KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): Diversified group Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB), the 59.42%-owned investment arm of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), saw its shares surge as much as 26.6% to hit an intra-day high of 78.5 sen in early trade as talk of a possible privatisation resurfaced.

At noon break, it was up 9.5 sen or 15.32% at 71.5 sen, bringing a market capitalisation of RM1.45 billion. It was one of the top gainers on Bursa Malaysia.

A total of 85.51 million shares were traded, making it the sixth most traded stock on Bursa.

The last time the share price was trading above the 70 sen levels was before LTAT called off a proposed plan to take BHB private on Feb 2.

Shares of BHB's 65%-owned subsidiary Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) also rose as much as 31% to hit an intra-day high of 65.5 sen during today's morning trading session. At noon break, the stock was up 7 sen or 14% at 57 sen, with 1.93 million shares done. Its market capitalisation stood at RM141.62 million.

On May 7, the Defence Ministry announced that BHIC's 20.8%-owned unit Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) will continue with the littoral combat ship (LCS) project with conditions to be complied with by BNS. The group is expected to receive the formal communication on the details and specifics of the approval granted anytime soon, which it had attributed the delay to festive holidays and the Covid-19 pandemic.

And on June 8, BHIC entered into a memorandum of understanding with Airbus Defence and Space to explore the industrial capabilities of BHIC to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul activities for military fixed wing aircraft to support the latter's Malaysian customers' needs.

Boustead Plantations Bhd, of which BHB holds a 57.42% stake, ended the morning session up 3.5 sen or 6.31% at 59 sen, with 4.45 million shares done. Its market capitalisation stood at RM1.32 billion.

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