This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
COMING off a lacklustre 2023 in which the equity market struggled to get back on its feet amid harsh economic circumstances, Bursa Malaysia roared back to life in the first eight months of the year, mainly on the back of foreign investor buying, before easing in the last four months to trail Singapore as the best-performing stock market in Asean.
On Aug 29, one week after Malaysia reported a better-than-expected second-quarter GDP growth of 5.9% against a forecast of 5.8%, the FBM KLCI touched 1,684.7 points — up nearly 16% from the start of the year and marking a near four-year high.
Foreign investors were the main buyers as they poured into emerging markets on an imminent US interest rate cut, their average daily trading value on Bursa swelling 44% over the last year.
Foreign research houses such as Nomura, JP Morgan and HSBC upgraded Malaysia, citing stronger corporate earnings and better liquidity and strong foreign investment commitments.
But in the last quarter, the shadow of Donald Trump returning as the president of the US with his penchant for unpredictability cast a pall on Bursa and other emerging markets, made worse by reduced expectations of US interest rate cuts.
Foreign investors turned net sellers across emerging markets.
Although the FBM KLCI gave up some of its gains, it was still up 9.4% year to date (YTD) at 1,591.4 points on Dec 20, behind the Singapore Straits Times Index (+14.8%).
Finishing in the red were the Philippines’ PSEi, which was down 0.7% YTD, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (3.6%) and Jakarta Composite Index (3.9%).
In the broader Asia-Pacific market, the Hang Seng Index was up 15.7%, followed by Japan’s Nikkei 225 (+15.7%), China’s Shanghai Composite Index (+13.2%) and India’s Nifty 50 (+8.5%).
In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi closed 9.5% lower.
In a Dec 17 report, CIMB Securities Research says FBM KLCI’s performance was driven by improved corporate earnings and increased interest in companies associated with data centres, the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone.
Moreover, it adds that the market’s resurgence was further supported by greater domestic and foreign liquidity.
Domestically, Putrajaya bolstered liquidity via GEAR-uP — a RM120 billion programme by six government-linked investment companies (GLICs) pledging to spend RM120 billion over the next five years under the Ministry of Finance-led initiative to invest in “high growth, high value” industries such as energy transition and advanced manufacturing. The GEAR-uP programme garnered an increase in local investments, while foreign investors were more confident because of political stability, the research house says.
The Edge looks at this year’s top winners and losers according to market capitalisation.
(market cap of more than RM10 billion)
Among the largest companies in Bursa, three enjoyed a more than twofold increase in their share price in the past year — namely Sime Darby Property Bhd (KL:SIMEPROP) (+148.2%), Sunway Bhd (KL:SUNWAY) (+132.3%) and Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) (+113.6%) — on the back of heightened prospects riding on data centre (DC) projects and better property sales.
The FBM KLCI saw two new constituent members — newly listed 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd (KL:99SMART), whose share price was up 47.9% over its IPO price of RM1.65, and Gamuda — replacing former stalwarts Genting Bhd (KL:GENTING) (-19.7%) and Genting Malaysia Bhd (KL:GENM) (-16.2%) on Dec 23.
It is worth noting that Sunway, newly added as an FBM KLCI constituent on June 24, was the best-performing stock.
Glovemakers also made it to the top list on recovering demand, the winners being Hartalega Holdings Bhd (KL:HARTA) (+49.2%) and Top Glove Corp Bhd (KL:TOPGLOV) (+46.7%).
Among banks, the top gainers were CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB) (+45.8%) and AMMB Holdings Bhd (KL:AMBANK) (+40.5%).
Other notable top performers included United Plantations Bhd (KL:UTDPLT) (+90.3%), KPJ Healthcare Bhd (KL:KPJ) (+73.7%), YTL Power International Bhd (KL:YTLPOWR) (+66%) and IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) (+56.2%).
The top loser this year was Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (KL:PCHEM), which fell 33.5% YTD, weighed down by weak chemical prices due to global overcapacity. Consumer companies Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd (KL:NESTLE) and PPB Group Bhd (KL:PPB) were the next biggest losers, their shares slipping 15.8% and 13.8% respectively.
(RM1 billion to RM10 billion)
Over in the large-cap space, power cable manufacturer Master Tec Group Bhd (KL:MTEC) was the best performer, gaining a hefty 238%, despite just being newly listed on Jan 29 this year.
