S&P: Credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): While businesses around the world are starting to reopen, albeit unevenly, after coronavirus-driven lockdowns, credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover, said S&P Global Ratings.
In a report titled "COVID-19 Heat Map: Post-Crisis Credit Recovery Could Take To 2022 And Beyond For Some Sectors," S&P Global Ratings highlighted regional recovery estimates by sector for 2020-2021 compared to 2019.
It said some industries, notably those that involve groups of people in close proximity (e.g., cruises, airlines, airports, gyms, theaters, restaurants, retail, etc.), may not return to prior levels of revenue for several years.
It said for some industries, such as enclosed retail malls, it could be several years, if ever, as distancing measures and the recession may accelerate consumer shifts to other channels.
S&P said government intervention and short-term work programs have dampened the effects of a near halt in business activity in many regions.
The agency said while service employees are returning to work, it may take several years for unemployment levels to return to pre-crisis levels.
The pace and stability of employment recovery will feed into consumer sentiment, business confidence, and corporate investment plans, it said.
“Many industries that were facing a high degree of fixed costs or drastically lower revenue (or some portion of both) were forced to dip into cash balances or borrow to fund operations.
“While revenue for these sectors may recover as soon as next year, a full recovery of credit metrics will take longer as companies dig out of the higher debt load they now carry,” it said.

S&P: Credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): While businesses around the world are starting to reopen, albeit unevenly, after coronavirus-driven lockdowns, credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover, said S&P Global Ratings.
In a report titled "COVID-19 Heat Map: Post-Crisis Credit Recovery Could Take To 2022 And Beyond For Some Sectors," S&P Global Ratings highlighted regional recovery estimates by sector for 2020-2021 compared to 2019.
It said some industries, notably those that involve groups of people in close proximity (e.g., cruises, airlines, airports, gyms, theaters, restaurants, retail, etc.), may not return to prior levels of revenue for several years.
It said for some industries, such as enclosed retail malls, it could be several years, if ever, as distancing measures and the recession may accelerate consumer shifts to other channels.
S&P said government intervention and short-term work programs have dampened the effects of a near halt in business activity in many regions.
The agency said while service employees are returning to work, it may take several years for unemployment levels to return to pre-crisis levels.
The pace and stability of employment recovery will feed into consumer sentiment, business confidence, and corporate investment plans, it said.
“Many industries that were facing a high degree of fixed costs or drastically lower revenue (or some portion of both) were forced to dip into cash balances or borrow to fund operations.
“While revenue for these sectors may recover as soon as next year, a full recovery of credit metrics will take longer as companies dig out of the higher debt load they now carry,” it said.

S&P: Credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): While businesses around the world are starting to reopen, albeit unevenly, after coronavirus-driven lockdowns, credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover, said S&P Global Ratings.
In a report titled "COVID-19 Heat Map: Post-Crisis Credit Recovery Could Take To 2022 And Beyond For Some Sectors," S&P Global Ratings highlighted regional recovery estimates by sector for 2020-2021 compared to 2019.
It said some industries, notably those that involve groups of people in close proximity (e.g., cruises, airlines, airports, gyms, theaters, restaurants, retail, etc.), may not return to prior levels of revenue for several years.
It said for some industries, such as enclosed retail malls, it could be several years, if ever, as distancing measures and the recession may accelerate consumer shifts to other channels.
S&P said government intervention and short-term work programs have dampened the effects of a near halt in business activity in many regions.
The agency said while service employees are returning to work, it may take several years for unemployment levels to return to pre-crisis levels.
The pace and stability of employment recovery will feed into consumer sentiment, business confidence, and corporate investment plans, it said.
“Many industries that were facing a high degree of fixed costs or drastically lower revenue (or some portion of both) were forced to dip into cash balances or borrow to fund operations.
“While revenue for these sectors may recover as soon as next year, a full recovery of credit metrics will take longer as companies dig out of the higher debt load they now carry,” it said.

S&P: Credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): While businesses around the world are starting to reopen, albeit unevenly, after coronavirus-driven lockdowns, credit measures for some sectors may take until 2022, 2023, and beyond, to fully recover, said S&P Global Ratings.
In a report titled "COVID-19 Heat Map: Post-Crisis Credit Recovery Could Take To 2022 And Beyond For Some Sectors," S&P Global Ratings highlighted regional recovery estimates by sector for 2020-2021 compared to 2019.
It said some industries, notably those that involve groups of people in close proximity (e.g., cruises, airlines, airports, gyms, theaters, restaurants, retail, etc.), may not return to prior levels of revenue for several years.
It said for some industries, such as enclosed retail malls, it could be several years, if ever, as distancing measures and the recession may accelerate consumer shifts to other channels.
S&P said government intervention and short-term work programs have dampened the effects of a near halt in business activity in many regions.
The agency said while service employees are returning to work, it may take several years for unemployment levels to return to pre-crisis levels.
The pace and stability of employment recovery will feed into consumer sentiment, business confidence, and corporate investment plans, it said.
“Many industries that were facing a high degree of fixed costs or drastically lower revenue (or some portion of both) were forced to dip into cash balances or borrow to fund operations.
“While revenue for these sectors may recover as soon as next year, a full recovery of credit metrics will take longer as companies dig out of the higher debt load they now carry,” it said.

TM seeks 700MHz spectrum allocation to provide cheaper FWA broadband in rural areas — HLIB Research
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is seeking the allocation of 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband in a more economical and feasible manner in rural areas, according to Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research.
In a note today, HLIB Research Analyst Tan J Young said that during a meeting, the telco stated that it is not keen on C-band networks as they are more suitable for wireless players.
The telco also reiterated that it does not intend to be another player in the already overcrowded and oversaturated mobile market — which has an approximately 130% penetration rate — as TM does not have a matured network.
“unifi Mobile is merely positioned to complement fixed offerings with a convergence proposition,” said Tan.
Meanwhile, its infrastructure company (InfraCo) has been separated from its service arm — resulting in it being more agile and neutrally positioned for all access seekers, including its own.
“Its main focus will be providing connectivity (mainly demand-based fibre roll-outs) and quality of service. Recurring rental payment from access seekers is expected to yield income stability,” he added.
Meanwhile, its service company (ServiceCo) acts as an in-house access seeker that addresses customer needs and offerings.
Tan noted that the ServiceCo is crucial to customer acquisition and incentivising subscribers to upgrade from Streamyx to unifi to improve asset monetisation.
TM’s data centre has also seen greater demand due to accelerated adoption of cloud computing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Notably, its Iskandar Puteri Data Centre is beginning to see some spillover effects from Singapore, providing good visibility.
In terms of the movement control order's (MCO) impact on TM ONE, Tan said it is manageable as large tier-1 enterprise clients — banks, government and multinational corporations (MNCs) — remain financially strong.
Only a small number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sought payment deferment and discounts, which TM would evaluate on a case-by-case basis.
Tan also observed that TM had redeployed part of its workforce towards sales and marketing — which is currently understaffed — through training and upskilling, and expects its large 24,000-strong workforce to shrink due to natural attrition.
“We maintain our 'buy' call on the back of an unchanged DCF (discounted cash flow)-derived fair value of RM5.17 with WACC (weighted average cost of capital) of 7.5% and TG of 0.5%. We are particularly positive on its cost optimisation measures which are now yielding an impactful outcome. Leveraging on its extensive fibre reach, TM is definitely a prime beneficiary of 5G roll-outs. Other catalysts include awards of the NFCP (National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan) and 5G airwaves,” Tan opined.
Shares in TM were down 0.75% or three sen at RM3.97 as of 9.22am today, valuing it at some RM14.95 billion. It saw 329,600 shares traded.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

