News by Adam Aziz

The contract is to construct a bridge crossing with a connecting road in Bintulu, Sarawak and it was awarded by the Sarawak government to a JV between PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and China Communications Construction Co (M) Sdn Bhd.

The acquisition took into account the earnings contribution to be derived from rental income from Menara Persoft, as well as its potential market value appreciation — currently at RM85 million.

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship Development also announced the appointment of three new members to UDA Holdings' board of directors, namely Datuk Mohd Rafee Mohamed, Datuk Rosli Dahlan and Mohamad Subki Ahmad, to replace those whose service tenure has ended.

IMF commented that Malaysia’s medium-term growth outlook “remains favourable” although downside risks remain for the “highly open economy” stemming primarily from the external environment, including oil price, rising protectionism and slowdown in China.

Malaysia’s household debt-to-gross domestic product was recorded at 83.2% as at September 2018, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in November last year. Around 52.8% of the debt was for housing loans.

IOI Properties said the increase in profit was largely derived from higher contribution from its property development projects in China, and higher share of profit in joint ventures arising from the sale of South Beach Residences in Singapore.

Revenue more than doubled to RM752.79 million from RM303.29 million in the same period last year, largely due to the partial settlement of the group's Conservatory and Aurora Melbourne Central development projects in Australia, in addition to the completion of land sale worth RM82.1 million to Kimlun Corp Bhd.

The weaker performance was due to a 30.7% jump in cost of sales to RM168.89 million from RM129.26 million, while revenue retreated 8.6% to RM148.18 million from RM162.17 million.

Earlier today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng reportedly said the government is "hopeful" that the ECRL can be revived at a lower price, pending a decision from the ongoing discussion with China by April.

The contract from Tenaga Nasional Bhd is to build TNB headquarters campus development (Phase II) in Jalan Bangsar.