Hot Stock George Kent jumps 3.05% on stronger 3Q earnings, dividend

by **Cals** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 01:26

Hot Stock

[size=28]George Kent jumps 3.05% on stronger 3Q earnings, dividend

By Surin Murugiah / theedgemarkets.com | December 15, 2015 : 9:26 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 2.10)'s shares jumped 3.05% in early trade today after the company's net profit surged 67.02% to RM12.07 million in the third financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2016 (3QFY16), from RM7.23 million a year ago, underpinned by the effect of foreign exchange rate on export sales.

At 9.07am, George Kent rose 5 sen to RM1.69 with 381,500 shares done.

The metering and engineering company said revenue for 3QFY16 was up 0.94% at RM96.94 million, from RM96.03 million in 3QFY15.

It also declared a second interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share, amounting to RM4.51 million, for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2016 (FY16), payable on Jan 26, 2016.

For the cumulative nine-month period (9MFY16), the group's net profit jumped 53.62% to RM30.41 million, from RM19.8 million a year ago. Revenue for 9MFY16 also rose 14.7% to RM270.62 million, from RM235.93 million in 9MFY15.

The group attributed the positive results to the increased contributions from its engineering and metering divisions and the spillover effects from the weakened ringgit, as the majority of its metering export sales are denominated in US dollars.

As of Oct 31, the group's order book stood at RM5.5 billion.

Although the Light Rail Transit Line 3 project is not expected to have any significant effect on the earnings of the group for FY16, it is expected to contribute positively to its future earnings.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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