https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/12/11/myeg-receives-china-excellent-award

myeg China blockchain JV seems related to this..

https://min.news/en/economy/ddfbd0cbf588d4f2cbe7839565a9e516.html

(Global Times) -China continues to expand and accelerate nationwide inoculation with the launch of the country's first three-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which experts said would provide extra protection than the one-dose and two-dose candidates. The three-shot vaccine is already being administered in at least 13 provincial-level regions in China.

The three-dose COVID-19 vaccine was jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical. It is China's first, as well as the world's first recombinant subunit protein vaccine and it has already been approved by Chinese national authority, according to the website of the CAS microbiology institute.

Since being approved in China on March 10, the vaccine has been administered in at least 13 provincial-level regions in China, including East China's Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, Southwest China's Guizhou, Central China's Hubei and Henan provinces, as well as in Beijing, according to the institute's website and media reports

The company is expected to produce more than 500 million shots of the vaccine by the end of this year, the People's Daily reported on May 22.

Before approving the Zhifei Longcom vaccine, China had approved two-dose inactivated and one-dose recombinant adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccines.

Compared with the others, the three-dose vaccine can provide more protection as its third dose can serve as a booster shot to enhance immunity, Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, told Global Times on Sunday.

There have been signs that inoculated people will probably need a booster in the future. As China has put the epidemic under good control, it is unlikely that the country would provide booster shots to people in the near future. So people living in areas without epidemic can choose the Zhifei Longcom vaccine to get stronger protection although it may take a longer time to finish the procedure, Tao said.

According to the company website, it is better to administer the second and third shots of the Zhifei Longcom vaccine 28 and 56 days after the first injection.

As all five vaccines approved in the Chinese mainland are being rolled out on a more widespread scale, more people are rushing to get vaccinated given the recent cases of infections. China has continued to set records in its daily and overall vaccination numbers.

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- A three-shot recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine developed in China is now available in Beijing.

The vaccine (CHO Cells) was jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Researchers from the institute have been receiving their first jabs in Beijing's Haidian District since Thursday.

China authorized the emergency use of the vaccine on March 10, and people from many provinces including Anhui and Hubei have since received the vaccine. On May 3, the first batch of the vaccine was rolled off the production line in Beijing, according to the institute.

The results of phase two trials, which involved people aged between 18 and 59, show that 83 percent of participants produced neutralizing antibodies after two doses of the vaccine, and 97 percent produced neutralizing antibodies after three doses.

The early-stage trials, conducted among people aged 60 and above, show that the seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies reached 95 percent after three doses, with no serious adverse reactions related to vaccination.

The level of neutralizing antibodies elicited by the vaccine is comparable to other recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccines and mRNA vaccines globally, the institute said in a statement.

Recombinant protein vaccines do not need to be produced in high-grade biosafety laboratories, and large-scale production can be quickly achieved. They are more cost-efficient and easier to store and transport, said the vaccine maker.

Dai Lianpan, a member of the vaccine development team and a researcher at the institute, said recombinant vaccine technology is mature and has been used for vaccines for several diseases such as hepatitis B and shingles.

The recommended interval between vaccine doses is one month.

"Two doses can produce neutralizing antibody levels slightly lower than those of recovered patients, but three doses will double the levels and produce a more lasting immune effect," said Dai, adding that the recombinant vaccine can induce stronger immune responses.

Researchers have tested the COVID-19 vaccine against a variant first detected in South Africa and found that the immune effect decreased slightly but antibody levels remained mostly effective.

CGS-CIMB: Reiterate Add with a higher RM2.50 TP

MyEG's revenue in 3Q20 grew by 9.5% qoq due to an increase in volume for Covid-19
health screening tests, higher online sales of groceries through its “Nak Beli” online store
and introduction of new services for the Road Transport Department, such as online
renewal of motorcycle insurance, road tax and driver’s licence. Overall, net profit grew
12.2% qoq from RM63.1m in 2Q20 to RM70.7m in 3Q20. For the nine-month period,
MyEG’s net profit also jumped 9.1% yoy to RM192.6m.

