This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 26, 2017 - October 2, 2017

Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (-ve)
SHARES in Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (fundamental: 2.4/3, valuation: 2.4/3), which triggered our momentum algorithm yesterday for the first time this year, closed up six sen or 5.36% at RM1.18.

The counter saw 1.89 million shares done, far above its 200-day average volume of 193,599 shares.

Muar Ban Lee’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017 slipped a marginal 0.28% to RM2.83 million from RM2.84 million a year ago, mainly on lower average selling price of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) and higher operating costs at its oil milling division.

Quarterly revenue was down 7.42% at RM45.61 million from RM49.26 million a year ago, mainly dragged by lower contribution from its manufacturing segment, which fell 25.2% to RM26.51 million from RM35.44 million.

In the first six months of financial year 2017, net profit fell 2.49% year-on-year to RM5.33 million from RM5.47 million, despite a 28.2% rise in revenue to RM93.49 million from RM72.92 million after a 93% jump in revenue at its oil milling division.

However, the division’s pre-tax profit retreated to RM1.44 million from RM1.96 million registered in prior year’s corresponding period, due to higher sales volumes at lower average selling prices of CPKO coupled with higher operating costs for the period under review.

At the current share price, Muar Ban Lee, which has a market capitalisation of RM107.93 million, is trading at 1.06 times its book value. 

Year to date, the stock has climbed near 17%, and is 12.23% higher than 12 months earlier.