Stock Today: Pentamaster Dips 2.6% Amid Global Tariff Uncertainty
Earlier this July, US President Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from Malaysia, later clarified to exempt semiconductor hardware but still raising investor caution. While Malaysia's tech sector has seen renewed interest, particularly from companies benefiting from China‑plus‑one supply chain diversification, Pentamaster has not been spared from the risk-off sentiment sweeping global markets.
Fundamentally, Pentamaster posted a one-third drop in net profit to RM13.07 million for the first quarter ended March 31 2025, on a 23% fall in revenue attributable to weaker orders in its factory automation segment. This reflects broader caution among clients, with some delaying capital investments in light of geopolitical and tariff uncertainties.
Yet there is a silver lining. The company revealed plans to enter the advanced packaging and testing segment for AI chips, investing 5–10% of annual revenue in R&D, with products expected to launch in early 2026. This strategic pivot positions Pentamaster to capitalise on the region's growth in semiconductor equipment.
Analysts have also highlighted that Malaysia's position as a beneficiary of shifts away from China could support tech stocks longer term if trade tensions ease. Should the tariff landscape stabilise, particularly with ongoing trade negotiations, Pentamaster may regain investor confidence by delivering its new AI‑chip packaging proposition.
For now, the market remains cautious, weighing near‑term revenue pressures against the company's medium‑term pivot into high‑growth tech segments. Related
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
The US will regret throwing India under the bus
US president Donald Trump has thrown India under the bus. After months of affronts and barbs, Washington now treats New Delhi more as foe than friend, undermining a relationship that several American administrations – including Trump's first – tried to strengthen, not least to contain China in the Indo-Pacific. Instead, India will now distance itself from the United States and draw closer to Russia and even China. By diplomatic standards, the deterioration has been abrupt. Contrast the vibe between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on two occasions this year. In February, Modi visited Trump in the White House, and the pair looked like two populist peas in a pod. Gushing about his MAGA (Make America Great Again) host, Modi pledged to Make India Great Again and promised that 'MAGA plus MIGA becomes a mega partnership.' Fast forward to recent days, as Trump first slapped a draconian tariff of 25% on India, then doubled that to 50% (to take effect later this month) as punishment for India's ongoing imports of Russian oil. 'I don't care what India does with Russia,' Trump taunted. 'They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.' (India's economy is in fact booming.) Nothing about this sounds mega. Trump's ire against India is 'mystifying' and 'shortsighted,' Lisa Curtis at the Center for a New American Security said. She's worked for almost three decades to deepen the relationship between the US and India, most recently on the National Security Council in Trump's first term. Like his Democratic predecessor and successor, Trump at that time also wanted to enlist the world's most populous democracy as an ally to help resist the looming autocratic axis of China and Russia. During the Cold War, India remained proudly 'non-aligned' but bought its weapons mainly from Moscow, whereas its arch-rival, Pakistan, mostly used American arms. In recent decades, though, these relationships inverted, with India nowadays buying more military kit from the US and other Western countries than from Russia, and Pakistan getting more weapons from China than the US. Other bonds between the US and India have also been thriving – just think of the Desi diasporas in Silicon Valley or academia, or the vice president's in-laws. America and Curtis, had especially high hopes for a budding quasi-alliance among the US, India, Australia and Japan. Called the Quad, it seeks to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to manage and protect maritime commerce, undersea cables, critical minerals and much else. It never prevented India from also maintaining ties with Russia and China – within the so-called BRICS format, notably. But Washington envisioned the Quad evolving into another of America's 'minilateral' alliances for mutual defence in Asia, with China in the role of bogey. Events are taking a different turn. In May, a terrorist attack in Kashmir sparked the latest clash between India and Pakistan. Worried about escalation between the two nuclear powers, the Trump administration urged both sides to stand down, which they eventually did. Then the narratives diverged. Trump repeatedly claimed full credit for being a peacemaker, even suggesting that he threatened India to make it climb down. Modi, and many Indians, were shocked. In previous crises, the US also calmed tempers behind the scenes, but India has always rejected official third-party mediation in its conflict with Pakistan. Now Modi felt humiliated. His government took the unusual step of publishing the minutes of a call between Trump and Modi, clarifying that 'at no point' was there any mediation by the US and that the ceasefire discussions 'took place directly between India and Pakistan.' Other Indian pundits were less diplomatic and almost poetic in their outrage over this 'typical Trump overreach.' Trump wasn't pleased. He was all the more delighted, though, when Pakistan praised his peacemaking prowess and hinted that it would