Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-20 08:03 | Report Abuse

Grim 1Q earnings outlook for selected industries

(The Edge Financial Daily / April 20, 2020 07:39 am +08)

KUALA LUMPUR: The International Monetary Fund expects a recession in 2020 that will be at least as bad as the one seen during the global financial crisis in 2009, against a highly challenging global economic outlook, due mainly to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), meanwhile, has revised downwards its gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for Malaysia in 2020 to between -2% and 0.5%.

The central bank said Covid-19 had significantly weakened global growth prospects, with the outlook heavily contingent on how countries across the world successfully contain the pandemic over the remainder of the year. At the same time, the domestic economy will be impacted by the necessary global and domestic actions taken to contain the outbreak. Tourism-related sectors, in particular, are expected to be affected by broad-based travel restrictions and travel risk aversion.

In terms of factory production, economists project a steep fall in the Industrial Production Index in March and possibly months ahead, while production disruptions in the global supply chain will weigh on the manufacturing sector and exports.

This comes in the wake of the Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index plunging to 47.2 points in February, the weakest since 2009.

‘Weak domestic spending ahead’

According to an online survey by the Department of Statistics carried out on March 23-31, the movement control order (MCO) had a deleterious effect on monthly spending, with total household expenditure falling 55% to RM2,813 from RM6,317.

Notably, higher-income households reported steeper declines in spending due to the greater proportion of discretionary items and non-consumption expenses in their expenditure baskets. In particular, the top 20% income group (T20) households cut outlays by 63%, followed by the M40 group cutting down spending by 54% and the B40 trimming expenditure by 49%.

In terms of spending categories, apart from food staples, communications and education, all other categories of consumption registered sharp declines due to travel restrictions and closures of non-essential businesses.

Specifically, spending on clothing and apparel dropped 95%, followed by transport (down 89%), as well as restaurants and hotels (down 86%). Meanwhile, big-ticket spending such as on household furniture and recreational expenses have both fallen by 70%.

The normalisation of consumer behaviour may be gradual as precautionary social distancing practices continue, suggested by anecdotal evidence from China, which has emerged from its lockdown.

The gloomy outlook for Malaysia’s private consumption, which makes up 59% of GDP, suggests that corporate earnings are highly likely to tread water down the road.


##https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/grim-1q-earnings-outlook-selected-industries

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-20 08:08 | Report Abuse

Expected certain listed companies results by IB :-

~ This comes as the unprecedented worldwide shutdown of all of Genting Group’s casinos, following the lockdown orders issued by authorities, have resulted in a synchronous loss of income streams to the group. According to analysts’ estimates, forecast earnings for FY20 for Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM) has been cut by 32% to 39%.


~ Analysts estimate the bottom line of Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd and Magnum Bhd to be down by 9% and 8% respectively.


~ analysts have cut their earnings estimate for MAHB for FY20 by 32.3% to reflect the lower passenger traffic, lower airport traffic and lower average retail spending at airports. In terms of the property sector, an overhang in sales is likely to be exacerbated as demand for big-ticket items are likely to vanish due to a grim economic outlook. Based on the latest figures, aggregate property sales have declined by 12% year-on-year


~ RHB Investment Bank Bhd advised investors to avoid developers with high gearing, an unsold completed inventory as well as unsold stocks from ongoing projects as it believes these remaining unsold development projects will be slow moving going forward, tying up developers’ cash flow. These include S P Setia Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd and Mah Sing Group Bhd.


~ Overall, the research house expects banking sector earnings to fall 5% in 2020 on the back of NIM slippage, softer loan growth and higher credit costs. It has downgraded its ratings for CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd to “neutral” from “buy”, mainly on concerns over higher asset quality risks.


~ As for discretionary goods retailers such as apparel chain operator Padini Holdings Bhd with staff’s basic salaries as well as lease and financing expenses commanding a major part of fixed expenses, due to a lacklustre consumption outlook, analysts have cut their earnings estimates for Padini for FY20 by 33% on the back of a revenue projection cut of 13%.

Posted by Sslee > 2020-04-20 08:19 | Report Abuse

Would not be able to see much on Q1. The most interesting is in Aug Q2 reporting season. Many stocks will have new low then.

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-20 20:39 | Report Abuse

United Airlines posts $2.1 billion pretax loss as coronavirus roiled business, seeks more federal aid

(PUBLISHED MON, APR 20 20208:21 AM EDTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO)

United Airlines on Monday reported a $2.1 billion loss for first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic drove travel demand down to the lowest level in decades.

