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- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The Sulu sultanate heirs’ intention to enforce a questionable award in the Dutch courts against Malaysia’s assets in the Netherlands would be an abuse of any court process, said de facto law minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. The Edge reported on Sept 29 that lawyers acting for the heirs of the late Sulu sultan, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, are understood to be in the process of submitting an application to the Dutch courts to seize assets belonging to Petronas. Petronas via Dutch companies, such as Petronas Carigali Canada BV, Petronas International Power Corporation BV and PLI (Netherlands) BV, has extensive assets in Canada, India and Indonesia among others. In a statement, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) said this latest attempt by “the purported heirs of the long defunct Sulu sultanate” to seize Malaysia’s alleged sovereign assets in the Netherlands “is nothing more than yet … [Read more...] about Petronas assets seizure attempt by Sulu sultanate heirs an abuse of court process, says Wan Junaidi

- A + A SINGAPORE (Sept 30): Singapore's Temasek Holdings said that market valuations had not yet priced in a global economic recession and that said the state investor was waiting for further declines before stepping up investments. "Current valuations are not reflecting the risk of downturn we see in the next 12 to 18 months," Temasek's chief investment officer Rohit Sipahimalani said on Friday (Sept 30). "I do expect as these valuations correct, we will again step up our pace of investment," Sipahimalani told a session at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. Temasek remains committed on its four major investment trends, including digitisation, longer lifespans, sustainable living and the future of consumption, he said. "I think those trends are still valid," he said. "For the long term, we will continue investing alongside them with a few nuances." Stock markets globally have fallen sharply this year as big increases in interest rates by … [Read more...] about Temasek to step up investments once market valuations drop further, executive says

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The High Court on Friday (Sept 30) dismissed a RM2 million defamation suit brought by Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) senior assistant director Dr Zamihan Mat Zin against Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Asri Zainal Abidin. Zamihan filed the suit alleging Asri accused him of supporting extremism and terrorism in articles that appeared four years ago. In dismissing the suit, judicial commissioner Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee said in any defamation case, the claimant has to prove three elements: there is publication, the statement published refers to the plaintiff and the statement bears defamatory imputation. After all these are proven, Lee said the burden then is shifted to the defendant to prove any defence like justification, fair comment and others. However, Lee said in this case, unfortunately, the first element, which is whether there was any publication, had failed to be proven as the author had not been … [Read more...] about Court dismisses suit by Jakim senior assistant director against Perlis mufti

- A + A LONDON (Sept 30): Tremors are continuing to ripple through the UK mortgage market despite the Bank of England's (BOE) intervention to calm financial turbulence on Wednesday. Higher borrowing costs for lenders means the average monthly cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage will rise by 70% by March from January this year, Bloomberg Economics estimated. The cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage on an average-priced home will rise to about £1,325 (RM6,848) at the end of the first quarter from about £779 last January, according to Niraj Shah, an economist at Bloomberg Economics . A dramatic rise in swap rates after markets were roiled by Friday's mini-budget suggested banks would have to substantially increase the cost of home loans in the coming weeks. Lenders have responded by pulling more than 1,620 mortgage products since Friday, the equivalent of 40% of the market, according to Moneyfacts Group plc. "There will be a continued period of short-term … [Read more...] about UK mortgage turmoil threatens a 70% surge in average costs

- A + A BENGALURU (Sept 30): Emerging Asian currencies inched higher on Friday (Sept 30) as the US dollar remained subdued, with the Chinese yuan firming after a report that the country's major state banks were told to stock up the yuan to stem its descent against the greenback. Reuters reported that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) had instructed state banks to ask their offshore branches to review their holdings of the offshore yuan and ensure US dollar reserves were ready to be deployed, the scale of which could be rather big. The yuan reversed early losses to climb 0.5%. The Indonesian rupiah climbed 0.2%, while the South Korean won and Taiwan dollar also edged higher. The dollar index, meanwhile, continued to hover near one-week lows. "Stabilisation measures can help to restore market confidence and act as speed bumps to slow the pace of local currency's depreciation," said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC. "However, these efforts may only … [Read more...] about Asian currencies climbs on subdued US dollar, stocks slump on growth woes