Slowdown in tenant demand, reevaluation of office space usage expected in coming months — KPMG International
KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): The pandemic has disrupted the office landscape, which will face a challenging time in the months ahead, according to KPMG International’s “Real Estate in the New Reality” webinar on June 23.
The event was moderated by KPMG International global real estate advisory leader and KPMG Netherlands head of real estate advisory Sander Grunewald. The speakers and panellists were KPMG International global head of asset management and global chairman of real estate Andrew Weir, KPMG France head of real estate and hotel sector Régis Chemouny, KPMG UK real estate deal advisory partner Sarah Hayes, KPMG Finland global strategy group director Sarah Sipilä and KPMG Germany head of asset management and real estate Hans Volckens.
“It is natural to anticipate a significant slowdown in tenant demand after three months of working remotely. For office spaces in the short term, the actual use of spaces will be different, as social distancing might be required for a longer period, with [fewer] people in the offices in the coming months,” said KPMG France’s Chemouny.
“In the medium term, companies will seek to develop closer relationships with landlords, negotiating for short-term agreements. The younger generation will also feel less enthusiastic working from home as they want to be trained by more experienced people,” added Chemouny.
KPMG Finland’s Sipilä opined that players should understand the landscape disruption. Office spaces are more important nowadays as companies battle for talent and seek to offer working spaces to enhance employees’ engagement and productivity. Tenants are considering how much space they need and where, and this makes the creation of value in offices by landlords difficult.
Meanwhile, KPMG UK’s Hayes said high density locations are currently facing additional challenges given the volume of people that they need to transport and keep safe.
Those managing office complexes will have to navigate difficult and detailed discussions about controlling lifts access and capacities and cleaning and sanitation of common areas. Hence, friction will emerge between landlords and tenants as vacant or underutilised space raises the question of value, and what tenants should pay during an economic crisis,” said Hayes.
He added there is a concern that the preference for location might be driven more by the need to support an existing workforce and where the workforce lives, rather than a longer-term strategy. Consequently, flexible office spaces are expected to face more challenges in terms of location and specific demands.
“The landscape further out will be driven by the pandemic, but there is a need for flexible space and flexible terms to support existing businesses as they adapt, and new businesses will emerge through the crisis. This extent of the challenge is whether this will be a temporary or permanent trend,” said Hayes.
In the retail market, there will be significant consolidation in tenants as boutique stores close and retain chains extend. “It is expected to see significant changes up and down the high street in the coming months, and a discrepancy between players who are able to reinforce their online presence, by using innovative tools such as augmented reality. As for smart cities/future of cities, a new way of working and travelling should be adopted for retail stores in central business districts or outskirts of cities,” said KPMG France’s Chemouny.
KPMG’s Germany Volckens noted that physical retail is often highly regulated whereas online retail is usually more flexible and highly tax efficient. “In the case of Germany, online retailers are not taxed on the same basis as physical retailers. Hence, it is necessary to remove the tax burdens on physical retailers to level the playing field and maintain retail in inner cities to keep them fit and vital.”
In terms of environmental, social and governance considerations, Volckens reckoned that the current discussion is evolving as the discussion built prior to Covid-19 and the economic rationale are now different. This is because several properties have to be redesigned and high capital expenditure is required to transform these properties into sustainable buildings for regulated investors to invest in.
“There may be danger in higher vacancies, lower rents and prices in office spaces and, as such, people have to inject money in older properties and [it] will be a burden for owners to cope with the transformation and achieve the regulatory inquiries of institutional investors,” added Volckens.

Slowdown in tenant demand, reevaluation of office space usage expected in coming months — KPMG International
KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): The pandemic has disrupted the office landscape, which will face a challenging time in the months ahead, according to KPMG International’s “Real Estate in the New Reality” webinar on June 23.
The event was moderated by KPMG International global real estate advisory leader and KPMG Netherlands head of real estate advisory Sander Grunewald. The speakers and panellists were KPMG International global head of asset management and global chairman of real estate Andrew Weir, KPMG France head of real estate and hotel sector Régis Chemouny, KPMG UK real estate deal advisory partner Sarah Hayes, KPMG Finland global strategy group director Sarah Sipilä and KPMG Germany head of asset management and real estate Hans Volckens.
“It is natural to anticipate a significant slowdown in tenant demand after three months of working remotely. For office spaces in the short term, the actual use of spaces will be different, as social distancing might be required for a longer period, with [fewer] people in the offices in the coming months,” said KPMG France’s Chemouny.
“In the medium term, companies will seek to develop closer relationships with landlords, negotiating for short-term agreements. The younger generation will also feel less enthusiastic working from home as they want to be trained by more experienced people,” added Chemouny.
KPMG Finland’s Sipilä opined that players should understand the landscape disruption. Office spaces are more important nowadays as companies battle for talent and seek to offer working spaces to enhance employees’ engagement and productivity. Tenants are considering how much space they need and where, and this makes the creation of value in offices by landlords difficult.
Meanwhile, KPMG UK’s Hayes said high density locations are currently facing additional challenges given the volume of people that they need to transport and keep safe.
Those managing office complexes will have to navigate difficult and detailed discussions about controlling lifts access and capacities and cleaning and sanitation of common areas. Hence, friction will emerge between landlords and tenants as vacant or underutilised space raises the question of value, and what tenants should pay during an economic crisis,” said Hayes.
He added there is a concern that the preference for location might be driven more by the need to support an existing workforce and where the workforce lives, rather than a longer-term strategy. Consequently, flexible office spaces are expected to face more challenges in terms of location and specific demands.
“The landscape further out will be driven by the pandemic, but there is a need for flexible space and flexible terms to support existing businesses as they adapt, and new businesses will emerge through the crisis. This extent of the challenge is whether this will be a temporary or permanent trend,” said Hayes.
In the retail market, there will be significant consolidation in tenants as boutique stores close and retain chains extend. “It is expected to see significant changes up and down the high street in the coming months, and a discrepancy between players who are able to reinforce their online presence, by using innovative tools such as augmented reality. As for smart cities/future of cities, a new way of working and travelling should be adopted for retail stores in central business districts or outskirts of cities,” said KPMG France’s Chemouny.
KPMG’s Germany Volckens noted that physical retail is often highly regulated whereas online retail is usually more flexible and highly tax efficient. “In the case of Germany, online retailers are not taxed on the same basis as physical retailers. Hence, it is necessary to remove the tax burdens on physical retailers to level the playing field and maintain retail in inner cities to keep them fit and vital.”
In terms of environmental, social and governance considerations, Volckens reckoned that the current discussion is evolving as the discussion built prior to Covid-19 and the economic rationale are now different. This is because several properties have to be redesigned and high capital expenditure is required to transform these properties into sustainable buildings for regulated investors to invest in.
“There may be danger in higher vacancies, lower rents and prices in office spaces and, as such, people have to inject money in older properties and [it] will be a burden for owners to cope with the transformation and achieve the regulatory inquiries of institutional investors,” added Volckens.

