Koon Yew Yin 22 July 2021
I read this announcement by our Deputy Prime Minister which has stopped all steel companies from operation and making profit. Investors can read my comment at the end of this article.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said quote “All factories must remain close. Maybe one of the conditions for us is to allow factories to reopen when more than 80 per cent of their workers have completed two doses of vaccination, and when we can sell the vaccine directly to these factories and after that, I believe they can be allowed to apply for permission to reopen their factories.
“We believe that even though two doses have been given, the Ministry of Health considers it still not completely safe, but at least two doses along with other conditions such as screening tests every two weeks and so on can help, but the matter is still being discussed,” he said.
He said the sale of the vaccine doses directly to interested parties had received the approval of the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee and could further expedite efforts to achieve herd immunity earlier than scheduled.
“States are also interested in buying directly, for example Selangor which has long asked for vaccine to be sold directly to them but this committee has its own programme schedule, and that is why we can’t give directly,” he said at a press conference today.
My comment
I just I rang Leon Fuat tel. 03-33753333 and Hiap Teck tel. 03-337788888. Both these companies are closed. Last week, I also did the same and found that both these companies were closed. You can ring up to verify what I said. If they are closed for so long, they cannot make profit.
The reason why no one answered my phone calls is because they are closed. Leon Fuat and Hiap Teck will take a long time to comply with all the stipulated conditions as required by the government, especially to buy enough of vaccines to vaccinate at least 80% of all the workers.
If all the steel companies remain close for a longer period they will report losses because they have to paid their permanent staff, interest on bank loans, deprecation of factory equipment etc.
All steel companies have reported increased profit for the last quarter ending March and many investors are tempted to buy them because they look cheap and undervalued. They will remain cheap and undervalued for a long time.
Under these conditions, all the steel companies especially Leon Fuat and Hiap Teck will report reduced profit for the next few quarters. Reduced profit can only depress the share prices further down.
My advice is to cash out ASAP.
