TOP GLOVE’S NEXT RECORD-BREAKING QUARTERLY

PROFIT EXPECTED TO SURGE PAST RM2B p4

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Sarawak gets
greater share of
O&G revenue
under landmark
settlement with
Petronas
Report on Page 2.
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
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Sarawak gets
greater share of
O&G revenue
under landmark
settlement with
Petronas
BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): Petroliam
Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and the Sarawak
state government yesterday signed a land-
mark commercial settlement agreement on
issues involving the state’s sales tax and oil
mining laws, under which Sarawak will get
a greater share of revenues from oil and gas
(O&G) found and produced in the state.
The deal, according to a joint state-
ment issued by parties, also provides for a
more active involvement by the state in the
O&G industry through the management
of onshore O&G resources by Petroleum
Sarawak Bhd (Petros), and investment by
Petros in the upstream ventures in off-
shore areas.
“Both the Sarawak state government
and Petronas, continuing its current role
as Malaysia’s national oil company, re-
main committed to working together to
create and maintain a stable, conducive
business and investment environment for
the sustainable growth of the oil and gas
industry, both upstream and downstream
in Sarawak.
“Towards this objective, the agree-
ment provides for a consultative frame-
work whereby both parties will be able to
jointly discuss and deliberate on matters
of importance to the oil and gas industry
including those which affect the interests
of the state,” the statement read.
The statement was signed off by Pet-
ronas president and group CEO Tengku
2 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
published by
(266980-X)
. 603-77218000
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Level 3, Menara KLK, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6,
Mutiara Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia
H O M E
Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz, and Sar-
awak State Secretary Datuk Jaul Samion.
Bernama reported, quoting Tengku
Muhammad Taufik at the signing cere-
mony, that the consultative framework will
enhance collaboration through a struc-
tured and formalised avenue comprising
a joint coordination committee and an
annual strategic dialogue.
“These platforms will be co-chaired
between (Sarawak) Chief Minister Datuk
Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and Pe-
tronas chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam
Salleh,” Tengku Muhammad Taufik said.
The commercial settlement agreement,
executed yesterday, was signed by Teng-
ku Muhammad Taufik, Malaysia Petro-
leum Management senior vice-president
Mohamed Firouz Asnan, Sarawak state
secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion and
Sarawak acting state attorney-general Saf-
eri Ali. The ceremony was witnessed by
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
and Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri
Zafrul Aziz, together with Abang Johari.
The settlement agreement was exe-
cuted following the conclusion of ne-
gotiations, facilitated by the Ministry
of Finance, which resolved the parties’
differences over the imposition of state
sales tax on petroleum products, as well
as O&G matters.
According to Bernama, Muhyiddin wel-
comed the agreement and that his office
publisher + . Ho Kay Tat
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editor - in - chief
. Azam Aris
chief commercial officer . Sharon Teh
chief operating officer . Lim Shiew Yuin
editors . Kathy Fong . Jenny Ng .
Tan Choe Choe . Lam Jian Wyn
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issued a statement saying the agreement
struck would enable Petros, a Sarawak
government subsidiary, to play a larger
role in the O&G industry by collaborat-
ing with Petronas.
In addition, the Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO) said the settlement would open
more opportunities for O&G service pro-
viders in Sarawak to be involved in more
areas related to the industry. It will also
open a new chapter in efforts to further
stimulate the development of the O&G in-
dustry, including creating various business
opportunities, as well as the development
of related industries in Sarawak.
“At the same time, Petronas will con-
tinue to play its role as the national oil
company with full power to regulate the
overall O&G industry development in line
with the country’s laws,” the PMO was
quoted as saying.
The two parties’ agreement and co-
operation in sealing the commercial deal
demonstrated the Federal Government’s
commitment to resolve the matter together
with the Sarawak state government, it said.
“It is hoped that the settlement of this
issue will open a new chapter in the ef-
forts to achieve the Shared Prosperity Vi-
sion 2030 besides ensuring an inclusive
regional development so that the benefits
from the country’s developments can be
enjoyed by all Malaysians in a fair and eq-
uitable manner,” the PMO added.
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 3 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
Top Glove’s next record-breaking quarterly
profit expected to surge past RM2b
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): Top Glove
Corp Bhd will be releasing its result for
the September to November quarter
(1QFY21) tomorrow (Dec 9). The invest-
ing fraternity is expecting a record-break-
ing quarter with net profit of no less than
RM2 billion.
On top of that, Top Glove’s share-
holders are probably expecting a big
dividend cheque as well given the su-
perprofit made.
According to Bloomberg, the average
annual profit forecast for the financial
year ending Aug 31, 2021 (FY21) is at
RM8.61 billion among the 19 invest-
ment analysts who track the world’s larg-
est rubber glove maker. This means Top
Glove will have to deliver a net profit
of RM2.15 billion on average for each
quarter in order to meet the market con-
sensus estimate.
A quarterly net profit of RM2.15 bil-
lion would translate into 66.4% growth
from the record high of RM1.29 billion
in the preceding quarter ended Aug 31
(4QFY20). The jump would even be
more impressive on a year-on-year basis,
being 19 times higher against RM111.43
million a year ago.
Similarly, the market is expecting Top
Glove to post record annual revenue with
consensus estimate at RM19.74 billion,
which means the company is expected to
achieve a quarterly revenue of RM4.94
billion amid expectations of ballooning
sales volume and sharply higher average
selling prices. Top Glove’s revenue was at
RM3.11 billion in 4QFY20 and RM1.21
billion in 1QFY19.
According to Bloomberg, a majority of
analysts are bullish on Top Glove with 15
of them having a buy or equivalent rating
(75%), while four have hold calls (20%)
and one rated sell (5%).
Among them, Maybank Kim Eng’s
analyst Lee Yen Lin is the most bullish
analyst, who estimates Top Glove to post
an annual net profit of RM11.22 billion
in FY21, equivalent to RM2.81 billion
for each quarter, while the most bearish
projection is annual earnings of RM4.72
billion, or RM1.18 billion a quarter.
Some commented that the first finan-
cial quarter earnings are critical for the
group as its production in the following
quarter is currently affected by the Cov-
id-19 outbreak among its workers.
When contacted, Rakuten Trade Sdn
Bhd research vice president Vincent Lau
4 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
BY JUSTIN LIM
theedgemarkets.com
REUTERS
said Top Glove can look forward to re-
cord earnings for its 1QFY21 and esti-
mated it to be in line with the market’s
consensus of over RM2 billion, backed
by growing economies of scales for glove
production coupled with uptrend in av-
erage selling prices (ASPs) for gloves as
demand for gloves stayed elevated in the
wake of growing Covid-19 cases globally.
Geoffrey Ng, an investment adviser
and director for Fortress Capital Asset
Management (M) Sdn Bhd, has a similar
view and concurred that Top Glove could
post record earnings in 1QFY21, despite
the blip in its foreign worker hostels’ is-
sue, which resulted in Klang factories’
stoppage for a month due to the impo-
sition of Enhanced Movement Control
Order (EMCO), starting from Nov 17
until Dec 14.
To recap, Top Glove previously esti-
mated the temporary shutdowns would
only reduce its FY21 sales revenue by
about 3%. The figure was derived after
taking into account an expected EMCO
of three weeks, and the expectation that
50% of its production would be impact-
ed. Also, it added that it did not anticipate
any major cancellation of orders due to
temporary shutdowns.
To put things into perspective, both
Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Supermax
Corp Bhd have witnessed exponential
growth in their latest quarterly results
respectively backed by higher ASPs for
gloves and continuous robust glove de-
mand.
Hartalega’s net profit leapt five times
to its best-ever quarterly earnings of
RM544.96 million for the second quar-
ter ended Sept 30, 2020 against the
RM103.87 million posted a year ago.
Quarterly revenue jumped almost 90% to
RM1.35 billion from RM709.42 million.
On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis,
its net profit grew more than two times
from RM219.72 million and revenue also
increased by 46.29% from RM920.09
million.
Supermax, which has recently being
added to the FBM KLCI 30 constitu-
ents, saw its net profit surge almost 32
times to a record quarterly net profit of
RM789.52 million for the first quarter
ended Sept 30, 2020, from RM24.75 mil-
lion a year ago. Quarterly revenue soared
more than three times to RM1.35 billion,
from RM369.94 million. On a q-o-q ba-
sis, its net profit rose almost two times
from RM399.62 million in the fourth
quarter ended June 30, 2020 and reve-
nue also grew 45.57% from RM929.12
million.
Record earnings come with bumper
dividend?
Against the backdrop of superprofit, Top
Glove’s cash pile is ballooning. As such,
Fortress Capital’s Ng believes the com-
pany can afford to pay special dividends
to shareholders in the form of cash.
Ng does not discount the possibility
of paying dividend in-specie by distrib-
uting its treasury shares it bought back
on the open market.
The company has spent RM1.28 bil-
lion on share buy-back exercise since
September — an amount that exceeded
its cash balance of RM1.21 billion as at
Aug 31.
Its net outstanding treasury shares
stood at 177.78 million or equivalent to
a 2.17% stake as at Dec 2.
Its chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai
has promised to deliver a dividend yield
of at least 6% for FY21 in view of the
rosy earnings prospects.
To recap, the board declared 11.83 sen
dividend per share for FY20, compared
with 2.5 sen in FY19.
Based on Top Glove’s closing price
of RM6.60 yesterday, a dividend yield
of 6% will translate into a dividend per
share of 39.6 sen.
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 5 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Tropicana
Corp Bhd announced a couple of boardroom
changes today, including the resignation of
an independent director and the redesigna-
tion of one to a senior independent director’s
post, while the company was asked to justify
its recent acquisitions of RM78.47 million
worth of shares in Top Glove Corp Bhd.
In separate filings today, Tropicana said
its independent and non-executive director
Loh Chen Peng, 66, who is also a member
of the group’s risk committee, has resigned
from the board due to health issues, with
effect from Dec 5.
At the same time, another independent
director Datuk Tang Vee Mun, 47, has been
made a senior independent director, with
effect from today.
Meanwhile, Tropicana also announced
it has been requested by the stock exchange
to, among others, justify the rationale be-
hind the group’s purchases of 11.25 million
Top Glove shares last Friday via the open
market, given that the business is differ-
ent from Tropicana’s principal activities.
The bourse also wanted to know why
Tropicana, which shares a common share-
holder and chairman with Top Glove in Tan
Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai, chose Top Glove
over other glove companies.The group was
also asked to elaborate on the prospects
and risk factors of the acquisitions, given
“the commercialisation of Covid-19 vac-
cine in the near future which may hamper
the demand of gloves globally as well as
the possible negative impact to the share
prices of gloves companies including Top
Glove”.
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Former
inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri
Mohamad Fuzi Harun has resigned from
his role as Inix Technologies Holdings
Bhd’s independent and non-executive
chairman, five days after his appointment.
In a bourse filing, the company
announced that Mohamad Fuzi, 61, has
resigned effective today to “spend more
time on personal interest and ongoing
businesses”. He was appointed Inix’s
chairman on Dec 2.
Succeeding the former IGP as Inix’s
chairman will be Tan Sri Syed Mohd
Yusof Tun Syed Nasir. The 73-year-old
was previously chairman of YLI Holdings
Bhd — a post he relinquished in January.
Currently, he is non-independent non-
executive director of property developer
Titijaya Land Bhd.
“Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof bin
Tun Syed Nasir has accumulated vast
experience in diverse areas such as
property development, construction,
media, entertainment, hotel management
6 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
Tropicana
director resigns
while Bursa
queries group
about Top Glove
share buy
BY SYAHIRAH SYED JAAFAR
theedgemarkets.com
In response,Tropicana said theTop Glove
shares were transacted at prevailing market
prices from the open market on the dates,
between RM6.528 and RM28.898 (before
Top Glove’s two-for-one bonus issue) apiece.
It said Lim, who is the founder of Top
Glove of which he controls a 25.68% stake
— he is also among the top three substan-
tial shareholders with an 11.07% stake in
Tropicana — had voluntarily abstained from
deliberating and voting for the acquisitions.
It also said the acquisitions were under-
taken as part of its investment strategy to
capitalise on the potential robust growth
of Top Glove.
“The company has chosen to invest in
Top Glove instead of other glove compa-
nies as Top Glove is the world’s largest
manufacturer of gloves. It currently cap-
tures approximately 26% of the world mar-
ket share for rubber gloves. Top Glove has
Inix chairman
ex-IGP
Mohamad Fuzi
Harun quits
five days after
appointment
BY ARJUNA CHANDRAN SHANKAR
theedgemarkets.com
and hospitality, food and beverage,
banking and information technology,” a
separate bourse filing read.
It is worth noting that Mohamad Fuzi
succeeded Macau tycoon Wan Kuok Koi,
who resigned as Inix’s chairman on Dec 2.
Wan was appointed the group’s chairman
back in August.
also demonstrated steady growth with a
compound annual growth rate of 23.1%
for revenue and 28.2% for profit after tax
over the past 20 years,” Tropicana said.
“The acquisitions allow the company to
benefit from the prospects of the manufac-
turing and trading of gloves, which are largely
contributed by the increased demand glob-
ally for gloves due to the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic and also the growth in the global
healthcare services industry,” it added.
Last Friday, The Edge reported that
Tropicana’s purchases of shares in Top
Glove had raised questions about why it
was buying into the group, whose share
price had been declining, weighed by
developments in the vaccine discovery
space, and the surge of Covid-19 infec-
tions among its workers that had caused
the temporary closures of 28 of its facto-
ries, or half its production capacity.
Shares in Tropicana slipped one sen or
1.14% to close at 87 sen today, giving the
group a market capitalisation of RM1.2
billion.
Top Glove, which has spent more than
RM1 billion to buy back its own shares since
September as its share price retreats, ended
the day at RM6.60, down five sen or 0.75%
from the previous day’s close for a market
capitalisation of RM54.1 billion. While the
stock has declined 25% since the start of
September, it is still up 320% year-to-date.
Read also: EPF disposes of another 7.15m
shares in Top Glove, reducing stake to
5.63% Click here
Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun
Shares in Inix were up by 51.52%
or 17 sen at 50 sen apiece, valuing it at
RM233.30 million. It saw 494 million
shares done.
Read also: Frankly Speaking: Is the
party at Inix over? Click here
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 8 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

