Business activities

State Bank Of India Ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group has forayed into copper manufacturing with tying up of finances from public sector lenders for a 1 million tonnes a year unit at Mundra in Gujarat. "Kutch Copper Ltd (KCL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), is setting up a greenfield copper refinery project for production of refined copper with 1 million tonnes per annum in two phases," the company said in a statement. For the phase-1 capacity of 0.5 million tonnes, KCL has achieved financial closure through a syndicated club loan for the greenfield copper refinery project at Mundra, Gujarat. It has executed "financing documents with the consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI). The other consortium members are Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, EXIM Bank of India, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra," the statement said. The consortium of banks has sanctioned and signed an agreement for the entire debt requirement of Rs … [Read more...] about SBI, other PSU banks commit Rs 6,071 crore to Adani Group for copper business

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Bursa Malaysia closed broadly higher on Monday (June 27) on persistent buying interest mainly in technology and energy stocks, said an analyst. At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.42 points to 1,438.12 from Friday's close of 1,436.7. The benchmark index, which opened 2.12 points higher at 1,438.82, fluctuated between 1,431.65 and 1,441.03 throughout the trading session. On the broader market, gainers beat losers 546 to 365, while 393 counters were unchanged, 1,004 untraded, and 55 others suspended. Total turnover expanded to 2.65 billion units worth RM1.43 billion from 2.46 billion units worth RM1.47 billion on Friday. Key regional markets also continued to trend higher following positive cues on Wall Street including the upbeat performance of the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite last Friday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI, which ended 0.1% … [Read more...] about Bursa ends broadly higher

- A + A SHANGHAI (June 27): China's yuan edged up against the dollar on Monday (June 27) after Shanghai declared victory against Covid-19 over the weekend, but gains were limited ahead of more convincing signs of a recovery. Shanghai, the country's commercial hub, will gradually resume dining-in at restaurants from June 29 after the city's Communist Party chief declared victory in the battle against the latest wave of Covid-19 shocks that put the city under lockdown for two months. Shanghai lifted a two month citywide lockdown on June 1, but many establishments have remained unable to offer indoor dining since mid-March. Traders said the news lifted market sentiment, but investors remained cautious and looked to data to gauge the pace of the economic recovery before placing huge bets on the currency. June economic indicators, including official factory activity data, are due later this week. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the … [Read more...] about Yuan edges up as Shanghai declares Covid-19 victory; outlook remains cautious

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 3, 2020 . - A + A Minetech Resources Bhd (-ve) TRADING of shares in Minetech Resources Bhd (fundamental: 0.95/3, valuation: 0.3/3) triggered our momentum algorithm yesterday for the sixth time this year. The last time the counter triggered our momentum algorithm was Wednesday. The engineering services company’s stock closed 10.71% or 1.5 sen higher at 15.5 sen apiece, after 77.38 million shares were traded — making it the 10th most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia yesterday. This trading volume is about 16 times the counter’s 200-day average of 4.91 million shares. The stock has been climbing in the past four days. On Tuesday, the company announced that Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd’s co-founder Datuk Awang Daud Awang Putera had been appointed its executive chairman, replacing Chin Kim Sang, who had been redesignated as the company’s executive director. Awang Daud first … [Read more...] about Stock With Momentum: Minetech Resources

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Financially troubled Sapura Energy Bhd returned to the black in the first quarter ended April 30, 2022 (1QFY23) with a net profit of RM91.93 million, on the back of foreign exchange gains arising from the appreciation of the US dollar against the ringgit. In the preceding quarter, it had posted its biggest ever net loss of RM6.78 billion. In the same period last year, Sapura Enery had posted a net loss of RM97.08 million. In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Monday (June 27), the oil and gas service provider said its quarterly revenue, however, declined by 39.75% to RM886.08 million against RM1.47 billion in the year-ago corresponding period, due to lower project activities from its engineering and procurement (E&C) segment. Earnings per share for the quarter amounted to 0.58 sen, from losses per share of 0.61 sen. On a quarterly basis, revenue more than doubled from RM426.60 million in 4QFY22. Sapura Energy said that it continues … [Read more...] about Sapura Energy returns to black in 1Q with net profit of RM91.93 mil on forex gains

