Ranhill bags RM124 mil FPSO service contract from Brazil's Petrobras
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): Ranhill Utilities Bhd has bagged a US$27 million (RM124 million) contract to perform detail design engineering services for a new floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for Brazil's state-owned oil and gas (O&G) company Petrobras. P-82 is part of Petrobras' new generation of production facilities, characterised by their high production capacity and the technologies utilised to reduce cardon dioxide emissions. The unit will also be equipped with water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day and a storage capacity of two million barrels of oil. Ranhill said the duration of the detailed engineering phase is anticipated to be 14 months with follow-on engineering support thereafter. Ranhill's share price closed unchanged at 38 sen on Monday (Nov 14), for a market capitalisation of RM492 million.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 15, 2022 03:00 UTC
JF Technology eyeing bullish reversal, says RHB Retail Research
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): RHB Retail Research said JF Technology Bhd is eyeing a bullish reversal as it was poised for a breakout above the 66 sen level last Friday (Nov 11), after bouncing off the 21-day average line and hitting that spot, on higher trading volume. In a trading stocks note on Monday, the research house said that if a breakout above that level happens — forming a “higher high” bullish structure above the average line, it expects the bulls to push the stock towards 75.5 sen or Sept 13’s high, followed by Aug 15’s high of 82 sen.“Conversely, the bullish momentum may be reversed if it drops below the strong support of 61.5 sen, forming a 'lower low' bearish structure below the average line,” it said.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 13, 2022 23:45 UTC
Two-wheelers come first in Indonesia's EV strategy
JAKARTA (Nov 13): Indonesia's state-owned electric vehicle (EV) company is focusing on the more than 115 million motorcycles roaming the country's roads as it presses ahead with efforts to reduce emissions. To get started, Indonesia Battery Corp (IBC) plans to produce 50,000 battery packs for two-wheelers next year, president director Toto Nugroho said in an interview on the sidelines of the BloombergNEF Summit on Saturday. IBC was formed in 2021 to realise Indonesian President Joko Widodo's ambition to have an end-to-end EV supply chain — from nickel ores to locally made electric cars. Only 21,000 motorbikes in Indonesia are electric, which means many of their riders have to contend with higher fuel costs. "We want to make sure the battery we produce here will not be dependent on imported minerals like lithium, graphite, and cobalt," Nugroho said.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 13, 2022 12:48 UTC
Look on the Bright side
Eei Hui wants Yew Sin-Ee Yi to ride on the momentum. “For me, the Bright Up Cup was a very good warm-up for Yew Sin-Ee Yi ahead of their bigger assignments. Yew Sin-Ee Yi pocketed US$14,000 (RM65,807) for their efforts while Fajar-Pramudya, who finished as runners-up, took home US$12,000 (RM56,406). Yew Sin-Ee Yi will open their campaign in Sydney against fellow independent pair Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci. Meanwhile, Aaron and Izzuddin finished bottom of the group in the Bright Up Cup after losing to all the other three pairs.
Source:The Star
November 13, 2022 05:13 UTC
Bankrupt FTX hit by mysterious outflow of about US$662m
(Nov 12): Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt digital-asset exchange FTX was hit by a mysterious outflow of about US$662 million (RM3.11 billion) in tokens in the past 24 hours, the latest twist in one of the darkest periods for the crypto industry. The main wallet belonging to FTX was drained of its entire balance in FTT during the incident, according to Nansen. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how closely intertwined his businesses were, and whether FTX mishandled customer funds. The claims couldn’t be immediately verified, and several calls to FTX officials outside regular US business hours went unanswered. Read also:Crypto exchange FTX files for bankruptcy as wunderkind CEO exits
Source:The Edge Markets
November 13, 2022 01:57 UTC
Signature sets sights on international growth
Signature International Bhd is laying claim to becoming the largest kitchen and wardrobe company in Asean following its proposed acquisitions of two Singaporean companies. “In the past two years, besides acquiring into Signature, we also did a couple of other acquisitions (for Chin Hin Group). “This started during the Covid-19 pandemic when we thought of what would become our next phase of growth,” Chin Hin and Signature group managing director Chiau Haw Choon tells StarBizWeek.“We already have a presence in building materials, property and construction business. “Many people know Signature Kitchen but we would like to move forward and build Signature Home and Living products as well,” Chiau adds. Signature would like to be the first company in Asean, with our base in Malaysia and Singapore, to lead in this space now,” Chiau says.
Source:The Star
November 12, 2022 10:24 UTC
My Say: ESG investing and its effect on private equity deal value
Powered by strong economic growth, private equity (PE) investments in Southeast Asia rose to a record US$25 billion in 2021, up 143% from 2020. Each country in Southeast Asia set new investment highs last year, and five megadeals accounted for 33% of total deal value. Internet and tech investments in Southeast Asia made up the largest share of deal value and volume in 2021. Exit value in Southeast Asia rebounded to US$8 billion, with Singapore making up most of the increase. Seventy per cent of LPs say their organisations’ investment policies include an ESG approach, and 85% of those have fully or partially implemented an ESG investment policy.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 12, 2022 03:46 UTC
Median salary increment expected to hit 5% in 2023
PETALING JAYA: Employees in Malaysia can look forward to a median 5% increase in their salaries next year, up from 4.8% this year, according to Mercer’s annual Total Remuneration Survey 2022. The asset management firm said the salary increment would be a return to the pre-pandemic level, as seen in 2019. Mercer said Malaysia’s median salary increment is also above the Asia-Pacific average of 4.4%. “Across Asia, the overall median salary increases reflect a divergence in pay progression between emerging and developed economies, with estimates as high as 7.1% in Vietnam to 2.2% in Japan, the lowest in the region,” it added. Mercer said the retail and consumer goods industries are expected to see the biggest upturn in salary increments of 5% in 2023, up from 4.5% and 4.6%, respectively, in 2022.
