KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) topped the most actively traded list with its trading volume soaring to 244.53 million shares — the highest in almost five years.

It is not known why the counter saw such a high volume of trading today. The last time the group saw trading volume hitting the same range as today’s was on Sept 26, 2014, with 210.15 million shares traded.

Today’s trading volume is significantly above its five-year average daily trading volume of only 11.92 million shares.

Its share price, however, was under pressure, it dipped to an intraday low of 24.5 sen. The stock closed unchanged today at 26.5 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.38 billion.

The stock is now at its five-year low level.

Yesterday, its controlling shareholder Tan Sri Vincent Tan commented that BCorp’s 100%-owned airline Berjaya Air Sdn Bhd did not cause the death of airport staff Mohd Ruzaimi Iskandar Ahmad Razali at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Airport in Subang on March 18.

He noted that Berjaya Air and its pilots were wrongly faulted for causing the fatal accident as necessary clearance was obtained from airport authorities ahead of the aircraft’s landing.

Tan said Berjaya Air and its pilots had followed all the proper operating flight and landing procedures and had obtained clearance from the Subang tower before they landed the aircraft.

“The fault for this incident must lie with the airport authorities. They should have given adequate advance warning to the inbound aircraft that maintenance work was being carried out on the runway or close the airport altogether.

“No such warning was given and in my view the airport authority was negligent," he said.

BCorp share price has been drifting lower although Tan has revealed his intention to restructure the group. Amongst his proposals, Tan suggested that 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd (7-Eleven) and Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) be delisted, via Berjaya Corp acquiring 100% stakes in both companies in the group.