Dr. Mahathir is relentless

From the Malaysia Insider:

Mahathir Mohamad today said that people are discussing Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and her allegedly lavish lifestyle, regardless whether it was true or not, and this is problematic, Malaysiakini reported.

The former prime minister denied that he was attacking Datuk Seri Najib Razak's wife in his blog, and said that he was only questioning her lifestyle, given the rumours surrounding her alleged splurges.

"There are rumours out there that she spent RM3 million just for flower decorations for the (daughter’s wedding).

"The problem is 'orang cerita' (people talk), it could be wrong or factual. 'Itu jadi masalah' (that is the problem)," Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.

The news portal reported that he was speaking to reporters after delivering a talk on youth and nation building at the German-Malaysian Institute in Bangi, Selangor.

I won't be surprised to see Najib out very soon.  The way Dr. Mahathir is smashing Najib into the ground is reminiscent of a few years ago with Badawi.

His relentlessness and drive trumps almost everyone in the political scene including Anwar.  No one quite compares to him in the history of Malaysian politics.  Even at the age of what the is now, he still has the drive and will and is spritely and his words drive through the stake as hard as when he was prime minister.

If this continues, I think Najib's days are numbered.  No way he can go toe to toe with Dr. Mahathir. The lonely comment is just a flea flick and has only served to add fuel to the fire.

Najib's biggest mistake is implementing GST without confidence of Malaysians that the government is performing well.  Most of the MOF projects have been disasters and have tainted Najib's reputation.  Perhaps he could have saved the projects by coming out early and proving they weren't disasters.  Even if he came out now and proved it wasn't, it is beyond repair unless he somehow came out with all the money 1MDB has in debt and more.  Any losses in 1MDB and Najib's tenure is likely doomed.

Malaysia Smelting Corp an interesting opportunity

Malaysian smelting corp is a company which looks quite attractive and priced reasonably well.

The company has mass and scale and somewhat stable and profitable smelting tin business with significant barriers to entry.  It also has a mining portion of the business which is not as profitable, even loss making, but while there is some risk, the reward is extremely high.

The cons of smelting is that it is not exactly as stable as say insurance, but it's not bad considering its tin mining operations.

Overall, if prices of tin go up this company will leverage massive profits.  But of course we need to know when the prices will go up.

I'll have to go look further into this company but it is looking well priced as of this chart.

Gas Malaysia on expanding into bio gas distribution

From the Star:

KUALA LUMPUR: Gas Malaysia Bhd has partnered with Sime Darby Offshore Engineering Sdn Bhd to undertake a biogas compressed natural gas distribution business extracted from the palm oil mill effluent.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday, Gas Malaysia said the joint venture would involve the provision of the sale, supply and transportation of BioCNG to customers and carrying out of the design, construction, installation, commissioning and operation of pressure regulating unit at each customer’s premises.

Gas Malaysia said the tie-up was formed as both parties seek to optimize the combined strengths of each partner.

BioGas distribution is a pretty new business and is another commodity distribution business, different from natural gas.

I think Gas Malaysia did the ROI and seemed to be satisified that over a long enough time horizon the investment will bring a return to shareholders.  But why am I not so interested?

The growth prospects on this new project could be very good but it is still a commodity distribution business, similar to the one they are in now.  It's like doubling down on commodity distribution which I don't think is a good idea.  They are the one the biggest natural gas distributors in Malaysia.  They should leverage their stable business and do something with the potential for real returns.

I think I would be interested then.

Why I would reject the EPF withdrawal age change

From the Star:

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made an announcement that had many Malaysians let out a sigh of relief. The hotly debated Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) proposal of raising the full withdrawal age from 55 to 60, had many Malaysians worried.

Some are for the new proposal, as they may plan to continue working after 55 and don’t mind having their EPF savings compounded further at a guaranteed return. However, most are dead set against the proposal.

The article goes on to list many reasons why people want to withdraw their money out of the EPF at 55 as opposed to 60.

For me, it's not for any of the reasons listed in the article.  I would withdraw my money at the earliest time possible for multiple reasons.  The first being to diversify.  Even though the EPF has trustees with its money that look after the best interests of savers, it wouldn't be beyond me that nonsense could be happening at the EPF.  Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

Nothing really against them, but I learned long ago not to keep all my eggs in the same basket.

