☕️ USD250k - celebrity fee Jho Low paid to party with Leonardo DiCaprio or Megan Fox

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

USD1.5 trillion — the amount commercial banks to the coal industry between January 2019 and November 2021. A staggering 80% came from financial institutions from the US, China, Japan, India, Canada and the UK.

HKD1.19 billion (USD152 million) — the price SEA Holdings Ltd’s Success Energy paid to purchase a residential land site in the luxurious Repulse Bay area in Hong Kong. It is a record-breaking price of HKD62,355 per square foot for the plot.

USD250,000 — the price to party with Leonardo DiCaprio or Megan Fox. In Roger Ng’s trial for the 1MDB scandal on Tuesday in New York, the prosecutors listed down some of the expenses of a high-flying Malaysian financier — Jho Low.

3. COVID-19 SUMMARY

• Khairy Jamaluddin said a new protocol on isolation for those who are in close contact with a Covid-19 positive patient would be issued next week because currently, there were too many incidents of close contact.

• There will be physical helpdesks in selected locations to help resolve technical issues involving MySejahtera — the primary purpose is to help those who have problems with vaccination certificates.

• The Ministry of Health will no longer release standalone data of new Covid-19 infections to reduce panic about rapidly rising cases. The number will be announced the following day, together with figures on hospital occupancy and usage of intensive care units instead.

4. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. Former PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin divulged more details regarding his claims that UMNO leaders Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib Razak has sought his help with their ongoing court cases.Ahmad Zahid HamidiHe visited Muhyiddin a few days after Muhyiddin took office as PM with a pile of files claiming that he did not do the things he was accused of. Muhyiddin told him that if he was innocent, Zahid Hamidi should go through the court process.Najib RazakNajib visited Muhyiddin ostensibly to congratulate his appointment as PM, but the conversation steered towards Najib seeking Muhyiddin’s help to remove Gopal Sri Ram as a prosecutor in Najib’s case. Najib denied seeking Muhyiddin’s help with his court cases and has threatened to sue Muhyiddin.

2. During the Health Ministry’s Cancer Day celebration, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin says a new law will be introduced to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including vape for the generation born after 2005, as use of tobacco is the leading cause of cancer and contributes to 22% of deaths due to cancer. Further stats shared on cancer by KJ:

   1. Cancer cases had increased by 11% to 115,238 from 2012 to 2016, from 103,507 cases recorded from 2007 to 2011.

   2. An estimated 1 in 10 men and 1 in 9 women are at risk of getting cancer.

   3. The three most common types of cancer among men in Malaysia: colorectal cancer (16.9%), lung cancer (14.8%), prostate cancer (8.1%)

   4. For women: breast cancer (33.9%), colorectal cancer (10.7%) and cervical cancer (6.2%)

3. PM Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri announced Malaysia’s National Robotics Roadmap (NRR) in an effort to enhance robotics technology into mainstream usage to boost national productivity, which could help with reducing dependence on foreign labour and minimise the outflow of foreign exchange.Under this roadmap, the government targets to increase the intensity of robot usage from 55 units per 10,000 workers in 2019 to 195 units per 10,000 workers by 2030. South Korea, with the highest density, is 12.9x higher than Malaysia at 710 robots per 10,000 workers. 

4. Highlights on Bursa Malaysia by its research arm, Bursa Digital Research:

   1. Total market capitalisation of Bursa-listed companies stands at RM1.73 tril as of Jan 31, 2022.

   2. In Jan 2022, average daily trading volume (ADV) improved by 6.2% month-on-month to RM2.03 bil.

   3. 969 listed companies on the exchange in 2022

      1. 784 companies listed on the Main Market

      2. 141 companies listed on ACE Market

      3. 44 companies listed on the LEAP Market

5. Datasonic Group Bhd has secured and accepted a 12-month contract commencing Feb 15, 2022, to Feb 14, 2023, worth RM50.11 mil from the Home Affairs Ministry for the supply of MyKad, MyTentera, MyPOCA raw cards and consumables to the National Registration Department (number of cards not disclosed). In May 2016, the company was awarded a 3.5-year contract worth RM260.4 mil to supply 12 mil MyKad raw cards and consumables, which works out to RM21.70 per card. Datasonic’s market cap stands at RM1.39 bil.

6. Credit reporting agency CTOS Digital Bhd plans to raise RM270 mil via a private placement of up to 166.67 mil new shares at an indicative price of RM1.62 (6.4% lower than its closing price yesterday of RM1.73) to fund proposed acquisition and investments. The proceeds will fund the proposed acquisition of a 49% stake in enterprise software specialist Juris Technologies Sdn Bhd for RM205.8 mil and an additional 2.25% equity interest in Business Online Public Co Ltd for RM34.9 mil. The balance of RM25.6 mil has been earmarked for “acquisitions to be identified”. CTOS current market cap stands at RM3.8 bil.

5. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. US President Joe Biden said yesterday there was now “every indication” that Russia was planning to go into Ukraine after Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists within Ukraine exchanged fire across a frontline that divides them. Earlier this week, Russia said it was pulling back some of the more than 100,000 troops it has amassed near the frontier, but NATO and its allies were wary of the claim.

2. French luxury goods group Kering would raise prices in a “targeted manner” this year. Kering reported sales of €5.41 billion for the fourth quarter of the year, mainly powered by a 31.6% surge at Gucci that was almost double a 17% consensus forecast by analysts. The group ended with revenue of €17.7 billion in 2021. Gucci is Kering’s cash cow as the label accounts for 60% of its revenues and around 70% of its profits.

3. Tim Cook’s bonus for 2021 may be reduced as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) urged Apple Inc investors to vote against his USD98.7 million remuneration. Cook’s pay was 1,447 times that of the average employee at the tech giant.

4. Durex Condoms and KitKats will be more expensive in 2022 as their manufacturers have “warned” they will increase the prices due to the growing cost of producing the goods. It will raise pressure on households who are facing a cost of living crisis. These two companies, Reckitt (Durex) and Nestle (KitKat) have, reported an increase in sales of 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively, last year. Nestle’s net profit grew 38.2% to CHF16.9 bil (RM76.86 bil).

5. VR headsets caused a 31% spike in insurance claims linked to the use of the technology last year, with gamers breaking furniture and cracking TV screens, The Guardian reported. Aviva, a UK insurance company, said the average claim for accidental damage resulting from the use of a VR headset was around £650.

6. Michael Masi has been removed as F1 race director as part of restructuring at governing body. Masi failed to apply the rules in a late safety car period correctly and changed the outcome of the title race. The failure was at the expense of Lewis Hamilton as Max Verstappen won the F1 championship. However, Masi will still be offered a new position within the FIA.

7. Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. accused the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of harassing them with an “endless” and “unrelenting” investigation. Their lawyer, Alex Spiro, further accused the SEC of ignoring its commitment to distribute the USD40 million in fines to shareholders. Spiro also claimed Musk and Tesla are targeted in the letter written to SEC because Musk is an outspoken critic of the government.

6. FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE 👁👁

1. You can now make selected cases of police reports online here.

2. IKEA Philippines cheeky Valentine’s Day advertisement

3. Take a tour inside Genting SkyWorlds. We heard the theme park is underwhelming since many rides aren’t open yet.