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Thursday, September 5, 2024

Uptrend emerges for property sector

 
Investments in Malaysia fuel long-term growth


UOBKH Research maintains an “Overweight” call on the property industry,.

Property transactions are reaching all-time highs, oversupply is dropping, and investment in the real estate sector is on the rise.”-UOB Kay Hian Research


PETALING JAYA: UOB Kay Hian Research (UOBKH Research) is keeping its optimism on the property sector, despite acknowledging that second quarter (2Q24) earnings results for the companies under its coverage were a mixed bag.

The research house said among the eight firms it reports on, four had results that were in line with its expectations, three fell short, while one exceeded projections.

The research house said: “S P Setia Bhd’s results shortfall was due to a significant impairment on its Battersea projects in Britain, while UEM Sunrise Bhd’s (UEMS) weak results were due to lower-than-expected progressive billings, caused by delays in construction and deliveries of raw materials.”

At the same time, it said IOI Properties Group Bhd (IOIPROP) also reported weaker-than-expected earnings on lower-than-anticipated contributions from China, although Sunway Bhd exceeded expectations, driven by higher progressive billings from both the group’s property and construction segments.

Despite the performances of several companies coming in below forecasts, UOBKH Research said that industry players under its coverage recorded 2Q24 net profit growth of 26% quarter-on-quarter and 60% year-on-year (y-o-y).

Outside its coverage scope, the research house said that both Sime Darby Property Bhd (Simeprop) as well as Eastern & Oriental Bhd exceeded consensus estimates on strong progressive billings.

“Developers are on track to achieve their 2024 sales targets, having reached approximately 50% of their goals so far.

“Lagenda Properties Bhd (Lagenda) and Simeprop led the way with double-digit sales growth for the quarter, as the former’s 2Q24 sales surged 19% y-o-y to Rm300mil, marking the highest quarterly sales in the company’s history,” the research house said.

Simeprop also saw impressive sales growth, with 2Q24 sales increasing by 45% y-o-y, prompting the group to revise its full-year sales target upward to Rm3.5bil from Rm3bil.

For the second half of the year (2H24), UOBKH Research said it is expecting stronger earnings from almost all companies under its coverage, with the exception of S P Setia and IOIPROP. It added that S P Setia’s land sales quantum is expected to be much lower in 2H24.

“Meanwhile, Ioiprop’s first few quarterly results for its financial year ending June 2025 (FY25) may be weak as we will see a jump in interest costs from its IOI Central Boulevard project in Singapore as that becomes fully operational in October this year,” the research house said.

Nonetheless, it believes IOIPROP has the potential to surprise on the upside due to the higher-than-expected launches recently as well as possibility of better-than-anticipated sales of Marina View in Singapore.

Overall, it said excluding land sales gain, sector net profit for 2024 and 2025 are expected to grow by 13% and 20%, respectively, driven by higher progressive billings on higher property sales and launches.

On a separate note, the research house said August share prices for property counters were hit by negative sentiment, driven primarily by the emergence of sinkholes in Kuala Lumpur, which itself led to the suspension of construction approvals in the capital.

UOBKH Research reported that the latest directive now requires planning permission applications for buildings in the city to include a geotechnical study by certified engineers.

“We gather that these geotechnical study rules have been in place since 2022, and are not new regulations.

“Developers in Kuala Lumpur such as Mah Sing Group Bhd also reiterated that they have been following all the guidelines and are in compliance with all the requirements, including the necessary geotechnical studies, hence, they do not anticipate issues with ongoing projects or future launches,” it added.

Maintaining an “Overweight” call on the property industry, UOBKH Research believes a long-term uptrend has emerged in the sector, fuelled by record-high total investments in Malaysia over the past two to three years.

It said property transactions are reaching all-time highs, oversupply is dropping, and investment in the real estate sector is on the rise.

“This growth is supported by several key factors including the expansion of industrial developments, which provides developers with new expansion opportunities and reduces reliance on residential projects, as well as increasing land values driven by the establishment of special economic and financial zones, rising demand for data centres, and new infrastructure projects,” it noted.

Top picks for the sector are IOIPROP, Lagenda and Mah Sing, with target prices of RM3, RM2.32 and RM2.29, respectively.

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Your first line of defence, tracking scams: National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), 997 hotline, National Fraud Portal (NFP), emakMule portal

 

Boosting efficiency: A woman reading about the NFP, which is poised to greatly enhance the process of scam reporting and fund tracing. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star


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The platform’s ability to centralise and standardise fraud reporting across play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

Public must play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

KUALA LUMPUR: Check before your click, say the police.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf has urged the public to use the SemakMule portal (https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/) before making any financial transaction online.

