<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): Sapura Energy Bhd said it has secured a contract to provide pan-Malaysia underwater services for the Petronas group of companies and petroleum arrangement contractors.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>In a bourse filing on Thursday, the group said its wholly-owned subsidiary Sapura Subsea Services Sdn Bhd was awarded the contract by Sarawak Shell Bhd and Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Sapura did not disclose the value of the contract, saying only that it is a call-out contract with agreed unit rates.</p></div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>The scope of work, it said, includes the provision of diving support vessels, air and saturation driving systems, remotely operated vehicles and other underwater services.&nbsp;</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>The Practice Note 17 (PN17) group expects the contract, which is valid for five years from Jan 31, 2024, to contribute positively to its earnings for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2025 (FY2025) and subsequent years.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Sapura posted a net loss of RM728.44 million for 4QFY2024, from RM3.26 billion a year before. Quarterly revenue dropped 13.01% to RM1.06 billion from RM1.22 billion in 4QFY2023, due to lower revenue recognised from the engineering and construction, and drilling business segments.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Shares in Sapura Energy closed unchanged at five sen, valuing the group at RM918.8 million.</p></div>


Sapura Energy Bhd said it has secured a contract to provide pan-Malaysia underwater services for the Petronas group of companies and petroleum arrangement contractors.

Sapura Energy wins contract from Shell to provide underwater services for Petronas group

Chinese government bonds are primed for their best year in a decade, with local fund managers and strategists predicting more gains for 2025. 

They are set to reap a 9% total return in 2024, the highest since 2014, as measured by a Bloomberg Index which excludes currency moves. The nation’s 10-year yields have plummeted 84 basis points since January, dropping to 1.71% on Thursday.

Chinese bonds post best returns in decade with more gains seen

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said China has no stake in the Panama Canal and US warships pay the same toll rates as other nations, pushing back against US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats over the key waterway.

Panama president refutes Trump’s claim of Chinese meddling in Canal

South Korea's acting president faces an impeachment vote on Friday, intensifying a political crisis as the Constitutional Court meets for its first hearing on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law declared on Dec 3.

South Korea's acting president faces impeachment as Yoon set for trial

Chinese workers found at a construction site for a factory owned by China's electric vehicle producer BYD in Brazil's Bahia state are victims of human trafficking, Brazilian labour authorities said on Thursday.

Brazil says workers at BYD construction site victims of human trafficking

Core inflation in Japan's capital accelerated in December while services inflation held steady, data showed on Friday, keeping alive market expectations for a near-term interest rate hike.

Inflation in Japan's capital accelerates, keeps rate hike prospects intact

Asian stocks wobbled on Friday while the dollar was steady, keeping the yen rooted near five-month lows in thin year-end trading as investors looked ahead to 2025, when the Federal Reserve is expected to be measured in its interest rate cuts.

Asian stocks drift, yen at five-month low in thin year-end trading

Shares of MyMBN Bhd (KL:MBN) fell on Friday to their lowest since listing 17 months ago and below its initial public offering price after the Malaysian government temporarily suspended bird's nest exports to China.

MyMBN shares slip to lowest on record after govt suspends bird's nest export to China

China's industrial profits fell at a slower clip in November, official data showed on Friday, as policymakers pledged stronger support to prop up a faltering economic recovery.

China's industrial profits decline at slower pace in November

Japan's cabinet on Friday approved a record US$730 billion (RM3.26 trillion) budget for the fiscal year starting in April, while limiting new bond issuance to the lowest in 17 years on the back of record tax revenue.

Japan's cabinet approves record US$730b budget for next fiscal year

Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec said on Friday it planned to launch a tender offer for Makino Milling Machine at a 42% premium to Thursday's closing share price, with or without the target company's approval.

Nidec announces US$1.6b unsolicited bid for Makino Milling

<p>Here is a brief recap of the business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday.</p>


TNB, Samaiden, Gadang, Aizo, MyMBN, YTL Power, Kawan Renergy, Taghill, BHIC, Teck Guan, CCK, Lebtech, Southern Cable

<p>The legal counsel for Segambut Member of Parliament Hannah Yeoh has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal on Thursday challenging the High Court's decision to dismiss her defamation suit against former inspector general of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.</p>


Hannah Yeoh appeals dismissal of defamation suit against ex-IGP

<p>The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient's property.</p>


Bird flu virus shows mutations in first severe human case in US, CDC says

<p>Shares of MyMBN Bhd (KL:MBN) fell on Friday to their lowest since listing 17 months ago and below its initial public offering price after the Malaysian government temporarily suspended bird's nest exports to China.</p>


<p>Oil edged lower in light holiday trading on soft US jobs data and a retreat in natural gas futures.&nbsp;</p>


Oil prices dip in thin trading on soft US data, natural gas outlook

<p>Asian stocks wobbled on Friday while the dollar was steady, keeping the yen rooted near five-month lows in thin year-end trading as investors looked ahead to 2025, when the Federal Reserve is expected to be measured in its interest rate cuts.</p>


<p>US soybean futures rose more than 1% on Thursday and soymeal futures touched a two-month high as worries about dry weather in parts of Argentina prompted speculators to exit short positions ahead of the new year, analysts said.</p>


Soybean futures up as weather spurs short-covering; corn at six-month high

<p>Japan's cabinet on Friday approved a record US$730 billion (RM3.26 trillion) budget for the fiscal year starting in April, while limiting new bond issuance to the lowest in 17 years on the back of record tax revenue.</p>


<p>South Korea's acting president faces an impeachment vote on Friday, intensifying a political crisis as the Constitutional Court meets for its first hearing on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law declared on Dec 3.</p>


<p>Stocks wavered in a quiet post-holiday session as mixed jobless claims data did little to alter bets on the Federal Reserve outlook.</p>


US stock rally stalls in sleepy session

<p>Chinese battery manufacturer CATL said it plans to seek a listing in Hong Kong, a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing showed.</p>


China's CATL to seek Hong Kong listing

<p>As Donald Trump prepares to fulfill a lengthy list of campaign promises, the president-elect’s vow to ensure that all remaining Bitcoin is “made in the USA” may prove to be one of the most challenging to keep.</p>


Trump’s ‘made in USA’ Bitcoin is promise impossible to keep

<p>Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec said on Friday it planned to launch a tender offer for Makino Milling Machine at a 42% premium to Thursday's closing share price, with or without the target company's approval.</p>


<p>Alexei Miller, the head of Russia's Gazprom&nbsp;said on Thursday the group's natural gas production is set to rise this year by 61 billion cubic metres (bcm) to around 416 bcm.</p>


Gazprom's gas output to rise to around 416 bil cubic metres in 2024

<p>China's industrial profits fell at a slower clip in November, official data showed on Friday, as policymakers pledged stronger support to prop up a faltering economic recovery.</p>


<p>Core inflation in Japan's capital accelerated in December while services inflation held steady, data showed on Friday, keeping alive market expectations for a near-term interest rate hike.</p>


<p>South Korea’s business confidence deteriorated the most since the global outbreak of Covid-19, reflecting mounting concerns about an economy grappling with political turmoil and facing Donald Trump’s tariff threats.</p>


South Korea’s business confidence tumbles by most since pandemic

<p>New York cocoa futures fell sharply on Thursday, extending the market's retreat from last week's record high, with profit-taking amid thin trading volumes ahead of the year-end.</p>


NY cocoa plunges after Christmas on profit-taking; sugar also down

<p>Chinese workers found at a construction site for a factory owned by China's electric vehicle producer BYD in Brazil's Bahia state are victims of human trafficking, Brazilian labour authorities said on Thursday.</p>
