All three major US stock indexes gained ground, with the small-cap Russel 2000 outperforming its larger-cap peers, rising 1.1%.

On the sector level, airlines, gold and silver miners and regional banks were the frontrunners, while software and services, seen as potential victims of AI disruption, underperformed on the day.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index, which has powered much of the stock market’s gains so far this year but has lost nearly one-fourth of its value since late June, was on the rise, with chipmaker Broadcom expected to deliver second-quarter results after the bell.

Nvidia, the chipmaker at the forefront of the AI wave, rose 3.2%, while Micron and Qualcomm gained 2.4% and 2% respectively.

‘The war is continuing longer than anyone hoped, and when it ends, energy will cool and inflation won’t be as much of an issue,” said Lauren Cassidy, chief investment officer at Founders 100 ETF in Dallas. “At the same time, we just had a record earnings season, with wonderful fundamentals being driven by the accelerating adoption of AI.”

“AI adoption is still in the very early innings and it’s just now accelerating,” Cassidy added. “We could see exponential growth from here.”

The Dow Jones rose 295.01 points to 53,061.89. The S&P 500 gained 0.46% while the Nasdaq gained 118.05 points.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, materials enjoyed the biggest percentage gains, while real estate was the sole percentage loser.

Hardware firm Dell advanced 15.8% after raising its annual profit and revenue forecast.

Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman rose 3.9% following its quarterly profit beat.

Uber Technologies gained 1.6% after the rideshare app announced it will lay off about 10% of its staff.

Bond selloff

Keeping gains in check, the market-shaking global bond selloff continued, fueled by fears over inflation and mushrooming government debt, and compounded by escalating tensions in the Middle East, which have put upward pressure on energy prices.

The US and Iran ramped up their attacks in the biggest exchange of airstrikes since July, dousing hopes of a return to the negotiating table and raising the likelihood that protracted hostilities could result in systemic inflation and force central bank leaders to raise borrowing costs.

In economics, payrolls processor ADP reported fewer-than-expected private sector job adds in August, while new orders for core capital goods were downwardly revised, signaling a potential softening in US corporate spending plans.

International trade, second-quarter labour costs / productivity, and services PMI are among the economic reports on Thursday’s docket.

Trump aides, fearing a midterm crash, push to keep Iran war ‘quiet’ for time being

Reuters, The Jerusalem Post, September 2, 2026

Top aides to US President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the Iran war from escalating before November's midterm elections to staunch Republican electoral losses, four people familiar with the discussions said, a strategy that is already under strain as the United States and Iran resume their back-and-forth attacks.

White House officials will consider ramping up military action after the November 3 vote, said the sources, who requested anonymity to describe internal thinking, though any return to full-scale conflict is far from a given.

For now, they said, the administration is focused on tightening the economic pressure on Iran in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that months of military action failed to secure.

“We are keeping the pressure on Iran,” one White House official said. “But November is a priority.”

Keeping the war mostly contained until then would help prevent the unpopular conflict from dominating the news as Trump’s Republicans campaign to defend thin majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, said the sources, three of whom are White House officials.

Only 31% of Americans approve of the war, while some 63% disapprove, according to a late August Reuters/Ipsos poll, and voters are particularly unhappy about high gas prices.

A tactical pause could also give the US military some breathing room to replenish its heavily depleted munitions stockpiles, the sources said.

But pulling off the play-it-cool strategy looks more difficult by the day. While the conflict remains much less intense than it was during the spring or during a flare-up in the middle of the summer, both sides have exchanged tit-for-tat strikes in recent days.

Iran will likely keep striking US assets

Iran’s leaders, emboldened after months of disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and facing little internal unrest, will likely keep striking at US and allied Gulf targets, including military bases, vessels and energy infrastructure, at least periodically, analysts said.

The US will face pressure to retaliate, potentially leading to an escalatory spiral that brings both sides back to a full-scale air war - whether or not the administration wants it.

Over the weekend, the US struck rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island after a month of relative calm, prompting Iran to fire missiles toward Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. On Tuesday, the US hit more Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.

“The regime has every incentive to disrupt the ‘calm’ - which is no real calm, after all, since the administration’s explicit aim is to increase economic pressure massively on Iran,” said Barbara Leaf, who served as the top State Department official for the Middle East under former President Joe Biden.

Another wild card is Trump himself.

The president’s approval rating has fallen from 40% to 33% since the conflict began, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Sources said he is not currently interested in escalation, but he is famously prone to changing his mind and could change course in response to events.

Trump threatened on Tuesday to escalate the conflict if Iran hits back against the latest US strikes.

“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Constrained by logistics, politics

Trump has publicly said the upcoming elections were not factoring into this Iran strategy.

But as the war enters its seventh month, his White House finds itself increasingly constrained by logistical and political realities.

“The timetable has changed,” one senior White House official said. Another added that the “calendar is driving Iran.”

Reuters reported in August that the military had used “virtually all” of its supply of certain precision missiles. On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force warned Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in a written assessment that prolonging the war was unsustainable and would diminish the military’s readiness in other theaters.

The Pentagon has said the military had “everything it needs to execute” its mission.

“President Trump has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and is crippling what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history and crushing sanctions,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said. “The President will continue to advance America’s interests at home and abroad and will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

America’s Gulf allies -- some of whom had pushed for aggressive action against Iran earlier in the war to weaken their main regional adversary -- roundly urged the White House to deescalate after a recent round of attacks in late July, regional diplomats said.

Currently, two White House officials said, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the high-ranking Trump aides who are on board with the idea of trying to keep the Iran conflict relatively “quiet” until November.

In recent weeks, administration officials have instead intensified an economic isolation campaign, during which the US has threatened to slap countries that trade with Iran with massive sanctions, while maintaining its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

The trade-focused strategy, however, has its own limits, analysts and officials said.

Iran has spent decades under layers of US and ⁠international sanctions that have battered its economy but have not deterred its leadership.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the pressure campaign may cause Iran to lash out militarily, raising the prospect that the economic campaign could itself stoke military escalation.

Additionally, some major world powers, like China, have not joined Washington’s bid to isolate Iran, prompting questions about the campaign’s effectiveness.

“The purpose of the new sanctions package is meant to add economic pressure on top of that being caused by the blockade to force Iran back to the table, after the administration determined it was a better option than returning to kinetic action,” said Alex Plitsas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

“Iran is concerned about it, but China has already indicated that it’s not willing to play ball, which calls into question how effective it will be.”

Iran’s security chief says US to face new war strategy after strikes

AFP, September 2, 2026

TEHRAN: Iran’s security chief on Wednesday warned the US would face a “new strategy” from Tehran in the Middle East war, after the heaviest exchange of attacks between the foes in weeks.

“With these desperate struggles, you will not only fail to escape the depths of the hell you have created for yourselves,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei posted on X.

“You will soon see that Iran’s new strategy on the battlefield, in diplomacy and in confronting the economic blockade will shatter your foundations,” he added in his post.

The latest US strikes, part of stop-start exchanges of fire since the Middle East war broke out on Feb 28, hit areas along the coastline and east of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as provinces in Iran’s west, southwest, and south.

One strike in Kuhestak town on Hormuz killed four people and wounded 68 others attending a wedding ceremony, with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei labelling it “a war crime”.

Iran said it retaliated by hitting US military targets across the region, including in Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Erbil in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Iran’s foreign ministry defended the retaliation, saying it was in “accordance with the inherent right of self-defence”, and called on countries in the region to prevent the US military from using their territory to launch attacks on the Islamic republic.

Gulf countries have repeatedly said they would not allow their countries to be used for attacks on Iran.

The war between Iran and the US has focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has kept largely blocked since the start of the conflict, while the US has imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

My take: The conflicts in the Middle East are spiraling up again. Iran’s accusation of US Central Commando committing a war crime may have truth, as US strikes killed innocent civilians in southern Iran region.

I would not care to speculate on what the “new war strategy” that Iran is planning, but it would be something out of expectation for many people including the US Central Commando.

I am afraid that such retaliatory moves by the IRGC would eventually kill handfuls of American soldiers and navy in the Middle East, which would then invite heavier military actions from the US. That is exactly what Israel wants it to be.

Things are not looking up in weeks to come, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed and Brent crude futures climbing towards US$100 a barrel.

Inflation will stay elevated and US Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates in its policy meeting on 16 September. That may be followed by an interest rate hike by the central bank of Japan on Friday, 18 September.

While the interest rate hike by US Fed on September 16 is widely expected, as markets are pricing in a 62% probability of a hike as per CME FedWatch tool. An interest rate hike by Bank of Japan on September 18 may have larger implications. A 25 bps rate hike by BoJ will increase Japan government’s debt servicing costs by about 10%, worsening the government financial positions. Japan already has the highest government debt to GDP in the world, at about 260% of GDP.

The anticipated interest rate hike by BoJ will help to arrest the Japanese yuan depreciation, now approaching 160 to the US dollar again. But if US Federal Reserve also raises interest rates in September, the effect of the BoJ move will be largely negated.

But if BoJ raised interest rates more than the US Fed does, then it would cause certain carry trades to unwind. It would make borrowings from Japan more expensive for overseas investments, and many Japanese funds would unwind their overseas investments, such as selling US Treasuries and large cap stock holdings in the US / Korea, and bring back money to Japan to buy Japan government bonds. The amounts could be very large, and the impact on global assets (stock markets and bonds) would be larger if the US disallows Japanese funds to sell US Treasuries.

We need to be mindful of these two events and their implications to our stock markets. I would caution against buying shares aggressively before these two dates. Instead, we should wait patiently for things to unfold and see if there is a chance to buy quality stocks at cheaper prices after September 18.

Trump’s world

The New York Times, September 3, 2026

If you want to understand the moment we’re in, you have to understand Donald Trump. That’s easier said than done; Trump thrives on drama — ideally in ALL CAPS on Truth Social — and prides himself on being unpredictable (although some would argue it’s all part of a strategy).

The flood of missives and missiles, of hyperbolic threats (“a whole civilization will die tonight”) and morphing deadlines coming out of the White House can seem surreal. But two of my colleagues have written a book full of riveting, granular detail that makes it feel, well, very real.

In “Regime Change,” Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan take you into the room for the key moments of the president’s second term. I spoke to Jonathan about some of them.

Jonathan, let’s start with Iran. A lot of people were baffled by Trump’s decision to go to war. What swayed him? Was it Iran’s plots to kill him? His success in Venezuela? Israel’s war pitch?

It was all those things. But also, Trump has always been hawkish about Iran.

In Term 1, he pulls out of the Iran nuclear deal. He orders the assassination of this very senior Iranian general, Qassim Suleimani. Then, when he’s out of office, he learns that the Iranian regime is trying to get hit men to kill him. Iran hacks the emails of his campaign manager. So, for Trump, this is also personal.

How important was that meeting in February you guys describe in such incredible detail, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persuaded Trump to actually go to war?

It was very important. I’m not aware of any historical parallel for a foreign leader going down to the White House Situation Room and pitching the American president on going to war.

That war hasn’t gone to plan. How has that affected the Trump-Netanyahu relationship?

It was always a very up-and-down, fraught relationship. Trump views Netanyahu as a strong leader but also as someone who needs to be restrained. A couple of months ago Trump started to view Netanyahu as a problem — an obstacle to getting out of this war.

He became very agitated about what Netanyahu was doing in Lebanon. And so the U.S. cut the Israelis out of their negotiations with Iran. Right now, it’s not a good relationship at all.

You write that Netanyahu, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin were all better prepared to deal with Trump during his second term than his first. How so?

Yes, and on that list, Xi Jinping might have been the best prepared.

In April last year, when Trump essentially declares a trade war with the whole world, Xi Jinping doesn’t negotiate. He just raises tariffs himself and implements a whole bunch of restrictions on rare earths and magnets and things that the Americans need. He had this all lined up — he was fully prepared to wage economic supply chain war against the United States. And he won that skirmish.

Trump sends his Treasury secretary to Geneva to negotiate an off-ramp with China. Which he does; the tariff rates go down. And ever since then, Trump has taken a very dovish posture with Beijing.

Are there lessons for the rest of the world in this approach to dealing with Trump?

There’s this whole conversation in the international diplomatic community: How do you deal with Trump? I’ve always thought that conversation is sort of absurd. The Europeans talk about this playbook — you flatter him, bring him gifts and what have you. That might get you something, for a day or two. But what Xi Jinping showed is the way to deal with Trump is through strength.

Trump really understands leverage. He likes picking off countries one at a time so he can use the leverage of the U.S. military and economy and technology to squeeze that other party. And China — unlike some of the struggling small and middle powers — had leverage to force Trump down, in a very effective way.

What does that mean for Trump’s commitment, say, to defend Taiwan?

We have a scene in our book where he’s talking about Taiwan and he holds up a little teaspoon, basically, as a means of saying, Why would we fight over this little speck of land?

He hasn’t formally changed U.S. policy on Taiwan, but I’m not aware of anyone around him who thinks that Donald Trump would use the American military to fight for Taiwan’s independence.

Does that suggest NATO is dead, too? If the Russians march into Estonia, would the U.S. intervene?

At this point, you would have to be smoking something to think that Article 5, the mutual defense clause that is the bedrock of the alliance, is ironclad when it comes to Donald Trump. I wouldn’t want to predict one way or the other, but the notion that you could rely on him to defend a small nation against Russia is obviously questionable at best.

All this considered, how ideological is Trump, really?

Trump has never viewed the world the way American presidents of the last 50 years have viewed it, in terms of a post-World War II order and an alliance of liberal democracies. He basically sees the world as a bunch of countries that owe America money.

At a sort of cellular level, he’s attracted to strongmen and has contempt for Europeans and multilateral institutions defending human rights and international law. But that doesn’t come from a deeply held consistent worldview. If there’s an ideology, it’s “Might makes right.”

Data centre spending to reach US$31.6 tril by 2050 on AI boom

Bloomberg, September 2, 2026

Global data centre spending is set to reach US$31.6 trillion through 2050 to meet the world’s growing appetite for AI, an investment boom with no precedent in history, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Dwarfing projects such as the railways, internet and electrification, spending on data centres could even hit US$50 trillion over the next two and a half decades if AI adoption accelerates beyond PwC’s “central scenario” forecast, the firm said in a report Wednesday. For comparison: the US gross domestic product is roughly US$30 trillion.

With consumers, companies and governments increasingly using AI, tech giants like Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc and smaller data centre providers are setting up new computing facilities across the planet at a rapid clip. The bulk of the spending will go into what fills the data centres — hardware from companies such as global AI chip leader Nvidia Corp.

At the same time, the tech industry is trying to blunt a backlash against data centres that threatens to slow down the buildout. At least 75 projects, worth about US$130 billion combined, were blocked or delayed by local opposition during the first three months of this year, according to research group Data Center Watch. Protesters cite concerns about environmental impact, resource consumption and more broadly how AI could upend employment and society.

The US will capture nearly half the projected data centre spending, at US$15.1 trillion, PwC said. The Asia-Pacific region will follow at US$8.2 trillion, Europe at US$5.6 trillion, the Middle East at US$1.1 trillion and Africa at US$255 billion of the cumulative capital expenditure, according to PwC’s inaugural Global Data Center Outlook.

Spending will keep rising through mid-century as graphics processing units, servers, storage systems, networking equipment and other hardware will require routine replacement. Recurring chip upgrades — the computational power — and not land or construction, will account for most of the investment, quite unlike traditional capex cycles like prior generations of memory chip production or the global fiber internet rollout, which “front loaded” investments, taking on costs and risks upfront.

“Railways. Electrification. The internet. Each required enormous amounts of capital and defined an era,” the researchers said in the report. “The AI infrastructure cycle underway dwarfs all three. This one resets every four to six years — and shows no signs of ending.”

On an annual basis, global data centre spending will increase from about US$800 billion this year to US$1.1 trillion in 2030 and US$1.8 trillion in 2050, PwC predicted. China and India will drive the largest share of incremental demand, supported by large populations, rapidly expanding digital economies, and substantial headroom for AI to embed in business and consumer activity.

PwC commissioned Oxford Economics Ltd to model data centre capital expenditure, with the report covering 46 countries and territories, and five regions, which account for the bulk of global economic activity and digital infrastructure investment.

While global demand is strong, factors such as power availability, data sovereignty requirements and the flow of semiconductors will determine which regions capture the investments, PwC said. Power will be the foremost factor that shapes where AI infrastructure investment occurs.

Indeed, much of the forecast hinges on how fast reliable electricity supply for data centres can be established, according to the report. Affordable, reliable, and increasingly low-carbon electricity at scale is the hardest requirement for many markets to meet.

And while the researchers’ projection assumes a fairly open trading system where chips move freely across borders, disruptions in semiconductor supply chains could cut global investment by nearly 20%, they said. Meanwhile, a growing sovereignty push could redistribute, but not reduce, global investment.

“The US$31.6 trillion question isn’t whether the capital exists. It does,” the researchers said. “Nor is the question whether the demand is real. It is. The question is which regions, operators, and institutions are positioned to capture it and which aren’t.”

My take: The numbers tell it all. Before this, we had seen projections from the Wall Street on AI and data centre spending hitting over US$800 billion a year until 2030. Now we have projections for data centre spending until 2050, according to this latest report by PwC who had commissioned Oxford Economics to model data centre capital expenditure.

The report projects that data centre spending will increase from US$800 billion this year to US$1.1 trillion in 2030, which is consistent with Wall Street’s estimates and Nvidia’s guidance. What is encouraging is its projection beyond 2030. The data centre spending is projected to increase to US$1.8 trillion a year by 2050. It means that DC spending will not slow down after 2030, but accelerate at a pace of US$1.1 trillion to US$1.8 trillion a year from 2031 to 2050. That is a lot of money to be spent and a lot more data centres to be built over the next 25 years.

The report projects that out of the US$31.6 trillion to be spent on DCs, about 26% or US$8.2 trillion will be spent on data centre new builds in Asia Pacific region. That would be roughly 800 GW of new data centres to be built in this region over the next 25 years, or on average 32 GW of new data centre new builds every year.

We can see that PwC and Oxford Economics have anticipated less data centre new builds in the Middle East due to the Iran war, as they project only US$1.1 trillion to be spent in that region over the next 25 years.

Hence, it is not a coincidence that Malaysia is capturing a substantial share of these data centre new builds since last year, partly due to a pivot by US hyperscalers from the Middle East and more importantly due to our ready infrastructure - abundance of affordable land, electricity and water supply.

YTL Power is no doubt in an enviable position, as it had already positioned itself to capture the upsurge in DC demand way back in 2022-2023 when it acquired the 1,700-acre Kulai land and acquired a small data centre in Singapore to gain operational experience. The company is now doubling the ante by developing another GW-scale data centre park in Sedenak, Johor.

The two sites will support a ramp up of DC capacity to 2.4GW in next 6-8 years, with majority of the electricity and water supply secured. In the context of things, that will be at just roughly 1% of the projected data centre new builds of 224-240GW required for the Asia Pacific region in next 6-8 years. Hence, YTL Power has plans to expand its data centre park to Selangor and neighbouring countries.

Now the final piece of the equation is funding. YTL Power is planning the first DC sukuk of about RM10 billion to be issued by end of this year, and an IPO of the data centre business on Bursa Malaysia next year. These two concurrent exercises will stand to raise fresh capitals of about RM17-18 billion to YTL Power. That is enough to fund another 1.2GW of new DC buildout at 50% gearing.

That is the amount of money to be raised by listing up the first 300MW of DCs. As new data centres are commissioned, these may be injected into the DC REIT. YTL Power will only need to inject another 300MW of DC into the REIT to raise another RM17-18 billion, then it will have enough money to fund the buildout of the remaining 1.2GW.

Foreign shareholdings in YTL & YTL Power

In my post on 5 August, I updated the foreign shareholdings in YTL & YTL Power to be as follows:

31 Dec 2024 - 12.1% in YTL and 12.0% in YTL Power

31 Jan 2025 - 11.5% in YTL and 11.3% in YTL Power

28 February 2025 - 11.2% in YTL and 10.9% in YTL Power

31 March 2025 - 10.8% in YTL and 10.6% in YTL Power

30 April 2025 - 10.6% in YTL and 10.4% in YTL Power

31 May 2025 - 10.4% in YTL and 10.2% in YTL Power

30 June 2025 - 9.9% in YTL and 10.1% in YTL Power

31 July 2025 - 9.4% in YTL and 9.9% in YTL Power

31 August 2025 - 8.8% in YTL and 9.4% in YTL Power

30 October 2025 - 8.4% in YTL and 9.1% in YTL Power

30 November 2025 - 8.0% in YTL and 8.6% in YTL Power

31 December 2025 - 7.7% in YTL and 8.3% in YTL Power

31 January 2026 - 7.4% in YTL and 8.3% in YTL Power

28 February 2026 - 7.3% in YTL and 8.0% in YTL Power

31 March 2026 - 7.2% in YTL and 7.9% in YTL Power

30 April 2026 - 6.8% in YTL and 8.2% in YTL Power

31 May 2026 - 5.3% in YTL and 7.9% in YTL Power

30 June 2026 - 5.1% in YTL and 7.9% in YTL Power

31 July 2026 - 4.6% in YTL and 7.9% in YTL Power

As there was no notable selling by foreign funds on YTL Power in June & July, I estimate that foreign funds “hot money” had about 118 million shares of YTL Power left as of 31 July 2026. From now on, I will not monitor or estimate the amount of foreign funds “hot money'‘ left in YTL Power shares, as foreign funds have started to buy into the stock again.

Maybank research released the fund flows data for the month of August 2026 with notable foreign funds movements as follows:

• net bought RM238.2m worth of YTL Power shares

• net bought RM78.7m worth of Inari shares

• net bought RM48.3m worth of YTL shares

• net bought RM46.8m worth of Nationgate shares

• net bought RM31.6m worth of IJM shares

• net sold RM615.9m worth of Maybank

• net sold RM343.4m worth of PMetal shares

• net sold RM259.3m worth of Ambank shares

• net sold RM170.6m worth of Tenaga shares

• net sold RM162.0m worth of RHB Bank shares

• net sold RM93.0m worth of Mr DIY shares

• net sold RM81.8m worth of Suncon shares

• net sold RM80.7m worth of Gamuda shares

• net sold RM42.8m worth of Yinson shares

Foreign funds had turned net sellers of large cap banking and construction stocks in August. They net bought utilities and some tech stocks in the month. YTL shares were sold big in May by foreign funds as the stock was kicked out of the MSCI index from late May, but the selling eased off in June after the stock was officially out of the MSCI index. Then foreign funds intensified selling of YTL shares again for no obvious reason in July. Finally, foreign funds turned net buyers of YTL shares in the month of August. Foreign funds also became big buyers of YTL Power shares in the month, driven by the company’s DC expansion plans.

Assuming an average price of RM2.30 for YTL and RM5.00 for YTL Power in the month of August, I estimate that foreign funds net bought 21 million shares of YTL and 48 million shares of YTL Power in the month of August 2026.

That will bring the foreign shareholdings to:

31 August 2026 - 4.8% in YTL and 8.4% in YTL Power

I had earlier expected that foreign funds might have turned net buyer of YTL Power shares in the month of June and July, driven by renewed optimism on the company’s data centre business expansion plans but I was wrong. They waited until early August then only started buying in YTL Power in a big way as they got convinced of the company’s renewed data centre expansion plan, after the Star paper interview with YTLP MD and the company announcement on the expansion of a GW-scale DC park at Sedenak.

YTL Power share price rebounded on Thursday after coming under profit taking for two days. The stock dropped to a low of RM5.47 on Wednesday before rebounding to above RM5.70 again. As the initial rush by foreign funds into YTL Power is largely over, I expect the stock to enter into a short period of consolidation between RM5.40 and RM5.90 if there is no external shock during this period.

In the event of external shocks such as heavier strikes between Iran and the US in the Gulf, or a financial turmoil caused by an unexpected rate hike quantum by BoJ on September 19, YTL Power may drop below RM5.40 and head towards a lower range of RM4.90-5.16.

Conversely, if there is good news from the company, such as securing a major offtaker for its data centre capacity or successful issuance of the DC sukuk at attractive yields, YTL Power stock may break up resistance RM5.90 and head towards next target price level of RM7.00-7.20.

In the technical chart, the SMA lines show solid uptrend, indicating bullish signs. But the MACD lines start to flat up on top, so we may see a dead cross if the consolidation phase drags out to over 4 weeks till early October. I reckon that will be the better time to buy into YTL Power.

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The Dow Jones shed 419.02 points to end at 52,766.88. The S&P 500 declined 0.71% while the Nasdaq pulled back 1.03%.

Oil prices rose after US Central Command said that American forces were attacking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran. US oil prices gained 5.2% to close at $90.22 per barrel. Brent futures added 4.6% to close at $94.65.

This adds to oil’s advance at the start of the week following a resumption of military action between the US and Iran. On Monday, a tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz was hit by three unknown projectiles. Additionally, President Donald Trump threatened to respond to Iran’s latest attacks on US military bases in the region, telling Fox News Monday that “we are going to hit them hard.”

Global bond yields also continued their march higher Tuesday. The US 10-year Treasury note yield scaled to levels not seen since January 2025. Japan’s 10-year yield reached its highest level since August 1996, while Germany’s benchmark yield rose to a 2011 high.

Yields around the world have been rising recently as traders worry that persistently higher oil prices may drive inflation and influence the Fed’s interest rate path. The central bank is slated to meet next in two weeks. On top of that, September has been a historically bad month for stocks.

“Always and forever, the stock market is going to struggle to digest big and kind of volatile moves in the bond market,” said Ross Mayfield, Baird investment strategist. “I think this is with us for the near term and the long term.”

Even with the worries around inflation, Mayfield said there just have not yet been enough changes in the economic data that would support an interest rate hike in September. Fed funds futures pricing currently shows a 68% chance that the central bank will raise rates at the next meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

“I know the market is anticipating a hike right now, or at least placing better odds on a hike than hold. I still think they hold in September, but probably have to hike at least once by the end of the year,” he said while cautioning that “a lot can change” before the meeting, especially with the August nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.

US stocks weakened on Monday with Wall Street turning the page on a volatile month as a war-related jump in crude prices revived inflation fears and raised the likelihood of tighter monetary policy.

Spiking oil prices dampened investor risk appetite and sent benchmark US Treasury yields higher, as investors processed US Federal Reserve Chai Kevin Warsh’s hawkish tone on Friday in his speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

Despite the broad sell-off, all three major US stock indexes posted monthly gains. The Nasdaq showed the largest percentage growth for August as the AI trade remained alive, despite recent weaknesses. The Dow nabbed its fifth consecutive monthly advance.

“We heard from Warsh last week, and the odds now favor a rate hike in September,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Throw that into the mix of continued hostilities in the Middle East.

“And the week before Labor Day, there’s a lot of people who are out of the office, so weird things can happen,” Tuz added. “There was no reason to come into work today thinking it’s a great day to buy stocks.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is still seeking a negotiated solution to the war, after days of renewed airstrike exchanges and mounting hostilities following US President Trump’s implementation of costly economic sanctions.

The protracted impasse and the related closure of the Strait of Hormuz is fueling fears that upward pressure on energy prices could metastasize into broader, systemic inflation that could force the Fed to hike interest rates as soon as next month.

Financial markets are currently pricing in more than 65% likelihood of the central bank implementing a 25 bps rate hike at the conclusion of September’s monetary policy meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

“Investors are revisiting some of the comments that Warsh made at Jackson Hole as well and what may mean for interest rates, what that may mean for inflation,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor & market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. “If they do not hike rates in September, I think you will see a dramatic reaction in the markets because it’s been prepped now for quite some time that they’re going to raise rates.”

The Dow Jones fell 374.09 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.33% and the Nasdaq lost 0.12%.

Among the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, energy shares enjoyed the largest percentage gains, with a boost from surging crude prices. Utilities lagged on the heels of an amendment to a bill in the California senate, which did little to solve grid operators’ exposure to wildfire liabilities.

Within the energy space, Halliburton and Valero Energy both advanced 1.9%. In utilities, California’s PG&E plunged 20.1%, its largest percentage loss in over 6 years.

In other moves, GameStop’s shares rose 2.9% after the company said it would pay about 27% of a previously announced US$1.4 billion debt exchange through cash on hand instead of issuing new stock, preventing further share dilution.

The New York Times

• A global sell-off in government bonds pushed borrowing costs to the highest levels in decades. Stocks around the world dropped.

Trump orders huge wave of missile strikes on Iran as chilling warning is issued to US citizens

Daily Mail, September 2, 2026

Donald Trump has ordered a fresh wave of ballistic missile strikes against Iran after US embassies across the Middle East issued new security warnings to Americans in the region.

Around a dozen strikes targeted Iranian radar systems and military assets along a 300-mile stretch of the coast of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

Iranian state media reported strikes on the country’s oil-rich Qeshm Island located. Explosions were also reported in the southern port cities of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.

Iran retaliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming that it had launched d a ballistic missile strike on Camp Titin, a US Marine base in Jordan. There was no immediate confirmation from the Pentagon.

The latest exchange comes after Iranian strikes over the weekend on US bases in Jordan, with US Central Command stating it is ‘hitting back hard’ against the regime.

Trump also warned Iran against responding to the latest attack: ‘If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!’

Earlier, US embassies in Qatar, Israel, and Jordan sent out a warning that tensions in the region create a complex security environment with the potential for sudden escalation.

‘Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions,’ the diplomatic warning reads.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime’s hardline military force, attacked two commercial vessels attempting to transit the strait late Monday night.

The latest strikes come despite Trump repeatedly claiming Iran’s military had been destroyed and the war was over, raising questions about why the US is still targeting its radar and military assets months later.

With military tensions escalating after months of standoff, Brent crude climbed 4 percent to $94 a barrel on Tuesday afternoon.

The US and Iran signed a 14-point ceasefire back in June that had been mediated by Pakistan. Both sides were given 60 days to negotiate an end to the war.

Fighting restarted within weeks, and the deal ran out on August 17 with nothing to replace it.

There are no talks going on now. Trump has said none are planned as refuses to extend the ceasefire.

The White House is demanding that Iran surrender its stockpile of enriched uranium and dismantle its nuclear program. Tehran has refused to make concessions unless the US lifts its naval blockade and allows Iran to control the strait.

‘They’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary,’ he said in the Oval Office back in August after the ceasefire ended.

Trump’s strikes also comes a week after his top officials said they were switching from bombs to money.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday the US would ‘economically asphyxiate this regime’ until it wants a deal.

Trump followed-up by vowing to launch a new ‘economic D-Day’ on Iran unless they agree to dismantle their nuclear program.

Six months in, neither side has budged despite repeated US and Israeli strikes.

US strikes Iran for first time in a month, Tehran retaliates

AFP, August 31, 2026

WASHINGTON: The United States said Sunday it had attacked Iranian rocket launchers on a small island in the Strait of Hormuz, its first strikes on Iran in a month, prompting Tehran to retaliate.

The US strikes resulted in “casualties,” said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which in turn attacked US military targets in Jordan, state media reported.

The Guards “targeted technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities, and enemy fighter jet positions at the US-operated King Hussein and Al-Azraq airbases in Jordan” with ballistic missiles, causing “heavy damage,” according to state TV.

The exchange of strikes came shortly after the US-Iran war hit the six-month mark, and at a time when hostilities had been subsiding.

The US said its attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from launching more sea mines into the strait, days after it announced it had completed clearing explosives from the strategic waterway.

“Earlier today, US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island,” a US Central Command spokesman said, adding that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.”

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has prioritized “economic warfare” over military strikes on Iran.

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic sea lane through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the United States and Israel started hostilities with airstrikes on Iran on Feb 28.

“Last week, Centcom completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command.

“US forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.

Diplomatic efforts, spearheaded by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar, have tried for months to bring an end to the war to no avail.

While a ceasefire was agreed in April and a memorandum of understanding towards a final peace deal was signed in June, no agreement has been forthcoming and Washington has since declared “economic warfare” against Tehran.

A US naval counterblockade of Iranian ports is squeezing petrol supplies in Iran amid a shortfall of domestic production, as the US ramps up pressure on its foe.

The April ceasefire put an end to the most intense fighting, but sporadic attacks, mainly around the Strait of Hormuz, have dimmed the prospects of a final peace agreement.

The last US strike on Iran prior to Sunday’s came on July 29 in response to “an attempted surprise attack on US forces” in the region, the US military said. Earlier in July, Centcom attacked Iran for 13 consecutive nights.

Throughout the war, Iran has fought back by striking US facilities and allies in the Gulf region, striking targets in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among others.

Its closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused pain around the world in the form of price hikes and shortages of fertilizer and energy.

Oil prices rose after news of the US strikes on Iran. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed back above the symbolic US$90 threshold to US$90.31. Its US counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, rose to US$85.41.

The Iran war is deeply unpopular with the US public, with midterm elections looming in November that could overturn Republican control of Congress.

In a statement on Friday, US Senator Jack Reed criticised Trump over the war.

“Six months later, not a single objective has been achieved,” said Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Indeed, he has weakened our position in the Middle East and the world significantly.”

My take: Iran war re-ignited. I am not sure how far it may go this round. I hope it would just stop with this US strike on Larak Island and Iran’s counter strikes on US military bases in Jordana and the UAE. But would these parties have cooler heads?

Iranian president offers US olive branch before Putin meeting

AFP, September 1, 2026

BISHKEK: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday vowed to match any US move to return to a June deal aimed at ending their war, as he prepares to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a regional summit.

The two allies were due to hold talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan, a bloc promoted by Russia and China as an alternative to Western power.

“I state explicitly that if the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take reciprocal action,” Pezeshkian said, according to the Iran presidency’s website.

The memorandum aimed at ending hostilities between Tehran and Washington that began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The deal, meant to set the stage for final peace talks, later collapsed, with both sides accusing each other of violating its terms.

Pezeshkian’s remarks came as the Strait of Hormuz remained a key point of contention between Iran and the US, which resumed exchanging fire on Monday after more than a month of relative calm.

Tehran has maintained its closure of the strategic waterway while saying it would return to its commitments under the June deal, which included reopening Hormuz, if the US did the same.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also urged the US to “return to its commitments and to what their president signed”.

“In that case, everything can be put back on the right track,” he said.

China-Russia ties

Putin met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday at the SCO summit, which is also playing host to leaders of countries including Turkey, India and Pakistan.

The summit takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow’s Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran.

Xi said Russia-Chinese ties had become “more solid” and that their “prospects will be even brighter”, while Putin said cooperation was “successfully developing on all fronts”.

Russia’s economy has become increasingly dependent on China since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow has also massively deepened military and economic ties with Iran.

But US President Donald Trump has warned Moscow and Beijing against arming Iran.

The SCO has historically focused on economic issues but has gained momentum in recent years under Moscow’s and Beijing’s leadership.

On top of its 10 members, it now has 15 “dialogue partners”, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and two observer countries: Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Your questions about the Iran war, answered

The New York Times, September 1, 2026

How far might Trump go? If he were to lose the November election, could the situation spiral out of control? — Flavio Nardini, Italy

David Sanger, who covers the White House and national security, writes:

It is difficult to know how far President Trump will go with the Iran war; he revels in unpredictability. But all the recent indications suggest that, at least for the immediate future, he is unlikely to return to full-scale military action. Clearly, it did not produce the results he anticipated. He’s now back to economic sanctions. But if there is a significant event — say, an Iranian attack that kills Americans or a major cyberattack on the U.S. — that could change. And the U.S. seems likely to keep a major military presence in the region for the foreseeable future.

One note on the midterms: If Democrats perform strongly and they win the House or Senate, or both, the investigations into the war will begin as soon as they take control.

To what extent has the war strengthened the regime and weakened the opposition? — Bernd Weber, Germany

Yeganeh Torbati, who covers Iran, writes:

When you look at Iran’s history, it’s true that the regime is most united when it faces an outside enemy. It’s also true that the authorities have carried out a wave of executions of protesters this year, often justifying them by claiming that the protesters had been assisting Iran’s enemies.

At the same time, the government has responded to peaceful protests with deadly violence at times when there have been no outside threats. My own assessment is that the threat or existence of war helps the government more easily justify acts of repression that it was already inclined to carry out.

How has the war affected American power, including the credibility of its president and its ability to deter rival powers? — Pia Bungarten, Germany

Steven Erlanger, who covers global diplomacy, writes:

Failure breeds doubt, and this war has failed to bring about key American and Israeli goals. The Strait of Hormuz is now blocked, and there has been no progress on ending Iran’s nuclear program, let alone its ballistic missile and drone production. And the U.S. has failed to protect its own bases and its regional allies.

Consequently, American credibility has taken a big hit. The U.S. military is second to none, but military power has not been married to a successful strategic outcome. And the U.S. now has a shortfall in key aid defense munitions, both for itself and its treaty allies, that will take years to rectify. Adversaries like Russia and China will take note.

Could an international body administer the Strait of Hormuz, instead of Iran or Oman? — S. Jayakumar, India

Neil MacFarquhar, who recently wrote about the waterway dispute, writes:

Iran has said its future national security now depends on its control over the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. doesn’t want that, but the military commitment required to reopen the strait without Iran’s consent would risk too many American casualties to be considered viable.

One proposal being discussed, inspired by arrangements elsewhere in the world, is that all eight states bordering the Persian Gulf create a consortium to oversee operations. The consortium could levy a kind of environmental maintenance fee on some of the ships that pass through, which, since it’s not technically a toll, would be legal under international law. Official Iranian media outlets have expressed interest in the proposal. How Trump might respond is anybody’s guess.

What, if any, international organizations are providing support to all the crews of all the ships marooned in the waters surrounding the Strait of Hormuz? — Jeff Bondett, Canada

Jenny Gross, who covers trade and logistics, writes:

According to the U.N., the well-being of the roughly 6,000 sailors still stranded in the Persian Gulf is primarily the responsibility of the shipping companies that employ them. The result is a really mixed picture.

Some companies are making sure sailors have enough food, and are regularly swapping out crews to give them breaks from the dangers and stress of working on what has effectively become a front line. But our reporting tells us that some sailors are subsisting on rice and lentils, and that some have gone months without pay.

There are groups that represent sailors, like the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Stella Maris, the official maritime charity of the Catholic Church. These groups liaise with companies to try to improve conditions on the ships, but there are limits to what they can do. Some sailors are on vessels that are the target of sanctions and often don’t comply with maritime rules. Crew members can ask to be evacuated and flown home, but that requires the cooperation of the immigration authorities in nearby countries. And many crew members are on short-term contracts and may be reluctant to refuse a dangerous voyage out of fear that they will be blacklisted by employers.

IOI Properties Group wins Best of the Best at The Edge ESG Awards 2026

The Edge Malaysia, September 1, 2026

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 1): IOI Properties Group Bhd (KL:IOIPG) won the Best of the Best award at The Edge Malaysia ESG Awards 2026 on Tuesday, recognising companies that have demonstrated consistent ESG performance over three consecutive years.

The award is presented to public-listed companies (PLCs) based on their respective ESG scores and the compound annual growth rate of common dividends declared over the past three years.

The past year has been difficult for businesses, with the war in Iran pushing up oil prices and continued uncertainty over the global trade war, said The Edge Media Group publisher and group CEO Datuk Ho Kay Tat.

Despite the challenging environment, Ho said the ESG agenda had continued to gain traction among businesses that increasingly viewed sustainability as part of their long-term strategy.

“The ESG agenda continues to be upheld by some businesses, who see it as a strategy to achieve resilience and stay competitive in the long term,” Ho said in his welcoming speech at the awards.

The event was organised by The Edge Malaysia in collaboration with Bursa Malaysia and FTSE Russell, with UOB Malaysia as its main partner. Morningstar was the awards’ knowledge partner for the funds category, while Deloitte was the auditor and Artelia sponsored the trophies.

The awards were held at the Four Seasons Hotel this year and attended by more than 350 guests.

This year’s awards saw the largest number of PLCs assessed, with 1,003 companies evaluated, up from 966 a year earlier, alongside broader coverage of the ACE Market. The weighted average ESG score of Main Market and ACE Market PLCs rose to 2.7 from 2.5 a year earlier, according to Bursa Malaysia.

To encourage capacity building among local fund houses, the awards introduced a new category this year to recognise the best feeder and non-feeder funds under the Best ESG Overall category.

Principal Malaysia’s Principal Global Sustainable Growth Fund won Best Feeder Fund, while RHB Asset Management’s RHB i-Sustainable Future Technology Fund won Best Non-Feeder Fund.

Guest of honour Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, said the improvement in ESG performance came as sustainability increasingly became a matter of capital preservation, risk management and competitiveness.

“ESG is no longer a peripheral compliance exercise or a public relations exercise. It is a core anchor of long-term capital preservation, risk management and also commercial competitiveness in a climate-conscious global economy,” Kurup said in his keynote address.

He said the government was also strengthening Malaysia’s climate policy framework, including through the National Carbon Market Policy launched in April and the finalisation of climate change legislation.

As Malaysia advances its carbon pricing mechanism, including a proposed carbon tax initially focused on emissions-intensive sectors, Kurup said the policy was intended to encourage green technology, improve efficiency and protect the competitiveness of Malaysian exporters as global markets introduce measures such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

However, he stressed that government policy alone would not be enough, with businesses and financial institutions needing to translate climate ambitions into actual changes in how they allocate capital, deploy technology and run their operations.

“Effective policy frameworks alone will not achieve a low-carbon economy. The private sector must help in order to translate ambition into action,” Kurup said.

He also warned that companies would face greater scrutiny over the credibility of their stainability claims as investors and trading partners became more discerning.

“Greenwashing is in fact a severe liability,” Kurup said, while calling for credible science-based targets, transparent disclosures and actionable decarbonisation roadmaps covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

Ho also linked responsible business practices to environmental outcomes, pointing to the recent haze as a reminder of the wider impact of economic activity.

“If more businesses are run more responsibly around the world, we will not have incidents like wildfires and the haze that has impacted us this past several weeks,” he said.

Other winners in the Best of the Best category were George Kent (M) Bhd (KL:GKENT), IOI Corporation Bhd (KL:IOICORP) and Westports Holdings Bhd (KL:WPRTS). A total of 37 awards were given to 31 companies across the PLCs and funds categories.

My take: IOIPG has been putting in great ESG efforts to ensure sustainable developments of its various property projects. With the winning of this Best of the Best award on ESG, IOIPG should deserve a premium or at least no discount to the target price over ESG assessments. Currently I see that some analysts such as RHB still attach a 2% discount to target price due to ESG matters.

IOIPG shares have come under selling shortly after it announced the super strong FY026 results. The culprit is the reignition of the Iran war with the US and Iran exchanging fires earlier this week, which caused a surge in crude oil prices and fuel inflation concern. Foreign funds have been paring down stakes in large caps in Bursa such as banking stocks and property counters, and flocking to safe havens. I see such trend to be short-lived as I do not expect the Iran war to escalate much further.

On the other hand, the proposed acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 by IOIPG has met all the conditions preceedence. AST2 will be making meaningful earnings contribution to IOIPG from Q2 FY2027 (Oct-Dec 2026) onwards.

100,000 belia dapat langganan aplikasi AI percuma 3 bulan

Free Malaysia Today, August 31 , 2026

PUTRAJAYA:

A total of 100,000 youths aged 18 to 30 will receive a free subscription to artificial intelligence (AI) applications for three months through the AI for the People Programme, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.

He said the facility was given to participants who completed the modules stipulated in the programme.

“The applications offered include IlmuChat, which is a local AI, Gemini Enterprise from the United States as well as Wonderclip and MuleRun from China,” he said delivering the inaugural message in conjunction with the 69th National Day.

In an announcement related to digitalisation, Anwar said the government would provide RM1 billion through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to improve the digital efficiency of the public health sector.

The allocation will be used for the implementation of the Electronic Medical Record system as well as improving internet connectivity in 150 hospitals and more than 2,000 public health clinics.

My take: That is a very good move to allow 100,000 youths in Malaysia to receive free subscription to AI applications for 3 months. This will encourage more youths to get to know more about AI applications and instill interests for more youths to get into the AI field as a career option or as an efficient tool to help them manage their work or study.

The government allocation of RM1 billion to improve the digital efficiency of the public health sector is potentially beneficial to the rakyat, in a way to reduce waiting time and to assign / direct patients to the appropriate hospital or public health clinic. It will be positive for telcos providing internet connectivity, especially those services bundled with AI features, to the public health sector.

Maybank upgrades YTL Power

Maybank research issued an update report on YTL Power on 1st September and upgraded the stock to BUY with a revised target price of RM6.50 (from RM5.20 previously).

Below are some extracts from the report:

Upgrade to BUY

We see a runway for long-term earnings growth if YTLP delivers on its data centre ambition. The market in our view, appears keen to price in this optionality following a 38% share price appreciation in the past month. Upgrade to BUY with a higher SOP-based TP of MYR6.50 (from MYR5.20) mainly on higher data centre valuation, with potential monetisation being a catalyst and execution a key risk.

Laying the groundwork for future growth

YTLP continues to be aggressive with its data centre aspirations, having in recent months, announced plans to 1) double its Kulai capacity (from 600MW to 1,200MW), and 2) replicate a second gigawatt-scale data centre park in Sedenak. Under a blue-sky scenario, YTLP could potentially operate c.2,400MW of data centre at the end of next decade. Assuming low-teens project IRR, we estimate >MYR9b of annual EBITDA contribution when fully operational (c.1.4x FY27E EBITDA).

Electricity supply likely a matter of time

YTLP has thus far secured c.600MW of electricity supply in Kulai, with new supply for the Kulai expansion and Sedenak still a work-in-progress. Our channel checks indicate a more selective, but still overall receptive stance by authorities towards new data centre developments. Tenaga also remains accommodative, we thus believe it is a matter of time before YTLP secures the required electricity supply for its planned expansion.

Pricing in c.1,200MW of capacity

We raise our FY27E/28E/29E earnings forecasts by 1%/5%/8% respectively following revisions to our Wessex and data centre forecasts. Our TP (based on a sum-of-parts assuming full warrants conversion, with most operating entities valued by DCF) is raised to MYR6.50 (from MYR5.20) on higher data centre valuation (15x EV/EBITDA on c.1,200MW operational capacity by FY36E, from c.600MW previously). We assume a stable 8sen DPS going forward, implying dividend yield of c.1.5%.

Maybank remains one of the most conservative on YTL Power earnings projection and target price. Anyway its upgrade of the stock is timely.

On the electricity supply for its data centres, YTL Power should have secured sufficient power for its new DC park at Sedenak. At the Kulai DC Park, though, the company is still waiting for Tenaga to confirm the additional 600MW of power supply to fuel up its DC expansion.

YTL Power share price had staged a rally since early August from RM4.10 level to a high of RM6.02 on 27th August. It all started with The Star publishing an interview on 15th August with YTL Power Managing Director Dato’ Yeoh who first talked about the company’s DC expansion plan beyond the 600MW at Kulai. Yeoh mentioned that the group planned to develop as much as 2,000MW of DC capacity over the next five years. Then, on 19th August, YTL Power announced the collaboration with JLand Group on a new Gigawatt-scale data centre park at Sedenak Tech Park.

Some insiders may have started accumulating the stock earlier, as we saw the stock started moving up from 5th August.

After rallying up 46% in one month, the stock is seeing profit taking surfacing from beginning of this week. The immediate support level will be at RM5.37-5.40 for a 10% retracement from recent peak. Next supports can be found at RM5.00-5.05 (25-day moving average) and RM4.70 (50-day moving average).

I will start buying back some YTL Power shares at around RM5.37-5.40 for those shares that I took profit at above RM5.90. Then, I will add more if the share price retraces to the RM5.00-5.05 level for a potential 60% gain in 2 years to >RM8.00 (CLSA TP: RM8.01; JPMorgan TP: RM7.20).

According to Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds net bought RM13.1m worth of YTL shares on Tuesday 1st September. Local institutions were the net sellers with a net sale of RM12.3m.

On last Friday 28th August, foreign funds were net buyers of YTL Power shares with a net purchase of RM26.0m. Local retailers were buying YTL Power shares too with a net purchase of RM9.6m. Local institutions were the only sellers with a net sale of RM34.0m.

For other counters, local institutions net sold RM7.8m worth of IOIPG shares on Friday while local retailers net purchased RM7.7m worth of Padini shares. Local retailers also offloaded RM5.6m of Spritzer shares.

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The S&P 500 index lost 0.25% while the Nasdaq slid 0.52%. The Dow Jones was down 9.45 points and ended at 53,559.99.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% on the week, while the Nasdaq gained 0.9%. The Dow Jones climbed 0.5% in the period for its winning week in three.

In his remarks at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Warsh said, “While this summer’s PCE and CPI readings were better than expected, they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”

He also said, “We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to out objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do. That’s our job... our mandate... and our charge to keep.”

Bets among fed funds futures traders that the Fed will raise interest rates in September increased to 57.5% on Friday, per CME Group’s FedWatch tool. That is up from 35.4% just a day ago.

Treasury yields on the short end of the curve were higher immediately after Friday’s speech, while those on the long end - which are linked to borrowing costs throughout the economy and have been a source of concern for markets recently - were roughly flat. By the end of the trading day, however, those on the short end had come off their lows.

“I found his speech in particular to be a very strong kind of message, both a message to the market but also just a kind of message in general that the way the Fed has done business for maybe the last 40 years in some ways has not been as rigorous as it could be,” said Bill Birmingham, managing director at REX Financial.

Birmingham added that Warsh’s comments about the composition of CPI in particular signal “that he is very much looking for consensus internally to raise rates,” he added.

Investors also digested more earnings results. Gap shares jumped about 13% despite a mixed quarterly report as the retail giant announced a new chief executive for the struggling Old Navy brand. Marvell Technology slid more than 10% after issuing current-quarter guidance for non-GAAP gross margin that disappointed the Street.

IOI Properties posts record FY26 RM4.44bil revenue, net profit doubles to RM2.15bil

The Star, August 27, 2026

KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Properties Group Bhd’s net profit more than doubled to RM2.15bil for the financial year ended June 30, 2026 (FY26), from RM1.06bil a year earlier, as revenue hit a record high.

Revenue surged 45% to a record RM4.44bil from RM3.06bil in FY25, while earnings per share rose to 39.13 sen versus 19.32 sen previously.

“The strong growth in revenue was driven by robust performance across all three core business segments, with the property development, property investment and hospitality & leisure segments registering growth of 35%, 49% and 79%, respectively,” the property developer said in a statement.

IOI Properties said its pre-tax profit jumped 82% to RM2.65bil from RM1.45bil, mainly boosted by a RM502.8mil remeasurement gain on South Beach Tower.

Excluding exceptional items, the group said underlying pre-tax profit surged 91% to RM1.30bil, supported by stronger contributions from its property development and property investment businesses.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, IOI Properties’ net profit fell 36.5% to RM523.1mil from RM823.9mil a year earlier, despite revenue rising 55.8% to RM1.39bil from RM890.2mil.

The group declared an interim dividend of eight sen per share and a special dividend of eight sen, bringing the total to 16 sen per share.

Property development sales for FY26 stood at RM3.91bil, of which Malaysian projects contributed RM3.53bil, or 91%. China and Singapore contributed RM247.7mil and RM132.3mil, respectively.

The group ended FY26 with record unbilled sales of RM2.51bil, providing earnings visibility over the near to medium term.

At the same time, completed inventories continued to trend lower, reducing by RM100.6mil to RM1.17bil.

In a statement, group chief executive officer Datuk Lee Yeow Seng said the performance reflected the group’s strategies to diversify income streams, capitalising on industrial demand and rolling out market-driven products while enhancing productivity and efficiency across all three core business segments

“As we move into FY27, we recognise that global economic headwinds and geopolitical risks may persist, nevertheless, the group remains cautiously optimistic of its financial performance for the financial year, underpinned by the strong demand for our diversified product offerings in the property development segment and growing contribution from the property investment segment,” he said.

Meanwhile, IOI Properties’ proposed real estate investment trust has received approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia and is on track for listing by the fourth quarter of 2026.

The property investment business is also expected to benefit from improving physical occupancy at IOI Central Boulevard Towers and the additional contribution from Asia Square Tower 2, with the acquisition targeted for completion by the third quarter of 2026.

Looking ahead, the group’s hospitality portfolio is set to expand with The Westin Puchong, a 324-room five-star hotel within its 100-acre IOI Rio City masterplan in Bandar Puteri Puchong.

