KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus on Tuesday (April 18) may include the following: WCT, AirAsia, Country Heights, Key Alliance, Ekovest, AsiaBio, MMHE, BTM Resources, Thriven Global, Ancom, Kelington Group, Anzo, Boon Koon and Excel Force.

WCT Holdings Bhd has proposed a share dividend on the basis of one treasury share for every 165 existing units to reward the construction firm's shareholders.

WCT said the share dividend was for financial year ended Dec 31, 2016  and that it would fix the share dividend's entitlement date later.

The share dividend is subject to shareholders’ approval being obtained at the company’s forthcoming sixth annual general meeting.

Budget airline AirAsia Bhd has set up AirAsia Corporate Charter Sdn Bhd (AACC), as it set sights to become a full-fledged charter and private unscheduled business jet operator.

It said AACC’s principal activities are to acquire and manage the Bombardier Global Express 9M-CJG and to become a full-fledged charter and private unscheduled business jet operator.

The government of Malaysia has filed a winding-up petition against a subsidiary of Country Heights Holdings Bhd over some RM22.7 million of tax liabilities the unit owes the government.

The petition was served on its wholly-owned subsidiary Country Heights Sdn Bhd (CHSB) today.

The group said that CHSB has "more than sufficient assets to settle CHSB's purported tax obligations and/or the amount claimed by the government" and that it is a solvent company.

It also assured that the amount owed has been fully provided for and that there will not be any financial impact from the proceedings, though the group's cash for working capital could be reduced by the settlement sum to be paid.

Key Alliance Group Bhd (KAG) has bagged a contract worth RM24.75 million to design, build and manage a data centre in Persoft Tower in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

KAG said its wholly-owned subsidiary DVM Innovate Sdn Bhd received the conditional letter of award (LOA) from Avenue Escapade Sdn Bhd (AESB), an investment holding company which owns the majority of the strata units at Persoft Tower. The project is expected to take 15 months to complete.

Ekovest Bhd's unit has been appointed as the design and build contractor to undertake the 'Blue River Project', valued at RM79 million, by the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL).

Ekovest said its wholly-owned subsidiary EkoRiver Construction Sdn Bhd (ERCSB) which received the letter of award from DBKL today, will be undertaking the job which is expected to take 18 months and be completed before Aug 30.

The project is in the vicinity of the River of Life Precint 7 — Masjid Jamek Kuala Lumpur Zone, it said.

The project’s contract value is inclusive of payment to operate and maintain the project for five years and it is expected to contribute positively to its revenue and earnings, said Ekovest.

Asia Bioenergy Technologies Bhd is planning to undertake a three-for-one consolidation of its share capital to reduce its share price fluctuation.

Shareholders of its convertible securities may also convert them in the same manner.

The group presently has an issued and paid up capital of 1.11 billion shares.

It has two convertible securities — 43 million convertible share issuance scheme (SIS) options and 394 million warrants — both convertible to one share each, pre-consolidation.

The group said the proposed consolidation is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) has won a contract worth RM1 billion for the central processing platform (CPP) within Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) Bokor Phase 3 re-development project.

MHB said its wholly-owned subsidiary Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd was awarded the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning contract by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd.

According to MHB, the first steel cut is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2018, with the project scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.

BTM Resources Bhd is planning to collaborate with two Chinese companies, namely the China Western Power International Pte Ltd and Sichuan No 2 Electric Power Construction Company (Sichuan Power), to establish a RM435 million municipal solid waste-to-energy (WTE) generation plant in Melaka.

BTM said it inked a Memorandum of Understanding with China Western Power and Sichuan Power last Friday (April 14), which spells out the intentions of all parties involved in the project.

The WTE plant will have a capacity of not less than 1,000 tonnes/day, it said.

Thriven Global Bhd said it is in talks to acquire the remaining 49% stake in its 51%-owned subsidiary Mulpha Argyle Property Sdn Bhd (MAPSB), after which it plans to sell off the entire unit.

Proceeds raised from this deal will be used to recoup the losses suffered from its investment in MAPSB.

Thriven said it will make the appropriate announcement(s) in due course if and when the proposed acquisition of the remaining 49% equity stake in MAPSB is successful and use the net cash proceeds raised from the disposal to reinvest in other property development projects.

Ancom Bhd is considering several corporate restructuring proposals but has yet to make a final decision.

It said today in response to a report in The Edge weekly that its wholly-owned media advertising outfit Redberry Sdn Bhd could be injected into Ancom Logistics Bhd as part of a group-wide restructuring exercise.

Ancom Logistics, which is owned 45.53% by Ancom, has a logistics business and tank farm operations.

The Edge, in its April 17-23 edition, reported that Ancom initially wanted to float Redberry’s shares via  an initial public offering, but a possible injection of Redberry into Ancom is now being considered.

Kelington Group Bhd has won a S$7.67 million (RM24.2 million) contract to provide works for a process piping system.

The gas delivery solutions provider said its wholly-owned subsidiary Kelington Engineering (S) Pte Ltd was awarded the contract by Givaudan Singapore Pte Ltd.

The works entail the provision of engineering, design, procurement, installation, testing and commissioning of process piping system in Singapore. The company expects to complete the contract by December this year.

Anzo Holdings Bhd has been slapped with yet another unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Malaysia, after its share price plunged by 19.5 sen or 35.14% to 36 sen today.

This is the second UMA query for the group within a month; it was queried on March 28 after its share price jumped to 54.5 sen on the previous day from 29 sen on March 13. The company has replied that it was not aware of any corporate development that would have contributed to the rally.

Boon Koon Group Bhd saw a total of 40 million shares traded off-market for a total value of RM18 million.

According to Bloomberg data, the shares crossed in two blocks of 35 million shares and five million shares, representing a total equity stake of 14.45% in the company. At the time of writing, it was unclear who the parties involved in the transaction were.

The shares were traded at 45 sen apiece, representing a two sen or 4.26% discount to the company's closing price of 47 sen on Friday.

Excel Force MSC Bhd has proposed a one-for-two share split to increase the liquidity of its shares.

The group said the share split involves the subdivision of every one existing share into two split shares, which would halve its share price to below RM1 per share.

Excel Force said the share split would result in a more affordable share price that would appeal to a wider group of public shareholders and investors.