The week at a glance 28 December 2014

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Sabah & Sarawak

Ringgit, subsidy compensate slight pressure on CPO prices

Downward pressure on crude palm oil (CPO) prices are continuously coming in the form of plunging crude oil prices, but this is mutually mitigated by weakening ringgit and the government’s biodiesel mandates. According to Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd on Monday, the plunge in crude oil price deteriorates biodiesel economics.

 

Bina Puri procures RM65 million upgrade works for Sabah State Administrative Complex

Bina Puri Holdings Bhd (Bina Puri) has secured the upgrading works for the Sabah State Administrative Centre with a contract sum of RM64.99 million. The company told Bursa Malaysia on Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Bina Puri Sdn Bhd has accepted a letter of award from the Sabah Public Works Department to undertake the proposed Sabah State Administrative Centre at  Teluk Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

 

Prudential sees strong growth in East Malaysia

Insurance provider Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd (Prudential) has seen rapid growth trends in East Malaysia both in terms of new agents recruited and corporate growth.

This year has been a ‘resounding success’ from a recruitment perspective, says chief executive officer Philip Seah, recording a 30 per cent growth in the number of new agents recruited for the first nine months of this year of which close to 80 per cent were were Gen-Y.

 

Financial education part of Prudential’s CSR to community

As part of its move to give back to the Malaysian community, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd (Prudential) proactively educates the public, especially youths, to be financially savvy.

 

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National

Bnm to kept opr unchanged in 2015, say research firms

Two research firms have projected that the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) will be kept unchanged at 3.25 per cent throughout 2015. This is despite some concerns on the potential increase in inflationary expectations, following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), analysts say on Monday.

 

Govt needs to clarify issues on Anti-Profiteering Act and gst

Investors and developers in the property industry markets are seeking further clarification from the government on implementation of the Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, alongside the Goods and Services Tax (GST), to control prices of items. Managing partner of Syarikat Ong and Tax Consultants Agnes Wong on Monday said though the government had outlined the guidelines and formulae for the said markets, it is still unclear how investors and developers would face the GST, with certain issues still needing to be answered.

 

New card reform framework to have little impact on banks

Analysts at TA Securities Holdings Bhd (TA Research) believe the new payment card reform framework would be immaterial towards banks’ earnings, but was overall optimistic on this move as it leads towards a more efficient cost structure. On Tuesday, Bank Negara Malaysia issued a new payment card reform framework, which should encourage greater acceptance of the debit and prepaid cards due to a more efficient cost structure.

 

Industry players see social media, cloud, big data as game-changing trends

Social media, the cloud and big data will be the game-changing trends that will transform Malaysia’s information and cmmunications technology (ICT) industry and spur further growth of the Internet of things (IoT) next year. National ICT Association of Malaysia chairman Cheah Kok Hoong on Wednesday said Malaysia has started to tap into the rapidly growing potential of IoT, which could be a new economy itself covering business areas such as embedded device manufacturing, connectivity infrastructure and application deployments.

 

Optimistic prospects for corporates next year, private investment to remain robust

The prospects for corporate sector is expected to be optimistic next year, with private investment remaining robust driven by the balance of projects under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP) which enters its final year in 2015. Affin Hwang Investment Bank vice-president/head of Retail Research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan said there were still many projects that needed to be completed next year and they would become the new catalysts for local companies especially in the banking and services sectors.

 

Rubber sector to recover on higher demand next year

The natural rubber industry is expected to recover next year, supported by increased demand from consuming countries amid low supply, said Malaysian Rubber Board Director-General Datuk Dr Salmiah Ahmad on Friday.