Shutdown for at least 10 SGX-listed firms with significant operations in Malaysia

Singapore

AS MALAYSIA'S 14-day movement control order kicked in on Wednesday, at least 10 Singapore-listed firms have temporarily shut operations in Malaysia from March 18 to March 30 to comply with the government's attempt to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The affected companies are mainly miners, developers and manufacturers, according to regulatory filings on Wednesday. They include JB Foods, Fu Yu Corporation, IEV Holdings, Samurai 2K Aerosol, Spindex Industries, Hatten Land, Anchor Resources, CNMC Goldmine Holdings and Aspen (Group) Holdings.

Plastic components maker Fu Yu said it will close its factories in Johor and Penang that primarily serve customers based in Malaysia till the end of the month.

The group is not expecting the current situation to have a "significant" impact on the production capacity of its factories in Singapore, as more than half of its Malaysian employees working in Singapore will continue to stay here, it said. Fu Yu has made accommodation arrangements for these employees till March 31.

Catalist-listed IEV Holdings, which provides engineering solutions to the oil and gas sector, has also shut its head office and factory premises in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, from Wednesday. The business functions of the firm will continue to operate with employees working from home, said IEV in a statement.

The group has temporarily ceased the manufacturing process of a marine growth control product order due to the closure of the factory but will look to double its efforts to meet its delivery deadline after the movement control order is lifted.

Malaysia-based developer Aspen (Group) Holdings - which will close its headquarters, offices and sales galleries in Malaysia, and halt construction works for ongoing projects - said the temporary halt is not expected have a material financial impact on the earnings per share and net asset value per share of the group this financial year.

Other firms, however, expect their toplines to take a further beating from the temporary halt.

In a profit guidance note on Wednesday, developer Hatten Land said Malaysia's latest measure has "further exacerbated the already challenging business and operational environment in the country". The Catalist-listed firm will close its headquarters, offices and sales galleries in Malaysia till March 31.

While the extent of the impact on its financial performance and operations in 2020 "cannot be determined at this stage", the group expects its financial results to be "adversely impacted" for the third quarter ending March 31, and full year ending June 30.

In a similar vein on Wednesday, precision manufacturing firm Spindex Industries said it expects the Covid-19 crisis to have a "substantial negative impact" on its financial performance in 2020. The group will temporarily close its factory in Johor.

Catalist-listed CNMC Goldmine Holdings has also stopped all mining activities in Kelantan to comply with the Malaysian government's order.

The miner - with operations principally located in Malaysia - is assessing the impact of the halt on its business and will continue to monitor the state of health of its workers in Kelantan, said CNMC in a statement.

In China, more than half of the company's underground mining crew for its flagship Sokor gold field were delayed in returning from Hubei after going back for Chinese New Year celebrations.

The Malaysian government has announced a list of 22 essential services that can continue to function over the next two weeks. These include banking, electricity and energy, sewerage, transport, healthcare, e-commerce, food supply and hotels.

Malaysia is currently the hardest hit South-east Asian country for the Covid-19 pandemic, with 790 infections and two deaths as at Wednesday.