KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): Westports Holdings Bhd has secured an approval-in-principle from the government to expand its container terminal facilities in Port Klang from the current container terminal 1 to 9 (CT1 to CT9) to CT10 to CT19.

The group had through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, received the letter from the government on Wednesday, said the port operator in a filing with the stock exchange.

The terms and conditions of the proposed expansion, however, are subject to further deliberations between the government and Westports, it added.

This may increase its total handling capacity to 30 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum, Westports said.

Last year, the port operator handled 9.9 million TEUs, according to CIMB Research.

The company said it would now commence and undertake the various studies required before finalising the terms and conditions with the government.

Westports’ share price dropped two sen today at RM3.62 to give it a market capitalisation of RM12.48 billion.