In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo is proposing to consolidate and streamline his various businesses that will result in creating an enlarged conglomerate. Meanwhile, the High Court has upheld the Mareva injunction against Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
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00:00 [Music]
00:04 Taekwoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hu is proposing to group together similar business segments
00:08 from his stable of companies under Ecovest as part of a plan to streamline and rationalise
00:13 the businesses and assets, consolidate his direct shareholding and avoid the issue of
00:18 potential conflict of interest, creating an enlarged conglomerate under Ecovest.
00:23 Lim is a major shareholder of Ecovest, Nusford, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings and Iskandar Waterfront City,
00:29 while Ecovest also owns approximately 62% in PLS Plantation.
00:34 The public-listed company said that they had received a letter from Lim dated September 27,
00:39 written in his personal capacity as a major shareholder for the board's consideration.
00:44 This exercise is also designed to eliminate many of the existing recurring related party transactions
00:49 and transfer pricing concerns among the companies moving forward.
00:53 Lim outlined four proposals to achieve the objectives.
00:56 The first is a proposed merger of the construction businesses of Ecovest and Nusford
01:01 to be satisfied via the issuance of new ordinary shares in Nusford
01:05 at a proposed issue price of 60 cent per new Nusford share.
01:08 The second involves the proposed acquisition by Ecovest of three parcels of land
01:13 with approximately 17 acres located in Johor Bahru,
01:16 intended for potential two transit-oriented development
01:19 along the alignment for the JB Singapore Rapid Transit System Link.
01:24 The purchase consideration payable by Ecovest to the vendors of ToT2 and ToT3
01:28 is proposed to be satisfied via the combination of cash
01:32 and the issuance of new ordinary shares in Ecovest
01:34 at the proposed price of 60 cent per new Ecovest share.
01:38 The third proposal involves the acquisition by Ecovest of at least 51% or more
01:43 of the issued share capital of Credence Resources,
01:46 which presently holds 63.13% in IWH, which in turn holds 34.29% in IWCity.
01:53 The final proposal involves the merger of properties and assets of IWH and IWCity
01:59 under a single entity through the acquisition by IWCity
02:02 of the entire issued share capital of all the existing direct subsidiaries of IWH.
02:08 According to Lim's statement, the various corporate proposals are not intended to be
02:12 conditional or interconditional upon each other
02:14 and will be implemented separately and independently if deemed fit
02:18 by the Board of Directors of the respective companies.
02:21 [Music]
02:26 The High Court has upheld the US$681 million Marivah injunction imposed by 1MDB
02:32 on former PM Datuk Sri Najib Razak.
02:34 This follows Judge Atan Mustafa Yusof Ahmad dismissing Najib's application
02:39 to set aside the injunction as the court found that 1MDB has stated a case of
02:43 "unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, knowing and dishonest receipt,
02:48 and misfeasance of public offence and others against Najib."
02:51 The judge added that the plaintiffs, namely 1MDB and its subsidiary company,
02:56 have unquestionably met the standard considering the evidence and legal arguments
03:00 presented before the court.
03:02 Atan Mustafa said the SRC International Criminal Trial findings
03:06 are relevant to this Marivah injunction application,
03:08 casting doubt on Najib's explanation of the funds as Arab donations.
03:13 On dealing with Najib's ongoing 1MDB Tanore trial having impeded the former PM's ability,
03:18 to disclose his defence, the judge found such assertion to be problematic
03:23 and at odds with established legal protocols.
03:25 He adds that Najib's reliance on the right to remain silent appears less a legitimate legal
03:30 argument and more of a strategic evasion, meriting further scrutiny of potential dishonesty.
03:36 The court also found the second Marivah injunction not oppressive as alleged by the defence,
03:41 as the court is permitted to impose successive injunctions
03:44 when the factual and legal underpinnings between claims differ significantly.
03:48 Kemuda's annual net profit crossed the $1 billion mark for FY2023 after it posted a 128%
04:00 year-on-year increase to $1.84 billion from $806.2 million in FY2022,
04:07 largely due to the gains it booked from the divestment of its highways.