Sector-wise, property companies led, with Tanco Holdings Bhd (KL:TANCO) topping the list (+213%), followed by Chin Hin Group Property Bhd (KL:CHGP) (+188%), Mah Sing Group Bhd (KL:MAHSING) (+121%), Crescendo Corp Bhd (KL:CRESNDO) (+110%) and Eco World Development Group Bhd (KL:ECOWLD) (+99.8%).
Construction companies Southern Score Builders Bhd (KL:SSB8) (+188%), Binastra Corp Bhd (KL:BNASTRA) (+172%) and Sunway Construction Group Bhd (KL:SUNCON) (+149%) also made the cut.
Other notable gainers that enjoyed a more than doubling in their share price included VSTECS Bhd (KL:VSTECS) (+203%), JCY International Bhd (KL:JCY) (+136%), Guan Chong Bhd (KL:GCB) (+107%) and ITMAX System Bhd (KL:ITMAX) (+100.7%).
The top three losers were Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (KL:LCTITAN) (-55.2%), D&O Green Technologies Bhd (KL:D&O) (-46.3%) and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (KL:ASTRO) (-44.3%). They were joined by oil and gas companies Velesto Energy Bhd (KL:VELESTO) (-33.3%) and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd (KL:HIBISCS) (-22.3%), as well as automotive companies DRB-Hicom Bhd (KL:DRBHCOM) (-26.7%) and Bermaz Auto Bhd (KL:BAUTO) (-25%).
(RM500 million to RM1 billion)
MMAG Holdings Bhd (KL:MMAG), Notion VTec Bhd (KL:NOTION) and Ge-Shen Corp Bhd (KL:GESHEN) topped the mid-cap category, with YTD impressive gains of 336.84%, 301.93% and 243.1% respectively.
Other firms that made the top list included poultry producer and retailer CCK Consolidated Holdings Bhd (KL:CCK), which peaked at RM1.86 in early September and closed with a YTD gain of 88.58% in December.
Not surprisingly, a number of firms with businesses with exposure to or related to the DC mania made the top gainers’ list, including Southern Cable Group Bhd (KL:SCGBHD) (+158.46%), SNS Network Technology Bhd (KL:SNS) (+134.14%), MN Holdings Bhd (KL:MNHLDG) (+113.21%) and KJTS Group Bhd (KL:KJTS) (+67%). Note that building services provider KJTS was only listed on the ACE Market this year.
Also new to the bourse are Main Market debutants Well Chip Group Bhd (KL:WELLCHIP) and Feytech Holdings Bhd (KL:FEYTECH), but both ended on the losers’ list as their shares slipped 32.58% and 29.09% respectively.
However, the biggest losers were Genetec Technology Bhd (KL:GENETEC) and Berjaya Food Bhd (KL:BJFOOD), their shares losing nearly half their value, or 48.78% and 43.33% respectively. Other losers were Oppstar Bhd (KL:OPPSTAR) (-37.77%), Sapura Energy Bhd (KL:SAPNRG) (-33.33%) and Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd (KL:HENGYUAN) (-33.22%).
(below RM500 million)
Top gainers in the small-cap category were Exsim Hospitality Bhd (KL:EXSIMHB) and WMG Holdings Bhd (KL:WMG), with YTD gains of 257.89% and 255% respectively.
The tide turned for construction group Eversendai Corp Bhd (KL:SENDAI) as its shares soared 248.48% this year, starting to jump in March after the company announced that it secured four new projects worth RM5.4 billion in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India. Of these, the biggest job is the structural steelworks contract for a mind-boggling, state-endorsed outdoor ski village in Saudi Arabia dubbed Trojena, which boosted Eversendai’s order book to a record RM6.6 billion.
MUI Properties Bhd (KL:MUIPROP) was straddling the 20-sen zone in the first half of the year, before more than doubling to the 48-sen level in September, subsequently settling at 40 sen on Dec 20.
Other closely-watched counters that made the gainers’ list were IT services company Edaran Bhd (KL:EDARAN), construction company Inta Bina Group Bhd (KL:INTA) and people solutions provider Ramssol Group Bhd (KL:RAMSSOL), which raked in YTD gains of 104.88%, 93.94% and 92.11% respectively.
Top losers included Rapid Synergy Bhd (KL:RAPID) (-96.54%), Pertama Digital Bhd (KL:PERTAMA) (-92.15%) and Artroniq Bhd (KL:ARTRONIQ) (-90.75). YNH Property (KL:YNHPROP), whose largest shareholder Datuk Dr Yu Kuan Chon was sued for alleged market rigging and manipulation following the company’s sharp selldown in January, was down 87.06%.
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