TM assists to install smart digital health screening solution in schools
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) has partnered with the Education Ministry to install its smart digital health screening solution to help school administrators to quickly and accurately monitor students’ body temperatures.
In a statement today, TM announced that the installation of the solution known as TM ONE Predictive Analytics Screening Solution or ‘ONE PASS’ aims to curb the spread of Covid-19, following the reopening of schools in stages from tomorrow.
To date, TM has announced that ONE PASS has been installed in three schools namely Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Taman Tun Dr Ismail here, as well as two schools in Putrajaya namely SMK Presint 16 and Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah.
“The installations for two more schools, namely Sekolah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan, Perak and Tahfiz Ma’ahad An Noer in Janda Baik, Pahang are expected to be completed by the end of this month,” according to TM's statement.
According to TM, the health screening solution developed by TM Research and Development Sdn Bhd was capable of real-time temperature updates with an accuracy of +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius up to 100 persons a minute within the range of between one to three metres.
“The real time digital solution includes a Visitor Management System (VMS), an employee/visitor management application developed in-house for self-declaration assessment and deployment of thermal camera and sensors to check the body temperature prior to entering a building or premises.
“VMS has the ability to store 25,000 user profiles and allows for a comprehensive on-premise tracking, along with open Application Programming Interface (API) that enables easy integration with other predictive analytics engine, pandemic Geographic Information System (GIS) and contact tracing system,” the statement said.
The solution is connected to a powerful analytics platform which enables mass individual analysis and swift in-building people tracking from a centralised dashboard, the data can also be integrated into the schools’ attendance system.
According to TM, the solution supported by Artificial intelligence (AI) technology also enables organisations to act quickly in the event of potential health risks and provide real-time alerts to emergency response teams and authorities and at the same time prevent new infections.

Malaysia leads mobile wallet usage in Southeast Asia
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Malaysia leads other countries in Southeast Asia in the usage of mobile/digital wallets at 40%, ahead of the Philippines (36%), Thailand (27%) and Singapore (26%), according to a Mastercard Impact Study 2020.
As the Malaysia market edition results showed, Covid-19, which led to wide movement restrictions, had driven momentum in Southeast Asia towards the digital economy by necessitating rapid adoption of e-commerce, digital payments and preference for online activities.
The report indicated that even as countries in the region start to ease the restrictions and prepare for a ‘new normal’, some of the trends and habits formed in response to the pandemic would likely remain.
The inputs were gathered from 10,000 consumers and/or business professionals across 10 markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Nearly half of the consumers surveyed in Malaysia reported an increase in online shopping during the period. Other online activities also saw heightened interest, such as surfing the Internet for news and entertainment (75%), online video streaming (57%), social networking (55%) and home delivery of food or groceries (50%).
Additionally, about 64% of Malaysians said they will conduct online shopping in the same frequency as currently or before the pandemic, even after restrictions are lifted.
Similarly, consumers expect to continue home deliveries (54%) and working from home (45%).
Malaysian consumers also shifted to other payment methods other than mobile/digital wallet, such as contactless debit cards (26%) and contactless credit cards (22%), while cash usage declined 64% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand also reduced their cash usage by 67%, 64% and 59% respectively, with a similar uptick seen in use among all contactless payment methods.
Malaysia’s digital activities especially online shopping and usage of digital payments, were also higher in comparison to other markets in Southeast Asia.
In April, consumers in Malaysia were doing 18% more cashless payments including mobile and QR payments, as compared to 16% in the Philippines, 15% in Singapore, and 15% in Thailand.
On the contactless cards (both debit and credit), Malaysia tied with Singapore with approximately 24% of consumers in both markets saying they were using contactless payments more.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia Emerging Markets, Mastercard division president Safdar Khan said the company was committed to using the power of data to enable businesses of all sizes to adapt and evolve alongside consumers’ changing needs, preferences and behaviours through e-commerce tools, increasing contactless payment limits, and spearheading the shift to contactless across the region.
"By putting consumer sentiment and concerns at the core of all decisions, businesses and governments will be able to move with greater confidence from this current situation, and mitigate the adverse impact of future crises,” he said.

Malaysia leads mobile wallet usage in Southeast Asia
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Malaysia leads other countries in Southeast Asia in the usage of mobile/digital wallets at 40%, ahead of the Philippines (36%), Thailand (27%) and Singapore (26%), according to a Mastercard Impact Study 2020.
As the Malaysia market edition results showed, Covid-19, which led to wide movement restrictions, had driven momentum in Southeast Asia towards the digital economy by necessitating rapid adoption of e-commerce, digital payments and preference for online activities.
The report indicated that even as countries in the region start to ease the restrictions and prepare for a ‘new normal’, some of the trends and habits formed in response to the pandemic would likely remain.
The inputs were gathered from 10,000 consumers and/or business professionals across 10 markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Nearly half of the consumers surveyed in Malaysia reported an increase in online shopping during the period. Other online activities also saw heightened interest, such as surfing the Internet for news and entertainment (75%), online video streaming (57%), social networking (55%) and home delivery of food or groceries (50%).
Additionally, about 64% of Malaysians said they will conduct online shopping in the same frequency as currently or before the pandemic, even after restrictions are lifted.
Similarly, consumers expect to continue home deliveries (54%) and working from home (45%).
Malaysian consumers also shifted to other payment methods other than mobile/digital wallet, such as contactless debit cards (26%) and contactless credit cards (22%), while cash usage declined 64% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand also reduced their cash usage by 67%, 64% and 59% respectively, with a similar uptick seen in use among all contactless payment methods.
Malaysia’s digital activities especially online shopping and usage of digital payments, were also higher in comparison to other markets in Southeast Asia.
In April, consumers in Malaysia were doing 18% more cashless payments including mobile and QR payments, as compared to 16% in the Philippines, 15% in Singapore, and 15% in Thailand.
On the contactless cards (both debit and credit), Malaysia tied with Singapore with approximately 24% of consumers in both markets saying they were using contactless payments more.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia Emerging Markets, Mastercard division president Safdar Khan said the company was committed to using the power of data to enable businesses of all sizes to adapt and evolve alongside consumers’ changing needs, preferences and behaviours through e-commerce tools, increasing contactless payment limits, and spearheading the shift to contactless across the region.
"By putting consumer sentiment and concerns at the core of all decisions, businesses and governments will be able to move with greater confidence from this current situation, and mitigate the adverse impact of future crises,” he said.

