KUALA LUMPUR (March 23): Here is a brief look at some of the corporate announcements and news flow on Wednesday (March 23), which involve Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Capital A Bhd, TH Heavy Engineering Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, Ranhill Utilities Bhd, Widad Group Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd, SMTrack Bhd, LYC Healthcare Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd, Destini Bhd and Ni Hsin Group Bhd.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and five of its subsidiaries are being sued for 5.88 trillion rupiah (RM1.72 billion) over the disposals of two plantation units. A civil claim has been filed by Indonesian company PT Asa Karya Multi Pratama which had wanted to acquire PT Ladangrumpun Suburabadi and PT Sajang Heulang from Sime Darby Plantation's units for 1.65 trillion (RM483 million). Asa Karya alleged that Sime Darby Plantation had snubbed the deal and "unlawfully offered" shares in the two subsidiaries to a third party.

AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd (AAAGL), the airline holding company under Capital A Bhd, has announced the formation of a new board of directors along with four fresh appointments. The new directors are Suvabha Charoenying, Lim Serh Ghee, Francisco Ed. Lim and Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.

TH Heavy Engineering Bhd's independent non-executive chairman Datuk Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir has resigned from the post after serving for less than a year, due to a "personal commitment".

Gamuda Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2022 rose 43.72% to RM177.13 million, from RM123.24 million a year ago, as gains from property and construction divisions more than offset the weaker concession business. Revenue rose 43.88% to RM1.29 billion as property division revenue more than doubled to offset the slightly weaker construction division, while concession revenue also climbed. For the six-month period, Gamuda’s net profit rose 41.08% to RM329.5 million from RM233.55 million, as contribution from the property segment quadrupled, while earnings from its construction business rose 50%. Six-month revenue rose 22.66% to RM2.04 billion from RM1.66 billion, mainly from higher property sales, while both the construction and concession business continued to underperform.

Ranhill Utilities Bhd's major shareholder and executive chairman, Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad, has pared his equity interest in the utility group to 34.26%, after disposing of a 9.07% stake in an off-market transaction. Lambang Optima Sdn Bhd, in which Hamdan has deemed interest, disposed of the 9.07% stake comprising 116.63 million shares on March 18. With this, Lambang Optima ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Ranhill, with its stake reduced to 2.87% or 37.4 million shares.

Construction and integrated facilities management firm Widad Business Group Sdn Bhd (WBG) said it is considering a partnership with China-based construction machinery manufacturers SANY Group to leverage the latter’s industrialised building system (IBS) technology for its Langkasuka mega-project — an RM40 billion mixed-use complex in Langkawi. WBG signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SANY’s local subsidiary Sany Construction Industry Development (M) Sdn Bhd on March 3 to further explore the partnership. WBG is a Bumiputera private company owned by Kedah-born Tan Sri Muhammad Ikmal Opat Abdullah, who is also a majority shareholder of Bursa Malaysia-listed Widad Group Bhd and Dataprep Holdings Bhd.

SMTrack Bhd is purchasing a Bombardier Challenger 601-3A aircraft for US$1.8 million (RM7.6 million) as part of its move to venture into cargo carriage services. The company said it has entered into an aircraft purchase agreement with Fairway Logistic (M) Sdn Bhd for the purchase of the aircraft.

LYC Healthcare Bhd said it is venturing into the dental industry through the acquisitions of three dental clinics in the Klang Valley for a total of RM3.18 million. The healthcare service provider said its wholly-owned subsidiary, LYC Dental Group Sdn Bhd, has signed agreements with Dr Beh Wee Ren to acquire the KL Dental outlets in Kiara 163 and SS15 Courtyard. LYC Dental signed another agreement with Dr Beh and Dr Andy Ooi Yet Lee to acquire the KL Dental outlet in Taman Connaught.

Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd said its unit Dayang Enterprise Sdn Bhd has secured a contract for the provision of maintenance, construction and modification for Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd. The value of the contract is based on work orders issued by Vestigo.

Destini Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Destini Oil Services Sdn Bhd has bagged a contract from EnQuest Petroleum Production Malaysia Ltd for the provision of tubular handling services off the coast of Terengganu.  It did not disclose the value of the contract.

Ni Hsin Group Bhd has inked an original equipment manufacturing agreement with Dongguan Tailing Motor Vehicle Co Ltd to manufacture the eBixon EV Bike. The company said its unit Ni Hsin EV Tech Sdn Bhd will assemble and test as well as run quality control and commission the electric two-wheelers in Malaysia.