KUALA LUMPUR: Teck Guan Perdana Bhd’s shares rose limit up yesterday — from the very first minute of trading — a day after the Sabah-based palm oil and cocoa planter reported impressive second-quarter earnings growth.

The usually thinly-raded counter closed the day 31 sen higher at RM1.37, making it the second-top gainer on Bursa Malaysia. The hefty gain of 29.2% resulted in the stock reaching its highest level since March 28, and also hitting limit up.

It is worth noting that all the 459,600 Teck Guan shares transacted yesterday changed hands at the daily upper limit of RM1.37.

Teck Guan, with a market capitalisation of merely RM54.93 million, is currently trading at a price-earnings ratio of 6.6 times, as well as a price-to-book value of 0.6 times.

Year to date, Teck Guan has lost 44 sen or 24.3%. If the stock hits another limit up today, it would have risen to RM1.78. At the moment, the counter is not on the radar screen of research analysts.

Meanwhile, a quick check on Bloomberg showed that about 176,900 shares in Teck Guan were traded off-market yesterday. Interestingly, all the off-market transactions were also done at RM1.37.

Teck Guan reported a 144% jump in net profit for its second quarter ended July 31, 2016 (2QFY17) to RM6.33 million, up from RM2.59 million a year earlier. The bottom-line growth was attributed to higher selling prices for its palm oil products, favourable exchange rate, and an increase in sales volume.

Revenue increased 45.3% to RM96.05 million from RM66.09 million a year earlier.

Thanks to the jump in 2QFY17 profit, Teck Guan’s first half ended July 31, 2016 (1HFY17) net profit also surged 41.2% to RM7.66 million, up from RM5.43 million for 1HFY16. Sales rose 63.4% to RM196.62 million from RM120.3 million a year before.