KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Based on corporate announcements and news flow on Friday, companies in focus next Monday (March 7) may include: Paramount Corp Bhd, OpenSys (M) Bhd, YNH Property Bhd, KKB Engineering Bhd, Fitters Diversified Bhd, Al-Salam Real Estate Investment Trust, Al-A'qar Healthcare REIT, Uzma Bhd and Top Builders Capital Bhd. 

Property developer Paramount Corp Bhd has finally revealed its digital banking plans which include same-day loan disbursement and banking product embedment with property transactions, as applications for Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) five digital banking licences enter their final stage of approval. Group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said the group in collaboration with consortium partners, had been keeping the digital banking plans under wraps as the consortium knew that there was a lot of competition for BNM’s five digital banking licences, which are slated to be issued in March 2022. Looking ahead, Chew said Paramount is ready to set aside more than RM100 million over the next three to five years to finance its digital banking venture.

OpenSys (M) Bhd has proposed to transfer the listing of the automated-teller machine and cheque deposit machine maker to Bursa Malaysia's Main Market, from the ACE Market, in a move which signifies the growth, profitability and financial strength of the group. According to OpenSys, the company and its subsidiaries have met the requirements for the proposed listing transfer based on the Securities Commission Malaysia's (SC) equity guidelines.

Property developer YNH Property Bhd has made its issuance of sukuk wakalah amounting to an aggregate RM323 million in nominal value. YNH said it successfully issued the RM323 million sukuk wakalah on Monday (Feb 28) under its Islamic Medium-Term Notes (IMTN) programme (sukuk wakalah programme) of up to RM700 million in nominal value.  Proceeds raised from the issuance will primarily be utilised for the repayments of existing borrowings to unencumber secured properties as well as defray fees, costs and expenses in relation to the issuance. The remainder of the proceeds will be used for capital expenditure and investments, working capital, refinancing existing borrowings, general corporate purposes, and inter-company advances.

KKB Engineering Bhd has bagged two contracts from Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE) and Kuching Water Board (KWB) worth a combined RM23.7 million. The engineering company said its subsidiary OceanMight Sdn Bhd had won a contract from MMHE to provide equipment and services involving fabrication engineering, supervision, manpower, necessary equipment/tools and consumables to carry out piles fabrication, load-out and sail-away for the SK408W block in the Jerun oilfield located offshore Sarawak. KKB also received a letter of award from KWB for diversion works of the existing pumping mains at Sg Maong Paroh, Kuching, Sarawak. 

Safety equipment manufacturer Fitters Diversified Bhd said its unit has accepted a letter of intent (LoI) amounting to RM15.25 million from Syarikat Pembinaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd (YTL Construction) for the provision of fire protection services.   Fitters Diversified said its wholly-owned subsidiary Fitters Engineering Services Sdn Bhd (FESSB) accepted the LoI dated March 1, which carries a contract sum of RM15.25 million, inclusive of a provisional sum of RM3.95 million.

Al-Salam Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and Al-A'qar Healthcare REIT have appointed Johor State Treasury’s Financial Officer Datuk Salehuddin Hassan as their non-independent and non-executive directors with effect from Friday. 

Uzma Bhd said its unit Uzma Engineering Sdn Bhd (UESB) had received an arbitration notice on Tuesday (March 1) over a disputed amount of US$1.09 million pursuant to the Kinabalu Non-Associated Gas (KNAG) development project. The notice, under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre Rules 2016, was issued by Messrs Zaid Ibrahim & Co on behalf of its client KHAN Co Ltd. KHAN is a South Korean company which collaborated with Uzma to bid for relevant sub-contracts.

Top Builders Capital Bhd — formerly known as Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd — said its wholly-owned subsidiary Ikhmas Jaya Sdn Bhd (IJSB) has been served with a default judgment for failing to settle the outstanding amount for the rental of tugships and cranes as well as barge delivery services. The judgment was served by Lim Kean Siew & Co, solicitors for plaintiff Singa Marine Sdn Bhd. Top Builders is required to pay to the plaintiff:  RM14,065.85 for the balance rental for hiring the vessel to support the tugboats for the period from July 15 to July 18, 2019; RM7,000 for the service charges for the delivery of the barge from Penang to Lumut on July 24, 2019; RM625 for rental charges for hiring a crane for the period from August 3 to August 15, 2019; default interest on the total amount of RM21,690.85 at the rate of 1.5% on a monthly basis calculated from July 2020 until the date of full settlement; and costs amounting to RM887.30.