In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Brahim's Holdings says it is open to renegotiations with Malaysia Aviation Group, the parent company of Malaysia Airlines. Meanwhile, Fitch unit BMI sees Bank Negara Malaysia cutting rates early in the first half of 2024.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 In-flight caterer Brahim's Holdings said it is open to renegotiations with Malaysia
00:09 Aviation Group or MAG following the axing of the partnership between Malaysia Airlines
00:15 and Brahim's Food Services.
00:17 Brahim's Holdings holds a 70% stake in Brahim's Food Services, while Malaysia Airlines holds
00:22 the remaining 30%.
00:24 Dato' Sri Ibrahim Ahmad, founder and executive chairman of Brahim's Holdings, told the press
00:30 today that the group would be happy to continue the relationship if the parties can come to
00:34 terms on the agreement.
00:36 The main point of contention was MAG's request to include a new termination for convenience
00:42 clause in the contract extension between Malaysia Airlines and Brahim's Food Services.
00:47 Ibrahim said today that Brahim's Holdings is agreeable to include this new clause, provided
00:52 that the compensation terms are fair.
00:55 Group CEO Muhammad Fazli Abdul Rahman added the new clause that was previously mentioned
01:00 was as good as not having a contract and should MAG choose not to return to the negotiation
01:05 table, the group still has the 35 airlines it is already providing services to.
01:11 Additionally, it has been approached by quite a number of companies to acquire its stake
01:16 in Brahim's Food Services or to enter into a joint venture.
01:20 Proposals that the group is currently considering.
01:23 The interested companies are local parties and one foreign party.
01:27 BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, maintained that Bangarara will keep the overnight policy
01:38 rates on hold at 3% until end 2023 and begin cutting rates early in the first half of next
01:44 year, alongside other major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve.
01:49 In a note, the firm said that over the coming months, it expects base effects to remain
01:54 favourable and for underlying price pressures to ease amid a weakening economy.
01:59 BMI noted that real gross domestic product growth already slowed from 5.6% year-on-year
02:05 in the first quarter of this year to 2.9% in the second quarter, and expects the annual
02:10 rate to slow from 8.7% in 2022 to 4% this year, below the pre-pandemic average of 4.9%.
02:18 It cut its end 2023 inflation forecast from 2% year-on-year previously to 1.8%, taking
02:25 average inflation to 2.6% in 2023, as opposed to 3.4% in 2022.
02:32 Looking ahead, BMI said it believes that the central bank will be wary of loosening monetary
02:38 policy too soon, considering its relatively modest cumulative 125 basis point hike and
02:45 also the weakness in the local currency.
02:48 K&M Group CEO and MD Ravindra Singham Balasingham said the takeover attempt by a group of shareholders
03:00 led by German billionaire Andreas Heyschen comes as no surprise, considering how undervalued
03:06 the company is.
03:07 Ravindra Singham said in a statement that Heyschen, who emerged as a substantial shareholder
03:12 this month, has had a keen interest in K&M's Crown Jewels, Borsig Group and FBM Group.
03:18 According to him, Heyschen has made unsuccessful acquisition attempts in the past, even as
03:24 late as last year.
03:25 Ravindra Singham went on to ask if the attempted takeover of K&M is a cheaper way for Heyschen
03:31 to acquire the two units, and warned that should this be the case, the group's shareholders
03:36 and creditors stand to lose all, compared to its competitive monetisation process.
03:42 He said the abrupt attempt can and will create a disturbing disquiet amongst creditors who
03:47 have been very supportive of K&M so far.
03:50 The group has assured its creditors Tunku Datuk Yaakob Khaira is very serious about
03:55 his controlling stake in K&M, and will not hesitate to increase his stake if necessary.
04:06 The group Malaysia, or RGM, has cut its estimate for Malaysia's annual retail industry growth
04:12 this year to 2.7 per cent from the 4.8 per cent growth forecast it made in June due to
04:18 poorer-than-expected growth rates of minus 4 per cent in retail sales in the second quarter.
04:24 In the September Malaysia Retail Industry Report released today, RGM said this was way
04:29 below market expectations of a 2.6 per cent growth, amid the lower sales during Hari
04:34 Raya plus the high base effect.
04:37 RGM said although retail sales were encouraging, it was not comparable to a year ago, when
04:43 Malaysians of all races returned to the shops after two years of lockdown.
04:48 For the first six months of this year, Malaysia's retail industry grew by 2.6 per cent, as compared
04:54 to the same period in 2022.
04:56 For the next three months, RGM said many members of the Malaysia Retailers Association and
05:02 Malaysia Retail Chain Association are choosing to stay conservative on their business prospects,
05:08 amid weakening consumer spending power.
05:10 Serba Dynamic Holdings narrowed its net loss in the fourth quarter of FY2023 on higher
05:21 operating income and lower administrative expenses.
05:25 The troubled oil and gas outfit trimmed its loss for the quarter to RM105.02 million from
05:32 RM327.76 million previously.
05:35 However, revenue fell 96.4 per cent year-on-year to RM6.15 million, dragged by lower income
05:42 from its operations and maintenance segment, as well as its education and training business.
05:48 For the full financial year, Serba Dynamic's net loss increased to RM1.3 billion versus
05:54 RM1.09 billion a year earlier.
05:56 This was after the company's corporate expenses and consolidation elimination of inter-group
06:01 transactions.
06:02 Full-year top line dropped 70.2 per cent year-on-year to RM403.23 million.
06:09 On its outlook, Serba Dynamic said the group's business will remain challenging for the remainder
06:13 of 2023 due to the uncertainty of the global economy, as well as the current challenges
06:20 facing the company from a liquidity perspective.
06:22 [music]