06/07/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | JULY 6, 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

Foreign investors net sellers of M’sian govt bonds last week PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) and Government Investment Issues (GII) yields were mixed last week, ranging between -2.2 bps and +0.3 bps. The 10-year MGS yield fell 0.1 bps to 3.630%, while the 10-Y GII yield increased 0.3 bps to 3.621%. Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (Kenanga IB) said domestic yields remained largely range-bound with a slight downward bias as auction-related weakness was offset by a firmer domestic macro backdrop. The firm said while the recent 10-year MGS auction recorded softer demand, manufacturing activity returned to expansion in June, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index rising to 50.7, signalling improving economic momentum. On flows and outlook, Kenanga IB said foreign investors turned net sellers of Malaysian government bonds last week by about RM200 million, but remained net buyers on a month-to date basis, at about RM6.6 billion as of June 26. Kenanga IB said looking ahead, attention turns to Bank Negara Malaysia’s upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting, where the policy rate is widely expected to remain unchanged. “Yields could edge slightly lower as investors position for a steady policy outlook, while upcoming industrial production, labour market and retail trade data are likely to reinforce the domestic growth narrative. “Stable domestic fundamentals and expectations of a prolonged Fed pause should support demand for MGS and GII, allowing yields to drift modestly lower in the near term,“ Kenanga IB said.

THE ringgit is expected to trade between RM4.05 and RM4.07 against the US dollar this week, with market attention likely to centre on the release of US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee meeting, both on Thursday. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said traders, investors and economists would be watching the FOMC minutes closely for clues on the direction of US interest rates, especially given the absence of forward-looking guidance at the committe’s meeting last month. “We believe BNM will keep the Overnight Policy Rate steady at 2.75% as there are no compelling reasons to change the prevailing monetary stance,” he told Bernama. Mohd Afzanizam saud the US dollar/ringgit pair may attempt to break the RM4.05 level this week. Last week, on a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit appreciated to 4.0690/0735 against the US dollar from 4.0860/0910. The local currency traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies during the week. It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.5253/5281 and advanced vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6553/6606. However, it slid against the British pound to 5.4325/4385. The ringgit was mostly firmer against Asean currencies. It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1521/1558, strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.5/226.8 and improved against the Philippine peso to 6.62/6.63 . Meanwhile, the Malaysian currency eased against the Thai baht to 12.2782/2966. Ringgit seen trading from 4.05 to 4.07 against dollar this week

Exchange Rates

FOREIGN CURRENCY

SELLING TT/OD

BUYING TT

BUYING OD

1 US Dollar

4.1440 2.8730 3.1990 2.9110 4.7270 2.3610 3.1990 5.5200 5.1720 3.4270 61.2900 64.8300 53.2600 4.4300 0.0240 2.5820 43.0500 1.5500 6.8200 114.6000 111.2600 26.3200 1.3000 43.9900 12.9800 113.8400 N/A

3.9960 2.7560 3.0970 2.8280 4.5710 2.2730 3.0970 5.3410 4.9490 3.1790 58.6600 59.6100 50.5700 4.1100 0.0212 2.4620 39.5800 1.3800 6.4200 108.8000 105.6200 23.7700 1.1300 40.0400 11.5100 107.8800 N/A

3.9860 2.7400 3.0890 2.8160 4.5510 2.2570 3.0890 5.3210 4.9340

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

107.6800 2.9790 59.4100 50.3700 3.9100 0.0162 2.4520 39.3800 1.1800 6.2200 108.6000 105.4200 23.5700 0.9300 39.8400 11.1100 N/A N/A

