PETALING JAYA: Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) says its operations will continue as usual and its expansion plans remain intact despite a stock trading suspension by Bursa Malaysia from yesterday.

       The civil engineering specialist said the trading suspension pertained to Bursa Securities rejecting an appeal by SCIB made on Oct 9, 2021.

       SCIB had applied for more time until Dec 31, 2021 to release its annual report for the financial year ended June 30, 2021 due on Oct 31.

       “The appeal for the extension of time was made because the company could not finalise the audited financial statements in time for inclusion in the annual report due to a change of external auditor and the movement restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19,” it said in a statement.

       SCIB group managing director and CEO Rosland Othman said: “We want to reassure all our stakeholders, business partners, vendors and employees that we will continue with daily operations as usual despite the stock trading suspension.

       “We are working with our external auditor to expedite the finalisation of the audit of the financial statements and we are targeting the annual report to be issued by December.”

       Rosland emphasised that the company’s expansion plans remained intact “as we leverage on our strengths of being the largest precast concrete and industrialised building system (IBS) manufacturer in Sabah and Sarawak to develop opportunities, including in Peninsular Malaysia”.

       He said SCIB was also adopting 3D technology for its construction projects and this would help expedite projects by having shorter construction periods.

       “We also believe that a combination of IBS and 3D technology will give us an edge over our competitors, as the construction industry becomes more accepting of cutting-edge technology with quality assurance and efficiency,” he added.