Scheduled to open by June 2030, it will be Puchong’s first internationally branded five-star hotel and will complement the upcoming IOI Mall Rio.

My take: Generally, IOIPG’s Q4 result has been well received and we see some analyst upgrades after the excellent results.

Hong Leong analyst in his update report mentions about the management feedback on the following:

Sales and launches

IOIPG recorded 4QFY26 sales of RM1.20bn (-29.6% QoQ; +78.5% YoY), bringing FY26 sum to RM3.91bn (+116.2% YoY).

The strong 4Q sales was mainly driven by from The Cube Plus, the commercial shop lots in the group’s Puchong township.

In 4QFY26, the group launched RM290m of GDV, bringing FY26 cumulative launch to RM4.55bn (+246.2% YoY).

As at 4QFY26, unbilled sales rose +19.5% QoQ to RM2.51bn, representing 1.52x of its FY25 property development revenue.

This is the highest level of unbilled sales recorded by the group since listing.

Meanwhile, its completed inventories declined by 7.9% QoQ to RM1.17bn as the group continues to clear its completed inventories in China.

For FY27, the group has an indicative launch pipeline of ~RM3.2bn from Malaysia.

Net gearing. The group’s net gearing fell to 84.7% in 4QFY26 (from 85.8% in 3QFY26), mainly due to enlarged equity base from revaluation gain.

Malaysia outlook

Backed by strong FDI momentum and JSSEZ tailwinds, IOIPG is seeing robust industrial-driven demand for its landbank, with several sizeable land parcels in Melaka, Banting and Kulai currently at advanced stages of negotiation.

The recent and upcoming industrial land sales underscores the latent value of its landbank and provide a visible pathway for RNAV realisation.

On the property investment front, IOI City Mall should see further vibrancy from:

(i) improving occupancy at the adjacent IOI City Towers which increases the captive office crowd and weekday footfall to the mall; and

(ii) stronger spending power in Putrajaya following the recent civil servants pay hike, which supports tenant sales and retail spending.

Singapore outlook

In the EGM held on 27 Aug, shareholders have approved the acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2.

Notably, shareholders have shown overwhelming support to the deal, with 99.9789% of shareholders voting for the resolution.

Meanwhile, ICBT achieved an impressive committed occupancy of 98% as at June-26, while physical occupancy improved to 88% from ~74% in Mar-26.

On the other hand, South Beach Tower committed and physical occupancy are both at 99%, where physical occupancy had improved from 90% in Mar-26.

For W Residences, the group had recently submitted an application for ABSD extension, pending the decision from Singapore URA.

Construction of W Residences / W Hotel Singapore have reached advanced stage where we estimate the project to top out by early-CY27, with completion expected in early-CY28.

Including its upcoming Shenton House pipeline asset and potentially One Raffles Place, IOIPG is poised to emerge as the largest office landlord in Singapore, ahead of other Singapore developers, allowing it to ride the Singapore office supercycle.

Hence, IOIPG should be viewed as actively managing its portfolio through monetising its stabilised asset while actively scouting for attractive and strategic acquisitions.

China outlook

The group’s Sheraton Grand Xiamen Hotel has shown strong traction, contributing positively to the group’s cash flow.

Looking ahead, the completion of a metro station directly adjacent to Xiamen Mall by end-CY26 could be a game-change as it enhances the footfall and connectivity to the group’s mall, hotel and office.

TA Research analyst provides more details from the management call:

Briefing Highlights

• Management is guiding for RM2.0bn sales in FY27, supported by RM3.2bn launches. Klang Valley will account for about RM2.44bn of launches, including c.RM700mn from IOI Resort City, while Johor will contribute c.RM760mn.

• The Jalan Ampang land sale was recognised in 4QFY26, contributing RM257.9mn revenue and c.RM155mn operating profit. Management maintained c.60% operating margin guidance for the pending Banting and Senai land sales, which remain on track based on their current completion timelines.

• Over to Singapore, IOICBT’s committed occupancy remains high at 98%, while physical occupancy improved to 88% as at June from 75% in March. This should support a stronger rent-paying contribution in FY27. South Beach continues to contribute meaningfully following full consolidation, while AST2. based on an agreed property value of SGD2.48bn (RM7.78bn), has received shareholder approval and should further strengthen IOIPG’s Singapore recurring income base upon completion.

• Net gearing stood at 0.85x at end-FY26. The proposed Malaysia REIT remains on track, with prospectus launch targeted in October and IPO in November 2026. The REIT portfolio is now valued at RM7.66bn and remains an important capital recycling avenue. This is increasingly relevant as IOIPG targets to expand its investment property portfolio from c.10.1mn sq ft NLA currently to c.15.0mn sq ft by FY32 through AST2, IOI City Mall Phase 3, IOI Mall Rio, IOI City Tower 3 and Iconic Tower. Its hotel portfolio is also targeted to grow from 3,075 rooms to 4,202 rooms, supported by W Singapore – Marina View, W Langkawi, The Westin Puchong and a new five-star hotel at IOI Resort City.

• W Residences Marina View remains a key risk, with only 15 units sold out of the initial 100 units launched, against 683 units in total. The deadline for meeting the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) remission conditions falls in September 2026, and management has submitted an application for an extension, with feedback expected in the coming weeks. We have not factored any potential ABSD liability into our forecasts pending further clarity on the extension outcome.

Valuation

• Following our earnings revisions, we raise our TP to RM4.70/share from RM4.55/share previously, based on an unchanged 0.95x CY27 P/B with a 3% ESG premium. Maintain BUY

Some positive surprises from the results briefing call with the management, if I summarise from analysts’ reports:

• Malaysia REIT valuation has increased from RM7.58 billion initially to RM7.66 billion

• IOI Central Boulevard has achieved committed occupancy of 98% and physical occupancy of 88% as of June 2026 (from 75% in March 2026)

• South Beach Towers have achieved committed occupancy of 99% and physical occupancy of 99% as of June 2026, from 90% in March 2026

• The proposed acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 has been approved by shareholders at an EGM earlier this week with a super high approval rate of 99.9789%

• IOIPG targets to expand its investment property portfolio from c.10.1mn sq ft NLA currently to c.15.0mn sq ft by FY32 through AST2, IOI City Mall Phase 3, IOI Mall Rio, IOI City Tower 3 and Iconic Tower

• Its hotel portfolio is also targeted to grow from 3,075 rooms to 4,202 rooms, supported by W Singapore – Marina View, W Langkawi, The Westin Puchong and a new five-star hotel at IOI Resort City

The increased physical occupancy at IOICBT and South Beach Towers means that rental income from Singapore is set to increase in subsequent quarters. Added with the soon-to-be-acquired AST2, IOIPG will enjoy a quantum leap in terms of high-quality recurring rental income from Grade A office towers in Singapore from 2027 onwards.

Similarly exciting is the expansion being planned at IOI Resort City and IOI Rio City, where IOIPG intends to develop new investment assets - IOI City Mall Phase 3, IOI Mall Rio, IOI City Tower 3 and Iconic Tower - which will expand IOIPG’s total investment property NLA from currently 10.1mn sq ft to 15.0mn sq ft by 2032. That means that the rental income from the Property Investment segment will expand by 50% over the next 6 years. Actual rental income will increase by a larger quantum, given continuous rental rate revisions at existing investment properties.

In the month ahead, we shall be looking forward to the completion of the acquisition of AST2 and a potential successful extension of ABSD for Marina View Residences. Then, hopefully the Malaysia REIT IPO will be launched in October and then listed by November, followed by a successful setup of the Singapore private real estate fund by year end.

Padini falling off the cliff

Padini shares dived 10% on Friday after the company reported the first quarterly loss in many years. The company blamed it on higher operating expenses - higher rentals, higher electricity, higher SST - and slower consumer spending. But the main driver for the quarterly loss was the drop in sales and revenue.

I feel that the company management has become somewhat complacent in recent years, with not much improvement and fresh idea injected into its core business of shoes and apparels retailing. I have not really seen any new product line-up or new brands created nor improvement in online retailing channels, or any other retailing channels.

Since Padini created Brands Outlets many years ago to retail cheap and affordable apparels, there has not been any new attempt, except for the failed F&B business.

The company has been relying on cheap imports from China for most of its apparel offerings, without much attempt to create own series of products and designs. When imports from China become not cheap anymore or ringgit weakens against China renminbi, it erodes its gross profit margin which has dropped to 37% from above 40% few years ago.

It was exactly due to its over-reliance on imports from China that may have made Padini caught up in the MACC case with some of its importers.

I liked Padini previously due to its strong operating margin and cashflows. I found it amazing with offerings of leisure T-shirts for as cheap as RM7 a piece, with quality much better than those in pasar malam. I saw women crowds always at most of its Vincci outlets offering leisure footwears as low as RM29.90 a pair, and sometimes as low as RM19.90 a pair on promotion. Now when I browse its website, I find the cheapest on offer is Vincci Mini sandals at RM39.00 a pair. It is no longer competitive.

Padini management needs to understand that now the shopping trend has changed with many online retailing giants from China already entering the markets here. If Padini can import cheap shoes and apparels from China, so can other traders at pasar malam or small fashion shop owners.

Furthermore, consumers nowadays can screen through websites online and buy shoes and apparels at prices much cheaper than those being offered by Padini stores. Take Alibaba taobao and PDD. I can easily buy a sports wear T-shirt for as low as RM12.00 a piece or a pair of running shoes at as low as RM99.00 from Shopee or PDD. Good quality and durable apparels, at almost half the price of those being offered at physical stores here.

While Padini may still maintain its flagship brands like Padini and Seeds or Vincci, it cannot rely on the business model of Brands Outlets that used to sell cheap apparels without brands. Those are no difference from what we can buy online or in pasar malam. There is no brand name, no loyalty, and no moat. Simply competing on cheap prices. It cannot sustain for long this way.

Padini may continue to focus on affordable apparel offerings but it needs to create certain brand name or moat for its core business. One good way to look to is Uniqlo. This Japanese apparel giant also started from affordable apparel offerings in Japan, before having its own design and R&D teams to push the company to the next levels up. Uniqlo has its unique fabrics design and manufacturing, and sources raw materials for its own apparel production. That way, it commands premium prices for its apparels with new, comfortable and unique fabric materials, and hence above-average profit margin.

Padini may have missed that early opportunity, but it is never too late to start.

The company has been having huge cash piles in the balance sheet, now approaching RM900 million, but has not been too generous in giving out dividends to shareholders. For instance, Padini had an EPS of 16.5 sen in FY2025 and paid out 8.2 sen of dividends, for a dividend payout ratio of less than 50%. When earnings plunged in FY2026 to 11.6 sen EPS, Padini paid out 9.2 sen in total dividends.

As a shareholder, I would love higher dividend payouts, but I would prefer the company keep some of the cash and spend on expanding the core business, especially on R&D to improve on product quality and offerings, and improve production efficiency. That will ensure the company to be able to grow its business in sustainable ways or at least to maintain its market share, rather than losing it.

As Warren Buffet invested big on McDonalds, Sees Candy and Gillette, he saw moat in these businesses which could sustain growth for decades.

What do we see in Padini? Still importing cheap apparels from China and re-packaging them as Vincci or Seeds? It will only see the gross profit margin dropping further.

In a way, I would prefer Bonia to Padini. Bonia has its own design, production line and brand name. Bonia achieved a gross profit margin of 59% in its latest Q4 FY2026 (Apr-Jun 2026), much higher than the 53.6% in Q4 FY2025 and the 37% GPM of Padini.

Why Bonia can enjoy much higher gross profit margin is because it has own design and brand name, so it can command higher pricing. Imagine for a men long sleeve shirt, Padini’s Seeds may sell one at RM89.90 but Bonia may command a premium pricing of RM129.90. It is just because of the brand name or a subtle difference in design at the collar or pocket part.

It is a pity to see Padini going downhill in this way. But I am confident the major shareholder Yong family that controls over 46% stakes in Padini will find a way to turn around the company. They have decades of experience in running the business.

The company still has so much cash in hand and almost zero borrowings, and Padini is Yong family’s flagship company. They cannot let it fail.

Even after the shares dropped 10% on Friday to years low, I am not in any hurry to buy more. For those shares I bought at RM1.40+, I will just hold on and collect dividends which will give me 6.5% yield every year.

I may add some if the share price falls further towards RM1.05 for potential dividend yields of 8.8%. It would then come back to the situation in 2012-2014 when the share price was trading at RM1.20-1.30 and dividends were around 11 sen yielding 8.8%. I collected plenty of Padini shares then at RM1.30 and then sold off at above RM5.00 a few years later.

BAuto to report Q1 FY2027 Results in mid September

BAuto is set to release its Q1 FY2027 results on Friday 11th or Monday 14th September. It is an important quarter to gauge whether the company is on the right path to earnings recovery.

BAuto reported very strong earnings for Q4 FY2026 with a core net profit of RM50.5m, a big jump from the preceding quarter Q3’s RM33.8m and previous year corresponding quarter Q4 FY2025’s RM19.2m.

Total vehicle sales in Q4 FY2026 were 3,507 units:

• Mazda Malaysia - 2,838

• Mazda Philippines - 370

• Kia - 21

• XPeng - 278

In Q1 FY2027 (May-July 2026), BAuto sold a total of ~3,100 units of Mazda cars in Malaysia, which is about 9% higher than Q4 FY26’s sales. There is no detailed breakdown figures of how many XPeng cars have been sold in May-July 2026 quarter, but some commentary in i3 suggested that BAuto only managed to sell some 70 units of XPeng in the month of July. Maybank in its update report dated 18th June reported that booking for XPeng cars remained steady at 150-200 units, I think booking here means total booking received so far for XPeng cars up to mid June. So, we should expect total sales of about 200 XPeng cars in Q1 FY2027.

Up to early August, I was still hoping for BAuto to register good earnings for Q1 FY27 as all sales figures up to July suggested so. However, the share price has dropped below RM1.00 since late July and remained so throughout August, suggesting persistent selling pressures. On Friday, selling accelerated to push it to the lowest point since June. And this is just some 2 weeks before the result announcement.

What does the share price slide suggest? Do insiders know something that we don’t? Any negative news is coming? Is Q1 FY27 result going to be very bad?

I take note of a recent case where Padini share price kept dropping from a peak of RM1.60 on 17th July, a day after MACC unfroze its bank accounts, to lower than RM1.40 on 24th August. Then selling accelerated on Friday after the company announced the first quarterly loss in years. That shows to me that insiders already knew of the bad quarterly result on 17th July, and took advantage of the good news to sell off the stock. Until Friday only I realised that why Padini shares never rebounded after 17th July.

But if I look at BAuto share price chart, this stock also suffered renewed selling in late May that pushed it to a low of RM0.86 on 5th June, but two weeks after that the company announced the strong results with net profit beating all expectations. The share price gapped up at RM0.95 at opening on 12th June and subsequently rose to a high of RM1.06 the following day, then to a peak of RM1.12 on 16-17th July. This suggests to me that the share price might have been purposely pushed down in late May-early June for insiders to collect more before the strong quarterly result was out.

The same happened to YTL Power when the stock rose to a high of RM4.50 in early July then got pushed down to a low of RM4.09 in early August. Subsequently the company released a series of good news in relation to its data centre business, and the share price jumped to a high of RM6.00 in 4 weeks.

Ranhill shares also experienced similar trend. The stock rose to a high of RM2.20 right after it announced a good result for its Q3 FY2026 in late May, but the share price was subsequently sold down to a low of RM1.89 on 11th June and it stayed below RM2.00 for the rest of June and July. Strong buying only emerged in early August to push the share price to a high of RM2.80 in 3 weeks. After the company announced its Q4 FY26 results, the shares were sold down to a low of RM2.40 within days. That shows to me that big players were manipulating the stock price movements to try to gain maximum profits within a short period of time.

There has been some rumuor of BAuto going to lose the sole distributorship of XPeng in Malaysia, as circulated in online investment site i3. I think that remains as just gossip talks, or fake news being spread by certain parties to press down the share price. I do not believe XPeng will terminate the distributorship to BAuto just after few months of sales performance. XPeng cars were selling quite well in 2H 2025 when it was first launched with monthly sales of 150-200 units. It has only dropped to below 100 units / month in past 3-4 months.

This is not the same as for Kia distributorship. The Kia distributorship was terminated by mutual agreement after at least 3 years of sole distributorship by BAuto. It became loss making in the last 12-18 months before the termination, and it became better off for BAuto to cut loss on that distributorship. Even if the XPeng distributorship were to be terminated right now, it would not cause a major damage to BAuto financials as earnings contribution from XPeng distribution is not significant.

There is also rumuor that PMX will be announcing some good news on Merdeka Day, including an increase of RON95 subsidy quota to 300 litres a month. That will be positive for BAuto and Mazda car sales. But nobody is talking about it in i3.

I hope that BAuto will follow the trend of itself in past 3 months, where the share price was pushed down ahead of the quarterly results then chased up high after the result. I would assess such possibility as 60%-70%. I still trust the sales figures and the ability of BAuto management to control the costs and maximise the profits. After all, the management themselves are the major shareholders of the company.

When I initially recommended to buy BAuto in early January 2026, it was based on the fact that the initial rush to EVs in Malaysia was over after Perodua launched its first EV to muted responses. That conviction still holds true for Chinese made EVs, as the major brands like BYD and Cherry have seen their sales holding steady or are seeing slowing sales. The difference between early January and now is the emergence of Proton eMas that has quickly taken the top spot for EV sales in Malaysia in 1H 2026.

Proton eMas 7 that is priced at RM110-120k indeed poses some challenge to Mazda SUVs especially the lower end ones that are priced within that range. However, it is a different car segment altogether. Mazda SUVs are mostly petrol cars while Proton eMas 7 is a pure EV, though the recently launched Proton eMas 7 Hybrid may bring more competition. There is only a small portion of Mazda petrol car buyers who may have been persuaded away to buy a Proton eMas7 instead.

Furthermore, BAuto has quickly responded by bringing in Mazda 3, a petrol sedan car that is priced within the same price bracket. Mazda 3 has proven to be a runaway success, as it is among the cheapest entry model to Mazda brand in Malaysia, and more importantly it is a sporty sedan, not a SUV. So it does not compete with Proton eMas 7 altogether.

And the sales statistics has shown it all - BAuto has seen steady sales of Mazda cars of about 1,000 units every month up to July 2026. So, its main stream car brand, Mazda, has not been affected much by the emergence of Proton eMas. But XPeng car sales have inevitably been affected, with car sales dropping from 150-200 units per month in Q4 2025 to 100-150 in Jan-Mar 2026 to now 70-100 in April-July 2026.

BAuto has rolled out the CKD programme for XPeng and the CKD version may be selling at lower prices than the CBU units brought in before the end of 2025. Now that MITI has introduced new rules for all CBU EVs which are to sell at almost RM300k, this CKD version of XPeng will have price advantage over other brands that do not have a CKD programme yet.

BAuto plans to introduce the flagship XPeng G9 seven-seater by end of 2026, followed by two additional lower-priced models next year. I hope these two models to be brought in next year will have a selling price of below RM130k, to be competitive with other Chinse brands. I also hope that BAuto will upgrade the XPeng G6 and X9 CKD models to more premium offerings - including a longer drive range of over 600km - to set them apart from the highly competitive Chinese SUV segment. That will skew it towards the premium SUV segment that is currently dominated by Zeekr. Then the gross profit margin may be pushed to above RM60k per car. Imagine that if BAuto managed to sell some 100 such premium XPeng SUVs a month, it would stand to make a gross profit of RM60k x 100 x 12 = RM72 million a year.

As for Mazda car offerings, BAuto has recently brought in the CBU 2.5L CX-5 that is priced around RM170k. The company plans to have CKD production of this all-new CX-5 in mid 2027. BAuto also plans to introduce a new B-segment SUV in 2027/28 (likely priced at MYR120k–125k), which could emerge as another key volume driver.

All in, I see high chances for BAuto meet its sales target for FY2027:

• 12,000 Mazda cars in Malaysia

• 1,600 Mazda cars in the Philippines

• 2,200 XPeng cars in Malaysia

With only G6 and X9 models on offer for XPeng now, it is difficult for BAuto to achieve the sales target of 2,200 XPeng cars in FY2027. But if the company can bring in at least one of the two lower-priced XPeng models in early 2027, then it may still have the chance to meet the sales target.

Maybank forecasts a core net profit of RM140m for BAuto in FY2027, or EPS of 12.2 sen. The research house projects a total dividend of 8.6 sen for FY2027.

That implies a quarterly run of RM35m a quarter in FY2027. I am actually projecting higher than this for Q1 FY2027, given the strong sales figures in May-July, but I am happy for it to achieve such a net profit run rate.

BAuto achieved a net profit of RM8.8m in Q1 FY2026. If it can achieve a net profit of RM35m in Q1 FY2027, it will then be a great improvement over the low base in FY2026.

I am not buying more BAuto at this moment, but will wait until the week beginning 7th September to see if there will be any final push to depress the share price to below RM0.90. I hope to collect more towards RM0.86 for a 10% dividend yield.

According to Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds net bought RM11.1m worth of YTL Power shares last Thursday, while turning net sellers of YTL shares with a net sale of RM11.7m. Local institutions were net buyers of YTL shares with a net purchase of RM14.6m. Local retailers were again the net sellers of YTL Power shares with a net sale of RM12.8m.

Zetrix AI shares hit limit down on Friday, with no apparent news until now. Local institutions were the major sellers of Zetrix with a net sale of RM55.7m, with local retailers picking up most of these Zetrix shares with a net purchase of RM73.1m. Investment traders were the balance sellers with a net sale of RM12.3m. Foreign funds were almost completely out of this stock.

While the jury is out there to see if picking up Zetrix AI shares after the Friday selling is a good move, I tend to think that it may turn out to be an unwise bet.

Why local institutions sold it down so desperately until the stock hit limit down? There must be a compelling reason for them to do so. Fund managers will not sell down a stock easily until it hits limit down. Padini shares were sold down by 10% on Friday after a shocking quarterly loss in many years. The last time that I saw a stock that local institutions used to buy hit limit down was Serba Dinamik, which was alleged to have fraud accounting. There may have been other cases, but I remember Serba Dinamik as I was also tempted to buy in after recommendation from a couple of local analysts. But as I observed the company for several quarters and noticed a pattern of extraordinarily consistent profit growth and orderbook buildup, I turned suspicious as the company did not have much cash though the accounting profits kept hitting new highs.

It is rather saddening to see local retailers buying into these stocks without much knowledge of the company underlying business and actual financial position. How many actually understands what Zetrix AI is doing with its blockchain business? How many actually got to verify those high-flying oil & gas contracts that Serba Dinamik secured every quarter in the Middle East then? How many understands how Yinson executes the FSPO contracts and the risks involved? How many actually understand what Sapura group of companies were doing as core business? How many understand where Nationgate gets its supply of AI servers and the huge amount of working capital required and the tiny profit margin achieved with these bulk supply contracts?

I have to confess that I do not understand enough so I never invest in these counters. You don’t buy a stock just because others recommend it. You do not buy a stock because I recommend it. You buy a stock when you understand the underlying business and you are convinced of its growth story.

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The broad market index closed around the flatline, while the Nasdaq declined 0.08%. The Dow Jones lost 113.52 points to finish at 53,463.88.

Meta reached a settlement with state attorneys general over a lawsuit alleging that its social media apps harmed young users. Shares were 1% higher on the day.

The PCE price index - a monthly report detailing changes in prices of goods and services and a closely watched inflation metric by the Federal Reserve - rose slightly more than expected in July. However, core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices, came in as anticipated.

The report comes with the bond market in focus. US Treasury yields were little changed Wednesday after falling broadly Tuesday, when the 10-year yield lost almost 8 basis points. Yields hit multiyear highs last week, with the 30-year bond rate reaching levels not seen in nearly 20 years.

Nvidia is set to report its earnings for the second quarter on Wednesday after the bell. Wall Street projects earnings per share of $2.09 on $92.28 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

The report could be the bellwether for the broader market, given the chipmaker is the largest S&P 500 member, with a market cap of more than $5 trillion.

“Nvidia’s earnings, due later today, could create further volatility, with investors looking for a robust earnings beat and forward guidance that signals sustained demand for AI chips,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer of the Americas and global head of equities at UBS.

Investors are also eyeing Federal Reserve Chairman Keven Warsh’s speech on Friday at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole. Though, some have noted Warsh could remain tight-lipped ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy decision in September.

“If Warsh really succeeds in not giving much direction on things, I think people are going to go, ‘What the heck is going on?’” said Ben Fulton, CEO of WEBs Investments. However, if Warsh actually offers some perspective there, Fulton thinks he will ‘probably bring some calm”.

“it’s not a high conviction market right now,” he added. “We need to start seeing some clarity.”

Nvidia shares jump after earnings report. Here’s what has investors excited

The Motley Fool, August 27, 2026

NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares are moving higher in after-hours trading after the chip giant released another monster quarterly result.

The Nvidia share price finished Wednesday’s regular session down 1.59% at US$209.66, but quickly turned around after the result.

At the latest check, the shares were up 4.71% after hours to US$219.53.

The quarterly numbers were strong, but it was management’s longer-term outlook that really caught investors’ attention.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.

Another huge quarter

Nvidia reported second-quarter revenue of US$96.2 billion, up 18% from the previous quarter and 106% from a year earlier.

That comfortably beat Wall Street expectations of around US$92.3 billion.

Adjusted earnings came in at US$2.22 per share, also ahead of the US$2.09 analysts were expecting.

Once again, Data Center did most of the heavy lifting. Revenue from the division reached US$89 billion, up 117% year on year and representing more than 90% of total sales.

CEO Jensen Huang said AI had “reached its inflection point”, adding that demand continued to accelerate as more AI labs, cloud providers, and businesses increased spending.

The company’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform is also moving into full production, with systems already running at major cloud partners.

The company also returned around US$26 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends during the quarter.

What stood out?

While the quarterly result was impressive, the biggest talking point came during the earnings call.

Management said it expects revenue to grow by around 70% in fiscal 2028, well ahead of the roughly 45% growth Wall Street had been expecting.

What makes that outlook even more interesting is that Nvidia is still struggling to keep up with demand. The company indicated it can currently meet only around 70% of demand, with supply still falling short.

WAM Global analyst Laura Hargrove said the one-year guidance “signals confidence in the durability of demand for AI chips”.

She also pointed out that demand is becoming broader, with enterprise customers, sovereign AI programs, and specialised cloud providers accounting for a growing share of revenue.

Investors clearly liked what they heard, with Nvidia shares climbing more than 4% in after-hours trading.

There was also plenty to like in the near-term outlook.

Nvidia expects third-quarter revenue of around US$108 billion, ahead of Wall Street estimates of roughly US$104 billion.

What should investors watch?

There are still a few areas worth keeping an eye on.

Gross margins are expected to slip slightly from 75% to around 74% in the third quarter as memory and component costs rise.

Management also expects margins to fall further later in the year before starting to recover.

So, if you own Nvidia shares, it’s worth seeing how this metric tracks over the next few quarters.

The post Nvidia shares jump after earnings report. Here’s what has investors excited appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

My take: Nvidia’s latest quarterly results and outlook guidance clearly show that the demand for AI chips and data centre spending is not slowing down anytime soon.

Nvidia stated that it could only meet roughly 70% of demand for its GPUs. The situation is similar over here in Malaysia, with YTL Power scrambling to meet the huge demand for new data centre buildout. YTL Power last week announced expansion of its data centre park to Sedenak Hi-tech Park in Johor with another 1.2GW of new data centres in the pipeline.

In a part of the results briefing by Nvidia Executive Vice President and CFO, Colette Kress, the following was mentioned:

“… In sovereign AI, out business, primarily through the regional NeoClouds, grew 35% sequentially and more than tripled year-over-year in Q2.

A country or region can allocate land and power directly to a regional cloud partner in ways it never would to a foreign hyperscaler. We don’t own a cloud ourselves. We are a neutral partner to every sovereign and NeoCloud. Because NVIDIA Compute is productive, fungible, rentable, and durable, regional cloud interest is surging around the world. We helped CoreWeave, Nebius, and Nscale build entire infrastructure businesses, and NeoClouds are emerging everywhere. Firebird in Armenia, Cassava Technologies across Africa, GMI Cloud in Taiwan, Yotta and Neysa in India, Firmus in Australia, YTL AI Cloud in Malaysia, pairing local land, power and operating expertise with our platform. Last month, we announced a partnership with Neotra, Japan’s national AI company, to build an NVIDIA DSX AI factory that will create open models to power AI agents, digital twins, robotics, and physical AI applications. …”

Nvidia is indeed helping all its NeoClouds to build up businesses. In the case of YTL Power, NVIDIA has been influential in bringing in US hyperscalers to partner with YTL Power in new data centre buildouts in Malaysia.

CLSA Upgrades YTL Power

CLSA issued an update report on YTL Power on 24th August, and raised its target price from RM4.40 to RM8.01. That is the highest price target set by an analyst for YTL Power so far.

Below are some extracts from the report:

We upgrade YTLP to HC O-PF and raise our TP from RM4.40 to RM8.01. Despite an 80% YTD rally, we see more upside from its datacentre (DC) growth. The 150MW operating base supports conversion of 148MW contracted capacity and a 202MW active build. We assume average billable capacity of c.200MW, 350MW and 500MW in FY27-29, lifting DC contribution from 24% in FY27 to c.40% by FY29. We value only 22% of the 2.4GW plan. We apply 20x Ebitda, still below global benchmarks. PowerSeraya and Wessex also offer resilient earnings.

2.4GW datacentre pipeline leads the company’s historic reinvention

YTLP’s 20MW Nvidia-powered AI facility, commissioned last year with liquid-cooled GB200 systems, validates its wider DC platform. It has 150MW live and 298MW contracted capacity. DC contributed 14% (RM345m) to FY26 PBT (up from RM32m); we estimate 32% by FY29. YTLP targets 258MW live by end-FY27, with a path to 500MW within its 2.4GW plan. Nvidia’s Exemplar Cloud recognition supports YTLP’s integrated stack: power, renewables, land, fibre, GPUs, AI cloud.

Power scarcity is setting the price

Global AI-infrastructure spending is accelerating, with power, land and permits becoming scarce. Malaysia’s growing hyperscale market strengthens YTLP’s integrated Kulai platform. Our 20x RM4.30m/MW DC Ebitda valuation reflects this scarcity and Nvidia-backed premium, while discounting execution, funding and customer-concentration risks. It remains at the bottom end of global 20–30x benchmarks and we value only 589.6MW, or 22%, of YTLP’s 2.4GW pipeline.

4QFY26 establishes a strong initial operating base, the tip of the iceberg

4QFY26 core PATAMI of RM437.6m beat expectations, lifting FY26 core earnings to RM1.99bn. DC revenue/PBT rose 105%/312% QoQ, although adjusted for catch-up effects. Wessex and Ranhill lifted water PBT by 57%, while PowerSeraya PBT eased 2%. FY26 DPS was 8sen. In FY27, DC conversion and water growth should offset soft PowerSeraya earnings until its 600MW CCGT starts end-2027.

Upgrade to High-Conviction Outperform, raise target price to RM8.01

We raise 27CL earnings by 30% and introduce FY28-29CL as we impute FY26 results and reflect DC growing contribution. Hence, we upgrade our rating to HC O-PF with a higher SOTP-based TP of RM8.01 (from RM4.40 TP set in 2025). We like YTLP for its developed-market utility assets and expanding AIDC platform. We estimate c.30% FY27-29E earnings Cagr to RM4bn+. YTLP is our top DC proxy.

Longer-term optionality extends well beyond our RM8.01 base case. Full conversion of Kulai and Sedenak would produce 2.04GW of attributable capacity after reflecting YTL Power’s 70% Sedenak interest. At RM4.30m/MW of stabilised Ebitda and 20x, this implies RM175.4bn of attributable mature DC enterprise value. After deducting c.RM28.2bn of remaining development funding and discounting the incremental value to 2032, we derive a blue-sky value of RM14.07/share. This assumes full customer conversion, timely power delivery, unchanged unit economics and disciplined funding. Our base target recognises only 589.6MW, leaving most of the 2.4GW plan outside valuation.

Key factors supporting our high conviction YTL Power has 150MW live, 298MW contracted and a physical path to 500MW at Kulai, with a second up-to-1.2GW campus planned at Sedenak. More important, it controls more of the value chain than a conventional colocation landlord: land and renewables sit beside group construction capability, fibre, data halls, GPUs and AI cloud. Nvidia Cloud Partner and Exemplar Cloud status validates the AI infrastructure.

(a) Data centres provided the first operating benchmark Data centre revenue doubled QoQ to RM459.4m and PBT rose 312% to RM244.3m in 4QFY26. A cumulative straight-line adjustment for contractual escalators lifted the quarter, so the reported 53% margin should not be annualised. Even after normalisation, our estimates of c.RM321m revenue and c.RM120m PBT are materially above the 3Q run-rate and provide a usable benchmark for unit economics.

(b) Planned capacity increased to 2.4GW The long-term plan now comprises 1.2GW at Kulai and another 1.2GW at the proposed 145-acre Sedenak campus. SIPP Power will acquire the initial Sedenak land and has an option for a further c.400 acres. The announcement establishes the scale of management’s plan, while customer contracts, approvals, power and 100% economics remain outstanding. Our valuation reflects those differences in development stage. We expect YTL Power to eventually explore expansion into Selangor/Klang Valley, mirroring strategies adopted by Bridge Data Centres and DayOne. The region remains attractive for datacentre development given its established power, water and fibre infrastructure, deep enterprise demand and proximity to key connectivity hubs.

(c) Wessex gained regulatory certainty On 26 March 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published final redeterminations for the five water companies that appealed Ofwat’s PR24 determination, including Wessex Water. The CMA awarded £463m of additional revenue across the five companies, equivalent to 17% of the amount sought, and increased the allowed return on the appointed business from 4.03% to 4.20%, with the wholesale return moving from 3.97% to 4.20%. The absolute uplift is modest, but the decision removes a two-year overhang and provides a settled framework for regulatory capital value to increase from roughly £4.7bn to £7.3bn over AMP8.

(d) Higher Singapore power prices will take time to reach retail margins The Uniform Singapore Energy Price (USEP) averaged S$137.46/MWh in 1Q26, increased 40.8% QoQ to S$193.59/MWh in 2Q26 and reached S$205.6/MWh in June, compared with roughly S$116/MWh in 2025. PowerSeraya renewed most of its retail book in early 2026, before the increase. Input costs have moved ahead of contracted retail prices. We expect margins to recover as the book reprices, rather than treating the current squeeze as a permanent reset.

(e) Why the stack deserves a premium: Nvidia validates more than the shell YTL Power is not simply developing powered buildings. It is assembling an integrated infrastructure chain spanning power, renewables, land, group construction capability, fibre, datacentres, GPUs and AI cloud. Each layer addresses a constraint that competitors would otherwise have to outsource. This should shorten delivery time, lower execution risk and allow YTLP to retain more of the economics, from electricity and colocation through to compute and cloud services.

Nvidia provides the clearest external validation. The relationship goes beyond purchasing GPUs. YTLP was among the earliest adopters of Nvidia’s liquid-cooled GB200 NVL72 architecture and has built the infrastructure required to operate it at scale. More importantly, YTL AI Cloud is both an Nvidia Cloud Partner and an Exemplar Cloud provider. Nvidia says Exemplar providers must meet measured standards covering real-workload performance, cost efficiency, security and reliability. In its June 2026 update, Nvidia identified only six Cloud Partners with this status: CoreWeave, Crusoe, Lambda, Nebius, Vultr and YTL. For a Malaysian platform to sit in that cohort is meaningfully significant and difficult to replicate through hardware procurement alone.

Data centres have now cleared the key earnings-credibility hurdle, although reported 4Q profitability materially overstates the recurring run rate. DC revenue/PBT reached RM459m/RM244m in 4Q, implying a headline 53% PBT margin. However, two of three colocation contracts contain annual escalation clauses that auditors required to be straight-lined over the contract life. As this treatment was not applied in 1Q-3Q, YTLP booked a cumulative catch-up in 4Q. Management indicated this represented roughly 30% of revenue and around half of 4Q PBT. We estimate recurring 4Q DC revenue/PBT at closer to RM321m/RM120m, which is still a very healthy underlying earnings base.

More importantly, the quarter provides the first credible anchor for DC unit economics. After stripping out electricity resale, we estimate pure colocation revenue of roughly RM183m in 4Q on 150MW of live capacity, implying pricing of around US$100/kW/month. Management independently indicated pricing is above US$100/kW/month. Depending on how electricity’s c.30% revenue share is measured, the underlying colocation rate could be closer to US$100-122/kW/month. This materially strengthens the investment case because the valuation is now supported by observed operating economics rather than merely capacity announcements.

The DC capacity roadmap is now much clearer but FY27 remains back-end loaded. YTLP currently has 150MW live and billing, rising to c.190MW after another 40MW comes online around end-Nov/early Dec, and to 258MW live by end-FY27. Total contracted capacity stands at 298MW, with the final 40MW expected beyond FY27. Around 500MW is under construction, including DC5 (80MW) and DC11 (120MW), although the incremental c.200MW remains uncontracted. YTLP has secured a 600MW ESA with Tenaga and is working on another 600MW, supporting the expanded 1.2GW Kulai master plan. Including Sedenak, longer-term ambition reaches 2.4GW by 2032. FY28 could become the larger earnings inflection if DC5/DC11 secure customers.

Electricity resale expands revenue and customer economics but naturally dilutes the blended DC margin. Electricity accounts for roughly 30% of DC segment revenue. It is not a pure pass-through: Tenaga bills DC South, which then sells electricity to customers under a tariff-linked contractual structure and earns a margin. This creates another recurring earnings stream, albeit at lower margins than pure colocation, which explains why segment revenue growth should outpace colocation Ebitda growth.

Solar deepens the vertically integrated DC proposition. The first 215MWac SIPP solar facility is mechanically complete and undergoing testing and commissioning, with COD expected in 1Q-2QFY27 and revenue recognition potentially commencing around Oct-26. The broader ambition is up to 500MW of solar supporting Kulai. While internal power sales eliminate on consolidation, the strategic value is greater control over power sourcing, renewable credentials and long-term energy economics for the DC campus.

Unit economics rebuilt from a normalised filed quarter

4QFY26 DC revenue/PBT of RM459.4m/RM244.3m contains an estimated cumulative catch-up from straight-lining annual contractual escalators. Management indicated the adjustment was around 30% of revenue and around half of PBT. We reconstruct c.RM321.4m revenue and c.RM120m PBT as the recurring starting point.

On 150MW live, annualised normalised revenue density is c.RM8.57m/MW and PBT density c.RM3.20m/MW. Adding c.RM1.30m/MW for project depreciation, finance and stabilisation gives RM4.50m/MW of 4Q-supported Ebitda. We use RM4.30m/MW in valuation, a 4.4% haircut. Support for RM4.50m/MW. Normalised 4Q PBT density of RM3.20m/MW is already above the c.RM2.84m/MW Ebitda density reconstructed from 3Q.

Electricity represents roughly 30% of segment revenue and earns a margin, while colocation pricing exceeds c.US$100/kW/month. Adding c.RM1.30m/MW for project depreciation, finance and stabilisation gives RM4.50m/MW of 4Q-supported Ebitda. We then apply a 4.4% haircut and use RM4.30m/MW in valuation.

This CLSA update actually gives very good information into the normalised revenue and PBT of YTL Power’s data centre segment in Q4 FY2026.

The indicated RM321.4m revenue for 150MW of live capacity in Q4 translates into a normalised DC revenue density of RM321.4m x 4 /150MW = RM8.57m/MW per year, or RM321.4m/3/150MW / 4.10 = USD174.20/kW/month. That is substantially higher than my revised assumption of US$139/kW/month and JPMorgan’s highest range of US$150/kW/month.

The calculated RM4.50m/MW of EBITDA is equivalent to about RM1.35 billion of EBITDA for 300MW, which is close to YTL Power’s earlier guidance of RM1.4 billion EBITDA for 300MW.

CLSA’s calculated PBT density of RM3.2m/MW translate into RM3.2m x 150MW = RM480m of PBT per year or RM120m of PBT per quarter.

Against its implied revenue density, CLSA calculates the PBT margin to be RM3.2m/RM8.57m = 37.3%. That is very much higher than my assumed 26% for Q4 FY2026. I will probably revise my assumptions if the next quarter PBT shows a consistent PBT margin of over 30%.

YTL Power shares succumbed to profit taking on Thursday, after briefly breaking up RM6.00 level in the afternoon session. I managed to sell about 1% of my holdings in YTL Power at above RM5.90 earlier today.

I expect the share price to enter into a short-term consolidation before breaking up RM6.00 level again, probably next month. So, I will look forward to buying back some YTL Power shares if the share price retreats towards RM5.40-5.50 level for a maximum 10% retracement from RM6.02 peak today.

According to Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds net bought RM16.4m worth of YTL shares and RM11.5m worth of YTL Power shares on Wednesday 26 August. Local institutions were bigger buyers with net purchase of RM48.7m worth of YTL Power shares and RM32.8m worth of YTL shares. Local retailers were the only sellers with net sale of RM63.4m of YTL Power shares and RM48.2m YTL shares.

KSL Announces Decent Results for Q2 FY2026

KSL announced on Thursday a decent set of results for its Q2 FY2026, with net profit increasing by 2.4% YoY to RM115.7 million.

Revenue in Q2 came in at RM380.97 million, 5% higher YoY. Gross profit margin remained steady at 56.7% inn Q2 FY2026, slightly lower than the 57.0% in Q1 FY2026.

Net profit came in lower than my expected range of RM125-140m due to lower revenue (RM381m vs RM400-550m) and higher Administration and Selling & Distribution Expenses (up 22% YoY).

In the Commentary for Prospects section, KSL mentions that:

Against this backdrop, the Group continues to advance its township development pipeline, with a strategic focus on affordable and mid-market properties. Key ongoing developments include the integrated Riveria Garden township in Iskandar Puteri, which has an estimated total GDV exceeding RM15 billion. Following positive market reception to the earlier phases, the Group is progressively launching subsequent mixed-use residential and commercial phases to capture sustained demand and unlock the township’s development potential.

To capture broader housing demand, the Group continues to roll out projects throughout its wide footprint in Johor, including the Bestari Alma township near the Johor-Singapore Second Link. Concurrently, the Group’s active developments across established corridors in Johor and the Klang Valley generate healthy unbilled sales that provide earnings visibility over the near term.

The result notes did not mention about the company’s new launches or plans for the year ahead. The notes are short in detailed analysis of the financial performance and company plans and prospects. It only provides the minimum information on a breakdown of revenue and segmental profits for Property Development (Revenue of RM538m, Segmental profit of RM197m) and Property Investment (Revenue of RM128m, Segmental profit of RM66m).

KSL launched over RM3.5 billion of property projects in 2H 2025, but so far there has not been much information about what has been launched and the take-up rates. I think the company needs to improve on the investor relation and information sharing part. I had expected better communications from the company management to the investment community after the interview given by a KSL executive director (from the second generation of the founding Ku family). Apparently, it has come short.

Since the company met with some investment bankers to discuss the prospect of setting up a REIT to house its investment properties last September, there has been absolutely no further information on such plan. Has the company aborted the REIT plan altogether? Is it waiting for KSL Esplanade Mall Klang to achieve certain occupancy rates first?

KSL had a net debt of RM480m as of 30 June 2026, or a net gearing of 10% only which is considered low among listed property companies. If the company management thinks that they do not need to do a REIT plan to reduce borrowings, why don’t they declare higher dividends to the shareholders?

KSL had over RM3.89 billion of inventories sitting in the Balance Sheet. That is like more than three years of property development sales. Why are there so many inventories or unsold houses? How many of these are bumi lots waiting for release?

It is exactly the lack of transparency in the company communications that has made investors wary of the company plans and prospects, and to a lesser extent the company accounts and strong earnings. That explains why the stock is trading at just 6x PER, compared to listed peers that enjoy a much higher valuation of 15x-20x PER.

I reckon there is a lot of work to be done by the company management if they want to see KSL share price being appreciated more by the investor community. For my investment in the stock, I have taken profit on 90% of my holdings in KSL in past few months at prices above RM2.80. I was disappointed with the lack of information and news flow from the company on its projects & launches, and absolutely no coverage or update by analysts.

I have not seen any research house that covers this stock, at least not the ones I normally have access to. Hence, I do not get any update at all from any analyst on KSL company operations or news. An interview by an executive director with The Edge Malaysia or other media once a year or once in few years is definitely not good enough for investors to have confidence in the company prospects and earnings.

Padini announces Q4 FY2026 Results

Padini on Thursday announced its Q4 FY2026 results with a net loss of RM9.6 million, from a net profit of RM6.98m in Q4 FY2025.

Revenue in Q4 dropped by 6.7% YoY to RM365.9 million, but the company plunged into a loss in Q4. Apart from decrease in top-line sales, which resulted in lower profit before tax, the decline was also due to higher operational costs, including increased depreciation and the imposition of service tax on rental and other expenses which took effect as part of the Service Tax scope expansion from 1 July 2025.

Q4 revenue dropped by 41.1% compared to the immediate preceding quarter Q3 FY26. The drop in revenue was mainly due to heightened sales during festive seasons such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya in the preceding quarter.

The Q4 results definitely disappoint many. It shows that Padini has not been able to pass on higher costs to consumers. Gross profit margin dropped from 41% in Q3 FY25 to 40% in Q3 FY26 and to 37% in Q4 FY2026.

Another negative side is that Padini saw decreasing cash balance from RM904.8 million as of 31 March 2026 to RM814.3m as of 30 June 2026. The company has no debt. Net cash amounts to about 83 sen per share, almost 60% of its market capitalisation.

Padini declares a fourth interim dividend of 1.8 sen and a special dividend of 2.0 sen for FY2026, bringing total FY2026 dividends to 9.2 sen, slightly lower than the totala dividend of 9.6 sen in FY2025. At current prices, Padini offers an attractive dividend yield of 6.7%.

Full year FY2026 net profit comes to RM112.6 million, a drop of 27% YoY. EPS comes in at 11.4 sen for FY2026, hence at current price of RM1.38, Padini is trading at 12.1x PER.

Amidst the negative sentiment around Padini due to the MACC case, Padini share price may not move up much in coming months even after MACC unfroze all its bank accounts. We need to see that MACC completely clears Padini of any wrongdoings before a meaningful rebounds in share price may happen.

I hope that Padini management can improve its sales going into FY2027, to reverse the double-digit drop in FY2026. If that is successful, then Padini valuation will fall to below 10x PER. As the company has strong operating cashflows and a substantial net cash holding, we can expect high dividends in FY2027. Hence, I will add more Padini shares should its share price fall towards RM1.30 for dividend yields of over 7%.

Spritzer announced results for Q2 FY2026

Spritzer on Thursday announced a good set of results for its Q2 FY2026 with net profit coming in at RM35.35 million, 55.6% higher than same period last year. It is way above my projected net profit range of RM23-25m.

The Group recorded revenue of RM202.98 million for the current quarter ended 30 June 2026, representing a 23% YoY growth and a 28% QoQ growth. The increase in the Group's sales revenue in the current quarter and year-to-date ended 30 June 2026 is due to increase in sales volume and average selling prices of bottled water from the manufacturing segment. The QoQ increase was mainly attributable to higher sales volume, driven by stronger demand and a greater number of delivery days, as the immediate preceding quarter had fewer delivery days due to public holidays and the shorter month of February

The Group’s profit before tax for the current quarter ended 30 June 2026 increased by 57% to RM47.4 million, compared with RM30.2 million in the preceding quarter ended 31 March 2026 mainly due to increase in sales of bottled water.

Revenue for Q2 FY2026 was 23% higher than same period last year. Minus cost of sales, gross profit came in at RM107.3m or a gross profit margin of 52.9% which is higher than the record high gross profit margin of 52.0% in Q4 FY2025 and 51.3% in Q1 FY2026. That is very encouraging and good improvement in operating efficiencies. Q4 is seasonally the strongest quarter for Spritzer as year-end school holidays and Christmas festivities encourage more domestic travelling and parties / celebrations.

Spritzer achieved an EBITDA of RM56.0m in Q2 FY2026 (higher than the RM37.9m in Q1 FY2026) or an EBITDA margin of 27.6%, higher than the 24.0% in Q1 FY2026 and 26.3% in Q4 FY2025. The jump in EBITDA margin in Q2 was likely due to better economy of scale from higher sales revenue.

Operating cashflows were very strong at RM78.8 million in 1H FY2026, despite a substantially higher cash tax payments of RM17.6m in the first half. That is higher than my expected operating cashflows of RM33-35m a quarter.

Capex amounted to RM14.8m in 1H FY2026. I expect full year capex to be less than RM30m.

Spritzer has maintained a stronger net cash position as of 30 June 2026, with total cash holdings of RM35.99 and total borrowings of RM31.2m.

Of note is that Spritzer has placed a total of RM33.8 million into Other Investments in 1H FY2026. In the balance sheet, there is an item called Other Investments under Current Assets with a value of RM69.5m as of 30 June 2026. I do not know of the nature of these other investments. The result note says it is “Investment in money market and fixed income funds”. It looks like a parking of cash in short-term time deposits or purchase of MGS or corporate bonds, either of which typically yields higher interests than fixed deposits. Adding back these short-term investments, Spritzer has over RM100 million of cash in hand.

Going forward, Spritzer may continue enjoy strong operating cashflows from revenue growth and lower capital expenditures as most major capex programs have been completed. I expect capex to be around RM30m or less in FY2026. With a net cash position and strong free cashflows of over RM120m a year, Spritzer will be able to declare higher dividends for FY2026.

Spritzer achieved a full year EPS of 14.25 sen in FY2025, slightly higher than I expected. EPS for 1H FY2026 amounts to 9.01 sen, annualised to 18 sen. At the current share price, Spritzer is trading at about 17.9x PER.

For its dominant market share and double-digit earnings growth, Spritzer should deserve a valuation of 20x PER, I think the stock may trade up to RM3.60 in 2026.

Assuming a dividend payout ratio of 40%, I expect Spritzer to be able to pay out 7.0 sen of dividend for FY2026, higher than the 5.0 sen dividend in FY2025 and 4.0 sen in FY2024.

A dividend payout of 7.0 sen will mean a cash payout of RM44 million from Spritzer, which is less than 35% of its annual free cashflows.

For a dividend of 7.0 sen, the dividend yield will be at 225% which is not impressive.

But the company has much stronger free cashflows which may amount to 20.0 sen per share in FY2026, rising to 23 sen in FY2027. I think that is exactly what foreign funds are looking at when buying into Spritzer. The free cashflows yield will be at an attractive 6.2% in FY2026 and 7.1% in FY2027.

Using my favorite valuation metric of 7% FCF yield, Spritzer may be worth RM2.86 in FY2026 rising to RM3.28 in FY2027. But foreign funds may chase it up to higher valuation of 6% FCF yield or even 5% FCF yield as we saw in the case of Padini few years ago. At 6% FCF yield, Spritzer may be worth to RM3.33 in FY2026 and RM3.80 in FY2027.

Even though the dividend payouts are at a fraction of the free cashflows, the balance of the operating cashflows will add to the company coffer which will earn interest income. Hence, the strong free cashflows is the main driver to the stock price.

As we enter the new year 2026 which is a Visit Malaysia Year, higher tourism activities will tend to increase sales of mineral water and other drinks of Spritzer. We can certainly be looking forward to stronger quarters ahead.

The market is concerned with rising resin costs that may hurt Spritzer earnings. The result notes say:

For the remainder of 2026, the operating environment is expected to remain challenging and uncertain amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and evolving global trade conditions. Although geopolitical tensions in the Middle East eased in June 2026, developments remain fluid and continue to pose risks to global energy markets and supply chains. These factors have contributed to volatility in raw material prices, logistics costs and other input costs, with the Group already experiencing significant increases in the cost of certain raw materials.

The Group will continue to implement proactive measures to mitigate these cost pressures through enhanced operational efficiency, disciplined cost management, strategic procurement, process improvements and productivity enhancements. In addition, measured pricing adjustments have been implemented to partially offset the impact of higher input costs. The Group will continue to monitor market conditions and manage its cost structure prudently.