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

Axiata Group Bhd Buy. Target price: RM2.90

Foodie Media Bhd Buy. Target price: RM0.51

Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd Buy. Target price: RM9.41

July 3, 2026: RM2.10

July 3, 2026: RM7.72

July 3, 2026: RM0.325

Source: Maybank Investment Bank

Source: Maybank Investment Bank

Source: Maybank Investment Bank

AS a social media-driven marketing vendor, Foodie Media is a beneficiary of the growing shift of advertising budgets from traditional to digital media. We believe the group is well positioned to capture a larger share of digital adex through its market-leading audience reach, deepening penetration of premium clients and expansions in content production capacity. Supported by its other non-core segments, we forecast FY25 28E revenue/CNP CAGR of 31%/32%. We initiate with a BUY and TP of MYR0.51, pegged to the domestic consumer sector’s average CY27E PER of 17x. Post-pandemic, the WFH ‘new-normal’ in Malaysia accelerated social media consumption across the population. Against this backdrop, we forecast Foodie Media’s digital adex market share rising from 1% in FY24 to 2.5% in FY28E, at FY25-28E revenue CAGR of 31%. Earnings growth is driven by (i) headcount-led content production capacity expansion, (ii) live commerce infrastructure scaling, and (iii) higher content cross-selling across its platforms and offerings. Longer-term, we expect the set-up of its in-house short film drama production team to boost the core content segment’s margins. We forecast FY26E/27E/28E Patmi of RM14/20/27 million. We also expect the group to remain net cash throughout and targets a DPR of 50%. Initiate with BUY at MYR0.51. – Maybank Investment Bank, July 3

OUR updated simulation continues to show a significant improvement to Axiata’s gearing if it divests its entire stake in edotco. We continue to view Axiata’s overall risk-reward as being positive, with net profit recovery and balance sheet repair being potential re-rating catalysts. Addressing balance sheet leverage remains an important area of focus for management in our view, given the RM1 billion of earnings drag from interest expense. Axiata’s net debt to Ebitda stood at about 2.4x in end-Q1’25. Management has already articulated an intention to divest the infrastructure assets (edotco and Linknet), and is working on formalising potential transactions in 2026. Divesting 63%-owned edotco would deconsolidate edotço’s borrowings and bring in potential cash proceeds. Net debt to Ebitda of edotco standalone stood at about 3.4x at end-Q1’26. Our updated simulation of edotco divestment at 6.5-9.0x EV/Ebitda implies potential proceeds of RM3.1 billion-RM5.6 billion to Axiata. By our estimates, Axiata’s net debt to Ebitda would drop from about 2.4x pre-divestment to about 0.6-1.2x. We expect Axiata to use the bulk of proceeds to pare down its holding company debt. Our earnings forecasts and RM2.90 TP (derived from a sum-of-parts with each op-co valued on DCF) are unchanged. We assume a 1 sen progressive increase in DPS. Reiterate BUY with an unchanged RM2.90 SOP-based TP. Assuming an 11 sen DPS in FY26E, Axiata offers a dividend yield of about 5%. – Maybank Investment Bank, July 3

WE maintain our earnings forecasts but lower our TP to RM9.41 (27x FY27E PER, mean) from RM10.46 (30x FY27E PER, +0.5SD), as we remove the war-driven valuation premium previously embedded for Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd (PMAH). While this reflects a more normalised valuation backdrop, we view the recent selldown possibly overdone. Maintain BUY, as we expect a strong Q2’26, supported by still healthy aluminium prices and favourable forex, which should drive near-term share price recovery. Beyond that, FY27E earnings visibility remains solid, with downside well cushioned by its hedged sales. Aluminium prices may remain volatile near-term. Aluminium prices have eased from the June peak following de-escalation of Middle East tensions. Additional pressure has come from higher supply in China and increased output from Indonesia. Beyond near-term volatility, we remain constructive on PMAH’s earnings resilience, underpinned by its higher hedge price into FY27E. This increased forward hedge into FY27E limits downside risk even in a weaker spot environment and enhances earnings visibility. Overall, while near-term sentiment weakness has driven the correction, we view it as excessive relative to fundamentals. Our scenario analysis shows that even in a bear case where aluminium prices revert to US$2,600-2,700/tonne (pre-war levels), our TP would only decline to MYR8.11, still implying >10% upside. This reinforces our view that downside is well supported, while a strong 2Q26 earnings could act as a near-term re-rating catalyst from current depressed levels. – Maybank Investment Bank, July 3