KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): Borneo Aqua Harvest Bhd said today that it is not aware of reasons that could have caused a 40% jump in its share prices over the past week.

In a reply to an unusual market activity (UMA) query to Bursa Malaysia Securities, the company said save for a proposed acquisition of Wullersdorf Resources Sdn Bhd which was announced on Nov 20, 2015, the group was not aware of any rumour, report or other corporate development related to the group’s business and affairs that had not been previously announced, including those in the stage of negotiations or discussions.

Shares of Borneo Aqua rose 40% over the past week, prompting Bursa Malaysia to issue a UMA query to the group.

The stock closed at a three-month high of RM1.05 yesterday, after surging to an intraday high of RM1.07, with 2.03 million shares traded.

The counter has risen by 30 sen or 40% since July 13, when it was trading at 75 sen.

The stock is currently trading at RM1.04, with 1.11 million shares done.

Borneo Aqua, through its subsidiaries, conducts fish breeding, hatchery and rearing operations. It is also engaged in the mass production of red snapper and grouper.

The group had proposed to purchase the entire 100% equity of mining company, Wullersdorf Resources, in November last year for RM131 million, as part of its plan to diversify into the mining business.

It was previously reported that WRSB had entered into a sub-lease agreement with Southsea Gold Sdn Bhd (SGSB) on Oct 1 — a company with common shareholders as WRSB, that has a four-year prospecting licence ending Dec 31, 2016, to prospect and explore minerals on 20,000 hectares (ha) of mining land in Tawau, Sabah.

The minerals are namely zinc, lead, copper, gold, silver and other base metals.

On June 24, Borneo Aqua said it had not abandoned its plans to diversify into the mining business, adding it was still going ahead with plans to purchase Wullersdorf Resources.

It explained that the decision not to extend a cooperative agreement with Southsea Gold was made after taking into consideration, an alternative mining site comprising 317.7-ha of mining land, under Wullersdorf Resources.

The lapsed cooperative agreement between Borneo Aqua and Southsea Gold was for conducting mining activities in an area measuring 200 acres (81-ha) at Bukit Mantri in Tawau, Sabah.