Characteristics of Firms Going Private in the Malaysian Stock Exchange

The study empirically investigates the financial characteristics that discriminate firms that went private and firms that remain publicly traded. Based on the results of logit and probit model, companies that reverted to the private domain are characterized as having higher cash balance, higher degree of undervaluation, higher operating profit margin, lower dividend payout rate, and lower free float compared to public counterparts. The classification accuracy rates for in-sample and holdout sample are 69.17% and 65.38% respectively.Going Private, Public-to-Private Transaction, Stock Market, Target Prediction, Firm Characteristics

IN VITRO ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF STATIN FROM ASPERGILLUS TAMARII GRD119

Objectives: Fungi have been largely targeted for their biopotential mainly in pharmaceutical industry. Recently, there has been an increase in screening of biopharmaceuticals from microorganisms so as to eliminate side-effects and chemical damages from non-natural sources.Methods: In the present study, Aspergillus tamarii GRD119 (JX110981) was screened for the production of statin by conducting bioassays against Candida and filamentous fungi.Results: Based on the results obtained showing effective inhibition potential against Candida spp and A. fumigatus, further analysis of purification of statin by several chromatographic analyses such as column chromatography, TLC, HPTLC and HPLC was conducted. The extracted statin shows strong cytotoxic activity against HEP G2 cell line.Conclusions: These results designate the fungal strain and the statin produced can serve as candidates for potential genetic transformation and further structural analysis respectively.Keywords: Aspergillus tamarii, chromatography, purification, statin, cytotoxicity

Isolation and Elucidation of Bacterial Melanin's Sun Protection Factor (SPF) for Photoprotection in Cosmetics

The outline of our work delineates the isolation and evaluation of sun screening activity of melanin producers such as Pseudomonas mosselli STGRDS1, Pseudomonas putida STGRDS3, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens STGRDV11, Bacillus subtilis STGRDV5 and Bacillus cereus STGRDT12. All of the isolates were tested against the fungal melanin STGRDM1, which was used as control throughout the study. The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of formulated creams containing 5% and 10% of melanin was determined with values ranging from 1.96 ± 0.008 to 26.33 ± 0.061; further, the transmission spectroscopy was used to calculate the percentage of protection factor that stipulates the potentiality of pigments showing sunscreen effect

Index-Futures Lead-Lag And Price -Volume Causality: A Study Of The Malaysian Stock Index Futures Market

Although much research has been undertaken on the index-futures lead-laq and price-volume causality in developed countries hardly has any been focused on the Malaysian stock index futures market. This study focuses on the index-futures lead-laq and price-volume causality in the Malaysian stock index futures market. This research is also intended to examine the seasonal effects in the Malaysian stock index futures market. This study was undertaken using the daily data for closing price for both stock index and stock index futures and also the daily data for trading volume for stock index futures in Malaysia. The data, which covered the period of December 15, 1995 till June 30, 2001, was divided into three subperiods in view of variation in activity largely due to the Asian financial crisis. The aims of this study are: i) to determine whether there is any significant lead-laq relatuionship in terms of price index between the futures market and the stock market in Malaysia; ii) to determine the causal relationship between price index and trading volume in the Malaysian stock index futures market; and iii) determine whether there is any evidence of significant seasonal effects on stock index futures market returns and trading volume. The findings generally indicated thet the stock index futures returns leads the stock index returns by one day during the learning period and the stable period. However the stock index futures returns led the stock index returns by two days during the high volatility peruiod. This means that during high volatility period, the lead from stock index futures was greater than during the other subperiods. The study also found the existence of a contemporaneous relationship between the stock index returns and the stock index futures returns in the Malaysian spot and financial futures markets. Evidence also indicated that the two markets are highly cointegrated. In relation to the price-volume causality, the study found the existence of unidirectional causality running from volume to returns in the futures market during the learning period and bidirectional causality during the high volatility period. However there was no evidence of causality during the stable period. The study also found evidence pointing to the existence of day-of-week effect, week-of-month effect and month-of-year effect in the Malaysian stock index futures market. Based on the findings of the subperiod 3 (the current period), the study recommends that an investor should monitor the movements of the stock index futures returns because the previous day's and today's increase in stock index futures returns lead to an increase in todays's stock index returns. Furthermore, an investor should also consider investing in stock index futures on Tuesdays and the second week of each month because the study found that the returns was highest these points of time

