KUALA LUMPUR (July 9): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus on Monday (July 12) may include: Boustead Plantations Bhd, TDM Bhd, Naim Holdings Bhd, Ibraco Bhd, AwanBiru Technology Bhd, Gas Malaysia Bhd and Kumpulan H&L High-Tech Bhd.

Boustead Plantations Bhd has appointed Zainal Abidin Shariff as its chief executive officer (CEO), following the departure of his predecessor Ibrahim Abdul Majid, who has accepted a bigger role at Boustead Holdings Bhd.

Zainal Abidin previously served as the group CEO of Main Market-listed plantation group TDM Bhd from 2019 to 2020, chief executive of The Incorporated Society of Planters between 2018 and 2019, as well as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Felcra Bhd from 2016 to 2018.

Naim Holdings Bhd announced an interim dividend of 7.9 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2021, to be paid on Aug 6. The dividend payment amounts to RM40 million, marking the second consecutive year the group has announced dividends for its shareholders after the total RM47.64 million paid out in FY20.

Ibraco Bhd has secured a turnkey engineering, construction and commissioning contract worth about RM169 million for houses under the Rumah Pertiwi Scheme in Kuching, Sarawak. The five-year job was awarded by Bumia Sdn Bhd yesterday.

AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) has secured a RM22.78 million contract from the Ministry of Education (MOE) to supply the G Suite Enterprise For Education software to public schools in Malaysia. It said the three-year contract is effective July 9.

Gas Malaysia Bhd has raised the average natural gas selling price for the distribution segment of its unit Gas Malaysia Energy and Services Sdn Bhd to RM30.03 per metric million British thermal unit (MMBtu) for the third quarter of 2021 (3Q21), compared with RM26.85 per MMBtu in the previous quarter (2Q21).

Kumpulan H&L High-Tech Bhd, whose share price hit limit up after jumping 30% today, has received an unusual market activity (IMA) query from Bursa Malaysia over the recent spike in its share price and volume. Over the past week and a half, H&L’s share price has more than doubled since its closing of RM2.00 on June 28. Today, the counter gained RM1.30 to settle at RM5.64, giving it a market capitalisation of RM206.29 million, with 17.86 million shares traded.