H O M E

Two more firms join the vaccine

distribution club
REUTERS

BY WONG EE LIN
theedgemarkets.com

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): My EG Ser-

vices Bhd (MyEG) andYong Tai Bhd have
become the two latest companies to jump
on the vaccine distribution bandwagon.
MyEG announced today that it has
signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with Anhui Zhifei Longcom Bi-
opharmaceutical Co Ltd (Zhifei) to ob-
tain Malaysian halal certification for the
Chinese biopharma company’s Covid-19
vaccine and to exclusively distribute the
vaccine in Malaysia for a three-year period.
The two groups have agreed to cooper-
ate in conducting Phase 3 clinical trials of
Zhifei’s vaccine in Malaysia and in achiev-
ing compliance with halal status require- collaborate with China-based Shenzhen YTD, the share prices of all of these
ments to secure halal certification from the Kangtai Biological Products Co Ltd for companies have risen tremendously on the
Department of Islamic Development Ma- the development and exclusive commer- back of the slew of positive vaccine devel-
laysia (Jakim), said MyEG in a statement. cialisation of Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia. opment news, led by Solution Group (up
It said the commencement of the Phase Yong Tai topped the list of active stocks 1,942%) and followed by Bintai Kinden
3 trials will make Zhifei’s vaccine one of on Bursa Malaysia today with 860.89 mil- (1,109%), Ho Wah Genting (748%) and
the first to undergo the final-stage trials in lion shares traded. It closed two sen or Kanger (125%).
Malaysia
X X X M A Y under
X X , 2 0 2the
0 purview
1 T H E Eof
D Gthe Minis-
E CE O M O R N I N5.48%
G B R I E Fhigher
S at 38.5 sen, valuing the com- In September, Ho Wah Genting, which
try of Health (MoH). pany at RM401.08 million. Over the past has been appointed a distributor of a Chi-
T A B L E MyEG S A shares,
M P L which E F O rose N as
T /much
C O L as O U fiveRweeks, the counter has skyrocketed by na-developed Covid-19 diagnostic kit in
17.4% this morning, pared some of the 171.4%. Prior to this, it was hovering be- Malaysia until year end, entered into an
gains to close 4.97% or nine sen higher at low the 20 sen level for over a year. MoU with Xinkexian (Beijing) Biotech-
RM1.90, with some 114.9 million shares Apart from MyEG and Yong Tai, four nology Co Ltd (XKX) for a possible part-
transacted. This brings the group a market other companies — Ho Wah Genting Bhd, nership.
capitalisation of RM6.94 billion.The stock Kanger International Bhd, Solution Group Ho Wah Genting is considering ap-
has risen by 72.7% year-to-date (YTD) Bhd and Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd — have pointing XKX as its non-exclusive man-
with a 38.7% jump in the past five weeks. also announced partnerships relating to the ufacturer to produce Covid-19 vaccines.
Property developer Yong Tai is also distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. Nota- Kanger, which is also venturing into
planning to venture into the vaccine busi- bly, three of them are also in collaboration the rubber glove making business, said
ness. Last Friday, it announced plans to with Chinese-based groups. in September that it had entered into a
collaboration agreement with Sinopharm
More players join the vaccine bandwagon Group Hunan Changde Medical Co Ltd
relating to the distribution of Covid-19
COMPANIES LAST PRICE YTD CHANGE MARKET CAP vaccine and medical equipment products
(RM) (%) (RM MIL) in Malaysia.
BINTAI KINDEN CORPORATION 1.39 1,108.70 486.63 The products are developed by state-
HO WAH GENTING 0.89 747.62 468.79 owned China National Pharmaceutical
KANGER INTERNATIONAL 0.18 125.00 405.95 Group Corp, one of China’s largest and
K-STAR SPORTS 0.215 207.14 103.67 oldest biotech companies.
SOLUTION GROUP 1.94 1,942.11 632.09 While Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine
YONG TAI 0.385 140.63 401.08 was already approved for emergency use
MYEG SERVICES 1.90 72.73 6,629.46 in July, it is also understood that the vac-
Pharmaceutical companies
cines are currently under Phase 3 trials
— the final stage before being approved
DUOPHARMA BIOTECH 3.78 166.20 2,668.78
for general use in more than 10 countries.
PHARMANIAGA 5.35 159.71 1,400.13
Moreover, Kanger has roped in Zuellig
APEX HEALTHCARE 3.70 65.18 1,757.83 Pharma Sdn Bhd — the largest vaccine
KOTRA INDUSTRIES 3.09 64.36 457.12 distributor in Malaysia and Asia — and
YSP SOUTHEAST ASIA HOLDING 2.31 -0.46 325.14 K-Star Sport Ltd to collaborate on the dis-
Data compiled as at Dec 7, 2020 tribution of Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia.
Source: Bloomberg
CO N TI N U ES O N PAG E 10
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 9 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): The govern-
ment has so far only dealt with pharmaceu-
tical company Pfizer and the Covid-19 vac-
cine global access (COVAX) for Covid-19
vaccine procurement, according to Minis-
ter of Science, Technology and Innovation
Khairy Jamaluddin.
Other arrangements done by private com-
panies are purely commercial deals that have
nothing to do with the government, he told
the Dewan Rakyat today. These arrange-
ments, nevertheless, must be approved by
Malaysia’s medical regulators such as the
National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“I would like to inform market investors in
Malaysia that the announcements [by private
companies related to Covid-19 vaccines] do
not mean that they are procured by the gov-
ernment. So far, the only procurement made
by the government is with COVAX for 10%
of the population, and Pfizer for 20% of the
population. These arrangements are made
directly by the government without the use of
any middleman or third party,” Khairy said.
Khairy was responding to the concerns
raised by Kuala Selangor member of Parlia-
ment (MP) and former health minister Datuk
Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Bandar Kuch-
ing MP Dr KelvinYii on the procurement of
Covid-19 vaccines by the government.
Specifically,Yii pointed to My EG Servic-
es Bhd (MyEG), which recently announced
that it had entered into a cooperation with
Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical
Co Ltd to conduct phase-three clinical tri-
als and subsequent commercialisation of its
Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia.
Yii questioned how MyEG, with no track
record in logistics or medical supplies, can
be allowed to approach such contracts.
To this, Khairy clarified that any local
company is allowed to negotiate with inter-
FROM PAGE 8
Also, in the same month, Solution
Group’s subsidiary forged a partnership
with China-based CanSino Biologics Inc to
market and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine
in Malaysia. The vaccine, Adenovirus Type
5 Vector, will be registered after completing
a Phase 3 clinical trial with Malaysia’s Na-
tional Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
Meanwhile, Bintai Kinden in October
signed a distribution and licensing agree-
ment with US-based Generex Biotechnol-
ogy Corp and its subsidiary NuGenerex
Immuno-Oncology Inc for their Covid-19
vaccine.
Under the agreement, the company
is granted the exclusive right to distrib-
ute, sell and commercialise the vaccine in
Southeast Asia. It also has the right of first
refusal to commercially exploit the vaccine
in Australia and New Zealand as well as
10 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
Khairy: Govt’s
Covid-19 vaccine
deal only with
Pfizer and
COVAX, others
are private
arrangements
BY EMIR ZAINUL
theedgemarkets.com
national companies to be their agent or dis-
tributor of Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia.
“We cannot control if they want to make
a commercial arrangement with other vac-
cine manufacturers from outside of Ma-
laysia. But they must get the necessary ap-
provals from Malaysia’s regulators,” he said.
During his winding up speech on the de-
bate on Budget 2021 at the Dewan Rakyat
today, Khairy also dismissed the allegation by
Gua Musang MPTengku Razaleigh Hamzah,
who claimed that the government had ex-
hausted the entire RM3 billion of its alloca-
tion to buy Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer.
the global halal market.
Generex, whose vaccine is still in the
pre-clinical trial stage, is targeting to get
the US Food and Drug Administration’s
approval in the first or second quarter of
2021.
Inix Technologies Holdings Bhd, which
has risen 900% YTD, in September an-
nounced that it was in early talks with par-
ties developing a Covid-19 vaccine. How-
ever, no updates have been made since.
In July, Science, Technology and Inno-
vation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yas-
sin had given the nod for the two govern-
ment-linked pharmaceutical companies
— Pharmaniaga Bhd and Duopharma
Biotech Bhd — to undertake the fill and
finish processes for a Covid-19 vaccine,
once the country secures it.
Duopharma Biotech’s shares were up
“I can categorically state in the Dewan
Rakyat today that those claims are baseless
and not true at all. I cannot disclose the
actual price of the procurement with Pfiz-
er due to the NDA (non-disclosure agree-
ment). But our agreement with Pfizer and
also with COVAX is still way within our
reach of the RM3 billion for 70% of the
population,” Khairy said.
Razaleigh had questioned if Malaysia was
rushing into a deal to purchase 12.8 million
doses of the vaccine that would only cover
6.4 million people or 20% of the population.
On Nov 27, Prime Minister Tan Sri Mu-
hyiddin Yassin announced that the govern-
ment, through the Health Ministry, had
signed a preliminary purchasing agreement
with Pfizer to obtain 12.8 million doses of
Covid-19 vaccine to meet the immunisation
needs of 20% or 6.4 million Malaysians.
The agreement, signed on Nov 24, is
aimed to ensure the government has access
to data regarding the vaccine’s quality, safety
and effectiveness while also ensuring access
once it is ready for distribution.
Earlier in September, Khairy said Ma-
laysia would be joining 172 countries to
participate in COVAX to obtain access to
the supply of Covid-19 vaccines.
He said the Malaysian government was
also preparing the agreement to join the
Coalition for Epidemic and Preparedness
Innovations, and a government-to-govern-
ment pact with the Chinese government to
gain access to vaccines developed by phar-
maceutical companies in China.
The allocation for the Ministry of Sci-
ence, Technology and Innovation was today
passed by the Dewan Rakyat in a voice vote
with no objection from the opposition bloc.
So far, nine ministries’ budget allocations
have been approved with voice votes.
166.2% YTD to RM3.78, while Pharma-
niaga surged 159.7% YTD to RM5.35.
Other pharmaceutical companies that