Determining the relationships between bank capital, credit risk, cost inefficiency and profitability in Islamic banks: a comparative analysis between before and after Global Financial Crisis

This study empirically determines the relationships between bank capital, credit risk, cost inefficiency and profitability in Islamic banks on a cross-country basis for the years between 2003 and 2012. Specifically the study aims to identify these relationships during the periods before and after the global financial crisis (GFC). Besides that, this study also determines the differences in these relationships in Islamic banks that operate in MENA and non-MENA regions. The extant literature on these relationships were concentrated largely in the conventional banks and have mixed conclusions. As the Islamic banks are subjected to Shariah – compliance, their financial instruments and operating system is different from conventional banks. Contrary to the general belief that Islamic banks were not affected by the effects of GFC due to its interest-free intermediation and profit-loss sharing system, evidences have indicated that both, Islamic and conventional banking systems, are equally vulnerable to financial shocks during extreme events. Using the yearly bank financial statement data collected from Bankscope database on 85 Islamic banks from 24 countries over a period of ten years, this study analyzed these relationships employing the appropriate regression techniques. The theoretical framework of this study used four main Islamic bank variables; bank capital, credit risk, cost inefficiency and profitability to determine the relationships between them, besides six other bank specific variables. The research methodology mainly used the panel data analysis in analysing the relationship between these variables. The findings of this study reveal that low capitalized Islamic banks take on more credit risk, cost inefficient Islamic banks take on more credit risk and highly risky (in terms of credit risk) Islamic banks were more cost inefficient for the periods before and after GFC and also in MENA and non-MENA regions. Another finding of this study reveals that, highly profitable Islamic banks take on less credit risk during the period before the GFC. However, the inverse was observed after GFC. Region wise, it is noted that highly profitable MENA region Islamic banks take less credit risk, while highly profitable non-MENA region Islamic banks take on more credit risk. The findings of this study also indicate that in Islamic banks, higher the bank capital, higher the profitability during both periods (before and after GFC) and also in Islamic banks that operate in MENA and non-MENA regions. Overall, this study found that the relationships between bank capital, credit risk, cost inefficiency and profitability in Islamic banks were generally similar during both the periods before and after the GFC. However, differences were noted in the directions of which cost inefficiency and profitability affects credit risk in MENA and non-MENA region. Cost inefficiency negatively affects credit risk of Islamic banks that operate in MENA region while the inverse is observed in Islamic banks that operate in non-MENA region. Profitability negatively affects credit risk of Islamic banks that operate in MENA region while the reverse condition is observed in Islamic banks that operate in non-MENA region

Bank Capital and Credit Risk Relationship in Islamic Banks: Comparative Analysis between Mena Region and Non-Mena Region

Using ten years’ financial statements data, this study empirically determines the relationships between bank capital and credit risk in a selected sample of MENA region and non-MENA region Islamic banks. Evidence shows a negative impact of bank capital on the credit risk in MENA region Islamic banks supporting the moral hazard theory. Findings also indicates that non-MENA region Islamic banks with higher credit risk hold smaller capital. Moreover, highly profitable Islamic banks in the MENA region take less credit risk. This study also found that bank size also negatively affects credit risk of both MENA and nonMENA region Islamic banks. This implies that as the size of the MENA and non-MENA region Islamic banks increases, the credit risk decreases

Genetic validation and spectroscopic detailing of DHN-melanin extracted from an environmental fungus

