KUALA LUMPUR (April 13): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Thursday (April 13) involving Affin Bank Bhd, Supermax Corporation Bhd, Country Heights Holdings Bhd, Sarawak Cable Bhd, Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd, Perak Corp Bhd, Reservoir Link Energy Bhd, Yong Tai Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd, SFP Tech Holdings Bhd, Icon Offshore Bhd, PLS Plantations Bhd, Uchi Technologies Bhd, Infomina Bhd and Metro Healthcare Bhd.

Affin Bank Bhd said its largest shareholder Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) has divested a 4.95% stake in the bank to State Financial Secretary Sarawak, via a direct business transaction. LTAT sold the stake comprising 112.56 million shares for a cash consideration of RM221.74 million or RM1.97 per share.

Supermax Corporation Bhd is urging its former migrant employees to apply for reimbursement of any fees paid to obtain employment at the company, to complete the transformation of its labour policies. It continues to conduct an outreach campaign in its effort to follow up on earlier efforts implemented in Nepal and Bangladesh, asking that former workers who paid recruitment fees to obtain employment be reimbursed.

Country Heights Holdings Bhd's founder and largest shareholder Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew claimed that he did not file for bankruptcy, and is still far from insolvency. Lee said the issue was escalated by Patrick Healy, a former officer of US-based Club Excellence Inc which had already been wound up. Healy went to the US arbitration court to seek RM3 million from Lee. Lee claimed that the court had granted a court judgement in favour of Healy without him being present, owing to the distance between Malaysia and the US, and the Covid-19 pandemic, among others.

Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCable) and KAB Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB), have mutually agreed to extend the conditional period for the proposed disposal of 300,000 shares in PT Inpola Mitra Elektrindo, which owns and operates a mini hydroelectric power plant in North Sumatera, Indonesia, for another three months to July 31.

Perak Corp Bhd has been granted a further six-month extension until Aug 9 by Bursa Securities to submit its regularisation plan to address the company’s financial condition. Perak Corp was previously granted an extension of time until Aug 10 last year and more recently another extension until Feb 10 this year. Perak Corp slipped into Practice Note 17 status in February 2020, as a result of a default in payment and its inability to declare solvency.

Reservoir Link Energy Bhd has inked an agreement to undertake the construction, commissioning and operations of a new wastewater treatment plant in Indonesia. The group’s 85%-owned subsidiary PT EnviroTech Akva Indonesia entered into an agreement with PT Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia (PTUOI) for the new plant in PTUOI's premises at Sei Mangkei, North Sumatra.

Yong Tai Bhd has scrapped the mining agreement to undertake a gold mining project on a 100ha site in Bukit Kenderak in Pahang's Lipis district.

The High Court has fixed another case management for the judicial review application by a joint venture (JV) company between Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and Malakoff Corp Bhd against the Inland Revenue Board, as the parties engage in out-of-court settlement negotiations. The next case management will be held on May 23 for the parties to update the court on the outcome of the negotiations.

SFP Tech Holdings Bhd has proposed to undertake a bonus issue of up to 1.6 billion shares on the basis of two bonus shares for every one existing share held, on an entitlement date to be determined later. As at April 12, the issued share capital of SFP Tech is RM119.49 million, comprising 800 million shares.

Icon Offshore Bhd has proposed to replace its existing employee share scheme (ESS) with a new long-term incentive plan for its employees and executive director Datuk Seri Hadian Hashim, which will be in force for 10 years. As such, it is seeking to end the existing ESS ahead of its expiration period at end-2024. The scheme commenced in January 2015 for five years up to Dec 31, 2019 and was extended for another five years up to December 2024.

PLS Plantations Bhd has aborted its plan to invest RM50 million into a 51:49 JV with Landasan Erajaya Sdn Bhd to undertake cash crop plantation activities in Pahang. PLS and Landasan Erajaya have mutually agreed to not further extend their binding term sheet for the collaboration.

Shareholders of Uchi Technologies Bhd will get a windfall in the form of a second interim dividend of 13 sen per share and special interim dividend of five sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022, payable on May 31.

Infomina Bhd posted net profit of RM22.72 million or 3.78 sen per share for its third quarter ended Feb 28, 2023, on revenue of  RM109.73 million. Revenue driven by technology infrastructure operations which benefited from an increased number of customers, and new contracts.

Metro Healthcare Bhd, which is listed on the LEAP Market of Bursa Malaysia, said it has received a letter from its founder, executive chairman and major shareholder Dr Tee Swi Peng @ Tay Swi Peng requesting the board of directors to consider a transfer to the ACE Market. Metro’s board will deliberate on the proposal.