KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): Amidst a reported dearth of suitors for Bandar Malaysia, shares in Ekovest Bhd and Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) continued to rise in active trade today.

At 10.06am, IWCity gained 6 sen or 8.05% to trade at 80.5 sen and was the second most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia with 37.28 million shares traded.

Ekovest, which shares a major shareholder with IWCity in the form of Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo, was fifth most active, with 19.53 million shares traded. It was up 1 sen or 1.39% at 73 sen.

The stocks had surged yesterday after renewed hopes that IWCity's parent company, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd (IWH), would once again be given the opportunity to develop the 194-hectare plot in Sungai Besi.

This was due to Ministry of Finance (MoF) special officer Tony Pua being reported as saying that the government had yet to receive tender proposals for the Bandar Malaysia development.

IWCity had risen as much as 50% in early trade to reach an intraday high of 85.5 sen, before paring gains to close up 17.5 sen or 30.7% at 74.5 sen.

Meanwhile, Ekovest surged as much as 18% to hit 77 sen yesterday before closing 7.5 sen or 11.63% higher at 72 sen.

In May 2017, IWCity's shares had been battered after MoF-owned TRX City Sdn Bhd axed the 60% stake sale in Bandar Malaysia to IWH CREC, claiming the joint venture company had failed to meet payment deadlines.

The following month, the ministry called for new tenders to develop the site.

IWH CREC is a 60:40 joint venture between IWH and China Railway Engineering Corp Sdn Bhd.