“Use the SemakMule portal to verify and check the list of mule bank accounts, phone numbers and shell companies used by scammers.

“The portal was established in 2020 to list phone numbers and mule bank accounts, but it has since been improved to (include) the names of shell companies,” he told The Star yesterday.

Comm Ramli said that so far, a total of 216,074 mule accounts have been listed on the site along with 178,006 phone numbers used by scammers.

“We also listed a total of 3,904 shell companies used by scammers,” he added. 

Some 27 million visitors have logged in to the portal since its inception, and about one million of the searches have been positive, meaning transactions made to mule accounts were prevented.

Comm Ramli hopes that the public would be able to fully utilise the improved SemakMule portal to prevent from getting scammed.

“We will never relent in our enforcement efforts against scam syndicates, but we hope the public can play its part by staying vigilant,” he said.

Comm Ramli said scammers are coming up with new modus operandi to dupe victims into giving them their money, including using generative artificial intelligence to produce fake videos, as well as audio and text messages.

“Scammers are resorting to new and innovative ways to dupe victims. We have encountered cases recently in which scammers used deepfake technology to mimic the voice of a victim’s friend to dupe them.

“Use the SemakMule portal to prevent being scammed. The public can also report any scam to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) by calling the 997 hotline,” he added.

According to Comm Ramli, other methods used by scammers include advertising dubious investment schemes on social media and phone scams, where scammers call up victims posing as officers from government agencies.

Meanwhile, on the establishment of the National Fraud Portal (NFP), Comm Ramli said it was a good anti-scam effort.

“We welcome the NFP, especially when it can further enhance the role of the NSRC in detecting scams faster, (enabling us) to help the victims.

“It will certainly boost the fight against scams,” he said.

Comm Ramli also hopes that financial institutions will be able to fully utilise the NFP, to enhance security measures.

“It (NFP) is a step in the right direction but at the same time, we urge banks and other financial institutions to upgrade their security, both internally and externally against any threat be it malware or ransomware.

“We also hope they will be able to better secure the data of their customers as well,” he said.

This year alone, over RM1.6bil in losses have been recorded from commercial crimes, including scams, Comm Ramli noted.

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Related stories: NFP to help tackle fraud and recover stolen funds Tracking scams made easy Imposters crying wolf preying on victims in M’sia, S’pore Seremban among districts with highest fraud cases Woman loses RM30,000 in phone scam involving bogus cops

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

China leads Paris Paralympic Games medal table, highlights efforts in protecting rights of people with disabilities

 


https://youtube.com/shorts/LKca1YBd8S8?si=2aLyE0Xg3-W8tvt2


Table tennis players Huang Wenjuan (left) and Jin Yucheng compete during the women's doubles - WD14 gold medal match at the Paris Paralympic Games on August 30, 2024. Photo: VCG

Paris 2024 Paralympic Medal Table

Medals

Sports results


With China leading the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics medal table and inspiring many netizens, the Games shed light on China's commitment to parasports and protection of the rights and well-beings of people with disabilities. 

As of 11 pm on Monday, the Chinese delegation has clinched a total of 38 gold, 28 sliver and 13 bronze medals, which tops both the gold and medal table at the Paris Paralympic Games held from August 28 to September 8. Until now, Chinese athletes have set several new world records.

The Paralympic Games have played an important role in raising society's awareness of and support for parasports, Luo Le, a sports scholar from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, told the Global Times.

According to a report published by Guangming Online, parasports is an important part of the cause of persons with disabilities and an important indicator of the results of economic and social development and the degree of progress in social civilization.

To ensure that persons with disabilities participate in extensive fitness-for-all activities, it is important to continuously improve the construction of a public service system for sports for persons with disabilities, the report noted.

In 2022, China issued its first white paper on parasports, elaborating on the country's people with disabilities participating in public sports and competitive sports, as well as the welfare and supportive systems in place.

Parasports are a mirror that reflects the living standard and human rights situation of 85 million people with disabilities in China. China ensures the disabled enjoy rights in economic, political, social and cultural fields, laying a solid foundation for people with disabilities to participate in sports and social life and achieve comprehensive development, according to the white paper. 

Based on China's current development, future enhancements in supporting sports for the disabled could include increasing financial investment, improving training facilities, offering more career development opportunities, and boosting the popularity and promotion of disabled sports programs, Luo said.

China has also promulgated a new law on building a barrier-free living environment in 2023 to make public venues more friendly for persons with disabilities. The law contains provisions regarding the construction of accessible facilities, accessible information exchanges and social services, guarantee measures, supervision and management, and liability.

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