Hot stock: Moya jumps 13% on heavy volume, calls for trading halt

SHARES of Catalist-listed Moya Holdings climbed on Thursday amid active trading in the morning.

The counter had risen 13.4 per cent or 0.9 Singapore cent to reach an intraday high of 7.6 Singapore cents at around 9.26am and again at 10.12am. It then eased to 7.4 cents as at 11.13am, just before Moya called for a trading halt pending the release of an announcement.

About 25.4 million shares had changed hands by 11.13am, which made the Indonesian water treatment company one of the most heavily traded securities by volume on the Singapore bourse.

Before Thursday, the Jakarta-based company's latest bourse filing was made on Nov 7 after market close, after Moya shares had likewise surged in trading volume and price. The counter had gained 7.5 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to close at 7.2 cents that day, with 34.2 million shares traded.

The company disclosed on Nov 7 that it "constantly assesses and/or engages in discussions with parties on new investment opportunities that may arise from time to time", although it gave no assurance that any transaction will materialise.

Moya's board had advised shareholders to exercise caution when dealing in the company's shares, according to the Nov 7 filing.

Separately, last week, mainboard-listed Gallant Venture said it is planning to issue S$10.3 million worth of new shares to Moya's managing director, Irwan Atmadja Dinata. Mr Irwan is investing in these shares in his personal capacity, Gallant noted.

Indonesian tycoon Anthoni Salim has a deemed interest of 72.84 per cent in Moya shares, as well as a deemed interest of 67.39 per cent in Gallant shares, according to Gallant's filing on Dec 13.

Moya is one of the largest water treatment companies in Indonesia. It invests in, develops and operates water treatment facilities and pipelines to distribute clean water to thousands of businesses and homes in the country.