<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd’s fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) net profit fell 61.88% to RM37.36 million, from RM98.02 million a year ago, due to lower operating profit dragged by lower profit contribution from all divisions except building materials division.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Operating profit in the quarter dropped 24% to RM170.6 million from RM223.3 million in 4QFY2022. Earnings per share fell to 1.50 sen from 3.94 sen a year earlier, according to the group’s filing on Wednesday.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Quarterly revenue declined 26.91% to RM1.31 billion against RM1.79 billion in the previous year, mainly due to lower revenue from its credit financing, automotive and trading divisions.</p></div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>For the full year, Hap Seng’s net profit fell 15.81% to RM800.33 million as compared to RM950.66 million in FY2022, as revenue slid 14.41% to RM6.09 billion from RM7.11 billion a year ago.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Despite the lower FY2023 earnings, Hap Seng, which trades in fertilisers and building materials and sells Mercedes-Benz vehicles, said that it is cautiously optimistic of achieving satisfactory results for FY2024.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Shares in Hap Seng finished 10 sen or 2.12% lower to RM4.62 on Wednesday, giving the group a market capitalisation at RM11.5 billion. The counter has fallen 23.13% over the past one year.</p></div>


Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd’s fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) net profit fell 61.88% to RM37.36 million, from RM98.02 million a year ago, due to lower operating profit dragged by lower profit contribution from all divisions except building materials division.

Hap Seng Consolidated's 4Q profit down 62% as key segments drag

The Madrid Court of Appeal has upheld the contempt of court conviction and sentence of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa in the Sulu claimants case against Malaysia.

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Canada is examining whether it needs to raise tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) after the White House announced major new levies on them, Trade Minister Mary Ng said.

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Berjaya Asset Bhd (KL:BJASSET) on Saturday officially launched Times Square 2, a luxury serviced apartment development located next to Berjaya Times Square in Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur.

Berjaya Asset officially launches Times Square 2

Singapore will resume flying its F-16 fleet after suspending training when one of the jets crashed earlier this month, the defence ministry on Saturday.

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If the past three years have taught us anything, it is that low inflation cannot be taken for granted.

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Two men were arrested on Friday for attempting to trespass into Istana Negara.

In a statement on Friday, Kuala Lumpur police chief Commissioner Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said a police officer had stopped a Perodua Kembara vehicle that had attempted to enter Gate 3 of Istana Negara with the passengers intending to meet the King.

Two men arrested for attempting to trespass into Istana Negara

The suspect killed in the attack at the Ulu Tiram police station, here on Friday, was believed to have acted alone, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Suspect in Ulu Tiram police station attack acted alone, says Saifuddin Nasution

Crypto lender Genesis Global received court approval on Friday to return about US$3 billion (RM14.06 billion) in cash and cryptocurrency to its customers in a bankruptcy liquidation, leaving its owner, Digital Currency Group, with no recovery from the bankruptcy.

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Seven individuals, including a Singaporean, were remanded for seven days from Saturday until May 24, to assist in the investigation into the attack on the Ulu Tiram police station, early on Friday morning.

Ulu Tiram police station attack: Singaporean among seven remanded

If an exciting race, a packed crowd with A-list bristle, and a surprise winner was the happening event Formula One needed in America, then the Miami Grand Prix delivered in spades. But that’s not all a scorching afternoon in the Florida sunshine achieved; it also added fuel to the “end of empire” feeling about Red Bull’s domination of the sport.

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<p>Genting Singapore has confirmed its interest in developing an integrated resort (IR) development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as per its executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay’s comments to shareholder queries at the gaming group’s annual general meeting (AGM) last Friday.</p>


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<p>The slide in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)’s position on the list of the World's Top 100 Airports over the last decade is just a symptom of bigger problems in the management and structure of the airport industry in Malaysia.</p>


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<p>A rebound that has taken the US stock market to record highs this week may have further to run, if history is any guide.</p>


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<p>A US company has become the world’s most valuable solar manufacturer for the first time since 2018, as Chinese rivals suffer from a profit-slashing price war and an onslaught of trade barriers erected by Washington.</p>


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<p>The seven individuals who were arrested on Friday over an attack at the Ulu Tiram police station here will be brought to the Magistrate's Court here on Saturday to obtain a remand order.</p>


Ulu Tiram police station attack: Seven individuals to be taken to court for remand

<p>Berjaya Asset Bhd (KL:BJASSET) on Saturday officially launched Times Square 2, a luxury serviced apartment development located next to Berjaya Times Square in Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur.</p>


<p>The suspect killed in the attack at the Ulu Tiram police station, here on Friday, was believed to have acted alone, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.</p>


<p>Seven individuals, including a Singaporean, were remanded for seven days from Saturday until May 24, to assist in the investigation into the attack on the Ulu Tiram police station, early on Friday morning.</p>


<p>World stock indexes were nearly flat while US Treasury yields rose on Friday as investors tried to assess the timing of potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year.</p>


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<p>Two men were arrested on Friday for attempting to trespass into Istana Negara.</p>

<p>In a statement on Friday, Kuala Lumpur police chief Commissioner Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said a police officer had stopped a Perodua Kembara vehicle that had attempted to enter Gate 3 of Istana Negara with the passengers intending to meet the King.</p>


<p>As the local stock market edged higher, investors will be closely monitoring the financial performance of listed firms to justify the ongoing rally with the <b>FBM KLCI</b> reaching a multi-year high of 1,619.45 points last Friday in intra-day trade. The better-than-expected Malaysian economic growth of 4.2% in 1Q2024, which was released last Friday, is expected to help sustain the positive market sentiment.</p>


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<p>Traders are keeping a close eye on flows into equities from the retail crowd as stocks hover near record highs and meme stocks popped and then fizzled this week.</p>


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<p>The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 40,000 mark for the first time on Friday, with other major indexes also scoring weekly gains, as data supported expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year.</p>


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<p>Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has given his assurance that the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) movement in the country is still under control.</p>


Saifuddin Nasution: Jemaah Islamiyah movement in Malaysia still under control

<p>The US Justice Department and TikTok on Friday asked a US appeals court to set a fast-track schedule to consider the legal challenges to a new law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's US assets by Jan 19 or face a ban.</p>


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<p>Citigroup Inc was accused in a lawsuit of racial discrimination for its policy of waiving ATM fees for customers of minority-owned banks.</p>


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<p>Crypto lender Genesis Global received court approval on Friday to return about US$3 billion (RM14.06 billion) in cash and cryptocurrency to its customers in a bankruptcy liquidation, leaving its owner, Digital Currency Group, with no recovery from the bankruptcy.</p>


<p>Spot silver surpassed US$30 an ounce to hit the highest level in more than a decade.</p>

<p>The precious metal closed 6.5% higher at US$31.49 an ounce Friday, the highest since February 2013. It has soared 32% this year, outpacing gold and making it one of the year’s best-performing major commodities.</p>


Spot silver tops US$30 an ounce to hit highest since 2013

<p>Mercedes-Benz Group AG employees in Alabama voted against joining the United Auto Workers, a major blow to the union’s recently reinvigorated efforts to grow its ranks.</p>


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<p>The US awarded contracts for the purchase of 3.3 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after a massive sale from the stockpile in 2022, the Department of Energy said on Friday.</p>
