“They will call Azam Baki to get an explanation from him. “We cannot jump to conclusions by assuming that Azam Baki is guilty. Asked if the government would set up an independent body to investigate, Ismail Sabri said they could not do so and added that he believed in and was confident with the existing system. Ismail Sabri, who was visiting Sabah’s northern flood-hit Kota Marudu and Pitas areas Saturday (Jan 8), dismissed claims that the government was not taking action. “He continued to be chief minister.

Supply concernsLonger-dated Treasury yields rose anew on Friday but shorter-term government bonds declined after the US non-farm payroll report. Analysts said the data was solid enough to keep the Fed on track to raise interest rates in its March meeting — or sooner. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was last at 1.7673%, up from 1.7461% before the payroll data. Spot gold stood at US$1,795 an ounce, up slightly on the day after touching a two-week low of US$1,788.25 on Thursday, as rising US Treasury yields hurt demand for the non-interest bearing metal. Bitcoin was last down about 3% at US$41,896 after touching US$40,938, its lowest since Sept 29, as the payroll data fuelled some bargain buying.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 7): Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCable) has proposed to settle its debts totalling RM124.59 million owing to AmBank (M) Bhd, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd and Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd (HLISB) by restructuring the payment/repayment terms under the existing facilities. The RCD and RCD-i may be converted into new shares of SCable at any time during the five-year tenure of the RCD and RCD-i. "The debt restructuring exercise is aimed at enabling SCable to address its debt obligations by restructuring the outstanding debt to financiers and allowing SCable more time to repay the outstanding debt to financiers," the group said. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the debt restructuring is expected to be completed by the second half of 2022. Shares in SCable finished one sen or 5.13% higher at 20 sen on Friday, valuing the group at RM81.79 million.

The movement restrictions in the past two years have caused the global supply chain disruption. Yeap expects that the supply chain woes would take at least another year to be back to normal. This has exacerbated the current supply chain woes. Ruben expects that it would take more than one year for the supply chain disruption to normalise. Meanwhile, Tan of E&Y argues that the global supply chain woes could take between one to three years to return to normal.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 7): MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd has secured a contract worth an estimated RM290 million to supply refined sugar to The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) for both domestic and international production. In a statement on Friday (Jan 7), the sugar refiner said the contract, won by its wholly-owned subsidiary MSM Prai Bhd, will entail supplying the ingredient to Coca-Cola Bottlers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. “MSM Group observes strict quality control and standard operating procedures and its refineries are regularly audited to maintain the highest standard of food safety and quality. Meanwhile, the contract also applied to exports that commenced in December 2021, where the refined sugar supply will be shipped to a different international destination where Coca-Cola has a strong presence. “This accomplishment is an added boost to MSM Group having achieved a turnaround in 2021 and accelerating MSM’s expansion to wider markets across the region.

WE have heard of a million-dollar business, and a billion-dollar business. What about a trillion-dollar business? What exactly is the magnitude of a trillion-dollar business? To get a gauge of what a trillion-dollar business entails, there are several interesting numbers we can look at as per the table. In 2020, he told CNBC that “Apple is probably the best business I know in the world.

PETALING JAYA: 2021 ended on a high note for Malaysia’s seaports with several new milestones achieved. Port Klang’s Westport and Northport also made history when they achieved 13.64 million TEU, surpassing 2019’s record of 13.58 million TEU. PTP’s feat was recorded on Dec 25 while Port Klang’s was on Dec 28, during the loading process. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong revealed the final volume that PTP subsequently registered 11.2 million TEU at end of 2021, representing an increase of 14% growth in its yearly volume as compared to 9.8 million TEU in 2020. He said Port Klang managed to hit a total volume of 13.74 million TEU all in for 2021.