The second, is as mostly everything the government touches has turned to toxic waste, I'd sleep better at night to put my money with more capable people.

Just my two cents.

Genting looking like a contrarian play

From Malaysia Insider:

Genting Singapore's bottom line has been hit by a spike in bad debt provisions, as more customers who lost the bet refuse to pay up.

From the perspective of Lim Kok Thay, the high level of provisions is just an indication that the company is prudent in the way it runs the gaming business.

“We tend to be more prudent – it is the legacy of the Genting group – we’ve always provided prudently, so that we can sleep better at night, in case a nuclear bomb falls,” says executive chairman Lim at the company’s annual general meeting on April 21.

Genting is looking like a contrarian play.  Although the industry has taken a battering, It's possible that the news has been baked in.  The CEO even predicted a "storm is coming" in the gaming industry.

I'd look for any uptick in earnings or recovering of debt.  I'll keep my eye on this. especially in the next report.

The problem with Komtar

From the Edge:

Only World Group Bhd
(April 22, RM2.33)
Maintain add with a higher target price (TP) of RM3.02: In a recent group meeting that we organised between fund managers and Only World Group Bhd’s (OWG) management, we learnt that Komtar would be a themed attractions-based destination.

Its net lettable area (NLA) has doubled and the space will be fully taken up by end of 2015.

We raise our financial year ending June 30, 2016 (FY16) and FY17 earnings per share (EPS) forecasts by 12% to 18% to reflect higher rental revenue from the Komtar space and higher projected revenue from the observation deck on level 64.

Our TP is raised to RM3.02, still based on 19 times calendar year 2016 price-earnings ratio (PER), 20% discount to the food and beverage (F&B) sector’s target PER.

As a Penangite, I've seen a lot of the shopping complexes in Penang.  Komtar is one of the first large shopping complexes in Penang.  It's been renovated and remodelled multiple times.  Although I do find myself going there once in a while it is not usually to enjoy the place.  I'm there usually to pick up some items that can be found as one of the cheapest in Penang.

I assume Only World can really do a good job with Komtar.  They can make it wider and open with higher ceilings that could entice even those with heavy claustrophobic tendencies.

But Penang alas is not like any other cities in Malaysia.  What takes mere 10 minutes drive to the neighbourhood shopping mall could end up taking 20-30 minutes in Penang.  In order to get to this shopping center, I would have to travel in massive traffic jams.

Queensbay mall is a decent mall due to its location off the highway.  It is relatively in  a good location.  Unfortunately, Komtar is not.  In Penang, accessibility is key.  Komtar, Prangin mall are due to abysmal real estate for shopping centres because it's incredibly hard for residents to get to these areas.

FBMKLCI/FKLI and FCPO technical outlook

The FBMKLCI is the talk of town so far.  The index is reaching highs not seen this year and approaching last year's highs, but actually there is a problem.  If one sees the recent highs made, we can notice the momentum is not as strong as in March.  But so far the trend is still up and the sellers have not come in yet.

FCPO is in a somewhat slow moving downtrend, with oscillators somewhat negative still but it is still possible for buyers to move the market higher in the next few months as large supplies of palm oil have not yet come online just yet.  Momentum shows ranged trade for the last few days.  I envision Palm oil having rangy trading sessions for the next few months.

Jobstreet job survey is good information.

From the Edge:

KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 21): A 2Q2015 job outlook survey by JobStreet.com has revealed that employers expect a downtrend in job growth.

In a statement today, JobStreet said the survey was conducted on 930 human resource personnel, managers and senior managers from 21 different industries and various company sizes.

It said the majority of employers at 41% had made known that they would be hiring less for the second half of 2015, an alarming 27% increase compared to 14% in 2014.

It added that the latest JobStreet.com Employee Confidence Index (JECI) survey for the month of April also showed a drop in confidence amongst candidates in securing a decent job in Malaysia from 49 point last year to 43 point.

The company said despite the unfavorable predictions and sentiments, the job level was still high with an average of over 20,000 job openings on the JobStreet.com.

The Jobstreet job outlook survey is good and is somewhat forward looking.  But limitations are prevalent in that it is only an outlook and survey.  Surveys and outlooks sometimes don't pan out due to any number of factors, especially when it comes to uncertain times such as one we are in now.

