00:00 [Music]
00:04 The Attorney General's Chambers,
00:06 appearing for former Prime Minister Tondokter Mahathir Mohamad,
00:10 ex-Minister Tan Sri Noor Mohamad Yaacob and Putrajaya,
00:13 has applied to strike out the suit filed by Tan Sri Halim Saad.
00:17 It said the businessman's suit is frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process,
00:22 and asked for all proceedings to be suspended until a decision on its application is made.
00:28 This application is fixed for hearing on May 14th next year.
00:32 The bid to have the suit struck out is backed by an affidavit by Noor Mohamad,
00:36 who said Halim had himself chosen to support the general offer for UEM
00:40 without any inducements from the defendants.
00:43 He affirmed that the takeover of Halim's stake was not done compulsorily,
00:48 as there had been a series of negotiations to finalise the compensation.
00:53 The former minister added that Halim had agreed to the sum of RM165 million,
00:58 despite claiming that it was not ample compensation.
01:02 The businessman maintains that he was forced to sell his stake in Renong and UEM,
01:07 which then owned prized assets, including the toll concession for the North-South Expressway.
01:12 [Music]
01:17 Petronas Gas saw its third quarter FY2023 net profit rise 10% year-on-year
01:23 on lower financing costs, taxes and expenses,
01:26 though it shrank 3.5% quarter-on-quarter on the back of weaker sales,
01:31 amid a planned plant turnaround in Kerdeh and lower product prices in the utilities segment.
01:38 Earnings came in at RM468.46 million,
01:42 up from RM425.82 million in the third quarter of FY2022
01:47 and down from RM485.37 million in the second quarter of FY2023.
01:54 Revenue fell 1% to RM1.55 billion from RM1.56 billion the previous year.
02:00 It was down 5.3% from RM1.64 billion in the immediate preceding quarter.
02:06 Petgas declared a dividend of 18 cent per share.
02:10 The company expects to deliver a strong financial performance in FY2023.
02:15 It said it would continue to strive for operational excellence,
02:19 as well as to strike the right balance between growth investments,
02:22 financial prudence and shareholders' distribution amid the higher operating cost environment.
02:28 Shares of Petgas traded 0.2% higher at RM17.18 at the close,
02:34 giving it a market capitalization of RM33.99 billion.
02:38 Home improvement retailer MrDIY Group Malaysia saw third quarter FY2023 bottom line
02:50 improved by some 22.5% year-on-year as new stores boosted revenue.
02:55 Net profit stood at RM123.95 million as top line jumped 10% to RM1.07 billion.
03:03 It declared an interim dividend of 0.8 cent per share.
03:06 Looking ahead, CEO Adrian Ong said the group remains comfortably optimistic of its growth
03:12 prospects given the current business environment.
03:15 MrDIY remains focused on the strategic expansion of its store network,
03:20 optimizing revenue per square foot and operational efficiency,
03:24 which is key to driving financial performance and enhancing shareholder value.
03:28 Ong said the retailer is simultaneously exploring several key initiatives,
03:33 including the launch of new brands to capitalize on growth opportunities
03:37 as well as potential horizontal and vertical acquisitions.
03:41 Also a priority, he said, is warehouse automation to enhance cost optimization.
03:47 As at September 30, the group has 1,203 outlets and its store expansion for FY2023 remains largely
03:55 on track, with at least 57 stores to be opened across all three of its brands in the fourth
04:00 quarter of this fiscal year.
04:03 [Music]
04:07 E-Government services provider MyEG Services saw its third quarter FY2023 earnings slumped by
04:14 some 20% to RM120.1 million, which it said was mainly due to the one-off recognition of fair
04:22 value gain in investment of RM61.89 million from the listing of its investment in Agmo Holdings
04:28 in the third quarter of FY2022.
04:32 Excluding this, it said, operating profit after tax increased by 33.3% on the back of the
04:38 contribution from its Zetrix blockchain platform.
04:41 Revenue was 19% higher at RM194.1 million, thanks to the contribution from newly launched
04:48 services from Zetrix and the sale of Zetrix tokens.
04:52 Commenting on its prospects, it said it is "cautiously optimistic" on its outlook
04:57 as it continues to introduce innovative services both locally and globally.
05:02 It aims to do this by leveraging new technologies, specifically blockchain or Web 3.0, and with
05:08 Zetrix coming online, it sees a huge potential to commercialise innovative services as Web 3.0
05:15 becomes widely adopted.
05:17 It noted that Zetrix's integration with China's national blockchain platform will be the group's
05:22 foray into the global market.
05:24 [Music]
05:29 Over 60% of government-linked investment companies' funds are invested locally, with
05:35 15.8% to 62.7% invested in domestic equities from January 1, 2019 to August 31, 2023.
05:45 Deputy Finance Minister Tu Steven Sim said this is led by the EPF, with an average of
05:50 64.9% of its RM1.096 trillion fund invested domestically.
05:56 Of its entire fund base, 24.4% is invested in local listed equities.
06:02 For PNB, whose total investment is RM332 billion, an average of 84.3% is invested domestically,
06:11 where 74.4% is in local equities.
06:14 Kuop holds RM167 billion, with an average investment of 79.3% in the domestic market,
06:22 where 45.2% is in the local share market.
06:26 Lembaga Tabung Haji has RM91 billion, and the average investment in the domestic market
06:32 is 90.1%, with 18.3% in Malaysian equities.
06:37 As for the LTAT, the Armed Forces Fund Board manages RM10.5 billion, with the entire fund
06:44 invested in the domestic market, he said, of which 52% is in Bursa Malaysia listed equities.
06:51 (Music)
Comments