KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): Bison Consolidated Bhd was among the top gainers in early trade this morning and rose 4.54% after reporting a 52.2% growth in its net profit for the third quarter ended July 31, 2017 (3QFY17) to RM6.18 million from RM4.06 million a year ago, thanks to better management of its products and service offerings and collaboration with suppliers.

At 9.01am, Bison rose 10 sen to RM2.30 with 20,300 shares done.

Revenue rose 25.5% to RM81.71 million from RM65.12 million, driven by improved sales from existing outlets and contributions from its 44 new outlets opened since October last year.

Net profit for the cumulative nine-month period (9MFY17) increased 35.5% to RM18.74 million from RM13.83 million in 9MFY16, while revenue grew 24.1% to RM237.20 million from RM191.12 million.

Meanwhile, CIMB IB Research upgraded the stock to “Hold” at RM2.20 with an unchanged target price of RM2.28 and said Bison's 9MFY10/17 core net profit of RM18.7 million was in line with expectations, at 75% of house and 77% of Bloomberg consensus full-year forecasts.

In a note Sept 25, the research house said Bison’s growth in 3QFY17 topline and bottomline was attributable to higher number of stores and improved sales merchandise mix.

“Share price has retraced circa 15% since beginning-Sep and we think investors have priced in potential earnings dilution and overhang from share placement.

“Upgrade to Hold; our target price remains unchanged at RM2.28,” it said.