Looking ahead, the Group will remain focused on strengthening operational efficiency, investing in automation and process improvements, and undertaking selective capital investments to support production capacity and long-term growth. The Group will also continue to advance its sustainability initiatives, including increasing the use of recycled PET and exploring further environmentally responsible packaging solutions, in line with its long-term sustainability agenda

As Spritzer share price has rallied up substantially in the past three months, I have trimmed my shareholdings in the stock by more than half especially when it broke up RM3.00 level. Even though the Q2 results exceed my expectation, I am not looking to add or buy back Spritzer at current price.

I may buy back some Spritzer shares if the share price drops back to below RM2.50, but I think that is unlikely to happen in coming weeks.

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A breakdown of the PBT is given in the table below:

IOI Properties Group Berhad (“IOIPG”) registered a 45% increase in revenue to RM4.44 billion for the financial year ended 30 June 2026 (“FY2026”), compared to RM3.06 billion in FY2025. The strong growth in revenue was driven by robust performance across all three core business segments, with the Property Development, Property Investment and Hospitality & Leisure segments registering growth of 35%, 49% and 79% respectively.

Profit before tax (“PBT”) in FY2026 rose by 82% to RM2.65 billion, compared to RM1.45 billion in FY2025. The strong performance was mainly attributable to a RM502.8 million remeasurement gain on South Beach. Excluding exceptional items, the Group’s underlying PBT surged by 91% to RM1.22 billion, primarily driven by commendable contributions from the Property Development and Property Investment segments. Notably, the Property Development segment benefitted from the recognition of land sales in Jalan Ampang and Melaka, while the Property Investment segment was bolstered by higher physical occupancy at IOI Central Boulevard Towers and the addition of South Beach Tower.

The extraordinary item above refers to a fair value gain on investment properties amounting to RM288m in Q4 FY2026.

Property Development Segment

The property development segment recorded revenue of RM779.2 million and operating profit of RM235.8 million for the current quarter, representing an increase of RM253.2 million, or 48%, in revenue and RM83.3 million, or 55%, in operating profit compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year. The improved financial performance was primarily driven by the recognition of the sale of Ampang land amounting to RM257.9 million in the current quarter.

Property Investment Segment

The property investment segment recorded revenue of RM413.1 million and operating profit of RM272.8 million for the current quarter, representing an increase of RM171.3 million, or 71%, in revenue and RM204.4 million, or 299%, in operating profit compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year. The improved financial performance was primarily attributable to the leasing income contribution from South Beach office tower following the consolidation of Scottsdale with effect from 1 September 2025 coupled with the higher occupancy at IOI Central Boulevard Tower. Higher operating profit recorded in the current quarter is primarily due to higher leasing commission incurred in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Hospitality and Leisure Segment

The hospitality and leisure segment recorded revenue of RM194.6 million and operating profit of 0.2 million for the current quarter, reflecting an increase of RM76.9 million of 65% in revenue and an increase of RM1.1 million or 122% in operating profit compared to the preceding year corresponding period. This improvement was primarily attributable to the income contribution from JW Marriott following the consolidation of Scottsdale with effect from 1 September 2025.

The pretax profit excluding the fair value gain breaks above RM400 million for the first time in Q4 FY2026. I consider the profit from the sale of Ampang land as part of the core profit for the Property Development segment, as monetisation of non-core land or industrial land is part and parcel of a property development company core business. It should maintain at such level or even increase in coming quarters as rental income from IOICB and South Beach towers increases from the higher committed occupancy rates.

In fact, I would argue that the fair value gain of RM288m booked in Q4 FY2026 should also be treated as part of core earnings for a property company with such a large portfolio of investment properties. These investment properties are revalued every year based on their higher rental income / rental rates achieved in each year. As most of the investment properties (e.g. IOI City Mall, IOI Mall Kulai, IOI Central Boulevard and South Beach Towers) of IOIPG are almost 100% occupied, they enjoy consistent rental rate revision every year. As such, the properties are revalued higher every year. As long as the investment properties are managed well, rental revision will come every year as expiring tenancy gets renewed. Anyway, I will leave that aside for now until we see consistent fair value gains year after year, then there will be no point segregating out these fair value gains from the core earnings.

It is not straightforward to then calculate the “core net profit” as it is not spelled out in the quarterly report. The result note only shows the breakdown up to PBT level, and we do not know how much taxation is to be applied to the fair value gain. But if I look at Q4 result, a taxation rate of 25% was applied to the total PBT of RM698.15m (which included the fair value gain). It means that accounting tax has been applied to the fair value gain which then should be treated as part of core earnings for a property company.

As such, I shall just use the headline net profit of RM523 million in Q4 FY2026 as an indication of what may come in subsequent quarters. So, the sudden jump in net profit from RM150-250m a quarter in FY2025-9MFY2026 to now RM523m in Q4 FY2026 is not one off. We should expect a net profit level of RM500 million a quarter to be the norm going forward.

At least for FY2027, net profit may hover around RM400-500 million a quarter, resulting in a total net profit of close to RM2.0 billion. That is because IOIPG has already locked in land sales of over RM1.0 billion to be realised in FY2027, and the Property Development segment shall register robust revenue recognition due to the strong sales at The Cube Plus. There will be similar level of fair value gains in FY2027 and every year thereafter. EPS may come to 35-39en in FY2027, similar to what we have for FY2026. Hence, at current share prices, IOIPG is trading at a forward PER of about 11x which is cheap for the largest property counter on Bursa.

The recent rally in IOIPG shares from RM2.00 level in Oct 2025 to now close to RM4.00 has been driven by the prospect of its asset monetisation plans - a Malaysia REIT listing in Oct/Nov 2026 and a private real estate fund in Singapore by end of the year.

The Malaysia REIT will house IOI City Mall, some office towers and hotels of IOIPG in Malaysia. It is valued at RM7.58 billion at the onset and may have room for some upwards revision.

For the Singapore private real estate fund, it should house IOI Central Boulevard (IOICB) and South Beach Complex (office towers and retails space). IOIPG management expects to fetch a valuation of SGD6 billion to SGD7 billion for these assets in Singapore when injecting them into the Singapore private fund.

The Malaysia REIT and Singapore private fund will aim to reduce the net gearing of IOIPG to more manageable levels. Net gearing is set to reduce substantially to potentially below 0.5x after these two exercises.

The idea is to monetise the mature assets, recycle capitals, acquire quality assets or develop new investment properties, and inject the mature assets into existing REIT or private real estate fund to recycle capitals again. That will ensure sustainable growth for IOIPG in the long run. As of now, IOIPG is already the largest property company on Bursa with the largest portfolio of investment properties (RM28.1 billion as of 30 June 2026). That is set to expand further with the impending completion of the acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2, which will add another RM7.9 billion to the investment property portfolio.

Though the stock price may have doubled up in one year, but there are several upsides that most analysts have overlooked:

• the Property Development segment may have positive surprises, given its robust sales at recent launches. Unbilled sales rose to a record high of RM2.51 billion during the period, ensuring strong earnings visibility in the near to medium term. After the successful launch of The Cube Plus, a 4-storey Semi-D Shop Offices development in Bandar Puteri Puchong with a total gross development value of RM738.3 million, the highly anticipated launch of The Cube Plus 2 in FY2027 may drive property development sales to a new high.

• Rising occupancy rates at IOI Central Boulevard and South Beach Complex will contribute higher rental income to the Property Investment segment in coming quarters. A 5% increase in physical occupancy rates at both IOICB and South Beach Complex at current rental rates will add RM50 million of rental income a year to IOIPG.

• There is substantial upside to the average rental rate at IOICB and South Beach Complex at the next rental revision cycle from the current level of SGD11-13 psf. Latest lots at IOICB were fetching rental rates of up to SGD15 psf. A rental rate revision of SGD3 psf to SGD15 psf for both IOICB and South Beach Complex will increase the rental income by RM225 million a year to IOIPG.

• Further upsides may come from faster monetisation of its vast landbank. Recent land sales at Melaka, Banting Industrial Park and Kulai Industrial Park are bringing in cash proceeds of over RM1 billion to IOIPG. An assumed land sale of 100 acres a year at say RM120 psf may bring in cash proceeds of over RM500 million to IOIPG. The company still has over 1,500 acres of industrial land at Kulai, Banting and Melaka. If IOIPG takes advantage of the current strong demand from data centre players and achieve land sales of some 200 acres a year, then the company may get cash proceeds of RM1 billion a year for the next 7-8 years.

• After the completion of the acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2, IOIPG may be able to progressively raise the average rental rates there from currently SGD11.80 psf to SGD13 psf to be inline with that for IOICB which is connected to AST2. A full rental revision to SGD13.80 psf at AST2 will add RM58 million of rental income to IOIPG every year. A revision to SGD15 psf will add RM92 million of rental income a year.

• It was reported earlier this week that IOIPG may be one of the suitors for One Raffles Place in Singapore CBD, which is at similar size as Asia Square Tower 2. I am not sure of the current rental rates at One Raffles Place, if it is the same as in AST2 then a successful acquisition of ORP will produce similar upsides to IOIPG earnings.

• There are some other commercial assets not yet included in the Malaysia REIT: IOI Mall Puchong, IOI Mall Kulai, IOI Mall Damansara and IOI Mall Rio. These assets when matured may be injected into the Malaysia REIT for a total value of RM4-5 billion which will be additional cash proceeds to IOIPG to reduce its borrowings further or to declare a special dividend to shareholders.

• The Hotels & Leisure division registers total revenue of almost RM800 million a year, but the segmental profit remains subdued at about RM32m only. That represents an EBIT margin of just 4.0% which is very low by any standard. Other hotel operators achieve a pretax profit margin of 10-25% from mature hotel assets. I believe the low profit margin at IOIPG’s Hotels division is due to its relatively new hotels that have not really matured. I am confident that once these hotels mature in coming years, IOIPG should be able to achieve a pretax profit margin of at least 10%. Then the Hotels division may contribute pretax profit of RM100 million a year to IOIPG.

Most analysts are pessimistic of the sales at Marina View Residences, but I remain confident that the project will progressively achieve good take-ups in coming months as construction approaches completion in 2H 2027. Moreover, IOIPG has the option of turning these high-end condo units into investment properties which will offer rental yield of 5% p.a. or higher.

Currently, most analysts have a target price of RM4.00-4.60 for IOIPG, suggesting limited upsides. However, I see upsides for the stock to be re-rated to a valuation of at least 15x PER, or RM5.40 in FY2027, giving me a 35% upside in one year.

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The S&P 50 gained 0.32% while the Nasdaq advanced 0.66%. The Dow Jones was up 160.24 points to close at 53.577.40 and notch its third straight winning session.

Bond yields slid, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield falling more than 7 basis points to 4.652%. Yields also retreated Monday after CNBC reported that the Treasury Department could use its $1 trillion General Account to fund bond repurchases. On Tuesday, WTI crude futures dropped more than 3%.

Chip stocks rallied ahead of Nvidia’s results due out after the close on Wednesday. Shares of the Jensen Huang-helmed company were up 2%, snapping a seven-day decline. AMD and Micron Technology added 4.9% and 2.5%, respectively.

Consumer names were a notable laggard, with shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods plunging 30% following disappointing results. The sports equipment retailer posted its worst day on record. Other retailers such as Walmart and Target were also under pressure, falling 1% and nearly 4% respetively.

Sentiment was hurt by a worse-than-expected consumer confidence reading and a worsening trade conflict between the US and Canada. Consumer confidence edged lower in August and grew particularly downbeat about the look further down the road. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index moved to 89.4, down 0.8 points and below the Dow Jones consensus for 90.2.

Canada on Tuesday announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, with the government saying it will match the 50% levies that President Donald Trump imposed over the weekend “dollar for dollar”.

“So far, corporate conference calls have talked about a resilient consumer, so while the vibes may be sour, the spending has held up - and spending, not sentiment, is what shows up in corporate earnings. Markets can look past a bad mood. They can’t look past a consumer who actually stops spending,” said Bret Kenwell, eToro US investment analyst. “Investors won’t have to wait long for the next update, with tomorrow’s GDP and PCE inflation reports shedding further light on the economy.”

Investors are now awaiting the personal consumption expenditure price index reading for July out on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh ends the week Friday with a speech at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a potentially market moving catalyst. His address comes the week after a Treasury Department plan to double the size of planned bond repurchases, part of an effort to tame long-dated Treasury yields.

US ‘will achieve nothing’ with its economic chokehold, Tehran says

Euronews, August 26, 2026

The “United States will achieve nothing” with its new round of economic sanctions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday, in another retort from Tehran to Washington’s threats of “economic asphyxiation.”

“With the measures that the government’s economic sectors have foreseen, America will not achieve anything with economic pressure at this stage, just as it was unable to achieve anything in the war,” Pezeshkian said, according to ISNA news agency.

“Our principle is understanding and resolving issues through interaction and negotiation, but at the same time, we will stand firm against economic pressures, as we have done so far and will continue to do,” he added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday laid out plans for the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the campaign.

Iran’s leaders have dismissed the impact of the new measures, having already endured decades-long crippling sanctions introduced shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Negotiations between Iran and the US have stalled as the two sides wrangle over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic through the vital waterway — which normally carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports — remains largely paralysed, disrupting global energy markets.

Iran has controlled Hormuz since the outbreak of the war on 28 February and has sought to impose fees on vessels transiting the strait.

Washington wants the strait to return to its pre-war system of free navigation, and US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington “has total control” over the waterway.

No more military ships in Hormuz?

Tehran said on Tuesday it would not allow military vessels to transit through Hormuz under an agreement the Islamic Republic is currently negotiating with Oman, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV late on Tuesday night.

The two countries’ top diplomats met to discuss managing commercial shipping traffic in the vital waterway and reached an understanding on Tuesday, according to Gharibabadi.

“If the understanding becomes binding, no military vessel will be permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “No military vessel at all.”

Gharibabadi did not provide further details about military traffic, but instead described the proposed commercial route through the strait.

Traffic into the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman would pass entirely through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s territorial waters, he said.

The Trump administration told Muscat it opposed parts of the evolving deal, including joint Iranian and Omani management of the exit route from the passage that is critical to global trade.

Trump earlier threatened to bomb “the f*** out of” Oman if it “gets in the way”.

Iran says Hormuz Strait still closed despite transit corridor talks

AFP, August 26, 2026

TEHRAN: Iran and Oman are discussing a temporary transit corridor and mine-clearing for the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran warned on Wednesday that the vital waterway will not be reopened unless the United States ends the war.

Washington has announced fresh sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran into submission, with Treasury secretary Scott Bessent threatening the Islamic republic with “economic asphyxiation”.

During talks in Tehran, foreign ministers from Iran and Oman discussed a “phased framework” that included setting up a “joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the Strait of mines,” according to a statement.

The two countries, both coastal states bordering the strait, have sought to hammer out a plan to regulate transit through it, as laid out in a June US-Iran memorandum of understanding.

Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that the proposed framework is “case in point” showing how his country’s “commitment to peace and stability is matched by steadfast diplomacy with our neighbours”.

Nearly six months after the US and Israel went to war against Iran, traffic through the Hormuz strait remains largely paralysed, disrupting global oil markets.

Tehran has blockaded the crucial waterway -- which normally carries around one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports -- while Washington imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned on Wednesday that no military vessel will be allowed to pass through the Hormuz Strait.

“We closed the Strait of Hormuz before the United States imposed an economic blockade because the United States failed to fulfil its commitments under the memorandum of understanding,” Gharibabadi said, according to state news agency IRNA.

Gharibabadi said no military vessels from any country would be allowed through the strait, while Iranian authorities would monitor commercial vessels seeking to cross it.

“Before any action is taken to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the United States must fully implement all of the commitments it has violated,” he said, calling on the United States to end the war, lift its blockade and resolve the situation in Yemen.

Yemen, embroiled in more than a decade of civil conflict, in July became the latest country to be dragged into the Middle East war as the Iran-backed Houthis upended a 2022 truce with the country’s Saudi-backed government.

Mine-clearing project

US President Donald Trump previously said on Truth Social that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz”, citing the US Navy.

But Gharibabadi said on Wednesday such claims were “propaganda deception”, adding that Iran would target US minesweepers that entered the area.

Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said on Tuesday that he hoped Iran and Oman would “soon announce” the temporary corridor in the strait.

“Future management of the strait and a permanent solution will follow in due course,” he wrote on X following talks in Tehran.

Technical negotiations will continue to determine a “permanent navigational corridor and future administration of the Strait, as well as a mechanism for information-sharing, traffic management, and the provision of relevant navigational and security services”, a joint statement read.

In the Iranian capital, long queues formed at petrol stations after authorities said fuel quotas would be reviewed.

Iran had already been grappling with sky-high inflation before the war, which fuelled an anti-government protest movement that peaked in January.

Announcing the new sanctions, Bessent said countries that did not support the US economic campaign would “share in the isolation” of Iran.

Gharibabadi said that Iran’s response to US sanctions would be to “target their economic interests”.

The Treasury department said expanded secondary sanctions would target Iran’s digital assets and its technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors.

The measures hit entities around the world, including in the UAE, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Europe.

Oil prices continued to decline on Wednesday as concerns over another military flare-up in the Middle East receded.

My take: There is no end in sight to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It will take one spark - either a projectile strike onto a commercial vessel in the strait, or escalation in fights between Saudi and the Houthis at the Red Sea - for Brent crude oil prices to surge to US$100 a barrel again.

If oil prices approach US$100 a barrel again and US inflation remains at elevated levels, then the probability for US Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in October meeting will become higher. That is not good for anybody, especially the stock markets.

Canada fires back at Trump with $20BN ‘dollar-for-dollar’ tariff

Daily Mail, August 26, 2026

Canada has enacted a set of ‘dollar for dollar’ retaliatory tariffs against the US after President Donald Trump threatened it with a staggering 50 percent duty on Monday.

Ottawa announced Tuesday it would mirror the size and scope of Trump’s latest tariff threats, placing up to a 50 percent tariff on over $20 billion worth of US goods and services.

The new rates, which range from 15 to 50 percent, impact over 700 US-made goods.

They target American aluminum, steel, dairy, wood and paper products, seafood and clothing.

‘Canada’s counter tariffs will apply to products covering $27.6 billion in imports from the U.S. and will focus on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, that are most impacted by U.S. tariffs,’ the Canadian Embassy in the US said in a statement.

Canada’s latest tariff salvo looks strikingly similar to those imposed by the US. Each country is targeting the other’s steel and lumber products.

The retaliatory tariffs come just after Trump threatened to rename Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America,’ a move sure to enrage Canadian officials and citizens.

‘The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer,’ the President wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning.

Trump’s Canada Feud Turns Personal

Lake Ontario straddles the border, with New York state along its southern and eastern shores and the Canadian province of Ontario to the north. It is not controlled outright by either Canada or the US and has instead been jointly managed under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty for more than a century.

Trump could order US federal agencies to call it ‘Lake America,’ but Canada would not be required to recognize the new name.

The move is reminiscent of the president’s previous renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, which the US government now refers to as the Gulf of America.

The tariff spat has turned deeply personal after negotiations fell apart last week.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said that Trump can kiss his ‘a**,’ noting his backside has a lot of ‘real estate.’

Trump has warned that Canada needs to ‘fall in line’ or it will face ‘far worse’ consequences. He has recently said that the US northern neighbor is his least favorite country to deal with.

‘I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,’ Trump wrote on social media.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are set to go into effect on September 8.

Had the two countries reached a trade agreement last week before the Saturday deadline, the additional rate hikes likely could have been avoided altogether.

Trump’s Canada Trade Talks Collapse

The president posted last week that he would extend the negotiating period in hopes that a deal could be struck. But his extension proved fruitless, and neither side was willing to compromise to the other’s demands.

Minutes after his threat to rename the lake, Trump sent out another post on Truth Social: ‘I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing.’

‘This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!’

Carney previously claimed the US had made ‘threats’ and demands targeting French-language protections and Quebec culture during tariff negotiations.

‘President Trump ascended to the White House on a clear promise to the forgotten men and women of America that they would be forgotten no longer,’ White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

‘Countless American workers, farmers, and businesses have borne the brunt of America’s lopsided trade relations, including with Canada which has demanded total access to the American market without reciprocity.’

My take: It appears that Trump’s desire to make Canada the 51st state of America has not gone away. And the best way to achieve that is to instill enough economic pains onto Canada to force the latter to concede. Imposing high trade tariffs on Canadian exports to the US is the first step.

Of course, Trump still wants to take over Greenland from Denmark and he will eventually. It is just a matter of time, and a better time to do this will be after the end of the Iran war and after the Russia-Ukraine war is substantially contained.

UBS updates on IOIPG

UBS issued an update report on IOIPG, reiterating a BUY call and target price of RM4.60.

Below are some extracts from the report:

IOIPG & CLI looking to acquire One Raffles Place (ORP)

News broke on the JV potentially looking to acquire ORP at just under S$2.4bn. This itself was cited in the media before and not a total surprise, but the rapid pace of IOIPG’s acquisitions of Singapore Grade A CBD assets within the recent 1-2 years likely sparks investors’ curiosity. To illustrate, IOIPG’s Singapore AUM grew from S$5bn+ in 2024 to ~S$10bn of late (including Asia Square Tower 2, but excluding One Raffles Place), and this is likely one of the fastest rate of commercial asset accumulation in Singapore’s history. On the potential ORP deal, we view this as part of a continuum of capital recycling efforts (acquire Singapore Grade A CBS assets, divest / spinoff Malaysia / Singapore assets), and expect it to translate to higher EPS, NAV and then shareholder returns. Maintain BUY rating.

• Earnings accretion: At this point, we think deal pricing of ORP and earnings accretion are less material per se, because the underlying NPI yield is generally low at ~3.7% and accretion is a near certainty so long as borrowing costs are lower (UBSe: 2+%) and credit is available. Assuming 70% LTV and a 50% equity stake, we estimate earnings accretion of ~RM70m, versus the RM1bn profit run-rate.

• Impetus to de-leverage and recycle capital: If acquired, we anticipate IOIPG’s FY27 leverage to hover around the ~1.2x level (excludes MREIT spinoff effects). This remains high relative to peers and its history. But we do not necessarily see it as a problem, given Singapore office capital values have posted resilient growth through economic and interest rate cycles. Though, we see greater impetus for IOIPG to deleverage through monetisation of its Malaysia REIT and legacy landbanks first, while considering spinoff options for Singapore assets.

• Broader thoughts on Singapore office: It bears mentioning the following - strong investment interest over office building, IOIPG’s growing ownership (3rd largest in SG CBD) and rising rents (Office S-REITs signing at $13 psf rent levels). We think these reaffirms the growth and realisation of the Singapore assets on IOIPG’s books; supporting the critical 1.0x segment PB multiple we ascribe.

One Raffles Place - what it is about?

ORP is an integrated office and retail building with 702,983 sq ft of NLA, the bulk - 603.8k sq ft is office space. It is located atop the Raffles Place MRT in Singapore, and is 95% occupied (office / retail: 95%/99%) as of end 2025. We think IOIPG / CLI are likely looking at a partial redevelopment of the building to improve returns. Average passing rents of ORP are likely around the $11 psf level, while some of the leasing efforts at nearby SingLand Tower are generating $11-12 psf rents, post refurbishment.

Valuation: 0.9x price-to-book valuation

We make no estimate changes, since the One Raffles Place deal is not confirmed.

One Raffles Place is among the tallest office building in Singapore CBD, and is a rare prime asset up for sale. This deal, if successful, will be earnings accretive to IOIPG, as for the proposed acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 which will complete soon.

When these two deals complete, IOIPG may see its earnings jump by over RM200 million a year, providing it with high-quality, recurring income for years to come.

The immediate catalyst to the stock will be the completion of AST2 deal, the upcoming Malaysia REIT listing and monetisation of Singapore assets to recycle capitals.

Robots, not chatbots, will realise AI’s potential

Financial Times, August 20, 2026

Factory-floor applications of the technology could significantly enhance rich-world economies

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT three-and-a-half years ago, the world has grown familiar with large language models. The technology is speeding up and augmenting activities ranging from life admin and research to medical diagnoses. AI’s true potential, however, extends well beyond clever chatbots.

Beyond generating digital content, machines fitted with AI can independently carry out physical actions in the real world using cameras and sensors. Examples of applications include intelligent equipment, autonomous vehicles and humanoids. They use “world models” — systems that understand how objects move, interact and respond, as opposed to LLMs, which are more akin to predictive text engines — and are trained using real and simulated data.

In the service-driven economies of the rich world, it is perhaps unsurprising that much attention and investment has been absorbed by the application of AI to cognitive tasks. But leveraging the technology in the physical world — particularly on the factory floor — is likely to be the greater economic prize.

First, the potential productivity improvements could be significant. “LLMs may deliver faster near-term gains, but in theory physical AI can have the larger long-run productivity upside because it targets physical bottlenecks,” says Daniela Rus, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. “After all, most working hours are still spent moving atoms, not bits.”

Developed nations in Europe and Asia have already made strides integrating robots into assembly lines to drive higher growth. But AI enables robots to also learn and adapt in complex production, construction and logistics environments, which can boost efficiency and quality, and slash changeover times between different products.

Early deployments illustrate the potential. Foxconn, which produces intricate electronics including iPhones, found that vision-guided, self-adjusting robotic arms improved its assembly cycle times by up to 30 per cent, while reducing error rates by 25 per cent.

Adoption by Amazon in a US warehouse found that package-carrying robot fleets fitted with AI have learned to navigate around moving humans and obstacles, cutting their travel time by 10 per cent. (This video demonstrates how physical AI works in industrial settings.)

Next, AI-powered robotics could alleviate labour shortages in rich nations. University-educated talent is in ample supply for knowledge-intensive services jobs, which now appear to be on the frontline of LLM disruption. But manufacturers frequently cite a lack of workers as a constraint in production.

In a 2026 survey by consultancy Capgemini, more than 50 per cent of industrial executives said labour shortages, costs and regulation would be among their top five reasons for adopting physical AI. (Autonomous machines can also conduct bespoke repairs in environments and conditions that are hazardous to humans.)

Political tensions over immigration policy, ageing demographics and shifting attitudes towards physical work raise the long-term case for investing in AI-enhanced robotics.

Though the technology will displace some jobs, it will also create higher value-added roles on the factory floor, where knowledge of manufacturing processes is still needed to supervise, reconfigure and train robots. (In rich nations, where anxiety about AI’s impact on jobs is rising in dominant white-collar work, a shift towards embedding the tech into manufacturing might be relatively less politically disruptive.)

Finally, physical AI complements efforts by governments to boost domestic supply-chain resilience in critical industries. Indeed, multitasking machines could reduce the need for large assembly lines, which means production can take place at home at a lower marginal cost.

There is, then, a clear economic and political case for rich-world policymakers to place greater emphasis in supporting the adoption of physical AI in industry. China has made significant advances in applying the technology to the real world and Beijing’s latest five-year plan includes a strategic pivot towards “embodied AI”.

The transition will take time in the west. Capital, further developments in world models and vast quantities of training data are required. The necessary supply chains to build robotics hardware are essential, too. And factories and warehouses need redesigning. But venture capitalists are increasingly seeking out investments in robotics.

There are, of course, broader applications of embodied AI. Use of autonomous vehicles, such as robotaxis, is growing. Humanoids are often touted as the future of social care and household chores. And use cases in surgical robotics look promising.

Yet manufacturing is likely to offer the fastest route to scale. Relative to roads, homes or hospitals, factories are more contained areas that can be designed around machines. Rather than building technology that mimics humans, firms can create specialised robots to achieve levels of speed, precision and endurance well beyond human limits.

LLMs have demonstrated AI’s ability to process information. But for rich nations seeking greater growth and economic resilience, the bigger opportunity lies in applying that intelligence to production. After all, the greatest technological transformations tend not to replicate what humans can already do, but enable what they cannot.

My take: This article is basically putting things into perspective that we have not seen the real potential of AI in the physical world yet.

As I wrote in 2024 / 2025, the two key areas for AI applications would be: 1) self-drive or autonomous cars, and 2) humanoid robots.

There are already hundreds of thousands of autonomous cars and humanoid robots under production every year, and all these require very fast AI compute and fast telecommunications to function correctly.

Elon Musk had projected before that there would be potentially 1 billion of humanoid robots in future, operating in various areas of work: assembly lines, factories, homes doing household chores, carrying out dangerous and difficult tasks etc.

Autonomous cars will be a norm once AI and technology matures and becomes affordable. There will be thousands of autonomous cars running around in a city, each is powered by AI copilot systems within the vehicle and/or guided by continuous signals from nearby telco towers and data centres.

So you can imagine how much compute power and new data centres are required to power up millions of autonomous cars and humanoid robots in future.

According to SemiAnalysis, the trillion-dollar capex wave into AI and data centre infrastructure is not slowing down yet. We may get a clue from Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang after the company results release after close Wednesday in the US.

YTL Power shares jumped almost 10% Wednesday on heavy volumes. It was a positive surprise to me, as I had expected the stock rally to be more or less over by last Friday or immediately after the company Q4 FY2026 result briefing call.

The fact that funds were still aggressively buying up the stock today implies to me that some good news maybe in the offing. Foreign funds and institutional funds generally get information faster than us retailers.

Hong Leong daily funds flow data shows that foreign funds were big buyers of YTL Power shares last Friday 21st August with a net purchase of RM82.4m, another record high. They net bought RM6.3m of YTL shares on the same day.

Local institutions were net buyers of YTL shares last Friday with a net purchase of RM28.0m. Local retailers were big sellers of YTL and YTL Power shares with net sale of RM34.6m and RM77.7m respectively.

That is well expected for retailers to take profit, considering the sharp rise in YTL Power share price in past two weeks. Local retailers are typically weak holders and tend to take profit after seeing a quick gain of 10% or more.

But if you look at the other sides - foreign funds and local institutions - why are they still buying? and why were they buying so aggressively today?

They must know something that local retailers do not. They must be convinced of further upsides to the stock, for them to buy in at prices close to RM6.00.

I am not sure what may be coming in these two days, if nothing, I will look to take a little profit off at prices above RM5.90, as I wrote in my Week Ahead post.

On the other hand, Ranhill shares came under pressure right after its Q4 FY2026 results announced last Wednesday. As I pointed out in my result analysis report, there was something that made Ranhill gross profit margin to have dropped substantially in this Q4 quarter. After reading reports from analysts on the Q4 results, I discover nothing that explains the drop in gross profit margin.

Hence, I would treat it as a result of some accounting treatments for now until we see any difference in the next quarterly result. I am still looking at continued profit rise for Ranhill in coming quarters, and potentially a total net profit of RM280 million for FY2027 or EPS of 20 sen.

For its resilient water business, Ranhill stock should deserve at least 17x PER. I expect the stock to rebound after this near-term profit taking to potentially challenge RM3.00 level by end of this year and to RM3.40 in 2027.

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The broad market index fell 0.28% while the Nasdaq lost 0.76%. The Dow Jones gained 140.15 points to 53,417.16.

Declines in chip stocks weighed on the broader market. Micron Technology shed 5.8% while AMD and Broadcom pulled back more than 3% and 2% respectively.

Other tech stocks fell as well. Coherent and Lumentum dropped more than 4% each, while Sandisk dropped 6%. Corning moved down almost 3%, while Seagate Technology declined 6.5%.

Yields moved lower after CNBC reported that the Treasury may use the General Account to fund a buyback operation. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell more than 3 basis points to 4.704%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, which topped 5.3% last week to reach levels not seen in nearly 20 years, shed more than 4 basis points to 5.234%.

The report comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC last week that the Treasury Department’s plans to at least double the level of government debt buybacks in the next few months could be larger than the $4 billion that was announced earlier that week.

Some reprieve was given to the long end of the US yield curve after the initial announcement, but it was ultimately short-lived.

Stocks have been pressured by rising bond yields around the globe, with rates in Japan, France and Germany scaling to multi-year highs. Investors grew fearful that the US-Iran war would continue for longer, keeping oil prices elevated and driving inflation higher.

“The Treasury attempt to cap long rates by issuing more short-term paper as the financing tool will tether US government interest rate expense ever closer to what the Federal Reserve does with the fed funds rate,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners. “I don’t think this is something Kevin Warsh will talk about in his speech but it is a new element he’s going to have to deal with.”

Chairman Kevin Warsh is expected to deliver a speech at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Weighing on sentiment Monday, President Trump announced that the US will increase tariffs on imports of “all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel” from Canada to 50%, effective Jan 1, 2027.

“We’re in a little bit of the little summer doldrums,” said Robert Conzo, chief executive officer at The Wealth Alliance. However, if earnings growth continues to come in strong and inflation prints are as expected, the state of the equity market should be “pretty good” from here, he added.

Investors this week will get new inflation data in the form of the JUly personal consumption expenditures price index on Wednesday. AI will also be in focus, with Nvidia and Marvell Technology set to report earnings Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

The U.S. tries economic pressure on Iran — again

The New York Times, August 25, 2026

By all accounts, Iran’s economy is in truly terrible shape.

In June, my colleague Farnaz Fassihi wrote about the pervasive economic hopelessness across the country.

She spoke with a manager of a plastic bottle factory, who said production was shut down and all employees had been furloughed because the factory lacked the raw materials it needed to function.

A doctor told her that pharmacies were rationing medicine, and that the Health Ministry had advised doctors to prescribe only essential medications because of shortages.

She spoke to a government employee who’d recently bought groceries on loan from a neighborhood shop (his paycheck runs out by the middle of the month). When he returned to pay, “the bill had doubled because the prices of everything had gone up,” he said.

That was two and a half months ago; things haven’t improved much since.

There is not a lot of room left for the U.S. to impose broad sanctions on Iran itself, which has been under heavy sanctions for years, except for a brief reprieve after the 2015 nuclear deal.

With Operation Economic Outcast, the U.S. aims to put more pressure on Iran’s trading partners, though the specific measures it plans to take aren’t yet clear; Bessent promised more announcements in the coming weeks. One question hanging over the new effort is whether the U.S. really plans to enforce any secondary sanctions on China, the largest consumer of Iranian oil.

The Trump administration is not wrong to think that Iran’s economic situation is dire. But it’s counting on Iranian authorities responding to more pressure by negotiating; they might well respond by escalating the conflict.

A mixed record

The world has been putting economic pressure on Iran for decades. It has succeeded in devastating Iran’s economy; it has a decidedly mixed record when it comes to altering Iran’s behavior. To understand why, I wanted to talk to my colleague Yeganeh Torbati, whose book “Stolen Revolution” is in part about why the economic promises of the 1979 revolution went unfulfilled.

This is not just a regime that has prioritized economic growth, Yeganeh told me.

During the revolution to overthrow the shah, Ruhollah Khomeini, who would become Iran’s first supreme leader, and other revolutionaries made gestures at the idea of improving people’s material lives. They talked about free electricity for the poor, and more housing; they used Marxism-inflected language, talking about the oppressors and the oppressed.

Then the revolution succeeded and, as early as September of 1979, Khomeini made his true priorities clear:

“No wise person can imagine that we sacrificed our blood so that melons would become cheap! [That] we gave our youth so that housing would become affordable … It is for Islam that a person can give up his life. Our saints also gave up their lives for Islam, not for economics. Economics is not worthy of this.”

This is a regime that cares about ideology, Yeganeh said; for all that’s changed since Khomeini, it still retains that in its DNA.

Occasionally, the regime is forced to face the reality that things have gotten so dire its survival is at stake; that’s what brought them to the table to negotiate a nuclear deal in 2015, and the economy is worse today, she said.

The protests that brought thousands into the streets in January were driven by economics. That’s partly why there is a faction within Iran that does want to reach a deal with the U.S.

But there’s another faction that remains convinced that, in the current standoff, the U.S. will blink first.

A leverage problem

One problem with the fact that the Trump administration wants to step up the economic war against Iran? It sends a signal that the U.S. doesn’t particularly want to go back to actually fighting Iran, as my colleague Anton Troianovski, a global affairs correspondent, has pointed out.

Trump’s reluctance to go back to war won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has watched the conflict and seen the president issue dire warnings on several occasions about the destruction he’s about to unleash — only to walk them back.

Trump has a leverage problem. The war is unpopular, the U.S. has elections coming up and he doesn’t want the war to be central to the campaign. Iran knows this, and wants to use it.

Over the weekend, Iran’s security chief issued a warning that any country that joined U.S. efforts to isolate Iran would be “regarded by us as an enemy.” Should the economic pressure ramp up, one analyst told Anton, Iran is likely to look for a way to put fresh military pressure on the U.S. or its Gulf allies.

But it also might not have to. Bessent’s announcement followed a familiar pattern. He’d spent days promising an “economic D-Day,” the sanctions equivalent of storming the beaches of Normandy. But when the announcement finally came, as one of our reporters put it, it was more like a warning shot.

My take: Who will blink first? Never put your bets on either side of such conflicts in stock investment, and prepare for the worst.

Israel’s Syria strike may have jolted diplomacy back to life

The Jerusalem Post, August 25, 2026

Israel’s attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria last week did not end Israeli-Syrian diplomacy, as some initially feared. In fact, it may have accelerated it.

That does not mean the attack was without risk. Striking an airbase shortly after a Turkish delegation reportedly visited the site could have triggered a direct clash with Turkey on Syrian soil.

But the strike also concentrated minds. On Sunday, five days later, Mossad head Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met in Jordan for US-mediated talks aimed at lowering tensions and preventing another such incident.

The meeting mattered not only because of who attended, but because it marked the resumption of a diplomatic process suspended since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February.

According to reports, the talks dealt with reviving Israeli-Syrian security negotiations and preventing mounting Israel-Turkey tensions from spilling over into Syrian territory.

The sides also reportedly discussed establishing a special operations or coordination room in Jordan under US supervision. Its purpose would be to provide a channel through which Israel, Syria, and possibly Turkey could communicate and prevent misunderstandings from escalating into military confrontations.

That Turkey is now a central part of the Israeli-Syrian agenda is itself one consequence of the Abu al-Duhur attack and something Jerusalem welcomes.

IDF strike placed Turkish involvement in Syria at international forefront

Before the strike, Ankara’s growing military involvement in Syria was largely treated as an issue between Turkey and Syria. Israel’s action placed it at the forefront of the international agenda. It served notice that Jerusalem views a Turkish military presence in Syria not as an internal Syrian issue but as a potential threat to Israeli security.

Regardless of whether one accepts Israel’s intelligence assessment that Turkey was going to move weapons systems and personnel into the airbase or Syria’s insistence that no Turkish base was planned, the danger is now impossible to ignore. Turkey is heavily invested in rebuilding and training Syria’s army, while Israel has now made clear that there are limits to a Turkish military presence it is willing to tolerate.

The choice of Jordan as the venue for the talks – and as the possible home of a deconfliction mechanism – is also telling.

Earlier rounds of Israeli-Syrian talks were held in places such as Paris and Baku, far from the region. Jordan, by contrast, borders both Israel and Syria and has a vested interest in preventing a possible war on its doorstep.

Jordan also offers an instructive reminder.

Diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Amman are cold and frequently confrontational, despite the peace treaty between the two countries. The two governments disagree sharply and publicly over the Palestinians, Gaza, and Jerusalem. Yet beneath that political hostility, they maintain extensive security coordination because it benefits them both.

Israel and Syria are obviously in a different position: They remain formally at war and have no diplomatic relations. But Jordan demonstrates that political warmth is not a prerequisite for practical security coordination. That may be what Washington is seeking for Israel and Syria at this stage – not warm relations, certainly not a peace treaty, but a mechanism to prevent their disputes from repeatedly threatening to erupt into war.

Which is essentially what is currently on the table.

Damascus wants Israel to withdraw to the positions it held before the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 and to restore the 1974 disengagement framework. It also rejects Israeli demands placing limits on the weapons systems it can introduce and the degree of military assistance it can accept from Turkey.

Israel, meanwhile, reportedly wants southern Syria to remain demilitarized, restrictions placed on Syrian weaponry, guarantees for the Druze, and an end to Turkish military activity in Syria.

Those positions remain far apart. Syria sees Israeli demands as an infringement on its sovereignty, while Israel views Damascus’s insistence on rebuilding its military with Turkish assistance as providing an open door for a very hostile regional power to establish itself on Israel’s northern border.

The talks in Jordan will not quickly bridge that gap. But they may help establish rules for managing it.

Diplomatic fallout from strike includes gains despite criticism

Israel may therefore have gained something diplomatically from the Abu al-Duhur strike, despite the fierce criticism it generated. Turkey’s military presence in Syria is now the subject of a US-mediated process, not merely an Israeli concern that Ankara and Damascus can easily dismiss.

But Israel must be careful not to overplay its hand.

A demand that there be no Turkish military activity anywhere in Syria is much more than either Damascus or Ankara is likely to accept. Syria regards Turkey as a critical partner in rebuilding the state after more than a decade of civil war. Ankara, meanwhile, has invested too much political, military, and economic capital in the new Syrian order to allow Israel an effective veto over its role there.

The more realistic objective would be clearly defined restrictions. This could mean no Turkish bases or state-of-the-art air defense systems in areas Israel considers vital to its national security; advance notice of significant deployments; and a dependable communications mechanism to prevent either side from misreading the other’s intentions.

The Abu al-Duhur strike did not resolve the problem. It did, however, make clear what is at stake and force the danger of an Israeli-Turkish collision directly onto the diplomatic agenda.

The bombs dropped on Abu al-Duhur’s runways, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterward, delivered a message that was not heeded via the established diplomatic channels. The Jordan talks will determine whether that message – so dramatically delivered – can now actually produce a workable arrangement.

My take: This is a good article that puts things in context for us to understand why Israel stroked an airbase in Syria last week.

Recall that after the fall of the previous Assad’s regime in Syria in late 2024, Israel moved into the southern region of Syria and occupied the Galland Heights. Israel wanted to create a buffer zone in southern Syria from Israel northern border, similar to what it has been trying to do in Lebanon south.

In Lebanon, Israel was using the excuse of demilitarising the Hezbollah, an Iran ally there. But over in Syria, Turkey has been having military presence there for many years. Russians too had military presence in Syria until the fall of the Assad’s regime.

Turkey is not going to end its military activity in Syria anytime soon, just like Iran will never stop supporting the Hezbollah in Lebanon. What Israel has done in southern Lebanon will only create more hatred and hostility with the Muslim brotherhood. Israel invasion into southern Lebanon has already killed thousands and displaced millions of Lebanese, but it has not totally dismantled the Hezbollah. Israel invasion into Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced millions, but it has failed to totally eliminate the Hamas. What is Israel trying to achieve by firing a projectile onto a runway in Syria?

Turkey is a member of NATO, and the US is also a member of NATO along with many European countries. Is Israel trying to drag NATO into more conflicts in the Middle East? Is Benjamin Netanyahu trying to drag the US into another conflict in the Gulf states, or to prolong the US-Iran war and US military presence in the region? Or is Netanyahu just trying to divert attention from the October election in Israel by creating another external conflict?

Whatever it is, all signs point to an unstable Middle East for months or years to come. It will be extremely hard for any big foreign investments to come into this region, not to mention foreign tourists or foreign money into the real estates there.

It is hence not hard to understand why US hyperscalers have more or less pivoted away from the Middle East for their data centre and AI investments. The natural place for these diverted investments will be Asia - with Japan and Malaysia enjoying the first flux of foreign investments. Singapore, even with a moratorium in place for new data centre buildout, has just announced to award licenses for the maximum of 200MW new data centres to 4-5 DC operators. Over in Malaysia, YTL Power last week announced expansion of its data centre capacity from 1.2GW to 2.4GW by 2032 in Johor, and potential expansion of DC buildout into Selangor and neighbouring countries.

As for high-end real estates, Dubai or Abu Dhabi is no longer the haven for the rich and famous or the big money from China / Taiwan. Now a substantial portion of such money is flowing into Singapore. We see lots of Taiwanese businessmen snapping up high-end condominium units in Singapore in past few months. Several high-profile entrepreneurs from the West and China have reportedly bought up large units there. MNCs are moving regional offices away from the Middle East, and some are setting up regional headquarters in Singapore for the Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific region. That has created demands for high-grade office space in Singapore. IOIPG, for one, is capturing the opportunities from such a move. The Malaysia property giant is completing the acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 and is reportedly bidding for One Raffles Place together with CapitaLand.

The Legend of IOI

While there are no corporate earnings to update on, during the public holiday in Malaysia, I came across an interesting article that is worth sharing. It is about the late Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, the founder of IOI Group.

The article is in Chinese, and so I have used AI to generate the summary in English as follows.

Overview: The document details Lee Shin Cheng’s life, business achievements, philanthropy, contributions to education, and efforts to promote Chinese-Malaysian relations.

• Lee Shin Cheng’s Early Life and Hardship Born in Malaysia with a humble background, he faced poverty,辍学, and worked from a young age to support his family.

• Career Development and Business Expansion Starting in oil palm plantations, he founded IOI Group, becoming a leading global palm oil industry figure and developing Malaysia’s urban areas.

• Leadership and Industry Contributions He held key industry and community roles, promoting Chinese business interests and fostering ethnic harmony in Malaysia.

• Philanthropy and Education Support He established foundations, built schools, and funded scholarships, significantly improving local education and social welfare.

• Promoting China-Malaysia Relations He supported Chinese universities’ overseas projects and invested in hometown infrastructure, strengthening bilateral ties.

• Contributions to Hometown Development He donated to schools, roads, and cultural sites in Fujian and his hometown, enhancing local education, transportation, and heritage preservation.

To summarize Lee Shin Cheng’s achievements, I have analyzed the detailed biography provided in the document. My approach is to highlight his major accomplishments in business, community leadership, philanthropy, and contributions to both Malaysia and his ancestral homeland in China. This summary is structured to provide clear examples and context for each area of achievement.

1. Business Leadership and Industrial Achievements:

• Lee Shin Cheng was the founder of IOI Group and IOI Properties Group, building them into leading multinational enterprises. IOI Group became a global leader in palm oil plantation, processing, and related industries, earning him the title “Palm Oil King.”

• He transformed large plantation areas into modern urban developments, notably turning Puchong from plantations into a thriving, integrated township, known locally as the “Puchong Miracle.”

• His business acumen and management skills enabled him to rise from humble beginnings—starting as a plantation worker—to become one of Malaysia’s most influential industrialists.

2. Community and Industry Leadership:

• Lee held key positions in industry and community organizations, such as director of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, advisor to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, and honorary president of the Federation of Hokkien Associations of Malaysia.

• He played a significant role in uniting the Chinese business community, advocating for their rights, and fostering harmony among Malaysia’s diverse ethnic groups.

3. Philanthropy and Education:

• Deeply influenced by his own experience of poverty and interrupted education, Lee prioritized giving back to society, especially in education.

• He established the Lee Shin Cheng Foundation (later IOI Foundation) in 1994, supporting education, healthcare, community development, and social welfare.

• He led the rebuilding and upgrading of Kuen Cheng High School, served as its board chairman for 20 years, and founded the Puchong Lee Shin Cheng (Haku Le) Chinese Primary School.

• The foundation provided scholarships and aid programs for underprivileged students of all backgrounds.

4. Contributions to China-Malaysia Relations and Hometown Development:

• Lee actively promoted economic and cultural exchanges between China and Malaysia, supporting the establishment of Xiamen University Malaysia and Tsinghua University’s Schwarzman College.

• He invested in major projects in his ancestral hometown of Yongchun, Fujian, including building schools, roads, hospitals, and restoring cultural heritage sites. His total charitable donations in Yongchun and Quanzhou exceeded 60 million RMB.

• He was recognized as an honorary citizen of Xiamen and received the Fujian Province Outstanding Contribution to Public Welfare Award.

5. Personal Qualities and Legacy:

• Lee Shin Cheng is remembered for his perseverance, entrepreneurial spirit, and deep sense of social responsibility. He embodied the hardworking, resilient, and patriotic qualities of the overseas Chinese community.

• His legacy continues through his family’s ongoing philanthropic work and the continued growth of the IOI Group.

In summary, Lee Shin Cheng’s achievements span business innovation, community leadership, philanthropy, and fostering international ties, making him a model of success and generosity for both Malaysia and his ancestral homeland.

To analyze how Lee Shin Cheng’s philanthropic efforts influenced education development in Malaysia, I have drawn directly from the detailed biography provided. My approach is to identify the mechanisms, scale, and impact of his contributions, with specific examples and their broader significance.

Analysis of Lee Shin Cheng’s Influence on Malaysian Education Development:

1. Personal Motivation and Philosophy:

• Lee Shin Cheng’s own experience of childhood poverty and being forced to leave school at age 11 deeply shaped his commitment to education. He believed that “what is gained from society should be given back to society,” making education a central focus of his philanthropy.

2. Institutional Philanthropy and Long-Term Support:

• In 1994, Lee established the Lee Shin Cheng Foundation (later IOI Foundation), creating a structured, long-term platform for charitable work in education, healthcare, community development, and social welfare.

• Through the foundation, he set up permanent scholarship programs (since 1998) and launched aid initiatives for underprivileged students (since 2008), supporting students from all ethnic backgrounds in Malaysia.

3. Direct Investment in Educational Infrastructure:

• Lee led the construction of the Puchong Lee Shin Cheng (Haku Le) Chinese Primary School, which opened in 2008. This expanded access to Chinese-language primary education in a rapidly developing area, directly benefiting the local community.

• He served as board chairman of Kuen Cheng High School for 20 years (1999–2019), spearheading the school’s rebuilding and modernization. He mobilized resources to improve facilities and learning conditions, positively impacting thousands of students.

4. Broader Impact on Educational Equity and Opportunity:

• By providing scholarships and targeted aid, Lee’s philanthropy helped level the playing field for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to pursue education regardless of financial hardship.

• His support for Chinese-language schools preserved and promoted cultural heritage, while also fostering social integration by supporting students of all ethnicities.

5. Legacy and Ongoing Influence:

• After Lee’s passing, his family continued his educational philanthropy through the IOI Foundation, ensuring sustained support for Malaysian education.

Example Implementation:

• The establishment of the Puchong Lee Shin Cheng (Haku Le) Chinese Primary School is a concrete example: it addressed the shortage of Chinese-language primary education in a growing urban area, providing new opportunities for local children.

• The long-term scholarship and aid programs have enabled countless students to complete their studies, some of whom may not have otherwise had the means to do so.

Conclusion: Lee Shin Cheng’s philanthropic efforts have had a transformative effect on education development in Malaysia. By building schools, improving educational infrastructure, and providing sustained financial support to students, he not only expanded access to quality education but also promoted social mobility and cultural preservation. His legacy continues to shape educational opportunities for future generations.

The success and legacy of the late Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng is truly inspiring. His philanthropic efforts in education development in Malaysia have benefitted thousands of students here.

Education is essential. I do believe that education improves life and is the pathway to come out of poverty. I myself have gone through that stage as a poor kampung boy from Ipoh.

As far as business is concerned, IOI Group’s two main businesses: plantation and property are in the good hands of Tan Sri Lee’s sons.

Fellow investors should read the article on IOI Corp’s plantation business and its CEO Dato’ Lee Yeow Chor, published by Sinchew papers on 3rd August 2026:

封面人物| 李耀祖勾勒IOI集团下一个50年 - 财经 - 投资周刊 - 星洲人 - VIP文

https://www.sinchew.com.my/?p=7722732

As for the property business, Dato’ Lee Yeow Seng is driving the expansion of IOIPG to new heights.

Of particular note is the group’s huge success on its urban developments in Puchong and IOI Resorts City.

After creating the “Puchong Miracle”, IOIPG is in full steam developing the last parcels of prime land there at Bandar Puteri Puchong - the Rio City. Bandar Puteri is now a thriving township with plenty of eatery outlets and shop offerings for the community in Puchong and Petaling Jaya.

After the huge success with its recent launch of Cube Plus shophouses (which was fully sold within hours), IOIPG is bringing in a 5-star hotel to the Rio City in Bandar Puteri - The Westin Puchong - which is set to open by end of June 2030. The group is developing a large shopping mall, IOI Mall Rio, adjacent to the 5-star hotel and Cube Plus. IOIPG is also preparing to launch Cube Plus Phase 2 in next few months.

