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TAIPEI: The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has approved Arla Foods Ingredients‘ acquisition of Volac‘s Whey Nutrition business. The regulator’s go-ahead follows an evaluation that took place after the two companies signed an acquisition agreement on April 18th 2024. Commenting on the announcement, Luis Cubel, Group Vice President and Managing Director of Arla Foods Ingredients, said: “This is a very welcome decision at a time when demand for high-quality whey ingredients is growing. It means we’re a step closer to a significant acquisition that would consolidate our position as a leader in the whey nutrition space. We will now move forward with the formal process necessary to make Volac’s Whey Nutrition business part of Arla Foods Ingredients. Once that is complete, we will be able to comment further on the many advantages of bringing together these two major manufacturers of whey ingredients – not just for both companies, but also for our customers and the industry as a whole.” Commenting on behalf of the Neville family, James Neville, joint owner of Volac, said: “We were always confident that Arla Foods Ingredients had the necessary expertise and values to take our Whey Nutrition business to the next level, and we are delighted to have reached this important step in the acquisition process. It’s great news for Volac Whey Nutrition, and for the whey ingredients sector, that these two innovative companies have been allowed to join forces.

JAKARTA: PT VENTENY Fortuna International Tbk (VTNY) announced consolidated revenue of IDR 186 billion as of September 30, 2024, representing an 86% increase year-on-year. This growth was driven by its diverse business lines, with contributions as follows: B2B Financial Services: 40% or IDR 74.7 billion B2B2E VENTENY Employee Super App: 32% or IDR 58.2 billion Technology Development: 28% or IDR 52.7 billion As of September 30, 2024, the Company achieved an EBITDA of IDR 13.7 billion and reported a net profit of IDR 2.6 billion. Jun Waide, Founder and Group CEO of VENTENY, commented on the company’s performance, stating, “Our results demonstrate the increasing resilience of our portfolio. The ecosystem we’ve built, particularly the B2B2E Employee Super App, has seen significant growth. We are confident that our technology solutions will drive a strong close to 2024.” Strategic Investments and Expansion Efforts in 2024 In 2024, VENTENY focused on bolstering its digital infrastructure, enhancing its organizational structure, forging regional partnerships, and expanding its asset base. These initiatives aim to support VENTENY’s next phase of business growth. Waide added, “Since our start in Indonesia in 2019, we’ve grown exponentially. Our focus now is on building a strong foundation to sustain this momentum and achieve our broader vision across Southeast Asia.” B2B Financial Services and Funding Initiatives VENTENY’s B2B Financial Services, the company’s largest revenue stream, saw a 26% revenue increase year-on-year. By September 2024, VENTENY had disbursed over IDR 1.2 trillion in growth funding to businesses and MSMEs in Indonesia. To support this growth, the company raised JPY 2.2 billion in low-cost funding from Japan, alongside additional funding from Singapore and Indonesian banks, further bolstering its financial services. VENTENY is now poised to scale operations across Indonesia, working closely with local governments to bridge funding gaps for MSMEs. In South Sumatra, VENTENY has partnered with the Department of Cooperatives and SMEs. This network expansion includes partnerships in East Java and Bali, aiming to foster regional development. VENTENY Employee Super App Recognized for Employee Welfare Innovations The VENTENY Employee Super App experienced a 60% year-on-year growth as of September 30, 2024, driven by a surge in corporate clients, including Pertamina, Sompo, Astro, and Waskita Precast. For its contributions to employee welfare, the app was awarded Best Platform Innovation for Employee Welfare at the CNBC Indonesia Awards. Damar Raditya, Group COO of VENTENY, highlighted the app’s ongoing success: “VENTENY remains committed to innovating in support of employee welfare and Indonesia’s economic growth. With strong support from local governments and associations, we envision our ecosystem serving employees, MSMEs, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders across Indonesia.”

CYBERJAYA: DXN Holdings Bhd. (“DXN” or the “Group”), a leading global manufacturer of nutraceutical products has announced the charter of a Gulfstream G550 corporate jet for 12 months to accelerate DXN’s global expansion efforts. The corporate jet is dedicated to supporting our key management team and high-performing members who have attained “Crown Ambassador” status, facilitating frequent travel across key cities in our overseas markets. This enables the leadership team to efficiently engage and motivate DXN’s 4.9 million active members worldwide as of September 2024 through in-person marketing events, including market activation meetings and member appreciation events, enhancing member motivation and driving sales growth. Additionally, the corporate jet provides greater oversight of DXN Group’s manufacturing facilities and operations worldwide, strengthening our capacity to drive growth across regions. DXN is a global company, with majority of its sales generated outside Malaysia. The Latin America market is the Group’s top-performing market and leads DXN’s growth, contributing 57.9% of DXN Group’s total sales of RM1,897.8 million in the FYE 29 February 2024 (“FYE 2024”). In FYE 2024, Latin America sales reached RM1,097.9 million, an impressive increase from RM589.8 million in FYE 2021. The Asian market is the Group’s second-largest market, contributing 25.8% of total gross sales in FYE 2024, with growth mainly contributed by robust sales in India.   The Group has 13 manufacturing facilities, of which 11 of them are located outside of Malaysia, with another 2 being constructed in Bangladesh and Nepal. These new facilities are expected to start operating by end-2024. Additional facilities are also planned for the future. DXN’s investment in manufacturing facilities across key markets is essential for managing supply chain and mitigating rising freight costs. Executive Chairman and Founder of DXN, Datuk Lim Siow Jin  said, “With our business expanding rapidly across multiple continents globally, this corporate jet charter will allow us to operate more effectively, focusing on what matters most, driving sales growth across our fast-growing international markets. Given the vast distances between key locations, the convenience and flexibility of the corporate jet will streamline travel, enhancing efficiency and time management compared to commercial flights.”   “The outlook for DXN in Latin America is highly promising as we prepare for expansion into Brazil. With strong, established markets in neighbouring Peru and Bolivia and a large base of active members, we are well-positioned to extend our business into Brazil. This new market, with a population of over 210 million, around five times larger than Peru and Bolivia combined offers significant growth potential for DXN. We have secured approval for eleven products in the Brazilian market to meet the growing demand for nutraceuticals, particularly among its expanding middle class.”   The corporate jet will enable the leadership team to efficiently engage and motivate members worldwide through in-person marketing events, such as market activation meetings and member appreciation events, which enhances member motivation, leading to better performance and higher sales.   The investment is considered well-justified, as DXN has achieved a 3-year revenue compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) from FYE 2021 to FYE 2024 of 19.8%, with profit after tax and non-controlling interest (“net profit”) growing at a 3-year CAGR of 17.5%. In FYE 2024, the Group delivered a record high net profit of RM311.0 million on revenue of RM1,897.8 million.   “With our steady growth trajectory and the positive benefits arising from the jet charter, we are confident this investment will add value in terms of growth in sales and profitability well beyond the costs associated with it,” Datuk Lim concluded.

