At 10.10am, the counter saw a two-sen appreciation in its share price to RM1.53 with 105,200 shares changing hands.

FGV announced yesterday that it had entered into a JV with Qatar-based Baladna Food Industries WLL (Baladna) and Touch Group Holdings Sdn Bhd to develop the RM4.5 billion farm business.

FGV said its wholly-owned subsidiary, FGV Integrated Farming Holdings Sdn Bhd, would have a 40% stake in the JV company, while Baladna and Touch Holdings Sdn Bhd would have a 40% and 20% share of the company, respectively.

A total of 70% of the RM4.5 billion funding for the JV will come through external financing and 30% via capital cash injection from the partners.

In a note, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the project is expected to be commercially operational by 2025 and is targeted to produce 100 million litres of fresh milk annually within the first three years, rising to 300 million litres of fresh milk in 10 years.

However, the research firm has maintained its “neutral” call on FGV with an unchanged target price of RM1.61, saying that it remains unclear over the valuation, given the sketchy information on the earnings contribution from the project.