In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Puncak Niaga drops its RM14 billion suit against the Selangor state government six years after it first filed it. Meanwhile, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil says all mobile network operators will hold equal stakes in DNB.
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00:00 [Music]
00:04 Puncak Nyaga Holdings has dropped its RM14 billion suit against the Selangor State Government
00:10 for what it had alleged was a forced takeover of the state's water industry back in 2017.
00:16 The suit was filed following the takeover of PNSB Water
00:20 and a 70% stake in Shahbaz from Puncak Nyaga by the state for RM1.55 billion cash,
00:26 which it claimed was lower than the two companies' value of RM2.08 billion to RM2.35 billion.
00:33 It also sought loss of business opportunities amounting to RM13.496 billion plus interest.
00:40 In a filing today, Puncak Nyaga said it decided to discontinue the claims after careful consideration
00:47 of the fact that the six-year claim has yet to proceed to trial in court.
00:51 It said its decision was also due to evolving change in the challenging business environments
00:56 regulating Puncak Nyaga, where its operations are entirely in Malaysia.
01:01 The group said it is also seeking to avoid incurring more resources and costs to pursue the matter in court.
01:08 The stock rose 10.8% to RM41, valuing it at RM184.2 million.
01:15 [Music]
01:20 Communications and Digital Minister Fahmy Fazil said all participating mobile network operators
01:26 will hold equal stakes in the government-owned 5G network infrastructure outfit, DNB.
01:32 Met after officiating Ericsson Imagine Live Malaysia 2023,
01:37 he said the telcos are finalising the share subscription agreement with DNB
01:41 and the matter should be concluded very soon.
01:44 In July, Fahmy announced that five telcos will take up the stakes in DNB.
01:49 Cellcom Digi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia, U Mobile and YTL Communications.
01:54 According to him, the 5G network coverage of populated areas in Malaysia has reached 68.8% as of August 31
02:03 and is on track to achieve the 80% target by the end of this year or early 2024.
02:09 Earlier, Fahmy was also reported as saying,
02:12 DNB's CEO is expected to be announced after the agreements are finalised.
02:17 The position has been vacant since March this year,
02:20 after Augustus Ralph Marshall stepped down upon the expiry of his two-year contract.
02:26 [Music]
02:31 Astro Malaysia Holdings said its second-quarter FY2024 bottom line
02:36 was dragged by high operating costs and unfavourable forex loss.
02:40 Quarterly net profit slumped by 76% to RM23.65 million.
02:46 This as revenue shrank 5.6% to RM869.82 million
02:51 due to a fall in subscription revenue and merchandise sales.
02:55 As for the first six months of FY2024,
02:59 Astro's net profit stood at RM39.55 million, down 80.1%,
03:04 while its top line fell 6.5% to RM1.76 billion.
03:09 The pay TV services provider did not declare any dividend.
03:12 It said this is in line with its new policy to distribute dividends annually
03:17 from consolidated profit after tax and minority interest.
03:21 This is aimed at balancing the need to reinvest in the growth of adjacent businesses,
03:25 while also preserving liquidity to strengthen its balance sheet and pay out dividends.
03:31 On its prospects, Astro said it sees prolonged macroeconomic headwinds
03:35 persisting for the remainder of FY2024.
03:39 While it maintains a cautious outlook,
03:41 its CEO Ewan Smith said the group is committed to investing in content production
03:47 with over RM300 million earmarked for this fiscal year.
03:51 Its shares fell 0.97% to 51 cent, valuing it at RM2.64 billion.
03:58 Bumi Armada said its subsidiary Armada Akia has signed a production sharing contract
04:09 with Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
04:12 for exploration in the Tarakan Basin of the North Kalimantan province.
04:17 In a boarst filing on Monday, the oil and gas service provider said
04:21 its co-bidder for the project, Paxco Tarakan,
04:24 has also entered into the exploration agreement.
04:27 The contract covers an area of 8,394 square kilometres
04:32 and contains the Aster and Tulip oil and gas discoveries.
04:36 Bumi Armada will provide and operate a floating production storage and operation
04:42 and a floating liquid natural gas or gas pipeline for the development.
04:46 It said Paxco is an independent upstream exploration and production group of companies
04:51 and the group currently operates two production sharing contracts in Indonesia.
04:56 Shares in Bumi Armada closed 2.65% lower to 55 cent,
05:01 giving it a marked capitalisation of RM4.78 billion.
05:05 HLIB Research expects the benchmark FBM-KLCI to return to the 1,465 points level
05:16 in the third quarter of this year.
05:19 This would be thanks to potential window dressing activities during the period
05:23 and Prime Minister Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim's productive visit to the United States.
05:27 The recent conclusion of the six state elections is also expected to bring about
05:32 an improvement in risk appetite and a pickup in merger and acquisition activity.
05:37 The benchmark index last flitted around that level in February.
05:41 As of 5pm, the KLCI was down 0.47% at 1,443.45.
05:49 In a note today, the Research House said that despite the composite index tracking
05:53 a downturn on Wall Street and facing technical challenges,
05:57 it is expected to extend its sideways consolidation phase amid the risk-off environment.
06:03 The Research House advised investors to buy on dips to take advantage of a more promising
06:08 fourth quarter 2023, setting a year-end target of 1,530 points.
06:14 [Music]