nominate the president for the Nobel Peace Prize he openly covets. Trump then hosted Pakistan's top military official – whom India considers the mastermind of the recent terrorist attack – for lunch, and Pakistan promptly made the Nobel nomination official. Subsequently, Pakistan also bargained down the new American tariffs on its goods from 29% to 19% – relatively meek next to India's rate. None of this means that the US -Indian relationship is irredeemably broken. Trade negotiators are slated to meet again this month, and a deal remains conceivable. Still, Indians have taken note that Trump is cracking down hardest against India, a putative partner, for buying oil from Russia, and not on China, allegedly America's main adversary, which imports even more Russian oil. Nor are they thrilled about the surging deportations of Indians illegally in the US, the harassment of Indian (and all foreign) students on American campuses, and much else. The Quad, meanwhile, still exists. Its foreign ministers met just the other day, and India will host a summit of the four leaders this fall. But Trump's attendance is now in doubt. 'If the rhetoric remains acerbic, I have difficulty in seeing him going,' Curtis told me. His former rapport with the Indian leader is gone, she added: 'Prime Minister Modi is just not going to trust President Trump anymore.' That doesn't mean Modi will throw himself into the arms of Beijing – as my colleague Karishma Vaswani points out, India has other friends in Asia to help it keep an eye on China. But Modi is suddenly making plans to visit China for the first time in seven years, in what appears to be a diplomatic thaw. Meanwhile, the Russian president is arranging a trip to see Modi. America's strategy for more than a decade has been to pull India closer into the Western and democratic orbit as a counterweight to its main autocratic rivals and adversaries. Whether the result of design, neglect or whim, Washington's turn away from New Delhi cannot be seen as anything other than counterproductive. —Bloomberg Opinion/TNS
BusinessToday
2 hours ago
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Market Review: Hong Kong Stocks End Week Up Despite China Data Drag
Hong Kong stocks closed the trading week in the positive territory after a midweek rally, though gains were trimmed on Aug 15 as weaker Chinese economic data revived concerns over growth momentum. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) surged as much as 2.6% on Aug 13, its strongest daily advance in three months, climbing to a two-week high of around 25,614. The rally was fuelled by softer US inflation data, which boosted expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut, as well as renewed optimism following an extension of the US-China trade truce. Tech heavyweights including Tencent and Alibaba led the charge, while property stocks gained on Beijing's latest stimulus measures. The momentum carried into Aug 14, with the index holding near recent highs. But sentiment turned on Aug 15 after a batch of disappointing data from mainland China showed slowing industrial output, weak retail sales and softer fixed asset investment. The HSI slipped 1.0% to close at 25,270, as investors pared positions ahead of the weekend. Despite the pullback, the benchmark ended the week up around 1.65%, supported by early strength and sustained policy optimism. Analysts said the index remained resilient above the key 25,000 level, though its short-term direction would depend on whether Beijing follows through with further economic support.
Daily Express
3 hours ago
- Daily Express
Locals not enjoying Semporna's tourism boom
Published on: Sunday, August 17, 2025 Published on: Sun, Aug 17, 2025 Text Size: An aerial view of Semporna town. SEMPORNA: Up to 2,000 visitors, mostly from mainland China, now visit the islands around Semporna each day, fuelling demand for services ranging from boat guides and accommodation to souvenir shops and seafood restaurants. Clusters of water bungalows, both on the mainland and nearby islands, have been sprouting up, earning Semporna the nickname 'Malaysia's Maldives' for its crystal-clear waters and picturesque beaches. However, many long-standing business owners say they are being edged out by tour operators and enterprises linked to China. These operators often control the entire tourist experience — from transport and meals to accommodation — leaving little room for local enterprises to tap into the spending. 'You see a lot of tourists. Maybe about half the people you see around town are tourists. 'But the income does not reflect a surge in business. 'Tourists are coming, yes, but they eat at their own restaurants, stay in their own hotels, buy souvenirs from their own shops,' said a local Chinese shop owner who only wanted to be known as Wong. By 'their,' he meant Chinese-owned businesses. Locals claim the rapid proliferation of such outlets is reshaping the town's commercial identity and determining who profits. Government authorities, including the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and the local district office, insist no licences of any kind have been granted to foreign nationals, and on paper, the businesses are legitimate. According to locals, many Chinese owners operate through Malaysian 'partners' who serve as proxies, often in name only. The tourism boom has also driven up property prices, with rents at newer shoplots climbing sharply. In town, convenience stores, juice stalls, hotels, restaurants, and souvenir outlets — selling items such as bird's nest and dried seafood — now dominate the streetscape. Older parts of town still house sundry shops and local eateries such as mamaks. 