Current developments and key facts As of 7:00 a.m. UTC, most data providers, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, projected that Donald Trump would become the next president of the United States. However, even as Trump’s victory looks almost guaranteed at this point, it is the balance of power in the U.S. Congress that will determine how successfully and effectively the next president will be able to govern. So far, Republicans have won an extra seat in the Senate, but neither of the parties has a clear advantage in the battle for the House of Representatives. Overall, the counting of votes is still at a relatively early stage, and it could be hours or even days before a final outcome is known. The contest will come down to seven swing states, only three of which (North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania) have been most likely won by Trump so far. Still, judging by the latest market reaction, it appears reasonable to infer that global investors are pricing in a decisive victory by Donald Trump. Initial market impact and reactions As of 7:00 a.m. UTC, the global markets were positioned for Donald Trump’s victory. U.S. Treasury yields and U.S. stock benchmark indices rallied sharply, pushing the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) higher. Given that, it is no wonder other major fiat currencies plunged, with EURUSD and GBPUSD down 1.82% and 1.32%, respectively, while bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $75,410, as per Coinbase. ‘Such a dramatic shift in market sentiment is explained by Trump’s official policies, or more precisely by the possible effect these policies are likely to have,’ says Kar Yong Ang, a financial market analyst at Octa Broker. ‘Generally, it all boils down to Trump’s tax, immigration, and trade policies, which differ greatly from what Harris proposed. The market perceives them as inflationary, which is why we are seeing a bullish impact in the U.S. dollar.’ The United States controls the world’s primary reserve currency, the U.S. dollar, so only a few countries will not feel the effect of the latest U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Major currencies are already experiencing the initial impact. ‘Major currencies are falling predominantly because the U.S. dollar is rising, but there is also a fear that Trump’s policy on tariffs may hit their domestic economies,’ Kar said. Indeed, the primary reason for such a dramatic decline in EURUSD, for example, is that investors fear that Trump’s policies on immigration and taxes will spur inflation and force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to tighten its monetary policy. This could widen the difference in interest rates between the U.S. and the Eurozone, making the U.S. dollar more attractive to investors. Additionally, Trump has previously mentioned the possibility of imposing tariffs on European goods such as automobiles and chemicals, which adds to economic concerns. According to some analysts, Trump’s proposed 10% universal tariff on all U.S. imports may erode Europe’s GDP by up to 1.5% or about €260bn. A similar kind of impact may await the United Kingdom, where Trump’s blanket tariffs would hit billions of pounds of U.K. automotive, pharmaceutical, and liquor exports. It stands to logic that GBPUSD was down more than 1.3% today. For similar reasons, CNYUSD (Chinese renminbi / U.S. dollar spot rate) hit a 3-month high. ‘For the Chinese economy, the risks are even greater, as Trump promised to impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods. On top of that, under his administration, tensions are likely to grow over the CNYUSD exchange rate,’ comments Kar Yong Ang, a financial market analyst at Octa Broker. Although the currency policy of the future Trump Administration is unclear, in his interview with Bloomberg, he had this to say: ‘We have a big currency problem because the depth of the currency now in terms of strong dollar / weak yen, weak yuan, is massive.’ Interestingly, the impact on the gold market has been relatively muted so far. As of 7:00 a.m. UTC, XAUUSD was down 1.2%, but historically, it is not a significant swing, especially given how much the U.S. dollar has strengthened. ‘Because Trump’s victory appears to be decisive, it lowers the probability of social tensions in the U.S., which is not a minor factor considering how fractious U.S. politics has become lately. Thus, XAUUSD is selling off, but I think there are bullish risks ahead as relations between China and the U.S. turn bitter,’ comments Kar Yong Ang. Analysts suggest that Donald Trump’s policies could escalate trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which may increase the appeal of gold as a safe-haven asset. Additionally, his proposed large-scale tax cuts could potentially widen the U.S. fiscal deficit, prompting some strategic investors to move away from the U.S. dollar and into alternative assets like gold and bitcoin. Notably, BTCUSD reached a new all-time high following the news of Trump’s projected victory, as he is generally perceived to be more supportive of cryptocurrencies compared to Harris. In the short term, all the bullish dollar trades may temporarily reverse as traders buy the dips in EURUSD and GBPUSD in hope of a technical rebound. In the long term, however, the bearish pressure on these pairs will likely persist.