have benefitted from the positive vaccine
news flow are Apex Healthcare Bhd (up
65.2% YTD) and Kotra Industries Bhd
(up 64.4% YTD).
Speaking in Dewan Rakyat today,
Khairy said private negotiations done in
relation to Covid-19 vaccines by private
companies have nothing to do with the
government’s procurement of vaccines for
the country.
Malaysia is the first Southeast Asian
country to announce a deal with US drug-
maker Pfizer to buy 12.8 million doses of
its Covid-19 vaccine.
Read also:Yong Tai to raise up to RM92m
via private placement Click here
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
Ku Nan granted discharge not amounting
to acquittal for second graft trial
BY AHMAD NAQIB IDRIS
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): The High
Court has granted the prosecution in Da-
tuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s
second graft trial’s application for an or-
der of discharge not amounting to acquittal
(DNAA) — amid the Malaysian Anti-Cor-
ruption Commission’s (MACC) complaint
against one of the witnesses.
The decision today marks the third high
profile discharge this year, after the granting
of a DNAA to Riza Aziz for money laun-
dering involving 1Malaysia Development
Bhd funds in May and the subsequent dis-
charge and acquittal of Tan Sri Musa Aman
of all 46 criminal charges in June this year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Julia
Ibrahim said the prosecution requires some
time to investigate the MACC’s complaint
as it may have implications for the witness
in question.
“We need time to investigate this.We do
not want to waste the court’s time,” said the
DPP, who made the application under Sec-
tion 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act
During the session, Tengku Adnan’s
lawyer Datuk Tan Hock Chuan submit-
ted that it would be unfair for a DNAA to
be granted, as opposed to a full acquittal,
as the charge would be “hanging over my
client’s head indefinitely”.
“It is very unfair for the charge to be
hanging over his head. Assuming that what
she says is true, the prosecution should go
ahead and investigate. My client cannot
be left hanging for an indefinite period of
time,” said Hock Chuan.
High Court Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd
Ghazali also queried the prosecution on
whether there is any indication of the
amount of time needed by the prosecu-
tion before taking any further action relat-
ing to the charge.
However, the DPP said there is noth-
ing stopping the defence from inquiring
with the prosecution within a month or
two, adding that there should be some pro-
gress made relating to its investigation of
the “new development” after a reasonable
period of time.
In giving his decision, Justice Mohd Na-
zlan said Section 254 of the act states that
a discharge should not amount to acquittal
unless the court deems so.
He further said that the question is
whether there are good grounds for a
DNAA.
11 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
“The reason submitted by the leaned
DPP on the recent development is a basis
for this court not to give a full acquittal,”
he said, before granting the DNAA.
Tengku Adnan, 69, better known as Ku
Nan, is accused of receiving a RM1 mil-
lion bribe from property developer Datuk
Tan Eng Boon.
Eng Boon, who is also the chairman of
the Joland Group of Companies, initially
claimed trial for bribing Tengku Adnan.
However, in September last year, he
pleaded guilty to the alternative charge
of abetting the politician in receiving the
bribe, and was fined RM1.5 million by
Justice Mohd Nazlan.
Ku Nan allegedly received the sum as
an inducement to approve the application
of Nucleus Properties Sdn Bhd (now Par-
agon City Development Sdn Bhd) to in-
crease its plot ratio in the development of
Lot 228 in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur.
The offence, for which he is charged
under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) Act, was alleg-
edly committed at CIMB Bank, Putra
World Trade Centre, Second Floor, Po-
dium Block, Jalan Tun Ismail here on Dec
27, 2013.
He also faces an alternative charge in
his capacity as the then federal territories
minister with receiving for himself RM1
million from Eng Boon via a Public Bank
cheque belonging to Pekan Nenas Indus-
tries Sdn Bhd, which was deposited into
his CIMB account, knowing that Eng Boon
as a director of Nucleus Properties had
connection with his official duties.
The charge is framed under Section
165 of the Penal Code, which provides
imprisonment of up to two years or a fine,
or both, if found guilty.
Decision on first trial slated for Dec 21
This is the second graft trial for Tengku Ad-
nan after the first RM2 million graft charge
in his capacity as a civil servant. The deci-
sion on the first trial is slated for Dec 21.
In the first trial, he is alleged to have re-
ceived the amount from businessman Tan
Sri Chai Kin Kong, who is a director of
Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, via a Hong Leong
Islamic Bank cheque from the company,
which was deposited into a CIMB account
owned by Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd
(THSB) when it was known that Aset Kay-
amas had connection with his official duties.
Ku Nan is the largest shareholder of
THSB.
He is accused of committing the of-
fence at the CIMB Bank branch in Pusat
Bandar Damansara here on June 14, 2016
and charged under Section 165 of the Penal
Code, which provides for a jail term of up to
two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Read also:
1MDB cases involving Najib postponed
until next month for him to attend
Parliament session Click here
1MDB: SC applies to transfer Roger Ng
case to another High Court judge
Click here
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): The Ma-
laysian Government has not finalised its
decision on the revocation of cabotage
exemption on foreign-flagged vessels per-
forming submarine cable repairs in Ma-
laysian waters and the matter is still being
discussed at the Cabinet level, according
to Science, Technology and Innovation
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar
(pictured).
Khairy said in Parliament here today
that the government is still deliberating the
matter and that policymakers will include
negotiations with international technology
companies to reach a decision that will be
announced soon.
“I have brought this matter up in the
Cabinet meeting and it has already been
taken note by the Ministry of Transport
(MoT). We are currently devising a
procedure that will provide oppor-
tunities to local industries but at
the same time, will not affect the
time required to make those
repairs to the submarine ca-
bles,” he said.
Khairy was responding to
a question by Bakri member
of Parliament Yeo Bee Yin,
who had earlier asked for the
ministry’s stand on Transport
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee
Ka Siong’s decision to revoke
the cabotage exemption on
foreign-flagged vessels
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Batu Kawan
Bhd today made a formal offer to buy all
shares in Chemical Company of Malaysia
Bhd (CCM) that it does not already own
at RM3.10 per share.
This is the price the group is paying
to acquire a 56.32% stake in CCM for
RM292.97 million cash from Permodalan
Nasional Bhd (PNB).
Upon completion of the acquisition,
Batu Kawan’s shareholding in CCM will
be increased to 59.73% from 3.41%.
According to the group’s notice of an
unconditional mandatory takeover offer,
the RM3.10 offer price represents premi-
ums ranging from 2.13% over the five-
day volume weighted average market price
(VWAMP), and up to 77.88% over the
one-year VWAMP, up to the last traded
price of the shares of RM3.05 as at last
Friday.
CCM has seen a steep climb in its share
price since mid-October on news that PNB
is mulling to divest its stake in the chem-
ical company.
12 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
Malaysia has not
performing submarine cable repairs in
Malaysian waters.
finalised decision
Yeo claimed that cabotage-exemption
revocation concerns will send a very nega-
on revocation
tive signal to not only technology start-ups,
but also private venture capital companies
of cabotage
that Malaysia wants to attract.
“The cabotage policy issue is clearly not
exemption for
friendly to high-tech companies. This will
send a very negative signal to not only tech-
foreign vessels
nology start-ups, but also private venture
capital companies that we want to attract to
— Khairy
get involved with the fund-of-funds mod-
el started by the government,” she said.
A fund-of-funds model refers to a
scheme, which invests its money in other
BY EMIR ZAINUL funds across various asset classes like eq-
theedgemarkets.com uities and bonds.
It was reported that the cabotage ex-
emption was introduced in April 2019 by
the previous Pakatan Harapan government
to reduce the time required to repair un-
dersea cables.
It was reported that on Nov 13, 2020,
Wee issued a federal gazette to revoke the
cabotage exemption to reduce outflow of
foreign exchange and minimise the coun-
try’s dependence on foreign vessels by in-
creasing the involvement of local shipping
companies in the domestic service.
At Parliament today, Wee, however, did
not address the matter during his winding
up speech.
The allocation for the MoT under
Budget 2021, was today passed by the Par-
liament’s Lower House or Dewan Rak-
yat, after 109 MPs voted in favour of the
proposal versus 94, who voted against it.
Since the beginning of October, the
Batu Kawan stock has risen 148% to the latest share
price of RM3.08 from RM1.24 previous-
makes formal ly. At the current price, the takeover offer
price just barely represents a 1% premium.
offer for remaining Batu Kawan confirmed that it had suf-
ficient financial resources to satisfy full ac-
CCM shares at ceptance of the offer. It said the offer will
not fail due to insufficient financial capa-
RM3.10 each bility, and that every holder who wishes to
accept the offer will be paid fully in cash.
Batu Kawan, which controls Kual Lum-
BY WONG EE LIN pur Kepong Bhd (KLK), said it intends
theedgemarkets.com to maintain the listing status of CCM on
the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia un-
less it receives valid acceptances resulting
in the company and its associates holding
in aggregate 90% or more of the shares.
As at 3.30pm today, shares in Batu
Kawan were up four sen or 0.23% at
RM17.24, valuing the group at RM6.89
billion. Year to date (YTD), the counter
was 1.26% lower from RM17.46, but from
this year’s trough of RM11.40, it was up
51%.
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 13 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 14 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

