.4 trillion in the previous year.

    It also maintained a strong capital position with total capital reaching Rp26.1 trillion in FY18, while capital adequacy ratio (CAR) improved to 19% from 17.5%.

    Maybank Indonesia president commissioner and Maybank group president and CEO Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said the bank’s outstanding results for FY18 testify to its commitment towards sustainable business growth, as well as its relentless pursuit in ensuring sound asset quality, improved operational efficiency and better overall productivity.

    “Although the operating environment continues to remain challenging, we believe that we are poised for further growth in the coming year,” he added.

  • Malaysia’s economy expands 4.7% in Q4 2018

    Malaysia’s economy expands 4.7% in Q4 2018

    The Malaysian economy grew at a faster pace of 4.7% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 driven by private sector activity. This compares with a 4.4% growth in Q3 2018. For 2018 as a whole, the local economy also expanded 4.7%. According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), a rebound in exports of goods and services contributed towards the positive growth of net exports.

    Headline inflation declined to 0.3% from 0.5% in Q3, mainly due to transport inflation turning negative.

    The zerorisation of the Goods and Services Tax and the implementation of the Sales and Services Tax continued to exert an overall downward impact to headline inflation during the quarter.

    BNM governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said the Malaysian economy is expected to remain on a steady growth path with private sector demand being the main driver of growth.

    She said headline inflation is expected to average moderately higher.

  • Indonesian retail sales experiences rapid growth

    Indonesian retail sales experiences rapid growth

    Indonesian retail sales posted solid growth in December, according to a central bank survey. According to the data release, December sales grew at 7.7 per cent throughout the territory, a significantly faster rate than shown in figures from the year previous, are more than double November’s growth rate of 3.4 per cent.

    Sales throughout the month were predominantly underpinned by purchases of food, beverages and tobacco, alongside cultural and recreational goods.

    The survey predicts Indonesian retail sales will grow at a year-on-year rate of 4.8 per cent in January.

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  • India’s January retail inflation more than halved to 2.05 pc

    India’s January retail inflation more than halved to 2.05 pc

    India’s annual rate of retail inflation more than halved to 2.05 percent in January from a high of 5.07 percent during the corresponding period last year, official data showed on Tuesday. The downward trend in CPI, is due to food inflation which has further widened its negative trend. Fruits, vegetables and eggs continued to witness deflationary trend during January this year, with their prices declining 4.18 percent, 13.32 percent and 2.44 percent, respectively, according to the data.

    Industrial production jumped to 2.4 percent in December, 2018 from 0.5 percent in November, 2018 driven mainly by a sharp spike in manufacturing index which rose to 2.7 percent vs -0.4 percent month-on-month.

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