I personally would like to see Jobstreet use its data and reach to publish monthly job hire numbers.  This would be more relevant, and Malaysia sorely needs this as the country's economic numbers are generally lacking and lagging.

TM shares in a quandry

From the Edge:

Maintain neutral with a raised target price of RM7.40 from RM7.35 previously: TM has unveiled two new fixed broadband (FBB) plans in line with the government’s call for cheaper broadband services.

The new plans will be made available for subscription in mid-June/July. Its new entry-level 1Mbps broadband plan which is priced at RM38/month (ex-GST) and bundled with 1GB of data, is at a 57% discount to the current 1Mbps package of RM88 per month with no usage cap.

It also lowered the price of its 10Mbps UniFi triple play FBB plan by 10% to RM179 per month (ex-GST) from RM199 per month. We believe the affordable plans will allow TM to tap into a wider customer base and increase broadband/data uptake.

This comes on the back of the slowdown in subscriber growth (fourth quarter 2014: +0.7% year-on-year) in recent quarters and ahead of the roll-out of high speed broadband phase 2 (HSBB2)/suburban broadband (SUBB) and its converged mobile offering, slated to be introduced by year-end.

As the new plans are targeted at a new market segment with potential for upselling, we think the risk of cannibalisation and average revenue per user (Arpu) dilution will be minimised.

We note there are some 300,000 subscribers (13% of TM’s overall FBB base) on broadband packages of 1Mbps, who could down-trade to a cheaper plan although the revenue impact could be offset by more virgin FBB subscribers signing up.

We think the new UniFi plan would compel subscribers on the 5Mbps line to trade up given the better data experience, and that they are currently paying close to RM160 per month (with GST).

Much confusion has been going on in the analyst community regarding TM.  Some say the broadband fee reduction is actually a bonus for TM.  Others say it really isn't.  

The long term investors for me says, yeah it probably will rebound.  After all the hunger for data will only grow with streaming, videos, IPTV, and 4K HD.  

The short term investor in me says.  Take some profits.  Two reasons.  One, the bull case for this analysis is optimistic and isn't really representative of what is happening now.  i.e. The trade up to the 10 MBps package from 5MBps will take months to years to play out.  

What is happening NOW, is TM is seeing fees reduced in the 10 MBps arena which will directly translate to crap revenue in the on coming quarterly report.  People may even downgrade to the cheaper package if they aren't using that much bandwidth.  

This combination of innate bullishness in events that have not happened yet, coupled with the obvious suffering in TM's next few quarterly reports make me want to dump shares at this point.

Surprised, broadband fees will drop

Looks like Broadband fees will reduce in July.  TM announced a reduction from RM 200 to 180 a month.

Two reasons are likely, one the pressure from the government to come out with a win and two, to get more competitive with Maxis and Time dot com.  There two offer 10 MBps packages for roughly RM150 a month.  Time DotCom offers 15 MBps for RM180 a month.  All in all, It's a good development!

Broadband fees actually won't drop for heavy internet users

From the Edge:

KUALA LUMPUR: Fees for mobile Internet broadband packages will drop an average 14% while basic fixed packages will be lowered by as much as 57%, said the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia.

In a statement yesterday, Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said mobile broadband packages will be offered at RM25  per month and consumers who sign up for these will have a monthly data cap of 1GB and at least 3G high-speed packet access for both prepaid and post-paid services. The reduction works out to about 14% less than current prices.

As for fixed services, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) ( Financial Dashboard) will soon be offering a basic broadband package at RM38 a month for 1Mbps of free data usage up to 1GB, which is 57% cheaper than the current RM88 for the basic package.

The new mobile basic broadband packages will be available almost immediately while the fixed package by TM is expected to be available from mid-June.

“The reduction in the price of basic broadband packages will be for both mobile and fixed services,” said Ahmad Shabery.

Unfortunately for most existing users, broadband fees won't drop at all.  It creates lower packages which are cheap.  But most people who use internet heavily won't get any savings.

It the case of fixed line broadband, my fees are still the same, close to 60-70 USD a month.  Plus the TV channels are lousy.

