03/11/2025

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | NOV 3, 2025

15

The 47th Asean Summit and M’sia’s strategic repositioning

AME REIT’s Q2 net property income rises to record high RM14.4 million PETALING JAYA: AME Real Estate Investment Trust (AME REIT) registered record high net property income (NPI) of RM14.4 million for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2025 (Q2’26), growing 22.5% from RM11.7 million in the previous corresponding quarter. The improved NPI was supported by 22.7% growth in rental income to RM15.7 million from RM12.8 million previously, attributable to contributions from four fully leased industrial assets acquired between the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2025 (Q4’25) and Q2’26. In a statement, AME REIT said they also saw positive rental rever sions across its portfolio, which maintained a 100% committed occupancy rate. AME REIT will distribute 99.8% of total distributable income for Q2’26, amounting to RM11.5 million and equivalent to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.16 sen, payable on Dec 10. I REIT Managers Sdn Bhd CEO and executive director Chan Wai Leo said: “Our record NPI in Q2’26 validates our yield-accretive acqui sition strategy which consistently delivers long-term value for our unitholders. Our high occupancy rate and positive rental reversions underscore our portfolio’s resi lience. We are strategically placed to capitalise on foreign and domestic direct investment inflows and the positive impact from the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) “In addition to the solid pipeline of two acquisitions on track for completion by the financial year end, we are actively assessing new asset opportunities in Johor and other states, which will drive AME REIT for future portfolio growth.” The strong quarter drove NPI for the six-month period ended Sept 30, 2025 (H1’26) 17.1% higher to RM27.1 million from RM23.1 million in the corresponding period last year (H1’25). Rental income for H1’26 increased 18.7% to RM29.8 million from RM25.1 million in H1’25. The total DPU for H1’26 amounted to 4.12 sen, representing total income distribution of RM21.8 million. AME REIT’s portfolio comprised 38 industrial properties and three industrial-related workers’ dormi tories, with a total agreed lettable area of 2.3 million square feet as at Sept 30, 2025. These assets are primarily located across AME Group’s integrated industrial parks in the JS-SEZ, namely i-Park @ Indahpura, i-Park @ Senai Airport City, i-Park @ SILC, and i-TechValley at SILC, commanding a total portfolio market value of RM832 million. Out of the seven industrial properties initiated for acquisition from its sponsor, AME Elite Consortium Bhd in the financial year ended March 31, 2025, five have been completed, including the acquisition of i-TechValley 36 last month. The final two acquisitions are expected to be finalised by March 31, 2026.

structure and fintech platforms bene fiting from the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement. Positioning for a More Complex Cycle What this summit ultimately clarified is that Malaysia’s growth story will no longer be driven by a single trade partner or headline GDP print, but by how well it adapts within a net worked, multipolar economy. That demands a different investment mindset: not broad-based optimism, but selective conviction. Investors should view 2026 as a transition year, one where regional integration acts as a safety net, but only targeted exposure captures upside. Construction, logistics, re newables, and digital-finance sectors are positioned to compound steadily, while traditional export manu facturing remains range-bound until trade-policy fog lifts. The market is entering a phase where geopolitical calibration is as important as earnings visibility. Malaysia has carved out room to maneuver, and now the opportunity shifts to those who can identify which sectors are best aligned with this evolving architecture of trade, technology, and transition. Bottom line: Malaysia’s economic story post-summit isn’t about short term acceleration, but rather about strategic positioning. Stability in trade, resilience through integration and competi tiveness through innovation are the cornerstones. For capital allocators, this means playing the long game, leaning into structural clarity while navigating tactical ambiguity with precision. This article is contributed by Isaac Lim (pic) , investors may have a more bearish outlook on the index. Finally, HSI warrants remained the anchor with total turnover rising to RM427.9 million last week, up 3.5% w o-w. The HSI finished the week down 1% after a healthy rise on Monday was followed by declines for the rest of the week. Trading in both calls and puts tracked these swings. The week’s most active HSI warrants were HSI-CWKT with 947.9m units traded, followed by HSI-PWLQ at 800.5m units traded. To view the full list of structured warrants available on Bursa Malaysia, kindly visit malaysiawarrants.com.my. Provided for Malaysian residents’ information only. This commentary has not been reviewed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. It is not an offer or recommendation to trade and is not research material. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. You should make your own assessment and seek professional advice. The warrants will not be offered to any US persons.

whose earnings are tied to physical or digital infrastruc ture linking Asean economies. These firms tend to outper form when inte gration tightens, regardless of where global interest rates or trade headlines swing.

