☕️ Trump-era EBITDA: Earnings before Iran, Tariffs and Donald Announcements

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

USD140.9 mil (RM568.67 mil) – That’s how much Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi space adventure “Project Hail Mary” has earned at the global box office, making it the biggest debut of the year so far. The movie stars Gosling as Ryland Grace, a science teacher tasked with saving the world from extinction. The story is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name by author Andy Weir, whose other book inspired the 2015 movie “The Martian”, starring Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars. Watched it. 10/10. Trailer here.

80% – That’s the percentage of golf games around the world that will be played virtually in two years, according to the co-founder of indoor venue Pitch Golf. Golf gaming has come a long way from the handheld dot-matrix computer games from Japan over 40 years ago. Indoor golf simulators allow players to enjoy the game despite bad weather, while also enabling them to analyse their swings, have lessons, or play certain trophy holes rather than play a full round.

USD27 mil (RM108.92 mil) – That’s how much a South African comedian is being sued for a viral joke that mistranslated the iconic “Circle of Life” (listen here) chant in Disney’s animated film “The Lion King”. Composer Lebohang Morake, the one behind the Zulu vocals of the film, filed a federal civil complaint against comedian Learnmore Jonasi. Morake alleged that the translation is false and damaging to his life’s work, saying Jonasi presented his mistranslation as fact rather than delivering it as a joke, leading to mockery of the composer’s work.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Malaysia Airlines Special
Double profit in 2025
The newly minted president and CEO of Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG), Captain Nasaruddin A Bakar, has announced that the national flag carrier doubled its net profit in 2025 from RM54 mil in FY2024 to RM137 mil in FY2025. This is all thanks to prudent cost control, as operating costs only rose by 7% compared to the capacity of the airline, which increased 16% as measured by the available seat kilometre (ASK) metric. The proof is in the pudding, as the airline doubled its net profit even though revenue rose by only 6% to RM14.55 bil. Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) are a fundamental aviation industry metric measuring an airline’s passenger-carrying capacity. ASK defines the total potential tickets an airline can sell, regardless of whether those seats are filled.

MAG maintains expansion plan
Despite the uncertainties brought by the Iran war, MAG is pushing ahead with its expansion plan and will proceed to take delivery of 10 new aircraft this year, having added 24 aircraft to its fleet last year. The Asia-Pacific region will remain MAG’s focus, because the region is the fastest-growing market in terms of both passenger and cargo traffic. Of note is that although MAG is cash flow positive, it is still tapping the RM3.6 bil capital allocated by Khazanah during the 2021 restructuring, which was meant to finance its capital expenditure and partially cover its maintenance costs.

MAG is not immune to FX fluctuations
CEO Captain Nasaruddin said that foreign exchange movements still worry him as each 10 sen movement in the ringgit against the US dollar affects MAG’s bottom line by about RM200 mil. Additionally, apart from the rising fuel price, the war also makes airlines such as MAG spend more on fuel and flight time as they need to avoid the Middle East’s airspace.

Local transport players start feeling rising fuel prices
Batik Air Malaysia cuts 35% of flights this month
Batik Air Malaysia announced a reduction of more than a third of its flights for the month of Apr due to rising fuel prices. CEO Chandran Rama Muthy said that the cuts would run through Apr 12, after which the airline would reassess the situation. He said the reductions would focus on flight frequencies rather than destinations. Higher fuel surcharges have also been implemented, but are not enough to fully offset rising costs.

Labuan-KK ferry service suspended
The Labuan-Kota Kinabalu-Labuan express ferry service, barely a year old, has been suspended due to rising fuel costs and high landing fees at the Jesselton Jetty Terminal in Kota Kinabalu. The discontinuation of the ferry service will be a huge loss to travellers as it provided a direct connection between Labuan and Kota Kinabalu.

Business news
Sunway not giving up on IJM deal
Sunway Bhd president Mohd Anuar Taib said the group intends to implement joint procurement in construction as part of its short-term strategy, with plans to start within nine months of acquiring IJM Corporation Bhd. This comes after IJM’s largest shareholders, the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), expressed their rejection of Sunway’s offer to acquire IJM. The nine months will also see a supposed ‘integration team’ exploring possible collaborations within the merged entity. The proposed conditional voluntary takeover to acquire all ordinary shares in IJM will be settled with 10% in cash and 90% in Sunway shares.

KNM Group files RM600 mil lawsuit against Japanese firm over botched deal
Japanese firm NGK Insulators Ltd is being sued for over RM600 mil by the parent company of Deutsche KNM, KNM Group Bhd, after NGK withdrew from a deal to buy Deutsche KNM. KNM Group claimed that the tortious conduct of NGK Insulators’ executives led to the collapse of the deal and a missed opportunity for KNM to cash in RM1.26 bil from the sale of its German unit. The proceeds from the collapsed deal were meant to repay KNM’s RM1.37 bil debt. In the suit against NGK Insulators, KNM is claiming RM363 mil for the alleged loss of listed company value and market capitalisation following the delisting; another EUR46.5 mil (RM216.36 mil) linked to alleged bank and guarantee exposures to German syndicated lenders; and RM42.69 mil to KNM Process Systems for wasted professional, legal, and transactional costs incurred.
Word of the day: tortious. An adjective implying or involving tort, which is a wrongful act other than a breach of contract for which relief may be obtained in the form of damages or an injunction.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Trump has not really found an exit to the war just yet
Many expected substantial information to come from Trump as he made his primetime address on Wednesday evening. Alas, the speech, which lasted less than 20 minutes, only had Trump repeating the same statements he has been circulating for weeks. Trump repeated four familiar points: The war is necessary; it has already been won; it must continue; and it will wrap up soon – all arguments he has been making daily. He kept returning to the central point of his speech: that the US has already won and it only needed a little more time to “finish the job”. No specific mentions were made regarding the 15-point peace plan the White House made to Iran last week, or whether Netanyahu’s government agrees with the timetable of a few more weeks. He also did not mention anything about the ground troops deployed to the region or provide a solid plan related to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He did say that countries dependent on Gulf oil should take the lead on resolving the Hormuz crisis, although the US launched the war unilaterally with Israel. He renewed his threats to Iran, saying that the US will continue to bomb Iran into “the Stone Ages”.

