Malaysia Economic News

[Behappyalways]

Malaysia's Meltdown Moment - The INSIDE STORY
http://www.sarawakreport.org/2020/02/mal...ide-story/

[Behappyalways]

八点最热报 31/03/2020 丈夫行为不合意 妻子可模仿小叮当减少争执?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8wBRbax7U


M’sian actress follows ministry’s advice to ‘talk like Doraemon’ to avoid arguments with husband, nails it
https://mothership.sg/2020/04/chelsia-ng-doraemon/

[Behappyalways]

刘华才出席国盟造势活动遭冷落 惟他否认被请离场
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YqiGDIhEeU8


称伊党驱赶盟友令人大开眼界 林冠英：哈迪指不亏待非穆斯林不可信
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kUG9bNJdneE

[Behappyalways]

Financial reforms needed, but only a leader willing to lose power will do it — KJ
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/677919

[Behappyalways]

不满安华指控 反对党议员集体离席
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O1dBqURHl7E

[weijian]

With the new Agong having some interest in the HSR to pass through Forest City, the local business community is actually making a very good bet by submitting proposals (that require gov support) VS what the RFI (private funding only) is asking for. A game changer for the local construction industry if somehow the current gov yields.

New bids in to revive KL-Singapore high-speed rail, but govt funding remains missing link

It was reported that Japanese companies including East Japan Railway Company pulled out from the project just days before the Jan 15 deadline, describing it as “too risky” without the government’s financial support.

In a stock exchange filing on Jan 26, Berjaya Land announced that its 70 per cent-owned subsidiary Berjaya Rail (B-Rail) had formed a consortium with IJM Construction, Malaysian Resources Corp and Malaysia’s national railway firm Keretapi Tanah Melayu to submit a bid for the HSR.

ST has also learnt that YTL Corp, which in 2018 was appointed to be a project delivery partner to design and deliver civil works for the HSR before it was suspended, has put in a fresh bid for the project.

A highly placed source in YTL said the company has asked for some form of government financial support in its bid, to manage the mounting costs of building the line.

AmInvestment Bank analyst Alex Goh said no rail projects in Asia have got off the ground without government funding.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/interna...ssing-link

[weijian]

Investors normally focus on sexy part of semiconductor - frontend and leading edges. Not saying these ain't profitable, but what is been less looked at, like backend, may actually be better investment candidates.

For example, MMH listed on SGX, has >20% NPM (before the current downturn) and mainly supplies consumables to backend. And, their NPMs are not boosted by another share of results of associates/JV.

Chipmakers searching for ‘China plus 1’ are finding Malaysia

Malaysia’s track record has been mostly in the back end of the semiconductor supply chain – which includes packing, assembling and testing components – activities that traditionally have been considered less complex and of lower value.

But now the industry’s focus on packaging smaller chips – chiplets – more tightly together to increase computing power is increasing the value and technical complexity of those activities.

Intel is building its first overseas facility for advanced 3D chip packaging in Malaysia. When you bring in cutting-edge technology there is a “ripple effect”, said AK Chong, a vice-president and managing director of Intel in Malaysia. That development will attract dozens of new businesses and help advance the labour force’s entire skill set.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/interna...g-malaysia

[weijian]

A depreciating currency and low expectations (recovering from a political malaise) have probably set the stage for a boom I suppose?

Small-cap stocks powering Bursa Malaysia’s resurgence

Undoubtedly the biggest winner is electronics manufacturing services firm Notion VTec Bhd, whose shares have rocketed 434.5% year-to-date (YTD).

Following behind are information and communications technology distributor VSTECS Bhd which has run up 206% YTD, and SNS Network Technology Bhd at 170.8%, both which have profited from their links to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

VSTECS was appointed a distributor for SpaceX’s Starlink high-speed internet service in January this year while SNS was recently appointed by VSTECS as the authorised retailer for Starlink’s equipment.

Hard disk drive components manufacturer JCY International Bhd is up 189% YTD, and 315.6% from a year ago. Information technology services provider MMAG Holdings Bhd has notched up a 130.8% gain so far this year.

Cable manufacturer Southern Cable Group Bhd has risen 109.3%, capitalising on rising demand for renewable energy, while solar photovoltaic supplier Pekat Group Bhd is up 103.5%.

Smaller-cap property developers have also been on a tear since the second half of last year. Chin Hin Group Property Bhd has soared 212% YTD while Mah Sing Group Bhd is up 126.6%, and 208.3% over the past year.

UEM Sunrise Bhd may be up only 40.5% this year but the mid-sized developer’s share price has skyrocketed 353.9% to RM1.18 from just 26 sen a year ago. Anyone who took a punt on UEM Sunrise when it was languishing as a penny stock a year ago would be laughing all the way to the bank today.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/catego...esurgence/

[Behappyalways]

IPO soon....

Customers puzzled by closure of some Oriental Kopi outlets in M’sia, workers seen rounded up
https://mustsharenews.com/oriental-kopi-closed/

[weijian]

I guess when you are at the bottom (in terms of political uncertainty), the only way is up. And there is still plenty more stimulus to come from the "raiding of Rakyat's EPF" via the newly established Account 3. It is even better than Spore PM Wong's CDC vouchers.

Malaysia’s Q2 GDP growth beats estimates as recovery holds

Malaysia’s economic growth in the second quarter surpassed all estimates on broad-based gains from manufacturing to consumption, suggesting a recovery seen at the beginning of 2024 is gathering speed.

Gross domestic product grew 5.8 per cent in the April-June quarter from a year ago, according to advance estimates released by the Department of Statistics on July 19.

That was the fastest since the December quarter of 2022 and quicker than even the highest forecast of 5.1 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. The performance follows a 4.2 per cent expansion in the first three months of 2024, and puts the economy on course to hit, if not surpass, the government’s projection of a 4 per cent to 5 per cent growth in 2024.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/ma...x-quarters

RM6.98bil withdrawn from EPF Account 3 to date, says Finance Ministry
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2...e-ministry