Accurate characterization of melanin using analytical methodologies has proved to be difficult due to its heterogeneity, insolubility in wide pH and broad range of solvents. The present study was undertaken to characterize melanin extracted from an environmental Aspergillus fumigatus AFGRD105 by studying its genes, chemical properties and spectral data. A gene based approach to confirm the type of melanin carried out indicated the extracted melanin to be of the dihydroxynaphthalene type. On comparison with synthetic melanin, UV–Vis and IR spectra of the extracted melanin revealed characteristic peaks that can be further used for confirmation of DHN-melanin extracted from any source. Solid state 13C NMR spectroscopy established the presence of the hydroxyl-naphthalene moiety and validated the results obtained by genetic analysis. The correct assignment of the observed spectral frequency characteristic of functional groups can be further adapted in future works that deal with binding capacities and biomolecule systems involving melanin

Sustainable entrepreneurship in Malaysian companies

Sustainable entrepreneurship refers to the economic, social, and environmental value creation across enterprises in Malaysia. When examining sustainable entrepreneurship in Malaysian companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which serve as the backbone of the Malaysian economy and account for 97.2% of businesses and generate 38.2% of the gross domestic product, cannot be overlooked. The research is the first study in Malaysia, which extends the entrepreneurial event model to develop a comprehensive research framework to examine and propose suggestions to improve sustainable entrepreneurship in SMEs. A questionnaire was distributed to 400 entrepreneurs from SMEs in central regions in Malaysia, and 300 complete and valid questionnaires were used for the analysis. All constructs in the questionnaire were tested and confirmed to have high convergent validity and high composite reliability. The results show that perceived desirability, perceived feasibility and propensity to act have a positive effect on sustainable entrepreneurship in SMEs. Young entrepreneurs under 40 years old show greater propensity to act on sustainable entrepreneurship compared to older entrepreneurs aged over 40 years old. This research offers practical and theoretical new insights for SMEs, entrepreneurs, employees, and institutions toward improving sustainable entrepreneurship in a developing nation in Asia

The effect of environmental, social and governance criteria on the corporate value of listed companies in Malaysia

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are used by most corporations to achieve and maintain the best management quality. Thus, implementing ESG might assist firms in Malaysia to improve their corporate performance. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effect of ESG on corporate performance in terms of the value of Malaysian listed firms. A total of 45 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia that have complete ESG data from 2011–2021 were selected from Bloomberg’s ESG database. Corporate value was measured using three indicators – return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q. According to the results, the ESG scores have an insignificant positive influence on ROE and Tobin’s Q. However, the ESG scores have a negative but insignificant impact on ROA. The individual Environmental score has a negative impact on ROA but a positive impact on ROE and Tobin’s Q. Meanwhile, Social on its own has an insignificant negative impact on all variables, and Governance has a positive but insignificant impact on all variables. Based on the inconsistencies between the results of this study and those of previous research, the conclusions on whether ESG criteria promote business value and performance cannot be reached. ESG practices have become increasingly important, not only for policymakers but for governments and stakeholders. Hence, the outcome of this study will be useful for the government to reduce costs and implement policies to improve corporate performance in Malaysia

The factors affecting consumer’s perception about credit cards usage: A study in Melaka, Malaysia

The objective of this study is to examine factors affecting consumers’ perception on credit card usage. This study implemented the non-probability sampling technique as it is the most convenience sampling method for the questionnaire survey for this study. The analysis was conducted by collecting 200 samples in Melaka, Malaysia and applying SERVQUAL model as the base model for this study. The model examines the impact of service quality, perceived benefits, bank policies and consumers’ attitude in influencing consumers’ perception on credit card usage. This study used multiple linear regression to analyze the factors affecting consumers’ perception on credit card usage. The findings conclude that service quality, perceived benefits, bank policies and consumers’ attitude have significant positive effect on the consumers’ perception on credit card usage