Another notable success and legacy left over by the late Tan Sri Lee is IOI City Mall in IOI Resort City, Putrajaya. IOI Resort City is located between Puchong and Putrajaya. As it bears an address name of Putrajaya, many people think that it is far away from KL and PJ. In fact, it is just a 10-15 minute drive away from Bandar Puteri Puchong.

The late Tan Sri saw the potential in this place, now named IOI Resort City. Against all odds, he insisted on building a mega mall there despite surveys showing that the surrounding population could only support a community-type of shopping mall of size 300k-400k sq ft. Then, we saw the grand opening of IOI City Mall in 2014. It had a total Net Lettable Area (NLA) of 1.5 million sq ft at the onset. Then Dato’ Lee Yeow Seng expanded the mall with Phase 2 of IOI City Mall that added another 1.0m sq ft of NLA to the mega mall in 2022. Today, IOI City Mall is the largest shopping mall in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and the third largest in the world.

IOIPG is now preparing the ground work for Phase 3 of IOI City Mall, which will add another 1.0 million sq ft of NLA to the mega mall. It will also have a grand concert hall with 20,000 seats. When set for opening in 2031, IOI City Mall will become even bigger, and possibly the second largest in the world.

That is entrepreneurship, that is vision, and that is success.

IOI Group has been enjoying success in turning aged plantation land into prime address for property development. Great examples are Puchong and Kulai, Johor. The Puchong land carries low land cost as it was acquired decades ago, so the property development projects in Puchong and Bandar Puteri naturally yield high gross profit margin due to the low land cost and prime property prices at these areas.

It still has huge landbank of over 3,000 acres in Kulai area, with some 1,100 acres designated as industrial park. Thanks to the data centre boom in the state of Johor, industrial land in Johor, particularly in Kulai area, has seen prices going through the roof. Recent transactions show industrial land sold to DC players at prices of RM150 psf and above.

In my initial coverage report on IOIPG in July 2024, I wrote about the potentials of the company’s land bank and investment property assets, and the stock would potentially be worth RM10.50 per share. Nobody paid much attention to it then.

But now my first projection that IOIPG share would double up to RM4.00 by 2025 has come true, though the stock broke up RM4.00 level only in 2026.

To have the share price testing RM10 level, we have to see strong revaluation of IOIPG’s vast landbank, especially that in Johor. In my blue-sky case then, I had projected for 3,000 acres of land in Kulai being monetised at RM138 psf (the highest transaction price then in 2024) for total proceeds of RM18 billion to IOIPG.

IOIPG has already monetised 3 parcels of non-core land in past few months, bringing in total proceeds of over RM1.1 billion. According to analyst reports, IOIPG management is in active discussions with DC operators and industrial players for potential more land sales.

Now that industrial land prices in Kulai have scaled new highs to RM150 psf and above, IOIPG’s 1,100 acres of industrial land in Kulai would fetch a valuation of over RM7.0 billion. While it is not realistic to assume that IOIPG could sell off 3,000 acres of Kulai land at such a price, it is rather likely for the 1,100 acres of industrial land to be monetised at above RM130 psf in coming years due to the data centre boom and the incentives given under the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone initiatives.

Hence, I am optimistic of IOIPG stock doubling up from current level to RM8.00+ by 2030-2032 when the IOI City Mall Phase 3 and IOI Mall Rio complete, and the 1,100 acres of industrial land in Kulai is more or less monetised.

And I do not think that IOIPG will stop from there. Perhaps the company will have identified another one or two growth areas after Puchong-IOI Resorts City and Kulai by 2030, and acquired good parcels of (plantation) land at low prices for future property development that will last for many decades to come.

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The S&P 500 climbed 0.43% while the Nasdaq rose 0.43%. The Dow Jones was up 517.80 points to close at 53,277.01. The Dow was supported by gains in healthcare stocks such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson.

The financial sector offered a boost to the broader market, with crypto-related stocks seeing sizable gains as bitcoin posted a weekly advance of 22%. Robinhood shares jumped almost 14%, while Coinbase added 8%. Materials also outperformed, up 2% on the day.

Wall Street was coming off a losing session, as Treasury yields resumed their march higher after the government’s efforts to stymie a sell-off in the Treasury market. Bonds, particularly on the long end of the curve, have been under pressure as investors fear rising inflation due to higher oil prices.

Thursday’s pullback ultimately led the S&P 500 to tumble 1.4% on the week, while the Nasdaq lost 2% in the period. Both indexes snapped three-week winning streaks. The Dow slid 0.9% for back-to-back weekly losses.

The downturn this week also affected stocks beyond the US, with the MSCI All Country World Index posting a weekly decline of almost 1%.

In the wake of the latest market drawdown, Leo Kelly, founder and CEO of Verdence Capital Advisors, thinks equities could see even more losses - particularly, a slide toward correction territory in the fall - if Treasury yields continue to rise and tensions in the Middle East persist.

On Friday, longer-dated yields continued their ascent, with the 10-year Treasury note yield gaining more than 3 basis points to 4.734%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield advanced more than 3 basis points as well to 5.273%.

“The market has adjusted to 4% to 5%” on the 10-year yield, Kelly said. “If we had some sort of event and the market broke out and went to the 6% to 7% range on the 10-year, that’s a problem, and the market will react poorly to that.”

With yields higher, investors will be turning to next week’s speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium for more clarity on that front, as well as other areas such as central bank independence.

Iran grants permission for Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz

Reuters, August 22, 2026

TEHRAN: Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.

Iraqi president Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials.

The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference.

Iraq has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area.

Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.

Baghdad is working to expand its exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and also to begin exporting oil through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port, prime minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.

My take: It is way better to resolve the stalemate at the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic means, like this one with Iraq. These is no point for the Gulf states to take drastic moves against Iran, like the UAE who severed economic ties with Iran or Saudi Arabia who attacked the Houthis in Yemen. It does not help the situation at all.

We need to get more oil & gas vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in order to get oil prices to come down. Brent crude prices have surged past US$90 a barrel again in the week, and that is not good for everybody.

It is not good for the Gulf states who do not get to export any oil out of the strait, it is not good for the US as high oil prices will fuel inflation and then high interest rates, it is not good for most Asian countries who do not get sufficient oil and gas to fuel up their economy. For instance, Singapore is still not getting enough LNG from the Middle East for the generating companies like PowerSeraya and Senoko Power to run their CCGTs at efficient loads. Malaysia is adjusting up diesel and unsubsidized petrol prices up every week since August. US Treasury yields are scaling multi-year highs earlier this week, crashing the stock markets and prompting traders to price in higher probability for rate hikes in 2H 2026. Interest rates in Singapore may rise too. Worse still, if the stalemate at the Strait of Hormuz continues for another few weeks, we shall see queues lining at petrol stations in Thailand, the Philippines and Bangladesh, and ordinary folks running out of cooking gas in India and Pakistan again.

AEON - No surprises in Q2 FY2026 Results

AEON announced its Q2 FY2026 results on Friday, with a core net profit of RM14.2m, 15% higher than last year corresponding period.

A summary of the quarterly results is tabulated below:

I had earlier projected for AEON to achieve a core net profit of RM35-40m for Q2 FY2026, assuming an EBIT loss of RM15m for the Retailing segment. Even if I raised the Retailing segmental EBIT loss to RM28m as in Q2 FY25, AEON should still be able to achieve a net profit of RM26-30m in Q2 FY2026. Unfortunately, AEON registered an EBIT loss of RM32.4m for its Retailing segment in Q2 FY2026, much larger than expected.

Also the Property Management segment only achieved an EBIT of RM90m in Q2 FY2026. I had expected it to be around RM105m assuming a rental rate revision of 6.0% YoY, but the average rental rate in Q2 FY2026 only grew 3.0% YoY. As a result, the average rental rate has come down to about RM5.20 psf / month in Q2.

Revenue for the Retailing segment dropped by 1.2% YoY to RM795.4 million mainly attributable to cautious consumer spending, with consumers prioritising essential purchases over discretionary spending. As a result, the EBIT for Retailing segment plunged into a bigger loss in Q2 FY2026.

The better side is still the Property Management segment which registered a revenue growth of 3.0% YoY to RM200.0 million. At assumed occupancy rate of 95.7% and total NLA of 13.4m sf, the average rental rate achieved in Q2 FY2026 dropped to RM5.20 psf, down from a new high of RM5.52 psf in Q1. It is lower than my earlier projected rental rate growth of 6.0% p.a., likely due to the effect of SST Extension that imposed an 8% SST on rental income making rental revision lower.

Of note is that the Property Management segmental revenue increased by RM5.8m YoY but the EBIT jumped by a larger quantum of RM11.8m from RM78.2m in Q2 FY25 to RM90.0m in Q2 FY26. That is likely due to the installation of solar power at several AEON malls over the past 12 months, that has saved on electricity expenses.

For the full year FY2026, I had earlier projected for a 5% increase in Property Management segmental EBIT from RM322m in FY2025 to RM338m. With the Q1 FY2026 EBIT registering a 34% YoY growth and Q2 EBIT growing at 15% YoY, the full year FY2026 EBIT for Property Management segment may likely shoot past my projection, so I am raising the Property Management segmental EBIT to RM354m for a 10% YoY growth.

The Retailing segment disappoints again. I have earlier projected an EBIT of RM49 million for FY2026, but 1H FY2026 EBIT dropped >10% YoY. I am reducing the Retailing segmental EBIT from RM23m to RM13.5m in FY2026.

All in, I am projecting AEON to achieve a net profit of RM154 million in FY2026, which will be about 15% higher than the net profit of RM133.8 million achieved in FY2025. Full year EPS in FY2026 may come to 11.0 sen, which is a good result.

Operating cashflows were strong at RM260.1 million for the first 6 months of the year. There was a negative cashflow from working capital changes, amounting to RM150.6m in the first half. The strong operating cashflows has resulted in substantial higher cash balance of RM611.1m (+RM197m YoY) as of 30 June 2026. Capex spent was RM106m in the first half. The higher cash balance was also contributed by a net drawdown of RM250m in borrowings, which was to fund the capex and negative working capital changes.

Total borrowings increased to RM1,040m as of 30 June 2026, and net debts were at RM429m. If AEON continues the momentum, the company will turn net cash by end of FY2028.

On the prospects, AEON stated below in the press release:

The Company remains committed to strengthening its operational efficiency and business resilience through the disciplined execution of its strategic priorities. Key initiatives include expanding its Private Brands offerings, enhancing its loyalty programme, accelerating digital transformation and optimising its tenant mix to drive sustainable growth in footfall and customer engagement. The Company continues to invest in asset enhancement and retail infrastructure to strengthen the competitiveness of its assets. Concurrently, the Company remains focused on productivity improvements and cost discipline to strengthen financial resilience, while continuing to advance its sustainability initiatives to support long-term value creation.

The target opening of AEON Mall KL Midtown by end of 2026 will drive growth in both the Property Management and Retailing segments. The positive surprise is that the KL Midtown project is a mixed development that integrates retail, residential, hospitality and office components. The residential, hotel and office components within the cohesive development will certainly add footfalls to the AEON Mall, increasing its rental appeal.

The expansion at AEON Mall Kinta City Ipoh and AEON Mall Seremban 2 will add growth to the company from 2028.

I am revising up my earnings projection for FY2030, by increasing the total NLA from 13.4m sf to 13.8m sf to cater for extension at AEON Mall Seremban 2 and Kinta City which will be completed by 2028. I have not included any contribution from the upcoming AEON Mall Mid Town KL.

My revised projection points to a net profit of RM302m in FY2030 for AEON, or EPS of 21.5 sen. At a 50% payout ratio of its free cashflows, AEON may be able to declare dividends of up to 16.4 sen in FY2030. At 5% yield, AEON may trade up to RM3.28 in 2030. If we buy AEON at the current price of RM1.00 and hold it until 2030, the stock may give us a compounded return of 35% p.a. for the next 4 years.

For its resilient business model, AEON should be trading at 17x PER, its 10-year mean valuation. At my projected earnings in FY2030, AEON may be trading up to RM3.65 in FY2030.

AEON should turn into a net cash position in FY2028 and shall have a net cash balance of over RM940m by end of FY2030.

I attach my revised earnings projections below for reference:

In short, we should treat AEON as more of a property & asset play, rather than a consumer / retails stock. In FY2025, the Property Management segment contributed over 90% of AEON’s total earnings before interest and tax. By FY2030, the Property Management segment shall contribute over 95% of total EBIT to AEON.

In the earnings projection above, I have assumed a 4% p.a. of rental rate revision for AEON Property Management segment to FY2030. AEON achieved an average rental rate revision of 8.3% in FY2024 and 5.1% in FY2025. The rental rate revision in 1H FY2026 so far is about 3.5%.

Please note that for a rental rate revision of 3.5% a year, the increase in Property Management EBIT is unproportionally higher due to a high proportion of fixed overhead in the segment. For instance, in 1H FY2026, the Property Management segmental revenue increased by 3.5% or RM13.9m to RM412.5m, but the EBIT increased by 25% or RM41.4m to RM206.5m. If we ignore the savings in electricity expenses achieved from solar power installation, the revenue increase of RM13.9m if flowing directly to EBIT, it would have translated into an 8.4% increase in EBIT from RM165.1m in 1H FY25 to RM179.0m in 1H FY2026.

As the headline profits in Q2 FY26 are matching expectations, I expect AEON shares to continue trading sideways around RM1.00-1.10 in coming weeks until we see some good news that may re-rate the stock.

Potential good news will be:

• substantially higher earnings from the Retailing segment in Q3 and more likely in Q4, due to AEON’s various efforts to drive sustainable growth in footfalls

• completion of AEON Mall Midtown KL by end of 2026

• higher rental rate revision on consistently high occupancy rates of over 95%

Analysts’ Upgrades on YTL Power

After the Q4 FY2026 result announcement and results briefing call on Thursday, there have been numerous analysts’ upgrade on YTL Power stock. I summarise a few important ones below.

JPMorgan

JPMorgan raised its target price for YTL Power from RM6.20 to RM7.20 after the call.

We raise our SOTP-based Jun-27 PT to RM7.20 (from RM6.20) on higher FY27/28E earnings of 8%/12%, driven by (i) a stronger DC ramp and (ii) higher Wessex PBT from the April tariff increase. PowerSeraya is expected to hold stable at its 4Q26 floor. Overall, the briefing was positive, with better-than-expected showings across all three key segments. While the group flagged a doubling of DC capacity to 2.4GW (largely demand-driven), we do not factor this in and stick to our 1.2GW assumption by FY32 pending more clarity. Incrementally, management indicated that the new 1.2GW at Sedenak Tech Park could be realised on the 145-acre site alone, with electricity and water readily available. This points to demand for higher-density IT racks, likely Nvidia Vera Rubin-ready, while the option to buy another 400 acres offers optionality to scale at a similar ratio.

DC 4Q26 PBT of RM244m made up 35% of group; FY27E DC PBT to reach RM630m on 258MW live. Although off a low base, the sequential gains, with revenue and PBT both roughly doubling Q/Q, were a welcome sign, with reported 4Q26 PBT margins reaching ~50%. At 4Q26 DC revenue/PBT of RM459m/RM244m, the quarter reflects a full period of 150MW running live, ahead of our forecast, though some back-loaded recognition means it shouldn’t be annualised. Even so, the numbers came in well above expectations. We therefore raise our DC EBITDA/PBT forecasts for FY27/28E by 9%/8% and 14%/13% respectively, to RM1.2bn/RM2.1bn and RM0.63bn/RM1.21bn.

PowerSeraya 4Q flat Q/Q; the trough is behind us. This removes a key overhang on the stock, where investors had been heavily concerned about margins given the plant maintenance and the force majeure on gas supply. Management indicated that maintenance has concluded and the plant is operational again; while the gas-supply force majeure remains ongoing, the team has mitigated it by streamlining operations. Looking into FY27, management guides the 4Q26 result as a floor, which we have already reflected in our model. We expect PowerSeraya PBT to grow 4%/18% in FY27/28E, with FY28 benefiting from the new 600MW hydrogen-ready gas plant.

Wessex Water saw a margin uplift as higher tariffs came into play. 4Q26 PBT and PBT margin were reported at RM283m and 13% (+4ppts Q/Q), reflecting the Ofwat-approved 3% tariff increase that took effect in April. We expect Wessex profits to keep compounding, as the AMP8 cycle grows the regulated asset base and annual inflation-linked re-indexing feeds through to allowed revenue. Alongside Ranhill’s own tariff increase, this reinforces the water segment as a steadier, structurally growing contributor to group PBT, offsetting the softer near-term PowerSeraya trajectory. We raise our Wessex PBT for FY27/28E to RM976m/RM1.1bn (from a overly conservative RM533m/RM583m), reflecting 11% PBT margins.

Hong Leong

Hong Leong raised its target price for YTL Power from RM5.85 to RM7.58 on Friday.

YTLP’s core PATMI rebounded strongly by 74.0% QoQ to RM646.6m in 4QFY26, bringing FY26 core PATMI to RM2.2bn, above our forecast (112.4%) and consensus (118.9%). The QoQ improvement was mainly driven by stronger contributions from DC, Wessex and Ranhill, while Seraya remained stable. Management has raised its DC strategic target to 2.4GW, supported by the latest 145 acres land acquisition in Sedenak West, with an option to acquire another 400 acres for 3GW capacity. We reiterate our BUY call with a higher TP of RM7.58 (from RM5.85), based on a 10% discount to FD SOP of RM8.42, reflecting our higher valuation for the DC segment.

Utilities. Seraya has been impacted by force majeure affecting 10% of its gas supply amid the ongoing Iran conflict. However, management was able to benefit from higher pool and retail prices, which helped offset the increase in operating costs. The construction of the 600MW hydrogen-ready CCGT remains on schedule for completion by end-2027. YTLP is also a beneficiary of the newGen26 tender, for a new 1.4GW CCGT IPP. Its 215MWac self-consumption solar farm remains on track for COD in 2QFY27, while the 100MW Equinox LSS (Petra 5+) is expected to be completed by end-2027.

Water. Contribution from Wessex continued to improve, driven by annual tariff hikes implemented in April. The CMA’s approval for an additional 5% tariff hike, effective from Apr-27, should provide further earnings uplift. Ranhill also continued to deliver strong core earnings, with potential for additional water asset concessions in Johor by 2030 providing further long-term growth opportunities.

DC. DC contribution has become increasingly meaningful, with PBT rising to RM345.5m in FY26 from RM32.1m in FY25, on an operational capacity of 150MW, with management guiding for 298MW in FY27. YTLDC has raised its Kulai YTLDC planned capacity to 1.2GW from 500MW, with construction of DC5 (80MW) and DC11 (120MW) underway amid strong enquiries. It has secured 600MW ESA, with another 600MW WIP for its Kulai YTLDC campus. YTLP has also just acquired a 145-acre Sedenak West land to support another 1.2GW DC development, supported by ready electricity and water infrastructure, with an option for another 400 acres, potentially enabling up to 3GW of additional capacity. The RM10bn sukuk program is expected to be completed by end-2026, paving the way for the potential IPO of its DC operations.

Maintain BUY, TP: RM7.58. We reiterate our BUY rating with a higher TP of RM7.58 (from RM5.85), based on a 10% discount to our higher FD SOP valuation of RM8.42, reflecting a higher valuation for the DC operations given the strong growth momentum. Wessex Water and Ranhill also offer solid earnings growth potential, supported by higher tariffs and upcoming asset concession contributions at Ranhill. YTLP is also a key contender for the 1.4GW CCGT IPP under the EC’s NewGen26 tender, providing further upside potential.

CGS

CGS maintained its target price for YTL Power at RM6.50 which it just raised one day earlier.

4QFY6/26 normalised net profit rose 12% qoq, but was down 55% yoy and 35% for FY26. This was in line with our forecast but ahead of consensus.

The qoq improvement came from stronger Water and DC contributions, partly offset by higher investment holding losses; PowerSeraya was broadly stable.

Reiterate Add with an SOP-based TP of RM6.50. A potential DC spin-off could unlock significant value based on listed DC peer valuation benchmark.

Updates from the analyst briefing

● At its analyst briefing on 20 Aug, management said its recent 145-acre land acquisition at Sedenak, Johor, has a planned capacity of 1.2GW to be rolled out over five years. The expansion of its DC pipeline is being driven by strong enquiries from potential DC offtakers, reflecting robust demand. Together with its 1.2GW Kulai campus, the group’s expanded DC portfolio supports potential annual IT load additions of ~400MW. Progress on securing another 600MW of power supply for the Sedenak (should be Kulai) site is still underway.

● Of the current total 298MW DC offtakes at its Kulai site, management expects live capacity to ramp up from 150MW in Jun 2026 to 190MW in Jan 2027 and 258MW by end-FY27. Beyond this, another 80MW (JDC5) is at an advanced stage of construction, while 120MW (JDC6) is at the initial works stage, with offtakes yet to be signed.

● Construction of the adjacent 215MWac solar facility for its green DC park has been completed, with testing underway and commissioning progressing through 2H26. Meanwhile, construction of its new 600MW CCGT plant in Singapore is progressing well and remains on track for completion by end-2027. Management highlighted that it has submitted bids for new CCGT capacities in Malaysia, having secured 3 gas turbine slots.

Reiterate Add with a SOP-based TP of RM6.50

● Despite YTLP’s strong share price rally recently, we believe the potential listing of the DC business could fuel a further re-rating. The rebound in Singapore spark spreads to S$70-80/MWh in Jul 26 vs. an average ~S$45/MWh in 2Q26, could also provide upside to PowerSeraya earnings, though we maintain our forecasts for now as spread sustainability remains uncertain ahead the recontracting of a bulk of its volume in early-2027. Its 3 secured gas turbine slots position it to capture new CCGT capacities in Malaysia amid rising generation needs. Key risks: IPO execution, slow DC ramp-up, weaker Seraya margins, UK inflation resurgence.

AmInvest

Ambank Investment Bank raised its target price for YTL Power from RM4.90 to RM6.86 after the call.

YTL Power’s data centre (DC) unit recorded a pre -tax profit of RM345.5mil in FY26. On a quarterly basis, the division’s pre -tax profit rose to RM 244.3mil in 4QFY26 from RM59.3mil in 3QFY26 partly due to delayed revenue recognition from 1QFY26 and 2QFY26. About 150MW of the DC were commissioned as of end -June. Going forward, 258MW would be commissioned by the end of FY 27F. In Singapore, YTLP Seraya’s pretax profit sank by 47% to RM1.5bil in FY26 dragged by maintenance shutdowns, lower tariffs and a fall in retail margins. Looking ahead, we believe that YTLP Seraya’s earnings would recover as electricity tariffs improve. We maintain BUY on YTLP with a target price of RM 6.86/share.

BUY with a higher TP of RM 6.86/share vs. RM4.90/share previously. Our TP is based on a CY28F fully diluted PE of 20x vs. 18x originally. In the past five years, YTLP's PE band ranged from 7x to 22x. We believe that YTLP deserves to trade close to the high-end of its PE band as data centres are expected to underpin the next phase of growth. YTLP is also planning to list its data centre unit in 2027F.

RHB

RHB Research raised its target price for YTL Power from RM6.35 to RM7.00 on Friday.

A strong show from the DC segment. The DC segment contributed MYR244m to group PBT in 4Q, which is a significant increase from MYR59m in 3Q. This was on the back of a 105% QoQ topline growth with 150MW contracted capacity. The strong performance was mainly due to earnings being backloaded in 4Q as YTL Power ramped up utilisation. Nevertheless, core earnings for the division still grew 106% QoQ. The water division earnings also grew 126% YoY in FY26 as YTLP benefited from tariff hikes for both its UK and Johor operations.

Outlook. Management is on track to complete another 200MW DC capacity at its Kulai DC park by Jun 2027 and is targeting to secure the tenants soon. With the acquisition of the 145-acre land in Sedenak Tech Park announced earlier this week (see our 20 Aug report), management said it could ramp up capacity by 400MW annually due to robust demand. Notably, the Sedenak land also includes immediate access to water and electricity supply, which should allow YTLP to accelerate the construction of DC facilities for prospective tenants. The 600MW solar farm in Kulai is also on track for commissioning in 2HCY26, which should further improve margins for its DC business. Management is also exploring the possibility of building new water treatment plants to ensure stable water supply in Johor.

What is the upside for 2.2GW capacity? Our model currently assumes MYR33bn (or MYR3.62/share) valuation for 1.2GW capacity in Kulai. A scenario test: Assuming YTLP successfully ramps up the 1GW capacity in Sedenak within the same period, we estimate another MYR2.90 upside (+41%) to arrive at a bull-case FV of MYR9.90 (inclusive of a 2% ESG discount).

TA Research

TA research raised its target price for YTL Power from RM4.09 to RM6.53 on Friday.

YTL Power International Berhad’s (YTLPOWR) FY26 result came in within expectations. The group reported a core net profit of RM331mn for its 4QFY26, which brought FY26 core earnings to RM1.8bn, accounting for 98% of both our and consensus estimates.

Group 4QFY26 PBT fell -62% YoY to RM692mn driven by weaker contribution from Seraya (-66% YoY) on the back of lower pool, retail and vesting margins. This was partly offset by higher contribution from the water segment (+20% YoY) following Wessex Water’s 3% tariff hike in April 2026 and Ranhill Utilities’ (RANHILL) tariff hike in August 2025, as well as higher contribution from the data centre (DC) segment as live capacity starts to kick in.

Sequentially, group PBT improved +56% QoQ mainly driven by higher water segment contribution on the back of Wessex Water’s April 2026 tariff hike as mentioned above, and RANHILL’s recognition of a RM49mn NRW matching grant during the quarter. Additionally, DC contribution gained traction given full quarter contribution of the 150MW live capacity and lumpy catch-up adjustment recognised for the previous 3 quarters.

Outlook

We believe YTLPOWR’s earnings trend has broadly bottomed in view of stabilising Seraya earnings (with the current results already reflective of expiry of the majority of legacy gas contracts, supply force majeure following the Iran War and plant maintenance largely completed), improving Wessex Water earnings and meaningful traction in DC contribution.

Seraya may see improving earnings in view of the sharp rise in pool prices (which is now trending close to vesting prices) while Wessex Water’s earnings are expected to remain sustainable following the ~3% April tariff hike. Moreover, a rebounding SGD and GBP against the MYR bode well for Seraya and Wessex Water earnings going forward.

Meanwhile DC contribution should continue to gain traction with a targeted 258MW (+72% YoY) live capacity by end-FY27F from 150MW at end-FY26. Another 120MW + 80MW is in the pipeline with the latter already at advanced stages of construction and the former having commenced ground works. More importantly, we think visibility in hitting the group’s enlarged 2.4GW target is improving. Through 70%-owned SIPP Power, the group is acquiring a 145-acre land at the Sedenak Tech Park West (STeP West) which is expected to accommodate up to 1.2GW DC capacity. This is on top of the 1.2GW targeted for the existing Kulai Green DC Park within the next 5 years. Ready supply of power and water at STeP West could accelerate DC construction and delivery, while the group’s Kulai site is in the midst of securing another 600MW power supply (from 600MW currently). An IPO and Sukuk issuance are in the pipeline to fund the group’s DC capacity growth.

Per our Iran War thematic, geopolitical instability could drive a diversification of the Middle East’s huge 12GW DC investment pipeline (based on JLL’s EMEA Year End Data Centre Report 2025) into other regions such as Southeast Asia, in particular Johor, which is already the 2nd largest DC hub in Asia Pacific currently. Having ready supply of land, water, and power coupled with timely delivery of capacity, positions YTLPOWR well to capture this opportunity.

In the domestic power generation sector, YTLPOWR is participating in the NewGen26 tender having secured gas turbine supply. Meanwhile, 53%- owned RANHILL (Buy, TP: RM3.26) has been given the nod by regulators to undertake its own capex for water treatment plant (WTP) expansion and pipeline rezoning, which could accelerate capacity debottlenecking to meet demand, especially from Johor DCs. The process is expected to commence from next year (CY27F) as RANHILL enters a new operating period, with capex or incremental lease rentals typically accompanied by tariff hikes to enable capital/cost clawback. Per our recent note on RANHILL, we estimate up to 700-800MLD incremental capacity is required to meet Johor’s current 3.1GW DC pipeline, while Johor’s average WTP reserve margin of 14.3% sits slightly below SPAN’s recommended minimum of 15%.

Due to the better-than-expected Q4 results and upgrades from analysts, YTL Power shares jumped up 24 sen on Friday to test its historical high of RM5.40. All technical signs point to further upsides to the stock.

However, I would exercise caution in chasing high at the moment. I assess that the possibility of the stock scaling new highs or consolidating first in next 2-3 weeks is about 50:50. The stock may continue its rally to RM5.60-6.00 in momentum trades next week. It may well be the case that profit taking sets in to bring the stock to a consolidation range of RM5.15-5.40 in next few weeks.

But over the medium term to end of the year, YTL Power should be trading higher progressively towards RM7.00 level, driven by catalysts that may be coming out anytime from September onwards:

• securing of another 600MW of power supply to its Kulai DC Park

• securing of large offtakers for its new data centres at Sedenak

• purchase of suitable land in Selangor for its DC expansion to the state

• forming of JVs in neighbouring countries for its DC expansion

• successfully issuance of sukuk for its DC expansion

• appointment of investment bankers for its proposed IPO listing of its DC business (the first 300MW) on Bursa

• expression of interests to list subsequent data centres on SGX or Nasdaq in 2027-2028

Hence, I am not speculating on how much the stock will retreat in coming days or weeks, but will just hold onto my YTL Power shares to next year or to 2028 to enjoy the full upsides from the catalysts above. The upsides are substantial enough for a hold for 2 more years. As AmInvest points out, the upside could be as much as RM2.90 to RM9.90 if YTL Power succeeds in ramping up 1GW of DCs at Sedenak. I am actually looking at much higher upsides based on JPMorgan projections.

In fact, should YTL Power shares retreat towards RM5.15 or a stronger support level of RM5.00, I may add more as I believe the stock at RM5.00 may provide me with ~60% upsides in 2 years.

According to Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds were big buyers of YTL Power shares with a net purchase of RM71.4m (biggest daily purchase so far) on Thursday 20th August. They also net bought RM38.0m worth of YTL shares on Thursday.

Local institutions were net sellers of YTL Power shares on Thursday with a net sale of RM13.0m, but they turned net buyers of YTL shares with a net purchase of RM36.6m.

Local retailers were again big sellers of YTL and YTL Power shares with a net sale of RM68.2m and RM55.9m respectively on Thursday. Investment traders were also sellers with a net sale of RM6.5m YTL and RM2.5m YTL Power shares.

I would suggest fellow investors to hold onto your YTL and YTL Power shares for a while longer, and not to sell off when the share price jumped 5% on a single day like on Thursday. However, if YTL Power share price jumped another 10% up towards RM6.00 early next week, I might consider taking a little profit off first, then looking to buy back lower.

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A breakdown of the profit before tax (PBT) is tabulated below:

Some commentary on the PBT breakdown:

• Cement and Building materials segment registered strong earnings of RM493.1m, a jump of 31% from the same period last year and a rise of 23% QoQ. That shows continuous growth in the business segment. The higher revenue is due to higher turnover in the ready-mix concrete and drymix division, driven by stronger demand for high-grade, bespoke ready-mix concrete products. The higher profit before tax was driven by continued rigorous cost management and operational efficiency initiatives, including the increased adoption of renewable energy and waste heat recovery plants, optimisation of advanced technological systems, and lower operation and finance costs, despite higher transportation costs due to statutory legislation and elevated fuel prices in the market.

• Hotels segment registered a jump of 27% jump in PBT from the same period last year, driven by higher occupancy rates and stronger average room rates across key properties.

• Utilities segment registered lower earnings in Q4 FY2026 due to lower earnings contribution from PowerSeraya, offset by stronger earnings from Wessex Waters & Ranhill Utilities and the data centre segment. Of note is that this is the highest quarterly pretax profit achieved in FY2026 for the Utilities segment.

Overall, YTL has demonstrated its ability to achieve a resilient level of PBT of around RM1 billion every quarter from its diversified business segments. EBITDA remained strong at RM9.15 billion for FY2026. This is going to shoot past RM10 billion in FY2027 or FY2028.

The weakness in the Utilities sector in the quarter was largely offset by strength in the Cement and Building Materials segment and Hotels division. Soon, the Property Development & Investment division will contribute meaningful earnings once Brabazon project takes off.

Looking ahead, I am making the following changes to my earnings projection:

• Raise cement division PBT to RM400m a quarter (from RM390m previously), and increase taxation rate from 31% to 32% based on actual in FY2026

• increase Hotels segmental net profit to match FY2026 actual PBT of RM371m (and apply an average taxation rate of 10% due to large portion earnings from YTL REIT)

• Utilities segmental net profit revised based on new projections for YTL Power

The new earnings projection for YTL will look like this:

The earnings per share (EPS) is calculated based on assumed enlarged share base of 11,660 million shares in FY2026, 12,000 million shares in FY2027, 12,500 million shares in FY2028 and 13,280 million shares from FY2029 to reflect the full conversion of bonus warrants in three years after issuance.

The earnings projection is made with the best knowledge and understanding that I have currently on the various business divisions of YTL, and actual earnings may vary significantly from my projections.

The earnings projection above is my base case. There are potential upsides to the earnings projections:

• more construction jobs to be taken up by YTL for Wessex Waters (GBP4.2 billion of capex plans in 2025-2030) and for YTL Power data centre works (potentially another 400MW or RM10-12 billion of contracts every year for next few years)

• higher demand and profit margins for the new environmental-friendly products from YTL Cement and Malayan Cement, and lower Indonesia coal prices

• higher earnings contribution from YTL Cement (Singapore & Vietnam operations) and NSL Pte Ltd Singapore

• maiden earnings contribution from recently acquired unit from SCIB in East Malaysia and Concrete Engineering

• gradual opening of new resort hotel at Niseko Village Japan, with a new Moxy Hotel opening by 2026 end

• Higher colocation data centres lease income if the company can indeed ramp up total data centre lease by 400MW every year to a targeted full capacity of 2,400MW after FY2032

• faster take-up rates for the AI data centre by the government for the sovereign AI cloud project

• faster and meaningful monetisation of YTL Power’s LLM, ILMU and ILMUClaw

• faster new builds of data centres and stronger water demand in Johor for Ranhill

• Brabazon property projects getting better responses to its new launches

• Completion of student accommodation project and Aviva Arena in Brabazon from 2027-2028

• better-than-expected take-up rates by hyperscalers of the dark fibre capacity along the 1,600km RAC railway tracks

• YTL Comms turning around earlier

• Ryt Bank turning around earlier

• any new projects secured locally or overseas

Based on my base case projection, YTL is trading at just 12.2x PER on FY2027 earnings, falling to 9.5x PER in FY2028.

Other large cap peers or utility companies are trading at much higher valuation:

· Sunway at 28-30x PER

· Gamuda at 25-27x PER

· Petronas Gas at 20x PER

YTL is hence the cheapest large cap conglomerate listed in Bursa.

With its highly resilient earnings profile from a diversified base of business divisions, YTL should deserve a valuation of 20x PER.

The core earnings from utility businesses like power generation from PowerSeraya and Jordan Power or water & sewerage from Wessex Waters are very resilient and recession-proof. Its cement division has a dominant market share in Peninsular Malaysia and increasing market shares in Singapore and East Malaysia, often setting the price in the markets.

Hence, YTL should be trading up to RM4.05 in FY2027, rising to RM5.26 in FY2028 and RM6.32 in FY2029.

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The S&P 500 advanced 0.21% while the Nasdaq gained 0.16%. The Dow Jones added 119.65 points and settled at 53,463.05.

The rally lost ground as the session went on. Earlier in the day, the Dow climbed more than 360 points at its high of the session. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% at its peak, while the Nasdaq was higher by 0.6%.

Stocks’ initial jump came as yields on the long end of the Treasury curve slid after the Treasury Department said it’s going to at least double the size of its government debt repurchases. The increased buyback is aimed at the 10- to 30-year parts of the market. That will include the 20-year.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield - which notched a new 19-year high of above 5.33% in the prior trading day - declined more than 10 basis points to 5.184%. The 10-year Treasury note yield dropped more than 6 basis points to 4.637%.

Stocks viewed as beneficiaries of lower rates saw some gains. Lowe’s and Home Depot both gained around 2%.

“Value names, for example, are doing really well today, and that tells you that the economy and the corporate earnings cycle are still very strong,” said Massimo Santicchia, head of US equities at Procyon. That said, there is '“a tension now in the market,” he added, noting that there are solid fundamentals on one hand and a higher cost of capital induced by higher yields on the other.

Overall, it is still a “very, very good environment for stocks” because of the solid earnings outlook, Santicchia said.

Moderna more than doubled, soaring about 177% for its best day on record after an experimental skin cancer vaccine developed with Merck showed success in a late-stage trial. Merck shares jumped more than 12%, supporting the Dow.

Shares of Marvell Technology gained almost 10% after announcing an agreemwnt with Google related to its tensor processing units and issuing Alphabet a warrant to buy up to $12.2 billion worth of Marvell common stock.

However, other tech stocks slid after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that OpenAI disclosed second-quarter results that disappointed investors. While revenue expanded by 18% between the first and second quarter, losses grew as well. Broadcom declined more than 4% and AMD shed nearly 4%, while the iShares AI Innovation and Tech Active ETF fell roughly 2%.

The major US stock averages fell on Tuesday as sovereign bond yields around the globe hit multi-year highs partially due to concerns around inflation. Along with the 30-year Treasury yield’s fresh 19-year high, Japan’s 10-year bond yield reached its highest level in three decades. Rates on France’s 30-year bond reached the highest going back to 2008. The German 30-year bund yield hit its highest point since 2011.

If inflation does not ease, Federal Reserve officials see the potential for higher rates, the latest meeting minutes showed Wednesday. At the July meeting, there were three dissenters voting to hike rates.

Iranian leaders threaten to bomb British base on Cyprus if the US steps up the war

Daily Mail, August 20, 2026

Iranian leaders are preparing to resume attacks on a British base in Cyprus should Donald Trump escalate the conflict.

RAF Akrotiri, a centre for UK air operations in the region, was struck by an Iranian drone in March – damaging a hangar and causing a political row.

Then-prime minister Keir Starmer faced questions from the Cypriot government over its failure to protect the base situated near the tourist hub of Limassol.

It emerged on Wednesday Iran is considering attacking the base and US military sites in Europe.

Cypriot officials responded by appealing to Iran not to strike the Mediterranean island.

A Cypriot government source said: ‘We are in contact with Iran, and Cyprus is not a target.’

The Ministry of Defence insisted the security of the base, its personnel and their dependants were ‘our highest priority’.

A spokesman insisted RAF Akrotiri was protected by ‘robust, multi-layered security measures’.

At the beginning of the conflict families of personnel at Akrotiri were forced to abandon their homes due to the Iranian aerial threat.

Labour was lambasted at the time for leaving UK service personnel and partners and children so vulnerable, and for failing to deploy a Royal Navy warship to defend Cyprus.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Iranian forces are also considering US military targets in eastern and southern Europe.

It follows the US President threatening to resume attacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure.

Iranian insiders told the Financial Times the country would place ‘no limits’ on its response should the US attack its natural resources, energy plans and transport networks.

They said Iran would defend itself ‘at any price’ including ‘going beyond the region and hitting Europe, too’.

Experts say Iran’s tactic is to attack countries, such as Cyprus, that host bases but are opposed to the conflict in the hope it will call for an end to war, as Jordan did when its US bases came under fire.

Iran could also target under-sea cables in the region as hardliners in its government push for a tougher stance against the US and its allies.

Diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations over a broader agreement to end the war have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.

The US is exerting financial pressure on Iran by blockading its ports. Last night, the United Arab Emirates said it was suspending trade with Iran.

My take: The threat from Iran came about now likely because the Iranians may have detected movements of US military around this UK military base in Cyprus. They suspect US Commando may want to use this base to launch attacks onto Iran, like what they did in March.

Iran has demonstrated its ability to strike the UK military base in Cyprus, that was a warning in March. I hope the UK would not be ruthless enough this time round to allow US Commando to use its base again to launch attacks on Iran. There is absolutely no benefit to the UK to drag itself into this war.

CapitaLand, IOI near deal for Singapore US$1.9 bil office — Bloomberg

The Edge Malaysia, August 20, 2026

SINGAPORE (Aug 20): CapitaLand Investment Ltd and Malaysian developer IOI Properties Group Bhd (KL:IOIPG) are nearing a deal to buy an iconic office development in Singapore’s commercial centre, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd-backed Singapore property asset manager and IOI are looking to form a joint venture to finalise a transaction for One Raffles Place, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The property is likely to be sold for just under S$2.4 billion (US$1.9 billion or RM7.64 billion), one of the people said.

The development, comprising two office towers with 62 and 38 floors, along with a retail mall, is set to join a spate of commercial real estate assets changing hands as the market revives, supported by low borrowing costs and sellers’ greater willingness to be flexible on pricing.

OUE REIT, a real estate investment trust backed by the wealthy Indonesian Riady family, controls a firm that owns an 81.54% interest in the property. United Overseas Bank Ltd, one of Singapore’s biggest lenders, holds the remaining 18.46% and occupies space in the complex.

An OUE REIT spokesperson referred to its exchange filing in February that it had a process underway to determine market interest in the development along with UOB. A spokesperson for IOI did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Spokespeople for UOB and CapitaLand Investment declined to comment.

Singapore has seen a return of large-scale real estate transactions. After a record US$10 billion (RM40.44 billion) of deals for commercial real estate in the first half, more in the pipeline could push the city-state beyond a high last seen in 2019, data provider MSCI Inc said in a recent report.

The buyers are exploring a partial redevelopment of the complex although UOB will retain space it occupies in it after the complex’s sale, a person familiar with the latest deal said.

The sellers were initially looking to sell the development for as much as S$2.5 billion, the person added. One Raffles Place was worth S$2.37 billion based on a valuation of the stake the REIT controls at the end of 2025. It has 65,309 square meters (702,980 square feet) of lettable space.

Spokespeople for CBRE Group Inc and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, which have been marketing the asset, did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

People familiar with the matter have previously cited challenges in selling the asset, saying the pricing was seen as high because an acquisition of the complex will likely involve more capital outlay for redevelopment. Most of the complex dates back to the 1980s but only one of its towers and part of its retail space have long-term leases lasting for centuries. The other tower and 75% of the retail space have leases that will expire by the 2080s.

Malaysian tycoon Datuk Lee Yeow Seng’s IOI has been expanding its presence in Singapore with a slew of acquisitions, including most recently Asia Square Tower 2, an office building it agreed to buy for S$2.48 billion from a REIT backed by CapitaLand Investment.

My take: This is potentially another earnings accretive deal for IOIPG, after the acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2. This round, IOIPG is partnering Capital Land to snap up this trophy asset in Singapore CBD - One Raffles Place.

The prime office space supply is expected to be very tight in next few years to 2030. As Singapore economy is growing at rapid pace, the demand for prime office space in the CBD area will inevitably push up rental rates further.

According to a Hong Leong earlier report, IOIPG’s prime office tower, IOI Central Boulevard, in Singapore CBD has seen the last few lots of office space leased out at rental rates as high as S$18 psf, from the average of S$13 psf last year.

I am confident that there is a lot of upsides to be derived by IOIPG from Asia Square Tower 2 which acquisition may be completed soon by Dec 2026, and One Raffles Place should they succeed in acquiring it.

DKSH announces good results for Q2 FY2026

DKSH announces good results for Q2 FY2026, with net profit of RM32.3m, up +35% YoY.

I summarize the quarterly results of DKSH for past few quarters in the table below:

Revenue for the quarter improved by 10.8% compared to the corresponding second quarter in 2025, from RM 1.99 billion to RM 2.21 billion, and decreased by 6.0% compared to the first quarter of 2026, which amounted to RM 2.35 billion. The improved revenue in comparison to corresponding second quarter of 2025 was driven by growth from existing and newly secured clients in both Business Units Consumer Goods and Healthcare.

Revenue declined compared to the preceding first quarter of 2026, largely due to festive sales in the first few months of the year. Profit before tax for the quarter increased by 33.2% compared to same quarter of 2025 which was mainly due to revenue growth and unrealized foreign exchange effects.

The decrease in profit before tax by 34.3% compared to the first quarter of 2026 was mainly due to seasonal flow with higher festive sales in the preceding first quarter. Meanwhile operating expense remained largely the same with the first quarter.

Famous Amos turned into a loss again

Revenue for the quarter increased by 6.5% from RM 23.6 million to RM 25.2 million compared to the corresponding second quarter in 2025 and decreased by 13.3% in comparison to the first quarter of 2026, which was RM 29.0 million.

The improvement in revenue compared to the corresponding second quarter of 2025 was driven by revision of product pricing structure, while the decrease in revenue against the preceding first quarter of 2025 was due to the timing of festive sales.

The segment loss for the quarter was RM 1.2 million, 74.0% lower than the corresponding second quarter 2025 and higher than RM 0.7 million reported for the preceding first quarter of 2026. The reduction compared to corresponding second quarter of 2025 was driven by higher revenue and favorable currency effects while the increase compared to preceding first quarter of 2026 was contributed by lower sales post the festive season.

Very attractive valuations

At current share prices, DKSH is trading at very attractive valuations. EPS for FY2025 came to 98.63 sen. EPS for 1H FY2026 amounts to 51.90 sen, annualised to RM1.04. At current prices of RM6.10, DKSH is trading at a prospective PER of just 6.0x. I expect DKSH to grow its earnings by 5% in FY2026 (actual 26% growth in FY2025), driven by expansion in consumer brands it distributes (eg. Sunshine breads) and higher consumer spending lifted by government cash aid programs such as SARA and MyKasih.

I will continue to add more DKSH shares if the share price drops below RM6.00.

YTL Power to Develop New Gigawatt Data Centre Campus in Johor

The Edge Malaysia, August 20, 2026

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): YTL Power International Bhd (KL:YTLPOWR) is planning to develop a new gigawatt data centre campus in Johor with a state-owned firm.

The project will sit on a 145-acre land to be acquired by YTL Power’s subsidiary SIPP Power Sdn Bhd within Sedenak Tech Park West, according to a statement. SIPP Power will also have the option to acquire up to a further 400 acres, potentially expanding the campus to about 545 acres.

Details on the transaction and the project were not disclosed.

“Together with our expanding Kulai campus, Sedenak will further strengthen Johor’s position as a leading regional centre for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital innovation,” said YTL Power managing director Datuk Seri Yeoh Seok Hong.

YTL Power owns 70% in SIPP Power. The remaining 30% is owned by SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by former Umno Kota Tinggi division chief Datuk Daing A Malek Daing A Rahman.

JLand Group is the real estate arm of Johor Corporation that manages assets worth over RM25 billion on behalf of the Johor state government. JLand Group is also the master developer of Ibrahim Technopolis, which covers Sedenak Tech Park West.

YTL Power’s presence at Sedenak Tech Park West “brings significant digital infrastructure investment and strengthens the wider ecosystem across energy, utilities, technology and supporting industries”, JLand Group Datuk Akmal Ahmad added.

Notably, the Sedenak development will add to YTL Power’s existing YTL Green Data Center Park in Kulai, where the group is already progressively bringing data centre capacity online. As at March 2026, YTL Power had 298MW of data centre capacity contracted and said it planned to increase the Kulai park’s capacity to 1,000MW from 600MW.

The Kulai development also houses YTL Power’s AI infrastructure, developed in partnership with US chipmaker Nvidia Corp. The partnership was first announced in December 2023, when the group said it would work with Nvidia to build AI infrastructure in Malaysia using Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPUs and Nvidia AI Enterprise software.

YTL Power subsequently announced in March 2024 the formation of YTL AI Cloud, its specialised provider of large-scale GPU-based accelerated computing, together with plans to deploy Nvidia’s newer Grace Blackwell technology. The local multi-utility group was among the first companies to adopt Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, a liquid-cooled rack-scale system incorporating 72 Blackwell GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs connected through fifth-generation NVLink.

All these developments also come at a time when YTL Power was reported to be weighing a potential listing of its data centre business.

RHB Investment Bank said in July that the group was exploring an initial public offering of the data centre unit in 2027 to raise funds and unlock value. The research house estimated that the non-AI data centre business could be worth about RM28 billion, or RM3.06 per YTL Power share, based on its own valuation assumptions.

Shares of YTL Power closed two sen or 0.4% lower at RM4.88 on Wednesday, valuing the group at RM42.57 billion. The counter has gained more than 46% year to date.

My take: After the announcement on the DC expansion to Sedenak, we see upgrades from analysts on YTL Power:

• RHB analyst: Keep BUY and target price of RM6.35. If YTL Power successfully ramps up 1GW of DCs at Sedenak, target price shall go up to RM8.40

• Hong Leong: Keep BUY and target price of RM5.85. Management has guided for a potential listing exercise by 2027, which could potentially value the DC segment at more than RM80bn (relative to DayOne DC IPO valuation at USD20bn in US and Singapore).

• CGS: Target price raised from RM4.60 to RM6.50.

Significant value unlocking through a potential DC spin-off On 15 Aug, YTLP’s MD indicated in StarBiz that the group is exploring an IPO for its DC operations. To gauge the potential value-unlocking opportunity, we analysed listed DC operators’ valuations and note that peers trade at a wide 6-28x 2027F EV/EBITDA range (~16x average), with variations driven by business model and geography. Colo-DCs trade at the upper end, averaging ~18x vs. neoclouds/hybrid DCs at ~11x. In our view, the colo premiums reflect superior earnings visibility from longer contracts (7-15 years vs. neoclouds’ 2-5 years) and lower tech-obsolescence risk. Within colo-DCs, we note ex- HK/China operators trade at a higher average of 22x vs.~14x for HK/China-focused peers, likely reflecting perceived policy and geopolitical risks. We believe YTLP’s DC operations warrant an upper-end colo valuation, anchored by its growth runway, scarcity value as a listed proxy for pure-play Malaysia/ASEAN DC exposure, and strategic Johor–Singapore proximity. Our colo-DC valuation implies a ~25x 2027F EV/EBITDA, which translates into a 0.6x EV/EBITDA-to-growth ratio — below colo-DC peers’ 1.3x.

The new data centre at Sedenak will have total capacity of 1,200MW, same as for Kulai DC Park. I gather that YTL Power has already secured sufficient power supply for the 1,200MW of DCs at Sedenak, so construction work may start immediately when offtakers are secured and the land deal completes.

We have earlier calculated that for the first 300MW of colocation data centres at Kulai, the potential valuation may be RM28 billion when listed. Minus debts of about RM8 billion for building the 300MW DC, the equity value to be created from the listing may potentially amount to RM20 billion for the 300MW DC.

Imagine that when the 1,200MW DCs are fully developed at Kulai, the total valuation will go up to RM112 billion in EV (Enterprise Value) and RM80 billion in equity value.

If YTL Power succeeds in developing the new DC park at Sedenak to the full capacity of 1,200MW, then total equity value to be created would be a massive RM160 billion or about RM17 per share in next 6 years to 2032.

We may expect YTL Power share price to rise from RM5.00 level currently to RM22 level by 2032, or a compounded growth of 28% p.a. over the next 6 years. That would meet my internal target of 27% p.a. of compounded growth, so I would just hold onto my YTL Power shares doing nothing for another 6 years and the stock would deliver me the required compounded return rates for next 6 years.

YTL & YTL Power have just announced their Q4 FY2026 results. I have updated YTL Power results in a separate post earlier, and will update on YTL results over the weekend.

In terms of fund flows, local retailers turned out to be the big buyers of YTL Power shares on Wednesday with a net purchase of RM11.3m. Foreign funds and local institutions should be the sellers of YTL Power shares yesterday with net sale of below RM9m and RM5m respectively.

YTL Power shares jumped today after the news of data centre expansion to Sedenak, breaking up key resistance of RM5.00 level convincingly. It should retest its all-time high of RM5.40 (achieved in May 2024) in coming weeks.

On the other hand, YTL shares jumped by a higher percentage of almost 10% today to close at RM2.41. It should be challenging its Oct-25 high of RM2.80 soon.

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A breakdown of the Profit before tax is tabulated below:

Some analysis of the PBT breakdown is given below:

• Power Generation segment pretax profit (PBT) is mainly from PowerSeraya. It implies a net profit of SGD68 million for PowerSeraya in Q4 FY2026, lower than the SGD70m net in Q3 FY2026. The weaker earnings at PowerSeraya in Q4 FY26 was mainly due to a temporary gas supply shortage in the quarter that had resulted in lower generation units sold. Apparently, the gas supply disruption has yet to be resolved.

