<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>PETALING JAYA (June 18): PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) allocates about RM1 billion yearly for operating costs, maintenance and upgrading of the Penang Bridge and seven expressways, stretching 986.5 kilometres.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Its chief operating officer, Mohammad Fuad Khusairi, said the maintenance involves 1,000 employees, with over 10,000 inspections aided by Total Expressway Maintenance Monitoring System (TEMAN) and Real Time Monitoring System (RTMS) to monitor the slopes.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>"The maintenance includes curative and preventive work involving 4,674km lanes, 6,710 slopes, 434 bridges, 4,916 sewerage and two tunnels," he told reporters during a demonstration of maintenance of expressways, here today.</p></div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>The seven expressways under PLUS are; North-South Expressway (NSE), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), Seremban-Port<br />Dickson Highway (SPDH), North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link (Linkedua) and the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway(BKE).</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Mohammad Fuad also said that PLUS has enforced no smoking zones in several R&amp;R areas along the NSE, and will expand it and put up more signages.<br /></p></div><div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam yesterday, said that all expressway rest and recreation (R&amp;R) areas will be designated as no smoking zones, by year end.&nbsp; </p></div><div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p><br /></p></div>

PETALING JAYA (June 18): PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) allocates about RM1 billion yearly for operating costs, maintenance and upgrading of the Penang Bridge and seven expressways, stretching 986.5 kilometres.

Its chief operating officer, Mohammad Fuad Khusairi, said the maintenance involves 1,000 employees, with over 10,000 inspections aided by Total Expressway Maintenance Monitoring System (TEMAN) and Real Time Monitoring System (RTMS) to monitor the slopes.

"The maintenance includes curative and preventive work involving 4,674km lanes, 6,710 slopes, 434 bridges, 4,916 sewerage and two tunnels," he told reporters during a demonstration of maintenance of expressways, here today.

The seven expressways under PLUS are; North-South Expressway (NSE), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), Seremban-PortDickson Highway (SPDH), North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link (Linkedua) and the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway(BKE).

Mohammad Fuad also said that PLUS has enforced no smoking zones in several R&R areas along the NSE, and will expand it and put up more signages.Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam yesterday, said that all expressway rest and recreation (R&R) areas will be designated as no smoking zones, by year end.

PLUS allocates RM1 billion yearly for maintenance of expressways

Perdana Petroleum Bhd (KL:PERDANA) has announced the resignation of Datuk Hasmi Hasnan from its board of directors, effective Monday.

Dayang chairman quits Perdana Petroleum's board

Four multinational firms with total investments of RM7 billion have ceased operations in Malaysia during the first half of 2024, according to Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Four multinational firms with investments totalling RM7b ceased operations in 1H2024 — Zafrul

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Monday.

TM, Southern Score, TNB, Vitrox, PUC, Kinergy Advancement, Heineken Malaysia, Country Heights

Johor Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and UOB senior managers met in Singapore on Monday to discuss business opportunities from the new Johor-Singapore special economic zone (SEZ).

Johor MB, UOB meet in Singapore to discuss SEZ business opportunities

The US Supreme Court for the first time on Monday recognised that ex-presidents have immunity from prosecution for certain actions taken in office, as it threw out a judicial decision rejecting Donald Trump's bid to shield himself from criminal charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss.

US Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts 

Banking stocks lifted the Dow, while semiconductor shares weighed on the Nasdaq on Monday as focus moves to labour market data due later in the week for cues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

Banks lift Dow, semiconductor shares weigh on Nasdaq

The development and implementation of the Central Database Hub (Padu) system over three years from 2023 to 2025 is expected to cost RM85.27 million, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

Padu expected to cost over RM85m over three years — Rafizi

Affin Bank Bhd (KL:AFFIN) on Monday said the company and its wholly-owned unit Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd have established a commercial paper (CP) and medium-term notes (MTN) programmes, with a combined value of RM5 billion.

