MY Morning Wrap | Glove Makers Begin Diversification Amid Woes

Major indexes all fell, led by the tech-focused $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$'s 1.1% slide. Some of the year's best performers suffered the most: Shares of Nvidia and Apple both dropped more than 3%. The losses, however, were broad-based, with everything from shares of real-estate companies to manufacturers and banks falling. Nine of the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$'s sectors finished in the red, dragging the benchmark index down 0.7%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ lost 0.6%, or 199 points.

$CIMB (1023.MY)$ : Khazanah Nasional Bhd has disposed of RM444.27 million worth of shares in CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). The sovereign wealth fund offloaded 62 million shares or a 0.58% stake in CIMB on Tuesday, paring its stake in the bank to 23.01% or 2.45 billion shares at RM5.85 per share, totalling RM346.27 million. A day prior, Khazanah Nasional sold 10 million shares or a 0.17% stake in TNB at RM9.80 apiece or a cumulative RM98 million.

$MALAKOF (5264.MY)$ : Malakoff Corp Bhd registered a revenue of RM2.36 billion in the quarter ending June 30, 2023 (2Q23), marking a 2% increase from RM2.32 billion in 2Q22. The upswing was chiefly driven by amplified energy payment and capacity income from Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd (TBE), attributed to higher applicable coal prices (ACP) and a shorter plant outage duration. Additionally, heightened energy payment from Segari Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd contributed to the rise due to an increased despatch factor.

$ECOWLD (8206.MY)$ : Eco World Development Group Bhd is acquiring 403.78 acres of land in Senai, Johor, to develop a business park to be known as Eco Business Park VI, for RM211.07 million cash. EcoWorld Malaysia said the land acquisition, earmarked with development carrying an estimated gross development value of RM1.58 billion, will allow the group to solidify its growing industrial market share further and strengthen its competitive position in Iskandar Malaysia.

$ANCOMNY (4758.MY)$ : Chemical manufacturing group Ancom Nylex Bhd is teaming up with MIMOS Bhd and German crop protection and fertiliser group HELM AG to apply digital agriculture solutions through SKYFLD, a digital agriculture platform. Ancom Nylex said SKYFLD is HELM AG’s precision farming platform, which enables farmers to map their fields and monitor crop health using satellite data. It said this data is used to improve yields by targeting fertiliser and crop treatments.

$PARAMON (1724.MY)$ : Paramount Corp Bhd aims to launch properties worth RM714mil in the second half of 2023 (2H23), says group chief executive officer and director Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong. For 1H23, the real estate developer launched about RM820mil worth of properties, with sales at RM617mil. According to Chew, The Ashwood, a high-rise residential development in Kuala Lumpur will drive the group's goal for stronger launches because its location and offering was unique. The Ashwood is situated in the prestigious U-Thant area, surrounded by foreign embassies and high-end residences, putting it in demand.

$PTRANS (0186.MY)$ : Perak Corp Bhd has denied the allegations of fraud and non-disclosure of land assets by Paramount Grace Sdn Bhd director Paramjit Singh Gurbachan Singh, calling them malicious and unsubstantiated. The company has lodged a police report in relation to the allegations and is also seeking legal advice over the allegations and inaccurate statements made by Paramjit. Paramount Grace is one of Perak Corp’s creditors and in mid-December 2020 was included in the creditors scheme of arrangement after Perak Corp fell into Practice Note 17 in February 2020. It was awarded a contract for mechanical and electrical works at Movie Animation Park Studios, operated by Animation Theme Sdn Bhd, in which Perak Corp via PCB Development Sdn Bhd has a 51% stake.

$SYSTECH (0050.MY)$ : E-business solutions and cybersecurity company Systech Bhd has received a notice of an unconditional mandatory takeover offer for the company at 22 sen per share from founder and CEO of IT solutions provider MDT Innovations Sdn Bhd and chairman cum CEO of Nasdaq-listed Evergreen Corp Liew Choon Lian and his private vehicle Smartpro Capital Sdn Bhd. Liew has proposed to acquire all remaining shares amounting to a 47.75% stake in the company not already owned by him and persons acting in concert — JCap Sdn Bhd, Sun Jianwei and Hooi Jia Hao. The offer price of 22 sen per share is 41.33% lower than Systech's last traded price of 37.5 sen at market close on Wednesday.

$PBSB (5231.MY)$ : Pelikan International Corp Bhd is to hold its extraordinary general meeting on Sept 20 for shareholders to vote on the disposal of the company's stake in German-based stationery producer and distributor Pelikan Group GmbH to Holdham SAS for €136 million (RM695.44 million) cash, as well as distribution of part of the disposal consideration to its shareholders via capital reduction cum repayment. The capital reduction cum repayment will involve the cancellation of RM452.4 million of its issued capital, and the proceeds arising from the cancellation will be used to repay shareholders by way of a cash distribution of 75 sen per share.

$YTLREIT (5109.MY)$ : YTL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (YTL Hospitality REIT) is acquiring Hotel Stripes Kuala Lumpur, Autograph Collection for RM138 million cash, in a related party transaction. Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, the hotel will be leased back to Hotel 25 for an initial term of 15 years, with an option granted to renew the lease for an additional 15 years. This move is a part of the REIT's investment strategy and portfolio expansion.