• Water & sewerage segment PBT of RM283m is within expectation. Of note is that the PBT breakdown has shown the PBT for Wessex (RM162.3m) and Ranhill (RM121.0m) separately in the quarter. Wessex Waters contributed PBT higher than my projected RM145m based on the regulated asset base model calculations. Its Q3 PBT was lower than RM145m. It is not immediately clear to me why the PBT in Q4 has increased, I think it may be just adjustments from one quarter to another for inflation indices and interest rate movements. On average, Wessex did contribute a steady PBT of around RM140m a quarter in FY2026.

• Telecommunications segment registered a slightly lower pretax loss of RM113m QoQ. This division will likely book in higher losses from DNB as the MoF exercised its put option in December 2025 for the three telcos (YTL Comms, Maxis and CelcomDigi) to acquire its stakes in DNB.

• Investment Holdings segment registered a PBT of RM19.0m only in Q4 FY26, much lower than what I had expected. I had expected this segmental profit to be much higher as it booked in minimum provision for forex loss in relation to shareholder’s loans to Jordan Power. Now I recalculate that based on FX rate of USD1.00 = RM3.90-3.95 as of 30 June 2026 compared to RM3.99 as of 31 Mar 2026, there should be still a small provision for forex loss, estimated at about RM52.5m in the quarter. I assume that Jawa Power and Jordan Power continued to contribute about RM180-185m of PBT in the quarter. Brabazon should then be making bigger losses in Q4 FY26 (estimated at RM55m) as the result notes say Brabazon achieved lower sales YTD. The digital bank also should have made a larger loss (estimated at RM52m) in the quarter, presumably due to low loan book and higher interest payments for the deposits received. The data center business has been taken out of this Investment Holdings segment.

• The data centre segment registered a pretax profit of RM244.3m in Q4 FY2026, much higher than my projection for ~RM71m. I had expected earnings contributions from only 140MW of colocation data centres (16MW at JDC1 for MNC1, 20MW at JDC3 for the US hyperscaler and 40MW+40MW for MNC1 at JDC4) and a turnaround of the data centre for SEA Ltd in JDC1 (total 24MW from Jan 2026).

• According to notes from analysts who attended the results briefing call, the strong DC earnings in Q4 was due to full 150MW colo capacity contributions and “catch-up adjustments for electricity charges and incremental lease rental charges since start of the year for two DC contracts”.

• So there was some adjustments from two DC contracts that have contributed to the DC RM244m PBT that was extraordinarily strong even for 150MW.

• I now have to assume that the next 10MW at JDC3 for the US hyperscaler had already been in operations from April 2026 to make up to the total 150MW of live DC capacity in June: 116MW + 24MW + 10MW = 150MW of colo DC already in operations from April 2026.

• I have also raised the assumed colo DC rental rate from US$120/kW/month to US$139/kW/month to get to a total revenue of RM250m a quarter for 150MW of live DC capacity. It is still far off from the RM459m DC revenue in Q4 FY2026, but I assume some RM200m of it was catch-up adjustment for the two DC contracts.

• I lower the EBITDA margin from 77% to 72% in order to get to the guided RM1.4bil EBITDA for 300MW given by the company.

• I raise the capex assumption for colo DC from RM2.3bil for 100MW to RM2.7bil for 100MW, to match the number given by JPMorgan of US$6.7m/MW.

• After these changes, I can only get a pretax margin of 26%, still far away from the pretax margin of 53% in Q4 FY2026 and 40% average for FY2026. I note that the pretax profit margin for data centre segment in FY2025 was at 26%, so I will stick to this for now until I get more information.

Overall, the Q4 FY2026 result for YTL Power is considered decent as weakness in PowerSeraya and Investment Holdings segments is offset by the strength in data centre segment and water segment.

The AI data centre is pretty much still in development phases, with the 20MW AI data centre completed but only partially leased out to external parties (assumed at 10MW in Q3).

The colocation data centres based on revised schedule assumptions should have completed the following:

• 24MW at JDC1 for SEA Ltd completed from Jan 2026

• 16MW at JDC1 completed for MNC1 from Oct 2025

• 20MW at JDC3 completed for the US hyperscaler from Oct 2025 and 10MW from April 2026

• 40MW + 40MW at JDC6 for MNC1 from Jan 2026 and Mar 2026

So Q4 FY2026 has reflected operations of 150MW colocation data centres, and the earnings contribution has become significant. Hence, it is timely for YTL Power to segregate out data centre into a new segment from Q3 FY26, so that we can track the earnings growth in this segment in subsequent quarters.

There are other secured data centre jobs under construction:

• the last 8MW for SEA Ltd at JDC1 from Feb 2027 (assumed)

• 24MW for MNC2 at JDC1 from Apr 2027 (assumed)

• the last 10MW at JDC3 for the US hyperscaler from Apr 2027 (assumed)

• 40MW for MNC2 from Jan 2027 + 46MW for MNC3 from Apr 2027 at JDC4

• 80MW at JDC5 after FY2027

• 120MW at JDC11 after FY2027

Hence there are outstanding 128MW of colocation data centres to be completed by June 2027, making it to a total of 278MW. Plus the 20MW AI DC, we shall have a total of 298MW by June 2027, matching the figure from YTLP MD interview. The new 200MW DC (80MW at JDC5 + 120MW at JDC11) will come in after FY2027, I assume from July 2027.

Other new business ventures or projects have different gestation periods, eg. the 600MW hydrogen-ready CCGT at PowerSeraya is going through a construction period of 3 years and will be commissioned at end 2027, the dark fibre projects in Johor-Singapore and along the 1,600km RAC railway tracks started the fibre cable laying work from 2H 2025 and may complete around mid 2026.

As for the Brabazon project, after it was re-designated as a New Town in September 2025, YTL has quickly revised the masterplan and started work on various commercial property projects. YTL UK has since launched student accommodation projects that will provide few hundred rooms for student accommodation to the large student community of over 20,000 at surrounding areas. This student accommodation project will only complete in 2H 2027. YTL has recently secured Aviva as the sponsor for the naming rights for the 20,000-seat arena in Brabazon. Construction will start soon on the Aviva Arena which is expected to be completed in 2H 2028.

Investors need to be patient for each of these new business ventures or projects to go through their respective gestation period before we see earnings contribution.

Based on the latest quarterly results and latest information that I have, I am making the following changes in my earnings projection:

• Reduce net profit projection for PowerSeraya to SGD70m for Q1-Q2 FY2027 (from previously SGD110m to reflect a prolonged gas supply disruption to Dec 2026. Reduce net profit projection to SGD100m a quarter in FY2028 but increase it to SGD125m a quarter from FY2028.

• Adjust Wessex Waters’ pretax profit contribution to RM140m a quarter in FY2027, based on the actual Q4 FY26.

• Decrease Ranhill’s net profit for FY2027 to RM280 million to reflect the latest run rate in Q4 FY26. Thereafter, net profit is assumed to grow at 10% p.a. until 2030 for higher water demand from data centres (from 17 MLD in 2025 to 200 MLD in 2028 to 360 MLD after 2030)

• Increase Yes 5G losses to RM300m for FY2027 from RM200m to reflect higher stakes in DNB after MoF exercised its put option in Dec 2025

• Increase the losses at the digital bank to RM50m in FY2027 from RM20m to reflect the faster-than-expected increase in digital bank user deposits but slower-than-expected dispatch of loans.

• Increase losses at Brabazon project in FY2027 to reflect completion of student accommodation projects only after FY2027

• Increase the EBITDA margin for data centre for SEA Ltd from 65% to 75% to reflect economy of scale for 24MW

• Adjust advanced colocation data centre earnings projection based on the following assumptions:

  • 278MW by June 2027 (to reflect the secured 298MW loads)

  • 200MW colo DC at Kulai (JDC5 & 11) from July 2027

  • 200MW at Sedenak from Jan 2028

  • 200MW at Kulai from July 2028

  • 200MW at Sedenak from Jan 2029

  • 200MW at Kulai from July 2029

  • 200MW at Sedenak from Jan 2030

  • 300MW at Kulai from July 2030 (to get to full capacity of 1,200MW at Kulai)

  • 200MW at Sedenak from July 2031 (to get to 800MW at Sedenak and total 2,000MW for YTL Power in 2032)

• The above new capacity lease is to reflect YTLP management indication that it has secured about 298MW capacity lease (so I assume 32MW for SEA Ltd, total 246MW of colocation data centres and 20MW of AI data centre) and planned expansion of 200MW every year from 2026.

• I have also added 200MW new colo DC every year from 2028 at Sedenak DC Park, to reflect the latest news that YTL Power has bought the land from JLand and secured sufficient power supply for 1.2GW there. So, total DC capacity will ramp up to almost 2,000MW in FY2032. I assume the balance of 400MW capacity at Sedenak to come in after FY2032.

My revised earnings projection for YTL Power now looks like this:

This quarter is the second time we see a separate data centre segment and it has become an increasingly important earnings contributor to YTL Power. If the company executes its expansion plan accordingly, the data centre segment will become the largest earnings contributor in time to come for YTL Power. Based on my projection above, the data centre segment shall contribute a total net profit of over RM2.7 billion in FY2032. That has not included the balance 400MW colo DC at the proposed new data centre park at Sedenak, I have only assumed 800MW at Sedenak up to FY2032. If the Sedenak DC park is fully developed to 1,200MW too, total net profit contribution from the data centre segment to YTL Power would increase to over RM3.0 billion a year.

This earnings projection is made to the best of my knowledge and understanding of each of the business divisions of YTL Power. Some projections may vary substantially from actual, as there is currently a lack of information on any earnings guidance from the management for the new business ventures.

In calculating the earnings per share (EPS) above, I have assumed a total share base of 8,800 million shares in FY2026, 9,000 million shares in FY2027, 9,500 million shares in FY2028 and 9,900 million shares from FY2029 onwards to reflect full conversion of the bonus warrants within three years of issuance.

The earnings projection above is my base case for YTL Power, reflecting whatever we know and whatever the company has secured so far. Upsides may come from:

• colocation data centres segment if the company can indeed ramp up total data centre lease to full capacity of 2,400MW in 2032

• data centre expansion to other state like Selangor and neighbouring countries

• faster take-up rates for the AI data centre by the government for the sovereign AI cloud project

• faster and meaningful monetisation of YTL Power’s LLM, ILMU and ILMUClaw

• faster new builds of data centres and stronger water demand in Johor for Ranhill

• Brabazon property projects getting better responses to its new launches

• better-than-expected take-up rates by hyperscalers of the dark fibre capacity along the 1,600km RAC railway tracks

• YTL Comms turning around earlier

• Ryt Bank turning around earlier

• YTL Power’s successful win of new CCGT capacity in NewGen26

• any new projects secured locally or overseas

Even without these upsides, YTL Power will still see its net profit doubling up in three years by FY2028, and I expect the share price to follow and jump to RM7.00 level.

Also, I expect YTL Power to pay out higher dividends from FY2028 when it completes most of the capex programmes (600MW hydrogen-ready CCGT at PowerSeraya, data centres and dark fibre projects). At a 50% payout ratio, YTL Power may be able to pay out 23 sen of dividends in FY2028 offering a good yield of 6.3% to EPF for its average purchase cost of RM3.60 and supporting a share price of RM7.00 with a 3.3% dividend yield.

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As reported, YTL Power’s plan is to develop another data centre park there with a total capacity of 1.2GW, to mirror the size of its Kulai Green DC Park. That is more than what I had expected for 800MW.

Apparently, they have secured sufficient power supply of 1.2GW to the new DC park at Sedenak, and construction may start immediately.

Tycoon Francis Yeoh’s YTL Power Doubling Data Center Capacity To 2.4 Gigawatts By 2030

Forbes, August 19, 2026

YTL Power International—controlled by Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh and his siblings—plans to double its data center capacity to 2.4 gigawatts by 2030 amid booming demand for digital infrastructure needed to power AI.

SIPP Power, a subsidiary of YTL Power, will develop a new 1.2-gigawatt data center campus at the Sedenak Tech Park in the southern Malaysia state of Johor, about 28 kilometers northwest of the company’s first data center, the YTL Green Data Center Park in Kulai.

In partnership with AI chip maker Nvidia, YTL Power said it has already completed 300 megawatts of data center capacity in Kulai, with another 200 megawatts expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2027. The campus will also have a total capacity of 1.2 gigawatts by 2032.

To jumpstart the Sedenak data center project, which also backed by Nvidia, SIPP Power agreed to buy 145 acres of land within Sedenak Tech Park West from state-owned JLand Group, with an option to acquire another 400 acres for future expansion and potentially bring the campus’ total footprint to 545 acres, according to a statement released on Wednesday. While the company didn’t disclose the value of the project, analysts estimate it could entail investments of at least $10 billion to complete the Sedenak campus.

“The establishment of a new gigawatt-scale campus at Sedenak represents an important expansion of YTL Power’s digital infrastructure platform in Johor and across the region,” Yeoh Seok Hong, managing director of YTL Power International said in the statement. “Together with our expanding Kulai campus, Sedenak will further strengthen Johor’s position as a leading regional centre for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital innovation.”

After Singapore imposed restrictions on new data center projects, Malaysia emerged as a major digital infrastructure hub in recent years. Global players, including Australian billionaire Robin Khuda’s AirTrunk, have been expanding in the country, with the company recently earmarking $3 billion to build two data centers with a combined capacity of 280 megawatts.

YTL Power is part of Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp., which was established by Francis Yeoh’s late father Yeoh Tiong Lay more than six decades ago. The younger Yeoh helms the family’s global business empire, which has interests in cement, utilities, properties and hotels. With a net worth of $4.1 billion, the clan is among the wealthiest in Malaysia.

Bloomberg, August 19, 2026

US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that there were no talks ongoing with Iran, leaving the simmering conflict in the Middle East and control of the Strait of Hormuz stuck in limbo.

The memorandum of understanding that the US and Iran signed in June in an effort to buy time to negotiate a lasting peace deal — as repeatedly violated as it had been during that 60-day window — has expired. There are no plans to extend it.

“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump posted on his social media platform.

That leaves the status of the Strait of Hormuz in doubt, with both the US and Iran at odds about how it should be managed, little traffic flowing through the critical waterway in the meantime and no sign of any imminent resolution.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday said it was cutting off trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice “in light of regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security.”

The move came after the UAE said Iran fired two ballistic missiles into its territory, the Islamic Republic’s first confirmed attack on the Gulf nation since May. Both missiles were targeting maritime traffic, but fell into the sea and only one reached UAE’s waters, according to the country’s Defense Ministry. Tehran had recently launched strikes against UAE-linked ships. Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, denied that Iran launched a missile toward the UAE.

Brent crude was above US$91 (RM370) a barrel on Tuesday as prospects dimmed for a swift reopening of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited before the war.

Hormuz remains a key flashpoint. Several ships have been attacked along the route linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in recent days. Traffic is a fraction of its pre-war levels. On Tuesday, the UK said a vessel heading out of the strait was struck by a projectile that damaged its engine room, resulting in one casualty.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator with the US, told lawmakers on Tuesday Hormuz won’t reopen before the US lifts a port blockade, releases frozen assets, removes oil sanctions and ceases all its military operations — as it agreed to do in June.

Trump, meanwhile, is demanding Iran drop efforts to toll vessels crossing the waterway, while Tehran has said it will govern traffic in conjunction with Oman. The US president, citing the naval blockade of Iranian ports, claimed that the strait is “open and operating” despite shipping data showing otherwise.

The president also asserted that “all water mines have been removed or detonated”, a claim that European officials said they are skeptical of due to the painstaking and time-consuming nature of the mine-clearing process. A planned European mission has yet to get underway.

Tuesday’s declarations from the president marked the latest example of the mixed messages coming from the administration about the state of the war.

The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been active in diplomatic efforts, told Fox News on Tuesday that conversations with “different areas of the Iranian government” were ongoing.

“There’s really not a lot of trust between America and Iran after all these years of not having these relations and dialogues,” he said. “But we are having very positive and active conversations.”

According to the president, those are now over. Yet there’s little sign Iran is willing to bend.

“The regime is willing to endure great hardship, they are willing to inflict great hardship on the population, in order to stay in power,” Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg Television. “We are in what I call an economic war of attrition to see who can endure longer, to see who can force the other side to make concessions.”

The war erupted on Feb 28, when the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran and sparked parallel conflicts that have embroiled much of the Middle East. Trump has repeatedly said his primary objective is to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which the nation’s officials deny pursuing.

Trump on Monday said the US retains leverage over Iran and reiterated his idea of declaring Hormuz an American territory. His insistence that the US has total control over the strait is directly at odds with the stance of Iranian officials.

Iran and Oman are negotiating a deal on how Hormuz should be managed, but the US isn’t part of those discussions. In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump warned that if “Oman gets in the way we’ll bomb the s—— out of them,” without giving any further details, repeating a similar threat he made in May. Oman isn’t a formal US military ally, but has served as a close security partner.

Trump has struggled to find an off-ramp to a war that’s driven up gasoline prices and grown increasingly unpopular in the US, threatening to erode support for Republicans in November’s midterm elections by keeping the war in voters’ minds.

Trump and his officials have pledged to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran to force it to capitulate, but it’s unclear what measures are under consideration. The Islamic Republic has withstood decades of sanctions.

The war has damaged much of Iran’s industrial capacity, severely curtailed its crude exports and sent inflation skyrocketing. Ghalibaf acknowledged that Iranian citizens had legitimate economic grievances, but said they should prioritise maintaining national unity.

Jake Sullivan, who served as national security adviser under former US president Joe Biden, said Trump only has two bad options on the table.

One is to keep the war going, with all the economic costs that entails. “And the other is to cut a very, very bad deal,” he said on Tuesday on Bloomberg Television.

“And really Iran is just simply upping the price for that deal with each week that goes by,” Sullivan said, “adding new demands to what it would require to open the Strait of Hormuz.”

Nvidia’s AI moat is shifting from chips to capital

CNBC, August 18, 2026

Nvidia’s massive head start in artificial intelligence turned the chipmaker into the world’s most valuable company. Now, almost four years into the generative AI boom, competitors like Advanced Micro Devices and Google have chipped away at Nvidia’s technology lead, pushing the company to take advantage of its other great asset: capital.

Following last week’s pact with Wall Street firms to pursue $500 billion worth of financing for Nvidia’s graphics processing units, Nvidia said Monday that it’s providing up to $105 billion for a giant OpenAI data center in Ohio, offering a backstop of sorts should the ChatGPT creator see its fortunes turn.

For Nvidia, the strategy involves fueling the AI boom by whatever means necessary, recognizing that demand for critical infrastructure is seemingly insatiable but that a handful of companies — the hyperscalers — account for an outsized amount of purchases. With its quarterly free cash flow up 18-fold over the past three years to $48.5 billion in the latest period, Nvidia is using the strength of its balance sheet and credit rating to ensure there’s no dramatic slowdown following 12 straight quarters of revenue growth above 55%.

“They remain dominant, but they’re very paranoid about making sure they don’t lose ground,” said Ram Bala, associate professor of AI and analytics at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.

Nvidia declined to comment.

In a note to clients Monday, analysts at Cantor brushed off concerns that Nvidia is effectively buying revenue through its financial maneuvering. They reiterated their buy rating and said the latest agreement is a “clear signal that the current AI investment cycle will be elongated and durable.”

“We view this less as circular and more facilitating the coming AI buildout while at the same time creating additional competitive moats that will continue to enable NVDA to remain THE AI leader,” the analysts wrote.

Nvidia is swimming in money. Its cash generation is so great that the company said in May that it was increasing its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share from a penny, and announced a new $80 billion stock buyback plan. The company pledged “to return roughly 50% of free cash flow to shareholders this year.”

One way the company has been putting its cash pile to work is through equity investments in companies across the AI ecosystem, including some businesses — like model developers and neoclouds — that spend heavily on Nvidia’s chips and systems. Nvidia held $30.2 billion in marketable equity securities as of the most recent quarter, up from $12.9 billion a year earlier.

In February, Nvidia invested $30 billion in OpenAI, which relies on training capacity from Vera Rubin, the chip giant’s most advanced system. Monday’s agreement included a $1.5 billion investment in SB Energy, a SoftBank affiliate that’s building and managing the data center at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, through a 20-year lease to OpenAI.

In addition to the SB Energy investment, Nvidia said it’s putting its financial support behind about 4 gigawatts of development at the Ohio site for portions of lease and power and “a specified residual-value commitment,” as data centers open between 2028 and 2030.

Expanding access

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged the significance of the company’s financial prowess in a post on X about the agreement.

“Frontier AI labs have extraordinary demand for training and inference compute, but many are growing faster than their balance sheets and long-term credit profiles can support,” Huang wrote. “They may have strong customer demand and rapidly growing revenue yet still lack the decades-long infrastructure contracts and investment-grade financing capacity needed to secure the AI factory infrastructure independently.”

A week prior, Huang was on set at CNBC surrounded by six of Wall Street’s leading financiers to announce the arrival of Nvidia graphics processing units as a new asset class. In signing a memorandum of understanding with firms including Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management, Blackstone and BlackRock, Huang indicated that the next phase of the AI build-out will be funded in part by third-party backers, who can start investing in GPUs the way they do real estate.

“These are revenue-generating assets now,” Huang told CNBC. “They’re productive, they’re long-lived, they’re fungible, they’re flexible.”

Key to obtaining financing for prospective borrowers will be a dedication to Huang’s systems, with Nvidia obtaining the option of backstopping 25% of every loan. It’s another way to get more of Nvidia’s technology into the market, as competition builds from Google and AMD as well as from specialized chipmakers like Cerebras.

In the second quarter, Google began recognizing revenue from tensor processing unit system sales, contributing to the cloud unit’s 82% growth. AMD, meanwhile, reported more than 100% growth in its data center business, and the company expects its first rack-scale system, called Helios, to ship later this year.

Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets, said the stepped-up competition eats into Nvidia’s ability to yield “outrageous margins,” and incentives the company to diversify its strategy.

“Part of their thinking is let’s broaden our reach,” Meeks said. “We just can’t ride this one horse, which is GPUs.”

AI bulls say that Nvidia is just responding to demand, and point out that the shortage in the market today is on the capacity side. There are plenty of numbers to back that up, as Anthropic told investors over the weekend that its annualized revenue run rate hit $65 billion in July, up sevenfold from a year earlier. OpenAI’s run rate recently reached $40 billion.

Matthew Vegari, head of research at Clearwater Analytics, said in an email that, based on the market dynamics, the “narrative around the AI trade’s circuitous, ‘house of cards’ structure strikes us as somewhat misguided.”

“We might one day be at overcapacity,” he wrote. “But that day isn’t today.”

My take: It looks like the Wall Street is more or less convinced that Nvidia’s GPUs are revenue-generating assets and are bankable & financiable.

These GPUs are very expensive and not many Neoclouds have the financial power to buy and install in the AI data centre then lease to hyperscale technology companies. That is when Nvidia and the financial institutions that back it will come in to help finance the new AI data centre buildout.

YTL Power is not focusing as much on AI data centres right now, while it is securing more colocation data centre leases that have longer tenors of 10 years to 15 years. AI data centre leases typically have a shorter tenor of 5-6 years, after which the GPUs may need to be upgraded to a newer version.

AI data centres are much more costly to build, and if YTL Power did go big into this, it might need to list this business division in the US, so that it could raise fresh capitals to fund the new buildout.

With the shorter tenor, AI data centre leases are much more profitable than colocation DC leases. That means a neocloud would need to recover its investment costs in AI DC within 5 years. The project IRR is definitely higher than that of colocation DC leases which recover investment returns in 10-15 years.

Malaysia records 5.7 per cent growth in first half

Bernama, August 18, 2026

PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia’s impressive economic growth in the first half of the year, which exceeded Bank Negara Malaysia’s 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) projection of four to five per cent, demonstrates the resilience of the country’s economy.

Finance Minister II, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, said GDP grew at a rate of 5.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year and six per cent in the second quarter, resulting in an overall economic growth of 5.7 per cent in the first half of 2026.

“In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also raised Malaysia’s GDP forecast from 4.3 per cent in January 2026 to 4.7 per cent in April 2026.

“Although the growth projections for other countries have declined, Malaysia’s projection has been maintained in the latest publication in July, and despite facing global uncertainties, the country’s economic fundamentals remain resilient,” he said in his speech at the 2027 Budget Engagement Session here today.

Amir Hamzah noted that the value of the ringgit remained stable throughout the first seven months of this year despite the uncertain global environment. Meanwhile, approved investments in the first quarter of 2026 stood at RM92.8 billion.

“Malaysia jumped eight places to 15th position in the 2026 World Competitiveness Index from 23rd place last year.

“Moody’s Ratings has maintained the country’s credit rating at A3, with a ‘Stable’ outlook, and Malaysia is expected to outperform the GDP growth of similarly rated countries,” he said.

He pointed out that although this achievement is commendable, it becomes meaningless if the people are still struggling with the burden of the cost of living.

He added that although inflation for the first seven months of this year increased to 1.8 per cent following the rise in world crude oil prices due to the West Asian conflict, the government continues to make efforts to ease the burden of the people’s living costs.

Elaborating further, Amir Hamzah said among the steps taken was to increase the allocation for Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) cash aids from RM10 billion in 2024 to RM15 billion, making it the largest targeted assistance allocation in history.

This includes distributing the SARA Appreciation to 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above, helping to maintain the momentum of domestic purchasing power.

The government is also implementing a more targeted diesel subsidy through the BUDI MADANI Diesel mechanism starting July 1, 2026.

Through the use of MyKad, eligible Malaysians can enjoy subsidised diesel at a price of RM2.10 per litre with a basic limit of up to 200 litres per month, while owners of private diesel vehicles such as pickups and Sport Utility Vehicles who meet the criteria can apply for an additional 100 litres per month.

This step ensures that subsidies are channelled to those who truly need them while reducing leakage. The government is maintaining the subsidy for RON95 at RM1.99 per litre for 200 litres of monthly usage through the BUDI MADANI RON95 (BUDI95) programme.

Themed “Malaysia MADANI: Reaching for the Skies, Rooted in the Earth” (Menggapai di Langit, Mengakar di Bumi), the 2027 Budget is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 9.

Also present at today’s engagement session were Deputy Minister of Finance Liew Chin Tong, Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, chief secretaries, heads of services, senior government officials, industry representatives, associations, non-governmental organisations, as well as economic and academic figures. - BERNAMA

My take: The strong GDP growth in 1H 2026 was largely attributed to very big foreign direct investments into the data centre and industrial segments. In a way, it has spurred demands for local housing and consumption.

The increased allocation to STR and SARA by the government is commendable, as it really helps the weakest groups of consumers in the country, and indirectly benefits retailers like 99 Speed Mart and Eco-Shop.

On the other hand, the government really needs to look into ways to reduce subsidies on diesel and RON95, one is to reduce leakages and another is to be able to have higher budget for other social benefits such as STR and SARA schemes and building more government hospitals.

Malayan Cement resilient despite pricing delays

The Star, August 19, 2026

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Cement Bhd’s risk-reward profile remains attractive despite higher coal price assumptions and a delay in the expected timing of domestic cement price revisions, according to CIMB Research.

The research house, however, trimmed its core earnings forecasts for the financial year ending 2027 (FY27) and FY28 by 11% and 5%, respectively, mainly due to a higher coal price assumption of US$90 per tonne.

It also took into account a deferral of the projected timeline for coal price revisions to FY28, and revised ringgit-dollar assumptions.

CIMB Research, which maintained a “buy” call on the stock, has lowered its target price by 6% to RM8.50 from RM9.05, based on 16 times 2027 core earnings per share.

It added that the revised target price still reflects Malayan Cement’s demonstrated pricing power in response to input cost volatility.

Despite the earnings cuts, the research house believes the stock offers an attractive entry point, trading at 0.7 standard deviation below its 2022 to 2026 five-year mean price-to-earnings ratio, even as operating fundamentals remain resilient.

One key positive is demand visibility from downstream units under YTL Cement Bhd.

CIMB Research highlighted that 81%-owned Eastern Pretech (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd secured significant precast projects in Malaysia and Singapore on July 10, which it said should provide a positive read-through for Malayan Cement.

In Malaysia, Eastern Pretech secured two contracts to supply a total of 117,000 precast concrete sleepers for the Klang Valley Double Track and East Coast Rail Link projects.

In Singapore, it will supply 19,430 cu m of precast concrete elements for a S$1bil integrated development in Toa Payoh.

CIMB Research expects these projects to open alternative demand channels for Malayan Cement’s cement and ready-mixed concrete businesses, providing support beyond conventional construction demand.

Meanwhile, developments in Indonesia could keep coal prices elevated.

CIMB Research noted Indonesia’s move to accelerate the rollout of an integrated governance system for commodity export data and plans to launch a Strategic Minerals and Commodity Exchange from January 2027.

Furthermore, the changes could strengthen Indonesia’s influence over coal exports and pricing.

For FY26, CIMB Research forecasts revenue of RM4.91bil and core net profit of RM880mil.

Core earnings for Malayan Cement are expected to ease 5% to RM834mil in FY27, before recovering 13.1% to RM950mil in FY28. The dividend per share is projected to rise from 14 sen in FY26 to 20 sen in FY28.

CIMB Research reiterated a RM8.50 target price and “buy” recommendation, saying the recent share price pullback presents an attractive entry point into the domestic cement market leader.

My take: Malayan Cement is the market leader in cement and precast concrete in Malaysia, and it has the pricing power. The reason why the company is “delaying” a domestic cement price revision is to watch the recent developments in Indonesia.

As posted over the weekend, Indonesia President has retreated on commodities reform as reported by Financial Times. That is positive for the export of Indonesian coal to Malaysia and may potentially reduce the export pricing of Indonesian coal.

If it turns out to be taking too long for the Indonesian coal prices to come down, I think Malayan Cement will revise the domestic cement pricing to reflect the higher input costs. One way or another, the market leader will be able to maintain a healthy gross profit margin.

Malayan Cement is 67%-owned by YTL Corp. It contributes steady earnings and dividends to the parent. YTL on the other hand is feeding supply contracts for cement and precast concrete to Malayan Cement through its construction arms in Malaysia and Singapore.

YTL’s two major subsidiaries, YTL Power and Malayan Cement, have seen their earnings and share price rebounded substantially since the lows in 2025. But YTL share price had dropped to a ridiculously low of RM1.60 in March this year and has only rebounded recently to RM2.20 level. It is still very far off from 2025 high of RM2.80 and 2024 high of RM3.85.

I suggest continuous accumulation of YTL shares as the share price retreats below RM2.20, preferably towards RM2.10.

Vehicle sales increase 5% in July 2026

The Star, August 19, 2026

KUALA LUMPUR: Automotive total industry volume increased 5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 73,615 units in July 2026 from 70,057 units in the same month last year, mainly attributed to the rise in monthly production volume and pick-up sales.

Monthly production volume reached a 30-month high, mainly contributed by national models, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said in a statement yesterday.

Sales of passenger vehicles improved 7% y-o-y to 68,900 units in July 2026 from 64,438 units a year earlier, while commercial vehicle sales declined 16% y-o-y to 4,715 units from 5,619 units previously.

Meanwhile, production rose 5% y-o-y to 75,490 units from 71,739 units previously, it said. For August 2026, MAA expects sales to maintain the current momentum, supported by aggressive promotion. — Bernama

My take: Hong Leong research issued an update report on the automobile sector after the July sales report. Below is the extract from the report that is relevant to BAuto:

Mazda (BAUTO) recorded sales of 1.0k units in Jul (-5.7% MoM, +66.7% YoY), mainly driven by the imported Mazda 3 for deliveries during the month. 7M26 sales amounted to 6.7k units (+47.4% YoY), translating to a market share of 1.5%. The OEM continues to face headwinds from the market’s downward normalisation and rising competition from Chinese OEMs. The OEM has recently launched the new CX-5 at RM170k with only the 2.5L variant available.

It is heartening to see that Mazda is able to maintain steady sales of around 1,000 cars a month in past few months. There is some other report saying that XPeng sales have dropped to below 100 units in July, but I am not able to verify it.

BAuto share price has again dropped below RM1.00 in past one week. Apparently the market is concerned with the intense competition in the local SUV markets, which BAuto is focusing on. The fortunate thing is that BAuto has managed to bring in the new Mazda 3 sedan at a competitive price of below RM120k, and this model is selling very well in Malaysia.

The new CX-5 recently launched may have disappointed the markets due to its single variant of 2.5L on offer and the premium pricing of RM170k. Markets expect this new CX-5 may not sell well in the highly competitive SUV market which is flooded with many Chinese models.

I believe XPeng is not selling well too due to its premium pricing of RM170k or above, compared to the price range of RM120k to RM150k for most other Chinses brands of EVs. XPeng’s pricing is somewhat at a premium to the mass market Chinese EVs but at a discount to the top-market brand Zeekr. The Zeekr 7X starts from RM182,800 and is apparently very well received in Malaysia due to its premium features.

Chinese brands Jaecoo, Jetour and BYD all maintained steady sales of 1.2-1.3k units in July. Cherry has seen a drop in sales to 0.8k in July from 0.9k in June.

BAuto targets to sell 12,000 Mazda cars in FY2027, and is on track for that target in Q1 FY2027 (May-July 2026). The company targets to sell 2,200 XPeng cars in FY2027 and is falling behind that target YTD.

The group is currently on track to roll out its CKD programme, starting with the G6, which is targeted for delivery soon. It also recently launched the X9 facelift seven-seater MPV in early June 2026, and plans to introduce the flagship GX seven-seater in end-CY26, followed by two additional lower-priced models next year. These upcoming models are expected to be more affordable and higher-volume than the G6 and X9. Hopefully, BAuto will be able to catch up on its sales target for XPeng in 2H 2026.

BAuto has sold 3.1k Mazda cars in Q1 FY2027, higher than the 2.7k Mazda cars sold in Q4 FY2026 (Feb-Apr 2026). But it has sold less XPeng cars in Q1 FY2027, probably just 350-400 units, compared to ~500 XPeng cars in Q4 FY2026. All in, BAuto has sold more cars in Q1 FY27 than in Q4 FY26.

On that basis, BAuto should see higher earnings in Q1 FY2027 than in Q4 FY26. The company achieved a core net profit of RM50.5m in Q4 FY2026, which was 50% higher QoQ. I am hence projecting for a core net profit of RM50-55m for Q1 FY2027 to be announced in mid September.

I suggest continuous accumulation of BAuto shares at below RM1.00. BAuto is expected to declare total dividends of 8.6 sen (Maybank forecast) to 9.3 sen (Hong Leong forecast) in FY2027. At current prices, the stock offers among the highest dividend yield of 9.0%-9.8%.

I expect the share price to progressively rebound towards RM1.20 level in 2027, giving a capital gain of 26%. Plus the dividends, BAuto stock may potentially offer total gains of 35%-36% in one year.

The share price should continue its uptrend towards RM1.50 level in 2028, giving potential capital gains of 58%. Plus two years of dividends, the stock may potentially offer total returns of 77% in two years, higher than my targeted return of 60%. So it is a BUY.

YTL Power and JLand Group Collaborate on New Gigawatt-Scale Data Centre Campus at Sedenak Tech Park

YTL Power press release, August 19, 2026

Kuala Lumpur, Wednesday 19 August 2026 — JLand Group through its subsidiary JLG Technopark Sdn Bhd and YTL Power International Berhad, through its subsidiary SIPP Power Sdn Bhd, today announced a strategic partnership for a proposed joint development at Sedenak Tech Park West (STeP) in Johor which will include a new gigawatt-scale data centre campus.

As part of the arrangement, SIPP Power will acquire approximately 145 acres within STeP West, with an option to acquire up to a further 400 acres for future expansion, potentially bringing the campus footprint to approximately 545 acres. This proposed development will significantly expand YTL Power’s data centre footprint in Johor.

The collaboration brings together YTL Power’s experience in developing and operating large-scale digital infrastructure with JLand Group’s role as master developer of IBTEC, enabling the infrastructure and ecosystem for next-generation industries.

Located within Ibrahim Technopolis (IBTEC), STeP is JLand Group’s platform for large-scale digital and advanced technology development. Building on the momentum of STeP East, STeP West marks the next phase of growth, with the scale to support major data centre and AI investments. The new YTL campus will further strengthen the growing digital infrastructure cluster at IBTEC and enhance Johor’s position as one of Southeast Asia’s leading data centre markets.

The Sedenak campus will complement the YTL Green Data Center Park in Kulai, with a planned capacity of up to 1.2 GW. Together, the two campuses will provide YTL Power with the scale and flexibility to meet rapidly growing regional demand for cloud computing, artificial intelligence and increasingly power-intensive digital services.

Johor’s proximity to Singapore, international connectivity, expanding infrastructure and growing technology ecosystem have positioned the state as an increasingly attractive destination for global digital infrastructure investment.

Datuk Sr. Akmal Ahmad, Group Managing Director of JLand Group, said: “We are pleased to welcome YTL Power into the IBTEC ecosystem. Their presence at STeP West brings significant digital infrastructure investment and strengthens the wider ecosystem across energy, utilities, technology, and supporting industries.

We look forward to YTL Power contributing its capabilities and network as we continue building a platform that attracts complementary investments, creates new opportunities, and strengthens Johor’s position in the regional digital economy.”

Dato’ Seri Yeoh Seok Hong, Managing Director of YTL Power International Berhad, said: “The establishment of a new gigawatt-scale campus at Sedenak represents an important expansion of YTL Power’s digital infrastructure platform in Johor and across the region.

Together with our expanding Kulai campus, Sedenak will further strengthen Johor’s position as a leading regional centre for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital innovation.”

The development is expected to support skilled employment across construction, engineering, technology and data centre operations. It is also expected to generate wider economic activity throughout the associated energy, infrastructure and technology supply chains.

My take: This acquisition of land at Sedenak industrial park comes at the heels of YTL Power MD’s interview with The Star last Saturday, when Dato’ Yeoh mentioned about YTL Power’s larger DC expansion to 2,000MW in next few years.

As we know, YTL Green Data Centre Park in Kulai has been earmarked for a full DC capacity of 1.2GW. As per Yeoh in the interview, 500MW of DC has been constructed in Kulai and the Kulai DC Park shall reach its full capacity around 2030.

Though the Kulai land is large at over 1,700 acres, but a large portion of it is reserved for large scale solar power farm. Moreover, Kulai DC park may have a limitation of incoming power supply up to 1.2GW only. YTL Power has got 600MW from TNB and is applying for another 600MW.

My read is that YTL Power is preparing for the next phase of DC growth beyond Kulai which may only cater to a maximum of 1.2GW of DCs. It is really getting ready for its planned expansion to 2,000MW DC capacity in next few years, as what Yeoh mentioned during the interview.

iBTEC Ibrahim Technopolis is a massive 7,290-acre industrial park in Sedenak being developed by JLand. The 545 acres of land that YTL Power is seeking at iBTEC should be sufficient to accommodate roughly 800MW of colocation data centres. More importantly, iBTEC should have sufficient power supply intake for the new data centres, as it is planned for a massive industrial park of 7,290 acres.

This is a very encouraging move by YTL Power. It shows that the company is getting all the recipe right for an explosive DC expansion in Malaysia. The Kulai and Sedenak parks will cater to roughly 2,000MW of DC buildup, then the additional land sought after by YTL Power in Selangor shall provide another phase of growth in its DC expansion. Eventually, we may well see a total DC capacity of over 2,000MW for YTL Power in 2030 and potentially reaching 3,000MW by 2035 if its expansion into Selangor and neighbouring countries succeed.

If that is true, then we shall expect YTL Power stock to give us the required 60% return in 2 years by 2028 and 150% return in 4 years by 2030.

YTL Power is scheduled to release its Q4 FY2026 results tomorrow Thursday 20th August, as confirmed by YTL IR. This Q4 result is expected to be weak, so if YTL Power share price retreats after the result on Friday, it will be a good opportunity to buy in more or buy back at lower prices.

Ranhill reports good quarterly results

Ranhill Utilities released its Q4 FY2026 result this evening with a net profit of RM70.1m, +20% higher than the RM58.4m registered in Q3 FY2026 and +320% higher than the RM16.7m net profit in Q2 FY2025.

That is lower than my projected net profit of RM75-80m due to some provision for expected credit losses on receivables which amounted to RM15.8m in Q4, though the provision was lower than the RM24.3m in Q3 and RM72.8m provision in Q2.

Revenue in Q4 FY2026 increased by 7.3% QoQ to RM657.0m, mainly due to higher revenue from Consultancy and services division of RM50.8 million, offset by slightly lower water revenue from Ranhill SAJ.

Gross profit dropped substantially from RM211m in Q2 and RM207m in Q3 to RM125.0m in Q4, implying a much lower gross profit margin of 19.0% compared to 33.8% in Q3 FY26 and 33.4% in Q2. It is not immediately clear as to why the gross profit margin has dropped so much.

Pretax profit increased by RM36.1m in Q4 FY26 compared to Q3, mainly due to recognition of 2024 Matching grant of RM48.9m in RanhillSAJ offset by impairment of RM13.9m RSEIII business development costs. However, this still does not explain the huge amount of other income of RM102.219m booked in this Q4 quarter.

It is rather strange to me that Ranhill still needed to make some provision for trade receivables. I see that non-current Trade & other receivables dropped from RM169.3m in March 2025 to RM106.2m in Dec 2025, to RM88.9m in March 2026 and then to RM80.5m as of 30 June 2026. Current Trade & other receivables also dropped from RM602m in Dec 2025 to RM560.7m in March 2026 but then increased to RM616.9m as of 30 June 2026. While it is understandable for current trade receivables to increase in conjunction with higher revenue, the drop in non-current trade receivables may reflect gradual write-off of some of the aged receivables as each quarter passes by.

If I remove the provision for expected credit loss on receivables, Ranhill would have achieved a pretax profit of RM126.3m + RM15.8m = RM142.1m, which is what I had expected.

Net profit would have been around RM70.1m x 142.1/126.3 = RM78.9 million without the provision for expected credit loss on receivables.

However, I am puzzled with the sharp drop in gross profit margin and the huge amount of other income in the quarter. Perhaps, it was some accounting treatment that offsets each other off, but I think not. Without further information, it is difficult to make a reasonable projection for Ranhill net profit in coming quarters.

Operating cashflows were strong at RM388 million for the 12 months ended 30 June 2026. Capex was mild at RM61.4m in 12M FY2026, resulting in healthy free cashflows and increased cash balance to RM593m as of 30 June 2026. Total borrowings reduced by RM37m to RM751m at the financial year end.

With such strong operating cashflows, Ranhill may turn into a net cash position by end of FY2027. But the company will not be able to declare much higher dividend yet in the next 3 years, as it will need to preserve some cash for capex programmes to expand the water supply infrastructure in Johor.

As the reported headline earnings for Q4 FY26 are above expectation of most analysts, I expect some upgrades from analysts. But as Ranhill share price has jumped higher by over 30% in past 2 weeks, we should exercise caution in chasing high.

If based on my previous earnings projection of RM75m a quarter and RM300m net profit for FY2027, Ranhill may trade up to RM3.20 based on 15x prospect PER. I would be inclined to take some profit off Ranhill should the share price test RM3.00 tomorrow.

On foreign funds movements, there was no notable buying or selling on the stocks that I cover. Local institutions were big sellers of YTL Power shares on Tuesday 18th August with a net sale of RM11.8m. Local retailers became the big buyers of YTL Power shares yesterday with a net purchase of RM11.6m. Investment traders net bought RM1.2m worth of YTL Power shares.

Of note is that local retailers net bought RM4.7m worth of AEON shares on Tuesday as the stock dropped below RM1.00. I do see values in AEON at below RM1.00, but am not sure of who is selling and why they are selling at such depressed pricing.

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The S&P 500 fell 0.52% while the Nasdaq moved 0.32% lower. The Dow Jones shed 272.63 points to close at 53,459.78.

Eyes were focused on the conflict in the Middle East, with the ceasefire between the US and Iran expiring Monday as negotiations between the two sides have stalled. Iran has ruled out talks to extend the memorandum of understanding, state news agency Tasnim has reported.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters Monday that the country would shift to an offensive posture if diplomacy with the US fails, while President Trump told Fox News Monday that the US would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way”.

Oil prices were higher following the developments. US WTI futures rose 2.6% to $84.50 per barrel, while international Brent crude futures were higher by 2.7% at $90.87 a barrel.

The 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since June 2007 as oil prices advanced.

“We’re back to watching the negotiations in real time, and I think a lot of people have just turned a blind eye to it,” said Jason Stephens, Evertern Wealth founder. “We think that there’s more bias to the downside in oil prices than there is the risk to the upside at this point in the game” due to the prospect of a deal being reached, especially as the midterm elections draw closer, he said.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the administration right now to really focus heavily on this and get something done,” Stephens added.

Micron Technology was a bright spot in the session, however, as shares gained 4%. Last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration is not in support of Apple buying memory chips from China. Bloomberg News also reported that Anthropic’s second-quarter revenue was more than $11.5 billion - a massive jump from a year earlier.

The S&P 500 notched a fresh all-time high last week following a blockbuster earnings season that has buoyed investor sentiment. The stock market has continued to climb in the face of ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.

Investors are in for a week with fewer catalysts on the calendar, though the Federal Reserve posts its latest meeting minutes Wednesday. A slew of retail earnings are on tap as well, with Walmart results due out Thursday. Home Depot and Lowe’s report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Latest developments in US-Iran war

AFP, August 18, 2026

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it obstructed a deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, as a vessel transiting the strategic waterway reported being struck by a projectile on Tuesday.

Iran negotiator ultimatum

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the US meets Tehran’s demands, including lifting a naval blockade.

In a speech broadcast on state television, he listed the removal of the blockade, the lifting of oil sanctions and unfreezing of Iran’s assets abroad among the demands.

He will visit Iraq on Wednesday for talks, as Baghdad faces pressure from Washington to disarm powerful Iran-backed armed factions.

Houthis target Saudi refinery

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis targeted an oil refinery on Saudi Arabia’s southern Red Sea coast on Tuesday, rebel media reported, as the rebels ramp up attacks on the kingdom.

The Houthis “targeted the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a number of drones... in response to airspace violations over the governorates of Saada and Hajjah” in Yemen, Houthi news agency Saba said, citing a military source.

Vessel struck in Hormuz

An “unknown projectile” struck a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz, causing a crew casualty, a British maritime agency reported on Tuesday.

“The impact caused damage to the engine room and resulted in a crew casualty,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on X. “The remaining crew are currently being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.”

Iran has imposed an effective blockade on the strait, frequently attacking commercial ships, and wants to charge users for passage, which the US fiercely opposes.

Explosion in Iraqi Kurdistan

An explosion at a petroleum products depot in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan injured 18 people, Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported Tuesday, without specifying the cause.

Hirsh Salim, deputy director general of health in Sulaimaniyah governorate, told the outlet that there were no fatalities.

‘Positive’ US-Iran talks

Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said the United States and Iran were having “very positive and active conversations”, while noting that “there’s really not a lot of trust between America and Iran after all these years”.

Kushner told Fox News that “President Trump is going to be very patient... he doesn’t want to rush to a deal”.

“He’ll make the right deal when the right deal is ready,” he added.

On Monday, Trump said Iranian officials “want to make a deal, but they’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary”, before repeating his key demand that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”.

Trump threatens Oman

Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for Gulf exports, and called for Iran to surrender.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News on Monday, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the strait, while Washington is also pursuing its own talks.

Tehran and Muscat have been talking for weeks on future maritime navigation arrangements through the shipping route, and the foreign ministry in Tehran said earlier Monday that the two sides were working on a joint declaration.

Iraq to investigate Kurdistan PM attack

Iraq’s federal government said it would launch an investigation into an attack on the office of the autonomous Kurdistan region’s prime minister, which the regional authorities blamed on Iran.

Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attack and called on Iran’s “Kurdish friends” to be “vigilant against false flags”.

Earlier, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said an investigation by the region’s counter-terrorism unit found that his “personal office and the home of the head of the Security and Intelligence Agency were targeted by Iranian drone attacks”.

There were no reported casualties in the attack.

Hormuz strait to remain shut until US meets interim deal conditions, Iran says

Reuters, August 18, 2026

DUBAI (Aug 18): The Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until the US meets the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June, the top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media on Tuesday.

These conditions include the US liftingits blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran’s frozen assets, and ending threats and military operations on all fronts, Qalibaf told parliament.

The memorandum of understanding, clinched on June 17, quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.

US President Donald Trump said the deal was “over” on July 7 and a week later Iran’s foreign ministry declared it “suspended”.

Under the MOU, Iran and the US had committed to negotiating a final deal — covering broader issues such as the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme — in a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Iran would now shift to a “fully offensive” posture due to the stalled diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent end to the conflict.

Trump approval falls to 33% as poll records lowest level of presidency

Reuters, August 18, 2026

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the US war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.

Just 33% of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, while 64% disapproved. Trump’s approval rating, down from 35% in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.

After returning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump’s popularity this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside US ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralysed a fifth of the global oil trade, triggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on US households - and on Trump’s Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.

Trump, who campaigned on promises to keep inflation in check and avoid long-lasting wars, initially pledged the conflict with Iran would take a few weeks. But Iran has proved resilient and has kept the oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz largely bottled up even as the conflict has cooled.

Some 80% of Americans - including 87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans - think US involvement in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time,” the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Just 16% said the conflict would likely end in a few weeks.

Trump justifies high gas prices

Trump told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” is ​worth the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war.

Throughout the conflict, the president has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent. Only one in five Americans - and just half of Republicans - think the war has been worth it, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Concerns about the war and gasoline prices have Republicans nervous about their hopes of defending their slim majority in the US House of Representatives in the Nov 3 elections, and Democrats increasingly see the US Senate also within their grasp.

Reuters/Ipsos polling this month has shown voters prefer Democrats ​over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in about a decade. The latest poll showed 38% of voters think Democrats will handle the economy better, compared to 35% who prefer the Republican approach. Democrats are also seen as better equipped to manage the cost of living.

The Republican approach to immigration has remained more popular than that of Democrats throughout Trump’s term, with a sharp fall in border crossings and sustained nationwide crackdown ordered by Trump. But Republicans are losing ground amid deadly confrontations and a surge in detainees, including children.

Some 40% of registered voters said Republicans have the better approach on immigration policy, compared to 38% who pick Democrats, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. That 2 percentage point spread is the lowest of Trump’s term. Republicans led by 26 points in Jan 2025.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,166 US adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.

My take: The message is very clear: the Iran war is highly unpopular among American voters. Trump knows it well, but he is just at wits’ end as to how to end the war without looking so bad on the US side.

I do not know how long this Iran war is going to drag on for, but I have been preparing for the worst. Brent crude futures have climbed above US$90 a barrel again, the Strait of Hormuz is closed. These will almost certainly hit consumer companies in quarters to come.

As can be seen from recent results of MR DIY and 99 Speedmart for the April-June 2026 quarter, profits dropped quarter-on-quarter. MR DIY registered a net profit of RM133.6m for Q2, a drop of 30.5% QoQ and a drop of 16.0% YoY.

The elevated oil prices and operating costs will certainly hit other consumer companies and retailers like AEON, Eco-Shop and Spritzer.

Besides, the prolonged war in the Middle East has weakened the ringgit against the US dollar, making imported goods more expensive for retailers like Eco-Shop and Padini.

The good thing is that Japanese yen has weakened even more than the ringgit against the US dollar, so it is boosting the profit margin of AEON and BAuto.

The strong US dollar is benefitting YTL Power in multiple fronts: 1) there will be no more provision for forex loss in relation to its shareholders’ loan to Jordan Power, and there could be writebacks of previous provisions, 2) the earnings contribution from overseas subsidiaries, i.e. PowerSeraya, Wessex Waters, Jawa Power and Jordan Power, will be stronger in ringgit terms, and 3) the revenue and profits from the colocation data centre segment will be stronger as rental revenue is denominated in US dollars mostly.

The same goes for YTL who has earnings from hotels, shopping malls, construction arm, and cement division in Japan, Australia, Singapore and Vietnam.

