KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Shares of Perwaja Holdings Bhd were up 3.6% or 1 sen following reports that the group and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd, have inked a master framework agreement with a China-based firm.

As at 10.14am, Perwaja’s (fundamental: 0; valuation: 0) stock stood at 29 sen, compared to an earlier high of 32 sen, with some 33.4 million shares traded.

The current price gives it a market capitalisation of RM156.8 million.

The master framework agreement will allow the group and Tianjin Zhi Yuan Investment Group Co Ltd (Zhiyuan) to restructure the loss-making Malaysian steel company.

Perwaja executive chairman Datuk Alan Ong said the group was eyeing a turn around in its business by current financial year ending June 30, 2016, after the completion of the restructuring.

"In 2016 itself, we can expect Perwaja to turnaround, by the time the scheme is completed. So we'll be seeing some small profit for FY16," Ong told a press conference after the signing ceremony yesterday.

Perwaja’s restructuring scheme will see Zhiyuan taking its place as a strategic investor of Perwaja, and the upgrading of Perwaja’s steel plant in Kemaman, Terengganu.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)