KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — The shares of MCT Bhd, the owner of One City Development Sdn Bhd that has been linked with a fracas at a Hindu temple in Subang Jaya earlier this week, hit a record low at closing time today.
Checks with the Bursa Malaysia today showed that its stock plunged to 65.5 sen per share, down from a consistent price of 71 sen per share last week and 66 sen at closing yesterday.
The stock also reached its lowest price of 65 sen per share earlier this afternoon after the lunch break.
The closing price today was its lowest since it was listed in the Bursa’s Main Market on April 2015, following a reverse takeover exercise.
MCT is 72.3 per cent owned by Ayala Land, the biggest property developer in the Philippines with a market share in the Philippine Stock Exchange of about RM53.69 billion.
Ayala Land is the real estate arm of Ayala Corp, and had emerged on the Malaysian property scene when it took up a 9.16 per cent stake in MCT just shortly after its debut on Bursa Malaysia.
This comes as Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin disclosed this morning that One City allegedly gave RM150,000 to lawyers who then used part of the money to hire around 50 youths to take possession of a Hindu temple site.
Muhyiddin said the information was gleaned from preliminary police investigations and questioning of the two lawyers who were among the 21 people arrested and remanded over the unrest.
The firm later insisted that its personnel onsite were merely directed to assist and support the relocation of the temple.
In a brief statement, it also denied hiring or directing anyone to hire “thugs”, leading to the scuffle at the Seafield temple.
Police have so far arrested 21 people over the violence that started on Monday.
At least 23 vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the riots while the nearby MCT Tower was beset by demonstrators yesterday, leading to the destruction of its glass facade.
