KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Civil engineering and turnkey contractor Zelan Bhd has terminated a construction contract with United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Meena Holdings LLC after the latter defaulted on some RM31.88 million worth of payments.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Zelan said its subsidiary Zelan Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd has issued a notice to Meena Holdings today to terminate its building contract for the procurement, construction and completion of a package of works for the Meena Plaza mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi, UAE, which was first inked on April 1, 2008.

Zelan said Meena Holdings has failed to pay it AED27.6 million (RM31.88 million) of completed work and materials at site.

Zelan also said it terminated the contract due to continuous interference with the valuation and certification of Zelan Holdings’ progress claims.

“As provided for under the contract, the termination will take effect 14 days after the issuance of the notice,” the company said.

Zelan said its subsidiary will take the appropriate steps to pursue its claims against Meena Holdings and recover any loss and damages arising from the termination of the contract.

Zelan shares closed half a sen or 1.85% higher at 27.5 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM232.35 million.

(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.)