Welcome to the Malaysia morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Malaysia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.
Malaysia says Saudi Aramco will invest $7B in oil hub
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday that oil major Saudi Aramco will invest $7 billion in a mammoth oil processing hub in Malaysia, making it the single-largest investor in the Southeast Asian country.
— The Daily Star
Job market remains soft in 2017 but small uptick continues in five sectors
While all signs point to the fact that the Malaysian job market will continue to be sluggish in 2017, five sectors seem to be bucking the trend.
— Malay Mail Online
Industrial exports lackluster in 2016
The government has started protecting Lebanese industries and it will take further measures for this purpose, Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan said Monday.
— The Daily Star
Scholarship matching platform Skolafund closes RM300,498 capital raise
SKOLAFUND.com, a social enterprise that is a digital platform designed to crowdsource alternative sources of tertiary education scholarship funds for students from low to middle-income families has closed a capital raise on Ata Plus Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) platform that secured RM300,498 ($67,702) from 22 retail and sophisticated investors.
— Deal Street Asia
Cradle set to lead funding rounds, unveils direct equity investment plan
Malaysian early-stage tech startup influencer Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd has moved a step further in its investment strategy shift from grants to equity with a new product DEQ800, for equity investments to fund local tech startups with amount between MYR300,000 to MYR 800,000.
— Deal Street Asia
Banks’ profit margins expected to improve with leaner ops
The profit margins of banks are set to improve on the back of prudent spending measures, lower loan-loss provisions and better net interest spread, said analysts.
— New Straits Times
AEON’s pre-tax profit decreases to RM147.10m
Aeon Co (M) Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 decreased to RM147.10 million from RM210.84 million recorded in 2015.
— New Straits Times
Sarawak Oil Palm’s FY16 pre-tax profit rises to RM188.13m
Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 rose to RM188.13 million from RM123.76 million recorded in the same period previously.
— New Straits Times
Malaysia-Saudi MoU on trade and investment to lead to diversification of imports, exports
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of trade and investment to promote cooperation.
— New Straits Times
Sime Darby’s net profit rises to RM1.09b in first six month of last year
Sime Darby Bhd’s net profit jumped 78.5 per cent to RM1.09 billion in the first six months ended Dec 31 2016 from RM609 million a year ago.
— New Straits Times
Bank Negara acts on liquidity issues in forex market
Bank Negara said steps are being taken to address liquidity issues in the foreign exchange (forex) market amid complaints by investors from overseas that there aren’t enough US dollars in the onshore market for them to hedge their investment risks.
— The Star Online
Star Media Group records pre-tax profit of RM146.21mil
Star Media Group Bhd registered a pre-tax profit of RM146.21mil on a revenue of RM932.12mil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016.
— The Star Online
UMW takes a RM1.16bil hit, writes down value of O&G assets
UMW Holdings Bhd undertook a massive kitchen-sinking exercise on its oil and gas (O&G) business with an impairment of RM1.16bil on its listed and unlisted assets.
— The Star Online
Bursa Malaysia revises short selling, securities borrowing rules
Bursa Malaysia Bhd has revised the tick rule for regulated short-selling (RSS), allowing orders to be executed at the best current asking price or higher instead of just at a price higher than the last done price of the approved securities.
— The Star Online
Britain urges Malaysia to share evidence on Kim VX attack
Britain on Monday urged Malaysia to share evidence from the lethal VX nerve gas attack on Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother with the United Nations, which could take action against North Korea.
— Capital News
IGP: Companies behind North Korean spy operation getting removed from register
The Malaysian companies behind an operation run by a North Korean intelligence agency here that sold military radio equipment are being struck off from the companies’ register, police said today.
— Malay Mail Online
Feature photo: sasint
The Malaysia morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.