PETALING JAYA: Tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo-linked Ekovest Bhd and Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) emerged as the most active stocks on Bursa Malaysia today, driven by market optimism over the possible revival of mega projects.
IWCity’s parent company Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH), together with China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC) were the winners of the Bandar Malaysia project before their status as the master developer was scrapped in May 2017.
Ekovest’s share price has been on the rise since the end of March, gaining 27% from its closing price of 50 sen on March 29. Today, the stock soared as much as 19.3% to 65 sen before closing 16.51% higher at 63.5 sen.
IWCity’s share price has also seen strong buying momentum over the past few weeks, rising 46.38% from its closing price of 32 sen on March 28. The stock rose to an intra-day high of RM1.10 and closed 18.13% higher at RM1.01 today.
Ekovest was the most active stock on the bourse with 196.90 million shares traded, followed by Ekovest-WB which saw 184.32 million shares changing hands. IWCity was the third most heavily traded stock with 151.03 million shares traded.
This comes after a rally in construction and building materials stocks on hopes of the revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) projects.
MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd has disclosed plans to appoint a consultant to review the technical aspects of the HSR project’s cost-reduction options.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said the government is looking at proposals aimed at reducing the cost of the HSR, which will be discussed further with Singapore before the end of the project suspension period on May 31, 2020.
Meanwhile, negotiations on the ECRL are expected to be concluded before Mahathir leaves to attend the Belt and Road Forum that starts on April 26 in China.
Latest developments on these two projects have in turn driven optimism in the market on the possible revival of Bandar Malaysia.
Bandar Malaysia is a mixed development with an estimated gross development value of RM160 billion. The transit-oriented development was planned as a transport hub connecting the HSR, MRT, KTM Komuter and Express Rail Link networks.
In May 2017, TRX City Sdn Bhd, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Finance Ministry, announced that the sale of its 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd had lapsed after IWH CREC Sdn Bhd’s failure to meet the payment obligations outlined in the conditions precedent under the share sale agreement, despite repeated extensions being granted.
IWH CREC was a 60:40 joint venture between IWH and CREC.
After the Pakatan Harapan government came into the power, Ministry of Finance special officer Tony Pua has said there was no interest in the government’s call for tender proposals for the Bandar Malaysia project.