Malaysia leads mobile wallet usage in Southeast Asia
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Malaysia leads other countries in Southeast Asia in the usage of mobile/digital wallets at 40%, ahead of the Philippines (36%), Thailand (27%) and Singapore (26%), according to a Mastercard Impact Study 2020.
As the Malaysia market edition results showed, Covid-19, which led to wide movement restrictions, had driven momentum in Southeast Asia towards the digital economy by necessitating rapid adoption of e-commerce, digital payments and preference for online activities.
The report indicated that even as countries in the region start to ease the restrictions and prepare for a ‘new normal’, some of the trends and habits formed in response to the pandemic would likely remain.
The inputs were gathered from 10,000 consumers and/or business professionals across 10 markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Nearly half of the consumers surveyed in Malaysia reported an increase in online shopping during the period. Other online activities also saw heightened interest, such as surfing the Internet for news and entertainment (75%), online video streaming (57%), social networking (55%) and home delivery of food or groceries (50%).
Additionally, about 64% of Malaysians said they will conduct online shopping in the same frequency as currently or before the pandemic, even after restrictions are lifted.
Similarly, consumers expect to continue home deliveries (54%) and working from home (45%).
Malaysian consumers also shifted to other payment methods other than mobile/digital wallet, such as contactless debit cards (26%) and contactless credit cards (22%), while cash usage declined 64% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand also reduced their cash usage by 67%, 64% and 59% respectively, with a similar uptick seen in use among all contactless payment methods.
Malaysia’s digital activities especially online shopping and usage of digital payments, were also higher in comparison to other markets in Southeast Asia.
In April, consumers in Malaysia were doing 18% more cashless payments including mobile and QR payments, as compared to 16% in the Philippines, 15% in Singapore, and 15% in Thailand.
On the contactless cards (both debit and credit), Malaysia tied with Singapore with approximately 24% of consumers in both markets saying they were using contactless payments more.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia Emerging Markets, Mastercard division president Safdar Khan said the company was committed to using the power of data to enable businesses of all sizes to adapt and evolve alongside consumers’ changing needs, preferences and behaviours through e-commerce tools, increasing contactless payment limits, and spearheading the shift to contactless across the region.
"By putting consumer sentiment and concerns at the core of all decisions, businesses and governments will be able to move with greater confidence from this current situation, and mitigate the adverse impact of future crises,” he said.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.
"And it (being in a net cash positive position) really matters especially in times like this when there is so much volatility in the market," said Curtis.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.
"And it (being in a net cash positive position) really matters especially in times like this when there is so much volatility in the market," said Curtis.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.
"And it (being in a net cash positive position) really matters especially in times like this when there is so much volatility in the market," said Curtis.

The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation.” — Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group
KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Technology sector will see "powerful acceleration" growth in both revenue and earnings, according to Franklin Templeton Investments.
"Once we get through this crisis, we're going to start seeing very powerful acceleration, not only in revenue but in earnings for this sector," said Jonathan Curtis, vice-president of Franklin Equity Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, in "Tech Sector in the Post Pandemic World" webinar session today.
"Investors are so positive about this sector right now. Because coming out of this crisis, it (the tech sector) is well positioned to drive very strong growth," he said.
Curtis highlighted that the expected exponential growth would materialise in the coming three to five years.
"The Covid-19 [pandemic] has accelerated the opportunity in this space and we think coming out of this current challenge, we are going to see an acceleration in technology investment," said Curtis.
In terms of valuation, Curtis said the sector's valuation is reasonable, given its long-term growth potential and high quality of growth.
He believes that the IT sector's valuation is elevated but not excessive, and when compared with valuations of the S&P 500, the tech index is only at an 8% premium currently.
Curtis pointed out that the price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 info technology index of 25.01 times currently is nowhere near the level in 1999 to 2000 of over 50 times. "Thus, we don't think this is a bubble," he said.
On the local front, technology stocks can be seen swarming the top gainers list in the recent three months. Bursa Malaysia technology index, from this year's low of 23.81 points in March, has jumped 73.2% to 41.24 points at the time of writing.
The stellar performance of the four FANG stocks has helped fuel the upward trend among Malaysian tech stocks. All three Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc have just hit a record high on Wall Street.
Alphabet Inc, on the other hand, has rebounded US$400 to US$1,451.86 from the low in March.
Curtis expressed his optimism about the tech sector, saying that its growth "is going to go on for a long time" on the back of digital transformation.
"The big opportunity in this space is digital transformation," said Curtis, saying that it will be supported by growth drivers such as artificial intelligence, fintech, internet of things, and 5G technology, among many others.
Curtis said the demand and the need to use the technology have really soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We needed to learn how to work from home, educate from home, shop from home, exercise from home, healthcare from home, socialise from home and dine out from home," he said, adding that there has been a massive retraining of consumers on how the services work and what it could do, during the lockdown.
Curtis noted that consumers and businesses are going to continue to use these digital services and that retraining will continue not just until a vaccine is broadly administered, but even post the Covid-19 crisis.
Furthermore, he said that the tech sector has a "very good quality" being the third-most profitable sector across the S&P 500 by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins, adding that it is also one of the few S&P 500 sectors that are net cash positive.
"And it (being in a net cash positive position) really matters especially in times like this when there is so much volatility in the market," said Curtis.

