News by Tan Siew Mung

He said in a virtual briefing that the hike in construction cost is something that he has expected, and that it has no impact on the group's components this year.

“I guess we will be profitable, we will grow, but our profitability may be affected if we do not solve the issues (of higher building material costs and labour shortage),” its managing director Datuk Azmir Merican said in a virtual press briefing on Wednesday (May 25).

Maybank IB analyst Yin Shao Yang said in a note that he understands that business at RWG has slowed from March due to the Omicron wave, and RWG has reopened only half of its about 10,000 rooms despite being allowed to reopen all from April 1.

Following the positive trajectories of better market stability and renewed signs of interest, IGB Commercial REIT said it will continue to position itself as the preferred partner for real estate solutions, focusing on building strong relationships with tenants, and maintaining expenses at reasonable levels.

In a statement, E&O said TPD had issued RM847.8 million out of the RM1.3 billion first tranche with the remaining RM452.2 million available for issuance, and the 0.25% profit rate reduction would translate into annual cost savings of RM2.1 million based on the current amount issued.

The research house's analyst Loong Kok Wen said in a note that degearing is now management’s top priority, and she believes the handover of a few projects in Melbourne and Singapore, as well as the potential completion of some land disposals, will help reduce the group’s net gearing to 0.51 times to 0.53 times by year end from the current 0.61 times (including non-controlling interests).

The research house said in a note that it came back from AEON Co’s virtual meeting with a sense of optimism about the group’s outlook premised on its cost-structuring strategies to improve its bottom line and maintain prices of items, personalisation of customer experience, a recovery in sales in the southern region which was affected due to border closures, and an improvement in occupancy rates.

MRA said in a statement that spiralling inflation will result from the drastic increase in labour costs, and this is going to lead to a lower standard of living for the average consumer.

The research house said in a note on Thursday that although retail sales and footfall have recovered since the relaxation of movement restrictions, it does not expect the recovery in retail sales and footfall to translate into a significant improvement in rental reversion rates for malls in the near term.

According to a statement by the company, WBG signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SANY’s local subsidiary Sany Construction Industry Development (M) Sdn Bhd on March 3 to further explore the partnership.