- A + A LONDON (Sept 30): The UK government has been spared the prospect of a summer recession after a surprise increase in second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). The 0.2% growth in the three months to June was a sharp improvement on the previous estimate of a fall of 0.1% but was caused by revisions to earlier data, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday. Output was still below pre-pandemic levels, making the UK the only Group of Seven not to have fully recovered. The current account deficit also improved, to £33.8 billion (RM174.9 billion) from a downwardly revised £43.9 billion, in the first three months of the year, beating forecasts. The expansion in the second quarter means the economy is not in a technical recession, as many thought. The slump is now likely to start in the third quarter when output probably contracted because of the extra bank holiday for Queen Elizabeth's funeral. Economists believe further declines are likely in … [Read more...] about UK economy averts immediate recession with 0.2% expansion

- A + A (Sept 30): Micron Technology Inc and Kioxia Holdings Corp, two of the world’s top memory chipmakers, are slashing production to cope with a steep plunge in demand. Micron, the largest US maker of memory chips, reported downbeat earnings on Thursday and forecast quarterly sales that were nearly US$2 billion below Wall Street estimates. Japan’s Kioxia, which supplies much of the world’s NAND storage for smartphones and servers, followed that on Friday by announcing that it’s reducing new production and will have its overall output 30% lower by December. Global chipmakers had been riding high during the pandemic, when the work-from-home trend fuelled demand for computers and other consumer technology. But inflation and recession fears — plus a return to the office — have put a damper on purchases. That’s left memory customers sitting on stockpiles of unused chips. “Hard times are ahead for the industry, except for a few,” said Kazunori Ito, an analyst with … [Read more...] about ‘Hard times’ as big memory makers cut output on supply glut

- A + A (Sept 30): Sea Ltd’s e-commerce business Shopee faced boycott calls from Philippine consumers after naming a staunch supporter of the country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, as its brand ambassador. Shopee announced Thursday (Sept 29) that Filipina actress and singer Toni Gonzaga, who hosted campaign rallies for Marcos, was its new brand ambassador. That led to calls on social media to stop using the shopping app. The hash-tags #ByeShopee and #BoycottShopee became top trends on Twitter in the Philippines, with about 340,000 tweets about the company as of Friday morning, with some users defending the firm. The second-most popular topic involved posts calling on shoppers to switch to Lazada, a rival e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. A spokesperson for Shopee was not immediately able to comment on the issue. A Philippine Daily Inquirer report quoted a Shopee representative as saying that Gonzaga was chosen for her “mass appeal”, not … [Read more...] about Sea’s Shopee faces boycott calls in Philippines over brand ambassador

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): Dairy producer Farm Fresh Bhd has obtained the state authority's consent for the transfer of a freehold industrial land in Bandar Baru Enstek, Negeri Sembilan to the group to set up a manufacturing hub. "The condition precedent for the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) has been fulfilled on Sept 29, 2022 and the SPA has now become unconditional," the group said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. The acquisition of the land from THP Enstek Development Sdn Bhd for RM18.24 million is expected to be completed within three months from the unconditional date, the group added. Farm Fresh will use the land to establish a new manufacturing hub in the greater central region of Peninsular Malaysia to increase the group's existing production capacity for dairy and plant-based products, and for other new adjacent product offerings. In its earlier filing on June 30, the dairy producer said the land would enable the group to improve its cost … [Read more...] about Farm Fresh fulfils condition for land purchase in Negeri Sembilan

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): Ageson Bhd has proposed to sell 4,000 units of vending machines and retail fridges integrated with internet-of-things system and solutions, for RM30,000 per unit or a total of  RM120 million. The proposal is in line with its initiative to explore new business opportunities, said the construction and property development group in a Bursa Malaysia filing. It said its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Ageson Retails Sdn Bhd, has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Koperasi Belia Nasional Bhd (Kobena) for the sale. "The entry of the MOU forms a basis of commitment to the parties to create a mutual understanding and also pave a way for further discussion between the parties prior to the signing of any definitive agreement to effectuate the business proposal," said Ageson. At 3.40pm, shares in Ageson were up one sen or 3.03% at 34 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM104.61 million. S Kanagaraju … [Read more...] about Ageson enters MOU to sell vending machines and retail fridges for RM120m