For business owners, investors and those in the financial industry, EBITDA takes a new meaning with Trump - Earnings Before Iran, Tariffs and Donald Announcements.

What’s up, Warren?
CNBC had the privilege to speak to Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and recently retired CEO, Warren Buffett, and here are some interesting highlights from the exclusive interview (full interview here):

Buffett still goes to the office: Buffett said that he remains closely involved in investment decisions at Berkshire Hathaway even after stepping down as Berkshire’s CEO at the beginning of 2026. He still steps into the office daily and stays engaged with markets, working alongside colleagues on trades, and noted that he recently made a “tiny” new purchase.

Buffett also downplayed recent market volatility, suggesting current conditions fall far short of past periods that created major buying opportunities.

Sold Apple too soon: Buffett said that he had sold Apple too soon and would buy more of it, though not in the current market. Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding even after the conglomerate trimmed its stake to USD61.96 bil (RM249.51 bil) at the end of last year, according to InsiderScore.

His relationship with Bill Gates: Since 2006, Buffett has donated more than USD43 bil to the Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organisation founded by Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates. Buffett said that he has not spoken to Gates “since the whole thing” with the Jeffrey Epstein files “was unveiled”, and spoke at length about Epstein. Buffett also said that Gates could have invited him to New York to meet Epstein, but fortunately never did. He added that he doesn’t want to be in a position where he knows things and is called as a witness. Bro is thankful.

To the moon: Humans and Elon Musk
NASA’s Artemis II is now moon-bound
The Artemis II mission to the moon launched successfully on Wednesday, with the 322-foot Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral and sending the Orion’s four-astronaut capsule on a 10-day fly-by journey around the moon (here is how they go to toilet). This would be the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the moon since the Apollo programme ended in 1972. If the mission goes as planned, the capsule is expected to reach the moon around Apr 6. The capsule will then fly around the moon, reaching its closest point before beginning the journey back to Earth, with splashdown expected on Apr 10. The “free-return” trajectory swinging around the moon is intended to prove the spacecraft can sustain a crew on future missions.

But what is NASA’s Artemis programme? The multi-decade programme aims to return humans to the moon, establish a long-term base there and eventually enable future human missions to Mars. It is currently divided into five missions: Artemis I, II, III, IV and V. Artemis I launched and lasted for 25 days in Nov 2022, and Artemis III is currently planned for 2027. It will involve the Orion spacecraft docking in Earth orbit with at least one of NASA’s lunar landers, either Blue Origin’s Blue Moon system or SpaceX’s Starship.

Fun fact: Why is it named Artemis? Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon, symbolising the programme’s connection to the original lunar missions, which took place from 1961 to 1972. The last person to walk on the moon’s surface did so on Dec 14, 1972. A lot more interesting things to read here on the Artemis programme.

SpaceX files for IPO at USD1.75 tril valuation
SpaceX has reportedly filed for a confidential IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and is seeking a possible valuation of USD1.75 tril (RM7.05 tril) and a listing around June. Founded by Musk in 2002 to develop and operate reusable rockets, SpaceX has turned into NASA’s biggest launch partner after the agency ended its space shuttle programme in 2011. The company merged with Musk’s xAI in Feb, creating a combined entity that he valued at the time at USD1.25 tril. With the company reportedly looking to raise up to USD75 bil, it would be more than three times the size of the largest US IPO to date. When SpaceX eventually goes public, Musk will become the first person to helm two separate trillion-dollar publicly traded companies. Musk is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of close to USD840 bil, according to Forbes. Elon Musk’s wealth is heading to the moon too, putting him on the path to be the world’s first trillionaire.

Watch one of SpaceX’s most spectacular launches, with the rocket being recovered and landing on mega ‘chopsticks’:

Shorts:

1. Singapore army disposes of 250kg World War II bomb

   The Singapore army has successfully disposed of a 250kg World War II aerial bomb discovered within the Changi East development area, where Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 is being built. The bomb had to be detonated on site because it was considered too dangerous to be moved. In 2023, Singapore’s army also detonated a 100kg wartime bomb at a construction site along Upper Bukit Timah Road. Watch the detonation video:

2. End of an era for Labubu?

   Labubu maker Pop Mart’s stock slid about 30% after its 2025 annual report revealed that “The Monsters” accounted for about 40% of the company’s revenue. The IP includes the Labubu monsters, which garnered massive success in the collectibles market, earning CNY14.16 bil (about USD2 bil or RM8.32 bil). The Labubu bubble looks like it’s close to bursting, with data from the Chinese resale site Qiandao in Oct showing that mini Labubu resale prices had fallen below their retail prices. However, by sales figures, Pop Mart posted a total sales growth of 184.7%, with its revenue rising from CNY13.04 bil to CNY37.12 bil.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Growing sport in Japan - office chair race. Teams of three compete to finish as many laps around a circuit as possible in 2 hours, covering upwards of 20km. Every year, the competition takes place in 10 cities, with even major corporations like Toyota sending teams to participate.

2. Retirement home for youths. Welcome to Gopeng Sanctuary. RM2k per month, 3 meals a day.

3. Attend to your finances this weekend:

   1. How to set up your EPF beneficiary

   2. Do you get taxed on your EPF, ASNB, unit trusts dividends?