The Chicago-based airline said has applied for up to $4.5 billion in government loans on top of about $5 billion federal payroll grants and loans it also expects to receive to weather the crisis.

United is the first major U.S. airline to detail the results of the virus on its results in the first three months of the year. The disease and harsh measures to stop it from spreading such as stay-at-home orders has ravaged air travel demand and and prompted carriers to slash most of their flights.


##https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/united-airlines-ual-posts-1point2-billion-loss-amid-coronavirus-seeks-more-federal-aid.html

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-20 20:53 | Report Abuse

Hong Kong Unemployment Rises to Highest in Nearly Decade

April 20, 2020, 4:46 PM GMT+8 Updated on April 20, 2020, 5:21 PM GMT+8

Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose for a sixth straight month in March to the highest level since October 2010 as restrictions to control the coronavirus outbreak continue to pressure the city’s battered economy.

The unemployment rate increased to 4.2% for the January-to-March period, higher than the median estimate of 4.0% among economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The jump extended the longest stretch of increases since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The underemployment rate climbed to 2.1%, the highest in almost a decade.

Year-on-year declines in total employment and the labor force widened further to 3.6% and 2.2% respectively, both the highest on record, the government said in a release.

“The labor market will continue to face significant pressure from the economic fallout arising from the pandemic in the near term,” said Law Chi-kwong, secretary for Labour and Welfare, in a government statement. “Some specific measures, in particular the employment support scheme and various types of support for specific sectors, should help keep workers in employment.”

Unemployment in consumption and tourism-related industries including retail, accommodations and food services rose to a combined 6.8%, the highest since 2009. Joblessness specifically in the food and beverage service industry climbed to 8.6%. Unemployment in construction, transportation and education also jumped, the government said.

In a blog post Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the city’s unemployment and underemployment rates are expected to accelerate as political unrest and the coronavirus outbreak have stalled retail, tourism and many service industries. Visitor arrivals have plummeted almost 99% while small business sentiment hovers near a record low.

“Companies are under tremendous pressure, and the impact on the job market is continuously deepening,” Chan said in translated comments from his Chinese-language post.


##https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-20/hong-kong-unemployment-rises-for-sixth-month-amid-virus-controls?srnd=premium-asia

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-21 18:19 | Report Abuse

Coca-Cola says demand in April has been weakened by coronavirus pandemic, volume off 25% so far this month

(PUBLISHED TUE, APR 21 20205:51 AM EDTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO)

~ Coca-Cola will report its first-quarter earnings before the bell Tuesday.

~ The global beverage company withdrew its 2020 outlook in March.

~ In late February, the global beverage giant forecast that the virus will hit its first-quarter earnings by 1 cent to 2 cents.


##https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coca-cola-ko-earnings-q1-2020.html

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-28 12:34 | Report Abuse

HSBC’s pre-tax profit falls 48% year-over-year in the first quarter to $3.2 billion

(PUBLISHED MON, APR 27 202010:33 PM EDTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO)

~ Analysts at Morgan Stanley had projected the bank’s first-quarter profit before tax could fall by 35.7% year-over-year to $3.998 billion.

~ HSBC shares in London have fallen by 29.7% so far this year. Its Hong Kong-listed shares have dropped by around 35.1% in the same period.


HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, said on Tuesday that it’s pre-tax profit fell 48% year-over-year to $3.229 billion in the first quarter of 2020, while revenue dropped by 5% to $13.686 billion.

The London-headquartered bank derives the bulk of its earnings from Asia, particularly Greater China where the coronavirus hit first. The bank had warned in February that disruptions caused by the virus outbreak could reduce its revenue this year — but some investors said economic conditions have turned out to be worse than expected.

Dickie Wong, executive director at Kingston Securities, said before the earnings release that HSBC was expected to post “a dramatic drop” in earnings and revenue.

“The first-quarter earnings will drop as much as 50%,” he told CNBC’s


##https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/28/hsbc-reports-first-quarter-2020-earnings-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Posted by Keyman188 > 2020-04-29 15:41 | Report Abuse

Today got 3 report card on the table...

1) Sapura Energy - super duper ugly

2) LCTitan - unexpected moderate ugly

3) MHB - better than expected - give it LIKE...