Breakfast briefing: Monday, May 30


Recall that QL Resources has since sold its 38.8% stake in Lay Hong to several parties. It is likely that the sale of shares to the Indonesian party will come from this block of shares.

MarketWatch: Data on inflation and employment, two of the economic indicators most important to a "data-dependent" US Federal Reserve are expected this week. While Fed policymakers will be looking at those numbers as they decide whether to raise key interest rates as soon as June, traders will read through them to try and get ahead of the Fed decision. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

Japan PM Abe to delay sales tax hike until 2019: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to delay an increase in sales tax by two and a half years, a government official said on Sunday, as the economy sputters and Abe prepares for a national election. - Reuters

China bets on duty-free paradise to keep luxury spenders at home: China's efforts to lift local consumption, spur domestic tourism and keep within its borders citizens that splurge in Milan or Seoul have spawned a duty-free paradise on the southern island of Hainan that it hopes will satisfy a lust for luxury. Government initiatives, including 19 more duty-free shops nationwide, come as sales of the types of luxury goods that line duty-free shelves fell 2% last year. - Reuters

Monsanto boss could net US$70m from a Bayer takeover: Monsanto boss Hugh Grant could land more than US$70 million if the world's largest seed company is taken over by German chemicals giant Bayer AG. The US$122-per-share offer would allow CEO and chairman Grant to walk away with a total package of more than US$123 million after a takeover, including from the sale of shares and the exercise of options he already owned, a Reuters analysis of Monsanto filings shows. - Reuters

Top local stories

Two-tier EPF returns: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan says there will be two dividend rates – one for the conventional fund and the other for the syariah-compliant scheme – with their returns expected to vary from one year to year, depending on their investment performance. But he expects both schemes to perform fairly similar over the long run, with the difference in terms of overall returns expected to be a marginal plus/minus 0.05%. - StarBiz

Maybulk sees tough years ahead: Malaysian Bulk Carriers Bhd (Maybulk) says it expects the difficult times to continue at least into 2017. Chief executive officer Kuok Khoon Kuan said the oversupply situation may prolong if players were to rush to invest in more vessels before the market recovers. - StarBiz

Will Temasek convert Ioan stocks in SAM Engineering?: Minority shareholders of Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd may be in for a bumper dividend if the company’s major shareholder , Singapore’s Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd, decides to convert a large chunk of its 101.25 million irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks. - StarBiz

Khazanah-Temasek JV project to be ready in 2017: The integrated Marina One and Duo developments, jointly-owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Singapore state firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, are set for completion in 2017. Marina One has a gross development value (GDV) of S$7bil (RM20.72bil), while the DUO project has a GDV of S$4bil (RM11.84bil). Both projects were launched in mid-2012. - Bernama

Lay Hong seeks partner for China market: Integrated livestock group Lay Hong Bhd is looking for a joint-venture partner in China to manufacture and sell halal processed food products that country n its bid to further expand into the overseas market. - StarBiz

SLP Resources to enter China market: SLP Resources Bhd aims to enter the China market in the fourth quarter of 2016, following the completion of its new plant in Kulim Industrial estate. The group has already secured a customer in the healthcare product industry. - StarBiz

Home furnishing firm Ashley to launch e-commerce platform for Asia: Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc is expected to launch its e-commerce platform for its Asian market within the next three months. The world’s largest home furnishing manufacturer will develop a smartphone application and a website to cater to Ashley’s customer base in the Asian region. - StarBiz

Thai refutes reports on HQ relocation: Supermax Corp Bhd managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai Kim Sim has refuted reports that he is relocating the company headquarters to Hong Kong.
Supermax, he said, would continue to invest and keep its global manufacturing headquarters for contact lens and glove businesses in Malaysia. - Bernama

Irda confident of achieving RM383bil investment target by 2025: Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) is confident of achieving the RM383bil investment target by 2025, despite facing numerous challenges since its inception 10 years ago. Iskandar Malaysia had recorded a total of RM12.16bil in committed investments for the first quarter of 2016, adding to RM202.45bil in cumulative committed investments from 2006 to March this year. - StarBiz

LTAT says no decision yet to invest in Sanichi: The Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) has clarified that it has not made any decisions to invest in Sanichi Technology Bhd. On recent media reports of the board’s purported interest in Sanichi, a spokesperson said LTAT remained committed to creating value for the benefit of its primary stakeholders. - StarBiz

Investors shrug off developers’ unbilled sales: Unbilled sales of most property developers are at healthy levels, which are expected to be sufficient to sustain their earnings till next year end, at least. Some property firms have even seen growth in their unbilled sales despite the slowdown and banks’ prudent lending policy. - Edge FD

EG Industries poised to tap into Thai auto industry: EG Industries Bhd, which is in the midst of preparing the listing application for its wholly-owned Thai unit SMT Industries Co Ltd, sees op- portunities in the country’s automotive industry to further expand its presence there. - Edge FD

RM3b development central to EcoFirst’s turnaround: Ecofirst Consolidated Bhd is marking the start of its expansionary phase with the launch of the  rst phase of its RM3 billion gross development value Ampang Ukay development, targeted for next month. The project is seen as central to EcoFirst’s efforts to turn around the company’s  operations, as the project is expected to provide a steady recurring income. - Edge FD

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