Something nice about Boustead for the buy and forget investor

Boustead is one of those "diversified" companies in Bursa Malaysia which fits the bill as a great risk-reward company.  A great risk-reward company is a company that generally can give better returns given same risk.

In effect, Boustead essentially a company that carries risk slightly higher than insurance companies, but offers much higher potential returns.   A few of these babies is a portfolio that just is on autopilot.

It offers a very stable insurance arm which account for roughly half of profits while having a more cyclical construction area which will definitely see its booms and busts.

So where is a good place to get in at?  I'd say anywhere between RM 3.50 to RM 4 would be good at the current time.  At a few points in history, the counter does trade below its regression lines, but not too often.

Najib wants pensioner support, good luck

From Malaysia Today:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today urged more than 750,000 government pensioners to "find" him if they needed help instead of going to "others", amid mounting criticism against his administration by Umno veteran Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In his speech at the launch of the Pensioners' Foundation in Putrajaya today, Najib said he was confident that a large number of pensioners were supportive of his administration.

"I prefer you to find me than anyone else," said Najib to some 1,000 former civil servants who were present today.

He said with the support of about 1.61 million civil servants and 750,000 government pensioners, Putrajaya would remain strong and “solid”.

"Even though I know it is difficult to get 100% support in this democratic society, I know the bigger portion of the group are strong government supporters," he said.

I'm guessing pensioners at the KWAP have gotten a smell of the SRC International Fiasco, because PM Najib seems to be trying to be trying to go on a good will talk with pensioners of Malaysia.

With the MOF using the KWAP as a piggy bank for its hanky panky companies, I'm not sure what Najib can say.  Put 5 million in, while taking 4 billion out of KWAP for SRC International sounds like good return economics for MOF.

Are KWAP pensioners that dumb?  hopefully not.

Why the KLCI doesn't seem to react to economic numbers

One of the most useful economic aggregators on the internet is Trading Economics.  I've linked the  Malaysia front page.

The data is scaled down for size, but click on the pictures to enlarge the information.

I've always wondered why Malaysia markets don't really react to the economic information presented by the Department of Statistics.  After examining many of the indicators in aggregate, I have a pretty good idea why.

Many of the indicators are slow to come out and just plain lagging.  The information that is fast are things like currency, government debt, banking, and external trade.  This stuff is super fast.  I imagine the forex markets are priced quite properly.  But most of this does not really have a strong effect on the domestic market.

When it comes to GDP, job growth, or retail sales.  These numbers come in quarterly. In the US, retail sales and job growth come out monthly and provide data about the stock market .  Malaysia is behind the curve when it comes to reporting relevant data about the share market. Unemployment rate is actually updates frequently, but by itself doesn't tell much about job growth.

So there you have it, in order to really know the undercurrents of the Malaysian share market in REAL time, one would have to use some of the monthly data that are relevant to the share market and try and piece together something useful.  It's not easy.

Sunway makes some hardware acquisitions

From the Star:

PETALING JAYA: Sunway Bhd is buying hardware and household product traders Winstar Trading Sdn Bhd and PND Hardware & Trading Pte Ltd for RM137.8mil.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, the property and construction-based group said it would acquire Winstar Trading for RM130.9mil and PND for S$2.57mil (RM6.87mil).

Sunway said the two companies were profitable market leaders with over 30 years of experience in the wholesaling of hardware market.

Generally a good acquisition for me has the potential for growth in the future and is non-correlated with the business.  Diversification of risk is paramount in creating a strong, stable company.  When a company such as Sunway diversifies away from the risky construction sector with a less risky business, I see it as a better risk reward company.  What is risky about an acquisition which guarantees 45 mil in profits over the next 3 years?

The same goes for a company that has stable earnings acquiring a more gun-ho company.  Their risk return profile may be enhanced with the acquisition of a riskier company.  Generally people will opt for higher return for just a little more risk involved.

The hunt to find decent export counters

From the Edge:

INVESTOR interest in the plastics manufacturing sector has picked up quite a bit in recent months, thanks to the weakening ringgit, falling raw material costs and signs of nascent global economic recovery led by the US.

BPP (Fundamental: 2.05/3, Valuation: 1.4/3) specialises in stretch and shrink films, an increasingly popular option for pallet stabilisation during warehousing and transportation of goods.