6x The Size of VivoCity: Drive 3.5 Hours To Southeast Asia’s Largest Mall

secretsingapore, March 26, 2026

This massive shopping paradise boasts more than 700 stores, an indoor farm, and 200 eateries just a quick road trip from Singapore.

Are you a shopping lover? Hoping to get good value for your money? If you’re tired of the weekend squeeze at ION Orchard or VivoCity or the largest mall in JB, it’s time to fuel up your car and head north to visit a massive shopping mall. While many Singaporeans gravitate toward Johor Bahru for a quick fix, a slightly longer 3.5-hour drive to Putrajaya offers a huge retail giant that puts every other shopping mall in the region to shame. IOI City Mall has officially been crowned the largest mall in Southeast Asia by floor area, boasting a whopping 2.5 million square feet of retail space and 8.8 million square feet in total size, and offering the breathing room that Singapore’s malls simply can’t match. To put that in perspective, this mall is nearly six times the total size of VivoCity (which has a GFA of 1.5 million square feet over five levels). In fact, IOI City Mall is one of the world’s largest malls ranked at #3 (just behind Tehran’s Iran Mall and Kuwait’s The Avenue Mall). Here’s what to expect at Southeast Asia’s largest mall in Malaysia.

Why is IOI City Mall worth the 3.5 hour drive?

The draw isn’t just the sheer volume of shops: it’s the lifestyle resort experience that justifies the road trip from Singapore. The mall is a gigantic playground featuring an apocalyptic themed adventure park named District 21, an indoor educational farm where kids can interact with over 130 species of exotic animals and plants, and the premier Olympic-sized ice rink in Malaysia.

Additionally, there are more than 700 outlets to wander, ranging from high-street fashion to large homeware flagship stores…making it the perfect place to tick off your entire shopping list without the claustrophobia of local malls. Meanwhile, the current exchange rate hovering around 1:3.07 means that your Singaporean dollar goes a long way, when you factor in the lower base prices in Malaysia. In fact, IOI City Mall can feel like a 30 to 40% discount compared to a weekend on Orchard Road.

Excitingly, there is around 200 cafes and restaurants offering local Malaysian delights, international fine dining, and more along the scenic Symphony Walk promenade. Plus, the IOI Sports Centre inside the mall provides world-class facilities including 15 badminton courts and futsal arenas. Movie buffs can catch the latest blockbusters at Malaysia’s largest cinema with 26 screens and a giant kid-friendly playground.

With more than 16,000 parking bays and nearby hotels, like the trendy Moxy Putrajaya and Le Méridien, you can easily turn a quick visit into a weekend staycation. Plus, there are plenty of stunning sights close to the mall like the iconic Pink Mosque and peaceful botanical gardens. Definitely, Malaysia’s largest mall is the perfect road trip destination for families and shopaholics alike.

How is it 6x larger than VivoCity?

Singapore’s largest mall is VivoCity in Harbourfront. According to public records, dividing IOI City Mall’s massive 8.84 million square feet of total built-up area by VivoCity’s 1.54 million square feet gives a ratio of 5.7—which we rounded to six. However, it is important to clarify that the mall’s total built-up space includes all non-retail spaces, extensive car parking bays, and more. When looking purely at Net Lettable Area (the actual shopping space), it’s roughly 2.3 times larger than VivoCity.

My take: It is true that it is worth a road trip from Singapore to experience the largest shopping mall in Southeast Asia. Singaporeans may plan for a short break-away from the city state, spend a night or two at any of the hotels (Moxy Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel, Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Palm Garden Hotel etc.) in IOI Resort City and experience shopping and dining at this massive mall. They can explore various tourist hotspots in Putrajaya which is just about 15-20 minute drive away.

I have visited IOI City Mall several times but have not fully explored all the shops and facilities inside, as it is simply gigantic in size. Only after several visits, I discovered the sports centre within the mall, that offers badminton courts, pickle ball courts and futsal. The dining options are aplenty with around 200 cafes and restaurants inside.

IOI City Mall has a total net lettable area (NLA) of over 2.5 million sq ft, by far the largest in Malaysia and Singapore. IOIPG is embarking on a Phase 3 expansion to the mall, adding another 1.0 million sq ft to the total NLA when completed in 2030. There will be a very large concert hall in Phase 3 expansion, which will offer even more exciting experience to shoppers and visitors.

The existing office towers adjacent to IOI City Mall are almost fully occupied, with thousands of workers from the office towers providing constant footfalls to the mall during weekdays. IOIPG is planning to develop more office towers adjacent to IOI City Mall in next 3-4 years, which will then add even more patron footfalls to the expanded mall that boosts over 3.5 million sq ft of NLA.

IOI City Mall is the largest investment property of IOIPG in Malaysia, and it contributes hundreds of million ringgit of recurring rental income to the group every year. As the mall is 100% occupied, it enjoys continuous rental rate revision every year and hence the recurring rental income to IOIPG will only increase over time.

As IOIPG continues to develop new investment properties (shopping mall, office towers and hotels) in IOI Resort City, it is foreseeable that total investment properties there and total recurring rental income from these investment properties may double up in size in next 10 years or so.

IOIPG is preparing for a Malaysia REIT listing in October / November 2026. The REIT will house various investment properties of IOIPG, which are worth RM7.58 billion at the onset. Those assets include IOI City Mall Phase 1 & 2, IOI City Tower 1 & 2, PFCC, and 6 hotels. IOIPG will stand to raise total cash proceeds of close to RM4.6 billion from the REIT listing. That is how IOIPG is going to recycle its capitals so that it can develop more investment properties in future.

Once the new investment properties are developed and mature enough, these assets may be injected into the REIT to cycle capitals again. In time, the IOIPG’s Malaysia REIT may expand in size to over RM15 billion, which will be the largest REIT in Malaysia.

JS Solar secures RM18m solar project at AEON Mall Seremban 2 from TNB unit

The Edge Malaysia, August 18, 2026

ACE Market-listed JS Solar Bhd (KL) has secured an RM18.05 million contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) of a solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) project at AEON Mall Seremban 2.

In a bourse filing on Monday, the solar energy solutions provider said the contract was awarded to its wholly-owned JS Solar Sdn Bhd (JSSB) by GSPARX Sdn Bhd.

The project comprises a 4,652.5kWp building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and rooftop solar system, as well as a 3,856kWh BESS.

GSPARX is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) through TNB Retail Sdn Bhd.

The contract will run for six months, from Aug 19, 2026 to Feb 19, 2027.

Shares of JS Solar fell half a sen or 2.6% to end at 18.5 sen on Monday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM60.1 million.

My take: AEON is moving ahead with its green push, the latest being the installation of rooftop solar power system at AEON Mall Seremban 2. This time, the project includes battery storage (BESS) system as well.

AEON has embarked on an expansion project at AEON Mall Seremban 2 and AEON Mall Kinta City, both on track for completion in 2028.

I believe because of the expansion at AEON Mall Seremban 2, AEON has decided to install much larger solar power system with BESS at the mall. Looking at the existing size of AEON Mall Seremban 2 (NLA of 400k sq ft), I do not think it requires such a large solar power size of 4,652.5 kWp. When the expansion completes, which will add another 320k sq ft of NLA, then it may require up to 3.0-3.5MW of peak power. The additional solar power installation beyond the peak demand will go into battery storage for the mall consumption at the evening.

As AEON signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Tenaga Nasional for the purchase of power from this solar power installation, it does not need to come out with any capex for the installation. AEON will need to pay a fixed tariff for the solar power generated, typically at a 3-5 sen/kWh discount to the prevailing commercial tariffs.

AEON may stand to save electricity costs up to:

4,652.5 kWp x 3.6 hrs/day x 365 days/year x 4.0 sen/kWh = RM2.4 million a year

That has not included the planned AFA that TNB intends to charge consumers. AFA has been set at 5.0 sen/kWh for the month of September 2026.

If we add in AFA charges, the electricity cost savings AEON may stand to enjoy from the solar installation at AEON Mall Seremban 2 will increase to RM5.5 million a year.

That is substantial compared to the operating expenses of the Property Management segment of AEON, which amount to RM460m a year.

RM5.5m electricity cost savings a year is just from AEON Mall Seremban 2. If AEON has installed solar power at its other malls, especially the 14 owned malls, then total savings in electricity costs may amount to RM70 million a year.

Currently the Property Management segment has an EBIT margin of around 40%-41%. If there are 14 AEON malls with such solar installation, it may stand to save RM70m a year in operating expenses and the segmental EBIT margin may go up to 50%.

More importantly the cost savings will flow directly to the bottom line. AEON may see its net profit to jump by RM50m a year from these savings. AEON registered a core net profit of RM150m in FY2025, which should have included some savings from solar installation at some of its malls. If AEON carries out solar power installation at two of its malls every year going forward, it may stand to save RM10 million in operating expenses every year from FY2026 onwards.

AEON share price has dropped to months-low level of RM1.00. It is about to test last December low of RM0.97.

AEON shares rose to a high of RM1.30 in late February 2026 just before it announced the results for Q4 FY2025. The result came in slightly below last year corresponding period, and the share price started dropping and has since been sliding down to the current level. Even the record quarterly profit for Q1 FY2026 announced in late May could not help to arrest the share price slide. It is puzzling to me.

Perhaps people are speculating on a weak quarterly result for Q2 FY2026. AEON registered a net profit of RM27.7m in Q2 FY2024 and then RM12.3m for Q2 FY2025. There is concern that AEON may see its Q2 FY2026 slipping into negative figures.

As projected in my Month Ahead post, AEON should be able to achieve a core net profit of RM35-40m for the upcoming Q2 FY2026, assuming an EBIT loss of RM15m for the Retailing segment. Even if I raise the Retailing segmental EBIT loss to RM28m as in Q2 FY25, AEON should still be able to achieve a net profit of RM26-30m in Q2 FY2026.

Foreign Funds Movements

Based on Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds were net buyers of Ranhill shares last Friday when the stock shot up 30 sen. Foreign funds net bought RM5.7m worth of Ranhill shares, RM4.7m worth of YTL Power shares and RM3.0m worth of YTL shares on Friday 14th August. They net sold RM4.6m worth of IOIPG shares.

Local institutions were net buyers of YTL and IOIPG shares last Friday with a net purchase of RM11.6m and RM3.9m respectively. Local retailers net sold RM13.6m worth of YTL shares, RM5.8m worth of Ranhill shares and RM2.7m worth of YTL Power shares last Friday. Investment traders net bought RM1.2m worth of Ranhill shares and net sold RM1.4m worth of YTL Power shares and RM1.0m YTL.

On Monday 17th August, foreign funds turned net sellers of YTL Power shares with a net sale of RM6.5m. Local institutions were big buyers of YTL Power shares yesterday with a net purchase of RM18.5m. Local retailers were the biggest sellers of YTL Power shares with a net sale of RM11.9m. Investment traders net bought RM3.2m worth of YTL shares and RM2.2m worth of Ranhill shares.

In short, the recent share price rally in YTL Power, YTL and Ranhill has been driven by renewed buying from foreign funds and local institutions. The key driver is likely to be higher confidence in YTL Power’s data centre expansion plans and higher earnings from Ranhill.

Ranhill did not announce its Q4 FY2026 result today as expected. I had earlier expected Ranhill to report Q4 results on Monday / Tuesday 17th / 18th August, a couple of days ahead of YTL Power’s result announcement which is scheduled for Thursday 20th August as per JPMorgan.

There is a possibility that YTL Power will only announce quarterly results in the last Thursday of the month, i.e. 27th August. If that is so, then Ranhill may only announce results next week. It could also be the case where YTL group decided to announce the results for all YTL group of companies on the same day, Thursday 20th August. I do not know, let’s see for another day.

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The S&P 500 closed 0.2% while the Nasdaq shed 0.3%. The Dow Jones slipped 107.58 points to 53,732.41.

For the week, the S&P 500 advanced 0.4%. The Nasdaq also eked out its third weekly gain in arow, ending the week higher by 0.1%. The Dow closed 0.6% lower week to date.

This has been a record-setting week for the S&P 500, with the index on Thursday crossing 7,800 for the first time after hitting an intraday all-time high of 7,816.70. The benchmark also closed at a record in the prior trading day.

Given the back-to-back gains on the S&P 500 following subdued inflation readings on Wednesday and Thursday, Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors said Friday’s digestion is a sign of what is to come for the rest of August and September.

“Today is like the start of that post-earnings flattening out trade,” the CEO said to CNBC.

More than 90% of S&P 500 companies have posted second-quarter results, and earnings growth from the year-earlier period is tracking around 50%, according to FactSet.

Assuming that earnings growth finishes the season at current levels, oil price continue to trade above $80 as Hormuz stays closed and the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates steady, Hatfield anticipates the S&P 500 reaching 8,100 by year end.

Investors also examined a weak consumer picture, with retail sales numbers for July showing an unexpected decline on the month. On top of that, consumer confidence in the economy fell in August, reversing course from the improvements seen in June and July.

“One poor month of spending doesn’t necessarily mean the economy is falling off a cliff, but it becomes harder to dismiss alongside disappointing GDP and jobs data. Combined with an in-line inflation reading, that softer data should ease pressure on the Fed to raise rates,” said Bret Kenwell, eToro US Investment analyst.

“Still, investors should be careful what they wish for: economic weakness is a steep price to pay to avoid a quarter-point hike, particularly when markets have largely shrugged off that concern and earnings remain resilient. For the economy to stay resilient, consumers will need to do the same,” he added.

Iran defiant on strait as Trump tells Americans to accept high gas prices

Reuters, August 15, 2026

CAIRO: Iran called on the US to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Iran as “evil” and urged Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices.

The comments suggested the warring parties remained far apart, with progress toward peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway both halted.

“This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran’s command, and so long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in fantasies, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X early Saturday, showing little urgency toward restoring prewar trade.

“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by a tweet or an aircraft carrier, by issuing an order or by delivering an election speech,” he said.

One out of every five barrels of the world’s oil exports passed through the strait before the US and Israel launched the war on Feb 28.

Trump on Friday urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict with Iran continues.

At a political rally in Garden City, New York, Trump said paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” is worth the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon, one of the president’s stated rationales for the war.

In a trend that has fuelled inflation and disappointed voters, the average US price of a gallon of gasoline was about US$4.08 on Friday, according to the American Automobile Association. That’s up 29% from $3.16 a year earlier.

Only two vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to analysis from ship-tracking firm Kpler: a grain ship entering Iranian waters and an empty dry bulk ship going the other direction. A separate empty liquefied petroleum products tanker was sailing into the Gulf via the strait, the data showed. There were no crude oil shipments visible.

Some ships may cross the strait undetected with their transponders off, but the figures are nowhere near the more than 130 ships that traversed it daily before the war.

Those that dare navigate the strait without Iranian permission risk missile or drone strikes. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were attacked transiting the strait on Thursday evening, then the Emirati state news agency WAM reported another vessel came under attack on Friday.

Iran labels its enforcement of strait traffic a blockade, while the US uses the same term for its threat against Iranian vessels leaving their ports.

“What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves ... and we’re really doing a great job,” Trump said, adding that a 260-day deployment by a US aircraft carrier supporting the war effort was “not nearly long enough.”

With a ⁠tentative June deal to end the war in tatters, there was no sign that the US or Iran planned to resume peace talks.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said no decision has yet been made to restart negotiations with the United States, the ​Iranian Student News Agency reported on Saturday. Mediators Qatar and Pakistan were in contact with Iran and exchanging messages, but this did not amount to negotiations, the agency said.

Economic toll

Higher fuel prices have collided with a Trump campaign promise to lower energy costs, and Democrats are seeking to make the economic fallout of the Iran war an issue in the November midterm elections.

The virtual closure of the strait helped raise crude oil futures another US$1 a barrel on Friday. Benchmark Brent LCOc1 and West Texas Intermediate CLc1 futures were on track for weekly gains of 6.0% and 5.4%, respectively.

Gharibabadi said Tehran would not be intimidated by threats or a show of force. But there were signs of an economic toll on Iran.

In remarks broadcast on state television, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed high inflation on a US blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

Trump and treasury secretary Scott Bessent each pledged to inflict more financial damage on Iran. Bessent told Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” programme on Thursday that announcements of more measures against Iran were coming next week.

The latest attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis renewed concerns about a widening regional war. Yemen’s internationally recognised government said the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing four civilians.

Separately, the Houthi-run SABA news agency cited a military source as saying the group had targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone.

My take: Investors should also get prepared for a prolonged Iran war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Do not bet on a quick resolution to the war and re-opening of the strait. High oil prices may be here to stay for months ahead.

I reiterate: it is still the time yet to re-enter into consumer stocks which are currently trading at months-high levels - Eco-Shop and Spritzer in particular. These companies may see higher operating costs in their business operations with high oil prices, with some additional costs able to be passed on to consumers (eg. by raising selling prices for some products in the case of Spritzer) while others cannot be passed on, especially in the case of Eco-Shop for its fixed selling price of RM2.60 per item.

Other consumer companies like AEON and Padini may also see higher operating costs, mainly in higher electricity prices. But these two stocks are trading at years-low levels, so the risk of further decline is limited.

The Power of AI

The Star Biz7, 15 August 2026

The Star published on Saturday August 15 a news article that features an interview with YTL Power Managing Director Dato’ Yeoh. I summarise some of the key points from the interview as below:

• Dato’ Yeoh said YTL Power plans a listing of its DC business on Bursa Malaysia, potentially by next year.

• The listing would give YTL Power access to equity capital needed to support a larger buildout of DCs, computing infrastructure and AI services.

• Asked if AI could eventually surpass power generation in size, Yeoh replied, “Of course.”

• “We are no longer [just] a utility business,” Yeoh told StarBiz 7, adding that there will be five layers to YTL Power’s AI push.

• The five layers include energy and basic utilities that will power these DCs, followed by the physical DCs required to house computing equipment. Above these are the graphics processing units (GPUs), servers and cloud platforms that generate computing power, followed by large language models.

• Finally, there is the applications that businesses, governments and consumers use.

• YTL Power owns power and telecommunications businesses, develops and operates DCs, has become an AI cloud service provider, created the Malaysian-built Ilmu language model and is applying AI through its businesses such as Ryt Bank, an AI-powered digital bank.

• According to Yeoh, this provides YTL Power with an opportunity to capture value from more than merely renting DC space to global technology companies.

• The group plans to develop as much as 2,000MW of DC capacity over the next five years.

• At its 1,700-acre DC park in Kulai, Johor, approximately 500MW has been built, of which about 300MW is fully taken up by tenants, he said.

• “People are scrambling to take the rest. The point is, they are short of DCs. Everybody wants DCs, like, yesterday,” he added.

• YTL Power expects to add about 200MW of contracted capacity annually from its present base, supported by demand from hyperscale technology companies seeking locations capable of accommodating their computing infrastructure.

• Yeoh believes Malaysia is also benefitting from difficulties faced by DC developers in other markets. At the same time, demand for AI computing continues to grow, requiring more buildings to house advanced chips and servers.

• “They are asking Malaysia to help build the house. This would also directly increase inbound investments into the country which will improve the country’s GDP growth.” Yeoh said.

• However, Yeoh believes electricity availability could increasingly become the limiting factor determining how much of this opportunity Malaysia can capture.

• He points to a global shortage of gas turbines as countries race to add generation capacity to meet rapidly growing AI-related electricity demand.

• Yeoh, citing reports on GE Vernova’s recent earnings call, points out turbines ordered today may only be delivered around 2031, potentially pushing the commissioning of new generating capacity several years further out.

• “Malaysia must quickly resolve this problem of getting turbines and build more power plants. Otherwise, we will miss out on the economic growth, not to mention the AI opportunities,” he said.

• This is also why he considers YTL Power’s traditional electricity business to be the foundation rather than a competing business to its AI ambition: without sufficient generation capacity, the subsequent layers of the AI economy cannot expand.

• Yet, developing capacity on this scale will require funding beyond YTL Power’s existing resources.

• The group is working with RAM Rating Services on a sukuk financing programme for the DC operations, which Yeoh expects to be completed within the next few months.

• Debt financing will be followed by an equity raising through the proposed listing.

• While several overseas exchanges had previously been considered, Yeoh says YTL Power’s preference is Bursa Malaysia.

• “So far, we only have the KL (Kuala Lumpur) stock exchange in mind. We have always been loyal. Even if 90% of our business has been overseas, we have always kept our domicile and headquarters in Malaysia,” he said.

• The amount to be raised has yet to be determined.

• Yeoh also sees a listing on Bursa as a way of extending the economic impact of the DC industry into Malaysia’ capital market.

• A sufficiently large listed vehicle, he said, could attract international investors seeking exposure to the expansion of the AI investment theme here.

• The listing would come as the DC operations begin to establish themselves as a distinct contributor to YTL Power.

• The group recently started reporting DCs as a separate business segment, reflecting their growing significance, with the division contributing a small but rising share of revenue and profits in the latest financial results.

• Yeoh said earnings should become more visible from next year as existing investments and contracted capacity move into operation.

• The group’s agreements with hyperscale customers can run for between 5 and 15 years, providing recurring foreign-currency revenue over the lease period.

• He said total revenue across the life of some contracts could amount to about twice the original capital investment, depending on the length and terms of the lease.

• YTL Power also considers itself the first Malaysian-owned operator to meet the requirements needed to major hyperscale customers, rather than merely serving as a contactor constructing facilities for foreign owners.

• Beyond leasing buildings, Yeoh sees the GPU and AI cloud layer as the larger business opportunity.

• YTL Power has been certified as an Nvidia Exemplar Cloud Provider, enabling it to provide Ai cloud computing services using Nvidia infrastructure.

• Yeoh describes this as an important step because the investment in GPUs, servers and computing equipment can be several times greater than the cost of the buildings that house them.

• This means the real commercial opportunity may eventually lie in selling computing capacity and AI services rather than the property component of DCs alone.

• “The DC is only one part of it. Are you talking about the property side, or the AI factory, the GPU and the cloud business? This is a new big business. The entire five layers is the real business with many economic spinoffs and job opportunities to be had,” Yeoh added.

• The rapid expansion of DCs has drawn criticism over their consumption of electricity and water, limited operational employment and the costs of building the infrastructure needed to support them.

• Yeoh, however, rejects the notion that DC operators are receiving subsidised electricity and water from the government.

• He says Tenaga Nasional Bhd introduced a separate DC electricity tariff in June last year that is approximately 50% higher than the tariff charged to conventional industrial and commercial users.

• “The industrial tariff is about 40 sen. The DC tariff is 60 sen [per kWh]. Essentially, DCs are paying a higher tariff,” he said.

• He added that DC operators must sign electricity supply agreements (ESAs) that commit them to paying for an agreed level of power, whether of not all the capacity is consumed.

• “The prevailing narrative today is that water and electricity are being subsidised to the DCs - this is not true. The fact is that the DCs are giving more money and more revenue to TNB,” he said.

• Yeoh said similar arrangements apply to water supply, where DC operators are required to commit capital and guarantee usage before receiving access to additional capacity.

• In his view, the higher charges can support the development of new utility infrastructure rather than impose an uncompensated burden on existing customers.

• He nevertheless agrees with one criticism of the industry: DCs should not be developed close to homes.

• “They should be in designated DC parks with centralised electricity and water facilities, which means they can be designed more effectively and resources can be shared,” he said. “Why should DCs be in residential areas? There is no advantage there.”

• He says YTL Power’s Kulai development is self-contained, includes solar-generation facilities and is located away from housing areas.

• The larger response to concerns about limited job creation, however, lies in whether Malaysia can develop businesses above the physical DC layer.

• Yeoh argues that the country now has the infrastructure, computing capacity and language models needed to build locally controlled AI applications for education, healthcare, transport and government services. This could create opportunities for Malaysian programmers and technology professionals.

• For Yeoh, this application layer represents the next stage of the industry’s development. Once the underlying electricity, DCs, computing capacity and language models are established, businesses and government agencies can begin building services on top of them.

• He feels that since locally developed AI applications could emerge with the availability of infrastructure, it creates and economy that extends beyond engineers maintaining DC facilities.

• It could also support what Yeoh calls sovereign AI: systems governed by Malaysian law rather than relying entirely on platforms subject to the US or China’s jurisdiction.

• Once Malaysian applications are developed on locally controlled computing infrastructure and language models, he believes the services could potentially be exported to other developing countries concerned about control over their data.

• Its Ryt Bank business provides an early example of how YTL Power intends to take AI from the infrastructure level to consumers.

• Yeoh said the digital bank has accumulated about 1.4 million customers since its launch and has introduced additional products, including investment services.

• The bank has yet to reach break-even, but he said its technology platform has proven usable and capable of being expanded.

• “The biggest cost of a bank is building the system. That amounts to hundreds of millions of ringgit in investment. But the good news is that the product of our investment is proving that it is good and scalable,” he said.

• The critical test for YTL Power will therefore not be merely how many megawatts it can build. It will be whether the group can successfully climb from supplying electricity and property into computing, cloud services, Malaysia AI models and commercially useful applications.

• If that transition succeeds, power generation may eventually become only the first layer of a much larger business.

• For Yeoh, YTL Power’s arrival in the AI economy is no longer an ambition confined to future plans.

• “People say, ‘I want to do this, I want to do that’. But for us, it has arrived. That is the difference,” he concluded.

The first thing I picked up from the interview above is that YTL Power plans to develop as much as 2,000MW of DC capacity over the next 5 years. All the while, analysts have been reporting about YTL Power’s planned expansion of its Kulai DC Park from currently 300MW to 1,300MW over the next 5 years, with a targeted contracted capacity of 200MW every year. This is the first time YTL Power MD confirms that the company is eyeing higher DC expansion beyond Kulai. Earlier one or two analysts had reported about the company’s aspiration of expanding its DC footprint to Selangor but there was no concrete roadmap. Now we know YTL Power is targeting at least some 700MW of DC capacity expansion into Selangor, besides the full capacity of 1,300MW at Kulai.

The second point I take note from the interview is that YTL Power MD talked about listing of the DC business on Bursa, instead of earlier aspirations to target a listing in Singapore, Japan or the US. There are certainly merits for a listing in Malaysia. As the data centres are located in Malaysia, potential investors can actually request for a site visit to see for themselves before they decide to invest in the IPO. Just like what YTL Power has arranged: a site visit for local institutional funds like EPF and another site visit for analysts and fund managers in 1H 2026. EPF was convinced of the DC expansion prospects and has since ramped up its stakes in YTL Power to close to 13% now.

I believe there is enough appetite in local markets for the IPO of YTL Power’s first phase of DC business (~300MW). Potential valuation may be in the range of RM28 billion to RM32 billion, I would be inclined to the lower end of the range. Minus debts, and assuming a listing of 40% equity stakes, the equity amounts to be raised may be around RM8 billion. So it is not a huge amount that the local markets cannot absorb.

We have overlooked the sukuk issuance for the DC business. YTL Power is working with RAM Ratings for the issuance of the first sukuk for DC business in Malaysia. YTL Power may have invested around US$6.7m/MW x 298MW = RM8.2 billion in building up the 298MW DC capacity. I suspect the sukuk to be issued will be around RM7-8 billion, so that it will be able to fully recover the investment costs for the DCs. Then whatever amount that can be raised from the DC REIT listing on Bursa will be upsides to equity.

On the other hand, it is encouraging to see that Ryt Bank has amassed a massive 1.4 million customer base, just within one year of official launch. With the right products, I believe Ryt Bank will be able to break even by 2028.

YTL Power is scheduled to release its Q4 FY2026 results next Thursday 20th August. Recall that YTL Power reported a weak set of core net profit of RM443m for Q3 FY2026 due to a temporary gas supply disruption at PowerSeraya. I have earlier in my Month Ahead post projected a higher core net profit of RM530-545m for Q4 FY2026, but that may have to come down after seeing the projection from JPMorgan for RM381m. The main reason is a planned maintenance shutdown for one CCGT plant at PowerSeraya that dragged into Q4 from March.

But I think that for a planned maintenance shutdown, PowerSeraya usually plans well in advance for other power generation to cover the shortfall from the CCGT plant under maintenance. They could ramp up higher power generation from other CCGTs or steam turbine units or buy some generation units from other Gencos via CfDs. Hence, I think the impact from a planned CCGT maintenance shutdown may not be as large as for the sudden gas supply disruption. If I were to guess, the impact on PowerSeraya’s gross profit may amount to:

370MW x 24hrs x 21 days x S$40-60/MWh = S$7.5-11.2 million for a shutdown of 3 weeks into April, assuming higher generation cost of S$40-60/MWh.

I have earlier projected a core net profit of S$115m for PowerSeraya in Q4, and now I need to lower it by S$15m to take into account the potential impact from the CCGT shutdown.

Hence, I project a pretax profit of RM640-660m and core net profit of RM480-495m for Q4 FY2026.

Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto retreats on commodities reform amid market pressure

Financial Times, August 14, 2026

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has climbed down on some of his flagship policies that have worried investors amid a market rout that has erased a quarter of value from the country’s stock exchange.

In a wide-ranging address to parliament on Friday, Prabowo said the state-owned commodities export agency that he established in May to control exports of critical resources would just monitor transactions instead of making actual trades.

The export commodity agency, if implemented as originally planned, would have overhauled trade in the world’s largest exporter of nickel, thermal coal and palm oil, and affected global commodities trading houses.

The agency will be “the sole processing point for Indonesian commodity exports”, said Prabowo. “I repeat, the processing, not one company controlling commodities and exporting. But now, we can monitor.”

In a second speech on Friday that set out his government’s 2027 budget plans, Prabowo said Indonesia would set up a commodities exchange by January — a signal that he still wants the country to have tighter control over its rich natural resources.

“We don’t just want to be a global commodity producer, we must also determine global commodity prices,” he said, but did not give details.

Indonesia’s benchmark stock index gained about 1.6 per cent on Friday. Mining companies, including Vale Indonesia, Alamtri Resources and Aneka Tambang, saw some of the biggest gains.

The Jakarta Composite index has declined 26 per cent this year due to concerns over Prabowo’s policies and warnings of a potential downgrade from index providers. The rupiah currency has also lost 6 per cent.

Prabowo said the commodities agency had identified potential savings of $5bn arising from pricing discrepancies. He had cited alleged export fraud and under-invoicing as grounds for establishing it.

“We no longer want the Indonesian people to be cheated,” he said. “The goods belong to us while others determine the price.” The agency would soon expand oversight into all commodities, Prabowo added.

He also vowed improvements to a signature scheme to provide free meals nationwide to combat child malnutrition. The programme has been plagued by allegations of corruption and incidents of food poisoning, and has triggered concerns that its cost — $12.8bn, already cut from an initial figure of $28bn — could undermine Indonesia’s fiscal strength.

“I am determined to continue [the free meals] programme, but with improvements and efficiency,” Prabowo said, adding that “those who commit corruption from children’s meals are barbaric”.

Concerns about Prabowo’s expensive welfare plans, policy unpredictability and state interventionism have hit investor sentiment, with Indonesian assets some of the world’s worst performers this year.

“I cannot yet say that all the nation’s problems have been resolved, or that every promise I made has been fulfilled,” said Prabowo, a former general, who took office in October 2024. “Not yet.”

The discontent has also hit the president’s popularity and sparked protests in parts of the country. A July poll by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting showed public satisfaction with Prabowo had dropped to 51 per cent, from about 81 per cent late last year.

Prabowo promised to boost growth to about 6 per cent this year and next, above last year’s figure of 5.1 per cent but still below his campaign pledge to lift growth to 8 per cent during his term. “With the right, rational and sensible policies, I’m confident our economic growth can reach 6 per cent by the end of this year. But for me, growth and investment are not the ultimate goal. Our goal is the wellbeing of our people,” he said.

In the budget speech, Prabowo said the fiscal deficit would be 2.4 per cent next year, lower than the 2.85 per cent forecast for this year and a self-imposed 3 per cent limit that investors and economists feared Indonesia might breach.

The president did not detail how the lower deficit target would be achieved.

Prabowo reiterated his commitment to some of his other policies, including a crackdown on alleged illegal mining and corruption.

He specifically targeted the state-owned sector, where he accused some groups of being “irresponsible” and “unproductive”.

He said 290 state-owned enterprises had been shut down during his term, and more closures were planned. Prabowo said the government had a target of 300 SOEs from the current level of 1,074.

My take: This news from Indonesia should be positive on the uncertainties surrounding coal supply chain to MCement, a subsidiary of YTL.

YTL is scheduled to release its Q4 FY2026 results next Thursday, 20th August. The cement segment is expected to continue posting strong earnings for YTL in Q4, but the hotels segment may be slightly weaker Q-on-Q due to lack of festivities and holidays in Q4 (April-June 2026).

I had projected a core pretax profit of RM1.11 billion for YTL in Q4 FY2026 in my Month Ahead post. Now it may be slightly below RM1.1 billion to take into account the one CCGT at PowerSeraya under maintenance in April.

Ranhill to report higher Quarterly Earnings

Ranhill may release its Q4 FY2026 next Monday or Tuesday, ahead of the scheduled earnings report of YTL Power.

I projected a core net profit of RM75-80m for Ranhill in this Q4 FY2026 in my Month Ahead post, and that still holds.

Ranhill share price jumped 30 sen to RM2.66 on Friday. While I had expected good earnings from Ranhill in Q4, but the quantum of the price rally had surprised me.

Perhaps traders speculated on a strong earnings report from Ranhill on Friday evening itself, but that turned out to be false.

Anyway, Ranhill is seeing huge jumps in earnings in coming years due to the booming data centre segment in Johor that boost water demand.

Based on projected core net profit of over RM300 million in FY2027, Ranhill is trading at a prospective PER of 11.5x on FY2027 earnings. That is still low for a large utility company that has monopoly water supply in Johor.

Utility companies like this should command a valuation of at least 15x PER. Hence, I expect Ranhill to gradually rise towards RM3.50 level in 2H 2026 and early 2027.

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The S&P 500 climbed 0.26% while the Nasdaq added 0.54%. The Dow Jones slipped 21.58 points to settle at 53.770.27.

July’s consumer price index came in as expected, with headline rising 0.1% on the month and the annual inflation rate landing at 3.4%. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, advanced 0.2% last month and 2.5% on the year. The annual rate for both headline and core CPI marked a slight decrease from June.

This comes as the Federal Reserve has been laser focused on the impact higher pricing pressures are having on the US consumer, with three dissenters at the last meeting voting to raise rates. Those concerns have yet to abate, with US oil prices pushing above $83 a barrel Wednesday, as hopes of a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz dwindle.

However, odds that the Fed will leave its rates unchanged next month increased following the report. Fed funds futures trading is now pricing in a roughly 60% chance that the central bank will keep its benchmark rate in its current range of 3.50% to 3.75%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That is up from more than 45% a week ago.

“In-line inflation will keep the ‘no need to hike rates’ narrative that took hold after last week’s jobs report intact,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economist strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “There will be another round of inflation data before the September FOMC meeting, so the storyline could still change. But unless those numbers tell a much different story, the Fed will likely still be in a position to leave rates unchanged next month.”

Meanwhile, the latest quarterly results and guidance from CoreWeave and Super Micro Computer reassured investors that demand in the AI buildout is stable. CoreWeave shares jumped 19% after the cloud infrastructure mainstay’s second-quarter adjusted operating income margin of 5% exceed expectations, while its revenue doubled from a year ago. Super Micro Computer added 19% following a strong earnings and revenue forecast for the last quarter.

Other stocks related to AI also gained. Dell Technologies and Micron Technology advanced nearly 10% and almost 5%, respectively, while Cisco Systems rose close to 3%. Additionally, US-listed shares of Dutch neocloud specialist Nebius soared 34%.

Why Jensen Huang’s $500 billion AI financing plan faces a big risk from China

CNBC, August 12, 2026

• Nvidia struck agreements with six of the largest Wall Street firms to line up $500 billion in financing for the AI buildout.

• Analysts warn rapid hardware depreciation — exacerbated if China floods the market with low-cost compute — could crash the collateral values backing these loans.

• High default risks could push investor yield demands to between 11% and 17% in one estimate, though Nvidia says consistent software updates preserve long-term chip value.

• The key unknown that must be priced into markets: How long will Nvidia chips remain productive and throw off enough revenue to make the math work?

Jensen Huang built the world’s most valuable company by pioneering the specialized computer chips behind the artificial intelligence boom.

To keep his vision for the future within reach, the Nvidia founder is now attempting a different kind of engineering: convincing Wall Street investors that those chips are long-term financial assets akin to commercial real estate or toll roads.

His bet hinges on outpacing AI developments in China.

This week, Nvidia unveiled agreements with six of the world’s largest asset managers, BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, Brookfield and Goldman Sachs. The goal was to assemble a $500 billion pipeline to finance the construction of data centers and GPU clusters for companies that lack the credit rating or cash to buy millions of dollars of silicon outright.

Key to his plan, which Huang announced during a CNBC segment flanked by the leaders of all six Wall Street firms, is one crucial assumption: that Nvidia’s graphics processing units will hold their value over time, behaving more like traditional hard assets than fast-depreciating consumer electronics.

“Nvidia’s AI factory platform is really an investable asset, an infrastructure asset,” Huang said. “The reason for that is because it’s productive, it’s revenue generating, it is fungible, it’s used by just about every cloud service provider, it runs every AI model.”

In standard asset-backed finance, a bank lends money because if a borrower defaults, the bank can repossess the asset — like a building, a warehouse or a cargo ship — and sell it to get their money back. Those physical assets have established secondary markets and can last decades.

But the productive lifespan of cutting-edge GPUs is far from settled.

While new chips power frontier model training, after a few years they are relegated to lower-margin inference work — a shift that directly impacts their resale and collateral value.

“Depreciation is the one key risk here,” said Ben Emons, founder of FedWatch Advisors, who structured similar asset-backed loans for IndyMac before joining Pimco as a portfolio manager. Nvidia chips “could depreciate faster than expected,” he said.

High-yield rates?

In particular, Emons said he believes the single biggest threat to Nvidia’s financing model comes from China, which is rapidly ramping up domestic compute capacity and could choose to flood the market with low-cost silicon in a price war.

If Chinese production pushes hardware prices into a freefall, the collateral backing hundreds of billions in private loans could erode far faster than the terms of the debt itself, leaving investors exposed to losses, according to Emons.

To compensate at least partly for that risk, Emons estimates investors will treat GPUs as high-depreciation equipment rather than real estate, demanding high-yield returns in the 11% to 17% range depending on where they sit in the capital structure.

On top of that, the borrowers are likely to be non-investment grade firms locked out of traditional debt markets, including AI startups and neoclouds, according to a Bank of America Securities note.

If those higher-risk borrowers go under, Wall Street fund managers will be forced to repossess and resell used chips into a potentially falling market.

Whatever risks China poses wouldn’t be realized anytime soon. Huawei, the dominant provider of Chinese AI chips, has been on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2019. And in May, the U.S. government said Huawei’s Ascend AI chips violate U.S. export controls, preventing any American company from using the chips.

In the meantime, Nvidia remains by far the leading supplier of AI chips in the U.S., with upwards of 75% market share by most estimates.

And for now, the economics are still moving in Huang’s favor. Driven by scarcity as hyperscalers race to build out capacity, rental rates for Nvidia’s H100 chips rose from roughly $1.70 per GPU-hour in late 2025 to about $2.35 per GPU-hour this year, Huang noted.

Crucially, Nvidia argues its CUDA software layer — which enables developers to run AI workloads on its GPUs — continuously improves hardware performance after deployment, allowing older chips to stay productive and generate yield longer than traditional accounting models predict.

The future of the AI buildout, and hundreds of billions of dollars in investor money, may depend on who is right.

My take: There is the debate on how long Nvidia GPUs can have the pricing power for as China catches up on AI hardwares.

While Jensen Huang has managed to convince the six large asset managers to come onboard for funding future AI infrastructure based on Nvidia architecture, ultimately it depends on the investors’ investment appetite.

Jensen Huang argued that Nvidia’s graphics processing units will hold their value over time, behaving more like traditional hard assets than fast-depreciating consumer electronics. He may be right, but right now accounting standards still point to a depreciation period of less than 7 years for AI chips or Nvidia GPUs.

Hence, many neoclouds like CoreWeave who focus on GPU-aaS need to adopt a depreciation period of 6 years or so for the capex spent on AI data centres and the expensive GPUs. And typically these AI data centres have a lease tenor of 5-6 years only, as whatever latest AI chips put in will lose its cutting-edge lead after 5 years or so and require upgrades to more powerful versions, to satisfy the compute power requirements of the hyperscalers leasing it.

That is the reason why YTL Power has chosen to focus more on colocation data centres, rather than AI data centres which are currently capped at 20MW. Colocation data centres like the one leased to SEA Ltd (Shopee’s parent) has a lease tenor of 12-15 years. There is mainly data storage and memory, and some processors of modest power such as Nvidia H100s. These accelerators or GPUs used in colo DC provide sufficient compute power for the leasee for at least 10-15 years and do not require an upgrade to the more powerful versions like GB300. Hence, most of the data centres of YTL Power may be depreciated over 12-15 years, and the pretax profit can be higher. The same point is highlighted in JPMorgan report released earlier this week.

Of course, as more data processing is required, the leasee of colo DC may ask for higher-powered GPUs to be installed for any new colo data centres to be contracted for YTL Power to build. Then the leasing rates will be higher for higher-powered GPUs. The key point here is that colo DCs have longer tenors and are easier to get financing for the buildout. Investors may not need to ask for high yields like 12%-17% as for AI data centre buildouts, as pointed out by the CNBC report above.

On the other hand, CoreWeave, a neocloud of Nvidia with a primary focus in the American markets, is seeing huge backlog for new data centre buildouts, which has reached US$104 billion. This indicates they have locked in long-term contracts for AI compute that will span years. For reference, the company reported $2.58 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, more than doubling year-over-year and exceeding analyst estimates.

CoreWeave share price surged 19% on Wednesday after the earnings report.

On August 10, CoreWeave closed a new $2.6 billion loan facility. They are using this debt to aggressively buy more GPUs and build out data centres faster than the competition.

They also announced their first move into Asia Pacific region earlier this month, expanding operations into Indonesia.

In short, while most of the market is worried about an “AI bubble”, CoreWeave is proving the demand is real with hard revenue and a massive backlog. Their current market cap is sitting around US$48 billion.

In comparison, if YTL Power is listing its first 300MW data centre business in the US, it may have a market cap of about US$5 billion. But if the company can grow its data centre capacity in Kulai to 1,200-1,300MW in 2030 and list up all the DC capacity in the US, the market cap would grow towards US$20 billion.

YTL Power shares rallied to a high of RM5.00 on Wednesday trading, boosted by the JPMorgan report. Local institutional funds turned out to be the major buyers of YTL Power shares on Wednesday with a net purchase of RM26.5m, according to Hong Leong’s daily fund flows data. Local retailers were the major sellers of YTL Power shares with a net sale of RM30.9m. That implies that foreign funds were also net buyers of YTL Power shares on Wednesday with a net purchase of around RM4.4m.

Foreign funds were major buyers of YTL shares on Wednesday with a net purchase of RM8.0m. Local institutional funds bought more YTL shares with a net purchase of RM18.0m. Again local retailers were major sellers of YTL shares with a net sale of RM22.8m, while investment traders net sold RM3.2m.

On Tuesday, local institutions were the major buyers of YTL Power and YTL shares with a net purchase of RM8.8m and RM6.3m respectively. Local retailers were the major sellers with a net sale of RM7.1m of YTL shares and RM6.1m of YTL Power shares. Investment traders net bought RM1.7m worth of YTL Power shares.

That pretty much sums up why YTL and YTL Power shares have been surging up - strong buying from foreign funds and local institutions. Large caps like YTL and YTL Power need big funds to buy in for their share price to move up. The selling by local retailers is normal to me, as most of them tend to be short-term traders. With the ~20% gains within one week for YTL and YTL Power shares, they tend to lock in profits. But you see the buying from foreign funds and local institutions were so strong that all the selling on queue by local retailers have been eaten up. That actually created liquidity to the stocks. Had there been not many sellers, foreign funds and local institutions might not have been able to buy in so much, worse still they might not be interested in buying at all as the share price would have moved much faster on just small buying from the funds.

Again, I would suggest fellow investors to hold onto your YTL and YTL Power shares for a little longer, best for another two years to reap the maximum benefits from the explosive earnings growth and value creation by YTL Power from its data centre expansion.

For those who have taken partial profits, that may be a wise move too if you buy back when the shares undergo profit taking later. Any rally in a stock cannot go on for over 2 weeks in a straight line, at some point in time, it will subject to profit taking. Then we will need to look at the technical chart to see where the support levels lie and whether the shares will retreat to that level before we decide to buy back.

Had you sold too early at say RM4.50 for YTL Power, it is okay to buy back at slightly higher price like RM4.60-4.70. In the bigger context of things over a two-year horizon, you will realise that you have probably missed out on a 10-20 sen gap of profits for your premature selling, but you will eventually get a total gains of RM3.00-4.00 (75%-100% upside from the investment cost of RM4.00) over the two-year investment period.

YTL Power shares hit RM4.95-5.00 level on two consecutive days, and every time retreated from the resistance level. That may mean that RM5.00 is a major resistance level that the stock will need to overcome and break up convincingly before fresh buying chases in or local retailers who have taken profit buy back. It may also mean that foreign funds who just bought into the stock may want to cap their investment cost at below RM5.00 so that they will enjoy an upside of 50% in two years.

For local institutions like EPF who is still buying YTL Power and YTL shares this week, they may also want to avoid averaging up their cost of investment too high. EPF had an estimated cost of investment at around RM3.50 as they ramped up their stakes in YTL Power to 10% earlier this year, based on my rough estimates. In the past few months, EPF has been raising its stakes towards 13% now. If the additional 3% stakes EPF acquired at say RM4.30, then their average cost of investment in YTL Power would have gone up to (RM3.50 x 10% + RM4.30 x 3%)/13% = RM3.68. At this higher average cost, EPF will still be able to enjoy potentially a 100% gain in two years.

EPF has the financial power to hold investments for a very long period, as it understands the compounding power of time in corporate earnings growth. Take one instance, if a listed company can grow its earnings at a compounding growth of 27% p.a. for 10 years, it will see its earnings expand by 10 folds and the share price a 10-bagger. If the company maintains the same compounding growth rate for another 10 years, then you will have a 100-bagger in making.

That is exactly how Warren Buffet made the huge fortune from investing in good companies for as long as he could. His flagship investment holding company, Bershire Hathaway, achieved a compound annual growth rate of approximately 19.9% in the 60 years between 1965 and 2025. That has resulted in a staggering total return of over 6,000,000% or 60,000 times!! In comparison, the broader S&P 500 companies posted a compounded annual gain of 10.4%-10.5% over the same timeframe.

You may be able to achieve a compound growth rate of over 20% in say 5 years or 7 years, if you manage to catch some good bargains. But it is extremely hard to maintain such a compound growth rate of close to 20% for such a long time like 15-20 years.

To me, we cannot possibly be aiming to replicate the achievement of Warren Buffet, but if we can get a compound growth rate of 20% p.a. for a 5-year period for our investment fund, that will be good enough:

1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 = 2.49, that means we get a total return of 149% over 5 years

Replicate it for another 5 years, we will get a total return of 519% over 10 years.

That means if you start your investment fund at RM100,000, you would grow that fund to RM619,000 in ten years if you exercise good investment disciplines and pick the right stocks.

If you could replicate this for 20 years, you would be a multi-millionaire.

For one of the investment funds I have been managing, I have achieved a compound growth of 27% p.a. for the past 6 years. I hope I could continue on at such compound growth rate for another 4 years, so that I would be able to make a 10-times return for the fund holders.

To get a compound growth rate of 27% p.a. for the next 4 years, I need to screen through the stocks to see which ones could possibly deliver an upside of 60% in 2 years or an upside of 160% in 4 years.

I found YTL Power.

Based on earlier projection that if YTL Power injects an additional 200MW of new data centres into the DC REIT in 2028, it would have created additional equity value of RM13.3 billion or RM1.53 per share. If I add that to JPMorgan’s base case target price of RM6.20, I will get a revised target price of RM7.73 for YTL Power in 2028. And that will give me RM7.73 / RM4.60 = 68% upside.

Then two years later I shall assess whether YTL Power at that price would again give me another 60% upside in 2 years to 2030.

If YTL Power succeeds in expanding its Kulai DC capacity by another 400MW to 898MW in FY2030 as projected by JPMorgan, then it would add more equity value of ~RM27 billion to shareholders, or RM2.80 per share.

The share price may go up from RM7.73 to RM10.55 in 2030 to give an upside of 37%. It may seem at first glance not meeting my internal target of 60% upside in two years. But I rely on the other businesses of YTL Power to deliver the additional earnings growth. In particular, Wessex Waters earnings are projected to grow at double digits p.a. until 2030 as it embarks on the massive capex programmes of GBP4.60 billion in 2026-2030 regulatory period. PowerSeraya will see a lift in earnings when its new 600MW hydrogen-ready CCGT commences operations in early 2028. Ranhill will enjoy multi-year growth in earnings, riding on the data centre boom in Johor. UK Brabazon projects will start to deliver meaningful earnings from FY2028 onwards after the first phase of student accommodation completes and the Aviva Arena commences operations. The dark fibre projects will start to contribute substantial earnings from FY2028 onwards.

Then I found BAuto which I think will give me a 60% upside in two years. I first bought into BAuto at around RM0.915 in Jan 2026, and I expect the stock to rise to RM1.50 or higher in two years. Its Mazda car distribution has seen encouraging rebounds in sales since late 2025, and is on track to achieve total sales of 12,000 units in FY2027. Both Maybank and Hong Leong research houses forecast its net profit to grow to RM150m level in FY2028 or EPS of 13.3 sen. Dividend payouts will be at 9.2 sen or higher in FY2028. These numbers will support a share price of RM1.50 for BAuto in FY2028, at a prospective PER of 11.3x and dividend yield of 6.1%.

I found AEON much earlier in 2024-2025. I realised that AEON could be growing its Property Management segment at a much higher pace than its Retailing segment in coming years, from continuous rental rate adjustment and new mall expansion. Based on my projection earlier, AEON would see its Property Management segment EBIT to grow from RM322m in FY2025 to RM484m in FY2030. That is about 8.5% p.a. of compounded growth, which is nothing impressive. But if we translate that into net profit level, then we see much higher growth of 114% from RM133m in FY2025 to RM286m in FY2030. EPS is expected to grow to 20.4 sen in FY2030 even before I include the new mall AEON Midtown KL. At its 10-year average PER of 17x, AEON may be trading up to RM3.47 in FY2030. From the current share price of RM1.02, AEON may potentially give an upside of 240% in 4 years, much higher than the 160% upside in 4 years that I need.

As for Padini, I started buying as the share price fell below RM1.50 and will continue adding as the share price lingers below RM1.45. Padini shares should rise back to RM1.80-2.00 level, where it was trading at before the MACC case was made known. Fundamentals will support this price level once the MACC case is completely cleared. Padini is projected by Maybank research to make a net profit of RM138m in FY2026 (EPS of 14.0 sen) and RM150m in FY2027 (EPS of 15.2 sen). Based on its 10-year mean PER of 14.8x, Padini should be trading up to RM2.07 in FY2026 and RM2.25 in FY2027. Maybank has a target price of RM2.30 for Padini. So, if we buy at current price of RM1.41, the upside may be 47% in 6 months and up to 60% in 2 years, which will fulfil my required return.

I have got higher returns than my desired return of 27% in one year from Spritzer, KSL, Eco-Shop, Ranhill and IOIPG. But I still hold onto some Ranhill share as I believe it can deliver another year of 27% return in 2027. For Eco-Shop, I shall wait to buy back if the share price retreats to below RM1.30 again. For Spritzer, its share price will have to come down to below RM2.50 again before I will consider buying back. For IOIPG, I chased back some shares at RM3.80-4.00 after taking partial profits at RM3.60, thinking that the stock would give me at least 27% upside in one year to 2027.

YTL stock price has historically moved in tandem with YTL Power stock but at a higher swing, e.g. when YTL Power moved up from RM2.50 level in early 2024 to a high of RM5.40 in May 2024, YTL stock moved from RM1.50 level to a high of RM3.80 during the same period. If we expect YTL Power to move up from RM4.60 to RM4.60 to RM7.73 in two years for an upside of 68%, YTL share price may move up from currently RM2.20 level to easily RM3.80, its previous high, for an upside of 73%. That is why YTL is another stock in my investment portfolio.

