Hot Stock Takaful Malaysia turns top gainer after strong 4Q results, 30 sen dividend

by **Cals** Tue 18 Feb 2014, 17:40

Hot Stock Takaful Malaysia turns top gainer after strong 4Q results, 30 sen dividend

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Jonathan Gan at theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 18 February 2014 12:15

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 18): Shares of Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd soared in morning trades to become the top gainer after it announced strong results and a 30 sen dividend payment yesterday.

Due to its strong results, some analysts have upgraded the stock with higher target prices.

At 11:45 am, Takaful Malaysia rose 46 sen or 4.5% to RM10.70 with 98,700 shares traded.

Yesterday, the Islamic insurance company said its net profit rose 28% year-on-year to RM41 million in the 4Q13, from RM32 million in 4Q12.

The firm said the higher profit was due to "higher net wakalah fee income and better investment results".

For the full-year, net profit rose to RM139 million from RM101 million while revenue climbed to RM1.7 billion from RM1.6 billion.

The firm has proposed a dividend of 30 sen a share for the quarter in review. This brings total dividends for the year to 42 sen.

Today, RHB Research said it had maintained its “buy” call on the company and raised Takaful Malaysia’s fair value to RM13.10 per share from RM12.00 previously.

Analyst Kong Ho Meng of RHB Research said: “We expect the general takaful segment to fare better in FY14, given our house view of an improved economic outlook, and its unique 'cash back' proposition.”

Similarly, MIDF Research has maintained its “buy” call on the company and raised its target price to RM11.42 from its previous RM10.90.

“We maintain our buy call on Syarikat Takaful Malaysia, with a higher revised target price of RM11.42,” it said.