KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): The recently-concluded reporting season of listed Malaysian corporates has been nothing short of lacklustre, as The Edge Malaysia finds that only 440, or just close to half of the 883 companies on Bursa Malaysia, had reported improvement in their recent quarterly earnings.

However, it should be noted that this is a slightly better showing than the same period in 2018, in which only 397, or 45.5% out of 872 Malaysian corporates had recorded improvement in their earnings.

The improvement recorded is in spite of corporates grappling with a slowing global economy, escalating trade tensions from the China-US trade war and closer to home, a new Government in power.

Sector-wise, those that recorded more notable improvements in the quarter were the automotive, energy and consumer sectors. As for the banks, more than half had reported improvement in earnings.

On the flipside, those that underperformed during the quarter were the steel, plantation and technology sectors.

The Edge weekly in its cover story takes a closer look at these sectors, and the particular companies that showed improvement in their first quarterly showing in 2019, and those that saw decline in earnings.

In the accompanying stories, The Edge also takes an in-depth look at how the banks had fared during the quarter under review, as well as what the research houses' expectations are for earnings in the upcoming quarters.

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