We need to hold a handful of good stocks in our investment portfolio, so that when one or two stocks underperform, other outperformers may cover the shortfall in returns. For instance, the outperformance of YTL and YTL Power stocks in past two years have been able to cover the return shortfall from AEON. But do not overly diversify, and we should limit our core holdings to 10-15 stocks which we understand the business and can monitor their performance closely.

I hope I can continue this investment blog for at least another 4 years so that I could prove to fellow investors that by practicing sound value investment with proper financial disciplines, we could achieve 10 times return in 10 years.

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The S&P 500 lost 0.32% while the Nasdaq fell 0.60%. The Dow Jones shed 184.13 points to end at 53,791.85.

Communication services was the leading S&P 500 laggard, falling more than 2% as Alphabet and AppLovin shares dropped 3.8% and nearly 6%, respectively. Alphabet shares have been under pressure recently, since Google announced last week that it is reshuffling its AI divisions.

Information technology was another sector in the red. Nvidia shares gave up their morning gain to close just below the flatline, even after the chipmaker on Monday said it’s partnering with six large asset managers to mobilize more than US$500 billion for AI infrastructure. Apple shares were also weak, dropping more than 1%.

The moves came as oil prices rose amid uncertainty over the Middle East conflict, with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council reiterating that the strait would not reopen until its conditions have been met, per Reuters. US WTI futures closed up 1.3% at $83.20 a barrel. Brent crude gained about 1.4% to $88.91 a barrel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said earlier this week there was “no possibility of restarting negotiations” as long as the US continues violating the June memorandum of understanding and does not compensate Iran for those violations, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

However, investors took comments from Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif as a positive signal Tuesday. In an interview with Bloomberg News, the official said that “things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal.”

Investors will next turn to a key batch of inflation data, with the July consumer price report due Wednesday and the producer price index out Thursday. The readings could prove particularly important after a weak jobs report complicated the Fed’s outlook.

“I expect the CPI report to continue its downward trend which will further support the case for the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady rather than hiking them, even with last Friday’s weak jobs report,” said Dennis Follmer, chief investment officer at Montis Financial.

“Services inflation could continue to be a sticky problem, but that sector is not very sensitive to interest rates, so it shouldn’t really damage the case for holding steady,” he added.

New attacks on shipping as Iran war talks hit fresh impasse

Reuters, August 12, 2026

DUBAI (Aug 11): The US and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping on Tuesday as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim, with Tehran saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions.

The attacks, in the Gulf of Oman leading to the strait and at the entrance to the Red Sea — both vital chokepoints for global oil supplies — come as the war shows no signs of ending despite repeated assertions from US President Donald Trump of a deal being imminent.

Oil prices gained and global shares retreated amid renewed pessimism about a quick end to the conflict. Brent crude futures climbed 1.4% to settle at US$88.91 per barrel and US crude rose 1.3% to US$83.20.

At the southern end of the Red Sea, four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said. Two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, Yemen’s Coast Guard said.

The fatalities aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah would be the first deaths on shipping by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis since the Iran war began.

The Houthi-run news agency Saba reported that the group, which said last month it would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, attacked a Saudi ship carrying military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It did not name the ship, and there was no immediate Saudi response to the report.

The US military, meanwhile, said a US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a Panama-flagged cargo ship.

The ship ignored repeated warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports, the US Central Command said. Maritime sources told Reuters the ship was hit off Pakistan while sailing into the Gulf of Oman.

Stepped up rhetoric

Both Iran and the United States have stepped up rhetoric in the past two days.

Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Tuesday that the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route will remain closed unless the US accepts Iran’s conditions to end the war — the release of Iran’s frozen assets and an end to conflicts throughout the region, including in Lebanon and Gaza.

That followed a new demand from Trump on Monday that Iran should pay compensation for people killed in 50 years of wars, attacks and protests.

Throughout the conflict, Trump has alternated between threats of escalation and claims that a peace deal is imminent.

In an interview released late on Monday, he suggested the uncertainty could last for a while, saying he might just “bop along” and let Tehran fail economically, or hit them “really, really hard.”

“I’m sort of negotiating,” Trump told Real America’s Voice. “They’re very devious negotiators.”

Speaking to reporters after a visit to Ohio on Tuesday, Trump said “Iran is going fine, going just absolutely fine.”

“We totally control the Strait of Hormuz ... Nobody else, only us,” he said.

“At some point, maybe they’ll do something and then they get blown away,” he said of Iran. “But right now, we’re in a very good position. We have a country that has been the bully of the Middle East for 50 years, really 51 if you think about it ... and they’re no longer the bully of the Middle East.”

Asked about an incident in which he switched planes in Türkiye last month because of worries over reports of a potential Iranian assassination threat, Trump suggested the alternative aircraft may have faced greater risk.

“That would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” he told reporters after The Washington Post broke the story about him secretly taking a military flight instead of Air Force One in an operation involving him being moved between aircraft in a catering truck.

“Any consequential president has a lot of threats,” Trump added. “I don’t worry about anything.”

The comments from Rezaei, appointed on Sunday as second-in-command of the body that coordinates Iran’s security and foreign policy, were the strongest indication the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen to shipping anytime soon. The waterway handled a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flow before the war.

“As long as America does not change its behaviour and does not accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened,” Rezaei said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

There was no immediate comment from Washington on Iran’s latest comments.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

Iran has struck US assets and infrastructure in countries including Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Raising the prospect of further escalation, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, an adviser to the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said on Iranian state TV on Tuesday that the corps was developing the ability to carry out operations “on enemy soil.”

“We need to be able to move the operations to the enemy’s soil, whenever this is needed and ordered,” he said. “This is the characteristic of the offensive doctrine that has to be attained.”

My take: Attacks on ships are still happening on both sides. It does not appear that either side of Iran or the US is softening their stand anytime soon. As a result, Brent crude oil prices are approaching US$90 a barrel again. It could shoot past US$100 a barrel very quickly if the Houthis were to completely close up the Red Sea.

So, it is not time to buy into consumer stocks like Spritzer and Eco-Shop yet as their business operations are being affected by high oil prices - high plastic resin costs, high diesel prices for delivery vans, high electricity costs, higher input material costs vs a fixed selling price in the case of Eco-Shop.

On the other hand, the persistent turmoil in the Middle East continues to push away foreign investments from the region, including capital intensive data centres. That will only help to push US hyperscalers to build new data centres in Malaysia, due to our cheaper land cost and utility costs compared to Singapore and Australia or Japan.

It is also good for other investments into other industrial areas such as manufacturing and semiconductor. Hence, the persistent wartime situation in the Gulf is a blessing in disguise for companies like YTL and YTL Power, as well as companies with big landbank like IOIPG.

NVIDIA Partners With Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to Establish AI Compute Infrastructure Financing Platforms to Mobilize Over $500 Billion of Third-Party Capital

Nvidia Newsroom, August 10, 2026

New Financing Platforms Turn NVIDIA Compute and Full-Stack AI Infrastructure Into an Investable Asset Class for Global Capital, Broadening Access to AI Factories, Enabling Long-Duration Usage-Linked Revenue While Supporting NVIDIA’s Ecosystem Growth Across Hardware Sales and Software Adoption

NVIDIA today announced strategic partnerships to establish independent compute financing platforms with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to mobilize over $500 billion of third-party capital for the buildout of AI infrastructure over time.

Demand for AI infrastructure continues to accelerate as countries, governments, enterprises and startups look to drive innovation, economic growth and societal benefits. NVIDIA compute is an investable asset — one which provides the lowest token cost, highest revenue and longest life along with a rich ecosystem of offtakers built upon NVIDIA’s CUDA platform.

Memorandums of understanding signed with six of the world’s premier financial institutions to create these partnerships aim to establish the first compute financing platforms of their kind at global scale to enable the AI infrastructure buildout across NVIDIA’s ecosystem, including leading frontier AI labs, enterprises and AI clouds. Under these strategic partnerships, NVIDIA will work with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to create dedicated pools of capital at significant scale at attractive rates for NVIDIA customers.

“NVIDIA has reached an important milestone. We began by building chips; today, we are helping create a new class of productive, investable infrastructure: AI factories,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “In AI, compute is revenue. NVIDIA compute is uniquely suited for this role. It is broadly adopted, flexible across models and workloads, fungible and transferable across customers and operators, and continuously improved through CUDA software — extending its useful life and improving its economics over time. It is supported by a deep global ecosystem of developers, customers and offtakers. That is why we are bringing the world’s leading long-term capital providers together to independently underwrite AI infrastructure. These financing platforms will help customers access scarce compute at scale and build the DSX AI factories that will power every industry and country in the age of AI.”

“Modern compute has emerged as a scarce, mission-critical asset class with compelling investment characteristics that is positioned to drive significant long-term economic growth and productivity gains,” said Apollo President Jim Zelter. “The combination of NVIDIA’s proprietary technology ecosystem and Apollo’s flexible, long-term capital base provides a strong foundation to support the next stage of the AI buildout as part of the broader Global Industrial Renaissance.”

“The AI buildout will require unprecedented investment and a skilled workforce to turn that investment into the infrastructure that will help power future growth,” said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. “This partnership deepens our relationship with NVIDIA, including through the AI Infrastructure Partnership, and brings together NVIDIA’s leadership in accelerated computing with BlackRock’s ability to connect long-term capital to essential infrastructure. Together, we can help deliver the compute capacity that companies need to grow and create more jobs, supporting the continued growth of the U.S. and global economies, while creating attractive, long-term investment opportunities for our clients.”

“NVIDIA has created extraordinary demand for its compute through an intense focus on customer value and versatile technology,” said Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone. “We continue to be enormous investors globally across the NVIDIA ecosystem, and this announcement further underscores our confidence in their platform and the future of AI infrastructure.”

“As our strategic partner, NVIDIA is enabling us to scale AI factories. We are excited about further collaboration to build and fund the backbone of AI globally,” said Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield. “With demand for large-scale AI compute growing significantly as adoption scales across industries, compute is fast becoming the essential layer of infrastructure and a core pillar of the Brookfield AI infrastructure strategy.”

“We’re in a pivotal moment of a historic AI investment cycle. NVIDIA’s full-stack platform is in high demand and uniquely positioned at the center of that global buildout,” said David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. “Our investment and distribution roles reflect our confidence in NVIDIA’s leadership, and we’re excited for the new opportunity to create a market for credit backed by NVIDIA compute.”

“Compute has become a critical infrastructure asset. As we’ve scaled our approach to digital infrastructure, we’ve learned that delivery, not ambition, is the hard part. That’s why we’re excited to build on our strategic partnership with NVIDIA, a founding investor in Helix Digital Infrastructure, to bring together NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform with KKR’s long-duration capital, infrastructure expertise and capital markets capabilities to turn growing demand into real capacity at extraordinary scale,” said Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, Co-Chief Executive Officers of KKR.

These partnerships remain subject to execution of the final agreements.

My take: This Nvidia partnership with the large asset managers will help mobilize over US$500 billion of capital to fund new AI infrastructure buildouts around the world.

In particular, data centre operators like DayOne and Nvidia Neoclouds like YTL Power will be able to gain access to such a large pool of capitals to help fund their new data centre buildouts.

Singapore-based data centre operator is said to confidentially file for US$5 bil IPO in US

Bloomberg, August 11, 2026

DayOne Data Centers Ltd has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Singapore-based data centre operator aims to list as soon as next quarter, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. It has been considering raising around US$5 billion (RM20.46 billion) from the IPO, the people said.

Bloomberg News reported previously that DayOne may target a valuation of about US$20 billion from the listing. Considerations are ongoing and details, including size and timing, may change, the people said.

DayOne didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

DayOne closed a US$4.5 billion Series C funding round in June, led by its biggest shareholders, Coatue Management and Hillhouse, and also including new backers Achi Capital Partners and the Indonesian Investment Authority. The financing will accelerate DayOne’s expansion in key markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand Japan, Hong Kong, Finland and Spain, the company said.

Since its inception in 2022, DayOne has secured more than 1.5GW of bookings for capacity in the Asia Pacific and Europe. Its investors also include China’s GDS Holdings Ltd, SoftBank Vision Fund and Citadel’s Ken Griffin.

Investor interest in data centres has been surging with the rise of artificial intelligence. Australia’s Firmus Technologies Pty said last week it had received commitments for a US$2 billion investment round. Coatue was involved in that as well. Switch Inc and Nscale are among other data centre operators lining up IPOs in the US as soon as this year.

Dallas-based Csquare Inc raised US$1.05 billion in an IPO last month after pricing the offering at US$21 per share, below a marketed range. The Brookfield Corp-backed data centre firm closed at US$21.6 on Monday in New York.

My take: The US$20 billion valuation that DayOne is seeking from its listing in the US implies a valuation of US$13.3 million EV/MW for its 1.5GW bookings for data centre capacity. That is higher than the valuation of Keppel DC REIT of USD9.6m EV/MW.

Keppel DC REIT is trading at a valuation of about 20x EV/EBITDA, so DayOne is seeking a valuation of 27.7x EV/EBITDA for its listing in the US.

With the recently announced Nvidia partnership with large asset managers to provide over US$500 billion for AI infrastructure buildup, the US$5 billion of listing proceeds that DayOne is seeking will be a drop of a needle in the sea.

Incidentally, YTL Power is also seeking an IPO listing of its data centre business either on SGX or in the US. As announced in early April, YTL Power management was seeking a valuation of over 20x EV/EBITDA for the DC listing. Both the SGX and the US markets will support such a valuation, with the US market obviously supporting higher valuation up to 27.7x EV/EBITDA.

Of note is that if we base the valuation of US$13.3m of EV/MW, the 300MW secured DC capacity of YTL Power would be valued at an EV of US$13.3m/MW x 300MW = US$4.0 billion or RM16.4 billion only.

If we base the valuation on say 20x EV/EBITDA, the valuation goes up to RM1.4bn x 20 = RM28 billion.

I think the gap in valuation between these two methods is because YTL Power data centres enjoy higher EBITDA per MW than that of DayOne or Keppel, due to its lower land cost, lower construction costs, higher power efficiency and lower electricity/water supply costs. That is highlighted in the JP Morgan report released on 11th August 2026, which I will summarise in a section below.

The Nvidia partnership news and this DayOne listing news are positive signs for YTL Power to get potentially a higher valuation for its DC listing later this year or early 2027.

JPMorgan upgrades YTL Power with doubling the Target Price

JPMorgan Asia Pacific Equity Research issued an update report on YTL Power on 11 August, and upgraded YTL Power to BUY with a target price of RM6.20 (up from RM3.10 previously).

Below are some extracts from the report:

We assume coverage of YTL Power (YTLP; OW, SOTP PT RM6.20)/Tenaga (TNB; OW, SOTP PT RM18.00), with 30%/26% potential upside. We see a structural, multi-year electricity demand cycle running through 2030, driven by our proprietary 13GW DC tracker, which sits ~60% above TNB’s 8.3GW of signed electricity supply agreements (ESA) – a longer runway than the market is pricing. Three drivers underpin our view: (1) Malaysia’s DC electricity demand rising from ~6% to 20-25% of nationwide consumption by 2030E; (2) sustained growth in TNB’s regulated asset base (RAB), with RM42bn of RP5 capex (vs. RM36bn in RP4, JPMe); and (3) YTLP’s DC capacity rising from 148MW to 498MW, lifting DC to 43% of group PBT by FY28E. Our preference order is YTLP > TNB.

YTLP – mispriced DC optionality. Our FY27E/28E earnings sit 10%/30% above Bloomberg consensus on a 77% DC revenue CAGR (FY26E-30E), with DC alone at 60% of our FY28E SOTP valuation. Its 1,640-acre Johor site scales from 148MW today to 1,200MW – Malaysia’s second-largest DC pipeline after Google’s self-build. YTLP also builds more cheaply (US$6.7m/MW) and runs more efficiently (1.28 PUE vs. ASEAN ~1.55), letting it charge the upper Johor range (US$80-120/kW/month), still ~60% below Singapore.

Elsewhere, Wessex Water exits its earnings trough into the AMP8 cycle (£3.5bn capex, 4.20% allowed return), while PowerSeraya normalizes at RM1.4bn-1.8bn PBT by FY27E/28E as a ~600MW hydrogen-ready plant arrives. We expect a soft FY4Q26 after a PowerSeraya outage, but see it as largely anticipated.

Concerns over the 600MW grid-connection cap are overstated, in our view, as we model only 498MW by FY28, leaving ~2 years’ headroom to commission a second CLS toward the 1,200MW target. Upside risk includes a potential separate listing of the colocation DC business above 18x EV/EBITDA.

We assume coverage of YTLP with an OW rating and an SOTP-based Jun-27 PT of RM6.20. Our earnings forecasts sit 10%/30% above Bloomberg consensus for FY27/28E, driven by:

(i) a quicker data center revenue ramp at a 77% CAGR over FY26-30E, taking DC from 11% to 43% of group PBT by FY28E;

(ii) Wessex Water exiting its regulatory trough into a record AMP8 cycle; while

(iii) PowerSeraya’s downtrend into FY27 is largely expected, stabilizing in FY28 as the new ~600MW hydrogen plant comes online.

DC alone makes up 60% of our FY28E SOTP valuation as it ramps from 148MW to 498MW. Near-term, we expect soft 4Q26 revenue of RM4.3bn (-15% QoQ, -22% YoY) and earnings of RM361mn (-1% QoQ, -56% YoY) on a PowerSeraya outage into the June quarter, cushioned by the first full quarter of 148MW live DC – but FY26E’s 8%/33% decline is largely reflected in Street estimates. The divergence begins in FY27 as we look towards a higher contribution from DC business.

DC capacity to reach 298MW/498MW by FY27/28E vs. 148MW live today. We model +200MW a year beyond FY28, supported by: (i) 1,640 acres in Kulai – the second- largest pipeline in Malaysia after Google’s self-build, on our proprietary 13GW tracker, ~60% above TNB’s 8.3GW ESA-signed reference; (ii) a design PUE of 1.28 vs. ASEAN average of ~1.55, plus a solar park scaling from 215MW to 600MW, letting YTLP command the upper end of Johor rents (US$80-120/kW/mth), still ~60% cheaper than Singapore; and (iii) in-house power, water (via Ranhill) and construction delivering builds at US$6.7m/MW (vs. Malaysia’s US$7-9m), plus retrofit flexibility to track rising GPU TDPs (700W H100 in 2022 → 1,400W GB300 in 2026). We also see the refocus on colocation (colo) – GPU-aaS capped at 20MW – as the right call, avoiding rapid server depreciation and 5-year tenors vs. 10–15 years for colo. A key pushback on the 1,200MW ambition is the existing consumer landing station (CLS), which can support maximum IT power of 600MW. We model 498MW for FY28, which translates to a generous 2-3 years of headroom for YTLP to commission a second CLS. This is a very achievable timeline and TNB’s Green Lane Pathway supports ~3-year energization.

Value-up angle – listing of the DC business (11%-31% upside risk; FV RM6.90~RM8.10). YTLP management has signaled it may list its data center business to unlock value. Our base case already embeds DCF value at ~RM32bn;~16.5x FY28E EV/EBITDA, so a listing is accretive only above that mark as each multiple above 17x adds ~RM0.21/share, on our estimates, worth +RM0.73/share (fair value RM6.90, +11%) at the top of the peer-range (20x), and up to +RM1.88/share (fair value RM8.10, +31%) in management’s blue-sky case (25.5x).

PowerSeraya PBT to normalize at RM1.4bn/RM1.8bn by FY27/28E (~47% of group PBT). Spark spreads peaked in FY24 on cheap gas and high USEP, but short-dated contracts have since rolled to lower tariffs, with near-term margins further pressured by force majeure on ~10% of gas supply and an outage forcing pool purchases. However, we see this as largely priced in; FY28E improves as the ~600MW hydrogen CCGT partially offsets the decline via better heat rate and higher dispatch.

Wessex Water to see RAB-driven recovery; worth 18% of SOTP at 12x EV/EBITDA. The RPI-linked inflation drag that pushed finance costs above RM1bn in FY24E has inverted into a tailwind as AMP8 capex of £3.5bn (vs. £1.4-1.5bn in 2020-25) compounds the regulated asset base on a higher allowed return to 4.20% (from 3.66%).

Earnings preview

We expect 4Q26 revenue of RM4.3bn (-15% QoQ, -22% YoY) and earnings of RM361mn (-1% QoQ, -56% YoY). The softer revenue is driven mainly by lower electricity volumes at PowerSeraya, where one of the generation plants has been under maintenance since 3Q26 and will remain offline into 4Q26. The earnings decline is less severe, as we model a stronger contribution from the data center segment once it realizes the full impact of the 148MW live capacity in 4Q26 — capacity that only came fully online in mid-3Q26. Cumulatively, we expect FY26 revenue and earnings to fall 8% and 33% YoY respectively, though we believe this is largely already reflected in consensus.

Moving into FY27/FY28, our earnings sit 10%/30% above consensus, as we model a faster data center revenue ramp – a 77% CAGR over FY26–FY30E – stepping up from 148MW live in FY26 to 298MW in FY27 and 498MW in FY28, then rising by 200MW a year thereafter toward the 1,200MW target. Against our numbers, we believe the current share price captures less than half of that 1,200MW pipeline.

Three things we like about YTL’s data center business:

• Developing a DC complex on 1,640 acres land in Johor with room to scale.

  YTLP has its own solar park and is the sole water operator in Johor,

  differentiating itself from pocket-land developers.

• A current design PUE of 1.28 puts it ahead of the ASEAN average (~1.55),

  complemented by its upcoming 600MW self-owned solar park.

• Synergistic in-house capabilities (power, water, construction) let it adapt and

  customize DC builds — both new and existing — to stay relevant (e.g. per-rack

  power support and cooling solutions) as customer needs shift with rising GPU

  TDPs and faster release cadences.

Data centers make up 60% of our FY28E SOTP valuation; DCs to make up 43% of group PBT by FY28E. We estimate YTLP’s data center revenue will grow at a 77% CAGR over FY26-FY30E as capacity scales from 148MW live today to 898MW. Over that period, DC’s share of group revenue climbs from 3% to 15%, while its contribution to group PBT rises far more sharply – from 11% to 43% in the same period – thanks to above-corporate PBT margins of 28-29%. Segment PBT currently sits at 25%, but we expect it to improve as the solar park comes online and lifts margins meaningfully.

In the near term, we model a gradual step-up in capacity from 148MW live in FY26 to 298MW in FY27 and 498MW in FY28, then increments of 200MW a year thereafter toward the 1,200MW target. We believe the current share price captures less than half of that 1,200MW pipeline –largely because YTLP’s existing consumer landing station (CLS) can support only up to 600MW of IT power, so a second CLS is required to go beyond it. In our view, this concern is being pulled forward prematurely. With 498MW in FY28 modeled into our numbers, YTLP has roughly three years of headroom to initiate the applications for a second CLS. This timeline aligns with Malaysia’s TNB led grid framework and its Green Lane Pathway, which enables faster energization (~3 years) and reduces execution risk through a single-utility interface. YTLP is already in talks with TNB and we expect the process to run under three years from ESA formalization to energization.

Availability of land to comfortably accommodate its 1,200MW colo DC build. YTLP owns 1,640 acres in Kulai, Johor, earmarked mainly for its colocation data center complex. Live IT capacity stood at 148MW as at the Mar-2026 quarter, with a further 150MW of committed customer capacity currently at the fit-out stage and due to go live in 2H CY2026 (FY27; Jun YE). The 1,200MW pipeline also ranks YTLP as the second largest DC capacity holder – after Google’s self-build portion – in our proprietary Malaysia DC tracker (link), which was recently refreshed to reflect a higher 13GW pipeline. This sits around 60% above the market’s primary reference point of 8.3GW of ESA-signed capacity disclosed by TNB.

PUE of 1.28 will be a tenant magnet in ASEAN amid tightening energy regulation, complemented by its solar park scaling to 600MW. YTLP’s design PUE of 1.28 already puts it at the forefront of efficient scale, with room to optimize further to 1.24–1.26, supported by a self-owned solar park of 215MW (operational end-2026) that is set to scale gradually toward 600MW. Together with Malaysia’s competitive construction cost (US$7m–9m/MW) and earlier stage of development versus Singapore’s mature market, this efficiency edge offers a strong value proposition to tenants that prioritize it. It shows up in pricing power, too: Johor rental rates run US$80–120/kW/mth, and YTLP can command the upper end on the strength of its 1.28 PUE while still coming in competitively.

The contrast with Singapore sharpens the case. Land scarcity has made it one of the most expensive data center markets globally, with rental rates of US$330–475/kW/mth (per CBRE) – more than double those of developed markets such as Sydney and Northern Virginia – underpinned by near-full occupancy and firm reversions. In addition, Singapore’s proposed Digital Infrastructure Act extends PUE rules to existing operators, pushing the sector toward ~1.3 PUE over time, and with construction costs of US$12m/MW, according to Cushman & Wakefield, already among the highest in APAC, redeveloping older buildings to meet that requirement will only add to the cost.

In-house construction capability drives below-average build costs. YTLP’s 298MW of existing capacity was built for US$2bn (RM8.5bn), as per management, working out to US$6.7m/MW, which is just below Malaysia’s US$7m-10m/MW range, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The edge comes from keeping construction in the family: builds are handled by parent YTL Corporation (YTL MK; Not Covered), which owns both a construction and a cement business.

That same in-house depth gives YTLP the flexibility to scale and customize as GPU TDP climbs. Management notes the current DC design supports 240kW of continuous power per rack, leaving it ready for Vera Rubin (~210kW). More telling is what the group can do with its own expertise across construction, water and power, where it recently reworked the JDC1 facility from a purely air-cooled DC into a hybrid one, letting a customer upgrade its rack configuration mid-stream to accommodate liquid cool. That kind of adaptability matters, because each new GPU/ASIC generation lands with a higher TDP – 700W H100 in 2022 → 1,200W GB200 in 2025 → 1,400W GB300 in 2026 – and each step up forces the cooling stack from air toward liquid. Pocket-land developers may find this challenging as their facilities are built to an initial design and are more likely to hit a bottleneck. YTLP’s ability to retrofit existing and customize new builds is what we believe sets it apart.

Funding the DC ambition – addressing the warrant dilution

Gearing capped at ~1.4x with strong DC cash flow funding the capex build. We see YTLP building out its DC complex without a stressed balance sheet, drawing on three self-reinforcing sources: growing DC operating cash flow, ring-fenced DC-level borrowing, and RM4.3bn of warrant/ESOS proceeds. Net D/E peaks at a manageable ~1.4x in FY27-28E before easing to ~1.3x by FY30E, as DC EBITDA compounds at a 57% CAGR to RM4.5bn – the earnings base expanding alongside the debt to keep gearing range-bound.

RM4.3bn proceeds to support capex as we model on a fully-diluted basis because conversion is near-certain, in our view. The warrants (RM2.45 strike) and ESOS (~RM1.49 avg) are both deep in-the-money vs. the current share price. We therefore model the full dilution (treasury method) from 8,219m to 9,253m shares. Notably, the ~RM4.3bn of proceeds (RM1.0bn in, RM3.3bn to come) injects fresh equity that funds the DC build and de-risks the balance sheet, reducing the odds of a discounted placement.

Value up angle – listing of its DC business?

A DC listing would offer 11% additional upside at a bull-case 20x EV/EBITDA, implying a fair value of RM6.90. Following the launch of Malaysia’s MY Value Up Programme, YTLP management had discussed unlocking value by listing its DC business during its Mar-quarter (3QFY26) analyst briefing. Our base case already carries the colo at our DCF value (~RM32bn, ~16.5x FY28E EBITDA), so a listing would only be accretive if it clears above that mark, worth additional RM0.73/share (+11% from our PT) at the top of the peer range on 20x EV/EBITDA, and +RM1.88/ share (+31%) in the blue-sky scenario management has referred to (25.5x EV/ EBITDA).

A listing above 17x EV/EBITDA would be accretive; every 1x adds ~RM0.21/share. In our scenario analysis, we measure the delta against our base case DC DCF (~RM32bn, ~16.5x FY28E EBITDA), where each turn of EV/EBITDA is worth ~RM0.21/share. This drives our scenario ladder, all measured against our RM6.20 PT:

• Base case/DCF (~16.5x): EV ~RM32bn, neutral, PT RM6.20 – our anchor, where

  the market values the colo exactly as our cash-flow analysis implies.

• Bull case (20x, higher end of peer range): EV ~RM38.9bn, +RM0.73/share, fair

  value RM6.90 (+11%) – consistent with scaled, quality DC names.

• Blue-sky case (25.5x, management’s assumption): EV ~RM49.6bn, +RM1.88/

  share, fair value RM8.10 (+31%) – consistent with peak-cycle transaction marks.

• Bear case (~10x): We flag the tail risk symmetrically, when a listing valuation in a

  bear case struck at a China-DC floor valuation (~10x) would be dilutive.

The message is clear from JPMorgan: the market has mispriced YTL Power DC optionality. I have highlighted several times that local analysts have given little value to YTL Power’s data centre business, playing down its earnings and listing prospects. JPMorgan has basically shown the numbers to justify the market mispricing after the analysts met with YTL Power management recently, I think.

Of note is that JPMorgan’s Base Case valuation of RM32bn for YTL Power data centre business is based on 16.5x EV/EBITDA valuation and its projected YTLP DC EBITDA of RM1,943m in FY2027 for 298MW of live capacity.

That is significantly higher than YTL Power’s management guidance for RM1.4 billion of EBITDA for 300MW DC. I am not sure how JPMorgan has gotten such an improved EBITDA level, perhaps from its recent meeting with YTL Power management who may have updated the research house with the latest rental rates of the colocation DC and the best-in-class PUE figure.

For now, I stick to the earlier guidance of RM1.4bn for 300MW, so my base valuation for the 300MW DC remains at RM28 billion based on 20x EV/EBITDA.

We can see from the above sensitivity runs, JPMorgan will likely raise the target price for YTL Power to RM6.90 if the latter can get a valuation of 20x EV/EBITDA for the DC listing, and to RM8.10 if the DC valuation goes up to 25.5x EV/EBITDA.

I just reported above that DayOne is seeking a valuation of 27.7x EV/WBITDA for its DC listing in the US. We shall see how much valuation YTL Power may get for its DC listing by end of the year.

Another point to note from the long report is that JPMorgan expects a weak Q4 FY2026 results for YTL Power, given that one of the generating plants at PowerSeraya had been under maintenance in Q3 and would remain offline into Q4 FY2026. I have earlier projected higher earnings in Q4 than Q3 as I thought the temporary gas supply disruption issue was over, but it seems like one of the CCGT plant was still under maintenance in early part of Q4 (April-June 2026). If it is a planned maintenance, then it may not affect the operating profits so much, as typically PowerSeraya would have covered the loss of generation from the CCGT under planned maintenance with generation from other plants or with a CfD arrangement with another Genco. Since JPMorgan was the last to have met with YTL Power management, we should take its projection as the closest to actual.

But as it says, the drop in PowerSeraya earnings in Q4 will be partly compensated by higher earnings from the data centre segment due to a full quarter of contribution from the live 148MW data centre capacity in Q4. Moreover, we will have higher earnings contribution from Ranhill as well.

Another thing JPMorgan mentioned about was the new 600MW hydrogen-ready CCGT at PowerSeraya that will contribute PBT of about RM400m a year from FY2028. I have projected higher earnings of RM462m net profit a year, as I assume a capacity factor of 70% (probably higher than JPMorgan’s 60%-65%) and minimal additional operating expenses. I will stick to my projection for now.

JPMorgan mentions that YTL Power can build data centres cheaper as it utililises in-house construction arm. It estimates a construction cost of US$6.7m/MW for YTL Power, compared to US$7-9m/MW in Malaysia and US$12m/MW in Singapore. I have earlier commented on this lower construction cost of YTL being one of the key advantages for YTL Power in new data centre buildout, but I did not expect the cost advantage to be as high as 25% (US$6.7m/MW vs US$9m/MW).

JPMorgan also highlights another competitiveness of YTL Power data centres - the design PUE of 1.28x which is among the lowest in Southeast Asia of around 1.55x. As it gains experience, YTL Power could potentially improve that towards 1.25-1.26x. What it means is that the operating costs of YTL Power data centres are lower than others and can enjoy higher profit margin at the same rental rates.

JPMorgan is the second research house to build in a live data centre capacity of 498MW by FY2028 for YTL Power, the first was Kenanga research. That means these two research houses are convinced of the expansion plan of YTL Power: new 200MW data centre every year to a full capacity of 1,300MW at Kulai DC Park.

That is why we see that JPMorgan has projected the following DC capacity and EBITDA for YTL Power:

• FY2026: 148MW, EBITDA = RM1,134m

• FY2027: 298MW, EBITDA = RM1,943m

• FY2028: 498MW, EBITDA = RM2,841m

• FY2029: 698MW, EBITDA = RM3,759m

• FY2030: 898MW, EBITDA = RM4,561m

That is much higher than my projections.

JPMorgan is the first analyst to build in a fair valuation for YTL Power data centre business, based on 16.5x EV/EBITDA listing valuation in its Base Case, which is about RM32 billion. That is higher than my projected valuation of RM28 billion.

If YTL Power can get a valuation of 20x EV/EBITDA from the DC listing, then JPMorgan’s target price for YTL Power will go up to RM6.90.

If YTL Power can get a valuation of 25.5x EV/EBITDA from the DC listing, then JPMorgan’s target price will go up to RM8.10.

If YTL Power could get the valuation of DayOne of 27.7x EV/EBITDA, then the target price would go up to RM8.55.

Please note that this is only the valuation upside for the first 298MW of data centres.

Imagine when YTL Power expands its DC capacity to 898MW in FY2030 and do a secondary injection of the new 600MW into the DC REIT, it would stand to get additional valuation of RM64 billion using JPMorgan valuation method.

So, I have suggested for fellow investors to hold onto YTL Power shares for at least another two years, to see at least one more round of DC injection into the REIT. By 2028, there will be at least another 200MW of new data centres completed to a total of 498MW as pointed out by JPMorgan above. Such 200MW DC injection would be valued at RM21 billion and bring in cash proceeds of over RM10 billion to YTL Power. The upside to YTL Power share price will be another RM2.00 to whatever target price above, or RM8.90 to RM10.55 by 2028.

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Yemen’s Houthis’ attack kills 11 in Yemen, hit Saudi refinery

Euronews, August 9, 2026

A medical source in Mokha, held by Yemen’s internationally recognised, Aden-based government, said three civilians and eight military personnel had been killed in the Houthi attacks.

A further 32 individuals were wounded, six of them civilians, the source added, explaining that all the civilian casualties had been a result of strikes on Mokha’s port.

Two military sources with the government forces earlier confirmed that at least eight troops had been killed in the strikes and more than 40 personnel were injured.

The Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted “Saudi enemy” troops and equipment in the area with missiles and drones.

A years-long truce in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government appeared to collapse last month as fighting between regional allies of the United States and Iran flared.

The breakdown of the UN-backed 2022 accord came as the rebels announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, hitting Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and the kingdom’s oil infrastructure, in parallel with Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil refinery strike

Earlier, Saree said the Houthis had struck an oil facility on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast after the Gulf kingdom’s energy ministry said it had extinguished a fire at the Jazan site.

He added that the attack on the facility operated by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil firm Aramco was launched in response to incursions by drones from the Gulf monarchy into northwest Yemen.

The two military sources with the Aden-based government confirmed the Houthis attacked Mokha with several waves of missile and drone barrages.

One of the two military sources said the Houthis also targeted pro-government forces and installations outside Mokha and sites on islands near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

The same military source said some locations targeted by the Iran-backed group housed Saudi troops but no casualties had been reported among military personnel from the Gulf kingdom.

Residents in Mokha confirmed they heard blasts in the area, with one saying they “heard explosions from drones and air defences over the port and city”.

Another resident said they heard “six consecutive explosions” at the port.

The Houthis control vast swathes of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and areas on the border with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea provinces.

The Yemeni threat to shipping and Saudi oil facilities came as Iran pressed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, now the central flashpoint between Tehran and Washington amid efforts to end the Middle East war begun by the US and Israel in February.

My take: Saudi Arabia is getting the retaliation from Iran’s allies for its ruthless action of conducting air strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has been showing restraint in its attacks on the Gulf states, mainly targeting US military bases there.

Iran has not attacked any oil refinery or facilities of Saudi in the past few months. It was Saudi’s own action to attack Iran’s ally in Lebanon to start off all these series of attacks in Saudi and Yemen. It is not entirely clear to me as to why Saudi wanted to get itself involved in this US-Iran war at this stage.

One theory suggests that Saudi wants to push through its own nuclear program, and it has to be seen as supporting US war efforts in the Middle East before the Trump administration agreed to granting Saudi access to American nuclear technology.

What Iran’s new demands mean for Trump’s peace deal hopes

The i Paper, August 9, 2026

The Iranian regime has issued a fresh set of demands to Donald Trump, as it warned the Strait of Hormuz may not immediately reopen even if it reaches an agreement with Oman on managing shipping in the strategic waterway.

Omani officials had expressed confidence a deal to manage the vital waterway is possible in recent days.

On Saturday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said talks were in their final stages, “specifically the determination of a transit route”, but fully reopening the waterway was contingent on other conditions.

Those included the US paying Iran compensation for what he described as violations of the memorandum of understanding, signed in June, which was meant to provide a pathway to permanently ending the conflict.

Iran’s latest demands

Iran’s security chief Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), later issued a more detailed list of demands.

Speaking to the semi-official news agency Tasnim, he declared the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the US “corrects its behaviour”.

Zolqadr said the US must never threaten Iran again; permanently end the war with Tehran and its proxies; lift its blockade and remove all forces from the region; “completely compensate” the Iranian regime for war damage; lift sanctions; and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.

The demands reflect Iran’s confidence in the leverage it has over the US through its chokehold on the strait, which see approximately 20 per cent of the worlds oil and gas pass through. Its effective closure has driven up oil and gas prices, worsening cost of living pressures just months away from key US mid-term elections.

Polls have shown the war is deeply unpopular with US voters, presenting Trump with a political headache in addition to few signs of strategic progress.

Trump insists a deal could be announced ‘soon’

The US is yet to respond formally to Iran’s latest demands, but Trump has insisted several times that the announcement of a deal “could be soon”.

However, he has made similar claims repeatedly throughout the months-long conflict and has often supplemented them with threats of further violence.

Notably, Vice President JD Vance offered a more measured view in an interview with Fox News on Saturday. “We’re really in the middle of the game here,” he said. “This thing is not over.”

Vance suggested the focus of present talks was “how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships can pass through safely”, with more complex issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, apparently shelved for future discussions.

Maritime toll

The Vice President also pushed back on suggestions Iran would charge tolls on shipping in the strait, saying Tehran had told US officials they had “no plans” to charge for transit.

According to Reuters, Iran is seeking to charge tolls equivalent to as much as seven per cent of the value of cargo being shipped, which would net Tehran millions once the flow of traffic returns to pre-war levels.

US officials, including Trump, have said repeatedly that shipping tolls were a red line in negotiations, but Iran has continued to push for charges as it seeks to secure a new source of long-term income for its struggling economy.

Tehran’s other demands have also previously been dismissed by the US.

Trump and Vance have previously ruled out “unconditionally” restoring Iran’s frozen assets or lifting sanctions on the regime.

Instead, June’s Memorandum of Understanding called for a phased approach, contingent on Tehran agreeing to give up its stockpile of nuclear material.

Calls from Iran to permanently end the war against its proxy groups have also been largely ignored, with US officials maintaining it has the right to respond to regional aggression, and allied nations, including Israel, pushing for the militias to be completely disbanded.

Most immediately, however, the US has been clear it will not lift its blockade on Iranian ports until after a deal has been agreed.

Whether Trump and others in his administration would be willing to shift their stance in the face of an otherwise favourable agreement on managing the strait remains to be seen, but coupled with Iran’s other demands, it appears likely the waterway will remain a major sticking point for the foreseeable future.

My take: I do not think that the Reuters report on Iran seeking as much as 7% of cargo values as the toll to be charged on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz is true. That is excessive. The earlier report of Iran charging as much as US$2 million per oil tanker may have some ground - it was roughly 0.8% of an oil tanker’s cargo value.

Of course, it is not right for the IRGC to demand high toll charges on commercial vessels in the Strait, while demanding all the other terms from the US.

The US had earlier agreed to a phased release of the frozen assets of Iran which may amount to US$30-40 billion that Iran was asking for. The compensation for war damages in Iran may amount to another US$20-30 billion, if any that the US may get the Gulf states to help fund. In the context of things, these are not huge amounts that the US will strain its financial budget for.

As for Iranian’s demand for the US to permanently stop attacking Iran and its allies in the region, that is something that I think the US must agree to, in order for the IRGC to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US, in the first place, should have not listened to Netanyahu for raging the war on Iran.

I see that this demand may be the easy part for the US to meet. So long as the US stops attacking Iran and its allies, including getting Saudi to stop attacking Lebanon and Yemen, and withdraw US forces from the Iranian waters (including its blockage at the exit of the Strait of Hormuz), I believe the IRGC will be willing to reopen the strait. It is only to the benefits of both sides to do so.

The more tricky point is Iranian’s enriched uranium. I do not expect Iran to give up its enriched uranium stockpile and nuclear program, if the US allows Israel and now Saudi Arabia to have nuclear weapons. That is for the Trump administration to weigh on the consequences of allowing these three nations to have nuclear weapons, but I see this as a separate issue from the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Both the US and Iran might have agreed to only negotiate on the Iranian enriched uranium issue after a ceasefire is achieved and the strait is reopened.

Trump’s team admits Hormuz crisis is permanent – and the UK will suffer

The i Paper, August 9, 2026

Arizona television channel 12News rarely has much of a role in momentous world events. But this week, Mark Curtis, with the Phoenix-based NBC outlet, scored a major global scoop.

Interviewing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, he managed to secure the first admission by a senior Trump administration official that the Strait of Hormuz is never returning to the status quo that existed before Donald Trump ignited his war on Iran.

For months, Bessent has echoed Trump’s insistence that the world simply needs to remain patient, and that negotiations with Iran will eventually bear fruit so that the Strait can reopen and – in the president’s words – the price of oil will “drop like a rock”.

On Friday, whether by intention or by accident, Bessent indicated none of that is ever going to happen.

“Some have speculated that the Strait will never go back to being the way it was before. What would you say to that?” asked Curtis.

“I think they’re saying that in a Doomsday sort of way,” Bessent said, which sounded like the precursor to his usual argument that everyone should chill out and wait for negotiations to succeed. But for reasons unknown, he then chose to reveal that things have now dramatically changed.

“The Strait is never going back to the way it was”, Bessent admitted, “because the Iranians have…tried to use it as a chokepoint. What we are going to see over the next two years, is the Strait is going to become irrelevant. It is going to become just another body of water, and I would say that more than 50 or 70 per cent of the energy that moves through the Strait right now is going to go through underground pipelines.”

Bessent’s motive for suddenly levelling with the American people is unclear, but his belief that it will take at least two years for normal oil flows to be restored via yet-to-be constructed underground pipelines means that there is no prayer that stability will be restored to oil markets for the rest of Trump’s presidency.

For America’s allies, including the UK, Bessent’s revelation confirms everybody’s worst fears: that the Trump administration now recognises it has no capacity to force Iran to reopen the strait, and that oil, fertiliser and all the other products that were transiting the strategic waterway before the conflict began must now find other routes to market.

For Andy Burnham and his Chancellor John Healey, the news is potentially devastating. With Healey preparing for an all-important Budget speech on 28 October, previous assumptions about the strait reopening must now be scrapped. Only last week, accounting giant EY (formerly Ernst and Young) projected that Hormuz’s prolonged closure would rapidly tilt the UK into recession.

EY projected that were the strait to be shut for the rest of this year, inflation in the UK would reach 6.4 per cent just in time for Christmas. Continued restrictions on traffic through the waterway by the middle of 2027 would force the British economy into negative territory, contracting GDP by 0.2 per cent at exactly the moment Burnham would urgently need economic growth.

Every one of Trump’s allies in Europe will be facing the same stark consequences of a war waged without any strategic plan, and with no apparent off-ramp. American motorists and truckers will need to become accustomed to petrol prices that have already passed $4 (£2.97) a gallon, while US oil giants score record profits thanks to Trump’s geostrategic carelessness.

Making America even less of a reliable ally, the news comes just as the scale of the US military’s depleted weapons stockpile is becoming apparent. On Sunday, The New York Times reported that both China and Russia are acutely aware of the shortfall in American munitions, with one top Washington analyst accusing the White House of a “generational annihilation of the means of conventional deterrence”.

For the UK and all of America’s European allies, the confluence of events raises major questions. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is threatening their own national economic security, while the depletion of American weaponry may limit Washington’s practical ability to come to the aid of any Nato country that faces an attack.

Bessent said the quiet part out loud. We will all be paying the price for Trump’s irresponsibility for years to come.

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza peace plan – the three things to know

The i Paper, August 10, 2026

Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a US-backed peace plan for Gaza and vowed to stand up to Donald Trump.

The Israeli leader told a cabinet session on Sunday that he rejected the 15-point roadmap published by the Board of Peace last month, a body created by the White House last year.

The plan, endorsed by the Trump administration, included a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parallel disarmament of Hamas.

Netanyahu said: “Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say Hamas must be disarmed, I mean the heavy weapons, the less-heavy weapons, all weapons.”

He described Trump as a “great friend” but added that his government “knows how to stand our ground even against our very best friends when necessary.”

What is the Board of Peace and its plan for Gaza?

The Board of Peace is a body of international leaders inaugurated by Trump in January to oversee the future of the devastated Palestinian enclave of Gaza under the leadership of Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov.

The Board has 28 founding members, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Tony Blair sitting as members of its founding executive board.

The body announced its roadmap on 30 July following the US President’s announcement that Hamas had agreed to disarm. It largely reiterated a 20-point proposal that had been announced by the Trump administration before a ceasefire went into effect in Gaza last October.

Key points include a cessation of all attacks, disarming of Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the beginning of reconstruction, and the installation of a Palestinian technocratic government and international peacekeepers.

Hamas had agreed to disarm under pressure from mediators but details of the process remained unclear, including how disarmament would take place, the order of weapons to be handed over, and which body would hold them.

Trump had hailed the deal as a “historic agreement” and said Israel was “very happy” with it.

Why has Netanyahu rejected the peace plan?

The Israeli leader said Hamas would have to fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal – despite this not being a condition of the original ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu suggested that talks with the US were ongoing, and Israeli strikes in Gaza would continue. More than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect, according to local health officials.

“They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not acceptable to us, and we know how to stand up to these things,” Netanyahu said. “We have proven this in the past, and we are proving it today as well. In addition, the IDF will continue to thwart threats against our forces and against our citizens.”

Haggai Matar, director at Israeli magazines +972 and Mekomit, said Netanyahu’s actions were an indication that he was attempting to maintain the “status quo” that existed before the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.

“His first goal is just to buy time,” he told The i Paper. “That was the pre-October 7 policy. It worked for him for many years, and he was able to sell that as sound policy – essentially that we’ve beaten the Palestinians – and that all blew up on October 7.

“But I think he’s now back to that. That’s kind of generally what he’s trying to do: buy time and not promote any long-term solutions while controlling Palestinians and having a free hand to continue bombing and killing Palestinians, which Israel does in Gaza all the time.”

Netanyahu’s rejection of the plan comes months before Israeli elections on 27 October. The PM has recently faced calls from his far-right allies to hold a new cabinet vote and end the Gaza plan. These include national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said the draft was “not acceptable”.

Matar said Netanyahu “cannot afford to upset his right-wing base” when he is “really struggling for his future political career and personal life” – noting that the Israeli leader is facing trials over corruption that could lead to a jail sentence.

Will this lead to a clash with Trump and is the peace plan dead?

Israel has been heavily reliant on US military and diplomatic backing over almost three years of war across the Middle East. Trump has said Israel would no longer exist without US support against Iran.

After rejecting the peace deal, Netanyahu went on to praise the US President for his partnership against Iran, while also asserting that Israel would continue to stand its ground.

He said: “I have great appreciation for Trump. He is a great friend of ours in the White House. I greatly appreciate the historic partnership with the United States against Iran’s attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. And I want to emphasise again: with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am Prime Minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”

Nimrod Novik, an Israel former diplomat now at the Israel Policy Forum think-tank, said it was up to Trump to use US leverage. “No predecessor [as US president] has exercised as much leverage with Netanyahu as Trump has in forcing him to a ceasefire twice each in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Yet now he tolerates sabotaging a unique moment,” he added.

“The three regional mediators – Egypt, Qatar and Turkey – delivered for Trump a major breakthrough that holds the potential for salvaging his Gaza plan: Hamas’s forced consent to disarm. With the Netanyahu veto, the Trump 20-point plan is again dead in the water.”

Trump is yet to comment on Netanyahu’s statements. Last month, White House sources said the US President would be “disappointed” if Israel did not accept the plan.

My life in Gaza: ‘It hasn’t felt like peace’

The New York Times, August 10, 2026

By Saher Alghorra

Gaza City is my home. I grew up in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, and I still live there today. I’ve never left Gaza. I studied journalism at the University of Palestine and began working as a freelance photojournalist in 2021.

There have been six major wars between Israel and the Hamas authorities in Gaza, but the one that began after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks in 2023 was unlike any that came before.

Since October last year, there’s been a cease-fire in place. But for those of us living here, it hasn’t felt like peace.

We’ve been living in extraordinary conditions for roughly 1,000 days now. During the war there was a constant sense of danger — the feeling that death was never far. The relentless bombardments have ceased, but Palestinians are still killed almost every day. Rats and disease are spreading. Malnourishment remains widespread.

It’s not easy to be a journalist in Gaza. During the war, many of my colleagues were killed. The frequent blackouts made it difficult to send my work to my editors. I now work from a cafe with internet access. Fuel remains hard to come by and is expensive. When I can’t use a car, I walk long distances to reach the scene when news happens.

I am 29. My family and I have been displaced from our home six times since Oct. 7. During the war, and in the months since, the safety of my loved ones has been my first responsibility. But alongside that, I’ve felt a responsibility to tell the world the story of my home.

Because my mission as a journalist is to bear witness and give voice to the voiceless.

Scenes I can’t forget

Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Smoke and flames rising after an Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in Gaza City on July 28.

I took this image in July, when an Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in central Gaza City that Israel said Hamas was using to store weapons.

After reports that Israel was planning an attack in the area, I climbed to a rooftop to wait and see what might happen. About two hours later, I heard the sound of a fighter jet. Seconds later, through my camera’s viewfinder, I saw rising flames, followed immediately by a massive explosion. After photographing the blast, I made my way to the site. As soon as I arrived, I could smell the lingering scent of explosives. Broken glass and pieces of stone were scattered across the streets. The strike had hit a mosque.

Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Palestinians in Gaza City attending a mass funeral on Aug. 4.

This was one of the most painful scenes I have ever witnessed. It was the funeral of 112 people whose remains had only recently been recovered from the rubble.

What compelled me to take this photograph was the overwhelming scale of the loss. I wanted to convey not only the magnitude of the tragedy but also the long and painful journey these families had endured before they were finally able to bury their loved ones with dignity.

Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

A school in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on June 14.

This image is from a school that opened in east Gaza City a few months ago, to help students make progress in their education despite the enormous challenges.

As I walked through the school, several details caught my attention. The classrooms were simple and worn, yet filled with eager students. The desks had been built from the wooden pallets once used to transport humanitarian aid, transforming materials associated with survival into something that represented hope. What moved me most was the students. Despite the destruction and the uncertainty that pervade their lives, they arrived each day wearing clean, tidy clothes. In the midst of so much chaos, their determination to learn and preserve a sense of normal life was deeply inspiring.

Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Palestinians in Gaza City gathering to watch a World Cup match between Egypt and Argentina on July 7.

This image captures a moment of collective disappointment — it’s the moment a group of Palestinians watched Argentina score the winning goal against Egypt in a gripping World Cup match.

Minutes earlier, the people in this photo had been on the verge of celebrating what had seemed destined to become a memorable Egyptian victory.

