Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 27, 2019 - June 2, 2019

This will be a busy week for Malaysian public listed companies as it will be the final period for them to announce their earnings for the first quarter of the year.

Investors will be watching for the release of the first set of financial results for 2019 from two of the country’s largest banking groups by asset size — Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

CIMB is set to announce its financial results for the first quarter of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2019 (1QFY2019) on Wednesday while Maybank will do the same on Thursday.

Also releasing its 1QFY2019 financial results on Thursday is Telekom Malaysia Bhd. This will be closely watched by investors of the telecommunications giant, which had one of its most challenging years in 2018 when it saw a more than 80% decline in its full-year net profit to RM153.15 million on higher finance costs.

Other companies that are expected to release their quarterly results include Petronas Gas Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

Shareholders are going to have a full calendar as more than 150 annual general meetings are scheduled to take place this week.

IHH Healthcare Bhd, Destini Bhd, Chemical Company of Malaysia Bhd and Ta Ann Holdings Bhd will be holding their respective AGMs on Tuesday.

The management of Axiata can anticipate some questions from shareholders at its AGM on Wednesday. The group recently announced that it is in discussions with Telenor ASA to merge with the Asian operations of the Norwegian telecommunications group.

Other companies holding their AGM on Wednesday are 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd and IGB Bhd.

Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, which has received a takeover offer from YTL Cement Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Corp Bhd, will be holding its AGM on Thursday.

Meanwhile, property developer LBI Capital Bhd will be holding its extraordinary general meeting at its office in Shah Alam, Selangor, on Thursday. The company will be seeking shareholders’ approval for, among others, its bonus issue, which involves up to 16.43 million new shares with up to 49.3 million free detachable warrants, on the basis of one bonus share together with three warrants for every five existing ordinary shares in LBI.

In the courts, the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak resumes on Tuesday.

On the economic front, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) will be releasing the Malaysian Salaries and Wages Survey Report for 2018 on Wednesday. The survey is conducted by DOSM every year to collect information on monthly salaries and wages of the principal occupation of paid employees.

The report presents the principal statistics on salaries and wages of Malaysians that are the median and mean monthly salaries and wages by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, namely sex, age group, ethnic group, educational attainment, highest certificate obtained, strata, state, occupation and industry.

Key Asian data to look out for this week include the official manufacturing and non-manufacturing surveys from China, which are expected to be released on Friday.

Also to be released this week is India’s gross domestic product (GDP) data for the first quarter of the year. The country voted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for another five years at the 17th general election, which was held between April 11 and May 19.

Over in Indonesia, incumbent President Joko Widodo is set to lead the world’s third largest democracy for a second term after emerging victorious in the country’s presidential election. It will be a short working week for the country as it is observing a public holiday on Thursday in conjunction with Ascension Day, which is the 40th day of Easter.

On the consumer data front, the Euro Zone Business and Consumer Sentiment Index is expected to be released on Tuesday while Japan is set to release its consumer confidence data on Friday. Consumer confidence in the Land of the Rising Sun came in at 40.4 in April, the lowest level in over three years.

It will also be a short working week in the US as markets will be closed on Monday in conjunction with Memorial Day, which honours those who died while serving in the US armed forces.

Markets in the UK will also be closed on Monday to commemorate the late May bank holiday, which is also known as the Spring Bank Holiday. It will be interesting to see how the British markets react on Tuesday following the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May last Friday.

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