MELAKA (July 20): German-based global optical sensor manufacturer Leuze Electronic Malaysia Sdn Bhd plans to increase its investment to RM200 million in the near future with the operation of its new plant in Bukit Rambai here early last year. "Leuze Electronic is expected to double its investment (here) and the State government will help it in its expansion," he told reporters after officiating at Leuze Electronic here on Wednesday. Also present was senior State Executive Councillor for investment, industry and entrepreneur development Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh. Meanwhile, Ab Rauf said investments by German companies in Melaka reached almost RM15 billion, including that from Leuze Electronic and Infineon Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. He said these investments by almost 10 German companies underscores Melaka as one of the best investment destinations.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): United Plantations Bhd net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 (2QFY22) grew 36% to RM184.63 million from RM135.79 million a year ago, amid elevated crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Revenue for the quarter under review rose 46% year-on-year to RM701.26 million from RM481.87 million in 2QFY21, according to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia. For the first half of this year, United Plantations’ net profit grew 16% to RM244.33 million from RM210.61 million in the previous corresponding period, while revenue rose 53% to RM1.34 billion from RM881.52 million over the same period. Moving forward, the group said labour shortages remain the primary risk for the remainder of 2022. Shares of United Plantations closed 10 sen or 0.7% lower at RM14 per share on Wednesday (July 20), giving it a market capitalisation of RM5.83 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Supplementary Electoral Roll for June 2022 (DPT BLN6/2022), which have been verified and gazetted, is now open for review for 30 days starting from Tuesday (July 19) until Aug 17. It also involved 10,414 registered voters who changed constituencies and 4,591 voters who changed the status or category of voters. Ikmalrudin said the EC provided five methods of review, namely, through EC portals at https://www.spr.gov.my or https://mysprsemak.spr.gov.my and the official portals of State Election Offices at http://ppn.spr.gov.my. The review could also be done through the online app at https://myspr.spr.gov.my, MySPR Semak mobile app and the EC hotline at 03-8892 7018. "If they find that their names are not listed in the electoral roll, they can make a claim by filing in Form C through the online app at https://myspr.spr.gov.my or visit the State EC office concerned,” he said in a statement.

Such sentiment is already reflected in share prices of major glove manufacturers — Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd. In securities trading terminology, short selling involves the sale of borrowed securities at higher prices by the borrower, in anticipation that prices of the securities will fall. For the July 11 to 15, 2022 trading week, Ng said the KLCI's average weekly trading value fell 7% week-on-week to RM1.26 billion — its lowest since the trading week ended Dec 28, 2019. Across Bursa during the July 11 to 15, 2022 trading week, Ng said local institutional investors became the largest net sellers of local equities after five weeks of being net buyers. "They were net sellers of RM62 million worth of equities last week vs. net buyers of RM40 million two weeks ago.

(July 19): Palm oil, the world’s most consumed cooking oil, may extend its slide, tumbling more than 20% to RM3,000 a tonne by September, driven by surging supplies in Indonesia, said veteran analyst Dorab Mistry. “They are chock-a-block with palm oil,” he told Bloomberg TV. “Barges, ships, everything is being used to store palm oil. That means the outlook for palm oil remains bearish for now. “This is just one step in the southward journey in palm oil,” Mistry said.

Getting Started Junior Member102 postsJoined: Jul 2006https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/07/...-dairy-productsPahang livestock project to churn out Wagyu beef, buffalo dairy productsPahang has allocated 284ha for a livestock farming project in Bukit Kajang near here to meet the demand for Wagyu beef and buffalo dairy products. QUOTE Pahang has allocated 284ha for a livestock farming project in Bukit Kajang near here to meet the demand for Wagyu beef and buffalo dairy products. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the project was among the measures taken by the Pahang government to address food security issues. So today, we have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to rear Wagyu cattle for beef and buffalo for dairy products. RAUB:Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the project was among the measures taken by the Pahang government"We want to optimise grazing reserves for agrofood-related projects.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian engineer says having strong English communication skills can take you places - even into outer space. Florence Tan (pic), after all, is now working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). She said Malaysians tend not to worry if their child scores lower in English compared to other subjects, especially Mathematics and Science. Tan was here for the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 2022), held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, this week. The symposium, hosted by IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), is supported by the Malaysian Space Agency, Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau.

Getting Started Junior Member102 postsJoined: Jul 2006https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/07/...-rm6-mil-lossesKTMB could not operate Express Wau train due to RM6 mil lossesThe Kelantan State Assembly was today told that KTMB could not operate its Ekspress Wau service from Tumpat to Kuala Lumpur as it had suffered losses of about RM6 millionQUOTE KOTA BARU: The Kelantan State Assembly was today told that Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) could not operate its Ekspress Wau service from Tumpat to Kuala Lumpur as it had suffered losses of about RM6 million. Besides that, State Utility, Infrastructure and Works Committee chairman Datuk Azami Mohd Nor said KTMB also found that the Ekspress Wau train service was not suitable at the moment as the company has been providing other train services to the East Coast. "KTMB has several other train services that connects the East-Coast states such as the ETS train from Kuala Lumpur to Gemas that later connects to Express Timuran and Shuttle trains which uses Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) from Gemas to Tumpat," he said. Azami was replying to an additional question from Amran Arifin (BN-Paloh) at the Kelantan State Assembly sitting here today. "At the moment, the upgrading works already started from Pasir Tumboh to Melor and will continue from Melor to Pak Badol.

