KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Shares of Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) jumped as much as 13 sen or 26.8% today, as the possible revival of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) improved sentiment on Malaysia's mega projects currently under scrutiny.

At 4.42pm, IWCity was trading at 58.5 sen, up 10 sen or 20.62% for a market capitalisation of RM494.06 million. It was the third most-actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia with 81.26 million shares transacted.

Earlier today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng reportedly said the government is "hopeful" that the ECRL can be revived at a lower price, pending a decision from the ongoing discussion with China by April.

This follows a Bloomberg report on Thursday, which quoted Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah as saying that the negotiation on the ECRL is "in the last mile".

The ECRL is one of several mega projects initiated during the previous administration that was halted by the new government, citing overpriced costs and unfavourable contract terms to Malaysia.

IWCity, on the other hand, was initially in the run-up to participate as the master developer of another mega project, the Bandar Malaysia mixed development, with an estimated gross development value of RM160 billion.

The halting of a series of projects connected to Bandar Malaysia, including the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and termination of a 60% stake sale in the project to IWCity in July last year effectively put the brakes on the project. No new master developer has been roped in.