PETALING JAYA: Even as more study is needed on the new Covid-19 variant, IHU, epidemiologists say the prevention and control measures will be almost the same with concern largely on the effectiveness of current vaccines against it. It’s a common behaviour of such viruses to evolve and change or mutate from time to time, resulting in variants. The IHU is named after the French institution that reported the variant – IHU Mediterranee Infection. “It (IHU) has not been found in countries outside of France or labelled as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Covid-19 incident manager of WHO, Abdi Mahmud, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the IHU variant had been on the agency’s radar since last November but it did not appear to have spread widely over the past two months.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Samaiden Group Bhd, the renewable energy (RE) and environment solutions provider, has teamed up with a Sarawak-based firm to provide solutions for the RE market in East Malaysia. Samaiden said that under the three-year deal with Sinowaja (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the two parties will initially focus on projects related to solar photovoltaic (PV), as well as smart or microgrid systems. Samaiden’s scope of work will include supplying the necessary products and technical support to Sinowaja, while Sinowaja will support in design and research and development, particularly in solar PV projects. Sinowaja is an integrated power solution provider of innovative and efficient solutions to the electric power industry. At the same time, it provides Samaiden's RE knowhow to Sinowaja, which is a seasoned power solution provider in East Malaysia, eyeing to tap into the RE industry, she said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Reach Energy Bhd has announced that its unit in Republic of Kazakhstan might be affected from the country’s recent state of emergency declaration. Reach Energy further noted that the state of emergency includes curfew, movement restrictions, ban on mass gatherings and internet disruptions. Reach Energy added that it will make further announcements on the financial and operational impacts as well as consequences in relation thereto as and when there is new development. According to the oil and gas exploration and production company’s website, Reach Energy took over the operatorship of Emir-Oil LLP with a majority of 60% indirect interest as of late 2016. Reach Energy’s share price finished 7.69% or half a sen higher at seven sen, bringing a market capitalisation RM76.75 million.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) has set a "neutral" call on the telecommunications industry following the government’s decision to review its fifth-generation (5G) network roll-out model. The outcome of the review could have material longer-term implications to mobile telecommunication providers, it said in a note on Thursday. “Note that the 5G incumbent Digital Nasional (DNB) is already trialling 5G services with Yes and TM (Telekom Malaysia Bhd) in Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and selected areas in Kuala Lumpur. As such, the policy uncertainty would likely weigh on sentiments in the near term. In the meantime, Maybank IB named TM and Axiata Group Bhd as its top picks, with a target price of RM7.40 and RM4.50, respectively.

Osaki had taken a walk along a trail following a route on Google map to reach another cave temple nearby, but halfway through, he ran into a pack of fierce dogs. "I panicked, and ran for my life as the dogs started to chase me. Later I realised that there was a notice put up by someone stating " Beware of Wild Dogs", but I feel that the signage alone is not enough. A signage beware of wild dogs were put at the roadside near the cave temple. A vendor at the cave temple, who declined to be named, said the dogs had recently attacked a caretaker there as well.

PETALING JAYA: The technology sector is set for another solid year in 2022. Accelerated digitalisation and the upcycle of global semiconductor sales are pumping up demand, surpassing the industry players’ ability to supply. The technology sector has been one of the few silver linings in the Malaysian stock market, amid its unexciting performance over the past two years. Meanwhile, TA Securities Research remained bullish on the semiconductor sector with an “overweight” view. At the current run rate, the semiconductor industry is on track to meet the WSTS’ projection for global semiconductor sales in 2021 to reach a new annual high of US$553bil (RM2.32 trillion), up by 25.1% y-o-y.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Datuk was among 10 arrested by the police for links to a forex investment scam involving nearly RM3mil in losses. Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the syndicate was crippled following a string of operations in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Johor on Saturday. “Several vehicles, documents and items which were linked to the investment scam were also seized,” he told reporters yesterday. “The syndicate targetted local investors and promoted investment schemes based on forex which promised between 12% and 14% returns on investments weekly. Comm Mohd Kamarudin urged the public to always check with the relevant authorities as well as Bank Negara before making any investment.

In a press statement, CLSB said both offeror and the ultimate offeror holds 55.21% stake or 71.03 million shares in CLSB as of 5pm on Wednesday. “Accordingly, the offer has met the acceptance condition and the offer has become wholly-unconditional on Jan 5, 2022,” it added. This means Ong and Hextar Tech have acquired 26.1% stake or 33.58 million shares after the offer was launched. Previously, Ong holds 37.45 million shares in CLSB, representing about 29.11% of CLSB's issued shares. The firm added that the asset-based approach using RNAV is the most appropriate valuation method to arrive at the fair value of CLSB shares.