With a combined annual capacity (stretch film and packaging bags) of nearly 60,000 metric tonnes, the company is one of the top three stretch film manufacturers in Malaysia.  BPP’s track record has been patchy. Whilst the company has maintained topline sales growth by increasing export — which has grown from about 65% of sales in 2010 to 78% in 2014 — margins have been declining, due to fluctuating raw material prices and the ringgit as well as competition. Positively, some of these key variables are turning now in its favour. 

For 2014, revenue increased by 17.8% to RM284.0 million on higher demand in the export market although net profit was flattish due to higher utility and labour costs. In the latest 4Q2014 though, margins saw an encouraging uptick — which should improve further when the effects of lower input costs (closely correlated to oil) and strengthening US$ kick in. 

Insider Asia usually has pretty solid picks in its investments.  So today I was extremely happy to see an export counter.

In Malaysia, the struggle to find investment worthy export counters is real.   Most of the companies in Malaysia unfortunately can't compete on an international level.  So, the few that do are gems.

Although BP plastics is still somewhat small considering its revenues of 284 million, it does sport an attractive dividend.  The other industry that Malaysia does well in is in glove making, but most of those shares have run up quite a lot.  A small stake in BP plastics would be alright given its dividends, although more liquidity would be nice.  Its shares barely trade.

What I like about Genting

Although I highlighted Genting before as a short term trade ( It has exceeded its target at this time), medium term, the stock looks the best of any of the shares out there for one major reason, half its earnings are in Singapore dollars.

The Ringgit as sad as it is now could depreciate a lot more.  Most economists are hoping for 4% GDP growth, but I think that is unlikely.  The GST effect is just starting and will likely accelerate in the next year.   Remember, Zeti will likely continue weakening until she hits her targets on GDP.  PM says 4 percent next year, it must be 4 percent!

I can't find many shares on the FBMKLCI that has as good dynamics as Genting has at this time.  I can run through almost every share and almost all will suffer due to a weaker ringgit, let alone GST!  Most of the companies get almost zero foreign revenue.

SRC International becoming a fiasco with the KWAP

From the Edge:

The amendment came at a time when KWAP is under the spotlight for extending a RM4 billion loan to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit by the Ministry of Finance.

To recap, Pandan Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli had disclosed that SRC International, formerly owned by1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), recorded a loss of RM164 million for the financial year ended March 31, 2014.

It also recorded an impairment loss on available-for-sale investment of RM115.25 million for the same financial year.

He is also mulling legal action against KWAP for its handling of the pension fund of the civil servants.

The other amendment include an additional Section 21A which seeks to punish any person disclosing any information whether obtained through sitting in a meeting or documents.

Remember, I highlighted this issue weeks ago.  Now, more information is coming to light as the unit had recorded losses.  Not only me has been wondering what nonsense is going on.  It's not a question if pension funds will put money in 1MDB.  Apparently they already did through SRC International.

KWAP could easily be sued and most of the independent directors should resign for mixing pension fund money, people's retirement money and using it in silly opaque investments such as SRC international.  Pension funds should be sticking to liquid stocks and bonds, income producing items, not resource producing land mines.

I wonder how much more money has the MOF decided to borrow out of the pension and retirement funds in Malaysia.  Oversight is certainly lacking.  Are the boards in cahoots with the hanky panky?

Telcos and GST

From the Edge

 According to a leading English daily, Customs Department GST director Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy said several telcos are being investigated for increasing the price of prepaid top-up cards in light of the 6% goods and services tax (GST). He says this went against the Customs Department’s instructions for prices to be maintained even after GST comes into effect.

This comes as a surprise as there was no publicly announced directive on this previously. Speaking to our industry sources, we understand there is no contention over the charging of GST as mobile communications services is a standard-rated item under the GST Act 2014.

It appears the dispute with the Customs Department revolves around its demand that telcos maintain the prices of top-up cards and instead factor in GST through a reduction in the reload credit. However, telcos are resisting this as it would result in odd reload credit amounts (for example RM10 for RM9.44 reload credit) and it may negatively impact consumer’s usage levels. Telcos says they should be left to dictate how they sell their products as long as they comply with the GST Act.

