Malaysian turmoil: A view from the market

IF THERE is any doubt that Malaysia's new prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin stumbled into his job unexpectedly, just look at the trajectory of Kuala Lumpur-listed Thriven Global's share price.

The property company, whose name is a mash-up of the words "thrive" and "driven", counts the new prime minister's son Fakhri Yassin Mahiaddin as its executive chairman and a major shareholder, with a 27.2 per cent stake. In Malaysia, that sort of familial link is more than enough to get the market speculating that the company will be the recipient of all manner of political largesse.

Yet, shares in Thriven didn't take off until Monday, the day after Mr Muhyiddin was sworn in as PM. The stock more than doubled during the day to hit a high of RM0.48. It closed at RM0.315, up 43.2 per cent for the day. The company had a net asset value of RM0.37 per share as at end- 2019. Its current market capitalisation is RM147.7 million (S$49 million).