In today’s edition of Evening 5 — national power provider TNB has named its COO Datuk Mega Jalaluddin Megat Hassan as its next president and CEO. Meanwhile, Astro has posted its first quarterly net loss mostly due its VSS exercise.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 TENAGA National has appointed its chief operating officer,
00:07 Dato' Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan,
00:10 to be its next president and CEO,
00:12 succeeding Datuk Sri Barin Den, whose tenure expires
00:16 February 29, 2024.
00:18 Megat Jalaluddin's appointment by TNB special shareholder,
00:21 Ministry of Finance, Inc, will be effective March 1
00:24 next year for a period of two years,
00:26 according to the national utilities boss filing.
00:29 Megat Jalaluddin, 58, first joined TNB in 2006
00:32 before leaving for Celcom in 2008
00:35 and subsequently returning to TNB in 2009.
00:38 According to TNB, Megat Jalaluddin
00:40 built his career at the utility giant,
00:42 at which he had served in various engineering
00:45 and managerial positions within the company,
00:47 including business and strategic planning, business development,
00:50 project management, business process improvement, metering
00:53 service, and engineering service.
00:55 TNB also said that its board of directors
00:57 would like to express its appreciation to Baharain
01:00 for his contributions.
01:01 The current regulatory system and high barriers
01:08 to entry to Malaysia's energy sector
01:11 allegedly give way to patronage and rent-seeking practices,
01:14 according to a report released by the Institute for Democracy
01:18 and Economic Affairs, or IDEAS, authored by Dr. Renato Limah
01:22 de Oliveira.
01:23 The report states that the high barriers and gatekeeping
01:25 roles occupied by the government and the Energy Commission
01:28 lead to a risk of lack of neutrality
01:31 in how the licensing regime is applied.
01:34 Limah de Oliveira points out that all licenses are awarded
01:37 by the minister on the advice of the EC
01:39 and that virtually all independent power producers
01:42 are either directly state-controlled
01:44 or are state-linked.
01:45 He said that although this reflects the fact that IPPs are
01:48 typically among the largest firms in Malaysia
01:51 and therefore likely to attract institutional investors,
01:53 it may also reflect ongoing patronage practices
01:56 in the industry.
01:58 Another example of the politicization
02:00 of the licensing regime, he said,
02:02 is the differential treatment of foreign IPPs,
02:05 whereby prior to 2015, no power purchase agreement had ever
02:09 been granted to a foreign company.
02:11 He pointed out that the government made an exception
02:14 in 2015 for China General Nuclear Power Corp's
02:17 near $10 billion acquisition of 1MDB's power assets.
02:21 To address the purported lack of neutrality in the licensing
02:24 regime, Limah de Oliveira urged the government
02:27 to adopt a rigorous, transparent, and objective
02:30 criteria for awarding licenses.
02:32 Astro Malaysia Holdings posted a net loss of $47.05 million
02:42 for its third quarter, compared with a net profit of $5.8
02:45 million the year before.
02:47 This makes it the pay TV provider's first ever
02:49 loss-making quarter.
02:51 The weaker numbers was largely due to the voluntary separation
02:54 scheme exercise to reduce its headcount by 20%,
02:58 that cost the group RM52 million.
03:00 Astro's quarterly revenue also dropped 6% year-on-year
03:03 to RM828.6 million due to lower contribution
03:07 from its television segment as the group exited
03:09 the home shopping business.
03:11 No dividend was declared for the current quarter under review.
03:14 CEO Ewan Smith said that despite the weaker performance
03:17 during the quarter, Astro's strategic plans
03:19 to transform Astro into a digital streaming company
03:23 are yielding results.
03:24 According to him, its new TV packs and broadband bundles
03:27 have uplifted average revenue per user
03:29 for the fourth consecutive quarter by RM2.40 year-on-year
03:33 to RM99.80.
03:35 Smith adds that its adjacent businesses, Astro Fibre
03:38 and Suka, are both on a positive growth trajectory this year.
03:42 Moving forward, the group cautions
03:44 that the strength of the US dollar
03:45 continues to impact its business costs,
03:48 while local economic conditions and softening customer
03:51 sentiments also present challenges to revenue growth.
03:54 Smith says in response, Astro are introducing
03:56 more affordable product entry points
03:58 to drive product sign-ups and support customers.
04:01 Eco World Development Group saw its net profit
04:09 for the fourth quarter of FY2023 nearly double
04:12 to RM3.29 million on the back of higher revenue
04:15 and gross profit.
04:16 Revenue for the quarter jumped 51% year-on-year
04:19 to RM844.45 million, primarily driven
04:22 by the completion of a 92-acre land sale in Eco Business Park
04:26 2.
04:27 For FY2023, Eco World's net profit
04:29 improved by 20% year-on-year to RM189.3 million,
04:33 with revenue reaching RM22.26 billion.
04:36 The group declared a final dividend of RM0.02 per share,
04:39 bringing total dividends for FY2023 to RM0.06 per share.
04:43 In a separate statement, Eco World
04:44 announced that it had achieved RM3.61 billion in sales for FY2023,
04:49 exceeding its target of RM3.5 billion,
04:52 with Eco Business Park's registering RM1.04 billion
04:55 in industrial property sales, the highest in a single year.
04:59 Commenting on prospects, President and CEO
05:01 Datuk Chang Kimuah said the group had entered
05:03 a "highly cash-generative phase" with future revenue
05:06 as of October 31, 2023, remaining healthy at RM3.49 billion,
05:11 providing clear earnings and cash flow visibility
05:14 in the near and medium term.
05:16 The group is maintaining its goal of selling
05:17 RM3.5 billion worth of properties in Malaysia in FY2024,
05:21 focusing on sustainable growth by improving
05:24 absolute returns from its valuable land bank,
05:26 whether via margin improvement or higher yield
05:29 per square feet of land developed.
05:30 Packaging manufacturer and property developer
05:38 SignTek started its FY2024 on a positive note,
05:41 with first quarter net profit improving by 29% year-on-year
05:45 to RM137.84 million, driven by its property division.
05:49 Quarterly revenue rose 7.4% to RM1.11 billion,
05:53 compared with RM1.03 billion a year earlier.
05:56 Looking ahead, SignTek said the property division
05:58 will continue to launch new phases of affordable housing
06:01 across its developments in the peninsula
06:03 to meet the robust demand by leveraging on its branding
06:06 and strategic locations.
06:08 SignTek said its latest land acquisitions
06:10 located in Jejarum in Selangor and Tebrau & Kulai
06:13 in Johor Bahru are expected to be completed in 2024.
06:17 However, its packaging division is expected to face
06:20 ongoing inflationary pressures,
06:22 leading to a subdued market sentiment
06:24 that may affect global market demand.
06:26 Even so, SignTek says the packaging division
06:29 remains focused on its long-term growth strategy
06:31 and is optimistic that its performance
06:33 for the current financial year remains sustainable.
06:36 (upbeat music)
06:39 (upbeat music)
06:41 (upbeat music)