H O M E

Bursa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Bursa Ma- “In addition, a Derivatives Specialist will
laysia Bhd has expanded its market-making be permitted to carry out PSS on the under-

expands
framework to increase market efficiency and lying securities of the Single Stock Futures
promote liquidity and depth, effective today. Contract or Stock Option Contract, which

market-making
Bursa Malaysia in a statement said with are Approved Securities1, as part of the
the expanded framework, market makers are market-making activities of the Derivatives

framework to
accorded greater flexibility to quote prices Specialist in the derivatives market,” it said.
and respond to market demands. Lastly, existing market makers of Struc-

increase efficiency,
“This framework is aimed towards further tured Warrants (SW), Single Stock Op-
improving market makers’ ability to manage tions (SSO) and Single Stock Futures

risk by hedging their exposure to price vol-
atility in the underlying securities,” it said.
Market makers are an integral part of
the ecosystem, improving market efficien-
cy and providing greater liquidity, espe-
cially for less traded and less liquid stocks.
“As such, we believe this expansion
will further enhance the attractiveness
and competitiveness of the capital mar-
ket, thereby enticing more investors and
market participants,” it said.
The expanded market making framework
will foster more efficient market-making
through firstly, qualifying criteria for for-
eign entities to participate as a market mak-
er has been expanded to allow for foreign
entities that meet the prescribed criteria in
the Rules of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd
(BMS) to register as a market maker.
This qualifying criteria will be in ad-
dition to foreign securities or derivatives
flexibility
Bernama
brokers already allowed to participate.
Secondly, a new category of market mak-
ers has been introduced called Derivatives
Specialists who will be allowed to utilise the
Permitted Short Selling (PSS) framework
for the purpose of market-making.
“It should also be noted that an entity
that has been appointed by Bursa Malay-
sia Derivatives Bhd (BMD) as a market
maker in respect of Single Stock Futures
Contract or Stock Options Contract may
apply to Bursa Securities to be registered
as a Derivatives Specialist. Nevertheless,
there are currently no Single Stock Op-
tion Contracts listed on BMD.
(SSF) will also be allowed to undertake
PSS. In this respect, the expansion of the
PSS framework now allows the aforemen-
tioned market makers to execute PSS of
the underlying securities of SW, SSO and
SSF, which are Approved Securities.
Additionally, for market makers of SW,
PSS will facilitate the issuance of single
stock put warrants which often require
market makers to short sell the under-
lying shares to hedge their put warrant
positions. This augurs well for the SW
universe by introducing greater diversity.
“Making more put warrants available will
allow market participants to buy protective
puts and capitalise on any downward move-
ments of the underlying instrument.
“As for SSO and SSF, the ability to car-
ry out PSS is vital. Without this, the ability
of market makers to provide liquidity to
investors would be hampered,” it added.

