KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11): Based on corporate announcements and news flows, stocks in focus for Wednesday (Dec 12) may include: LB Aluminium Bhd, Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, Scicom (MSC) Bhd, Manforce Group Bhd, Vortex Consolidated Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.

LB Aluminium Bhd posted a 69.42% jump in net profit to RM2.83 million for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2018 from RM1.67 million a year earlier, thanks to higher sales volume and average selling price during the quarter. Revenue rose 12.88% to RM143.29 million from RM126.94 million previously.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd announced that its subsidiary has been awarded a conditional five-year contract by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc to provide pan-Malaysia underwater services for petroleum arrangement contractors.

The contract is on a call-out basis, whereby work orders will be issued by clients based on schedule of rates provided.

As such, the total value of the contract will be contingent upon the actual work orders and the scope of work performed.

Bursa Malaysia has suspended the proprietary day trading of (PTD) and intraday short selling (IDSS) of Scicom (MSC) Bhd today until 8.30am, tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec 12).

Workforce solution and services company, Manforce Group Bhd, which focuses on foreign labour, made a strong debut on the Bursa Malaysia Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) market today, rising 5 sen above its initial public offer price of 18 sen to close at 23 sen.

The company raised RM8.6 million through private placement at 18 sen per share, which then contributed to a market capitalisation of RM57.6 million upon listing.

Vortex Consolidated Bhd is taking over a mixed development project in Kajang with a gross development value (GDV) of more than RM340 million, in line with its business diversification into the property sector.

It is doing this by acquiring an 85% stake in loss-making private property firm, Paris Dynasty Land Sdn Bhd, for a nominal cash consideration of RM100. Paris Dynasty Land owns a 2.8 acre piece of freehold uland which houses an existing property development the Louvre. Construction on the Louvre commenced in March 2015 and is currently 20.2% completed.

AirAsia Group Bhd and its subsidiary AirAsia X Bhd have been sued by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) for a total of RM36.11 million for outstanding airport taxes.

This confirmed a report by The Edge Malaysia Weekly on Dec 3 that in mid-October, MAHB had sent legal letters to AirAsia and AAX demanding both airlines remit outstanding airport taxes or passenger service charges (PSCs) for international departures from July 1 onwards.

MAHB's subsidiary Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB) filed a suit against AirAsia’s wholly owned unit AirAsia Bhd (AAB), seeking RM9.4 million for unpaid PSCs. Similarly, it is seeking RM26.72 million in unpaid PSCs from AAX. Both AirAsia and AAX said they would defend these proceedings “vigorously” as they believe the claims were made “without justification and are unreasonable”.