Philippines' Marcos Keeps Economic Team Amid Cabinet Shakeup

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. retained Ralph Recto as his finance chief and the rest of his economic team amid a Cabinet revamp, signaling continuity in his economic agenda.
Recto will keep his post, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a briefing on Friday. The ministers for trade, economic planning and budget will also stay on, he said.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Bloomberg

3 hours ago

• Bloomberg

Thai Premier Won't Quit to Save Government, Ruling Party Says

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will not resign or dissolve parliament, her party said Saturday, amid reports the leader may step down to keep the ruling coalition in power and to end a political crisis triggered by comments she had made that were critical of the army. Speculation that Paetongtarn would accept proposals from coalition parties to quit or dissolve parliament after the passage of the budget bill 'are completely untrue,' Sorawong Thienthong, secretary-general of Pheu Thai Party, said in a post on Facebook.

Yahoo

9 hours ago

• Yahoo

99 Speed Mart's Southeast Asia 500 debut is the latest milestone for the company and its founder, a childhood polio survivor

99 Speed Mart, one of Malaysia's largest convenience store chains, is one of the newest firms on the Southeast Asia 500, making its debut after its 2024 IPO, Malaysia's largest in seven years. With $2.2 billion in revenue, 99 Speed Mart generated enough sales to land it at No. 158 on Fortune's ranking of the largest Southeast Asian companies by revenue. The company currently has 2,833 outlets and 20 distribution centers across the country, and plans to reach 3,000 outlets by the end of the year. But 99 Speed Mart's story is also as much a story about its founder, Lee Thiam Wah, as it is about the growth of a convenience store chain. Lee contracted polio at a young age and subsequently lost the use of his legs. He's been wheelchair-bound for much of his life. 'Nobody would hire me due to my physical limitations,' he told Forbes in a 2010 interview. In that interview, he quoted advice from his paternal grandfather: 'If you don't work hard, what will you amount to?' Lee's retail career got its start when he started selling snacks from a roadside stall. He then opened his first mini market in 1987 as a sole proprietorship, then established Ninety Nine Market in 1992. By 1998, he had a network of 8 mini markets, and established 99 Speed Mart two years later. Now, 99 Speed Mart is the largest mini-market player in Malaysia, according to its IPO prospectus. 99 Speed Mart holds 40% of the market against global competition like 7-Eleven, and the chain also has an 11% share of the grocery market. The company raised $532 million in an IPO last September, Malaysia's largest in seven years. The listing made Lee a billionaire, and one of Malaysia's richest men. 99 Speed Mart plans to use the IPO proceeds to fund its global expansion. In an interview with Bloomberg after the listing, Lee said he's looking for 'good opportunities' to go overseas, but has no 'concrete plans' as of yet. (99 Speed Mart briefly had an outlet in Singapore, before withdrawing due to the COVID pandemic). In addition to being the CEO of 99 Speed Mart, Lee also operates franchising rights for Burger King in Malaysia and Singapore, and is the third-largest shareholder of Alliance Bank Malaysia, according to Bloomberg. Shares in 99 Speed Mart are up 9.57% since September's IPO. Malaysia's benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index is down about 8% over the same period. This story was originally featured on

Yahoo

10 hours ago

• Yahoo

Investors Could Be Concerned With DS Sigma Holdings Berhad's (KLSE:DSS) Returns On Capital

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think DS Sigma Holdings Berhad (KLSE:DSS) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on DS Sigma Holdings Berhad is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.093 = RM11m ÷ (RM135m - RM15m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). So, DS Sigma Holdings Berhad has an ROCE of 9.3%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 7.3% generated by the Packaging industry, it's much better. View our latest analysis for DS Sigma Holdings Berhad Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for DS Sigma Holdings Berhad's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating DS Sigma Holdings Berhad's past further, check out this free graph covering DS Sigma Holdings Berhad's past earnings, revenue and cash flow. In terms of DS Sigma Holdings Berhad's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 9.3% from 45% five years ago. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line. On a related note, DS Sigma Holdings Berhad has decreased its current liabilities to 11% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE. In summary, DS Sigma Holdings Berhad is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 37% in the last year. Therefore based on the analysis done in this article, we don't think DS Sigma Holdings Berhad has the makings of a multi-bagger. If you want to know some of the risks facing DS Sigma Holdings Berhad we've found 2 warning signs (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here. While DS Sigma Holdings Berhad isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets. — Investing narratives with Fair Values Vita Life Sciences Set for a 12.72% Revenue Growth While Tackling Operational Challenges By Robbo – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: A$2.42 · 0.1% Overvalued Vossloh rides a €500 billion wave to boost growth and earnings in the next decade By Chris1 – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: €78.41 · 0.1% Overvalued Intuitive Surgical Will Transform Healthcare with 12% Revenue Growth By Unike – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: $325.55 · 0.6% Undervalued View more featured narratives — Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data