Yet this stability is uneven. ambiguity around semiconductor tariffs and rules of origin exposes the country’s electrical and elec tronics (E&E) sector – the backbone of its export economy – to a shifting regu latory tide. This suggests investors should stay posi tioned within higher value add segments such as out sourced semiconductor The ongoing

TURNOVER on the Malaysian warrants market edged up 3.9% week-on-week (w-o-w) to RM583.9 million from RM562.1 million previously, as activity firmed across warrants over the Hang Seng Index (HSI) and Malaysian underlyings with added support from warrants over the Nikkei 225 Index. The prior week’s flow had been dampened by a Monday market holiday for Deepavali, while last week also contended with a mid-week pause for warrants over Hong Kong underlyings, with Wednesday being a market holiday in Hong Kong for the Chung Yeung Festival. It was a packed week for markets: softer US Consumer Price Index buoyed sentiment along with a 25 basis point cut by the US Federal Reserve with hawkish guidance, while the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping eased trade tensions. Further, earnings from five THE 47th Asean Summit marked a quiet but meaningful pivot in how Malaysia is positioning itself for the next phase of regional competition. Behind the communiqués and photo ops, the policy direction was clear – Malaysia intends to play a bridging role between competing global blocs, which is a strategy that carries both opportunity and execution risk for investors. Trade Certainty as a Competitive Edge In a world increasingly defined by trade unpredictability, Malaysia has managed to secure something precious – stability. The recent US Malaysia reciprocal trade agreement locks in tariff predictability through 2026 while exempting roughly US$5.2 billion (RM21.8 billion) worth of exports from additional duties. That means palm oil, rubber and cocoa producers gain breathing room on pricing, while aerospace, semicon ductor and liquefied natural gas procurement commitments channel an estimated US$150 billion into domestic supply chains. For investors, the takeaway isn’t just that Malaysia avoided new frictions. It’s that policy visibility itself has become a competitive advantage. In a fragmented global landscape, markets reward clarity, and Malaysia has bought itself two years of it. global blocs, a strategy that carries opportunity and execution risk for investors o Signals show country aims to play bridging role between competing WARRANTS WATCH

assembly and test and chip design, while remaining cautious on low margin assemblers still tied to Chinese content. In short: trade clarity provides a floor, not a ceiling. Integration as Downside Protection If bilateral trade offers predictability, regional integration offers resilience. The Asean bloc’s renewed momentum through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’s six-point acceleration plan and the Asean China Free Trade Agreement upgrade (ACFTA 3.0) gives Malaysia diver sification on two fronts. One, it mitigates exposure to any single trading partner. Two, it broadens the pipeline for infrastructure, green energy and logistics projects that underpin long-term growth. This dual engagement of main taining access to the US while deepening China connectivity creates a degree of optionality most economies would envy. For markets, it means that Malaysia’s export and construction cycles are now partially insulated from global shocks. Infra structure names, logistics operators and renewable-energy developers stand to benefit from this new regional “plumbing,” where con nectivity itself becomes an investible theme. Investors looking for tactical entry points might focus on companies that build, move or power – ones

The New Asean Competition: Moving Up the Value Curve The summit also made one thing unmistakable: Malaysia is no longer the default beneficiary of China-plus one relocation. With Vietnam, Thailand and even Cambodia courting US and Japanese capital, competition for manufacturing investment has intensified. The coming year will therefore test Malaysia’s ability to differentiate not through cost, but through capa bility. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to moderate to around a respectable but not spectacular 4.0–4.5% in 2026 as temporary tailwinds from Visit Malaysia 2026 and Asean chair manship fade. The real story lies beneath the aggregate: labour-in tensive sectors face margin com pression, while advanced manu facturing, clean energy, and digital finance are emerging as Malaysia’s new export engines. For investors, this reconfiguration argues for a rotation in positioning away from commoditised manu facturing and towards industries where Malaysia can compete on precision, technology or regulation. The sweet spot lies where policy tailwinds meet private innovation: think semiconductor packaging and testing, renewable-energy infra

chief market strategist, Southeast Asia, Moomoo. Issues over Nikkei, Zetrix and YTL Power actively traded

Top warrants by volume traded: Warrant Volume Issuer

Exercise level Expiry date

name

(mil) 947.9 800.5 713.5 628.7 131.2

HSI-CWKT HSI-PWLQ HSI-PWJY HSI-CWI8 HSI-CWI2

Macquarie Macquarie Kenanga Kenanga Kenanga

32,000.00 22,000.00 24,000.00 29,000.00 30,000.00

30 Dec 2025 30 Dec 2025 27 Nov 2025 27 Nov 2025 27 Nov 2025

the share gained 3.4% for the week, rebounding from a 0.5% dip on Monday to log four straight advances. During the week, the group said it plans to seek shareholder approval for employee share option issuances, whereas on Friday it announced the completion of its AI data centre powered by Nvidia’s liquid-cooled GPU. With the moves, YTLPOWR-C92 led with 37.2 million units traded, while YTLPOWR-C94 recorded 17.6 million units traded over the week. Elsewhere, last week’s Nikkei warrants turnover more than doubled that of the week prior. Among the most traded warrants were puts Nikkei-HT and Nikkei-HQ, indicating

“Magnificent Seven”names and a 6.3% surge in the Nikkei underscored brisk, event-driven trading across regions. Warrants over Malaysian stocks saw interest, posting a RM150.3 million in turnover last week, up 4.6% w-o-w. Zetrix AI was the top Malaysian underlying warrant with 385.5 million units traded, led by Zetrix-CAF (68.1 million units) and Zetrix-C90 (57 million units). The stock opened with a 1.2% gain on Monday, slipped about 4% over the next three days, then rebounded 3.7% on Friday to end the week 0.6% higher w-o-w. Notably, Thursday’s close was the lowest since April. YTL Power International was another heavily traded underlying as