Targeting 500k Covid-19 test screenings in 2020F

MyEG has carried out approx. 200k Covid-19 test screenings since the service was
launched at end-Jun 2020 until Oct 2020. The group targets to conduct 500k Covid-19
tests in 2020F. We expect to see more testing carried out in 4Q20 following the
government’s announcement recently to require foreign workers in four states and two
federal territories - Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and
Labuan - to undergo mandatory swab tests, irrespective of sectors, in view of the recent
spike in cases among foreign workers. This will likely involve c.1.6m foreign workers.

Attractive prospects with new re-hiring programme implementation

The government announced on 12 Nov a new labour recalibration programme to legalise
foreign workers in Malaysia for employment by eligible employers in four key sectors –
manufacturing, construction, agriculture and plantations. The programme will run from 16
Nov 2020 until 30 Jun 2021. We believe the new re-hiring programme bodes well for
MyEG’s job matching service given that the group processed 700-800k foreign workers
during the previous rehiring programme in 2018. MyEG could also upsell its Covid-19
screening service and foreign worker insurance to prospective employers.

Reiterate Add with a higher RM2.50 TP
We raise our FY20-22F EPS by 2-5%. Reiterate our Add rating on the stock with a higher
RM2.50 TP. We peg our valuation to 23x CY22F P/E, still based on MyEG’s 5-year
historical mean. We also roll over our valuation to end-2021F. MyEG is in the midst of
applying for an extension for its tax incentives, which is due to expire in Apr 2021. We
see potential extension of MyEG’s tax incentives as a key re-rating catalyst for the stock.

Focus Malaysia:

AFTER having been in the doldrums since the aftermath of the 14th General Election in May 2018, My EG.Services Bhd seems to be showing viable signs of being back on track.

UOB Kay Hian Research today expressed optimism that things are beginning to look up for the Malaysian government e-service provider following its provision of COVID-19 testing and quarantine-related services for inbound travellers.

For the record, MyEG recently collaborated with the Health Ministry to launch an online payment system for the compulsory COVID-19 swab tests at all immigration points. The project has a tenure of two years from Nov 20 this year.

“We project MyEG’s profits from this project – primarily from swab tests – to reach RM130 mil in 2021,” wrote the research house’s head Vincent Khoo in a company update.

UOB Kay Hian Research foresees this e-payment concession for inbound travellers as a direct proxy to what is described as “borders reopening play”.

“We understand from the management that this online payment system is a component in its proposed e-visa (Visa Luar Negara or VLN) project that was launched in early-2020,” explained Khoo.

“This system can be used to deploy VLN services when borders reopen. MYEG is now the proxy to a passenger traffic recovery, and will continue to benefit from the re-opening of borders, travel bubbles and a recovery in the tourism industry.”

Moreover, the VLN project will make up for lower proceeds from immigration-related services given border closure has clearly impacted MyEG’s foreign worker-related business which commands about 50% of its FY2019 total revenue

“We understand that the volume of online foreign worker renewal through MYEG has softened by 8% year-to-date based on immigration portal’s data, while the job matching services for foreign workers (revenue contribution of about RM5 mil/month in FY2019) has been significantly affected,” noted Khoo.

In UOB Kay Hian Research’s observation, below are some potential catalysts for MyEG:

The recovery in inbound passenger traffic which will lift MyEG’s traveller pass system’s earnings;
The loosening of border controls to allow foreign worker intake which will benefit MyEG’s foreign worker matching services;
The awarding of the RM1 bil-RM1.5 bil National Integrated Immigration System (NIIS) contract which would at the very least benefit MyEG’s investee, S5 Holdings Inc;
Other longer-term opportunities relating to the revival of foreign worker accommodation projects, potentially some form of amnesty programmes to address the huge illegal foreign worker community; and
The potential revival of the goods and services tax (GST) system.
All-in, the research house maintained its “buy” rating on MyEG with a higher target price of RM2.12 (from RM1.50 previously).

