KUALA LUMPUR (March 11): KUB Malaysia Bhd (KUB) shares rose 3 sen or 7.23% to 44.5 sen today after the company said it was working to have its inter-city rail transit system project in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor re-tabled to the Economic Council by this year.

At 10.33 am today, a total of 8.18 million shares had changed hands.

Yesterday, KUB (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 1.2) said that the company, together with Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel), expects to submit an update on the proposed inter-city rail transit system project in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor to the Economic Council by this year.

KUB, in which the Ministry of Finance Inc holds a 22.55% stake, said the Transport Ministry had received and was reviewing the updates on the proposed project.

The company expects to put into action the partnership agreement sealed in January 2011 soon.

The proposed joint venture (JV) will be helmed by Metropolitan Network Sdn Bhd, in which Masteel (fundamental: 0.75; valuation: 1.2) and KUB hold a 60% and 40% stake respectively.

The proposed 100-km rail project will connect to Singapore’s mass rapid transit line, and have 25 commuter stations in major towns in Iskandar Malaysia.

The operation will be based on a 25-year concession. The project comprises three phases, to be completed within 24 months from the project commencement.

It was also proposed that the project be funded by project financing under the public-private partnership scheme.

(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.)