In today’s edition of Evening 5 — the government released its Progressive Wage White Paper today, which revealed details such as salary bands and what organisations it will cover. Meanwhile, earnings season wraps up with results from Hong Leong, CIMB, Capital A and IHH Healthcare.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:04 The government released its progressive wage white paper on Thursday,
00:07 proposing to implement a pilot project between June and September next year
00:11 that involves a selected number of companies that register to voluntarily participate in it
00:17 with full implementation to be determined later.
00:20 The white paper proposed that in the first year of implementation,
00:23 a progressive wage system to involve those earning a monthly salary
00:26 of between RM1,500 and RM4,999,
00:31 covering some 4 million workers in formal sectors,
00:34 will be limited only to Malaysian citizens.
00:37 Businesses, especially SMEs, are encouraged to participate,
00:41 but MNCs and GLCs are exempted from the project
00:44 as they are deemed paying competitive wages already.
00:47 The white paper also proposed that the government make an annual allocation for cash incentives
00:52 to encourage higher reception from the business sector to participate in progressive wages voluntarily.
00:58 For entry-level posts, participating companies will be eligible to receive cash incentives
01:02 of up to RM200 monthly for 12 months,
01:06 while for non-entry-level posts,
01:08 the incentive rate is proposed to be up to RM300 monthly for 12 months.
01:13 The government allocation for cash incentives will be dependent on Putrajaya's fiscal position
01:17 and progressive wage incentives will be paid out based on a first-come, first-served basis.
01:22 These cash incentives will be paid out after employers submit documents
01:26 related to employees' wages and their participation in skill-upgrading courses
01:32 that the government will identify and certify.
01:34 It is expected that the number of taxpayers will increase by between 37,529 and 84,719 people,
01:42 while the unemployment rate will be reduced by between 0.14 percentage points and 0.35 percentage points,
01:49 depending on how much the government can spare to incentivise adoption of progressive wages.
01:54 During the presentation in the Dewan Rakyat, Economy Minister Rafizieh Ramlee said
01:58 the ministry would prepare salary guidelines to be approved by the Cabinet in the first quarter.
02:03 Subsequently, interested companies could register before the pilot project commences in June 2024.
02:09 Rafizieh explained that the administration decided to start a pilot project involving 1,000 companies
02:14 so that it can fine-tune the weaknesses before expanding it to the whole sector.
02:19 CIMB Group Holdings' third quarter net profit jumped 31% year-on-year to $1.85 billion
02:31 due to strong non-interest income improvement partially offset by weaker net interest income
02:36 due to net interest margin compression from higher cost of deposits.
02:40 Quarterly revenue rose by 6.2% to $5.31 billion from a $4.99 billion ringgit.
02:46 No dividend was declared for the quarter under review.
02:49 CIMB's total gross loans growth momentum continued, rising 6.4% year-on-year to $431.8 billion,
02:56 underpinned by strong demand across markets and segments,
02:59 while total deposits grew 8.6% year-on-year to $490.3 billion,
03:04 despite persistent competition for deposits in all markets.
03:08 Group CEO Dato' Abdul Rahman Ahmad said positive growth was also seen in consumer and commercial banking
03:14 in Malaysia, CIMB digital assets, and across its key markets of Indonesia and Singapore.
03:20 However, he says that the bank remains cautious given the heightened global political risk
03:24 coupled with continued elevated interest environment,
03:27 which is likely to lead to a deceleration of global economic growth.
03:31 Abdul Rahman says that as CIMB approaches the final year of its Forward 23+ strategic plan,
03:37 it remains focused on enhancing its kasa and deposit franchise,
03:41 and growing in its target segment whilst continuing to keep a close watch on cost and asset quality.
03:47 He added that the affluent and wealth management business is among CIMB's focus segments,
03:52 with particular emphasis on transaction banking and the regional ASEAN network business.
03:57 Hong Leong Bank saw its net profit improve 4.93% year-on-year to $1.03 billion for the first quarter,
04:08 on higher contributions from the bank's associates and reversal of impairment losses.