KUALA LUMPUR: The chances of Malaysia going bankrupt like Sri Lanka is extremely slim, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (pic). "If you compare the economic indicators between Malaysia and Sri Lanka, ours is far much stronger than that of Sri Lanka. Tengku Zafrul assured the house that the government continues to be prudent and careful when managing the nation's finances and debts. Currently, he said that Malaysia's debt service ratio was at 16.3% and is expected to increase to over 18% this year. He noted that this was much higher than the debt service ratio of countries such as US, UK and Japan.

KUALA LUMPUR: The manufacturing, construction and services industries will be allowed to hire foreign workers from 15 source countries. Foreign workers will also be allowed to be employed in the scrap items and laundry sub-sectors. “Among other things, we also agreed to allow foreign workers from all 15 source countries to work in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors. “We also agreed on looking at the appropriateness of allowing foreign workers in all sectors, including the sub-sectors that have been frozen,” said Hamzah. The ministers said the government had also agreed to consider giving foreign workers temporary access to Protected Areas and Protected Places to perform construction work.

Total turnover was higher at 2.4 billion units worth RM1.28 billion against 2.05 billion units valued at RM1.06 billion last Friday. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 2.98 points to 169.71, the Energy Index soared 24.22 points to 628.86, the Plantation Index added 120.2 points to 6,775.93, and the Financial Services Index was 5.93 points higher at 16,013.62. Main Market volume advanced to 1.34 billion shares worth RM1.06 billion against 1.29 billion shares worth RM916.47 million last Friday. Warrants turnover decreased to 383.78 million units valued at RM79.97 million versus 398.9 million units valued at RM75.88 million previously. ACE Market volume swelled to 678.12 million shares worth RM130.84 million from 351.41 million shares worth RM66.41 million previously.

KUALA LUMPUR: Measures are being taken to curb cooking oil smuggling, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. "If a smuggler sells the cooking oil for RM5, he would make a profit of RM2.50 per packet. He, however, conceded that it was not easy to regulate the use of packet cooking oil meant for domestic use by street food vendors. Anwar also questioned why big palm oil companies which had been making lucrative profits had not been required to lower prices. Chaired by communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, the committee also comprise of Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Zuki Ali.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Analysts covering mobile telecommunications network provider Digi.Com Bhd showed mixed reactions for the latter’s target price (TP) forecast and its prospects ahead. “Its subscribers, in both the prepaid and postpaid segments, continued to grow, while blended average revenue per user remained stable. She highlighted that Digi’s revenue was within the firm’s expectations but net interest as well as tax costs were higher-than-expected. “As such, we cut our FY22-24 earnings estimates by 7% to 10%, factoring in higher interest and tax costs,” she said. “With Digi’s share price down about 22% year-to-date, much of the 5G downside risks are priced in.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Bursa Malaysia remained upbeat at noon, taking its cue from the global stock markets. At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.62 of-a-point to 1,419.06 from Friday's close of 1,418.44. The benchmark index opened 2.45 points higher at 1,420.89. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.95 of-a-point higher at 167.68, the Energy Index rose 13.85 points to 618.49, and the Plantation Index added 38.73 points to 6,694.46, while the Financial Services Index fell 30.67 points to 15,977.02. Meanwhile, in separate filings with Bursa Malaysia on Monday, Complete Logistics Services Bhd announced it will change its name to Hextar Technologies Solutions Bhd, and Integrated Logistics Bhd will change its name to ILB Group Bhd, effective from July 19.

KUALA LUMPUR: The property market stands to benefit from the recently announced stamp duty discount for properties priced above RM500,000, but its impact on the sector could prove tepid. The government recently said it would reduce the stamp duty percentage for property valued in the RM500,000-RM1mil range to 1.5% from 3% under the Keluarga Malaysia Home Ownership Initiative (i-Miliki) campaign. To illustrate how the discount works, for a property priced at RM1mil, the first RM500,000 will be exempted from stamp duty, while the subsequent RM500,000 will be charged a stamp duty of 1.5% amounting to RM7,500. Under that earlier campaign, the stamp duty for property up to RM1mil was exempted while property valued above RM1mil was charged a 3% duty. HLIB reiterated its "neutral" recommendation on the property sector, with Sunway Bhd and Matrix Concepts Bhd as its two top sector picks.