KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus for Thursday (Jan 30) may include the following: AirAsia Group Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd, Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Paramount Corporation Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and London Biscuits Bhd.

AirAsia Group Bhd has recorded a 9% increase year-on-year (y-o-y) in the number of passengers carried to 13.17 million for the fourth quarter ended December, 2019 from 12.11 million passengers previously.

In the same period, the carrier’s capacity expanded by 11% y-o-y to 16.02 million passengers from 14.38 million, driven by large increases in Indonesia and the Philippines.  

However, load factor, which is the number of passengers carried as a percentage of capacity, dipped slightly to 82% from 84% due to the increased capacity.  

Separately, AirAsia X Bhd said it saw an 8% y-o-y increase in its passenger volume during the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 (4QFY19).

AirAsia X said it transported 1.61 million passengers in 4QFY19, with seat capacity rising 4% y-o-y to 1.99 million seats during the quarter.

The available seats per kilometre capacity inched up by 1% to 9,211 million, on the back of shorter stage length, following its network realignment exercise.

Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd has won an electrical installation services contract worth RM20 million from Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd for a hotel, office and serviced apartment project in the city.

Kejuruteraan Asastera said its role as a subcontractor involves the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of the services.

Work commenced today and is expected to be completed by Nov 1, 2022, it added.

Maxis Bhd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to create and provide innovative digital solutions for organisations in Malaysia.

The parties said they will be collaborating in building smart utilities and other connected applications to drive economic growth and digitalisation in the country.

Under the collaboration, Maxis will leverage Microsoft Azure public cloud and Azure Stack services to enhance Maxis’ cloud services to meet the needs of businesses, and the telecommunication company will also adopt Microsoft’s modern workplace solutions, among others.

Paramount Corporation Bhd has received the green light from shareholders, as well as the Ministry of Education, to divest its controlling stake of its K-12 education business for an indicative price of RM540.5 million.

Paramount is selling majority stakes in Paramount Education Sdn Bhd (PESB), Paramount Education (Klang) Sdn Bhd (PEKSB) and Sri KDU Sdn Bhd (Sri KDU) to Prestigion Education Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Two Horses Capital Sdn Bhd). Paramount will retain an effective 20% stake in the pre-tertiary education business.

With the cash in hand, the group plans to distribute RM177 million or 40.8 sen per share to its shareholders in the form of a special dividend. It will also use RM150 million to acquire new land banks. Another RM133.65 million will be used to pare down borrowings, and the rest will be for working capital.

On a proforma basis, the gain arising from the disposal is estimated at RM487.8 million, Paramount said.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is piloting its Single Token Journey concept at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The concept leverages on facial recognition technology to provide passengers with a single identification verification which is used at all airport touchpoints from check-in to the boarding gate.

MAHB said passengers travelling to Japan were the first to experience the concept, which is being piloted for three months in collaboration with Malaysia Airlines Bhd and aviation information technology company SITA.

The call by certain shareholders of London Biscuits Bhd to convene an extraordinary general meeting on Jan 31 has been rendered invalid by the appointment of a liquidator.

As London Biscuits has been wound up by the High Court, the shareholders no longer have the power to pass resolutions in general meetings that could effect a change in the management of the company, the company said.