NEWS IN BRIEF

MTD ACPI Engineering gets offer
from controlling shareholder to take
over company private
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Loss-making
MTD ACPI Engineering Bhd has received
an offer from its controlling shareholder
MTD Capital Bhd to take the construction
engineering firm private via a selective
capital reduction (SCR) and repayment
exercise. MTD Capital executive chairman
Tan Sri Dr Nik Hussain Abdul Rahman is
deemed the ultimate offeror, MTD ACPI
said in a filing. The plan involves MTD ACPI
undertaking the SCR and the corresponding
capital repayment to all its shareholders on
an entitlement date to be fixed. As at the last
practical date, the company’s share capital
was RM339.77 million comprising 231.63
million shares, while entitled shareholders
held 74.43 million shares. MTD ACPI said
entitled shareholders will receive a total
capital repayment of RM20.84 million,
or 28 sen per share, which will reduce its
share capital by RM20.84 million with the
cancellation of 74.43 million shares. The SCR
is being undertaken in view of the company’s
poor financial condition, and the challenges
the pandemic brought. — by Syahirah Syed
Jaafar/theedgemarkets.com
BNM international reserves up at US$105.3b as at Nov 30
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves inched up
to US$105.3 billion as at Nov 30 from US$104.9 billion as at Nov 13. In a statement today,
BNM said the reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.6 months of retained imports and is
1.2 times the total short-term external debt. Among the five components of the international
reserves, the largest, foreign currency reserves, rose to US$97.9 billion from US$95.2 billion
two weeks ago, while International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserves and gold were unchanged
at US$1.4 billion and US$2.4 billion respectively. Special Drawing Rights, however, slipped
to US$1.1 billion from US$1.2 billion, while other reserve assets fell to US$2.5 billion from
US$4.7 billion. The bank’s total assets stood at RM489.786 billion as at Nov 30, down 0.37%
from RM491.595 billion as at Nov 13. — by Syahirah Syed Jaafar/theedgemarkets.com
IOI Properties gets UMA query over Genting Malaysia’s resort in the
sharp rise in share price, volume Bahamas to reopen on Dec 26
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): IOI Properties KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Genting
Group Bhd, whose share price nearly hit Malaysia Bhd’s resort in the Bahamas will
limit up today as it soared to a two-year be reopening on Boxing Day (Dec 26) this
high, has been slapped with an unusual year. On its website, Resorts World Bimini
market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Bahamas said it had been taking extra
Malaysia. IOI Properties’ shares jumped precautions for the safety of its guests,
29.55% or 39 sen to close at RM1.71, noting that limited packages including
after 72.76 million shares were traded, far two-night packages are currently available
exceeding its 200-day average volume of for booking. “Per the minister of health, all
2.01 million. It has a market capitalisation visitors to the Bahamas must be cleared of
of RM9.36 billion. The stock has doubled the Covid-19 virus before coming ashore,”
from when it was trading at 85 sen at it said. The resort in the Bahamas includes
the start of November. — by Wong Ee Lin/ some 305 rooms and a casino. — by Arjuna
theedgemarkets.com Chandran Shankar/theedgemarkets.com
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
Pan Borneo
Highway:Works
Ministry ready
to discuss project
implementation
with Sabah
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7):The Ministry
of Works is ready to discuss with the Sabah
government new ways to construct the Pan
Borneo Highway in the state.
Its Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof
said among matters to be discussed is the
implementation of the project via a private
finance initiative (PFI).
“We are ready to discuss with the Sa-
bah government the new implementation
method, whether through the PFI and so
on... we will look at the government’s fi-
RC/VEP project
for northern
zone to be
implemented via
open tender next
year — Wee
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Implementa-
tion of the Road Charge (RC) system and
Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) project for the
northern zone will be carried out next year
via open tender, said Transport Minister
Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
“The Cabinet has decided that we will
introduce RC/VEP for the northern zone
but not through direct negotiation, it will
be made via open tender. The allocation
provided (in Budget 2021) is to implement
the RC/VEP project in the northern lev-
el,” he said when winding-up the Budget
2021 debate at the committee stage for the
ministry at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
The allocation was later passed through
bloc voting with 109 members of parliament
(MPs) in favour, 94 against and 17 absentees.
Meanwhile, Wee also announced the
15 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
nancial position,” he said when winding up
the committee-level Budget 2021 debate
for the ministry in Dewan Rakyat today.
The allocation for the ministry was then
approved at the committee level with a
majority vote after being debated by 10
Members of Parliament (MPs).
Earlier, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin
(Barisan Nasional-Kinabatangan), who is
also Sabah’s deputy chief minister, when
debating the supply bill wanted the min-
istry to consider allowing the Sabah gov-
ernment to implement the Pan Borneo
project in Sabah through the PFI.
He said this following slow progress of the
project, which was only 20% completed, while
in Sarawak, construction had reached 65%.
“I want to make sure the people of Sa-
bah can also enjoy the benefit when the Pan
Borneo [Highway] project is completed. If
only one package is completed in a year,
it will not be ready even in 2040,” he said.
Fadilah said 16 of the remaining 20
packages of the project in Sabah had been
approved, 15 of which had been tendered
out and one was cancelled due to incom-
petent contractors, while another was ap-
proved through the 2021 package.
service age limit for public vehicles, espe-
cially taxis, would be automatically extend-
ed for another year to help those impacted
by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If previously, 10 years is the end of its
service age, and can no longer be used, we will
now extend it for another year.These people
might not have any money, so this is what
the ministry can do to assist them,” he said.
In another development, Wee said
RM23.32 million was allocated for legal
costs in the case of the MH17 aircraft shot
down by a BUK missile while flying over
conflict-hit eastern Ukraine on July 14, 2014.
He said Malaysia bore 30% of the trial
cost for the case that claimed all 298 pas-
sengers and crew members which com-
prised 43 Malaysians, 193 Dutch nationals
and 27 Australians.
“Our reason for spending the money is
because this is a Malaysian aircraft, we want
to make sure those who committed the of-
fence will be brought to justice,” he said.
The Transport Ministry has allocated
RM6.052 billion in Budget 2021, compris-
ing RM1.877 billion or 31% for operating
expenditure and RM4.175 billion or 69%
for development expenditure.
Wee said the development expenditure
is for the implementation of 78 projects, of
which 20 are new projects while 58 others
are extension projects.
He said the overall allocation increased
by 67.5% compared to RM3.614 billion
allocated in Budget 2020.
Govt’s debt,
liability exposures
at RM1.257
trillion as at
end-September
— MoF
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): The gov-
ernment's total debt and liability ex-
posures are estimated to be RM1.257
trillion, or 87.3% of the gross domestic
product (GDP), as at the end of Septem-
ber 2020, said Deputy Finance Minister
II Mohd Shahar Abdullah.
Federal debt as at end-September
amounted to RM874.3 billion or 60.7%
of GDP, he said.
“However, based on statutory lim-
it calculations, the federal debt, com-
prising Malaysian Government Secu-
rities (MGS), Malaysian Government
Investment Issues (MGII) and Malaysia
Islamic Treasury Bills (MITB), com-
prised only 56.6% of GDP, which is
less than the 60% limit set recently,”
he said during the Dewan Rakyat sit-
ting today.
He was replying to Amanah president
Mohamad Sabu’s (PH-Kota Raja) ques-
tions on the government’s current debt
position and the debt-to-GDP ratio.
“The government is committed to
ensuring the refinancing of its debts is
implemented in an orderly manner ac-
cording to schedule,” Mohd Shahar said.
In view of the prolonged Covid-19
pandemic crisis, he said, the government
would focus on economic recovery, es-
pecially to safeguard the people’s welfare
and support business activities.
Mohd Shahar said after the economy
had recovered, the government would
go back to implementing fiscal consol-
idation measures to ensure the Federal
Government’s debt and financial liabili-
ty exposures remain well-controlled and
manageable.
The measures would include expand-
ing the revenue base, strengthening tax
administration and enforcement, and in-
creasing spending efficiency to contain
the federal deficit level, he explained.
“Thus, it will reduce the govern-
ment’s dependence on borrowings and
curb the Federal Government’s debt
and financial liability exposures,” add-
ed Mohd Shahar.
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Umno, Ba-
risan Nasional (BN) and Muafakat Nasion-
al (MN) will be involved in a series of meet-
ings over the next few days to discuss the
formation of the new Perak government.
BN secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar
Musa said Umno’s Supreme Council will
meet tonight, followed by the BN Supreme
Council tomorrow.
“On Wednesday night, the MN Con-
sultative Council [will meet]. Negotiations
are always better, [and] the Perikatan Na-
sional (PN) Presidential Council should
perhaps also meet.
“As comrades, [let’s] resolve this in the
best possible way. When we are strong to-
gether, we win together ... Insyaallah (God
willing),” he said in a Twitter posting today.
Earlier in Ipoh, Perak Umno chief Da-
tuk Saarani Mohamad confirmed that he
will be attending tonight’s Supreme Coun-
cil meeting.
The meeting, to be chaired by Umno
president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi, is expected to focus on on the
formation of the new Perak government.
Saarani, who is the Kota Tampan as-
semblyman, is said to be among several
Umno candidates proposed to succeed
Bersatu deputy president and Chender-
iang assemblyman Datuk Seri Ahmad
Faizal Azumu as the Perak menteri besar.
Last Friday, Ahmad Faizal failed to get
PUTRAJAYA (Dec 7): Malaysia suffered a
78.6% drop in tourist arrivals between Jan-
uary and September this year, compared
to the corresponding period last year, due
to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country only recorded 4.29 mil-
lion tourist arrivals in the period this year,
compared with 20.1 million in 2019, the
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tour-
ism Malaysia) said in a statement today.
It said the lower number of tourist arriv-
als also saw receipts from tourism drop by
80.9% to RM12.6 billion during the peri-
od this year, from RM66.1 billion in 2019,
with the per capita expenditure registering
a decline of 10.7%, from RM3,289.30 last
year, to RM2,938.40.
“The continued decline in the number
of arrivals was due to the closure of inter-
national borders since March 18, which
was part of the government’s proactive de-
cision in its efforts to curb the spread of
the pandemic in Malaysia,” Tourism Ma-
laysia said.
Malaysia’s top 10 tourist-generat-
ing markets continued to be Singapore
(1,543,627), Indonesia (710,118), Chi-
na (403,055), Thailand (372,075), India
(155,448), Brunei Darussalam (135,848),
South Korea (119,364), Japan (73,891),
16 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
Perak crisis:
majority support in a vote of confidence
in the State Legislative Assembly and re-
Umno, BN,
signed the next day.
Yesterday, PAS deputy president Datuk
Muafakat
Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the par-
ty leadership will be discussing the party’s
Nasional to
possible involvement in the new state gov-
ernment’s formation.
hold meetings
Meanwhile, in a statement issued to-
day, Saarani called on all parties to re-
as speculation
main calm and not speculate on matters
pending an official announcement from
continues
the Umno leadership.
“Perak Umno views speculation and ru-
mours about the issue seriously following
several statements issued on non-official
Bernama party channels,” he said.
Meanwhile, another Perak Umno as-
semblyman said among the names short-
listed for the menteri besar’s post, Datuk
Shahrul Zaman Yahya said a political po-
sition is a responsibility and not a contest.
The Rungkup assemblyman said all par-
ties must go back to the basics of working
for the people, adding that there must be
a steadfast belief in the concept of accept-
ance, effort and trust in God’s plans.
Shahrul Zaman said this in a Facebook
posting attached with a news article quot-
ing him as one of the three possible can-
didates, along with Saarani and former
menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry
Abd Kadir.
Malaysia suffers
In terms of the number of excursion-
ists or daily visitors to the country, it said
78.6% drop in
Malaysia recorded a total of 1.73 million
arrivals from January to September 2020,
tourist arrivals
a decrease of 74.9% compared with 6.9
million excursionists who visited Malay-
sia in the corresponding period last year.
“As a result of the huge impact of the
Bernama pandemic on the global community, other
countries too were not spared from the ef-
fects on their tourism performance,” Tour-
ism Malaysia said.
According to data from the Pacific Asia
Travel Association (PATA), neighbouring
Asean countries like Thailand, Singapore,
Vietnam and Indonesia recorded a simi-
lar decrease of more than 70% in tourist
arrivals due to certain travel restrictions
imposed to combat the pandemic in the
respective countries, it said.
More Parliament stories:
Australia (72,369) and the Philippines
(65,601), it said. RM172m compensation paid for
Tourism Malaysia said negative growth 17 cancelled PR1MA projects, says
was observed for tourists from every re- Zuraida Click here
gional market, namely the short-haul
market (-78.8%), medium-haul market SESB handover process to take five
(-80%) and long-haul market (-74%). years, says deputy minister Click here
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
Covid-19: Malaysia
reports 1,600
new cases, Negeri
Sembilan infections
spike to record 541
BY SYAFIQAH SALIM
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Malaysia to-
day recorded 1,600 new Covid-19 cases —
the second highest daily figure since the pan-
demic began in January — taking the total
number of Covid-19 cases so far to 74,294.
Meanwhile, two more people died of the
disease, raising the death toll to 384, ac-
cording to health director-general Tan Sri
Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement.
Among the new infections, three were
imported cases while 1,597 were local
transmissions.
Negeri Sembilan today recorded 541 cas-
es, its highest to date. The spike of cases in
the state was due to the Bakti cluster, which
is linked to a prison in Seremban that con-
tributed 500 cases.
Dr Noor Hisham said the cases are iso-
lated in the prison, meaning they are not
infecting the community.
Selangor, the second worst-hit state, has
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Issues over
supply of Covid-19 vaccine supply faced by
pharmaceutical company Pfizer as claimed
by an international media will not affect its
supply for Malaysia, which is expected to be
made during the first quarter of next year.
Science, Technology and Innovation
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar
said according to the media report, this
problem would only affect this year’s pro-
duction.
“I am aware of the supply issues, but the
same media report also stated that the prob-
lem would only affect the 2020 supply. As
far as I know, it does not affect the supply
for the Malaysian government next year,”
he said at a question and answer session at
the Dewan Rakyat sitting here today.
He was responding to a supplementary
question from Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed
Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) on whether
the vaccine supply chain issues as reported
by Reuters would affect the supply of Cov-
id-19 vaccines to Malaysia.
Khairy, however, said if there are disrup-
tions in the supply chain, the government
will identify other vaccine portfolios from
17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
H O M E
Daily new Covid-19 cases in KL versus Selangor
Daily cases in KL Daily cases in Selangor
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 148
Sept 15, 2020
Source: Ministry of Health
426 cases, which represent 26.6% of total new
cases, while Sabah logged 248 cases (15.5%).
Overall, Dr Noor Hisham said 584 cases
today are linked to Covid-19 related prison
clusters and detention centres.
Besides the Bakti cluster, the other clus-
ters that reported new cases today are the
Tembok cluster in Kedah (49), the PTS
Sibuga cluster in Sabah (17), the Seberang
Perai prison cluster in Penang (eight), the
Matambai cluster in Sabah (seven), the Jalan
Harapan prison cluster in Selangor (two),
and the GK Tawau cluster in Sabah (one).
Active cases, which have high transmis-
sion risks, stood at 11,604, noted Dr Noor
Hisham, adding that there are 129 Cov-
id-19 patients in intensive care units with
57 needing ventilators to breathe.
A total of 1,033 patients were discharged
today, bringing the total number of complete
Pfizer Covid-19
vaccine supply
issues does not
affect supply for
Malaysia — Khairy
Bernama
various companies as relying on one com-
pany could open to risks of not getting suf-
ficient vaccine supply for Malaysians.
Commenting on the additional costs that
may be incurred in addition to the RM3 billion
allocation, Khairy said each agreement with
vaccine manufacturers would take into ac-
count costs such as transportation and storage.
“Our agreement with Pfizer for example,
the costs we have paid for each dose also
cover transportation that will be borne by
the company,” he said.
Responding to the original question,
Daily cases in other states
1,600
426
Dec 7, 2020
recoveries from Covid-19 to 62,306, which
account for 83.9% of total cases.
As for the fatalities, the two deaths were re-
corded in Sabah, involving a 76-year-old wom-
an who had high blood pressure and anaemia,
and a 59-year-old man who had diabetes and
high blood pressure. In terms of total infec-
tions by states, Sabah recorded the highest
number of cases at 30,786, followed by Sel-
angor (16,838) and Kuala Lumpur (7,213).
Read also:
Two new Covid-19 clusters with 49
infections detected in Selangor and KL
Click here
Seremban Prison EMCO extended to
Dec 21 Click here
Khairy said has so far signed two agree-
ments to secure enough supply of Covid-19
vaccine for 30% of the population.
“The first agreement was with the global
COVAX Facility through the Optional Pur-
chase agreement, signed on Nov 23 which
guarantees a vaccine supply for 10% of the
population, while the second deal was an initial
purchase agreement with Pfizer, inked on Nov
24 to provide the vaccine supply for 20% of
the population (12.8 million doses),” he said.
He said the government will not com-
promise the safety and efficacy of the vac-
cines procured and the final decision on the
usage of a vaccine will only be done after it
is registered and approved by the National
Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA)
under the Ministry of Health.
The 70% target of Malaysian population
to get the Covid-19 vaccine in the first quar-
ter of 2021, will focus on adults to enable the
country to reach the herd immunity thresh-
old under the National Immunisation Plan.
To achieve the remaining target,
Khairy said the government are in talks
with other Covid-19 vaccine manufac-
turing companies.
T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

