KUALA LUMPUR (May 8): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Thursday (May 9) may include the following: Daya Materials Bhd, Pasdec Holdings Bhd, Inta Bina Group Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, Tune Protect Group Bhd, Amcorp Properties Bhd, Gadang Holdings Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd.

Daya Materials Bhd managed to avert a trading suspension today (May 9) after the Practice Note 17 (PN17) submitted its annual report for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018.

Pasdec Holdings Bhd expects its annual report for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 to be released by May 31 as it is still pending the conclusion of the audit of its South African Pasdec Resources SA Ltd and its group of companies.

Inta Bina Group Bhd has bagged a contract to build two blocks of serviced apartments from Southville City Sdn Bhd for RM178.2 million. Its wholly-owned unit Inta Bina Sdn Bhd accepted the letter of award on Monday. One block would comprise 329 units of serviced apartments and 148 units of affordable serviced apartments, whereas the other block would contain 488 units of serviced apartments.

The completion period for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project will be 30 and 31 months respectively from the date of commencement.

Malayan Banking Bhd will revise its base lending rate (BLR) and base rate (BR) by 20 basis points (bps) effective tomorrow in line with the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) cut to 3% on May 7. Its BR would drop 20 bps to 3.05% per annum, and its BLR to 6.7%. Its fixed deposit rates would also be adjusted 20 bps downwards.

Tune Protect Group Bhd has appointed William Foo as chief executive officer of its subsidiary Tune Insurance Malaysia Bhd effective today.

Amcorp Properties Bhd (Amprop) is acquiring an effective 20 percent stake in two premium Grade A office towers in Tampines Grande, Singapore. This would involve a funding commitment of S$24 million (RM73.2 million).

Its wholly-owned subsidiary Amprop Synergy Pte Ltd signed a joint-venture agreement to subscribe to 40% equity interest in SRIF Amcorp Pte Ltd (JVCo) for S$40 (RM122). In turn, JVCo owns a 50 percent stake in Ascend TGrande Pte Ltd, which is in the process of buying the commercial blocks.

Under the JVA, Amprop and its partners — SRIF Pte Ltd and an endowment fund deemed to be established under Nanyang Technological University — agree to fund the JVCo, whether by equity or loans, proportionately according to their shareholding percentage for the purchase and other costs of the property. The office building, with 287,651 square foot of lettable space, has a net book value of about RM1.12 billion.

Gadang Holdings Bhd has proposed a private placement to raise up to RM62.12 million via the issue of up to 82.825 million new ordinary shares, representing not more than 10% of the enlarged issue of shares of 828.257 million as at May 7.  

The funds would be utilised for construction projects expenditure, repayment of bank borrowings as well as expenses related to the proposed private placement.

Axiata Group Bhd, which is in the midst of working on a mega merger plan with Norwegian Telenor group on their operations in Asia, said its 80%-owned unit Ncell Private Ltd had obtained an extended temporary stay order preventing Nepali tax authorities from taking action against the company while its writ petition is being reviewed by the Supreme Court of Nepal.

Upon hearing the Ncell application on May 7, the Supreme Court had ordered that a full bench be convened to hear and decide on the Ncell Application.