'We just can't compete with the high rent and low margins. Some of the older restaurants and shops have already closed,' Wong said. The issue of foreign-linked tourism businesses operating outside legal bounds isn't confined to Semporna. In nearby Tawau, a recent joint enforcement operation led by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing uncovered several tour companies — previously believed to be locally owned — that were in fact run by Chinese investors and linked to illegal activities. These included unlicensed overwater chalets, aquaculture farms without approval, and homestays built on agricultural or livestock land. 'I received numerous complaints about irregularities and illegal activities at tourist sites, which are damaging the safety reputation of Malaysia's tourism industry,' Tiong said in a statement on Facebook. He warned that operating without proper certification posed serious safety and management risks, and could lead to tragedy if accidents occur. While welcoming foreign investment in tourism, he stressed it must be done legally and in full compliance with Malaysian laws. 'Welcoming investors does not mean turning a blind eye. Whether they are from China or anywhere else, those involved in illegal activities, malpractice or the misuse of rental licences to evade the law will not be tolerated,' he said. During the Tawau operation, enforcement teams inspected 30 buses and tourist vehicles, 15 tourism business premises, 40 boats and four jetties, issuing nine summonses. Sea patrols found some vessels over capacity, without valid permits or carrying unverified documents. Roadblocks were also set up to check bus permits and driving licences. Tiong urged local authorities to act swiftly, investigate suspicious operations, and shut down businesses operating without valid licences. Semporna's infrastructure, designed for a much smaller population, is struggling to cope. Power and water shortages occur, and rubbish piles up faster than it can be collected. 'The town just isn't ready for this many people every day,' said dive guide Tommy Abdullah. 'The rubbish is out of control, and the sewer smell is everywhere. The authorities can't keep up.' Locals say existing systems cannot sustain more development, even as new projects are planned. At a recent State Assembly sitting, Sulabayan assemblyman Datuk Jaujan Sambakong said Semporna lacks a proper tourist jetty despite its growing popularity. 'Semporna is already considered an international tourist attraction. But our tourism jetty is still made of wood. 'There's no proper platform and the boats are docking in disorganised spots. It's not just inconvenient but also poses safety risks,' he said. He also pointed to poor road conditions and clogged drains in the district. 'Jalan Masbah looks more like gravel than a paved road. 'Even the drains are clogged with grass cuttings and rubbish dumped by contractors,' he said. District office executive officer Ali Adam Hamzah said cleanliness has improved in recent years, though the rubbish load remains challenging. 'There have been more investors coming in over the last decade, and we are trying to keep up. 'At the moment it is manageable. We do get a lot of feedback about the rubbish — on land and at sea — and we have been doing our best,' he said. The district office recently bought three additional rubbish trucks, bringing the fleet to eight or nine. But waste at sea, particularly around inhabited islands like Bum Bum, is harder to manage as they fall outside the council's jurisdiction. 'Most of the problems come from the islands. In the city, we have it under control. According to feedback from tourists, businesses, and residents, it is getting better, cleaner. We are trying, but it's hard to tackle it 100 per cent. 'Of course, with more businesses and hotels, as the local council we are in support, because it also means more revenue. And with more revenue, we will be able to provide better service to everyone,' he said. Environmental toll Marine pollution is another growing concern, with reports of increased fish bombing and cyanide use by fishermen under pressure to meet seafood demand from tourists. With seafood a major draw for Chinese visitors, local conservationists say unsustainable fishing practices are becoming more common. 'Restaurant owners pay the Bajau Laut fishermen to use illegal methods like cyanide fishing or blast fishing to quickly secure large hauls. You can hear the fish bombs go off underwater if you're diving or snorkelling,' said Tommy. 'It's not just damaging to the reefs, but also to the people doing it. Tourists come for diving and snorkelling, but if the coral's destroyed, the marine life will eventually go too — then what will be left?' he said. Calls for responsible tourism and regulation Despite the challenges, many residents still welcome tourism — but say it must be managed responsibly. As Semporna becomes more reliant on the Chinese market, locals are calling for regulation and enforcement — from proper licensing of businesses to environmental protection and fairer distribution of benefits. 'The government needs to step in,' said Norlita Mohd Musa, who runs a shop selling local seafood specialities and general goods. 'We're not saying 'no tourists.' We want more tourists. We're saying 'let's do this in a way that helps our town, our people'… otherwise what is the point?' she said. 'This is our home,' said Hidayah Suhaimi, who runs a souvenir stall near Dragon Inn. 'We were here before the tourists, and we will be here for a long time. So we want it to grow, but not at the expense of everything else.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
