Published on: Saturday, January 16, 2021
By: Bernama
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Kuala Lumpur: Twelve banks have responded to the national call for moratorium assistance and flood aid relief, especially for those affected by the current flood situation.
Since Monday, Affin Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Malayan Bank Bhd, Bank Simpanan Nasional Bhd, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, SME Bank Bhd, and OCBC Bank Bhd have rendered financial assistance to customers affected by the floods, with the number of evacuees reaching 48,000.
The 12 banks are offering loan moratorium for up to six months, with some providing deferment of loan instalment and waiver of late payment charges.
AKPK offers loan repayment aid 13 Jan 2021 / 13:14 H.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) is offering targeted repayment assistance for its Debt Management Programme (DMP) customers who have been affected by the recent floods in several states.
In a statement issued yesterday, AKPK said the offer was made to help alleviate its customers’ financial burden.
“The repayment assistance includes postponement of, or lower monthly DMP instalments, subject to customer requests and AKPK’s assessment.
“All of these services are free and AKPK has never appointed any agents or third party representatives to act on its behalf.”
Flood-affected AKPK customers may apply for the repayment assistance online at http://customer.akpk.org.my/ or visit https://www.akpk.org.my for more information.
The Greater Kuala Lumpur office market is expected to remain weak for at least another two years, according to Savills Malaysia.
THE fundamentals of the Greater Kuala Lumpur (KL) office market, which is already in a fairly weak and challenging state, is expected to remain so for at least another two years, according to Savills Malaysia.
In its Kuala Lumpur Offices Second Half 2020 Report recently, Savills Malaysia said that the office market, which has been hit by oversupply issues and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to remain challenging over the medium term.
“The obvious impact derived from the pandemic is perhaps the acceleration of remote working trends and fast-tracked digital adoption in workspaces. As most companies have been forced to adapt their workforce’s remote working ability and juggle with physical distancing rules, it is anticipated that the office footprint is unlikely to change in the short to medium term.
THE July-September quarter earnings of the 10 public-listed banking groups were a mixed bag. But there was a common factor: heavy loan loss provisions particularly pre-emptive provisions that are expected to remain at elevated levels over the next few quarters.
“The third quarter of 2020 was a provisions affair,” remarks AllianceDBS Research. “Net credit costs were still high at 89 basis points in 3Q2020, with more than half for dampened macro indicators and overlays, and more to come in 4Q2020.”
Of the 10 banks, four Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Public Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd and Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd turned in better-than-expected earnings relative to analysts’ consensus estimates. This was mainly on the back of higher-than-expected investment gains, cost controls and, for some, a quicker pace of recovery in net interest margin (NIM).
BOUSTEAD Holdings Bhd’s new group managing director Datuk Seri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, who stepped into his new role last Tuesday (Dec 1), has his work cut out for him, and that is to steer the diversified conglomerate back to profitability by 2023.
Shazalli is the third MD to helm the group in three years after Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin. In a statement issued on Nov 27, Boustead hailed Shazalli as a “turnaround specialist”. Still, most of Shazalli’s career has been in telecommunications, more recently as the MD and CEO of Telekom Malaysia Bhd.
He inherits an organisation that has significant legacy issues, which its chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had previously identified as investments made in the past that do not have the right focus in making them profitable, mismatch of funding between long-term investment and short-term debts, and a convoluted organisational structure where there are cross-holdings in Boustead subsidiaries