Sliding value: Toshiba Corp's market value is currently 973 billion yen (RM38.2bil), less than half its value in mid-December. Just under a decade ago, the firm was worth almost 5 trillion yen (RM196bil).
Energy
Brent crude was 0.30% lower to US$56.41 per barrel at 2.25pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.13% to 4.4440 versus the US dollar at 2.31pm.
Top foreign stories
China considers faster IPO approval to lure large tech deals: China’s securities regulator is considering offering a shortcut for some of the country’s largest technology companies to list their shares, allowing them to jump a long queue of applicants and boost domestic bourses, according to six people with knowledge of the proposals. — Reuters
Toshiba says not aware Westinghouse considering Chapter 11 filing: Toshiba Corp said on Friday it was not aware that its US nuclear unit Westinghouse was considering seeking protection from creditors, an option analysts say could put the entire TVs-to-construction conglomerate at risk if exercised now. — Reuters
Baidu posts bleak Q4, but sees business reshuffle driving 2017 growth: Baidu Inc’s revenue fell for a second straight quarter, hurt by a government crackdown on healthcare advertising, but the internet search giant expects a rebound this year as it retools to find growth outside its core ad business. In the quarter ended December 2016, Baidu’s revenue fell 2.6% to 18.21 billion yuan (US$2.65 billion). — Reuters
India’s Q4 economic growth seen slowing to near 3-year low: India’s economy is expected to have slowed sharply to a near three-year low of 6.4% in the final three months of 2016, as demand wilted following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise decision to ban high-value currency notes, a Reuters poll of economists showed. — Reuters
Sembcorp Marine swings to profit in Q4, FY16 revenue lowest in decade: Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SembMarine) posted S$34 million (US$24 million) in profit for the three months through December, versus a S$537 million loss a year prior. Revenue fell 38% to US$830 million. Profit for the full year stood at S$79 million, versus a 2015 loss of S$290 million, while revenue fell 29% to S$3.545 billion. The revenue decline was the steepest on record, and the amount was the lowest since 2006, Thomson Reuters data showed. — Reuters
RBS posts US$8.7b loss in ninth straight year without a profit: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reported on Friday a sharp rise in losses as higher misconduct charges and restructuring costs underscored the challenges facing the lender nine years after it required the world’s biggest bank bailout. RBS, which has not made an annual profit since 2007, booked 6.96 billion pounds (US$8.74 billion) of losses for 2016, against a 1.98 billion pound loss a year earlier. — Reuters
Top local stories
RHB Bank posts higher FY16 earnings of RM1.68b: RHB Bank Bhd’s earnings rose 1.6% to RM1.68bil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016, on higher operating profit before allowances. Revenue dipped to RM10.57bil from RM10.77bil a year earlier. For the fourth quarter, its earnings were down 28.1% to RM261.2mil, while revenue fell 9.2% to RM2.557bil. It slashed dividend to seven sen a share compared with 16.33 sen a year ago. — StarBiz
AMMB Holdings Q3 earnings higher at RM313m: AMMB Holdings Bhd’s earnings rose 4.3% to RM313.16mil in the third quarter from RM300.15mil a year ago. The banking group announced its revenue fell 6.6% to RM1.977bil from RM2.116bil. Earnings per share were 10.42 sen compared with 9.99 sen before. — StarBiz
Samsung rolls out ‘Samsung Pay’ service: Samsung on Friday rolled out its mobile payment service, ‘Samsung Pay’ in Malaysia, through strategic partnerships with banks and merchants in its quest to provide cashless payments to customers. — Bernama
AccorHotels to launch three hotels this year: Travel and lifestyle hotel group, AccorHotels, will launch three hotels in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah this year. The hotels would be located in Kota Kinabalu, Taiping and Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama
Cagamas issues RM300m floating rate notes: Cagamas Bhd, the national mortgage corporation of Malaysia, has issued a RM300 million one-year floating rate notes. Chief executive officer Datuk Chung Chee Leong said proceeds from the issuance would be used to fund the purchases of mortgage loans from the financial system. — Bernama
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