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 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
US, states poised to sue Facebook
for monopoly abuse — sources
(Dec 7): Facebook Inc. will soon be hit by
federal and state antitrust lawsuits accus-
ing the social media giant of abusing its
dominance and thwarting competition,
according to three people familiar with
the matter.
Lawsuits are expected as soon as this
week from the Republican-led Federal
Trade Commission and a group of state
attorneys general led by New York’s Leti-
tia James, a Democrat, according to the
people, who described the plans under
condition of anonymity.
The complaints will mark the second
time in less than two months that the U.S.
and state officials have leveled monopoly
charges against a U.S. technology giant.
Combined with the Justice Department’s
October complaint against Alphabet Inc.’s
Google, the lawsuits mark the most sig-
nificant monopoly cases filed in the U.S.
in 20 years.
For Facebook, the lawsuits will rep-
resent the biggest regulatory attack in
the company’s history, potentially im-
periling its ownership of Instagram and
WhatsApp. The cases culminate inves-
tigations into Facebook that began last
year, part of a wave of antitrust scrutiny
directed at U.S. tech firms that promis-
es to carry over into the Biden admin-
istration.
Facebook became a prime target for
President Donald Trump in the last two
months of his administration. Last week,
he threatened to veto the annual U.S.
defense authorization bill unless Con-
gress adds a rider to abolish the law that
protects technology companies, includ-
ing Facebook, from liability over most
content posted by users. The demand
followed months of attacks by Trump
and other Republicans, who claim the
technology platforms suppress conserv-
ative views.
In addition to the Facebook case, states
are planning new lawsuits against Goog-
le in the coming weeks, according to two
people familiar with the matter. Texas At-
torney General Ken Paxton is targeting
Google’s advertising business, while an-
other group that includes Colorado, Iowa
and New York has been investigating the
company’s search monopoly, the subject
of the Justice Department’s complaint.
It will be up to Biden’s Justice Depart-
ment to carry the Google case forward,
while the Facebook case will fall to whom-
ever Biden picks as FTC chairman if Joe
19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
W O R L D
BY DAVID MCLAUGHLIN & BEN BRODY
Bloomberg
BLOOMBERG
Simons, who was appointed by Trump,
leaves the agency.
The cases reflect how public sentiment
has turned on companies that have gone
from scrappy startups to digital behe-
moths, said Rebecca Haw Allensworth,
who teaches antitrust law at Vanderbilt
University.
“We like the underdogs and the up-
starts and competition, and when those
companies were the underdogs and shak-
ing things up they were a lot more popu-
lar,” she said. “Now they look like the big
barons of industry that created the politi-
cal will that led to the first antitrust laws.”
New York’s James said in an inter-
view on Bloomberg TV Thursday that
the states could combine their case with
the FTC’s. The states’ investigation of
Google, which initially included nearly
every state, eventually fractured along
partisan lines.
“I am confident that it will be a biparti-
san matter as we move forward,” she said
in response to a question about the states’
Facebook inquiry. “And in the event that
we do file, we look forward to the pos-
sibility of consolidating with the FTC.”
No final decisions have been made and
the filings could be delayed. The FTC
declined to comment. James declined to
discuss further details of the states’ Face-
book probe.
The FTC case has focused in part on
the company’s 2012 acquisition of Insta-
gram and its 2014 purchase of WhatsApp
— and whether they were intended to
choke off competition.
That was among the findings of a
16-month House investigation of Face-
book and other tech giants. The House
report, released in October, accused Face-
book of buying smaller companies that
it viewed as competitive threats in order
to protect and expand its dominant mar-
ket position. Since its founding in 2004,
Facebook has acquired at least 63 com-
panies, according to the report.
The report cited internal documents
showing that once Facebook identified
competitive threats, “it attempted to buy
or crush them by cloning their product
features” or blocking them from connect-
ing to the company’s platform.
“Facebook took these steps to harm
competitors and insulate Facebook from
competition, not just to grow or offer bet-
ter products and services,” it said.
According to the report, Facebook
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg
said in a message to a colleague that “Ins-
tagram can hurt us meaningfully without
becoming a huge business.” When Face-
book’s chief financial officer asked if the
goal of buying Instagram was to “neutral-
ize a potential competitor,” Zuckerberg
responded that that was a motivation for
the deal.
Facebook has long denied it’s a threat
to competition. Zuckerberg told Congress
in July that the company faces intense
competition around the world and is con-
stantly innovating to develop products
users will like and to avoid falling behind.
Instagram’s success was far from guar-
anteed, he told lawmakers. It was Face-
book’s investments in the company that
made it successful.
“With hindsight it probably looks
like obvious that Instagram would have
reached the scale that it has today, but
at the time it was far from obvious,” he
told Representative Jerrold Nadler, the
New York Democrat who chairs the Ju-
diciary Committee, which oversaw the
panel’s antitrust report. “This has been
an American success story.”
The Facebook complaint is the most
significant antitrust action under the
FTC’s Simons, who has led the agency
since 2018. Last year, Simons reached a
$5 billion settlement against Facebook
for privacy infractions, an agreement that
was widely criticized by privacy advocates,
Democratic lawmakers and the agency’s
two Democratic commissioners for not
requiring changes in the way Facebook
operates.
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0 20 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

