28/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JAN 28, 2026

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

Median monthly wage rises to RM2,864 in September 2025 PUTRAJAYA: THE median monthly wage of Malaysia’s 7.06 million formal employees increased to RM2,864 in September 2025, up 4.3% from RM2,745 a year earlier, according to the Third Quarter 2025 Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) Report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM). DoSM said the rise in wages was accompanied by steady employment growth, with the number of formal employees expanding 3.5% year-on-year in July, August and September 2025, reflecting continued resilience in the formal labour market through the third quarter 2025. By sex, male employees who made up 55.1% or 3.89 million of total formal workers, earned a higher median monthly wage of RM2,900 compared with RM2,800 for female employees who accounted for 44.9% or 3.17 million persons. Wage data by age group showed employees aged 45 to 49 continued to record the highest median monthly wage at RM3,800 across all three months of the third quarter. “The highest growth was recorded among employees aged below 20 years, with the median monthly wage reaching RM1,700 in September 2025, an increase of 13.3% compared with the same period of the previous year,” DoSM said. All economic sectors posted higher median wages during the quarter. It said that although representing just 0.6% of formal employment, the mining and quarrying sector continued to record the highest median monthly wage at RM6,600, up by 11.9% year-on-year, while the agriculture sector, comprising 1.8% of citizen formal employees, recorded the lowest median wage at RM2,245. – Bernama

THE ringgit maintained its strength to close below the psychological level of 4.00 against the US dollar yesterday, supported by positive sentiment and continued investor positioning ahead of the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. At 6pm, the local currency rose to 3.9500/9555 versus the greenback from 3.9615/9670 at Monday’s close. This was the strongest closing level since the ringgit hit 3.9480 in May 2018. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the two-day FOMC meeting is set to begin yesterday, with traders and investors closely monitoring how the US Federal Reserve (Fed) describes the economic outlook and how it translates into policy decisions going forward. Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that positive economic data has reinforced the position and strength of the ringgit, and the currency’s appreciation also reflects confidence in Malaysia’s economic system, in line with the nation’s improving economic indicators. The ringgit appreciated against the British pound to 5.4103/4178 from 5.4166/4241 at Monday’s close, increased vis-à vis the euro to 4.6958/7023 from 4.6999/7064 on Monday, and gained versus the Japanese yen to 2.5691/5730 from 2.5783/5820 previously. It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1174/1219 from 3.1242/1288 on Monday, advanced versus the Thai baht to 12.7247/7478 from 12.7441/7679 at the previous close, firmed vis à-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 235.5/236.0 from 236.0/236.4 previously, and rose against the Philippine peso to 6.68/6.70 from 6.72/6.73. Ringgit holds below 4.00 to dollar ahead of US Fed meeting

Exchange Rates

FOREIGN CURRENCY

SELLING TT/OD

BUYING TT

BUYING OD

1 US Dollar

4.0450 2.8040 3.1770 2.9390 4.7980 2.4160 3.1770 5.5230 5.2260 3.3570 58.3800 65.8500 52.2700 4.4900 0.0252 2.6380 42.3600 1.5000 6.9400 111.7600 108.6200 26.0600 1.3700 46.5400 13.5100 111.0900 N/A

3.8920 2.6860 3.0710 2.8520 4.6340 2.3220 3.0710 5.3370 4.9930

3.8820 2.6700 3.0630 2.8400 4.6140 2.3060 3.0630 5.3170 4.9780

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

105.1200 3.1320 55.8000 60.4800 49.5700

104.9200 2.9320 60.2800 49.3700 3.9700 0.0172 2.5020 38.6900 1.1400 6.3100 105.9000 102.9200 23.3100 0.9900 42.0900 11.5500 N/A N/A