04:11 Annual revenue soared 68% year-on-year to $8.23 billion as its overseas construction
04:16 revenue surged fourfold due to a significant pickup in work progress in its Australia and
04:22 Taiwan projects. Revenue for the fourth quarter spiked 84% year-on-year to $3.42 billion,
04:27 which was a contrast to net profit for the quarter, which declined marginally
04:31 by 1.4% to $251.8 million from $255.2 million.
04:38 Kemuda highlighted that its construction order book has reached an all-time high of $21 billion,
04:43 while property sales rose to a record $4.1 billion. Looking ahead, Kemuda said it anticipates
04:49 next year's performance to be driven by overseas construction activities as projects in Australia
04:55 and Taiwan continue to gather pace. It elaborates that the group's resilience is underpinned by its
05:00 large order book that includes a $4.4 billion order book boost from the acquisition of downer
05:05 transport projects in Australia and unbilled property sales of $6.7 billion. Kemuda adds
05:11 that it also has a healthy balance sheet with a comfortable net gearing of 25%,
05:16 which is well below its self-imposed gearing limit of 70%.
05:25 Median monthly salaries and wages rose 7.7% in 2022 to $2,424 from $2,250 in 2021,
05:35 after Malaysia implemented the minimum wage of $1,500 in May last year, according to the
05:40 Department of Statistics Malaysia. In a statement, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin
05:47 attributed the increase also to continuous economic and social activities, supported by
05:52 increasing tourist arrivals and improvements in the labour market, especially in the services
05:57 sector. He said about 50% of full-time citizen workers received salaries and wages of $2,424
06:04 and below in 2022. Likewise, the mean monthly salaries and wages received by Malaysians in 2022
06:11 rose by 5.8%, registering $3,212 compared with $3,037 in 2021. By economic activity, all sectors
06:21 recorded increases in mean monthly salaries and wages in 2022. According to DOSM, the services
06:27 sector, the largest sector in the economy, recorded the highest number of salary and wage recipients,
06:33 particularly in the sub-sector of wholesale and retail trade activities, education, F&B and
06:39 accommodation. The mean monthly salaries and wages for skilled employees also increased by 3.7%,
06:45 registering an additional $177 to $5,025 compared to $4,848 in 2021. The low-skilled category,
06:55 which includes elementary workers, also increased by $66 to $1,815 as compared to $1,749 in the
07:04 previous year. By states, Putrajaya recorded the highest mean monthly salaries and wages at $4,666,
07:12 while four other states surpassed the national mean of $3,212, namely Kuala Lumpur, Selangor,
07:19 Labuan and Pulau Pinang.
07:21 Capital A has entered into three memoranda of understanding with long-term rival PT Garuda
07:31 Indonesia, Persero, to partner in both parties' commercial airline, cargo, as well as for their
07:36 maintenance, repair and overhaul business. Both will explore network expansion in commercial
07:41 airline through their airline arms AirAsia Aviation Group and PT CityLink Indonesia,
07:46 logistic services between Teleport Everywhere and Garuda Indonesia Cargo,
07:51 and aircraft maintenance between Asia Digital Engineering and GMF AeroAsia.
07:56 At the signing ceremony in Jakarta, Garuda President and CEO Irfan Setia Putra said both
08:01 parties will begin their collaboration through interlining between their commercial airline
08:06 services as the first step before embarking on code sharing in the future. Capital A CEO Tan Sri
08:12 Tony Fernandes says that this collaboration has set the standard that airlines can work together
08:17 while also competing, commending Garuda for having the guts to do something different.
08:22 In a boss filing, Capital A said that this arrangement with Garuda marks the first bilateral
08:26 interline agreement for AirAsia and will leverage on the depth of CityLink's domestic network and
08:31 the breadth of AirAsia's international routes. The group explains that once the infrastructure
08:35 interline is ready for operations by the first quarter of 2024, travelers would be able to
08:40 check through baggage from origin to destination on a single boarding pass for seamless transfer
08:46 through integrated services. According to the filing, the MOUs are not legally binding and do
08:50 not constitute agreements, have no commercial value and are executed by the parties in good faith.
08:56 [Music]