W O R L D

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker says some bank

accounts unfrozen, no longer trusts HSBC
BLOOMBERG

BY YANNI CHOW, DONNY KWOK

& SUMEET CHATTERJEE
Reuters

HONG KONG (Dec 7): Former Hong

Kong democracy lawmaker and activist
Ted Hui, who fled to Britain after facing
criminal charges, said some of his bank
accounts had been unfrozen and he had
moved funds swiftly from HSBC because
he no longer trusted the global bank.
Hui, who faces charges linked to an-
ti-government demonstrations in the Chi-
nese-ruled city last year, said on Sunday
his Hong Kong bank accounts had been
frozen after he left the city to seek exile
in Britain with his family to continue his
pro-democracy activities.
“Due to complete distrust of HSBC in
Hong Kong, my family has immediate-
ly transferred their savings to some safe
places,” Hui said on his Facebook page.
HSBC said it was disappointed to see
the circumstances being “misrepresented,”
but did not elaborate, saying they were una-
ble to comment on specific account activity.
“When banks are made aware of nega-
tive news in the market, they will enhance
due diligence on the relevant accounts
as part of their responsibility,” a HSBC
spokeswoman said in an email reply re-
questing for comment.
“We have to abide by the laws of the ju-
risdiction in which we operate,” she said.
“Further enquiries should be directed to
law enforcement.”
Hong Kong police said late on Sun-
day they were investigating a Hong Kong
person, who had absconded overseas with
bank accounts being frozen, for suspected
money laundering and possible violation
of the new national security law.
It was not immediately clear if po-
lice were referring to Hui, one of several
pro-democracy activists and opposition
lawmakers arrested last month and charged
with disturbing legislature proceedings.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau issued a
statement on Friday that, while not nam-
ing Hui, said “running away by jumping
bail and using various excuses such as so-
called ‘exile’ to avoid one’s responsibility
is a shameful, hypocritical and cowardly
act of recoil”.
Democracy advocate
Hui, who quit the Legislative Council last
month in protest at the dismissal of four
colleagues in what they called another push
The veteran activist
had told Reuters
via social media on
Sunday that bank
accounts belonging
to him, his wife
and his parents
at Bank of China
Hong Kong, HSBC
and Hang Seng
Bank were frozen.
by Beijing to suppress democracy in the
city, urged Hong Kong and international
financial regulators to investigate his case.
The veteran activist had told Reuters via
social media on Sunday that bank accounts
belonging to him, his wife and his parents
at Bank of China Hong Kong, HSBC and
Hang Seng Bank were frozen. He gave no
further details.
A Hang Seng Bank spokesman said it
did not comment on the details of individ-
ual accounts. Bank of China did not imme-
diately respond to requests for comment.
Local media reported that at least five
accounts worth hundreds of thousands of
U.S. dollars belonging to Hui and his fam-
ily had been inaccessible since Saturday.
Hui contacted the banks and was told
there were “remarks” placed on his ac-
counts, but staff refused to provide further
information, Hong Kong’s South China
Morning Post reported.
HSBC has found itself caught in the
cross-hairs of pro-democracy protests in
the former British colony, its biggest mar-
ket, with its branches vandalised during
some rallies.
Some protesters have accused HSBC
of being complicit in action by the au-
thorities against activists, accusations the
bank has denied.
Democracy activists say conditions have
worsened in the former British colony af-
ter China imposed security legislation on
the financial hub in June, making anything
Beijing regards as subversion, secession,
terrorism or colluding with foreign forces
punishable by up to life in prison.
The United States is preparing to im-
pose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese
officials over their alleged role in Beijing’s
disqualification of the Hong Kong opposi-
tion legislators, three sources told Reuters
on Sunday.
China, which promises Hong Kong a
high degree of autonomy under its hand-
over agreement with Britain in 1997, de-
nies curbing rights and freedoms in the
city and has condemned U.S. sanctions
related to Hong Kong as interference in
China’s internal affairs.
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
Apple preps next Mac chips with
aim to outclass highest-end PCs
(Dec 7): Apple Inc is planning a series of
new Mac processors for introduction as
early as 2021 that are aimed at outper-
forming Intel Corp’s fastest.
Chip engineers at the Cupertino, Cali-
fornia-based technology giant are working
on several successors to the M1 custom
chip, Apple’s first Mac main processor
that debuted in November. If they live
up to expectations, they will significant-
ly outpace the performance of the latest
machines running Intel chips, according
to people familiar with the matter who
asked not to be named because the plans
aren’t yet public.
Apple’s M1 chip was unveiled in a
new entry-level MacBook Pro laptop, a
refreshed Mac mini desktop and across
the MacBook Air range. The company’s
next series of chips, planned for release
as early as the spring and later in the fall,
are destined to be placed across upgrad-
ed versions of the MacBook Pro, both
entry-level and high-end iMac desktops,
and later a new Mac Pro workstation, the
people said.
The road map indicates Apple’s con-
fidence that it can differentiate its prod-
ucts on the strength of its own engineer-
ing and is taking decisive steps to design
Intel components out of its devices. The
next two lines of Apple chips are also
planned to be more ambitious than some
industry watchers expected for next year.
The company said it expects to finish the
transition away from Intel and to its own
silicon in 2022.
While Intel gets less than 10% of its
revenue from furnishing Apple with Mac
chips, the rest of its PC business is liable
to face turbulence if the iPhone maker is
able to deliver demonstrably better-per-
forming computers. It could accelerate
a shakeup in an industry that has long
been dependent on Intel’s pace of inno-
vation. For Apple, the move sheds that
dependency, deepens its distinction from
the rest of the PC market and gives it a
chance to add to its small, but growing
share in PCs.
An Apple spokesman declined to com-
ment. Chip development and production
is complex with changes being common
throughout the development process.
Apple could still choose to hold back
these chips in favour of lesser versions
for next year’s Macs, the people said, but
the plans nonetheless indicate Apple’s
vast ambitions.
21 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
W O R L D
BY MARK GURMAN & IAN KING
Bloomberg
REUTERS
The company’s next
series of chips, planned
for release as early as
the spring and later in
the fall, are destined
to be placed across
upgraded versions of
the MacBook Pro, both
entry-level and high-
end iMac desktops,
and later a new Mac
Pro workstation.
Apple’s Mac chips, like those in its
iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, use tech-
nology licensed from Arm Ltd, the chip
design firm whose blueprints underpin
much of the mobile industry and which
Nvidia Corp is in the process of acquir-
ing. Apple designs the chips and out-
sources their production to Taiwan Semi-
conductor Manufacturing Co, which has
taken the lead from Intel in chip man-
ufacturing.
The current M1 chip inherits a mo-
bile-centric design built around four
high-performance processing cores to
accelerate tasks like video editing and
four power-saving cores that can han-
dle less intensive jobs like web brows-
ing. For its next generation chip targeting
MacBook Pro and iMac models, Apple
is working on designs with as many as
16 power cores and four efficiency cores,
the people said.
While that component is in develop-
ment, Apple could choose to first release
variations with only eight or 12 of the
high-performance cores enabled depend-
ing on production, they said. Chipmakers
are often forced to offer some models
with lower specifications than they orig-
inally intended because of problems that
emerge during fabrication.
For higher-end desktop computers,
planned for later in 2021 and a new half-
sized Mac Pro planned to launch by 2022,
Apple is testing a chip design with as
many as 32 high-performance cores.
With today’s Intel systems, Apple’s
highest-end laptops offer a maximum of
eight cores, a high-end iMac Pro is avail-
able with as many as 18 and the priciest
Mac Pro desktop features as much as a
28-core system. Though architecturally
different, Apple and Intel’s chips rely on
the segmentation of workloads into small-
er, serialized tasks that several processing
cores can work on at once.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which
has been gaining market share at Intel’s
expense, offers standard desktop parts
with as many as 16 cores, with some of
its high-end chips for gaming PCs going
as high as 64 cores.
While the M1 silicon has been well
received, the Macs using it are Apple’s
lower-end systems with less memory and
fewer ports. The company still sells high-
er-end, Intel-based versions of some of
the lines that received M1 updates. The
M1 chip is a variation of a new iPad pro-
cessor destined to be included in a new
iPad Pro arriving next year.
Apple engineers are also developing
more ambitious graphics processors. To-
day’s M1 processors are offered with a
custom Apple graphics engine that comes
in either 7- or 8-core variations. For its
future high-end laptops and mid-range
desktops, Apple is testing 16-core and
32-core graphics parts.
For later in 2021 or potentially 2022,
Apple is working on pricier graphics up-
grades with 64 and 128 dedicated cores
aimed at its highest-end machines, the
people said. Those graphics chips would
be several times faster than the current
graphics modules Apple uses from Nvidia
and AMD in its Intel-powered hardware.
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
EU tells UK’s Johnson to decide
as time runs out for Brexit deal
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Dec 7): Euro-
pean Union (EU) and British negotiators
made a last-ditch effort today to bridge
stubborn differences standing in the way
of a post-Brexit trade deal, but they had
at best 48 hours left to avoid a disorderly
parting of ways at the end of this month.
“EU-UK negotiations have entered the
endgame. Time is running out quickly,”
said an EU diplomat after the bloc’s chief
negotiator Michel Barnier gave member
states’ envoys to Brussels a downbeat as-
sessment of the state of play. “It is for the
UK to chose between... a positive out-
come or a no-deal outcome.”
With growing fears of “no-deal” chaos
after London finally leaves the EU’s orbit
on Dec 31, talks resumed before British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Euro-
pean Commission President Ursula von
der Leyen review the situation in a call at
1600 GMT.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin,
whose country would be the hardest hit of
the 27 EU states if there is no trade accord,
put the chances of a deal at 50-50. Invest-
ment bank JPMorgan said its odds on a
no-deal had risen to one-third from 20%.
The British pound tumbled on concerns
that there would be no agreement covering
annual trade worth nearly US$1 trillion.
Barnier told members of the European
Parliament in a separate briefing that ne-
gotiations could go on until Wednesday,
but no further, Ireland’s RTE news said.
EU diplomats said the ball was now
in Johnson’s court.
22 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
W O R L D
BY GABRIELA BACZYNSKA, JOHN CHALMERS
& GUY FAULCONBRIDGE
Reuters
The EU’s chief
negotiator Michel
Barnier told members
of the European
Parliament in a
separate briefing that
negotiations could go
on until Wednesday,
but no further.
“People need to understand that the
British are playing with fire here and the
fire can burn everybody and that’s some-
thing we should all try to avoid,” said
Mairead McGuinness, Ireland’s commis-
sioner in the EU executive.
However, the Sun newspaper reported
that Johnson, a figurehead for Britain’s
campaign that led to a “vote leave” vic-
tory in a 2016 referendum, was ready to
pull out of the talks within hours unless
Brussels changed its demands.
In London, a lawmaker in Johnson’s gov-
erning Conservative Party said France
would have to make concessions on fish-
ing, and the EU would have to drop what
he said were new demands on fair com-
petition known as the level playing field.
High risk for economies
Britain, which joined the EU in 1973, for-
mally left the bloc on Jan 31 but has been
in a transition period since then under
which rules on trade, travel, and business
remain unchanged.
For weeks, the two sides have been
haggling — as yet without a result — over
fishing rights in British waters, ensuring
fair competition for companies, and ways
to solve future disputes.
Failure to secure a deal would clog bor-
ders, upset financial markets, and disrupt
delicate supply chains across Europe and be-
yond as the world tries to cope with the vast
economic cost of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sterling fell by more than 1% to
six-week lows versus the euro and also
dropped against the dollar to US$1.327,
a U-turn in market sentiment from last
Friday when it had risen above US$1.35
for the first time this year.