BNM approves FXall as electronic trading platform. KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): complete end-to-end workflow solution for foreign exchange (FX) trading FXall has been approved by Bank Negara Malaysia as an Electronic Trading Platform (ETP) and will be offered in Malaysia under its approved money broker .It offers a feature-rich multi-bank trading platform serving the full spectrum of market participants, providing unequalled access to FX market liquidity in a statement.Trading spot, forwards, swaps, NDFs, and options is only a click away.Users can seamlessly execute their trading strategies transparently and in compliance with local and global regulations.The company also that under the ETP Framework, an approved interbank central limit order book, Matching, will enable banks to trade on credit-screened USD/MYR liquidity on an anonymous basis. Matching offers real-time credit screening, enhanced price discovery, efficient execution and automatic trade capture and reporting, offering a new level of operation for traders.FX the has been a long-time partner in the Malaysian financial market.Bank Negara’s formal approval for FXall to operate alongside Matching enables us to further assist Malaysian FX market participants to develop their e-FX trading solutions.This will lead to greater transparency and efficiency both for the banks and their customers

Bursa to temporarily suspend PN17 and GN3 classifications
April 17, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: In view of the current trying time, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar announced that Bursa Malaysia will temporarily suspend Practice Note 17 (PN17) or Guidance Note 3 (GN3) classification on companies which financial positions slip into the status.
“We have already allowed PN17 and GN3 companies up to 24 months to regularise their financials.
“So, moving forward, in addition to this, after a discussion with Bursa, Bursa will provide companies listed on the Main Market, temporary relief from the PN17 classification in relation to certain criteria,” said Syed Zaid. The temporary relief also applied to GN3 for ACE Market-listed companies.
Currently, there are 25 Main Market-listed PN17 companies and three GN3 companies on ACE Market which need to regularise their financial positions.
The 28 companies now have more time to work out their regularisation plan considering they contend with challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said Syed Zaid.
“These measures will allow companies more time to regularise their financial positions. The period for this relaxation will be effective from April 17 this year until June 30, 2021,” he said during a virtual media briefing in conjunction with the release of the SC’s 2019 annual report yesterday.
Noting that extraordinary times call for extraordinary responses, Syed Zaid said “this is not business as usual” given the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. He noted that the SC is deploying a wide range of regulatory tools to support the market and its participants.
While the SC is doing what it can to support the businesses, we remain steadfast in ensuring investor interest is protected during this challenging time. We continue to raise investor awareness on scams, as scammers tend to target people during times of uncertainty.
The SC will take a targeted approach to protect vulnerable investors and minority shareholders. I would also like to remind our intermediaries to remain vigilant and for PLCs (public limited companies) to remember their obligations to shareholders and to make timely disclosures,” he said.
The regulator also assured investors that the Malaysian capital market remains fundamentally strong and is functioning in an orderly manner, supported by deep domestic liquidity and complemented by the government’s stimulus packages.
As the financial system adjusts to the impact of Covid-19, Syed Zaid said the SC will continue to monitor the evolving situation in global and domestic markets, calibrate its responses and update the public accordingly.

Man fined RM5,000 for violating quarantine order to eat noodles in coffee shop
(June 4): A 27-year-old site supervisor was fined RM5,000 in default five months jail by the Magistrate’s Court here today after he pleaded guilty to violating a home quarantine order.

Jeffery Jambo Dan had violated the order at 9.30am on May 25 when he went out to a coffee shop in Sibu Jaya to have a plate of kampua noodles, and he uploaded the pictures of him doing so on Facebook. The post went viral later.

He was charged under Section 22(b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, punishable under Section 24(a) of the same Act which carries an imprisonment term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both upon conviction.

The accused who was unrepresented pleaded for leniency in his mitigation, saying he felt remorseful for violating the order and that he had to take care of his siblings, a child and his parents.

Asked by Magistrate Muhammad Faizal Che Saad if he understood the requirement to be quarantined after coming from Kuala Lumpur and that his irresponsible act would affect not only himself but society, Jeffery replied he understood his offence.

Prosecuting Officer Wilfred John Mujang asked for a deterrent sentence as the accused had violated the observation or surveillance of contacts order issued to him.

The accused had intentionally flouted the home quarantine order and had betrayed the frontliners who have been working very hard to stop the spread of COVID-19, he stressed.

“This will serve as a lesson for the accused, the on-going and other persons under investigation and to the general public at large to abide by the rules and regulations as stated in Act 342 and the guidelines by the Ministry of Health in order to break the chain of COVID-19 infections that will save the lives of many Malaysians,” said Wilfred.

Muhammad Faizal passed the sentence on Jeffery after considering public interest especially in deterring the public not to commit the same offence as the accused.

Meanwhile, Sarawak chief environmental health officer Billy Sujang, when met by reporters later, said it was the first case of quarantine violation brought to court which shows the seriousness of the State’s Health Department in dealing with COVID-19.

He also welcomed the court’s ruling as a lesson to those still in quarantine.

He said the accused was supposed to be in quarantine when he went out and posted pictures of himself on Facebook with a caption which had him saying that people can take off the plastic QR-coded wristband and put it back on, in a way teaching the people to break the law.

The wearing of the wristband was to ensure that those returning to the State would stick to the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.

Armada can go far without Syed Saddiq
PUTRAJAYA (June 2): Armada can go far even without the founder of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)’s youth wing, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, said Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
However, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who is among the contenders for the post of Armada head in the coming party elections, said there was no denying Syed Saddiq’s contributions which included founding Armada, but added that the party’s struggles were bigger.
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who is also Titiwangsa Bersatu information chief, said Syed Saddiq’s membership and that of four other individuals were automatically nullified when they contravened Clauses 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party constitution and not because they were sacked.
Clause 10.2.2 of the party constitution states that the party membership terminates when a member declares he is leaving the party, while Clause 10.2.3 states that the membership is terminated when the member participates or becomes a member of another party.
He said among the actions which contravene the party constitution was sitting in the opposition bloc in Parliament recently and several incidents before that which reflect that they were not in agreement with the direction and policies set by the Supreme Council to be with Perikatan Nasional (PN) as the legitimate government of the day.
“No matter how big the personality is or how much they have contributed to the party, the policies and philosophy of the party are bigger and the yardstick for the party’s future,” he said in a press conference here today.
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who was Syed Saddiq’s former special officer, said he was sad over Syed Saddiq’s choice not to stand with the party’s direction and considered it a big loss because of the talents of the young leader.

Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment, says RHB
May 15, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment given that their large-cap peers have staged solid rebounds off their March lows, RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB) said.
Shares of small-cap companies had lagged behind in staging strong recovery rebounds from Bursa Malaysia's March 18 dip, the bank said.
RHB IB chief executive officer Robert Huray said alpha hunting remained a daunting task for most investors against the backdrop of heightened uncertainties in light of Covid-19.
This was given the fact that Bursa's key index FBMKLCI had rallied vigorously, narrowing its year-to-date (YTD) losses to 13 per cent.
This had ultimately raised the question of further upside potential for big liquid stocks, Hurray said at the virtual launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Jewels 2020 (RHB Top 20) book here today,
He said the small-mid cap space had offered investors a 27 per cent gain versus a -4.4 per cent for FBMKLCI last year.
The segment, though, is still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23 per cent YTD.
"With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalise on emerging opportunities," Huray said.
RHB Top 20 features 20 names for investors to consider during this challenging period in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hurray said its top 20 firms had collectively outperformed the FBM KLCI and the FBM Small Cap Index with a holding period return of 20 per cent since the book's launch last May.
RHB IB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said it had begun to see value in the market in a longer-term perspective, despite the elevated risk environment as the result of Covid-19.
"We believe the launch of the book is well-timed as we are seeing strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the on-going turmoil," Chia added.
In this year's book, the largest stock by market cap, at RM1.7 billion, is Mi Technovation, while the smallest is Advancecon Holdings Bhd at RM122 million.
Of the top 20 "jewels", 65 per cent have a market cap of less than RM500 million.
The trailing median price-to-earnings-ratio and return on equity of this year's pick are 12.6 times and 11.7 per cent respectively.
The RHB Top 20 forms part of the larger RHB Regional Small Cap Compendium that annually lists stock investment ideas from RHB IB's research teams in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
RHB IB said companies in this year's book have market capitalisation of below RM2 billion, from 10 different industry segments with the biggest representation coming from the technology and industrial products and services sectors.
The screening process took into consideration the companies' spread and size, managements' credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.

Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment, says RHB
May 15, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment given that their large-cap peers have staged solid rebounds off their March lows, RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB) said.
Shares of small-cap companies had lagged behind in staging strong recovery rebounds from Bursa Malaysia's March 18 dip, the bank said.
RHB IB chief executive officer Robert Huray said alpha hunting remained a daunting task for most investors against the backdrop of heightened uncertainties in light of Covid-19.
This was given the fact that Bursa's key index FBMKLCI had rallied vigorously, narrowing its year-to-date (YTD) losses to 13 per cent.
This had ultimately raised the question of further upside potential for big liquid stocks, Hurray said at the virtual launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Jewels 2020 (RHB Top 20) book here today,
He said the small-mid cap space had offered investors a 27 per cent gain versus a -4.4 per cent for FBMKLCI last year.
The segment, though, is still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23 per cent YTD.
"With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalise on emerging opportunities," Huray said.
RHB Top 20 features 20 names for investors to consider during this challenging period in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hurray said its top 20 firms had collectively outperformed the FBM KLCI and the FBM Small Cap Index with a holding period return of 20 per cent since the book's launch last May.
RHB IB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said it had begun to see value in the market in a longer-term perspective, despite the elevated risk environment as the result of Covid-19.
"We believe the launch of the book is well-timed as we are seeing strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the on-going turmoil," Chia added.
In this year's book, the largest stock by market cap, at RM1.7 billion, is Mi Technovation, while the smallest is Advancecon Holdings Bhd at RM122 million.
Of the top 20 "jewels", 65 per cent have a market cap of less than RM500 million.
The trailing median price-to-earnings-ratio and return on equity of this year's pick are 12.6 times and 11.7 per cent respectively.
The RHB Top 20 forms part of the larger RHB Regional Small Cap Compendium that annually lists stock investment ideas from RHB IB's research teams in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
RHB IB said companies in this year's book have market capitalisation of below RM2 billion, from 10 different industry segments with the biggest representation coming from the technology and industrial products and services sectors.
The screening process took into consideration the companies' spread and size, managements' credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.

Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment, says RHB
May 15, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment given that their large-cap peers have staged solid rebounds off their March lows, RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB) said.
Shares of small-cap companies had lagged behind in staging strong recovery rebounds from Bursa Malaysia's March 18 dip, the bank said.
RHB IB chief executive officer Robert Huray said alpha hunting remained a daunting task for most investors against the backdrop of heightened uncertainties in light of Covid-19.
This was given the fact that Bursa's key index FBMKLCI had rallied vigorously, narrowing its year-to-date (YTD) losses to 13 per cent.
This had ultimately raised the question of further upside potential for big liquid stocks, Hurray said at the virtual launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Jewels 2020 (RHB Top 20) book here today,
He said the small-mid cap space had offered investors a 27 per cent gain versus a -4.4 per cent for FBMKLCI last year.
The segment, though, is still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23 per cent YTD.
"With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalise on emerging opportunities," Huray said.
RHB Top 20 features 20 names for investors to consider during this challenging period in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hurray said its top 20 firms had collectively outperformed the FBM KLCI and the FBM Small Cap Index with a holding period return of 20 per cent since the book's launch last May.
RHB IB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said it had begun to see value in the market in a longer-term perspective, despite the elevated risk environment as the result of Covid-19.
"We believe the launch of the book is well-timed as we are seeing strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the on-going turmoil," Chia added.
In this year's book, the largest stock by market cap, at RM1.7 billion, is Mi Technovation, while the smallest is Advancecon Holdings Bhd at RM122 million.
Of the top 20 "jewels", 65 per cent have a market cap of less than RM500 million.
The trailing median price-to-earnings-ratio and return on equity of this year's pick are 12.6 times and 11.7 per cent respectively.
The RHB Top 20 forms part of the larger RHB Regional Small Cap Compendium that annually lists stock investment ideas from RHB IB's research teams in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
RHB IB said companies in this year's book have market capitalisation of below RM2 billion, from 10 different industry segments with the biggest representation coming from the technology and industrial products and services sectors.
The screening process took into consideration the companies' spread and size, managements' credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.

Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment, says RHB
May 15, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment given that their large-cap peers have staged solid rebounds off their March lows, RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB) said.
Shares of small-cap companies had lagged behind in staging strong recovery rebounds from Bursa Malaysia's March 18 dip, the bank said.
RHB IB chief executive officer Robert Huray said alpha hunting remained a daunting task for most investors against the backdrop of heightened uncertainties in light of Covid-19.
This was given the fact that Bursa's key index FBMKLCI had rallied vigorously, narrowing its year-to-date (YTD) losses to 13 per cent.
This had ultimately raised the question of further upside potential for big liquid stocks, Hurray said at the virtual launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Jewels 2020 (RHB Top 20) book here today,
He said the small-mid cap space had offered investors a 27 per cent gain versus a -4.4 per cent for FBMKLCI last year.
The segment, though, is still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23 per cent YTD.
"With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalise on emerging opportunities," Huray said.
RHB Top 20 features 20 names for investors to consider during this challenging period in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hurray said its top 20 firms had collectively outperformed the FBM KLCI and the FBM Small Cap Index with a holding period return of 20 per cent since the book's launch last May.
RHB IB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said it had begun to see value in the market in a longer-term perspective, despite the elevated risk environment as the result of Covid-19.
"We believe the launch of the book is well-timed as we are seeing strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the on-going turmoil," Chia added.
In this year's book, the largest stock by market cap, at RM1.7 billion, is Mi Technovation, while the smallest is Advancecon Holdings Bhd at RM122 million.
Of the top 20 "jewels", 65 per cent have a market cap of less than RM500 million.
The trailing median price-to-earnings-ratio and return on equity of this year's pick are 12.6 times and 11.7 per cent respectively.
The RHB Top 20 forms part of the larger RHB Regional Small Cap Compendium that annually lists stock investment ideas from RHB IB's research teams in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
RHB IB said companies in this year's book have market capitalisation of below RM2 billion, from 10 different industry segments with the biggest representation coming from the technology and industrial products and services sectors.
The screening process took into consideration the companies' spread and size, managements' credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.

Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment, says RHB
May 15, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and mid-cap stocks offer better value at the moment given that their large-cap peers have staged solid rebounds off their March lows, RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB) said.
Shares of small-cap companies had lagged behind in staging strong recovery rebounds from Bursa Malaysia's March 18 dip, the bank said.
RHB IB chief executive officer Robert Huray said alpha hunting remained a daunting task for most investors against the backdrop of heightened uncertainties in light of Covid-19.
This was given the fact that Bursa's key index FBMKLCI had rallied vigorously, narrowing its year-to-date (YTD) losses to 13 per cent.
This had ultimately raised the question of further upside potential for big liquid stocks, Hurray said at the virtual launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Jewels 2020 (RHB Top 20) book here today,
He said the small-mid cap space had offered investors a 27 per cent gain versus a -4.4 per cent for FBMKLCI last year.
The segment, though, is still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23 per cent YTD.
"With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalise on emerging opportunities," Huray said.
RHB Top 20 features 20 names for investors to consider during this challenging period in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hurray said its top 20 firms had collectively outperformed the FBM KLCI and the FBM Small Cap Index with a holding period return of 20 per cent since the book's launch last May.
RHB IB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said it had begun to see value in the market in a longer-term perspective, despite the elevated risk environment as the result of Covid-19.
"We believe the launch of the book is well-timed as we are seeing strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the on-going turmoil," Chia added.
In this year's book, the largest stock by market cap, at RM1.7 billion, is Mi Technovation, while the smallest is Advancecon Holdings Bhd at RM122 million.
Of the top 20 "jewels", 65 per cent have a market cap of less than RM500 million.
The trailing median price-to-earnings-ratio and return on equity of this year's pick are 12.6 times and 11.7 per cent respectively.
The RHB Top 20 forms part of the larger RHB Regional Small Cap Compendium that annually lists stock investment ideas from RHB IB's research teams in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
RHB IB said companies in this year's book have market capitalisation of below RM2 billion, from 10 different industry segments with the biggest representation coming from the technology and industrial products and services sectors.
The screening process took into consideration the companies' spread and size, managements' credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.

RHB: Better value offerings in small-cap space now compared to large-cap
KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): Despite the elevated risk environment resulting from Covid-19, RHB Investment Bank Bhd has begun to see value in the small-cap market from a longer-term perspective.
In the virtual launch of RHB Small Cap Jewel 2020 Edition, RHB’s head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said given large-cap companies having staged solid rebounds off their March lows, small- and mid-cap stocks offer better value at this stage of the market.
"The increasing trading nature of the market also means strong gravitational pull towards the high beta small and mid-cap stocks,” he said.
Chia added that the launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Companies Jewels 2020 is well-timed as there is strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the ongoing turmoil.
For this year, the biggest representation, nine companies or 45% of RHB’s 20 top picks, come from the technology, and industrial products and services sectors. The median price-earnings valuation for RHB’s small-cap picks is 12.6 times, while the median return of equity for the companies stood at 11.7%.
Among the top picks, 13 companies, or 65% of the 20, have market caps of less than RM500 million. Mi Technovation Bhd, at RM1.7 billion, has the largest capitalisation, while Advancecon Holdings Bhd, at RM122 million, has the smallest.
The screening process took into consideration the companies’ spread and size, managements’ credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.
In the opening address, RHB Investment Bank chief executive officer Robert Huray expressed hope that small mid cap companies that are able to manoeuvre faster to capitalise on emerging opportunities may stand better chance to outperform their large-cap peers.
In contrast to large caps, the small mid cap space had offered investors a remarkable 27% gain vs -4.4% for FBMKLCI in 2019, although still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23% year-to-date.
With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post-Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalize on emerging opportunities,” Huray said.

RHB: Better value offerings in small-cap space now compared to large-cap
KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): Despite the elevated risk environment resulting from Covid-19, RHB Investment Bank Bhd has begun to see value in the small-cap market from a longer-term perspective.
In the virtual launch of RHB Small Cap Jewel 2020 Edition, RHB’s head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said given large-cap companies having staged solid rebounds off their March lows, small- and mid-cap stocks offer better value at this stage of the market.
"The increasing trading nature of the market also means strong gravitational pull towards the high beta small and mid-cap stocks,” he said.
Chia added that the launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Companies Jewels 2020 is well-timed as there is strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the ongoing turmoil.
For this year, the biggest representation, nine companies or 45% of RHB’s 20 top picks, come from the technology, and industrial products and services sectors. The median price-earnings valuation for RHB’s small-cap picks is 12.6 times, while the median return of equity for the companies stood at 11.7%.
Among the top picks, 13 companies, or 65% of the 20, have market caps of less than RM500 million. Mi Technovation Bhd, at RM1.7 billion, has the largest capitalisation, while Advancecon Holdings Bhd, at RM122 million, has the smallest.
The screening process took into consideration the companies’ spread and size, managements’ credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.
In the opening address, RHB Investment Bank chief executive officer Robert Huray expressed hope that small mid cap companies that are able to manoeuvre faster to capitalise on emerging opportunities may stand better chance to outperform their large-cap peers.
In contrast to large caps, the small mid cap space had offered investors a remarkable 27% gain vs -4.4% for FBMKLCI in 2019, although still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23% year-to-date.
With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post-Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalize on emerging opportunities,” Huray said.