Affin Bank, Affin Hwang establish commercial papers and MTN programmes worth RM5b

An elderly voter from Kampung Sungai Buaya here was pleasantly surprised when a political campaign visit to his home for the Sungai Bakap by-election revealed that Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Joohari Ariffin was an old acquaintance.

Che Dan Razak, 85, took a moment to study Joohari's campaign poster before realising that they knew each other from his days as an imam at Masjid Kampung Besar and teaching religious studies in Sungai Bakap.

Sg Bakap polls: Former imam delighted by unexpected reunion with Joohari

The US Supreme Court on Monday revived a North Dakota convenience store's challenge to a Federal Reserve regulation on debit card "swipe fees" in a ruling that could make it easier for businesses to try to undo longstanding federal rules.

Supreme Court 'swipe fees' ruling may open US regulations to more suits

<p>Brokers are demanding cash upfront payments for the purchase of Artroniq Bhd (KL:ARTRONIQ), APB Resources Bhd (KL:APB), Notion VTec Bhd (KL:NOTION) and YNH Property Bhd (KL:YNH) shares.&nbsp;Artroniq and Notion VTec's warrants — Artroniq-WA and NOTION-WD — are also affected.</p>


Brokers demand cash upfront from investors for Notion VTec, YNH, Artroniq and APB Resources

<p>After three straight years of growth, domestic consumption for steel is expected to grow further this year, to between 8.3 million tonnes and nine million tonnes this year, according to a forecast by the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (Misif).</p>


Data centre boom, chip industry expansion expected to boost local steel demand

<p>Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA) has appointed Amrit Kaur as its independent non-executive director effective July 1.</p>


Axiata appoints new director to board

<p>Singapore Airlines Ltd chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong was paid S$8.11 million (RM28.2 million) last financial year, a 21% increase from the previous period, as the airline benefited from a travel boom.</p>

<p>Goh, who has been on the carrier’s board since 2010, had a base salary of S$1.44 million, up from S$1.1 million in 2022, according to the airline’s annual report published on Monday. Similar to in previous years, the majority of his pay comes in the form of bonuses and share awards.</p>


Singapore Airlines’ CEO gets pay jump after record annual profit

<p>The federal government intends to issue a request for proposal (RFP) as an alternative approach for the RM3.46 billion Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) project, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.</p>

<p>This move aims to potentially reduce the project's costs, Ahmad said, adding that the ministry had already announced its intention to issue the RFP.</p>


Putrajaya to issue RFP as 'Plan B' for RM3.5 bil multi-lane free flow project

<p>Private equity firm Creador is threatening legal action against Meta if it does not take the issue of scammers seriously, as it slammed the social media giant for being too slow in taking down fraudulent posts from its platforms.</p>


Creador threatens to sue Meta over scammer issue

<p>The chief executive officer of a highway concessionaire who was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in connection with the alleged bribery involving highway contracts worth RM1.67 billion has been released on bail.</p>

<p>The CEO, who has a "Datuk" title, was released on Monday, a day before his extended eight-day remand order expires on Tuesday. Arrested last Monday, he was originally remanded till Friday, until an order was obtained from the court to extend his remand.</p>


CEO of highway concessionaire arrested over RM1.67 bil contracts released on bail

<p>Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced that Project Nexus, a multilateral platform that seeks to enhance cross-border payments, is ready to proceed to phase four, following the successful completion of its comprehensive blueprint in phase three.</p>


BNM: Regional payment platform Project Nexus is preparing to go live

<p>Kinergy Advancement Bhd (KL:KAB) has partnered with Johor Corp (JCorp) to undertake and develop sustainable energy solutions projects with a specific focus on energy-efficient initiatives for data centres.</p>

<p>The project encompassing energy-efficient measures, renewable energy solutions, clean energy initiatives, and engineering construction across various energy-related facilities, was secured by Kinergy Advancement’s wholly-owned subsidiary, KAB Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd.</p>


