23/07/2025

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JULY 23, 2025

20

MARKETS/FROM THE BROKERS

SUNBIZ presents extracts of a selection of commentaries and research reports received from stockbrokers on counters that could be of interest to investors.

DISCLAIMER: The information is extracted from stockbrokers’ commentaries and research reports and do not represent the views or opinions of Sun Media Corporation Sdn Bhd. It is not a solicitation, recommendation or an offer to buy or sell the equities featured. Sun Media Corporation shall not be liable or responsible for any consequences resulting from usage of the information.

[ Compiled by SunBiz Team

UUE units in MoU with Asean CableShip for drilling services KUALA LUMPUR: UUE Holdings Bhd’s units Konnection Engineering Pte Ltd and Kum Fatt Engineering Sdn Bhd have inked an MoU with Asean Cableship Pte Ltd to provide horizontal directional drilling (HDD) services for offshore telecommunications and infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, UUE managing director Datuk Ting Kok Hwa said that by combining their proven onshore HDD expertise with Asean Cableship’s subsea capabilities, UUE is now equipped to offer a more comprehensive end-to-end service package that covers both land and marine scopes. “This enables us to access new addressable markets including regional telecom operators and consortium telcos across Asean, and pursue high-value projects, particularly in the specialised field of subsea HDD. “More importantly, it affirms our ability to handle technically complex projects, reinforcing our competitive edge and taking us a step closer to our international expansion goals,” he said. Ting added that the partnership marks a significant milestone for the company, as it underscores its collaboration with an internationally recognised provider of submarine cable installation services and strengthens its presence in the Singapore market. The underground utilities engineering solutions provider also said the project is expected to begin with an exploration phase lasting more than six months. It added that the intended alliance would leverage Asean Cableship’s regional subsea expertise and UUE’s proven track record in HDD and cable installation across the underground utility sectors in both Malaysia and Singapore. – Bernama

Ringgit gains against dollar amid mixed Asian currencies THE ringgit closed higher against the US dollar yesterday, amid a mixed performance in regional currencies, as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the US tariff negotiation deadline, an analyst said. At 6pm, the ringgit rose to 4.2300/2370 against the greenback, compared with Monday’s close of 4.2320/2365. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said there is an impression that the tariff negotiations could extend beyond the Aug 1 deadline. “Asian currency performance against the US dollar was rather mixed, as the Chinese yuan, Thai baht and Korean won depreciated, while the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippines peso strengthened. “The ringgit opened on a stronger footing in the morning session, rising to as high as RM4.2273 against the US dollar. However, it hovered around RM4.2325 during the afternoon session,“ he told Bernama. At the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies. It dipped against the Japanese yen to 2.8690/8739 from 2.8612/8644, fell against the British pound to 5.7088/7183 from 5.6954/7015 and declined versus the euro to 4.9512/9594 from 4.9277/9330 at Monday’s close. The local note also traded mostly lower against most Asean currencies. It depreciated vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3011/3071 from 3.2990/3028, weakened against the Thai baht to 13.0899/1172 from 13.0754/0954, and edged down versus the Philippine peso to 7.41/7.43 from 7.40/7.41.

Exchange Rates

FOREIGN CURRENCY

SELLING TT/OD

BUYING TT

BUYING OD

1 US Dollar

4.2935 2.8140 3.3480 3.1330 5.0220 2.5680 3.3480 5.7940 5.4100

4.1595 2.7000 3.2500 3.0480 4.8600 2.4730 3.2500 5.6090 5.1790 3.3590 57.6500 63.4500 52.4900 4.7500 0.0246 2.8190 39.8600 1.4400 7.1900 112.9800 109.7800 22.7900 1.3400 42.0900 12.3300 112.0600 N/A

4.1495 2.6840 3.2420 3.0360 4.8400 2.4570 3.2420 5.5890 5.1640 3.1590 57.6500 63.2500 52.2900 4.5500 0.0196 2.8090 39.6600 1.2400 6.9900 112.7800 109.5800 22.5900 1.1400 41.8900 11.9300 111.8600 N/A

1 Australian Dollar 1 Brunei Dollar 1 Canadian Dollar 1 New Zealand Dollar 1 Singapore Dollar 1 Sterling Pound 1 Swiss Franc 100 UAE Dirham 100 Bangladesh Taka 100 Chinese Renminbi 100 Danish Krone 100 Hongkong Dollar 100 Indian Rupee 100 Indonesian Rupiah 100 Japanese Yen 100 New Taiwan Dollar 100 Norwegian Krone 100 Pakistan Rupee 100 Philippine Peso 1 Euro