“There will be further upside to our target price should MyEG clinch the NIIS contract,” it added.

CGS-CIMB reiterates Add with higher TP of RM2.10

We see the new MOH e-payment concession as a potential game changer
for MyEG’s future earnings. We raise FY21-22F EPS by 7-10%. Reiterate Add, with a higher RM2.10 TP.

Management highlighted that the recently awarded e-payment concession for Covid-19 test screening and quarantine management by the Ministry of Health (MOH) concession essentially forms an extension of its proposed Visa Luar Negara (VLN) project. Given the ongoing pandemic, the government is focusing on improving Covid-19 testing and quarantine management processes to contain imported Covid-19 cases and gradually move towards the re-opening of borders and post-pandemic travel to revive the tourism industry.

This is a potential game changer for MyEG. Market research group Trading Economics is projecting tourist arrivals in Malaysia to fall by 55% yoy in 2020 to 12m, before recovering to 18.6m in 2021F and 24m in 2022F. In spite of attractive growth potential for MyEG, we think the service take-up will be dependent upon the border reopening timeline decision by the government.

MyEG now has the opportunity to expand into the online travel agency (OTA) business, given its role as quarantine management aggregator for private facilities. The group expects to
collect service fees of 3-5% as an OTA. We see this is an attractive new venture for MyEG, which could potentially replicate its model to upsell value-added services such as travel insurance for tourists. In addition, management sees potential in replicating its e-payment platform and quarantine management in other countries e.g. Philippines.

Our sensitivity analysis indicates a potential RM93m-120m contribution to MyEG’s FY21-
22F revenue based on 1% of [Trading Economics’ projected] international tourist arrivals. While we see room for MyEG to capture a bigger share of tourist arrivals, we prefer to take a conservative estimate of tourist arrivals amid the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

Overall, we raise our FY21-22F EPS by 7-10%. Reiterate Add, with a higher RM2.10 TP, still based on 24x CY21F P/E, in line with its 5-year historical mean.

CLSA maintains BUY rating , with a
higher target price of RM2.00 (previously RM1.75).

MYEG will be providing an online payment system for inbound travellers. This
provides upselling opportunities for its Covid-19 testing business, while
introducing new revenue streams in the form of hotel commissions (for quarantine)
and meet and greet services. Thus, we raise our 20CL and 21CL earnings by 11%
and 14%. While these requirements may be short-term in nature, the same
platform can be utilised to deploy VLN (e-visa) services when borders reopen,
which could raise our 21CL earnings by 8%.

Online payment system for inbound travellers
. The group received a letter of acceptance from the Ministry of Health to provide an
online payment system for inbound travellers to register and make payments for Covid-19 screening tests and quarantine charges. The tenure of the project will be two years, effective from 1 November 2020.
Upselling opportunities for Covid-19 testing and hotel commissions

We estimate this new business to contribute RM12m in monthly net profit. This
assumes 3k daily inbound travellers, an RM150 testing fee with two applications (once
upon entry and once before leaving) and a 20% net margin. On top of this, we assume
hotel commission fees (for quarantine) of 3%, a take-up rate of 50% (the alternative is
government centres) and room-rates of RM250 per night (for 14 days). There is also an optional meet and greet service for RM800, with a target take-up rate of 5%.

Raise earnings 11%-14%, but assumptions subject to change in requirements.

Positively, while these requirements may be deemed short term, the same platform can be utilised to deploy VLN (e-visa) services when borders reopen, which could raise our 21CL earnings 8%.

We retain our BUY on the stock with a higher target price of RM2.00 (from RM1.75).
This is based on an unchanged target PE multiple of 24.5x and 21CL EPS.