Source:The Star
November 11, 2022 23:55 UTC
Sarawak's high-income goal a huge opportunity for youths, says Fadillah
KUCHING: Youths in Sarawak should get involved in the state's aspiration to achieve high-income status by 2030, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof. ALSO READ: Sarawak targets to create 195,000 high-paying jobs by 2030"Sarawak's goal to become a developed, high-income state is based on technology, so we need to develop the right human capital. "This is an opportunity for our young people," he said after meeting a group of youths from Tupong at Metrocity here on Friday (Nov 11). In addition, Fadillah said there were business opportunities for youths to be involved in, such as in research and development or product development to meet Sarawak's needs as outlined in its post-Covid strategy. Fadillah also said his engagement with young voters was encouraging, as many of them seemed to understand the state government's development plans.
Source:The Star
November 11, 2022 17:40 UTC
Kelington to build second carbon dioxide gas recovery plant in Kerteh
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 11): Kelington Group Bhd is investing RM45 million to set up its second carbon dioxide gas recovery plant at the existing site in Kerteh, Terengganu. The group said the existing plant is operating at more than 80% of its capacity, and so it is the right time to invest in the second plant to capture future opportunities. The growth of the industrial gas business is expected to provide Kelington with a stable recurring income, the group added in a bourse filing. Thereafter, the depreciation cost of the new plant is expected to reduce earnings until capacity utilisation is optimised. "However, the investment is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets per share of Kelington Group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024," the group added.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 11, 2022 17:17 UTC
MY GDP expands 14.2% in Q3, fastest in SEA
Topkek UPDATE:On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy grew by a mere 1.9% this Q3 (even lower than last quarter, 2Q2022: 3.5%). This post has been edited by James1983: Nov 11 2022, 12:35 PM
Source:New Strait Times
November 11, 2022 16:20 UTC
My Say: Transitioning from irrational money will not be painless
Once unthinkable, zero and negative interest rates have been the mainstay of monetary policy, particularly since the subprime crisis of 2007/08. Never mind that it was the low interest rates that led to the housing bubble and crisis in the first place. More than reducing the cost of debt, repressed interest rates being a deliberate distortion gave rise to perverse incentives. Very conveniently, ultra-low interest rates were blamed on a global savings glut, emanating largely from the exporters of East Asia. Central banks use printed money to buy debt instruments, thereby pumping money into the system.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 11, 2022 15:32 UTC
My Say: Developing countries need monetary financing
Monetary financing rubbishedBut financial interests claim this enables central banks to finance government deficits, that is, monetary financing. Monetary financing undermines central bank independence — hence, the strict segregation of monetary from fiscal authorities — supposedly needed to prevent runaway inflation. Recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) research insists monetary financing “involves considerable risks”. But it acknowledges that monetary financing to cope with the pandemic did not jeopardise price stability. A Bank of International Settlements paper also found that monetary financing enabled developing countries to respond counter-cyclically to the pandemic.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 10, 2022 03:37 UTC
Kejuruteraan Asastera to acquire biogas power plant in Kedah for RM15m
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): Engineering and energy solutions provider Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB) is expanding its sustainable energy solutions (SES) segment through the proposed acquisition of the entire equity of Future Biomass Gasification Sdn Bhd (FBG) for RM15 million. In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Wednesday (Nov 9), KAB said FBG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Future NRG Sdn Bhd (FNSB), owns a biogas power plant in Kedah with an installed capacity of 2.4 megawatt. KAB said it would benefit from long-term recurring income via FBG’s existing renewable energy power purchase agreement (REPPA) with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). “The plant would also contribute to building a stable stream of long-term income for the group,” said Lai. At the midday break on Wednesday, KAB dipped 2.08% or one sen to 47 sen with 13.74 million shares done.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 09, 2022 21:51 UTC
UEM Edgenta sells 51% stake in Indian facilities management firm for RM40m
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): UEM Edgenta Bhd is selling its 51% stake in Faber Sindoori Management Services Pte Ltd for 700 million rupees (RM40 million) in cash to Apollo Sindoori Hotels Ltd (ASHL). According to UEM Edgenta, Faber Sindoori is mainly involved in the provision of integrated facilities management services in India. "The proposed disposal provides an opportunity for UEM Edgenta to monetise its investment from the promising business collaboration with Apollo Group in Faber Sindoori, achieving an internal rate of return of more than 20%. "Proceeds from the proposed disposal will allow UEM Edgenta to reinvest and allocate more resources to accelerate its international expansion strategy as it is moving towards realising the company’s Edgenta of The Future 2025 vision," it said. At the noon break, UEM Edgenta shed one sen or 0.92% to RM1.08, with a market capitalisation of RM898.15 million.
Source:The Edge Markets
November 09, 2022 17:52 UTC