Gas Malaysia jumps on listing debut

Gas Malaysia Bhd saw its shares rise 12.27 percent on its market debut on Monday, outperforming the Malaysian benchmark stock index's 0.70 percent increase.

The share price performance flies in the face of the company's first quarter results showing a more than 50 percent drop in earnings.

The country's sole supplier of natural gas to the non-power sector announced last week a 53.5 percent drop in net profit year-on-year, dented by lower margins even though revenue rose 9.2 percent to RM506.58 million from a year ago.

Analysts said they believed the drop was a one-off event and earnings would recover in the coming quarters.

The Malaysian government regulates the natural gas industry.

It raised the purchasing price of natural gas by over 25 percent in June last year, while the selling price increased by about seven percent. -- Reuters