EVENING 5: Deadline for KL-SG HSR proposals extended to next year

The Edge TV

In today’s edition of Evening 5 — MyHSR has extended the deadline for the submission of concept proposals for the KL-SG HSR to January 2024. Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia says the EPF can’t vote on the Sime Darby-UMW deal.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:04 The deadline for submissions of concept proposals for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore

00:08 High-Speed Rail has been extended from November 15, 2023 to January 15, 2024.

00:14 MyHSR Corp, which has the mandate to develop the HSR, said the extension of the deadline for the

00:20 KL-Singapore HSR request for information was due to the requests from international and local

00:26 industry players in recent weeks. In a statement, MyHSR said that more than 60% of the companies

00:32 said they required more time to form consortiums with potential partners and explore financial

00:37 options. MyHSR had on July 27 conducted the RFI briefing for the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail

00:43 project, which drew more than 700 local and foreign participants, representing the full

00:48 spectrum of the project. To date, MyHSR has received more than 30 copies of the RFI documents

00:55 purchased by local and international firms, according to MyHSR CEO Datuk Mohamad Nur Ismail

01:01 Mohamad Kamal. He added that the RFI is also part of the government's initiative to reactivate the

01:06 KL-SG HSR project via new funding mechanisms and implementation models in efforts to improve the

01:13 rail transport infrastructure further and invigorate the national economy. Last week,

01:18 Transport Minister Anthony Lok said the Malaysian government was still searching for a suitable

01:22 financing method for the HSR project before bringing it to the Singapore government for

01:27 further discussions. Previously, Research House CGSC-IMB in a September note said five companies

01:32 were believed to have been shortlisted for the project, including YTL Corp, MMC Corp, MRCB,

01:38 WCT Holdings and Berjaya Land.

01:41 Glovemaker Hatta Lega Holdings returned to the black with a net profit of $27.7 million for the

01:51 second quarter of FY 2024 after registering three consecutive quarters of losses. On a year-on-year

01:58 basis, net profit for the quarter dipped by over 2% from the $28.3 million posted a year ago as

02:04 global headwinds persisted into the second half of the year. Revenue for the quarter plunged by 29%

02:10 year-on-year to $452 million due to lower sales volume and average selling prices. No dividends

02:16 were declared for the quarter. For the first half, Hatta Lega posted a net loss of $24.77 million

02:23 versus a net profit of $116.62 million a year ago due to exceptional items. Revenue for the same

02:29 period fell 37% to $892.1 million from $1.43 billion a year ago. Notably, the group said it

02:36 would have recorded a pre-tax profit of $38 million for the first half if the one-off provision for

02:42 severance pay of $47 million for Bestari Jaya facility decommissioning recognized in the first

02:47 quarter was excluded. CEO Kuan Mun Leong said prevailing headwinds in the glove sector are

02:52 expected to persist into the second half as the industry remains impacted by the ongoing global

02:58 oversupply and intense competition, putting pressure on ASPs. However, he says the recent

03:04 capacity rationalization across key domestic manufacturers, as well as the exit of some

03:09 smaller players of the sector, have alleviated a certain degree of oversupply pressure on the

03:14 market. Kuan explains that its current ongoing operational rationalization exercise, which

03:19 includes consolidating its operations at its next-generation integrated glove manufacturing

03:24 complex in Sepang, is expected to generate improved operational and cost efficiencies

03:29 once completed by the first quarter of 2024, positioning Hatta Lega for future market recovery.

03:36 PERSA Malaysia has rejected the Employees' Provident Fund's request for a waiver from

03:45 categorizing the pension fund as persons connected with Pemudlan Nasional in the

03:50 $3.57 billion merger deal between Symedabi and UMW Holdings. According to Symedabi's filing,

03:56 EPF is required to abstain from voting in respect of their direct and/or indirect shareholdings in

04:02 Symedabi on the resolution pertaining to the proposals to be tabled at the Extraordinary

04:07 General Meeting. In other corporate exercises circular to shareholders, EPF is deemed to be

04:13 a person connected to PNB because of a commercial arrangement between the two parties in a JV

04:18 company. EPF holds a 15.23% stake in Symedabi and 10.05% shareholdings in UMW. PNB has a 5.11%

04:29 stake in Symedabi and is deemed to have 37.73% shareholdings via Amanah Saham Bumi Putra.

04:36 The acquisition is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter and the MGO by the first

04:41 quarter of 2024. The merger sees Symedabi buying PNB's entire 61.18% stake in UMW at RM5 per share

04:50 or $3.57 billion, followed by AMGO to buy the remaining 38.82% stake at about $2.27 billion

04:57 to pave the way for the delisting of UMW.

05:00 TPG-backed Columbia Asia has emerged as a frontrunner to buy Ramsey Symedabi Healthcare

05:10 for around $1.5 billion US dollars, said two sources with direct knowledge of the matter,

05:15 Reuters reports. According to the Reuters report, this acquisition will be the largest Southeast

05:20 Asian healthcare acquisition since 2019 when Hongliang Group and alternative asset firm TPG

05:27 bought Columbia Asia's assets for about $1.2 billion US dollars. It is competing with a

05:32 consortium comprising Hong Kong-based PE firm Affinity Equity Partners and Indonesia-based

05:38 hospital operator Mitra Kluage in the final round of the bidding process for the Ramsey Symedabi

05:44 Healthcare JV. A deal could be concluded as early as within this week, the sources said,

05:49 cautioning that last-minute changes are possible. Started in 1996, Columbia Asia currently has 22

05:55 medical facilities in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia and focuses on building

06:00 mid-size hospitals in residential areas, according to its website.

06:04 YNH Properties' three-member audit committee intends to appoint a professional firm

06:14 for an independent review of the real estate developers' JV and turnkey construction agreements.

06:20 This is in addition to a special review by two law firms, Samir Sumati Fernando & Co. and Benjamin

06:26 Dawson, commissioned by the group's management, according to YNH's responses to Bursa Malaysia.

06:32 YNH said that the management had appointed the law firms whose finding report found that the

06:37 qualified amount of the inventories in respect of the JV and turnkey contracts entered by the group

06:43 with respective JV parties or landowners is substantial at $1.1 billion. The audit committee

06:49 opined that it would be appropriate for the audit committee to appoint a professional firm

06:54 for the independent review and report directly to them. According to YNH, the audit committee is in

06:59 the midst of finalising the appointment of the professional firm and also their scope of works

07:04 and that an announcement on the development will be announced in due course. Both BD and SSF & Co.

07:09 were appointed in April this year to provide legal opinion on whether the JV and turnkey

07:14 construction agreements entered into between YNH's wholly-owned unit, Karsin, and various landowners

07:19 or counterparties are in compliance with laws and regulations in relation to related party transactions.

07:26 YNH said SSF & Co.'s report commented that an analysis was carried out on 17 agreements entered

07:32 into by Karsin and they do not appear on the face of it to be scams, as alleged in various reports

07:38 found on Facebook or the internet. Nonetheless, the report made it clear that this is subject

07:43 to further verification or validation.

07:45 [Music]

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