PLUS Says Second NS Highway Not Viable
PLUS Expressways has cautioned promoters of the second north-south highway, saying that the project is not viable currently. PLUS MD Noorizah Abd Hamid told the Business Times that the existing North-South Expressway (NSE) was still underutilised and it would be costly to build a second one. The utilisation rate of the NSE was around 50% in the central region and 30-35% in the northern and southern regions at present. “We don’t see the need (for a second north-south highway) because Malaysia does not have the traffic volume and our population is growing at only 3% a year,” PLUS’ MD said. Her comments come after Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said last week that the government was evaluating a proposal to build another highway stretching from Banting in Selangor to Taiping in Perak to complement the NSE.

“KPJ Excellent Small Cap Investment” – OSK Research
OSK Research kept KPJ Healthcare at Buy with unchanged TP RM3.15. “We continue to see KPJ as an excellent small cap investment with a sound business model that generates good returns in the immediate term and makes excellent sense in the long term,” the brokerage quipped. KPJ had announced late Tuesday that it planned to dispose of stakes in 3 properties to Al-’Aqar REIT for a total of RM138.8m which will be satisfied via RM83.3m cash and 56.6m new units in Al-’Aqar REIT at issue price of RM0.98 per unit.

Kulim Plans Disposal Of JB Property For RM105m
Kulim plans to dispose its investment property in Johor Baharu for RM105m as part of efforts to realise its investment in properties. The divestment will be satisfied part cash with the company set to receive RM63m and the remainder via the issuance of 42.9m new units of Al-Aqar REIT at an issuance price of RM0.98 per unit. This is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter this year.