I did not go out that day intending to work or photograph a story. I had simply gone to watch football, joining a large crowd that had gathered to support the Egyptian team. I watched the entire first half without carrying a camera or taking a single photograph.

But as the match went on, I found myself mentally composing photographs without actually taking them. Eventually, I walked back to my car, retrieved my camera and began documenting. For me, this photograph is about more than football. It captures a rare moment in which people living through extraordinary hardship came together to experience joy, hope and a sense of belonging — and then, like football fans all over the world, disappointment.

Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

A family sitting down to break their daily Ramadan fast in the charred remains of their home, overlooking the ruins of Beit Lahia, in Gaza, on March 4, 2025.

This image was taken before the October cease-fire, but I’m sharing it here because it’s a scene I haven’t been able to forget.

It shows the family of Tamer Hassan al-Shafei. They’re sitting at a table in what remains of their home to prepare Iftar, the meal after sunset during Ramadan. The contradiction in the frame struck me: the bright yellow tablecloth, a sliver of normality and togetherness, amid the destruction.

For Gazans like Hassan the biggest fear now is that the world might stop paying attention. Much of Gaza still looks like it did when I took this image. The war might be over. But the hardship and the injustice Palestinians endure daily in Gaza are not.

IOI Properties secures SC approval for RM7.58bil REIT listing

The Star, August 7, 2026

PETALING JAYA: IOI Properties Group Bhd (IOIPG) has gained approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) to establish and list its real estate investment trust (REIT) on Bursa Malaysia.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, IOIPG noted the REIT will debut with an initial fund size of 5.5 billion units, backed by a portfolio of landmark assets valued at RM7.58bil.

These include IOI City Mall Phases 1 and 2, IOI City Towers, PFCC Towers, and a suite of premium hotels such as Putrajaya Marriott, Le Méridien Putrajaya, Moxy Putrajaya, Four Points by Sheraton Puchong, W Kuala Lumpur, and Courtyard by Marriott Penang.

The acquisitions will be funded through the issuance of 5.5 billion consideration units at 90 sen each and RM2.65bil in cash via Sukuk financing.

The proposed IPO structure comprises a retail offering of 715.6 million units, including a restricted offer for sale to IOIPG shareholders, allocations to eligible persons, and a public tranche with 55 million units reserved for Bumiputera investors.

Additionally, an institutional offering of up to 1.48 billion units will be made to both Bumiputera-approved and other institutional investors.

The SC’s approval comes with conditions, including ensuring 12.5% Bumiputera equity participation and operational audits post-listing.

This REIT marks a significant milestone for IOIPG, unlocking value from its trophy assets while offering investors exposure to Malaysia’s premier retail, office, and hospitality properties.

My take: That is indeed a significant milestone for IOIPG. It shows that the company’s degearing effort is on track for the REIT listing in November 2026.

Investors have taken note of the management effort, and Hong Leong fund flows data shows that foreign funds were net buyers of IOIPG shares last Friday with a net purchase of RM4.9m worth of shares. IOIPG shares jumped 10 sen on heavy volumes of close to 7.0m shares last Friday.

IOIPG shares continued its uptrend today, surging to a high of RM4.09 before closing above RM4.00 for the first time since late June. The MACD lines in the technical chart already displays a golden cross, indicating near-term bullish trend.

It is worth noting that since TA analyst last week highlighted the potential ABSD penalty for Marina View Residences project and the subsequent clarification from IOIPG management to alleviate the concern, the share price has enjoyed a meaningful rebound from recent low of RM3.60.

Coupled with the return of foreign funds in August and the latest Bursa announcement on SC approval for the IOIPG REIT listing, IOIPG share price has managed to break above RM4.00 resistance level.

The next milestone will be the official listing of IOIPG REIT in November and the receipt of IPO cash proceeds of close to RM4.6 billion from the listing exercise. That will immediately reduce IOIPG’s net gearing to around 1.0x.

Then the bigger catalyst will be the successful set-up of a private real estate fund in Singapore to monetise its prime office assets - IOI Central Boulevard and South Beach Tower - in Singapore. That exercise will raise total cash proceeds of RM8 billion to RM14 billion for IOIPG. Net gearing will drop to below RM0.40x after this exercise.

Imagine that by year end or early next year, we shall have a large property company, the largest in Malaysia, with very comfortable net gearing and with very large recurring income from various investment properties in Malaysia and Singapore, IOIPG that will move into the next phase of growth. A refreshed IOIPG, with already the largest asset base of investment properties for a Bursa Malaysia listed company, will embark on a new phase of explosive growth from organic developments of new investment properties and through M&A opportunities. IOIPG shall grow its investment property assets from the currently RM35 billion to over RM50 billion in next few years, to a size that no other property company in Malaysia can even match.

As investors get comfortable with the quality of its investment properties and its business model, we can look forward to IOIPG being re-rated towards 1.0x book value or RM4.60 level (which was incidentally its highest share price achieved in early May 2026) by 2027, and gradually towards RM10.00 level as it grows its investment property asset base to over RM50 billion and monetise its vast landbank in Johor, Melaka and Selangor.

Funds snapped up YTL Power shares

Based on Hong Leong daily fund flows data, foreign funds were major net buyers of YTL Power shares last Friday with a net purchase of RM44.5m worth of shares (~10m shares). Incidentally, local institutional funds were also major net buyers of YTL Power on the same day with a net purchase of RM49.6m worth of shares (~11m shares).

Foreign funds were also big buyers of YTL shares with a net purchase of RM17.6m worth of shares (~9m shares), while local institutional funds net bought another RM17.3m worth of YTL shares last Friday. Local retailers were the only sellers with net sale of RM31.9m worth of shares.

YTL Power shares surged 31 sen or 7% last Friday on heavy volume of ~38m shares traded. Local retailers and investment traders were net sellers with RM87.8m and RM6.3m worth of net sale respectively.

It is a pity that some local retailers sold off YTL Power shares last Friday as they looked to pocket in a quick gain of 7%. For investment traders, a 7% gain intraday is definitely good enough for them to sell off. But for retailers, especially those who are value investors, we should not sell off such great investment so early for a quick gain of 7%. As posted in my Week Ahead post, I advocate for mid- to longer-term hold of YTL and YTL Power shares. If we did not sell last Friday but hold for two years, YTL Power stock may return a whopping 70% to us from its last traded price of RM4.38 last Thursday.

I am not sure of why both foreign and local institutional funds rushed in to snap up YTL Power shares last Friday. The stock had a good gain last Wednesday too, indicating that some funds had already bought in before Friday.

The only thing I noticed last week was the issuance of a good report on YTL Power by RHB research last Friday morning. The RHB analyst raised the target price to RM6.35, among the highest, after a site visit to the Brabazon project and Wessex Waters in the UK. The report confirmed the multi-year growth story of Brabazon New Town projects and the massive water tariff hikes secured by Wessex Waters last April.

That followed a good report from Kenanga analysts who had a second site visit to YTL Power’s Kulai Green Data Centre Park on 23 June 2026. Kenanga analysts were convinced that total data centre capacity of YTL Power may double up to 600MW by end of 2027 from the current contracted 298MW. Kenanga analysts calculated that the additional 300MW data centre expansion phase represents a potent upside of RM1.25 to their current valuation of RM4.55. That means the target price shall rise to RM5.80 as YTL Power progressively completes the 300MW of new data centres by end of 2027.

Kenanga also received confirmation from YTL Power management that its 70%-owned subsidiary SIPP is constructing 215MWac of solar facilities to supply green energy to the adjacent data centre park, and the solar farm is on track for completion by end of this year. I have yet to incorporate any earnings contribution from this solar farm, in fact no analyst has built in any earnings contribution from this solar farm and the 100MW solar project in Pahang that YTL Power won in LSS5+ last year.

CGS analyst had also issued an update report on YTL Power after the same site visit to Kulai DC Park. In that report, the analyst mentioned about YTL Power’s plan to expand the Kulai DC Park capacity from 600MW to 1.2GW and that the company had firm plans to secure sufficient power and water supply for the expanded DC capacity. The analyst also reported on YTL Power’s plan to expand its data centre footprint to Selangor (target ~1.0GW capacity) and aspirations to expand to other countries leveraging its operational expertise and existing customer relationships - with Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and the UK identified as potential target markets.

However, these analysts have not mentioned about YTL Power’s plan of an IPO listing of its data centre business by early next year. Perhaps there was not much detail about the IPO plan in June when they visited the DC park.

Now I believe YTL Power is in active engagement with appointed investment bankers and potential cornerstone investors for its data centre IPO plan in Singapore and/or the US. The company is also accelerating the completion of the 298MW secured data centres which will be injected into the IPO listing.

As more details become available, especially the potential valuation and market appetite, I believe a meaningful re-rating of YTL Power stock will be in play over next 3-4 months. It will start with a Bursa announcement to outline the details of the IPO on SGX or Nasdaq, followed by a couple of months of roadshow and book building exercise to determine the final listing valuation and share issuance quantities.

We can see that IOIPG shares have jumped from below RM2.00 level in 2H 2025 to a high of RM4.60 in May 2026 as more details of its IOIPG REIT listing plan became available. IOIPG made a Bursa announcement in April 2026 for the REIT listing and targets the REIT listing to occur in November 2026.

Similarly, I would expect YTL Power to make a Bursa announcement some time in November-December 2026 for the data centre REIT IPO then to eventually complete the IPO listing in Q1/Q2 2027. It may take slightly longer time if the IPO is on SGX.

Anyway, I have high conviction that YTL Power will be able to execute its data centre expansion plans well and to pull off the IPO listing by early 2027. We can look forward to a special dividend after the successful IPO listing of the data centre business.

Based on my earlier calculation and using the current valuation of Keppel DC REIT of 20x EV/EBITDA, YTL Power may achieve a potential valuation of RM28 billion for the first 300MW of data centres injected into the DC REIT. Minus debts of about RM8 billion, the equity value will be around RM20 billion. If YTL Power lists up 40% equity stakes in the REIT, it may stand to raise cash proceeds of RM8 billion from the IPO exercise. Assuming it retains RM6 billion for the development of more data centres (~300MW by end 2027), there will be some RM2 billion of cash proceeds balance potentially for a special dividend payout, or 23 sen per share.

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The S&P 500 index advanced 0.62% for a record close of 7,757.64, while the Nasdaq outperformed, climbing 1.3%. The Dow Jones added 151.83 points, or 0.28%, to end at 54,036.93.

Stocks posted a second straight week of gains. The S&P 500 - which closed above 7,700 for the first time ever earlier this week - advanced 3.6% in the week. The Nasdaq saw a gain of 5.2%, thanks to a bounce-back in chip stocks. The iShares Semiconductor ETF ended the week up more than 7%. The Dow, on the other hand, gained nearly 3% during the week. All three indexes notched their best weekly performances since April.

July’s nonfarm payrolls report showed a drop of 23,000 jobs, while economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a gain of 83,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as the labor force participation rate fell to its lowest level in more than five years. Economists had expected it to remain unchanged at 4.2%.

A majority of fed funds traders now expect that the central bank will hold its benchmark lending rate at the current 3.50% to 3.75% at the next policy meeting in September, per the CME FedWatch tool. Just a day ago, traders were pricing in a 55% chance of a quarter-point hike.

“For the job market this is a number that’s not booming and may actually be breaking, but for the markets the two biggest areas of concern were yields and inflation,” Saira Malik, Nuveen chief investment officer, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. “This lower number helps not reinforce the Fed’s narrative that they need to raise interest rates.”

Software stocks helped lead the market higher Friday as the latest round of earnings dispelled fears that AI would disrupt the industry. Cloudflare popped more than 5% after the cloud cybersecurity company issued a solid full-year and current-quarter outlook. Shares of Atlassian jumped 35% after the company’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue surpassed expectations and issued upbeat guidance.

Airbnb shares also rallied 17% after the vacation rental company posted a beat on the top and bottom lines.

Oil prices, meanwhile, were slightly higher as investors awaited a potential deal from the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told CNBC earlier in the week that the two sides could reach a deal soon.

WTI futures for September delivery were up 1.15%, settling at $78.18 per barrel, while Brent crude climbed 1.29% to settle at $83.55.

“The conclusion is that a resolution will be forthcoming in the not too distant future, and if those conditions change, then you’re going to see angst crawl back into the market,” said Terry Sandven, US Bank Asset Management’s chief equity strategist. “But at present, the wall of worry is crumbling.”

Proton e.MAS hits 30,000 registrations as Malaysia’s EV push gathers pace

Malay Mail, August 7, 2026

SUBANG JAYA, Aug 7 — Proton e.MAS says it has become the fastest automotive brand in Malaysia to surpass 30,000 electrified vehicle (xEV) registrations, reaching 31,504 units just 20 months after launching its first model.

The company said 30,293 of those registrations were in Malaysia as of July 31, while another 1,211 units had been exported since it entered overseas markets.

The milestone comes after Proton e.MAS exceeded 20,000 registrations in 2026 alone, already surpassing its total sales for the whole of 2025 within the first half of the year.

Chief executive officer Zhang Qiang said the achievement reflected growing consumer confidence in electric mobility and the rapid pace of EV adoption in Malaysia.

“Surpassing 30,000 Proton e.MAS registrations in just 20 months reflects the growing confidence Malaysians have in electric mobility and demonstrates how quickly xEVs have become part of everyday consideration for car buyers,” he said in a press statement.

The company said it now has 58 dealerships, 45 service centres and 10 body and paint centres nationwide, alongside an integrated charging map listing more than 4,700 charging points covering over 90 per cent of the country.

Proton e.MAS also said it had invested an additional RM37 million to expand the capacity of its dedicated EV assembly plant from 20,000 to 42,000 units a year to meet rising domestic demand and support exports.

It added that all three Proton e.MAS models are now assembled locally, with the Proton e.MAS 7 plug-in hybrid currently incorporating 30 per cent local content.

My take: It is not a surprise for Proton eMas to become the best selling EVs in Malaysia, mainly due to its cheap entry price of below RM70,000 for eMas 5. Proton on average has sold about 1,500 EVs a month in the past 20 months.

It looks very good sales of Proton eMas EVs, and the concern of the markets appears to be that the strong sales of Proton eMas has affected the sales of Mazda and XPeng cars of BAuto. Hence, BAuto shares have been sliding down to below RM1.00 in recent weeks after staging a strong rally to a high of RM1.12 after its stellar Q4 FY2026 results announced in June.

It appears to me that the markets are overly concerned with the strong sales of Proton eMas. Statistics shows that BAuto car sales have not been affected much in recent months, if any its car sales have improved substantially over one year ago.

Here is some car sales data up to May 2026:

Brand 2025 Sales 5M 2026 Sales

(1,000 units) (1,000 units)

Perodua 359.9 130.8

Proton 151.6 82.6

Toyota 100.8 28.8

Honda 72.3 19.9

Mitsubishi 13.8 5.8

Mazda 9.3 4.6

Isuzu 13.6 4.2

Nissan 6.4 2.0

Hino 2.1 1.1

BMW 7.7 1.5

Mercedes 5.5 1.3

Ford 4.6 1.2

Jaecoo 16.1 6.5

BYD 15.2 5.2

Cherry 14.7 4.7

Jetour 2.7 3.7

Icaur 0.9 2.1

Haval 4.7 1.2

MG 2.1 1.2

XPeng 0.8

We can see that EV sales just make up a small portion of total new car sales in Malaysia, about 32.9k EV sales in 5M 2026 compared to total car sales of >316k in the same period, i.e. just about 10.4% of total car sales.

For Proton, eMas sales of 30k in 20 months is just a small fraction of its total car sales of 234.2k in the 17 months in 2025 to May 2026.

It is obvious that the premium Japanese brands like Toyota and Honda and continental brands like BMW and Mercedes have seen their car sales affected in 5M 2026. For instance, Toyota sold an average of 8.4k cars a month in 2025 but its monthly sales in 5M 2026 has dropped to 5.76k. BMW has seen its monthly car sales drop from 0.64k in 2025 to 0.3k in 5M 2026.

Mazda, on the other hand, has seen improvements, with its monthly car sales jump to 0.92k in 5M 2026 vs 0.775k in 2025. Mazda sold 1,044 cars in May 2026 and 1,063 cars in June 2026, above its monthly average in 2025 and 5M 2026.

BAuto has seen steady bookings of 150-200 units of XPeng every month in 2026, well on track to achieve its target sales of 2,200 XPeng in 2026. It sold 1,501 units of XPeng in 2025.

EV brand leaders like Jaecoo, BYD and Cherry have seen their monthly sales drop in 5M 2026, compared to 2025 figures. The whatever strong sales numbers circulating in social media are just marketing tricks to show their dominance in the EV market, but the reality is that the initial EV sales rush is over. The main reason for that is the lack of EV charger facilities in Malaysia, as more cheap EVs from Proton flush the road and congest EV charger facilities whenever there are. And the recent issues with Cherry EV models have spooked potential EV buyers.

Hence, the numbers speak louder than speculation and rumuors out there in the markets that have caused a drop in BAuto share price in past two weeks.

Since I initiated BUY call on BAuto, nothing has changed. If any, there is improvement in BAuto sales outlook, boosted by the strong sales of its Mazda 3 1.5L and good bookings for its all-new Mazda CX-5 CBU. The prospects for 2027 are even better with its CKD version of CX-5 in 2027 and an all-new compact Mazda SUV to be priced at RM120k-125k.

As for XPeng, BAuto is on track to roll out the CKD local programmes in 2H 2026, starting with G6 and X9. BAuto also plans to introduce its flagship GX seven-seater in end of 2026, followed by two additional lower-priced models in 2027.

BAuto targets to sell 12,000 Mazda cars and 2,200 XPeng cars in Mlaaysia and 1,600 Mazda cars in the Philippines in FY2027 (May 2026 to April 2027). The car sales statistics for May and June 2026 above shows that BAuto is well on track to achieving its full-year targets. For record, Mazda has an order backlog of 3,500 cars as of June 2026.

Maybank forecasts BAuto net profit to jump from RM108m in FY2026 to RM140m in FY2027, based on the car sales targets above. BAuto achieved a core net profit of RM50.5m in Q4 FY2026 (Feb-Apr 2026) with total car sales of 3,507 units. So, I expect BAuto to achieve a net profit level of well above RM140m in FY2027 if it can achieve the sales targets above.

With its net cash position and strong operating cashflows, BAuto is well on track for higher dividend payouts in FY2027 and beyond. BAuto paid out 7.3 sen of total dividends in FY2026. If it can achieve the net profit growth of 30% to RM140m in FY2027, we can look forward to total dividend payouts of 9.0 sen or above in FY2027. Anyway, Maybank forecasts a total dividend payout of 8.6 sen in FY2027. At current prices of RM0.95, BAuto offers a dividend yield of over 9% in FY2027 and almost 10% in FY2028.

BAuto should be on a multi-quarter recovery path to its previous earnings peak in 2023-2024, so as its share price. The price chart below gives a better idea of how the share price should move in months ahead:

When BAuto shows that it can achieve another quarterly net profit of close to RM50m, then the share price should move up towards RM1.50 level. When the core net profit gradually improves to RM70-75m a quarter, the share price should move towards RM2.00 level. When its net profit can improve to RM90-100m a quarter, then the share price will surge above RM2.50 level towards its all-time high of RM2.80-3.00 level.

At current share price of below RM1.00, I see good chances of it moving towards RM1.50 level in next 2 quarters then a fair chance for its to reach RM2.00 level in next 12-18 months.

IOIPG REIT gets approval from SC for Main Board Listing

IOIPG made a Bursa announcement on Friday to state that the company has obtained the approval from Security Commission (SC) for the listing of its Malaysia REIT, IOIPG REIT, on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia.

IOIPG REIT is expected to be the largest pure REIT listing by market capitalisation in Bursa Malaysia history.

Recall that IOIPG announced in April the setting up a Malaysia REIT to monetise some of its investment properties in Malaysia, that include its flagship shopping mall IOI City Mall, worth a total of RM7.58 billion.

IOIPG aims to raise total cash proceeds of close to RM4.6 billion from the Malaysia REIT listing exercise. With SC approval secured, the REIT is on track for a listing in November 2026. IOIPG will see its net gearing reduced meaningfully after the REIT listing.

Part of the listing cash proceeds will help fund the group’s ongoing development of new investment properties and potentially attractive acquisitions as part of its capital recycling strategy.

There is also potential for a special dividend post listing to reward existing shareholders.

Marquee tenants strengthen IOI Resort City ecosystem

On 7 August, AIA Shared Services held the grand opening of its new office at IOI City Tower 1, in IOI Resort City.

The office space was handed over to AIA at the end of last year, with employees progressively moving in since early this year.

AIA will occupy approximately 180,000 sqft of office space, equivalent to 37% of the tower’s total NLA, across 12 of its 31 floors.

Around 2,000 AIA employees are expected to be based there. The office population should help to lift weekday footfall to the adjacent IOI City Mall, particularly during lunch hours and after work, helping to complement the mall’s stronger weekend traffic and support a more balanced footfall throughout the week.

Overall, IOI City Tower 1 and 2 are already 91% committed, well above the average office occupancy rate in the Selangor region, which stood at 72.5% as at 1H 2026 based on preliminary data from Knight Frank.

Besides this, Apple is also reportedly opening its second flagship store in Malaysia at IOI City Mall.

The presence of the renowned global brand is a vote of confidence to the mall’s attractiveness and long-term prospects.

UBS issues a BUY call on IOIPG

On the other hand, UBS issued an update report on IOIPG on 5th August, reiterating its BUY call and target price of RM4.60.

Some extracts from the report are appended below:

Upside to NAV remains a continuing catalyst for share price

IOI Properties remains active on capital recycling through its REIT/funds program which we believe paves the way for strong ³5% p.a. NAV growth through 2025–30E. Please see: APAC Focus: Time to bend the growth curve. We sense investors have recently turned more risk-off on the name to take profit on discrete events (MREIT spinoff announcement) and looming risks (potential stamp-duty penalties in Singapore). Despite the correction, we lift forecast FY27-28E earnings by 11-16% (~RM100m+ p.a.) on higher land sales. At current 0.8x PB, we argue investors have priced in the downside risks and are not fully appreciating its NAV growth. We reiterate our Buy rating.

Moving on from Marina View – more manageable than meets the eye

Potential stamp duty penalties due Sep’26 are also a focal point, with low expectations of a deferral grant. At face value, we estimate that it may cost up to ~S$368m (RM1.2bn), sizable vs full year ~RM1.0bn earnings. Yet, relative to NAV, this would be a 21¢/share impact or ~4% of 2027E NAV, which we think is manageable for our NAV-based thesis to endure, and arguably priced in. Furthermore, we discuss accounting implications of how this potential incremental cost may eventually sit as ‘higher land cost’ and not necessarily elicit immediate recognition of lifetime losses, meaning we see possibility for the potential RM1bn+ cost to not hit P&L or NAV within FY27 – possibly a relief to some investors. Overall, we think investors should not lose sight of other levers; YTD land sales have generated ~RM400m+ of profits (NAV +2%), and we bake in RM100m+ p.a. of land sale gains (~0.5% p.a. NAV) into FY28’s estimates.

Singapore Office REIT and private funds – maybe ‘which?’ matters less

Our sense is investors lack confidence on how IOIPG can monetise its S$10bn Singapore portfolio, partially or in full. Investors have expressed concerns around Singapore office REIT valuations that may impede IOIPG’s own REIT spinoff plans, and whether it could successfully launch its own private fund as a potential alternative. Firstly, we think investors are not fully appreciating the ~2-3% p.a. NAV upside potential which the investment property portfolio offers, even if left sitting on IOIPG’s books. Secondly, a buoyant Singapore office transaction market can help to affirm the high capital values of offices. Current asking prices by large-office sellers continue to support this point.

Valuation: Buy rated at RM4.60 price target, 0.9x PB on 2027E’s NAV

We value IOIPG based on a 0.9x target PB multiple applied to our RM4.97 NAV/share estimate for 2027E, largely based on a 1.0x segment PB ascribed to the Singapore office portfolio (65% of the group’s NAV). Higher NAV addresses the key concerns around IOIPG’s leverage, while we think changes in earnings ‘move the needle’ less for investors and thus PE is relatively less relevant. With this note, we cut FY26E’s estimates by 43% on lower one-off FV gains, but raise FY27-28E earnings on higher land sales.

UBS is right to point out that investors tend to have overlooked IOIPG’s vast asset base, and have chosen to focus on interim issues surrounding the company - high net gearing and the potential Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) penalty associated with Marina View Residences project.

I have commented many times, and so has Hong Leong analyst, that the high net gearing of IOIPG is a temporary issue as the company embarks on acquisition spree to expand its investment property base in past 2 years. Once the Malaysia REIT listing completes in October and the upcoming private real estate fund in Singapore is successfully set up by end 2026 or early 2027, IOIPG will see its net gearing drop to below 0.40x which will be on par with listed peers on Bursa.

As for the ABSD penalty for failure to achieve a full take-up rate for Marina View Residences project before the deadline in September, I have earlier reported that such risk has dissipated with two developments that IOIPG management has recently clarified on:

1. Singapore government has allowed extension of the ABSD deadline by up to two years for large scale mixed development projects, and IOIPG management is confident of securing a two-year extension for Marina View Residences project. With completion of the residences tower by end 2027, there will be ample time for Marina View Residences project to secure good take-up rates from Singapore buyers who tend to make bookings towards the completion of the construction before the extended deadline in September 2028.

2. IOIPG management has expressed intention to retain some of the residence units as investment properties. I have shown calculations that indicates equity returns of over 6% for buyers who invest in the Marina View Residence units and lease out for rental income. That means the private fund to be set up by IOIPG for the purpose of buying these Marina View Residences units as investment properties will be the buyer of last resort, to ensure that the project will be fully taken up before the extended ABSD deadline.

Hence, these two concerns (high net gearing and stamp duty on Marina View Residences project) will go away as IOIPG management executes its plans progressively in next few months.

Then, another concern of markets on the risk of interest rates going up in Singapore has also been overblown. Just do a simple math: a 25 bps of interest rates hike in Singapore floating rates will cost IOIPG additional interest expenses of S$4bil x 0.25% = S$10 million a year. So it is insignificant compared to the over S$300 million of rental income a year from its prime office assets in Singapore.

The market concerns on the risk of ABSD penalty (which may amount to about 21 sen per share of IOIPG) and the possible interest rate increase in Singapore (with a potential impact of just S$10m a year) have caused the share price to have dropped from the recent high of RM4.60 to a low of RM3.60. That is RM1.00 loss in share price or RM5.5 billion loss in market capitalisation in one month. To me, that is excessive.

I tend to agree with UBS analyst that IOIPG should be treated as an asset play with its above-average NAV growth. But I would argue that IOIPG should be trading up to its NAV, rather than at a discount to NAV. I would say that after IOIPG manages to bring down its net gearing to below 0.40x by early next year, the share price should reflect the full value of its vast assets which are primarily income-generating investment properties. Why should it be trading at a discount?

Hence, IOIPG should be trading at 1.0x Book Value minimum, or RM4.98 by early next year. I would even argue that IOIPG should justify to trade at a slight premium to Book Value, possibly at 1.1x to 1.2x Book Value for its above-average NAV growth.

How it grows its NAV? Very simple, through continuous rental rate revision. Most of its investment properties, such as IOI City Mall, South Beach and IOI Central Boulevard, have high committed occupancy of close to 100%, so these properties have enjoyed above average rental rate revision in past 1-2 years, at close to 5% p.a. Hence, using the same cap rates, these investment properties will be revalued up by 5% every year, hence IOIPG will see its NAV growing at 5% or higher p.a. over the next 10 years or more. Actually, earnings will grow at even higher rates, as it will incorporate higher recurring income due to rental rate revision as well as asset revaluation gains that will flow into the P&L statement every year. Hence, IOIPG should be trading at a premium to book value, not a discount.

RHB upgrades YTL Power

RHB analyst issued an update report on Thursday August 6 to highlight the UK Brabazon project of YTL Power. The analyst raised the target price for YTL Power from RM6.00 to RM6.35 after incorporating earnings prospects from Brabazon property projects.

Some extracts from the report are appended below:

Keep BUY, new MYR6.35 TP from MYR6.00, 44% upside with c.2% FY27F (Jun) yield. We recently visited YTL Power’s 450-acre Brabazon township development in Bristol, as well as its Wessex Water treatment plant in Bath, the UK. We increase our TP by 6% after incorporating Brabazon’s value (36 sen per share) into our SOP valuation.

Visit to GBP6-7bn Brabazon township project. YTLP’s Brabazon project is one of 12 plans endorsed by the UK Government to develop new townships. Acquired by YTLP in 2015, Brabazon is the birthplace of the UK aviation industry, and houses the Brabazon Hangars and Filton Airfield (home of the supersonic Concorde commercial aircraft). YTLP is developing the township over the next 15-20 years, with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of GBP6-7bn. In the initial phase, YTLP completed and delivered 500 homes, and has earmarked 239 more residential units to build in the next phase. Overall, the township has the capacity to develop up to 25k homes, with 60 acres of commercial space, a public park, and a new train station.

Assuming a 36 sen per share value for Brabazon. Assuming a 20-year development period, conservative GBP6bn GDV, and a GBP/MYR rate of 5.50, we derive a MYR33bn valuation for Brabazon. We ascribe a 10% valuation of the GDV to arrive at 36 per sen per share valuation, or 6% of our new SOP value. We believe the discount is reasonable, as it reflects the long-term nature of the project, execution risk, and UK residential risk exposure as the properties are only sold upon completion (vs paid according to progress billings in Malaysia).

Visit to Wessex Water. We also visited Wessex Water’s scientific and recycling centres in Saltford. Acquired by YTLP in 2002, Wessex Water is one of 11 operating regional water and sewerage businesses in England and Wales, and serves 2.9m people across South West England. Wessex Water has committed to invest GBP3.5bn to improve the water assets in 2025-2030, and we have incorporated a 21% tariff hike into our model. Overall, we expect Wessex Water to contribute 37% of group PBT in FY27-28.

Earnings, valuation and risks. We make no changes to our earnings estimates. We raise our SOP-based TP by 6% (and impute a 2% ESG discount) after incorporating Brabazon’s value. Our TP implies 17x FY28F P/E (+1SD) – which we deem as fair, given the rising contributions from the DC segment, and stable earnings from the water supply business. YTLP is scheduled to release its 4QFY26 earnings on 20 Aug. Downside risks to our outlook: i) Higher fuel costs for PowerSeraya, and ii) delays in DC commissioning.

Brabazon is one of 12 new towns in the UK. We visited YTLP’s Brabazon project in Bristol, UK. In 2015, YTLP acquired the 450-acre parcel of land, which used to be the former Brabazon Hangars and Filton Airfield space. Brabazon is the biggest brownfield project to be privately funded by a single developer in the UK. Last year, the UK Goverment recognised Brabazon as one of 12 new towns to be developed in the UK. This allows YTLP to build up to 25k homes (vs the current approved plan of 6.5k homes) centred around a 20k-capacity concert hall in one of the former aircraft hangars.

Brabazon is a GBP6-7bn township project. The project has a total GDV of GBP6-7bn (MYR33-39bn, and is to be developed over the next 15-20 years. YTLP commenced Phase 1 of development works, and has completed 500 homes with an initial GBP1bn investment in construction projects and infrastructure. The homes are competitively priced at GBP525k for 900 sq ft homes. YTLP also earmarked 239 homes to be constructed under the “built-for-rent” scheme. Other projects and infrastructure in the pipeline include 60 acres of commercial space, three hotels, three schools, a 15-acre public park and a new Brabazon Bristol train station to connect to the Bristol city centre. As a designated new town developer, YTLP is allowed to build up to 25k homes, and deliver GBP5bn om social and economic value to the region.

I am glad that finally there is an analyst who is willing to give some value to the UK Brabazon project in the SOP valuation of YTL Power. I have been calling for that for over 18 months already.

It takes an analyst’s own eyes to see for himself before he gets convinced of the growth story around Brabazon. It is almost similar to the case when YTL Power arranged a site visit for EPF and local institutional funds to visit its Kulai Data Centre Park earlier this year, before these fund managers got convinced of the explosive earnings growth from the data centre segment of YTL Power. The company later on 22 June also arranged a similar site visit for several analysts to visit the Kulai DC Park, then a couple of analysts upgraded the stock and earnings projections.

I strongly believed that Brabazon would be an earnings growth engine for YTL Power for many years to come when I wrote a featured article on this project in January 2025. My conviction has only strengthened after seeing the subsequent developments at the township project.

Firstly, the UK signed up for CPTPP in February 2025, allowing duty-free imports of building materials and construction equipment from Malaysia to the UK markets from Q1 2025 onwards. That has helped YTL to lower construction costs substantially for its property projects at Brabazon.

Secondly, to my surprise, YTL announced to have secured Aviva as the main sponsor for the naming right of its 20,000-seat arena / concert hall in Brabazon. YTL had reportedly received over GBP100 million of sponsor money for the naming right itself.

Then in 2H 2025, YTL announced initial phases of student accommodation projects at Brabazon. Late last month, they put up convincing numbers to show that its first phase of 1,514 student accommodation projects would be worth a whopping GBP305 million when completed in 2027. These PBSA would bring in net property income of close to GBP15 million or RM82 million a year to YTL Power when completed.

Imagine that YTL Power acquired this entire 450 acres of land at Brabazon for a reported GBP60 million only. The naming right for the arena and the first phase of student accommodation would bring in GDV of over GBP400 million already.

I have included some earnings contribution from UK Brabazon in earnings projection for YTL Power since Jan 2025, but so far nobody has really taken it seriously. I hope after this site visit to Brabazon by a prominent analyst, perception may change and the market will start to give proper valuation to this massive and promising property project in the UK.

Until now, there are many analysts who have given zero value to Brabazon and keep bashing down the valuation of YTL Power due to a weak quarterly result from PowerSeraya. That is a mistake, I said it before.

The market has awaken up to my argument points above, at least it has been shown in the market actions in past few days.

YTL Power shares have convincingly broken up the key resistance level of RM4.50, and it should be retesting RM5.00 level next. I reported in my special Friday morning post that foreign funds emerged as the strong buyers of YTL Power shares on Thursday with a net purchase of RM11.5m which is the highest in months. YTL Power shares surged up 32 sen on Friday on heavy volumes of 38.6m shares. I think foreign funds might well be big buyers of the shares on Friday, but I can only confirm it next Monday when Hong Leong issues the latest fund flows daily data.

I have said that those who went in to buy YTL and YTL Power shares last week when they were sold down to weeks-low levels would make quick gains of 10% or more. Now that is proven right with the 14% rise in YTL Power shares and the 11% rise in YTL shares this week.

I would advocate for long term hold of the shares of YTL and YTL Power, at least for another two years to enjoy the time-multiplying effects from the explosive earnings growth and value creation from the data centre segment.

I have calculated that when YTL Power completes the IPO listing of the first phase of 300MW data centres early next year, the company stands to create values of multi-billion ringgit to shareholders.

The 300MW data centres are expected to fetch an EV valuation of RM28 billion upon listing. Minus existing debts of close to RM8 billion, YTL Power will create about RM20 billion of equity value for the shareholders with the listing exercise. That is about RM2.25 per share of value. Even if I attach a 10% holding company discount, that will be still RM2.00 per share of value creation by early 2027.

Imagine that if YTL Power succeeds in expanding its Kulai data centres by 200MW every year as planned, there will be additional value creation of RM1.33 per share every year for the next 5 years.

If we wait and hold YTL Power shares for another two years, it should rise by about RM3.33 to possibly RM7.50 level in 2028. If we are patient enough to hold it for five years, then the share price should rise to RM13.00 level in 2030-2031.

That only reflects the value creation from the data centre segment. That target price has not yet incorporated the following earnings contribution:

• recurring income from commercial projects in Brabazon

• potential win in NEWGEN26 CCGT tender

• dark fibre cable projects in Johor-Singapore and along the 1,600km RAC railway line

• potential turnaround in Ryt Bank from 2027

• potential RE exports to Singapore

• the planned expansion of data centres (up to 1.2GW) in Selangor

• possible expansion of data centre business to neighbouring countries like Vietnam and Indonesia

• expansion of water infrastructure by Ranhill in Johor

• potential turnaround of Yes 5G business after building in AI offerings in telecommunication services

• compute power from AI data centres and sovereign LLM, ILMU & ILMUClaw

• KL WTE plant that may eventually take off

• earnings accretive acquisitions in future of quality assets

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The S&P 500 lost 0.18% while the Nasdaq declined 0.06%. The Dow Jones fell 464.02 points to close at 53,885. The Dow was weighed down by a 3% drop in shares of Salesforce after the company announced a leadership shuffle.

Sandisk shares dropped more than 6%. The memory name posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that failed to impress investors.

Additionally, AppLovin tumbled nearly 20% on mixed quarterly results, and Western Digital shed 13% as the company’s first-quarter forecast disappointed investors. Its fourth-quarter results topped expectations, however.

“The markets seem to be mostly taking a breather after an active period of trading prompted by earnings results,” said JJ Kinahan, Cboe’s head of retail expansion and alternative investment products. “Better-than-expected profits and sales don’t always pump stocks’ prices when coupled with soft guidance.”

“Some profit taking could also be in play,” he also said, noting that both Sandisk and Western Digital have skyrocketed in the last year. Over the past 12 months, Sandisk has soared almost 3,000%, while Western Digital has surged more than 500%.

Oil prices rose after Iranian state news, citing a member of the country’s parliament, reported that a draft plan regarding ship traffic conditions in the Strait of Hormuz would supposedly ban US and Israeli ships from moving through the key passageway. The plan is currently being reviewed by an Iranian parliamentary committee, state news agency Fars said.

Explosions were also recently heard off the coast of Oman by a tanker transiting the strait.

WTI crude futures rose about 2.8% to settle at $77.29 a barrel, while international Brent futures gained 3.8% to end at $82.48 per barrel.

Still, Iran and Oman drew closer to reaching a deal that would reopen Hormuz. Shipping through the passageway would not be subject to fees or tolls under a temporary agreement, an Iranian government official told MS NOW.

“Markets have seen plenty of false dawns throughout this conflict, and while the detail is becoming more concrete, attention is now shifting from whether an agreement can be reached to what the final arrangements will look like, including unresolved questions around whether Iran will eventually be permitted to levy tolls on vessels using the Strait,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote.

Iran says agreement on Hormuz shipping reached with Oman

Bloomberg, August 6, 2026

Iran said it had reached an agreement with Oman on a proposed route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a potential step toward a reopening of the critical waterway for energy supplies.

A joint statement from Tehran and Muscat is under review and in the final drafting stage, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters on Wednesday, according to a post on Telegram. Negotiations between the two countries are “forward-moving” and a deal would be struck “if certain third parties do not obstruct this process”, he said.

Iran and Oman have been in discussions for several days about a management plan for the Strait of Hormuz, which has emerged as the focal point of the ongoing war between the US and the Islamic Republic. Baghaei didn’t mention any role for Washington, except to say the closure of the strait was a result of attacks by the US and Israel.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on the announcement. US President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that a deal on the Strait of Hormuz is imminent. He has repeatedly claimed diplomatic breakthroughs in the past, only for a lasting agreement to prove elusive.

Oil held losses after Iran announced the agreement, raising the prospect of more energy flows resuming through the strait. Brent traded near US$79 a barrel early Thursday, while West Texas Intermediate was around US$75 after losing 11% in the week’s first three sessions.

Iran’s latest announcement on Hormuz comes after months of deadlock between the US and Tehran over how to conclude the war, with control over shipping through the waterway a particular sticking point. Tehran has demanded that vessels obtain permission to cross and pay fees to transit, and has attacked ships it deems to be in violation.

The US, in turn, has blockaded Iranian ports. The issue led to the collapse of a ceasefire and interim peace agreement last month.

While fighting between the sides has paused for now, a number of other issues remain unresolved — not least Iran’s nuclear programme — and there hasn’t been an agreement to start formal negotiations.

Iranian state television earlier played down the outcome of the Iran-Oman discussions, citing a person familiar with the matter as saying an agreement between Tehran and Muscat would not necessarily mean the strait would open immediately. That would be contingent “on a change in US behaviour”, according to the report.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state-run IRNA that Iran and Oman are negotiating a “temporary route” that would remain active for two to four months, with a significant portion of traffic passing through the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters. “This understanding does not mean the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

In a Fox News interview recorded Tuesday, Trump repeated a threat that if Iran doesn’t “make a deal, it’s going to be too bad”. Over the weekend, the president held off on attacks he said would have been the largest since World War II.

Trump told reporters in Los Angeles on Tuesday night that talks with Iran are “moving along very nicely”, adding, “We’ll know in 48 hours.”

Iran’s stance on Hormuz has complicated Trump’s efforts to turn the page on a war — now in its sixth month — that he had claimed would only take weeks. Shipping disruptions in Hormuz have raised energy prices globally and pose a particular threat to Trump and his Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections.

While visible traffic through the strait has been limited, millions of barrels a day have continued to cross the waterway even during periods of elevated hostility in recent weeks. Middle Eastern producers have ferried cargoes out of the Gulf as part of a shuttle programme put in place by several countries in the region. Even if Hormuz reopens, some shuttling is likely to continue as shipowners weigh the risks of returning to the Persian Gulf.

Vice-President JD Vance suggested on Fox News on Wednesday evening that rivalries within Iran itself have hindered the negotiations.

“They have a fractured system, so there are people within their system who want the war to be over. There are also people within their system who are crazy radicals who want the war to continue,” Vance said.

Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a televised interview that his country was facing its “most difficult time since the Islamic Revolution”. He added that reaching Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “very difficult right now”. Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard publicly since succeeding his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike when the war began.

My take: This is a significant breakthrough. It is better for the US not to get involved directly in the discussion on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as there is huge mistrust between the Iranian and the US.

The Trump administration can get its ally Oman to negotiate with Iran on the proper routing of ships through the Strait of Hormuz and the appropriate fees to be charged. Trump may have a say in the final sum of fees to be charged by Iran and Oman, and how much share the US may get out of it for providing collective safe passage for commercial vessels through the strait.

Iran has softened its stance on the control of the strait, and has agreed to allow European countries to participate in mine clearance along the strait once a permanent ceasefire is achieved between Iran and the US in the region.

I think that is going to be good for everybody, as long as the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened and oil & gas product shipment can resume. Oil prices may come down, helping to keep inflation in check in the US and many countries. It will lower the pressure for US Federal Reserve to tighten its monetary policy, and it will be good for equity markets. Asian countries may get supply of oil & gas products to power up their economy. More importantly, there will be no more casualty on either side of Iran and the US and we may have a longer peace in the region.

But there is always a wild card out there to potentially disrupt the ceasefire - Netanyahu. Israel has started bombing in Gaza and southern Lebanon again, as delegates from Israel and Lebanon were having peace talks in the Europe. Israel IDF is trying to orchestra some incidents so as to drag more countries into the conflicts with Iran - Ukraine and Saudi Arabia might have got implicated so far. There will be no end if the Trump administration is not strong enough to control the situation.

BAuto shares sliding down

BAuto shares have slipped below RM1.00 in past one week, after it broke up the RM1.00 level on 12th June right after it announced its Q4 FY2026 (Feb-Apr 2026) results. BAuto achieved a bumpy net profit of over RM50 million for Q4 FY2026, +150% increase YoY and +50% increase QoQ.

What has happened since July that has caused the share price to slide down?

I have not been able to find any good answer. The latest report we have is the June auto sector report that shows that shows BAuto sold 1,063 units of Mazda cars in the month of June, up 2% from 1,044 units in May 2026 and up 102% from 526 units in June 2025. The July car sales report is not out yet.

Maybank research, in its update report on BAuto on 18th June after the company result briefing, reported that:

BAuto is targeting FY27 Mazda sales of 12,000 units (vs. c.9,814 units in FY26), supported by sustained monthly bookings of c.1,000 units, improving CBU supply, and upcoming model launches. The all-new CX-5 CBU (2.5L), priced at around MYR170k, has already secured early bookings and is expected to contribute c.2,000 units annually prior to CKD production in mid-2027. Further ahead, the group plans to introduce a new B-segment SUV in 2027/28 (likely priced at MYR120k–125k), which could emerge as another key volume driver.

While 1QFY27 is expected to be sequentially softer, earnings momentum is likely to improve from 2QFY27 onwards, supported by the launch of the all-new CX-5 (at higher price) and the rollout of XPeng CKD models. Associate earnings are also expected to strengthen. Inokom is set to recover from FY26 following its recent restructuring, with improving profitability driven by new Mazda CKD programmes, potential additional assembly contracts, and export opportunities for the new CX-5 from 2027, targeting c.5,000–8,000 units annually depending on export demand. Meanwhile, Kia Malaysia is likely to remain loss-making in the near term, although downside is contained as earnings recognition is limited to BAuto’s equity stake, with ongoing efforts to drive a turnaround.

Attractive dividend yield of >8%

Overall, BAuto’s outlook is underpinned by new Mazda and XPeng model launches, supporting FY27E sales of c.16k units (+23% YoY, excluding Kia sales in FY26). Associate earnings are also improving, with Inokom returning to profitability, Mazda Malaysia benefiting from CKD expansion, minimal remaining Kia exposure. Near-term earnings visibility remains solid, underpinned by resilient Mazda demand and a meaningful portion of hedged volumes. Combined with an attractive dividend yield of >8%, we maintain our positive stance on BAuto.

Maybank forecasts for BAuto net profit to grow 30% YoY to RM140m in FY2027 or EPS of 12.2 sen. It forecasts dividend payouts of 8.6 sen in total for FY2027. At the current price of RM0.96, BAuto is trading at 7.9x PER and 9.0% dividend yield.

Hong Leong research forecasts a net profit of RM135m for BAuto in FY2027 and a higher dividend payout of 9.3 sen in FY2027 and 9.5 sen in FY2028. That would yield a very attractive 10% at current share prices in next two years.

Hong Leong in its post-result update report on 12 June reported:

Outlook. The operating environment in Malaysia is expected to remain highly competitive, driven by aggressive model launches by Chinese OEMs offering attractive pricing, coupled with weaker consumer sentiment and potentially higher fuel prices. Nevertheless, the upcoming launch of the new generation CX-5 model is expected to support sales volumes. In addition, the group is expected to benefit in the near term from the government’s new policy requiring imported CBU EVs to have a minimum CIF value of RM200k. Management has reported an order backlog of approximately 2,350 units for the group, mainly driven by Mazda Malaysia. Meanwhile, XPeng has commenced local CKD production of its G6 model at EPMB’s assembly plant, with the X9 model expected to follow suit. The Philippines operation continues to face similar market challenges, including intense competition from Chinese OEMs, constrained fuel supply, elevated fuel prices, and subdued consumer sentiment.

Kenanga research in its sector update report on 22 July reported that:

Mazda (+2% MoM, +102% YoY) was largely driven by backlogs delivery of Mazda 1.5L CBU for which the shipment varies based on AP allocation approval for the month. Overall, it was driven by the Mazda 3, CX-60, and CX-5 models. The CX-5 and CX-8 are considered as older generation and will be replaced with the newer generation of CX-5 in August 2026 (which was previewed at KLIMS 2026). Mazda 3 (RM118,900 for the 1.5L High Plus model), launched in early-November have garnered strong demand from the market which offers an attractive price point compared to previous launches. Based on sales projection, Mazda currently has 3.5k backlogged orders (1−3 months).

Looking at the various update reports from analysts over the past two months, I think the market was not convinced of a Mazda turnaround story as BAuto management reported an order backlog of ~2,350 units only in June. But then, Kenanga reported on 22 July that BAuto’s order backlog had increased to 3,500 units in July.

Maybank reported in June that BAuto’s Q1 FY2027 would be sequentially softer, but earnings momentum is likely to improve from Q2 FY2027 onwards. Unfortunately, the market here is dominated with short-term traders and investors with short investment horizon. People tend to focus on the near-term earnings weakness in the upcoming Q1 FY2027 (May-July 2027) results which will be released in September. The Q2 FY2027 results, though expected to be better, will only be released in December which is far away as seen by short-term traders / investors.

While I do not expect BAuto to be able to achieve a net profit of anywhere near RM50m as in Q4 FY2026, its Q1 FY2027 net profit will be much better than last year Q1 FY2026 net profit of RM8.8m.

BAuto sold 3,507 units of cars (Mazda + XPeng) in Q4 FY2026 and 4,262 units in Q3 FY2026, but it achieved a higher net profit of RM50.5m in Q4 vs RM33.8m in Q3. The improvement was driven by: (i) better product mix from Mazda models and the cessation of Kia distributorship operations (effective Nov 2025), (ii) favourable forex movements, (iii) lower depreciation charges, and (iv) a turnaround in associate earnings. These more than offset lower vehicle sales.

For BAuto to achieve its target sales of close to 16,000 cars in FY2027, it will need to sell an average of 4,000 cars each quarter.

Assuming it can sell 4,000 cars in Q1 FY2027 (May-July 2026), which is between the car sales figures of Q4 and Q3 FY26, then it should be able to achieve a core net profit of higher than RM50 million, as it sold more cars in Q1 FY27 (4,000 units) than in Q4 FY26 (3,507 units) while the four positive factors in Q4 FY26 are still there. Japanese yen has depreciated even further in July and August to below USD1.00 = 160 yen, so it should help BAuto to improve its gross margin for CBU Mazda cars.

Even if I assume BAuto to only sell 3,500 cars in Q1 FY2027 (same level as in Q4 FY26), it should still be able to achieve a core net profit of above RM40 million in Q1 FY2027, and a core net profit of over RM140m for FY2027.

The company has over RM200m of net cash in hand, so with the improved profits in FY2027, it should be able to declare higher dividends than the 7.3 sen in FY2026. I am confident that total dividend payouts in FY2027 will exceed 8.0 sen, and I shall add more BAuto shares at current levels for a potential >8% dividend yield.

I am excited with the EV model lineup from BAuto in 2026 and 2027, starting with the all new XPeng G6 CBU (already launched) and the all-new X9 7-seater MPV (recently launched in June 2026). BAuto plans to launch the flagship XPeng GX seven-seater MPV by end of 2026. I am also looking forward to BAuto’s introduction of a new Mazda B-segment SUV in 2027/2028 (likely priced at RM120k-RM125k), which will become a volume driver for Mazda Malaysia.

Do not get disheartened with the temporary share price drop of BAuto, we should treat it as a good opportunity to buy more at lower prices. Do have conviction in this company, as I see a very good and experienced management-owner team in BAuto.

When we are convinced of its turnaround and growth story, we should stick to investing in the company. Just like what happened to Ranhill and YTL Power, the share price of both counters had dropped to weeks low in late July / early August. But Ranhill and YTL Power have both rebounded to almost year-high levels earlier this week. Those who had conviction in these two stocks and added at the weeks low levels would have make a quick gain of 10% or more in one week.

I see good chances of BAuto stock staging a rebound in coming weeks, potentially back to RM1.05 level, for a 10% gain from current levels.

On the other hand, YTL Power share price managed to hold up on Thursday after surging up 29 sen on Wednesday. As a result, the MACD lines have demonstrated a golden cross in the daily chart, indicating near-term bullish signs.

Hong Leong daily fund flow data indicates that there was no notable buying nor selling by foreign funds on YTL Power shares on Wednesday. It turns out that local institutional funds were major net buyers of YTL Power shares on Wednesday with a net purchase of RM21.7m worth of shares. It is a pity that local retailers were the major sellers with a net sell of RM21.5m worth of YTL Power shares. The balance of RM0.2m worth of purchase should have been done by foreign funds or investment traders. It is a good sign that foreign funds paused selling of YTL Power shares on Wednesday despite the strong gains in share price.

Hong Leong fund flows data this morning shows that foreign funds were major buyers of YTL Power shares on Thursday with a net purchase of RM11.5m worth of shares, while local institutions net sold RM4.7m and local retailers net sold RM6.0m. That is a reversal of trend by foreign funds, and it may mark a continued push to YTL Power shares in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Ranhill share price continued to go up and close at another record high of RM2.23 on Thursday. Though the MACD lines had turned bullish on Wednesday when the stock price surged up 14 sen to a record close of RM2.19, but Thursday gain further reinforced the bullish rally.

I was supposed to post this last night, but have waited to see Hong Leong fund flows data this morning for a better update to fellow investors.

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