118.2000 3.5940 60.1900 68.9600 55.2400 5.0600 0.0272 2.9130 15.7000 43.3300 1.5300 7.6300 119.0100 115.6400 25.2300 1.4600 46.2100 13.9000

100 Qatar Riyal 100 Saudi Riyal

100 South Africa Rand 100 Sri Lanka Rupee 100 Swedish Krona

100 Thai Baht

Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama

SD Guthrie Bhd Buy. Target price: RM5.45

Sunway Construction Group Bhd Buy. Target price: RM6.55

Auto & Autoparts Neutral

JULY 22, 2025: RM5.33

JULY 22, 2025: RM4.75

Source: Bloomberg

Source: Company data, RHB

Source: Bloomberg

SUNWAY Construction announced that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has initiated an inquiry against one of its employees, specifically in relation to the employee’s engagements with certain subcontractors. Management clarified that this isolated investigation does not concern the way SCGB secures contracts from its clients. SCGB has been and continues to be fully cooperative with the MACC to facilitate a thorough investigation. The group is also currently seeking legal counsel to evaluate the appropriate actions to be taken on certain sub-contracts and parties. In the meantime, SCGB is proactively reaching out to its clients (even prospective ones) to clarify on the latest incident involving its employee. SCGB remains committed to highest ethical standards. SCGB has established robust mechanisms and systems to uphold anti corruption compliance. The adoption and certification of the ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) demonstrates SCGB’s commitment to ethical business practices, requiring substantial financial investment in system development, employee training, independent audits, and continuous monitoring. The group also obtained the ISO 37001:2016 ABMS certification in May 2025 which represents a significant investment in system development, employee training, audits, and continuous monitoring to uphold compliance. In terms of tendering exercises, the group has implemented an e bidding system to ensure transparency and paperless transactions. A key rerating catalyst aside from new DC wins would be if SCGB secures any packages from the Penang Light Rail Transit project as the last infrastructure job it won was the Rapid Transit System Link Package 1B and Package 5 back in Mar 2023. BUY with new RM6.55 TP. – RHB Research, July 22

THE exemption of import and excise duties for CBU EVs has partly driven the EV adoption, but this is unlikely to get extended beyond end-2025 as we think the government’s focus will now be on attracting original equipment manufacturers or OEMs to manufacture and assemble their EVs locally, as CKD EVs will continue to enjoy a tax holiday until end-2027. An extension of the tax holiday for CBU EVs would be counter-productive for incentivising OEMs to establish local production facilities. While we expect EV numbers to continue picking up in the coming months, growth in market share is likely to remain moderate due to structural headwinds – high pricing & limited availability of charging infrastructure. As such, EVs are unlikely to influence overall TIV in the near term. Major marques such as Perodua and Toyota have seen declines in their order backlogs to 90k and 15k currently, from 100k and 20k a year ago. Furthermore, the loan approval rate for vehicle purchases YTD-2025 has declined to 55% (2022-2024: 58-63%), implying tighter lending requirements. With looming inflationary pressures on consumers, we expect car sales to ease in the coming quarters. The decline will also be driven by incumbent non national marques, which continue to face intensifying competition as a result of new entrants, primarily China carmakers. The influx of new models coupled with aggressive price discounting has created a highly competitive environment. Some buyers may delay their purchases in anticipation of further price cuts from both existing and new non-national marques, thereby destabilising the non-national segment. – RHB Research, July 22

WE are upbeat on SD Guthrie’s asset monetisation leading to RM500 million-RM1 billion in recurring EBIT in the next five years. This, with the output recovery at its plantations, leads us to believe that the stock should trade at a premium valuation, as contributions from new verticals have yet to be priced in. SDG has announced seven MOUs with property developers/state agencies so far, with total land to be developed of up to 6,070 acres. It plans to develop 2,000 acres pa over the next 10 years. However, of the 7 MOUs, only one has reached the stage of an SPA and a JV being formed, i.e. the one with Ecoworld – while the remaining six are being negotiated over, with ongoing due diligence. Going forward, the focus will continue to be on areas that are ripe for development like Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor, but SDG intends to only announce land sale/industrial park developments once SPAs are signed. First land sale gain by year-end, from the SPA with ECW for 1,195 acres of land in its Bukit Pelandok estate. We estimate SDG could gain RM510-520 million (excluding taxes) from this disposal, but it remains uncertain how much it would need to reinvest in the JV post-disposal (SDG to hold 30% of the JV). For the remaining six MOUs, however, the disposal gains would only be recognised from 2026F onwards, with the next potentially being the Carey Island land sale to Sime Darby Property. BUY with RM5.45 TP. – RHB Research, July 22