KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): George Kent (M) Bhd, whose shares have been battered after the May 9 general election, is hastening its share buyback plan.

The rail infrastructure group will now seek shareholders' approval to buy back up to 10% of its share capital at an extraordinary general meeting on June 4, instead of waiting for the annual general meeting.

"A statement to shareholders containing details in relation to the proposed share buyback will be distributed to shareholders on May 18," George Kent said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

Currently, George Kent has 563.27 million issued shares. Assuming the group buys up to 10% of the shares at today's closing price of RM1.51, it could be forking out some RM85 million.

George Kent shares have come under selling pressure as the group is perceived to have a strong link to Barisan Nasional, which suffered a shock defeat in the election.

Since the market reopened on May 14 after the election break, George Kent shares have slumped by 61.68%, with RM1.4 billion in market capitalisation wiped out.

This morning, George Kent came under renewed selling pressure after Bursa lifted the one-day lower price limit. This prompted the regulator to suspend the proprietary day trader (PDT) and intraday short selling (IDSS) activities for the rest of the day.

"The PDT and IDSS activities will only be enabled the following trading day, i.e. Friday, May 18, 2018, at 08:30 am," said Bursa.

George Kent is the project delivery partner for the RM9 billion Light Rail Transit Line 3. The 37-km line traverses 26 stations between Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya and Joha Setia in Klang.