- Sapura is in limbo, yet again
- Qatar Airways signed the largest jet deal in Boeing history
- Trump will lift the sanctions on Syria
IN Malaysia
Sapura, pura-pura terbang tapi tak ke mana
We seriously will recommend Sapura, for the whole company to mandi bunga as bagaikan jatuh ditimpa tangga, now Sapura Energy Bhd’s external auditors have sounded the alarm bells and flagged the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. This is because Sapura Energy’s current liabilities have exceeded its current assets, by RM11.25 bil at group-level and RM4.31 bil at company level. One interesting thing that the external auditor, Messrs Ernst & Young PLT (EY), highlighted was that Sapura Energy adopted the percentage-of-completion method in recognising revenue from construction contracts, which constitutes 56% of the group’s revenue in FY2025. However, the revenue recognition method requires significant management judgement, particularly in estimating costs to complete and assessing foreseeable losses. The keyword here is – ‘management judgement’. Despite the material concern by EY, Sapura Energy did record an RM190 mil PAT for FY2025, its first return to profitability in six years. Sapura Energy is also confident that it will obtain the necessary approvals for its proposed regularisation plan, which will be submitted this month.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/755074
Regarding its regularisation plan to exit the PN17 status, Sapura Energy revealed that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) will eventually become a major shareholder of the company, soon to control up to 33% of the total shares. This is because previously, in March 2025, MOF had subscribed to RM1.1 bil worth of redeemable convertible loan stocks (RCLS) in Sapura Energy. RCLS is basically a financial instrument that acts as a loan which can be converted into equities down the road. Below are the proposed details within the regularisation plan –
- 99.99% capital reduction, from around RM12 bil to just over RM1 bil via a 20-to-1 share consolidation exercise;
- To more than halve the total debts and liabilities from RM12.1 bil to RM5.23 bil – where RM784 mil will be waived, RM2.25 bil will be paid off using proceeds from Sapura Energy’s stake sale in its exploration and production unit, RM1.1 bil will be settled via new Sapura Energy shares, while another RM1.77 bil will be resolved via the issuance of debt securities. The financing cost will be reduced by nearly 60%, from RM863.5 mil to RM322.3 mil;
- The remaining RM5.23 bil debt will be settled with earnings from Sapura Energy’s drilling business and its joint venture in Brazil.
With internal family conflicts, debt issues, and previous outright mismanagement, one ought to say that we better let Sapura mati je rather than letting it decompose slowly and painfully.
Is Sapura Energy too big to fail? During the peak of the oil cycle in 2017, Sapura Energy was the world’s largest owner and operator of tender rigs and maintained more than 50% of the global market share. Despite now just being the shadow of its glory past, a total of 2,000 local vendors employing approximately 59,000 employees still depend on Sapura. So, yeah, perhaps Sapura Energy is too big to fail.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/755103
The new electricity rush has started
Akin to the Hunger Games, the Energy Commission has now launched a request for proposal (RFP), which includes a thermal plant tender, the first one since 2016. The Energy Commission’s RFP illustrated two main categories – Category 1: Existing facilities or added capacity, and Category 2: New power generation projects. TNB and Malakoff are front-runners for Category 1, as both have about 2GW of gas-fired capacity with expiring power purchase agreements. For Category 2, likely participants include TNB, Malakoff, YTL Power International Bhd, and Edra Power. There is no figure released yet, but if we benchmark with the last tender awarded for Category 2 back in 2016 (a 1.2GW gas facility in Pulau Indah, Klang), the value of the contract could be up to RM3.35 bil or even more.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/755133
Around the S.E.A.
Trump is on fire in the Middle East
US President Donald Trump has kick-started his official trip to the Middle East by signing a trillion-dollar worth of deals. Below are some of the details of the deals –
- State carrier Qatar Airways has signed a deal worth more than USD200 bil (with a b) to purchase 160 jets from US manufacturer Boeing, the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. However, it is not clear which Boeing aircraft models would be part of the deal and whether the orders from Qatar are firm, which require a deposit and several contractual obligations, or are options;
- USD1 bil contract for American defence company, Raytheon, to supply Qatar with counter-drone capabilities;
- USD2 bil for Qatar to acquire MQ-9B drones from General Atomics;
- USD8.5 bil worth of projects between McDermott International and Qatar Energy, and 30 projects worth up to USD97 bil with Parsons Corp.
But, despite the billion dollars worth of deals to buy shiny toys for the Arabian Kings, one ‘deal’ announced by Trump, could make him a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has announced that he will lift the US’s longstanding sanctions on Syria, at the request of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Previously, the US declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011. Apart from the Syria ‘deal’, Trump also stated that as a part of his Middle East tour, he had not scheduled a stop in Israel, raising questions about where the close ally stands in Washington’s priorities. Is Trump a Muslim dalam diam?
For your EYES only
A mega Southeast Asia billionaire game is in play as Thai billionaire Chareon Sirivadhanabhakdi is looking to privatise a real estate investment trust (REIT) under his Singapore-based Frasers Property Ltd at a valuation of USD1.1 bil. This is Chareon’s second attempt at taking the REIT private, as his first attempt fell short in 2022 after failing to obtain the required 75% shareholder threshold.
Thai Billionaire’s Frasers Property Offers To Take Hotel REIT Private For Second Time In $1 Billion Dealhttps://t.co/1NyWpBcBmf pic.twitter.com/NSwXQ8a3yb
— Forbes (@Forbes) May 14, 2025