Kinergy Advancement collaborates with JCorp to provide sustainable energy solutions for data centres

<p>ViTrox Corp Bhd (KL:VITROX) will begin construction of the first block of its planned five-block ViTrox Institute of Technology (VIT) on July 8 after it had appointed South Island Building Sdn Bhd (SIB) as the contractor for the project in a deal worth RM45.99 million.</p>


ViTrox to begin construction of training and industrial research center after RM46 mil contract award to SIB

<p>World’s first independent airport lounge operator Plaza Premium Group (PPG) said on Monday that its Plaza Premium Lounge has bagged the world's best independent airport lounge at the World Airline Awards 2024.</p>


Plaza Premium Lounge named world’s best independent airport lounge for eight years in a row

<p>Investment analysts foresee Malaysia’s banking sector to continue its upward momentum underpinned by ongoing loan growth and stabilising net interest margin (NIM), as well as the potential of higher net interest income (NII). &nbsp;</p>

<p>The banking sector will likely continue to benefit from ongoing loan growth, improved gross domestic product (GDP) along with better margin retention, according to Kenanga Research in its monthly highlight report on Monday. This will be overshadowing industry headwinds like inflationary pressure and weaker ringgit, it noted. &nbsp;</p>


Banking sector poised for continued growth on ongoing loan expansion, stabilising NIM, higher NII — analysts 

<p>On May 1 this year, BlackRock Inc set up a multi-class investment firm in Saudi Arabia with an initial seed funding of US$5 billion (RM23.6 billion) coming from the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).</p>

<p>BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management is mandated to attract additional overseas ...

Alternative Views: Cut the political semantics around the MAHB deal

<p>Mah Sing Group Bhd (KL:MAHSING) topped out both towers of M Arisa, its affordable residential development in Sentul. The project is slated to be completed by 4Q2024 with construction currently at around 85% completed.</p>


Mah Sing tops out M Arisa in Sentul

<p>Sapura Energy Bhd said it has been “advancing its plan” to regularise its financial position since being classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company and given time extension to come up with the plan.</p>


Sapura Energy says 'actively developing' financial regularisation plan

<p>An Opposition member of Parliament (MP) has called on the Ministry of Defence to clarify whether the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) is in talks to sell the petrol station operator Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd (BHPetrol).</p>


Opposition MP alleges LTAT in talks to sell BHPetrol to Saudi Aramco

<p>Shares in Hiap Teck Venture Bhd (KL:HIAPTEK) rose in early trade on Monday, after the steel company reported better-than-expected third quarter results.</p>


Hiap Teck shares rise in active trade after 3Q results beat expectation

<p>The Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (Miti) is working with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Works Ministry to explore ways to enforce a more stringent localisation programme for government construction projects, as one of the ways to address the issue of overcapacity faced by the iron and steel industry.</p>

<p>“The iron and steel industry is a very important yet delicate industry that requires a lot of attention from policy makers. The iron and steel industry is heavily influenced by global factors. Policy changes or market trends in China or the US would have a huge 'butterfly effect' on the profitability or even survival of the Malaysian steel industry,” said Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong.</p>


Miti working with construction industry, Works Ministry to ensure more local steel used in govt projects

<p>KUALA LUMPUR (July 1):&nbsp; theedgemalaysia.com highlighted three stocks with positive momentum and five stocks with negative momentum at Bursa Malaysia's afternoon close on Monday. &nbsp;</p>

<h3>The stocks with positive momentum were:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Nova MSC Bhd (KL:NOVAMSC) — up one se...

Nova MSC, YGL, Hiap Teck, AppAsia, Panda, Hume, Solid Automotive, Crest Builder

<p>EVEN as it prepares for the launch of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) model XPeng G6 in the Malaysian market, Bermaz Auto Bhd (KL:BAUTO) is not planning on bringing in a huge volume of the car.</p>

<p>This is because the group believes the country’s ecosystem for EVs — from charging stations...