EVENING 5: KL Sentral to be redeveloped

The Edge TV

In today’s edition of Evening 5 — The Cabinet approves in principle the Transport Ministry’s proposal regarding the redevelopment of KL Sentral, which will involve an estimated cost of RM1 billion. Meanwhile, budget retailer Eco-Shop Marketing and Loob Holding, which runs bubble tea chain Tealive, are said to be aiming to go public next year.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:04 The Cabinet has approved in principle the Transport Ministry's proposal

00:08 to have the KL Sentral station redeveloped to resolve its congestion woes.

00:13 According to a Burnama report, Transport Minister Anthony Lok said

00:17 this will involve privatisation with an estimated cost of over RM1 billion.

00:22 Lok said KL Sentral will be redeveloped in collaboration with MRCB,

00:27 the developer of the entire KL Sentral project, and that it will bear the cost of the project

00:32 in return for the right to develop commercial and residential buildings above the station.

00:37 He said the redevelopment of the transportation hub is necessary

00:40 to meet the increasing number of passengers converging on KL Sentral,

00:45 which connects the KLIA Express, LRT and KTM train services.

00:50 It was originally designed to accommodate 100,000 passengers a day,

00:54 but that figure has now swelled to 200,000.

00:57 He added the project will also improve existing security systems,

01:02 which will include the use of artificial intelligence

01:05 and will be carried out without affecting the station's daily operations.

01:09 According to Lok, MRCB and the Public-Private Partnership Unit at the Prime Minister's

01:14 Department have been given two years to finalise their talks regarding the plan.

01:18 [Music]

01:24 Budget retailer EcoShop Marketing and Loopholding, which runs Bubble Tea Chain Tea Life,

01:30 are reportedly aiming to go public next year as their private equity backer,

01:34 Crador Capital Group, looks to build on its record of successful exits in the country.

01:39 Crador Chief Executive Officer Brahmal Vasudevan told Bloomberg that EcoShop is in the midst of

01:45 finalising its first-time share sale and is looking at listing in the second quarter of 2024,

01:51 with tea life scheduled for some time in the final quarter of next year.

01:55 He reportedly said that EcoShop does sales of close to RM2.2 billion a year,

02:00 with profits well north of RM100 million, so that should be a good listing.

02:05 The report notes that EcoShop will be the third Crador-backed company to list on Bursa Malaysia

02:10 since 2020, following debuts by Mr DIY Group Malaysia and credit bureau CITOS Digital.

02:17 Brahmal was quoted as saying that Crador has also convinced its latest portfolio company,

02:23 Petworld International, to pick Bursa Malaysia over Singapore's exchange as its listing venue,

02:29 as the country remains a very good IPO market.

02:32 [Music]

02:37 Four Petaling Jaya residents who filed legal action against the authorities over the Petaling Jaya

02:43 Dispersal Link demand that the Selangor government give its firm commitment to reject

02:47 any future highway development in the area.

02:50 The four, who are part of the Say No to PJD Link movement, led by lawyer T. Chakarawarty,

02:56 said in a statement that while they welcome caretaker Selangor MB,

02:59 Datuk Sri Amiruddin Shari's announcement of the project's cancellation,

03:03 they are concerned over subsequent reports,

03:06 quoting him as saying that the project may still be revived if some conditions are met.

03:11 The question is whether Amiruddin had the right to reject the application for the proposed project

03:16 in the first place. In a statement, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Legal and Constitutional Bureau

03:22 Deputy Chairman Sasha Lina Abdul Latif asked if the caretaker government or MB has the authority

03:28 to make impactful decisions such as this. She also questioned the timing of Amiruddin's announcement

03:34 and slammed him for saying there was still a chance the project could be revived.

03:38 AMNB Holdings confirmed today that it has begun preliminary discussions with Great Eastern

03:50 Holdings over the sale of MetLife Inc's Malaysian venture. In a filing with the BORS,

03:55 AMNB said the talks are part of its business review and that it is crucial to note that

04:00 the discussions are still at a very preliminary stage. And at this juncture, there is no

04:06 certainty that the parties will enter into any definitive or binding agreement. It was reported

04:12 on Monday that Great Eastern, a subsidiary of OCBC, is in talks to buy MetLife's Malaysian

04:17 venture. Citing people familiar with the matter, a Bloomberg report said Great Eastern is conducting

04:23 due diligence on AmetLife insurance and seeking regulatory approval to clinch the deal.

04:29 A transaction could value AmetLife at USD$250 million to USD$300 million, approximately

04:36 RM1.13 billion to RM1.36 billion. AMNB said today it is committed to abiding by the exacting

04:43 disclosure requirements that it is governed by and will make related announcements in

04:48 strict accordance with listing requirements.

04:56 DataSonic Group expects FY 2024 to be challenging amid the elevated market

05:01 ambiguities arising from ongoing macroeconomic issues. Still, the security-related integrated

05:07 ICT solutions provider said it is resolute in pursuing its strategic plans with prudence

05:14 management. In a statement following today's AGM, its Executive Deputy Chairman, Datuk Abu Hanifah

05:20 Nordin said the group has identified promising areas of growth that it can capsulize on to

05:26 further expand its business. Abu Hanifah said demand for passports is expected to remain

05:31 on an upward trend, which bodes well for the company. He said DataSonic will be gradually

05:36 ramping up the production of its manufacturing of polycarbonate data pages and growing the

05:42 number of Malaysian passports that are 100% made in Malaysia. He also announced that DataSonic

05:48 is commencing the deployment of the Foreign Worker Card by this month. Overall, he said

05:52 prospects continue to be bright, premised on DataSonic's strategic plans and healthy order book

05:58 of RM339 million as of end March 2023.

06:03 [Music]

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