In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Sime Darby is offering to buy a 61.18% stake in UMW Holdings for RM3.57 billion in the biggest automotive deal in the country. Meanwhile, KLK is buying into Boustead Plantations and plans to take the company private
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00:00 [Music]
00:04 Saim Dhabi is buying a 61.18% equity interest in UMW Holdings from its parent,
00:10 Pemudalan Nasional, for RM5 per share in a deal worth RM3.57 billion.
00:16 The biggest automotive deal in the country will see Saim Dhabi launch a mandatory general offer
00:21 to buy the remaining shareholding of 38.82% and take UMW private.
00:26 The MGO is expected to roughly cost RM2.27 billion and values UMW at RM5.84 billion.
00:33 Saim Dhabi's Group CEO, Datuk Jeffrey Salim Davidson, explains that this will give it a
00:38 full presence across the spectrum by adding high-quality mass-market car brands to its
00:43 automotive portfolio. He points out that Saim Dhabi is largely a retailer and that the UMW
00:49 takeover would help it to plug the gap as Perodua and Toyota are largely in manufacturing and
00:55 distribution. It is worth noting that UMW is one of the largest automotive and industrial groups
01:00 in the country with strategic partnerships with global companies such as Toyota Motor Corp
01:05 and Komatsu. It also owns a 38% stake in Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua or Perodua.
01:12 As such, Jeffrey expects the acquisition of UMW to open up more opportunities for Saim Dhabi's
01:17 automotive segment in Malaysia and other international markets. Group CFO, Mustamir
01:22 Mohamed, says that Saim Dhabi will absorb UMW's debts totalling RM2.7 billion. It intends to
01:29 pare down UMW's borrowings by selling its stake in the healthcare JV that it has with Ramsey
01:34 Healthcare as well as selling a parcel of land it owns in Labu Sermban. Jeffrey said that the
01:40 group has yet to discuss with UMW on its future plans as it is still early days, dubbing the
01:45 acquisition as an engagement ceremony between the two parties. Meanwhile, Saim Dhabi saw its net
01:50 profit for FY2023 improve by 32% year-on-year to RM1.46 billion as its fourth quarter earnings
01:58 doubled. Revenue for FY2023 rose 14% year-on-year to RM4.83 billion from the RM42.5 billion posted
02:06 previously. The group also declared a total dividend payout of RM0.13 per share compared
02:11 with RM0.11.5 per share in FY2022.
02:19 Kuala Lumpur-Kepong has proposed to buy 739.2 million shares or 33% and 1 share in Baustat
02:26 Plantations for a total of RM1.15 billion or RM1.55 per share, valuing B-Plan at RM3.47 billion.
02:35 KLK also plans to take the company private via a mandatory general offer, confirming the EDGES
02:41 report. KLK entered into the Tripartite Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Baustat Holdings and
02:47 Lembaga Tambang Akatan Tentera on August 24, the group said in a BOSS filing. Baustat holds a 57.42%
02:55 stake in B-Plant, while LTAT holds a 10.59% stake in the planter. At RM1.55, the offer is at a 90%
03:03 premium to B-Plant's net tangible asset of RM1.30 and 13% premium to its last trading price of
03:10 RM1.37. The group said the objective of the SCA is to work together with Baustat and LTAT
03:17 towards the long-term objective of enhancing the operational efficiencies and CPO yields of the
03:23 plantations of B-Plant over the long term. LTAT CEO Dato' Ahmad Nazim Abdul Rahman called the
03:30 strategic collaboration timely, adding that it marks the beginning of the reset strategy for
03:35 Baustat, which will result in a significant value enhancement to the group. KLK CEO Tan Sri Lee
03:42 Uy Hian said the planter is optimistic that this corporate exercise will bring positive benefit for
03:47 Malaysia's palm oil industry as a whole. KLK plans to fund the exercise via a combination of bank
03:53 borrowings and internally generated funds, and bearing any unforeseen circumstances, is aiming
03:58 to complete the acquisition by the fourth quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the two planters also reported
04:04 quarterly earnings today, where both saw softer numbers broadly due to lower CPO prices.
