KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 8): Frontken Corp Bhd rose as much as six sen or 7% to 89 sen so far today after the engineering services provider declared a dividend and reported a third quarter net profit rise.

Yesterday, Frontken said net profit rose to RM15.19 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) from RM9.19 million a year earlier. 9MFY18 net profit climbed to RM33.57 million from RM20.03 million a year earlier.

"The board of directors is pleased to declare an interim single tier dividend of 0.7 sen per share in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2018. The entitlement and payment dates will be announced at a later date," Frontken said.

Today, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) analyst Tan J Young wrote in a note Frontken's 9MFY18 core net profit met expectations. 

"9MFY18 revenue of RM239m translated into a core net profit of RM35m, accounting for 77% of HLIB and street full-year forecasts, respectively. 3QFY18 results were another all-time high achievement in terms of sales and profitability after (Frontken) outdid its own 2QFY18 record performance.

At Bursa Malaysia today, Frontken shares were traded at 87.5 sen at 10:05am with some 18 million units transacted. Frontken was traded among the bourse's most-active stocks.