This virus may never go away," WHO says
GENEVA (May 14): The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.
"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.
Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."
Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".
Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.
The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.
But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".
"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

RHB: Better value offerings in small-cap space now compared to large-cap
KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): Despite the elevated risk environment resulting from Covid-19, RHB Investment Bank Bhd has begun to see value in the small-cap market from a longer-term perspective.
In the virtual launch of RHB Small Cap Jewel 2020 Edition, RHB’s head of regional equity research Alexander Chia said given large-cap companies having staged solid rebounds off their March lows, small- and mid-cap stocks offer better value at this stage of the market.
"The increasing trading nature of the market also means strong gravitational pull towards the high beta small and mid-cap stocks,” he said.
Chia added that the launch of RHB Top 20 Malaysia Small Cap Companies Jewels 2020 is well-timed as there is strong demand for alpha rich small-mid caps stocks that are resilient and can survive the ongoing turmoil.
For this year, the biggest representation, nine companies or 45% of RHB’s 20 top picks, come from the technology, and industrial products and services sectors. The median price-earnings valuation for RHB’s small-cap picks is 12.6 times, while the median return of equity for the companies stood at 11.7%.
Among the top picks, 13 companies, or 65% of the 20, have market caps of less than RM500 million. Mi Technovation Bhd, at RM1.7 billion, has the largest capitalisation, while Advancecon Holdings Bhd, at RM122 million, has the smallest.
The screening process took into consideration the companies’ spread and size, managements’ credibility, industry fundamentals, earnings growth potential, industry track record and its level of corporate governance.
In the opening address, RHB Investment Bank chief executive officer Robert Huray expressed hope that small mid cap companies that are able to manoeuvre faster to capitalise on emerging opportunities may stand better chance to outperform their large-cap peers.
In contrast to large caps, the small mid cap space had offered investors a remarkable 27% gain vs -4.4% for FBMKLCI in 2019, although still off from its peak by a much wider margin, down 23% year-to-date.
With the fate of many bigger companies tied to waning external demand, low commodity prices and dwindling capacity to spend locally, chances of finding winners in the new norm post-Covid-19 will be higher for smaller and nimbler companies that can better capitalize on emerging opportunities,” Huray said.

This virus may never go away," WHO says
GENEVA (May 14): The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.
"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.
Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."
Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".
Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.
The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.
But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".
"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

This virus may never go away," WHO says
GENEVA (May 14): The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.
"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.
Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."
Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".
Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.
The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.
But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".
"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

This virus may never go away," WHO says
GENEVA (May 14): The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.
"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.
Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."
Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".
Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.
The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.
But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".
"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

This virus may never go away," WHO says
GENEVA (May 14): The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.
"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.
Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."
Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".
Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.
The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.
But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".
"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.

Reopening the economy in a new normal
May 3, 2020 1:14 PM

After 47 days of the movement control order (MCO), most businesses have been allowed to
resume operations on May 4. As Malaysia’s economy wakes up from the necessary shutdown, which has been effective in arresting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the days ahead will look very different. The economy reopens to a new normal.
We enter with a grim picture at the beginning, facing an expected economic loss of RM63
billion from the MCO, as announced by the prime minister. Many people would have lost their jobs. Many firms, both large corporates and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), would not have escaped unscathed with many of them facing insolvency. The negative effects on credit markets, supply chains and worker productivity will only dissipate gradually.
The policy objective now is to ensure firms return to their pre-crisis production and employment levels as rapidly and safely as possible, setting the foundations for longer-term productivity-driven growth, resilience and competitiveness.
A detailed plan for the post-MCO phase would require close coordination between the private sector and the government. The unprecedented scale of the pandemic means that the return to work will need to be gradual and phased, and heightened caution is necessary to prevent further waves of infection. It is also important to ensure that the burden of Covid-19 prevention is not placed solely on SMEs who are already struggling to stay in business.
The government, in recent days, has been working to provide information with standard
operating procedures for employees to follow social distancing norms to ensure safe work
conditions. This support is especially important for SMEs as such companies are likely to have lower capacity than larger ones to scale up the kind of management response necessary and to put in place adequate mitigation measures.
For many industries, getting employees back to offices may remain the preferred manner of work. Until effective treatment or a vaccine becomes widely available, targeted scaling up of testing to identify positive infections may help alleviate some of the uncertainty and lack of confidence from workers and customers as businesses seek to reopen.
Support to SMEs could also include co-financing for professional cleaning of premises in line with confirmed Covid-19 cases and access to business continuity insurance.
While clear before, the current crisis has further increased the benefits SMEs could derive from using new technologies, for instance through remote work and online business platforms. Going forward, measures should be identified to further increase the rate of digitisation among SMEs in Malaysia.
Subsidised or free broadband access and direct technical support could be
provided to SMEs to accelerate the transition to digital platforms, including business to
consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B). In this context, renewed efforts to support workers’ reskilling and upskilling will be particularly important.
Once businesses can safely operate, efforts should focus on boosting demand and reactivating supply chains. Adopting broad-based fiscal stimulus consistent with available fiscal space can help lift aggregate demand. In this regard, measures announced to accelerate and increase allocations for large public investment projects and programmes (for example, the East Coast Rail Link, Mass Rapid Transit 2, and the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan), should have a positive impact on demand during construction and could benefit growth in the longer run.
Without support, SMEs tend to be disadvantaged from accessing public procurement contracts. In Malaysia, this may limit their capacity to benefit from the investment projects mentioned above. To that end, e-procurement could also be encouraged to further level the playing field for SMEs competing for tenders with larger companies.
With regards to foreign direct investment, immediate efforts should focus on the retention of existing foreign investors, and the preservation of supply chains connecting foreign and
domestic (often SME) suppliers. With supply chains and client relations disrupted by the crisis, government agencies can help SMEs reintegrate into supply chains and find new domestic and export markets to help reduce the time to recovery.
In Malaysia, special attention should be placed to ensure firms in the electrical and electronics industry, retail and tourism sectors that are exposed to demand and supply shocks are supported. This is key to preventing an exodus of investments and subsequent job losses.
It is important for the government to communicate how the current financial support measures for firms will evolve as the post-MCO reopening phase continues. It is critical to avoid removing support measures

Covid-19 shifting consumer behaviour in technology-based solutions
CORPORATE NEWS
PETALING JAYA: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing a shift in consumer behaviour towards favour technology-based solutions for consumers.
“E-commerce, which has relatively low penetration rates in Asean, is seeing a significant leap. Singapore’s online sales jumped by 38% in February, a sharp contrast to the fall of 10% in overall retail sales, ” said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in its report.
“Demand for food delivery services – which has lower penetration rates ranging from 1.9% in Indonesia to 5.5% in Philippines – is rising across Asean. With the ban on dine-in services, more food merchants are signing up with delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, ” it added.
It also notes that telehealthcare is becoming increasingly important in countries with a scarcity of doctors such as Indonesia (0.38 doctor per 1,000 people) and Thailand (0.81) where video consultations have nearly doubled.
Meanwhile the report said that in Singapore, concerns over food supply disruption had increased searches for staples such as eggs, rice and vegetables.
“On the other hand, searches for discretionary items such as footwear, formal wear and cosmetics have plunged, ” it said.
“With people staying home, cooking items and recipes, indoor sports equipment, and entertainment (such as Netflix and Nintendo) are popular searches, ” it added.
The increase in work-from-home policies have also increased demand for office-related equipment (computer monitors and office chairs) and teleconferencing platforms,Maybank IB said.