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Costlier crude oil along with a stronger US dollar will erode Spritzer's Bhd profit margin, the bottled water producer admitted. "Costlier oil will translate into costlier PET resin, which is the main raw material used in making the [plastic] bottles. "PET resin is normally quoted in US dollar so a stronger US dollar would mean we will have to pay more for our PET resin," a company representative said in a brief email reply to theedgemarkets.com recently, when asked about the impact of surging oil prices on its manufacturing costs. According to the US-based PET Resin Association, PET — which is short for polyethylene terephthalate, the chemical name for polyester — is a clear, strong, and lightweight plastic made from crude oil and ethane extracted from natural gas that is widely used for packaging food and beverages, especially convenience-sized soft drinks, juices and water. Following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, oil prices … [Read more...] about Spritzer admits costlier crude oil, stronger US dollar will erode its profit margin

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Shares of Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd rose on Monday (June 27) in line with the positive broader market sentiment, expectations of higher oil consumption and improved profit margins. Hengyuan closed 35 sen or 7.74% higher at RM4.87 on volume of 2.61 million shares, much higher than the 200-day average volume of 1.4 million. The stock has rebounded 12.21% from last Monday's low of RM4.34. At the current price, the company is valued at RM1.46 billion. When contacted, MIDF Research analyst Imran Yassin Yusof said the general market sentiment was positive on Monday, which gave a boost to oil and gas stocks. "It could also be some bargain hunting activities," he added. Bursa Malaysia's Energy index rose 1.65% or 11.17 points to 688.66 to emerge as second biggest gainer after the Technology index, which was up 2.83% or 1.77 points to 64.39. Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, said high crude … [Read more...] about Hengyuan Refining shares up almost 8% amid positive market sentiment

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 20, 2022 - June 26, 2022. - A + A IF Bank Negara Malaysia’s eight-member monetary policy committee (MPC) raises the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) at its next scheduled meeting on July 6, it will mark its first back-to-back increase since mid-2010, when interest rates were normalised following the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis. It will not be the first central bank to do so. Compared with just a month ago, more economists now (at the time of writing) reckon that a 25bps hike will happen in July, but many still think a pause is possible in July ahead of the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebrations. In any case, at least one more rate increase (if not two) is expected to take place by the conclusion of the Sept 8 meeting to bring the OPR to at least 2.25% (if not 2.5%), consensus data show. “Our house has also shifted expectations for Bank Negara to frontload … [Read more...] about The State Of The Nation: What the Fed’s 75bps hike and near 4% terminal rate mean for the OPR

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi seen at the High Court on Monday, June 27, 2022 for his money-laundering trial. (Photo by Shahrin Yahya/The Edge) - A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi denied instructing law firm Messrs Lewis & Co, the trustee for funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi, to transfer more than RM59 million into a fixed deposit (FD) account. Zahid also told the High Court that the firm’s partner, B Muralidharan, told him that the fixed deposit account needed to be opened “by law” to manage the funds. However, the subsequent fund transfers happened without his knowledge, he said. “I categorically deny that I gave instructions to Messrs Lewis & Co or any lawyer or staff, including V Sothilechmy, to deposit the funds in the fixed deposit account,” Zahid said when reading his witness statement. Sothilechmy, the accountant for Lewis & Co, is the 85th prosecution witness in Zahid’s money-laundering trial, … [Read more...] about Zahid denies instructing trustee law firm to transfer RM59 mil of charity funds into FD

According to the Health DG, the average infectivity rate showed a 1.9% drop compared to the previous week. (Photo by Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/The Edge) - A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): The number of new Covid-19 infections in the country for the 25th epidemiology week (ME 25), which began from June 19 to 25, saw a 10.9% increase to 15,739 cases compared with 14,195 cases the week before. Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, however, the number of deaths showed a 38.1% drop, with 13 cases compared with 21 cases in the previous week. “The number of recovered cases in ME 25 also showed a rise of 33.8%, namely from 10,524 to 14,078 cases,” he said in a statement on Monday (June 27). Dr Noor Hisham said the admission of Covid-19 patients into health facilities (public hospitals and Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres) per 100,000 population increased by 11% in ME 25 compared to the earlier week. He said the number of Covid-19 patient … [Read more...] about Covid-19: Rise in new infections, drop in fatalities last week, says Health DG