4.1700 0.0222 2.5120

N/A

38.8900 1.3400 6.5100 106.1000 103.1200 23.5100 1.1900 42.2900 11.9500

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

Healthcare Overweight

Eco-Shop Marketing Bhd Buy. Target price: RM1.85

IHH Healthcare Bhd Buy. Target price: RM9.52

Jan 27, 2026: RM8.71

Jan 27, 2026: RM1.59

Source: Bloomberg

Source: Bloomberg

Source: Company data, RHB

ECO-SHOP Marketing’s 1H’26 (May) results were in line, supported by GPM expansion and new store openings. We foresee the dollar store industry continuing the rapid growth by capitalising on consumer downtrading trends, thereby providing a long expansion runway to the group. Other than long-term earnings sustainability, ECOSHOP offers earnings visibility thanks to its necessities-oriented product mix. Core net profit of RM121 million (+28% YoY) accounted for 47 48% of our and consensus full-year forecasts. Our FY26-28 earnings remain materially unchanged after we fine-tune our SSSG, GPM and opex assumptions. YoY, 1H’26 revenue grew 3% to RM1.4 billion thanks to 86 net new store additions – more than offsetting the SSSG of -12.5%. 1H’26 GPM expanded by 5.8ppts, a function of price increase, favourable FX and reclassification of supplier rebates. This outpaced the rising opex in tandem with store expansion and drove net earnings growth of 28%. QoQ, Q2’26 revenue rose 5% to RM715 million on a higher store count whilst SSSG bottomed out from Q1’26’s low. GPM saw an uptick of 0.9ppt on higher sponsorship from suppliers and termination of price discount campaign in Oct 2025. Management is expecting a significant SSSG improvement (positive mid-single digit percentage) in Q3’26 driven by a more targeted promotion strategy to drive basket size, exciting product launches (300 new SKUs every month) and store productivity enhancement. We believe consumer sentiment may have improved to aid the strong sales momentum. In addition, the supply chain disruption due to resizing and repackaging has been largely resolved in Q2’26. BUY with RM1.85 TP. – RHB Research, Jan 27

THE private healthcare sector enters 2026 against a backdrop of increasingly active policy intervention, primarily aimed at containing healthcare inflation. While none of the recent initiatives, in our view, amount to a disruptive overhaul, these efforts collectively signal a gradual but structural recalibration of how private healthcare is delivered, priced, and regulated. At the same time, the government’s push towards public-sector reform – particularly at the primary and secondary care levels – is expected to generate spillover effects for private providers. We continue to favour KPJ for its robust margins and ROE, rising revenue intensity, and growing contribution from maturing hospitals — all of which provide better visibility on near-term earnings and margin expansion. KPJ is entering a sweet spot as six hospitals transition from loss-making to bottom-line accretive, driving internal ROE expansion that is largely independent of medical tourism trends (5-7% of group revenue). Also, while management remains focused on lifting revenue intensity via complex, high-value subspecialty cases, we think KPJ’s secondary care hospitals could be uniquely positioned to capture MHIT spillover, particularly where standardised “Base Plan” coverage meets the needs of the price-sensitive M40 segment, in our view. With the latest round of payer pressure largely absorbed, we reaffirm our positive view on the sector going into 2026. We expect robust demand for private healthcare services, owing to structural tailwinds including: i) Organic and inorganic expansion, ii) medical tourism boon (Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026 (MYMT2026)), and iii) demographic drivers, eg: inelastic demand for healthcare services, a rising middle-class and growing health awareness, as well as a rapidly ageing society. – RHB Research, Jan 27

WE like IHH Healthcare for its disciplined execution, strong regional footprint, and focus on a more affluent patient mix, which together underpins earnings resilience. We view the group as a premium hedge in the current operating environment, given focus on higher-equity cases, larger exposure in the medical tourism space (particularly post the Island Hospital acquisition), and expected expansion in margins, in addition to its diversified portfolio hospital base. We raise our 2025-2027 earnings by +4%, +2%, and +2.7% to account for a better margins outlook, partly offset by our FX assumptions. For 2026, we expect low-to-mid teens constant currency growth in revenue and EBITDA, driven by structural momentum coming from foreign patients, the shift to daycare/ambulatory care centre formats, and early signs of stabilisation in Singapore despite payer noise. While Malaysia stands out as the bright spot, India stays on its margin convergence trajectory, and Singapore’s normalisation hinges on the Mount Elizabeth Orchard ramp-up. Key risks include weaker-than-expected economic growth (dampening patient volumes), aggressive cost inflation across operating markets (resulting in the inability to pass through cost increases), and FX volatility leading to translation losses. Amid rising policy intervention in Malaysia’s private healthcare sector, we view IHH Healthcare as an effective hedge against domestic reset risks, supported by its geographically diversified earnings base. We believe both valuations and underlying earnings still have room to grow despite expectations of slower constant currency growth (low-to-mid teens in 2026 vs 18% in 9M’25). BUY with RM9.52 TP. – RHB Research, Jan 27