KUALA LUMPUR (July 8): Shares in IHH Healthcare Bhd fell as much as 16 sen or 2.7% to RM5.70 in the first trading session today, as investors turned wary after the Turkish lira weakened against the US dollar following the dismissal of Turkey's central bank governor.
The stock opened 12 sen lower at RM5.74 per share this morning, compared with its Friday closing of RM5.86. The stock was amongst Bursa Malaysia's top decliners by noon break after settling at RM5.75 per share, with a turnover of 490,600 shares.
IHH's earnings were impacted by the Turkish lira crisis last year after recognising foreign exchange losses on Acibadem Holding's non-Turkish lira denominated borrowings.
In May, it was reported that IHH's foreign currency-denominated debt stood at US$420 million, versus US$670 million in Dec 31, 2018.
Today, the Turkish lira fell 2.1% against the US dollar, after President Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the central bank governor, laying bare differences between them over the timing of interest rate cuts to revive the recession-hit economy, Reuters reported.
At the time of writing, the lira stood at 5.7705 against the US currency, having weakened as far as 5.8247 in early Asian trade.
Governor Murat Cetinkaya, whose four-year term was due to run until 2020, was replaced by his deputy Murat Uysal, a presidential decree published early on Saturday in the official gazette showed.
Uysal, who served as deputy governor for three years before the shock dismissal of his boss, is known as one of the more dovish members of the bank's interest rate setters.
Reuters said no official reason was given for the sacking, but government sources cited Erdogan's frustration that the bank has kept its benchmark interest rate at 24% since last September to support the ailing lira currency.
The governor's dismissal comes just days before Turkey is expected to take delivery of Russian air defence systems, triggering likely US sanctions which could put the lira under renewed pressure.