With just days left for a deal to be
agreed, EU diplomats said it was a deci-
sive moment for both the United King-
dom and the bloc which built the ruined
nations of Europe into a global power
after the devastation of World War Two.
In a move that could further under-
mine the talks, the British government
will press ahead with draft laws this week
that would breach London’s earlier di-
vorce treaty with the bloc.
Junior Foreign Office Minister
James Cleverly said today the claus-
es that breach the treaty would be
reinserted.
BLOOMBERG
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
China’s exports surge on hot demand
for PPE, remote working tech
BEIJING (Dec 7): China’s exports rose at
the fastest pace in almost three years in
November, as strong global demand for
goods needed to ride out the pandemic
landed the world’s second-largest economy
a record trade surplus. Exports in November
rose 21.1% from a year earlier, customs
data showed on Monday, the fastest growth
since February 2018. It also soundly beat
analysts’ expectations for a 12.0% increase
and quickened from an 11.4% increase in
October. Imports rose 4.5% year-on-year
in November, slower than October’s 4.7%
growth, and underperforming expectations
in a Reuters poll for a 6.1% increase, but still
marking a third straight month of expansion.
The firm shipments led to a trade surplus
for November of US$75.42 billion, the
largest since at least 1981 when Refinitiv
records began. China’s exports were
supported by strong overseas demand
for personal protective equipment (PPE)
and electronics products for working
from home, as well as seasonal Christmas
demand. — Reuters
REUTERS
OPEC+ likely to hold next policy
meeting on Jan 4 — sources
LONDON (Dec 7): OPEC, Russia, and allies,
a group known as OPEC+, are likely to hold
their next meeting to set oil policy on Jan 4,
two sources close to the group said today.
OPEC+ agreed last week to raise oil output
by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January
and to hold monthly meetings starting in
January to decide on further production
adjustments that will add no more than
500,000 bpd a month. A third source said
the meeting date would be confirmed by
the next gathering on Dec 17 of the OPEC+
panel, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring
Committee. — Reuters
23 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
W O R L D
NEWS IN BRIEF
France’s SocGen to close 600 bank
branches in profitability push
PARIS (Dec 7): France’s Societe Generale
(SocGen) today accelerated plans to boost
profitability by merging its two retail
banking networks, resulting in the closure
of 600 of its nearly 2,100 branches by
2025. With low interest rates continuing
to crimp lending income and retail banking
margins, France’s third-biggest listed lender
said the merging of the two networks
would save more than €350 million in costs
in 2024 and nearly €450 million in 2025.
SocGen said the plan will cost between
€700 million and €800 million. “There will
be no forced redundancies or lay-offs,”
SocGen’s head of retail banking networks
Sebastien Proto told reporters. With the
Covid-19 pandemic having accelerated
the shift to online banking across Europe,
SocGen also aims to strengthen its
Boursorama online operation. The bank
said Boursorama is targeting 4.5 million
clients in 2025, up from 2.5 million this
year. — Reuters
REUTERS
Iran says ‘smart satellite-controlled
machine gun’ killed top nuclear
scientist
DUBAI (Dec 7): The killing of Iran’s top
nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
last month was carried out remotely with
artificial intelligence and a machine gun
equipped with a “satellite-controlled
smart system”, Tasnim news agency
quoted a senior commander as saying. Iran
has blamed Israel for his assassination.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied
responsibility for the killing. The Islamic
Republic has given contradictory details
of Fakhrizadeh’s death in a daytime Nov.
27 ambush on his car on a highway near
Tehran. “No terrorists were present on
the ground... Martyr Fakhrizadeh was
driving when a weapon, using an advanced
camera, zoomed in on him,” Tasnim, a
semi-official agency, quoted Ali Fadavi, the
deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards, as saying in a ceremony on
Sunday. “The machine gun was placed on
a pick-up truck and was controlled by a
satellite.” — Reuters
REUTERS
Deutsche Bank hikes Asia
profitability targets by half — exec
FRANKFURT (Dec 7): Deutsche Bank is
hiking its Asia profitability targets by half
as the business benefits from an economic
recovery and a global shift of money
flows, Alexander von zur Muehlen, the
board member responsible for the region
said. “We are aiming for 15% return on
tangible equity (RoTE) in the core bank in
the region by 2022,” Muehlen told Reuters
in an interview published on Monday,
adding that compared to 10% this year.
Asia’s economy has recovered relatively
faster from the Covid-19 pandemic than
Europe’s with GDP expected to grow by 8%
next year, according to OECD estimates,
compared to 3.6% growth in Europe. “We
are not out of the woods but we feel certain
parts of Asia are ahead of Europe in terms
of recovery,” Muehlen said, adding that Asia
— which accounts for 13% of Deutsche’s
group sales — has the potential to become
the single biggest RoTE contributor to the
core bank. — Reuters
Paysafe to go public via US$9 billion
deal with Bill Foley-backed SPAC
BENGALURU (Dec 7): A blank-cheque
acquisition firm backed by veteran
investor Bill Foley said today it had
agreed to merge with Paysafe Group
Holdings Ltd, valuing the payment
platform at around US$9 billion, including
debt. Paysafe’s merger with special
purpose acquisition company (SPAC)
Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II will
result in the London-based company
listing on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol “PSFE”. The deal marks
a return to the stock market for Paysafe,
which was taken private by Blackstone
Group Inc and CVC Capital Partners in
2017 for US$4.7 billion, inclusive of debt.
Part of the financing for the deal will
come from a so-called private investment
in public equity worth US$2 billion,
which would make it one of the largest
such instruments ever raised. Paysafe’s
current owners Blackstone and CVC
will remain the largest investors in the
company. — Reuters
 T U E S D AY D E C E M B E R 8 , 2 0 2 0
M A R K E T S
CPO RM 3,509.00-43.00 OIL US$ 48.85-0.40 RM/USD 4.0715 RM/SGD 3.0400 RM/AUD 3.0103 RM/GBP 5.3926 RM/EUR 4.9233
Top 20 active stocks
NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET
(MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
YONG TAI BHD 860.9 0.020 0.385 140.63 401.1
TOP BUILDERS CAPITAL BHD 625.6 0.025 0.135 80.00 79.4
PA RESOURCES BHD 508.0 0.035 0.180 227.27 404.0
INIX TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS BHD 494.0 0.170 0.500 900.00 233.3
XOX BHD 436.2 0.000 0.105 162.50 354.9
HIAP TECK VENTURE BHD 435.9 0.085 0.495 130.23 679.8
SAPURA ENERGY BHD 407.4 0.005 0.130 -51.85 2,077.3
KANGER INTERNATIONAL BHD 315.6 0.005 0.180 125.00 405.9
XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 304.4 0.010 0.075 -34.78 158.7
SANICHI TECHNOLOGY BHD 271.0 0.000 0.065 30.00 116.6
METRONIC GLOBAL BHD 226.9 -0.005 0.130 188.89 167.2
AT SYSTEMATIZATION BHD 207.3 -0.005 0.190 375.00 686.4
HO WAH GENTING BHD 191.5 0.010 0.890 747.62 468.8
BINTAI KINDEN CORP BHD 180.6 0.180 1.390 1,108.70 486.6
DPS RESOURCES BHD 165.1 0.020 0.160 100.00 94.0
TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 153.1 0.035 0.230 119.05 102.5
KNM GROUP BHD 151.7 -0.005 0.225 -40.00 666.2
MESTRON HOLDINGS BHD 136.0 -0.030 0.185 54.17 146.2
NEXGRAM HOLDINGS BHD 127.1 0.005 0.060 300.00 159.7
BUMI ARMADA BHD 126.5 0.000 0.365 -31.13 2,148.4
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg
Top gainers (ranked by %)
NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
INIX TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS BHD 0.500 51.52 494,004.4 900.00 233.3
IOI PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 1.710 29.55 72,756.1 37.90 9415.5
MQ TECHNOLOGY BHD 0.170 25.93 113,179.1 580.00 124.2
TECHNODEX BHD 0.300 25.00 117,445.6 445.45 230.1
PA RESOURCES BHD 0.180 24.14 508,008.0 227.27 404.0
MERIDIAN BHD 0.395 23.44 7,266.5 507.69 228.9
TOP BUILDERS CAPITAL BHD 0.135 22.73 625,604.2 80.00 79.4
MUDA HOLDINGS BHD 2.780 21.93 12,223.1 97.16 848.0
MALAYSIAN BULK CARRIERS BHD 0.620 21.57 19,572.8 12.73 620.0
G CAPITAL BHD 1.320 21.10 61,673.1 156.31 401.0
WCE HOLDINGS BHD 0.375 20.97 35,497.1 -1.32 497.0
HIAP TECK VENTURE BHD 0.495 20.73 435,869.0 130.23 679.8
HENGYUAN REFINING CO BHD 6.700 20.50 15,427.3 58.77 2010.0
PETRON MALAYSIA REFINING & MAR 6.200 18.10 6,675.2 23.51 1674.0
TA WIN HOLDINGS BHD 0.230 17.95 153,061.4 119.05 102.5
NWP HOLDINGS BHD 0.210 16.67 43,508.7 90.91 99.7
KUMPULAN JETSON BHD 0.255 15.91 8,674.3 96.15 56.6
PAN MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BHD 0.110 15.79 27,431.8 37.50 102.2
XIDELANG HOLDINGS LTD 0.075 15.38 304,373.8 -34.78 158.7
APB RESOURCES BHD 0.610 15.09 1,980.0 48.78 67.6
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg
Top gainers (ranked by RM)
NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO 14.600 1.220 5,440.5 -3.18 4,168.7
HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BHD 22.000 1.180 139.6 -18.88 6,646.2
HENGYUAN REFINING CO BHD 6.700 1.140 15,427.3 58.77 2,010.0
DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES BHD 37.620 1.000 16.2 -23.38 2,407.7
PETRON MALAYSIA REFINING & MAR 6.200 0.950 6,675.2 23.51 1,674.0
BLD PLANTATION BHD 8.300 0.650 0.2 56.60 776.1
UWC BHD 8.950 0.610 3,050.2 319.53 4,924.3
CARLSBERG BREWERY MALAYSIA 20.880 0.600 663.9 -28.82 6,384.0
MUDA HOLDINGS BHD 2.780 0.500 12,223.1 97.16 848.0
IOI PROPERTIES GROUP BHD 1.710 0.390 72,756.1 37.90 9,415.5
BURSA MALAYSIA BHD 8.700 0.390 5,086.9 42.86 7,038.5
HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP 17.500 0.280 436.0 3.55 20,041.8
RIVERVIEW RUBBER ESTATES BHD 3.080 0.260 28.0 4.41 199.7
VITROX CORP BHD 15.300 0.260 168.3 93.18 7,222.5
HONG LEONG INDUSTRIES BHD 9.200 0.260 266.5 -11.71 2,939.1
KUMPULAN POWERNET BHD 5.250 0.240 1,986.9 264.58 593.7
YINSON HOLDINGS BHD 5.830 0.240 1,633.1 -10.03 6,209.4
G CAPITAL BHD 1.320 0.230 61,673.1 156.31 401.0
PETRONAS CHEMICALS GROUP BHD 7.600 0.210 3,787.9 3.40 60,800.0
GREATECH TECHNOLOGY BHD 8.500 0.200 1,403.4 254.17 5,321.0
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg
24 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF
World equity indices
CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
(%) (%)
DOW JONES 30,218.26 248.74 0.83 INDONESIA 5,930.76 120.28 2.07
S&P 500 3,699.12 32.40 0.88 JAPAN 26,547.44 -203.80 -0.76
NASDAQ 100 12,528.48 61.35 0.49 KOREA 2,745.44 13.99 0.51
FTSE 100 6,568.90 18.67 0.29 PHILIPPINES 7,203.67 69.11 0.97
AUSTRALIA 6,675.02 40.94 0.62 SINGAPORE 2,825.51 -14.38 -0.51
CHINA 3,416.60 -27.98 -0.81 TAIWAN 14,256.60 124.16 0.88
HONG KONG 26,506.85 -329.07 -1.23 THAILAND 1,449.83 11.51 0.80
INDIA 45,426.97 347.42 0.77 VIETNAM 1,029.98 8.49 0.83
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg
Top losers (ranked by %)
NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
G NEPTUNE BHD 0.020 -66.67 46,729.8 -73.33 5.8
INNITY CORP BHD 0.330 -14.29 7.0 -25.84 45.9
TALAM TRANSFORM BHD 0.030 -14.29 43,151.1 -14.29 128.9
MESTRON HOLDINGS BHD 0.185 -13.95 136,025.6 54.17 146.2
KIM HIN INDUSTRY BHD 0.770 -12.50 2.2 -26.67 108.0
TURBO-MECH BHD 0.675 -10.00 143.5 -6.25 72.9
TANCO HOLDINGS BHD 0.045 -10.00 4,538.7 -10.00 57.6
ADVENTA BHD 1.560 -9.30 2,440.5 188.66 238.3
SMIS CORP BHD 0.455 -9.00 25.0 26.39 19.2
TIONG NAM LOGISTICS HOLDINGS 0.860 -8.99 24,070.6 70.30 384.4
ASIA POLY HOLDINGS BHD 0.315 -8.70 33,001.8 425.00 242.4
KEY ALLIANCE GROUP BHD 0.055 -8.33 15,666.8 83.33 54.0
HLT GLOBAL BHD 1.000 -8.26 13,818.4 455.56 615.8
CME GROUP BHD 0.060 -7.69 11,926.8 100.00 51.9
CHINA OUHUA WINERY HOLDINGS 0.060 -7.69 2,556.1 71.43 40.1
PRG HOLDINGS BHD 0.195 -7.14 20,280.1 -67.50 83.8
HEVEABOARD BHD 0.735 -6.96 6,932.1 36.11 415.9
WARISAN TC HOLDINGS BHD 1.350 -6.90 1.9 -20.59 87.9
VIVOCOM INTERNATIONAL 0.880 -6.88 45,546.9 486.67 503.6
BCM ALLIANCE BHD 0.285 -6.56 17,674.1 111.11 120.1
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg
Top losers (ranked by RM)
NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)
NESTLE MALAYSIA BHD 135.600 -1.400 109.1 -7.76 31,798.2
FRASER & NEAVE HOLDINGS BHD 31.820 -0.580 31.0 -8.67 11,670.9
PPB GROUP BHD 18.420 -0.480 349.2 -2.23 26,204.3
SUPERMAX CORP BHD 7.700 -0.410 15,005.0 1,032.53 20,218.8
KESM INDUSTRIES BHD 11.640 -0.340 72.4 29.62 500.7
TIME DOTCOM BHD 13.660 -0.320 393.3 51.37 8,254.2
KOSSAN RUBBER INDUSTRIES 5.880 -0.220 6,678.8 182.69 15,040.3
PETRONAS GAS BHD 17.200 -0.200 1,061.0 7.24 34,034.2
PHARMANIAGA BHD 5.350 -0.200 1,911.6 159.71 1,400.1
COMFORT GLOVE BHD 3.540 -0.190 9,880.9 348.10 2,063.6
PANASONIC MANUFACTURING 31.820 -0.180 8.4 -14.00 1,932.9
CAREPLUS GROUP BHD 2.430 -0.170 9,549.3 1,423.73 1,336.7
LATITUDE TREE HOLDINGS BHD 3.700 -0.160 398.2 30.74 352.4
ADVENTA BHD 1.560 -0.160 2,440.5 188.66 238.3
LII HEN INDUSTRIES BHD 4.010 -0.150 1,562.1 30.62 721.8
GETS GLOBAL BHD 2.560 -0.140 2,123.4 1,500.00 727.0
G3 GLOBAL BHD 2.290 -0.140 415.8 -14.23 1,072.1
ATA IMS BHD 2.340 -0.130 3,296.1 34.48 2,814.7
TASCO BHD 2.430 -0.130 2,812.1 102.50 486.0
KHIND HOLDINGS BHD 2.750 -0.130 278.3 79.74 110.2
Date as compiled on Dec 7, 2020 Source: Bloomberg