KENANGA MAINTAINS 2024 SALES GROWTH FORECAST AT 8.0 PCT

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) -- Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd maintained its 2024 sales growth forecast at 8.0 per cent compared with 7.7 per cent in 2023 in anticipation of sustained domestic demand.

Kenanga said that year-to-date, sales growth grew by 6.0 per cent (January to April: 5.7 per cent), lower than the 10.2 per cent recorded in the same period last year.

“Nevertheless, we still expect growth to be sustained in the coming months, this is largely due to the positive impact of Employees Provident Fund Account 3 withdrawals on domestic demand,” it said in a note.

According to the Finance Ministry in a parliamentary written reply recently, EPF members have withdrawn RM7.81 billion from Account 3 as of June 24 which involves 3.16 million members since Account 3 started on May 11, it said.

Notably, a total transfer of RM11.52 billion to Account 3 was made by 3.61 million members, indicating that around 450,000 members have yet to withdraw RM3.71 billion, while actual spending is expected to have an impact on the real economy from June onwards, it added.

“The continued increase in tourist arrivals and the relaxation of requirements for Malaysia My Second Home are expected to fuel further growth in the retail trade segment, contributing to our robust growth outlook.

“With that said, we have earlier revised the second quarter 2024 (2Q 20240 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to expand to 5.1 per cent from the previous estimate of 4.3 per cent (1Q 2024: 4.2 per cent), with overall 2024 GDP growth projected to settle at 4.5 per cent to 5.0 per cent (2023: 3.6 per cent).

-- BERNAMA