MQ Market Updates - 06 September 2023

MQ Trader

Publish date: Wed, 06 Sep 2023, 05:11 PM

Practice Note 17 company Perak Corp Bhd has denied allegations of fraud and non-disclosure of assets lodged via a police report by Paramount Grace Sdn Bhd's director, Paramjit Singh Gurbachan Singh. According to a business weeklyParamount Grace is a creditor under the Perak Corp's scheme of arrangement approved by creditors on April 19, 2021. (NST)

Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis REIT) is suing a former tenant at Axis Steel Centre @ SiLC in Nusajaya, Johor, to reclaim RM105.4 million in unexpired future rental payments. The claim against Yongnam Engineering Sdn Bhd (YESB) was brought on Tuesday at the High Court in Johor Bahru by its trustee, RHB Trustees Bhd, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia. (NST)

Printing and publishing firm Nextgreen Global Bhd has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Japan-based Marubeni Corp to enter into a partnership for an upcycling project involving empty fruit bunches (EFB) in Pahang to be converted to valuable uses. The project will be effected by Nextgreen’s subsidiaries. Under the project, Nextgreen will be developing a new facility in Pahang, namely Green Technology Park (GTP). This will add to the current facility in Pahang, which holds the EFB upcycling facility with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes of EFB pulp per year. (TheEdge)

Chemical manufacturing group Ancom Nylex Bhd is teaming up with MIMOS Bhd and German crop protection and fertiliser group HELM AG to apply digital agriculture solutions through SKYFLD, a digital agriculture platform. In a statement on Tuesday, Ancom Nylex said SKYFLD is HELM AG’s precision farming platform, which enables farmers to map their fields and monitor crop health using satellite data. (TheEdge)

Witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) wholesale business arm TM Global and SK Telecom (SKT) will be among the highlights of Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil's working visit in South Korea on Wednesday. The MOU will focus on developing multi-access edge computing, which aims to intensify efforts to drive innovation in advancing the Malaysia Digital initiative. (TheEdge)

Protasco Bhd today announced that former directors Tey Por Yee and Ooi Kock Aun have been ordered to pay the company RM84.6 million, with interest of 5 per cent per annum to be calculated from September 22, 2014, after being found to have breached their fiduciary duties when they were directors of the company. Tey and Ooi were accused of misleading Protasco, while being directors in the company, by entering into an oil and gas investment agreement with PT Anglo Slavic Utama, through the purchase of 63 per cent of PT Anglo Slavic's shares in Indonesia in 2014. (NST)

UEM Edgenta Bhd has allocated RM100 million for its 'Sustainable Zero-Capex Program" through wholly-owned Opus Consultants. This is part of UEM Edgenta's foray into energy efficiency and sustainable asset management targeting growth in healthcare support, infrastructure and technology. (NST)

Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd will collaborate with ENGIE, a global specialist in low-carbon energy and services, to construct sustainable townships in Malaysia with solar-powered rooftops and green mobility. Gamuda Land chief executive officer Chu Wai Lune said this partnership with ENGIE will serve as a springboard for the developer to pursue a wider scope of energy-efficient opportunities that can complement its carbon reduction efforts. (NST)

Shares in Practice Note 17 (PN17) company, KNM Group Bhd were heavily traded this morning with 411 million shares traded. At 11.22 am, the counter added two sen, or 20% to 12 sen. Year-to-date, the counter has risen 140%. KNM has received a written requisition from a group of shareholders holding a combined 10.68% equity interest in the company to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) seeking the removal of its entire board of directors. (TheStar)

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PCG) expands Be Green, its flagship social impact programme, internationally for the first time starting with Indonesia to purposefully deliver greater value in countries where it is present. This expansion serves to drive awareness on proper use and handling of plastics through the education of local communities on the importance of responsible waste management and the practice of 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), which is in line with PCG’s New Plastics Economy (NPE) agenda and social impact strategy, while contributing to the global transition towards circular economy. (TheStar)

Glove maker Hartalega Holdings Bhd expects to see recovery in demand for gloves to pick up in second half of 2024, running into 2025. Chief Executive Officer Kuan Mun Leong said demand for gloves will remain weak for this year, with marginal improvements by end of next year, as most gloves purchased during the pandemic, that are still on shelves, expire by end-2023 or next year. "Global demand for gloves remains soft, with the monthly global import of gloves now at around 15 billion gloves per month in first four months of calendar year 2023, as compared to the pre-pandemic level of 20-25 billion pieces of gloves per month," he told reporters after the annual general meeting here today. (NST)

Power Root Bhd’s sales weakness in the Middle East is likely only temporary even as it aims to sustain its gross profit margins. According to Kenanga Research, this is because its distributors are depleting their high inventories which were stocked ahead of price hikes a few months ago. (TheStar)

TA Securities is positive on CapitaLand Malaysia Trust’s (CLMT) disposal of the lowly occupied 3 Damansara Office Tower in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. In a research note, TA noted that the proposed disposal for RM52 million translates into a premium of 4% over the property’s market value, and would result in a net gain of RM400,000 for the group. (TheEdge)

RHB Research has cut Guan Chong Bhd's target price on near-term challenges, driven by historic high cocoa bean price. The historic high cocoa bean prices this year – caused by tight bean supply and the El Nino phenomenon – have created uncertainties for the chocolate industry as chocolate makers are adopting a wait-and-see approach for a lower terminal price. (NST)

Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research has upgraded the oil and gas (O&G) sector to an "overweight" rating from "neutral" as it anticipates regional oil majors will steadfastly adhere to their planned capital expenditures, leveraging on the current favorable oil price environment. This development is poised to directly benefit local OGSE players, said the research house. (NST)

Source: New Straits Times, The Edge Markets, The Star 06 September 2023