News

PETALING JAYA: Leading the transformation of Malaysia’s tile industry, Feruni today launched its refreshed brand and announced partnerships with designers, revealing an extensive collection of 175 masterfully crafted tile designs. The immersive event, “Discover New Art Forms with Feruni,” held at the company’s headquarters, gathered over 100 luminaries, including property developers, architects, interior designers, and artists. With the rebranding, Feruni’s vision is now to become the world’s most disruptive tile maker and designer, transforming living and working spaces, inspiring customers, delivering joy to employees, and enriching communities. The new tagline, “Where Every Tile Is A Work of Art,” will guide the company’s evolution, reflecting its commitment to innovation and quality. Dato’ C.C. Ngei, Feruni’s CEO and an award-winning entrepreneur, stated, “Feruni’s journey has always been about doing things differently and transforming Malaysia’s tile industry. Our reputation as a pioneer is built on delivering a world-class customer experience, offering the latest tile trends, and introducing innovative designs that ignite our customers’ imaginations.” “With today’s rebranding, Feruni is strategically positioned to lead the industry with disruptive creativity, collaborations, and competence. We are ready to spread our wings confidently as a future-proof and future-ready Feruni,” he added. As part of the “The Art and The Artist” platform, Feruni collaborated with Valhalla Garage to tile a Porsche 911, creating “The Art 911.” Executed by Studio Feruni, this project showcases a gradual spread of tiles over the Porsche, maintaining both aesthetic and mechanical integrity, making it a unique creation. Another exciting reveal was the Mandi Bunga Collection, a collaboration with Nala Designs, founded by Lisette Scheers. This collection features Malaysian fruit flowers such as dragon fruit, rambutan, durian, mangosteen, and starfruit on large format tiles, reflecting Scheers’ commitment to preserving Malaysian heritage through unique patterns and motifs. Scheers expressed, “I’m delighted to celebrate our collaboration with Feruni. Their innovative tile craftsmanship has allowed us to translate the Mandi Bunga designs into stunning architectural elements that can transform living spaces. I hope this collection inspires Malaysians to create tranquil sanctuaries in their homes.” Feruni’s scale-up strategy includes positioning itself as a Design Studio, collaborating with local artists and designers across industries. The company plans to expand into new markets, starting with South-East Asia, followed by Asia, and eventually the rest of the world. Additionally, Feruni will revamp its retail footprint with the Feruni Retail Store 2.0 format, starting at its headquarters and rolling out nationwide. For more details on Feruni’s disruptive journey in the tile industry, visit [Feruni](https://www.feruni.com).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC) has announced the appointment of Arshad Mohamed Ismail as the new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1, 2024. Arshad succeeds Datuk Jamaludin Nasir, who will transition to an advisory role until his term ends this November. Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Nik Norzrul Thani bin Nik Hassan Thani, speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors, remarked, “We congratulate Arshad on his appointment and anticipate his leadership will elevate MARC to new heights. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Datuk Jamaludin Nasir for his exceptional leadership and significant contributions to the company’s growth and expansion.” Arshad previously served as President and CEO of Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (EXIM Bank). His extensive experience includes leadership positions at Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad, Maybank Islamic Bhd, International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), Abu Dhabi’s Al Hilal Bank, Saudi Arabia’s Aayan Capital, and HSBC Amanah in the UAE. Arshad holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the International Islamic University Malaysia and a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School, UK. He is a Chartered Banker with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers and was elected to the SC-OCIS Fellowship in Islamic Finance at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in 2015. Datuk Jamaludin, who has been with MARC since 2014, served on the Rating Committee before becoming Group CEO in 2019. He has been pivotal in MARC’s transformation, spearheading the company’s rebranding and numerous strategic initiatives both locally and internationally. His leadership has strengthened the ratings quality profile of MARC Ratings Berhad and driven the development and growth of MARC Data Sdn Bhd.

PETALING JAYA: The burgeoning data center industry in Malaysia is set to significantly drive electricity demand, benefiting Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the country’s sole electricity provider. TNB’s electricity sales hit a record 31,899 gigawatt hours in the first quarter of 2024, driven by two new data centers with a combined capacity of about 600 megawatts (MW), despite this quarter typically being the weakest. Kenanga Research upgraded its recommendation for TNB to “outperform” and increased the target price by 16%, noting TNB’s forecasted electricity demand growth of 2.5% to 3% in 2024. The research firm expects this growth rate to continue into Regulatory Period 4 (RP4), up from 1.8% during RP3, thanks to a robust pipeline of data center projects. TNB anticipates completing nine data center projects with a total energy demand of 700MW in 2024. By March 2024, two projects with a combined demand of 535MW were already operational: the Yondr Data Centre and Princeton Digital Group Data Centre in Sedenak Tech Park, Johor. Additionally, TNB signed Electricity Supply Agreements (ESAs) in January 2024 with Microsoft and Vantage Data Centres for facilities in Cyberjaya, scheduled for commissioning by June and December 2025, respectively, with a combined demand of 484MW. Given the positive outlook, Kenanga Research has raised its earnings forecasts for TNB by 3% for FY24 and 4% for FY25, setting a target price of RM14.50 per share. In a separate note, TA Research highlighted that TNB plans to sign ESAs for another 10 projects in 2024, totaling over 2,000MW in energy demand. These data centers are gradually increasing their energy consumption, thereby progressively boosting electricity demand. TA Research also noted the positive impact of liberalizing the power generation sector through third-party access (TPA), allowing independent power producers (IPPs), including solar power producers, to sell directly to customers. This would improve grid utilization and necessitate further investment in the infrastructure, likely leading to a higher regulated asset base and better returns for TNB. Furthermore, TNB aims to bring the Manjung 4 Power Plant back online by the end of 2024, following an unscheduled outage since December 2023. The estimated capacity payment loss remains around RM400 million, and TNB is working with insurers on claims. TA Research reaffirmed its “buy” call on TNB with a target price of RM14.50 per share. In contrast, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research remains neutral on TNB’s earnings outlook. HLIB acknowledged the sustainability of TNB’s regulated earnings and cash flow under the regulated asset base (RAB) for FY24, given stable fuel prices. They expect further improvements in the regulated transmission and distribution segment from 2025 onwards, under RP4, due to an expanded RAB asset base. However, HLIB predicts the power generation segment will remain unprofitable in the near term, affected by the unscheduled downtime of Manjung 4 and expiring power purchase agreements. HLIB Research maintained its “hold” call on TNB with a target price of RM13.30.