Well, I'm not sure what the big deal is here.  Telcos seem are able to charge a higher price and thus will do so as prepaid cards are standard rated.

This much confusion just serves as a reminder how horrible GST implementation will be as the system is full of holes, politics, and confusion.  This will be a hard year as people are increasingly confused about items that are zero rated, etc.  Controlling price increases is something the government is trying to do, but it won't be effective.

The only way someone would absorb the GST is if their business was suffering from competitive pressures.  Telcos are in an oligopoly.  Malaysia has bred a business environment which is full of large incumbents where barriers to entry in industries is high.  Therefore, prices will go up when taxes go up, as these companies have pricing power.

Azmin Ali and the open tender system

From Malaysia Today:

SHAH ALAM, April 2 — Former Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim chided Azmin Ali today, claiming his successor had changed the state’s open tender policy for public procurements that he had introduced in 2008 to improve government transparency.

While debating the motion of thanks to Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Khalid said that he had enforced the policy to stimulate competitiveness and address the problem of middlemen, claiming that Azmin had, however, changed the policy in November last year.

“In 2008, I enforced the open tender system whereby only the most competitive, prices from vendors are considered, ensuring that they also complied with all the regulations put in place to reduce the role of middlemen,” said the now independent state assemblyman who stepped down from his state leader post after being sacked from PKR last year.

One thing people cannot fault Khalid is his rather efficient way to run things in Selangor.  Although his lack of foresight is lacking in regards to infrastructure build out is inexcusable, he ran a tight ship in Selangor.

The reason Azmin Ali gave was because the open tender system resulted in sub-standard projects.  If the projects were sub-standard, its no reason to change the system all together.  Simply ban out the previous contractors who won projects but did not deliver in terms of quality or make a selective open tender and only invite contractors known for their quality of work to bid.

By taking the regressive route of a closed tender system, no one knows where the money goes.  Does it go back to certain people's pockets?  I don't know.  No one knows.  Azmin Ali has lost a couple of points in my book regarding his regressive policy.  I'm disappointed, is there any leader that is capable in Malaysia?

Fed up with GST, people give in and say the gov't just needs some money

From Malaysia Today:

Sabri was philosophical about the GST, saying: "Just give some to the government. Tomorrow when our government has become wealthy, they will give back to us. We have to sacrifice a bit; we help our government who is now in need. Tomorrow when they are more comfortable, they will help us back."

Echoing the sentiment was Ishah, 67, who believed that in order for the country to progress, the people had to face some difficulties at the beginning.

"I am for GST if we want to progress. Only certain unlucky people, and younger people have to suffer a bit.

"If we want to progress we have to suffer a little bit. As time goes by, people will adapt. We want a developed country, we have to sacrifice."

Unfortunately these traders are rationalizing their loss in income.  The sad truth is, we need to keep money from the government as they tend to waste it and transfer the money to certain people's coffers.

We have the government financing purchases of new planes for goodness knows what.  They are still doing the 1MDB funny business, and finally we have the SRC International which is basically taking our retirement money and giving it to the ministry of finance to play around with.

The whole Fly Mojo business reeks of hanky panky commissions.  Why do we finance forays into the horrible airline industry?  All this is happening when we are in the midst of implementing the GST.

If the government shows some credibility, yes GST is alright.  People will pay and not be angry about it.  Unfortunately it's not the case.

Astro looking pretty good

From the Edge:

Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (Financial Dashboard), the country’s largest pay television provider, expects to see growth in its overall operations for its financial year ending Jan 31, 2016 (FY16), despite softer market conditions caused by factors such as the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) tomorrow and the weak ringgit against the US dollar.

The group saw its net profit jump 25.7% to RM139.97 million or 2.69 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (4QFY15) from RM111.39 million or 2.14 sen per share a year ago, driven by higher subscription and lower installation, marketing and distribution costs.

Astro looking pretty good.  In the media, people say content is king and apparently they are doing just fine.  It appears TM's attempt to take market share from Astro is not going as planned.

Subscriber numbers have gone up, revenue is up, and the costs of Astro subscription have gone up.

A natural monopoly is generally considered a strong investment characteristic.  The government has thrown all sorts of money at TM, but it appears they are not able to compete on the same level as Astro in the lucrative media division.