04:10 KLK saw its third quarter earnings plunge 85% to RM84.1 million from RM558.3 million as revenue
04:18 declined by 27% year-on-year to RM5.1 billion. B-Plant slipped into the red for its second quarter,
04:25 posting a net loss of RM5.5 million compared to a net profit of RM73.2 million the year before as
04:31 revenue fell by 42% year-on-year to RM201.2 million for the quarter under review.
04:37 The prosecution in Datin Sri Rosmah Mansoor's second criminal trial, where she is facing 17
04:48 charges of money laundering and tax evasion, told the High Court today that she has no independent
04:53 source of income, yet had large sums of money deposited into her current account that she has
04:58 in Afin Bank. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib said Rosmah was not gainfully employed,
05:05 but the prosecution noticed that the monies were deposited through Roslan Sohari, who was at the
05:10 time the residential house manager of Sri Pradhana Complex in Putrajaya. Akram said the first 12
05:16 charges concerning money laundering pertain to deposits to this account and they were never
05:20 disclosed as revenue and were deposited and utilised by her. The DPP said Rosmah had made
05:26 false statements concerning the monies paid into her account when she was questioned by Malaysian
05:31 Anti-Corruption Commission officers. The prosecution also stated that the totality of the evidence,
05:36 when considered as a whole, supports the "irresistible" inference that the deposits in
05:42 question were proceeds of unlawful activity. During the trial, a witness told the court that
05:47 he had deposited an envelope of cash totalling RM200,000 into Rosmah's account in June 2015.
05:54 Faisal Shamsuddin, who was the prosecution's second witness, said he was not aware that the
05:59 envelope contained cash until the bank officer had opened the envelope. Faisal once served as
06:05 operations manager in the Operations Management Department of the Sri Pradhana Complex while
06:10 Rosmah's husband, Datuk Sri Najib Razak, was still the PM.
06:19 Genting, Malaysia returned to the black in the second quarter, posting a net profit of $47.12
06:24 million compared with a net loss of $10.85 million a year ago, boosted mainly by a $182.2 million net
06:31 gain on disposal. It should be noted that since January 2022, Genting, Malaysia has been in the
06:37 red for four out of six quarters. Revenue grew by 14% year-on-year to $2.47 billion, driven by the
06:43 increase in volume of business by Resorts World Genting and higher contribution from Resorts World
06:49 New York and the improved operating performance of Resorts World Bimini. Genting, Malaysia declared
06:54 an interim single-tier dividend of $0.06 per share. For the first half, Genting, Malaysia
06:59 recorded $19.7 million net profit versus a $137.4 million net loss a year earlier, as revenue grew
07:06 22% year-on-year to $4.76 billion from $3.9 billion. On its outlook, Genting, Malaysia said
07:13 it will leverage its integrated resorts offerings to capitalize on the increasing inbound tourist
07:19 arrivals to Malaysia to drive incremental foreign visitation to RWG and continue to invest in the
07:25 infrastructure at Genting Highlands to elevate customer experience. In the U.S., Genting,
07:30 Malaysia says it remains focused on strengthening its leading position in the New York state gaming
07:35 market and continuing to closely monitor developments surrounding the New York Gaming
07:39 Board Facility Board's request for application to solicit proposals for up to three commercial casinos.
07:45 DRB Highcom saw its second quarter earnings plunge 80% to $33.7 million due to the absence
07:56 of asset disposal gains recorded in the previous year's corresponding period. In contrast, revenue
08:02 increased 12% year-on-year from $3.55 billion to $3.98 billion driven by its automotive segment,
08:09 mainly with contributions from Proton, automotive distribution companies,
08:12 and manufacturing and engineering companies. For the first half, net profit dipped by 1.5%
08:17 to $141.6 million, as revenue improved by 22% to $8.09 billion from the $6.62 billion posted
08:26 last year. Proton recorded a 28.6% increase in sales volume, with the Saga, X50 and Persona
08:33 contributing more than 80% of the national carmaker's total sales volume. Meanwhile, the
08:38 banking sector recorded a 37.3% increase in revenue in the first half to $806.8 million,
08:45 primarily due to higher financing income led by growth in financing volume. DRB Highcom said its
08:51 postal sector remains on track in its transformation roadmap, leveraging on technology to enhance
08:57 customer experience and continue to adopt prudent cost-control discipline. The conglomerate expects
09:03 a satisfactory financial performance for FY2023 compared with the previous year.