KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd shares rose as much as 40 sen or 2.52% to RM16.26 so far today after the company declared a dividend and reported a net profit increase for its second financial quarter.

At 10:55am, Aeon Credit shares were transacted at RM16.10 with thin trade of 50,900 units.

Yesterday, Aeon Credit said net profit rose to RM80.64 million in the second quarter ended Aug 31, 2018 (2QFY19) from RM71.39 million a year earlier.

1HFY19 net profit climbed to RM179.88 million from RM147.2 million a year earlier. For 2QFY19, the group declared a dividend of 22.25 sen a share.

Today, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd analyst Danial Razak said in a research report Aeon Credit's 1HFY19 net profit at RM179.88 million was above expectations.

Danial said Aeon Credit's 1HFY19 net profit translated to 57.8% and 55.6% of MIDF's and consensus full-year estimates respectively.

"Our outlook on the group's business remains positive, with continuous sales growth in 1HFY19 and strategic product offerings to continually expand the M40 market segment. Accordingly, this will bode well for the company in terms of capturing market share and strengthening its asset quality in the long run.

"However, while we remain optimistic on the prospect of AEON Credit, we believe that the run-up in share price recently indicated that the positives have already been priced in," Danial said.

Therefore, MIDF reverted its call on Aeon Credit shares to neutral from buy, with an unchanged target price of RM15.40, the analyst said.