In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim shakes up his Cabinet to better equip his administration to meet economic challenges and cope with issues related to healthcare, education, AI and the digital transformation. Meanwhile, Sarawak Cable finds a white knight in Serendib Capital, which will undertake a “resuscitation exercise” to revive it.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:04 Prime Minister Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim shook up his cabinet today
00:08 to ensure his administration is better equipped to meet economic challenges
00:13 and cope with issues related to healthcare, education,
00:16 artificial intelligence and the digital transformation.
00:20 EPF CEO Datuk Sri Amir Hamzah Azizan is now Finance Minister too.
00:25 Datuk Sri Dr Zulkifli Ahmad is the Health Minister
00:28 and Datuk Sri Johari Abdul Ghani is back as the Plantation and Commodities Minister.
00:34 The Communications and Digital Ministry has been split,
00:37 with Gobind Singh Dio taking over the digital portfolio
00:41 and Fahmi Fazil remaining as the Communications Minister.
00:45 Stephen Sim has been named Human Resources Minister
00:48 as VC Vakumah is dropped from the line-up.
00:51 The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change portfolio
00:55 is now shared between Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Deputy Prime Minister to Datuk Sri Fadhila Yusof
01:01 who helms the New Energy Transition and Public Utilities Ministry.
01:05 Datuk Sri Mohd Hassan is now the Foreign Minister.
01:09 Datuk Sri Mohd Khaled Nordin takes over Defence.
01:12 Datuk Sri Dr Zamri Abdul Qadir is now the Higher Education Minister
01:16 and Datuk Armiza Mohd Ali is the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
01:21 The revamp increased the Cabinet size to 60 from 55.
01:25 Following the appointment of Datuk Sri Amir Hamzah Aziz Anas, the new Minister of Finance,
01:36 too, the EPF said his successor will be announced in due course.
01:40 In a statement, the Fund congratulated Amir Hamzah and expressed confidence in his leadership
01:46 to contribute significantly to Malaysia's economic development.
01:49 It said he has played a pivotal role in the growth and success of the retirement fund
01:54 during his tenure.
01:56 His key achievements include steering the EPF through various economic cycles and challenges,
02:02 consistently achieving positive growth in investment income.
02:06 The EPF said his strategic direction and adept decision-making have been crucial
02:12 in maintaining its investment and operational resilience,
02:16 ensuring it stands as a steadfast pillar of retirement security for its members.
02:21 Amir Hamzah was appointed to helm the EPF in March 2021.
02:25 The Fund's gross investment income rose from RM63.45 billion in 2020 to RM68.89 billion in 2021,
02:35 before dipping to RM55.33 billion in 2022.
02:40 For the first nine months of 2023, the EPF recorded total investment income of RM47.86 billion,
02:48 up 33% from the same period in 2022.
02:51 PN17 company Strawark Cable, or SCB, announced it has found a white knight tin UK-based Serendip
03:04 capsule, which will undertake a resuscitation exercise to revive the firm.
03:08 SCB's share price made a big leap today, soaring to as high as 23.5 cent,
03:14 before pairing some gains to close still 250% higher at 21 cent.
03:19 It's marked capitalization swell to RM83.8 million.
03:24 SCB revealed in a statement filed with Bursa Malaysia that Serendip Capital had prepared
03:29 a war chest of RM250 million to help pare down its debts and recapitalize the loss-making cable
03:35 manufacturer to cater to growing customer demand for infrastructure grid development and high
03:41 voltage cables. It did not disclose in detail whether the RM250 million will be given as a
03:47 loan or an equity injection. Group CEO Russell Walter Boyd said SCB looks forward to leveraging
03:53 the financial firepower and turnaround expertise of Serendip Capital so that it can focus on
03:59 aggressively delivering on its RM900 million order book.
04:03 Malakoff Corp, through its unit Malakoff Radiance, has inked a solar agreement with Railway Assets
04:14 Corp or RAC and Ketapitanah Melayu KTMB. The deal will see Malakoff developing,
04:21 operating and maintaining carport and rooftop solar systems at railway stations,
04:26 depots and a park and ride terminal in Perak, Penang, Selangor, Johor and Negeri Sembilan.
04:32 The 1.42MW peak project has a projected electricity savings of RM9.7 million for RAC and KTMB
04:40 and is expected to have a crucial role in significantly contributing to an annual
04:46 reduction of 19,376 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, proportionate to the conservation
04:53 of 484,400 matured trees. Malakoff MD and Group CEO Anwar Shahreen Abdul Ajib said the group is
05:01 targeting 1,400MW of renewable energy capacity by 2031 through collective efforts.
05:08 RAC CEO Dato' Azhar Ahmad said the agency plans to roll out the second phase of this initiative
05:15 at 17 locations, including 16 railway stations and one park and ride building in Selangor,
05:21 Negeri Sembilan and Perlis. He said the third phase will include 25 more locations
05:26 throughout Peninsular Malaysia.
05:28 Ocean Fresh is offering 50.05M shares, representing 23.81% of its enlarged issued share capital in
05:41 an IPO, as it seeks to list on the ace market of Bursa Malaysia. According to its prospectus
05:47 exposure, this comprises a public offering of 10.51M shares via balloting, of which half will
05:54 be set aside for Bumiputra investors. 1.71M shares will be allocated for eligible parties,
06:00 and 37.83M shares for private placement to selected investors. The frozen seafood products
06:07 company intends to use the IPO proceeds to expand its storage space by setting up a new cold storage
06:13 facility and to finance its working capital. Its prospectus said it has customers from various
06:19 countries, including Malaysia, Turkey, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines,
06:26 Singapore, Korea, Italy, Portugal, the US and Australia. On the financial front,
06:31 Ocean Fresh has reported a steady increase in net profit for the past three financial years,
06:37 with earnings coming in at RM5.58M for FY2022, RM4.02M for FY2021 and RM2.4M for FY2020.
06:48 .