Business summary from Dec 13 to 19

Grab Holdings to acquire Malaysian supermarket chain Jaya Grocer

• GRAB Holdings Ltd, a unit of Southeast Asia's largest ride-hailing and delivery group, is buying Malaysia's top premium grocery chain Jaya Grocer Holdings Sdn Bhd according to filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission.
• Singapore-based Grab signed an agreement with the shareholders of Jaya Grocer to buy all of the grocery chain's ordinary shares and 75% preference shares for an undisclosed amount.
• Grab has the option to buy the remaining preference shares after the deal closes, according to the filing dated Dec 13.

Dyson supplier ATA asks Malaysia to drop charges it violated worker accommodation laws

• ATA was charged with four violations of laws relating to minimum standards for worker accommodation, the labour department said last week.
• ATA is currently in the spotlight following a decision by British home appliance maker Dyson last month to end its ATA contract within six months after an independent audit of the company's labour practices and accusations by a whistleblower.
• ATA said in a statement the charges stem from inspections conducted in May by the labour department under the Ministry of Human Resources.

RM1 interbank ATM withdrawal fee to resume in February

• An RM1 transaction fee for interbank ATM withdrawals on the MEPS network will be reinstated starting Feb 1 next year.
• Several banks including Maybank, Public Bank, CIMB and RHB have announced via their websites and social media that they will reimplement the RM1 fee for respective debit cardholders that make interbank cash withdrawals at the ATM of another bank.
• The cash withdrawal fee is imposed by Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the national payments network, which had previously announced that it would waive the fee from April 6, 2020, until the end of the movement control order.

Maybank Kim Eng now known as Maybank Investment Banking Group

• Maybank Kim Eng Group has planned to align its brand name and entity name to Maybank as the master brand, removing Kim Eng from the name and logo, and is now known as Maybank Investment Banking Group (Maybank IBG).
• The group said the entities in its markets globally have adopted new company names and new logos but it will continue to be known as Maybank Investment Bank in Malaysia.
• Ami Moris said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the acquisition of Kim Eng, then the largest equities franchise in the region, followed by the formation of Maybank Kim Eng as a brand name.

Tycoon’s daughter buys Asia’s priciest apartment

• Lau Chauin, the daughter of the chairman of Heungkong Group Co, has been revealed as the buyer of Asia's most expensive apartment, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
• The daughter of Lau Chi-keung last month bought flats 16C and 16D in the Mount Nicholson development on The Peak, paying a combined HK$1.2bil (US$154mil or RM650mil), the newspaper reported, citing a source close to the deal.
• Apartment 16D, which measures 4,544 square feet (442 square meters) and comes with three car parking spaces, became Asia's most expensive apartment on a per share foot basis when it was sold for HK$640mil (RM346mil).

Strong take-up for S P Setia’s latest Penang project

• S P Setia Bhd has registered about 80% take-up rate for its recently launched Casa Rica project in Penang.
• The 11-acre freehold enclave represents the final phase of the group's landed property project within the 46.3-acre eco-township, Setia Greens, in Sungai Ara, Bayan Lepas.
• The low-density project offers only 60 units of two-storey and three-storey semi-detached homes, each with its own individual title.

Income and wealth disparity

• The EPF, in the SPI report, has provided respectable solutions for the current problem and among them is a proper policy to address old-age poverty, which can be improved via an extension to the current retirement age.
• In addition, there is a need to raise financial literacy and awareness, promote the staggered withdrawal of savings in the EPF after retirement, and emphasise to them that their EPF savings are meant only to sustain their life after retirement, not for other purposes.
• In line with the longer life expectancy, the EPF also recommends raising the retirement age to 62, with employees allowed to opt-in or decline.

CPO futures forecast to trade with downside bias next week

• Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services' data revealed that Malaysia's exports for the Dec 1-15 period fell by 12.49 per cent to 772,137 tonnes from 882,385 tonnes in Nov 1-15, 2021.
• Meanwhile, cargo surveyors AmSpec Malaysia reported that exports during Dec 1-15 fell 9.12 per cent to 725,600 tonnes from 798,399 tonnes in the preceding month.
• However, earlier this week, MIDF Research has maintained a 'positive' stance on the plantation sector with a target price for CPO of RM3,300 per tonne in calendar year 2022.