EVENING 5: Muhyiddin freed of abuse of power charges

The Edge TV

In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is acquitted and discharged of all four corruption charges against him, while the EPF’s total investment income jumps by 39.7% to RM33.19 billion in 1H2023.

Transcript

00:00 Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been acquitted and discharged by the Kuala Lumpur High Court,

00:09 which struck out all four graft charges totalling RM232.5 million against the former Prime Minister.

00:17 Judge Dato' Muhammad Jamil Hussein called the charges defective and said the prosecution

00:21 did not clearly disclose any offence.

00:25 According to the judge, the charges did not follow the MACC Act 2009 as they did not stipulate

00:31 how the alleged offences were committed and whether Muhyiddin sat in a meeting or influenced

00:36 a decision to allegedly receive the monies he was charged with taking.

00:41 Outside the court complex, Muhyiddin reiterated to the press that the charges brought against

00:46 him were politically motivated.

00:48 His lawyers told The Edge they will seek to have the remaining three money laundering

00:52 charges withdrawn as the alleged abuse of power was the purported predicate offence.

00:58 Meanwhile, the prosecution will be appealing the ruling and also seek a stay of proceedings

01:03 over the money laundering charges.

01:05 The EPF recorded total investment income of RM33.19 billion in the first half of 2023,

01:18 up by 39.7% from the previous corresponding period.

01:22 This was after netting off listed equity write-downs.

01:26 The retirement fund said out of the total, RM4.79 billion was from marked-to-market gains

01:32 in securities that had not been realised.

01:35 These gains were mainly due to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

01:39 As for the second quarter of 2023, total investment income more than doubled to RM18.03 billion

01:46 from the same quarter last year.

01:48 Equity investments were the main contributor of income at RM9.6 billion.

01:53 EPF Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Sri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the performance of global

01:58 equity markets in the first half of the year was positive, led by a run-up in developed

02:03 markets, notably in the US, which continued to show resilience despite the rise in interest rates.

02:10 He said the EPF's agility and adaptability in its investment strategy paved the way for

02:16 the investment managers to take advantage and capitalise on the market rally, which

02:21 contributed to the higher return on equity for the period.

02:24 Flosstrax made its debut on the ACE market of Bursa Malaysia at 65 cent, or a premium

02:35 of 242.11% over its IPO price of 19 cent.

02:41 Its opening premium was the second highest on Bursa year-to-date, after TT Vision's

02:46 opening premium of 338.24%.

02:50 By the close, the stock pared some of its gains to end the day at 25.5 cent apiece,

02:55 still 34% higher than its listing price, for a market capitalisation of RM103.8 million.

03:02 It saw some 308.2 million shares changing hands.

03:06 Managing Director, Dr Lee Hsien Kai said the listing will grant Flosstrax greater financial

03:11 flexibility to pursue future growth opportunities and enhance the group's reputation, as well

03:17 as to retain and attract new skilled employees.

03:20 Flosstrax is in the business of providing piling, structural and geotechnical-related

03:25 services, covering instrumentation, testing and monitoring services to construction projects,

03:31 as well as completed buildings and infrastructure.

03:34 Its key geographical coverage includes Malaysia and Singapore.

03:37 IRIS Corporation saw its share price close 17.7% lower at 7 cent a day, after the Home

03:49 Ministry cancelled its contract for the National Integrated Immigration System, or NIISE.

03:55 The counter was among the topmost active stocks on Bursa, with 75.97 million shares trading

04:01 hands against the group's average daily volume of 9.19 million shares and the volume recorded

04:07 the day before of 2.53 million shares.

04:11 At 7 cent a share, it had a market value of RM215.71 million.

04:17 In a Bursa filing yesterday, IRIS said its wholly-owned unit, IRIS Information Technology Systems,

04:23 the appointed developer of the new immigration system, received the notice of termination.

04:28 IRIS is in the midst of selling an 80% stake in the smart card manufacturer to TazTech

04:34 Technologies.

04:35 It said the axing of the contract is expected to have an impact on its financial performance

04:40 for FY 2024.

04:46 Fitch Ratings believes Putrajaya will advance subsidy rationalisation in Budget 2024, which

04:53 is set to be tabled in Parliament on October 13.

04:56 This follows the status quo results seen in the recent state elections.

05:00 According to a report by Bernama, the rating agency said, Prime Minister Dato' Sri Anwar

05:05 Ibrahim's administration has already taken steps to reduce electricity subsidies for

05:10 non-domestic users and high-voltage consumers, leaving the majority of households unaffected.

05:17 It said fuel subsidies and most food subsidies have been maintained, and that broad removal

05:22 of the assistance would be unpopular.

05:24 Still, Fitch believes the election outcome could encourage the government to prioritise

05:29 other aspects of the Medani agenda, such as those focused on containing living costs,

05:35 boosting wage growth and improving welfare.

05:38 It is also of the opinion that even if the authorities move ahead with some subsidy reforms,

05:43 officials might be more generous with the offsetting assistance, as the government has

05:48 some headroom to accommodate such spending.

05:51 [Music]

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