04:13 However, revenue in contrast slipped 7.05% to $1.39 billion from $1.5 billion last year.
04:20 HLB Group MD and CEO Kevin Lam said that the bank had achieved a higher ROE of 12.1%
04:26 for the quarter.
04:28 He added its gross loans and financing portfolio grew 7.2% year-on-year to $181.7 billion,
04:34 led by its growth in mortgage, auto loans, SMEs and commercial banking segments,
04:39 as well as overseas operations.
04:42 Lam said that amid the dynamic business landscape,
04:44 forming new and enhancing existing strategic partnerships will be HLB's top priority,
04:50 as it leverages on its digital expertise.
04:52 He adds that seizing opportunities through new growth engines and building world-class talents
04:57 will enable it to build a robust ASEAN franchise.
05:01 Meanwhile, HLB Group recorded a net profit of $741.6 million for its first quarter,
05:07 up 11% from a year ago, as it saw an improvement across all operating companies
05:12 and reversal of impairment losses.
05:14 Notably, during the quarter, it saw a write-back of impairment losses on loans, advances in financing
05:20 of $51.24 million and higher share of results from its associates.
05:25 Revenue for the quarter slipped 2.38% to $1.56 billion.
05:29 Looking ahead, HLFG says it will remain vigilant and maintain a cautious outlook for the rest of FY2024,
05:36 as global economic headwinds continue to persist,
05:39 said its President and Chief Executive Officer Tan Kong Kun.
05:42 Tan adds that the Group will continue to invest in its human capital,
05:46 accelerate its digitalisation transformation while keeping a sharp focus on risk management
05:51 and further integrate ESG considerations on the way it conducts its business
05:56 to deliver sustainable business performance and long-term value for all stakeholders.
06:01 IHH Healthcare's net profit more than doubled for its third quarter to $532.07 million
06:12 from $251.8 million a year ago, boosted by growth from higher patient volumes
06:18 and revenue from higher acuity treatment.
06:20 Quality revenue also improved, increasing by 27% year-on-year to $5.83 billion,
06:26 underpinned by higher revenue contribution from its hospital and healthcare segment.
06:30 CEO Dr Prem Kumar Naik said the impressive numbers in the third quarter
06:35 clearly reflects the Group's growth trajectory.
06:37 He adds that IHH are dedicated to achieving profitable growth and healthy ROE
06:42 while upholding its commitment to do right by all its stakeholders.
06:46 Following three consecutive quarters of profit,
06:53 Capital A slid into the red for its third quarter, reporting a net loss of RM178.8 million.
07:00 However, on a year-on-year basis, the Group's net loss actually narrowed
07:03 from the RM901.3 million it incurred in the third quarter of FY2022
07:09 on continued improvement in its aviation business,
07:12 as revenue more than doubled to RM4.23 billion from RM1.96 billion.
07:17 The Group's aviation segment reported revenue of over RM3.9 billion for the quarter,
07:21 up 116% from last year on surging domestic and international travel.
07:27 The Group said the strong rebound catapulted revenue to the pre-COVID-19 period,
07:31 with 89% of current capacity and a positive EBITDA margin of 10%
07:36 against an EBITDA margin of 6% in the third quarter of 2022.
07:41 Capital A said passengers carried during the quarter more than doubled
07:44 to RM14.71 million from RM7.12 million a year ago,
07:49 while capacity was up 99% to RM16.49 million.
07:53 Passenger load factor improved to 89% from 86% a year ago.
07:58 Revenue per km increased by 140% to RM17,550 million in the third quarter
08:04 from RM7,323 million a year ago,
08:07 while available seats per km was up 133% to RM19,973 million from RM8,554 million.
08:18 Notably, the average fare fell 7% to RM215,
08:21 while revenue per ASK dropped 14% to RM19.6 from RM22.8.
08:27 Meanwhile, its logistics and digital segments reported improved revenue
08:30 of RM188.86 million and RM121.99 million, respectively.
08:35 (Music)