KUALA LUMPUR: The outlook for Malaysia’s corporate credit to be stable on steady economic growth and expected price recovery of key commodities, Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd (MARC).
Its chief rating officer Rajan Paramesran said on Tuesday this was underpinned by government-initiated large projects to support outlook for construction sector.
* Outlook for property, oil and gas, telecommunications and automotive sectors remains stable to negative.
* Property to stay challenging, with slow sales, especially in high-end segment; residential property oversupply could worsen in near term
* Lower-value and shorter contracts awarded by oil and gas companies provide limited earnings expectation
* Palm oil, power, toll roads and banking sector outlook is stable
"We don’t expect any corporates to face any defaults this year," says MARC CEO Mohd Razlan Mohamed.
* In 2017, MARC downgraded one company in 2017 vs four in 2016.
MARC chief economist Nor Zahidi Alias said that economic growth was seen at 5.3% in 2018, with external trade likely to remain vibrant this year.
* Loan growth seen at 4%-5% in 2018 on weak consumer sentiment and banks’ cautious lending
* Ringgit remains attractive, further upsides cannot be ruled out. - Bloomberg
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