KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Insas Bhd's net profit more than tripled to RM66.20 million in its third quarter ended March 31, 2017 (3QFY17), from RM18.58 million in the previous year, mainly due to higher trading activities in its investment and trading division.

Revenue increased 34.44% to RM113.84 million from RM84.67 million a year ago, it said in a filing to the local bourse.

The holding company, which owns Dome Café and Melium Group amongst others, said its financial services division's earnings also rose due to higher revenue from stock broking and structured finance units, as well as gain on fair value changes of financial assets.

For its cumulative nine months (9MFY17), Insas' net profit surged more than threefold to RM146.1 million from RM40.89 million in the previous year. Revenue climbed 15.75% to RM236.39 million from RM204.22 million a year ago.

On its outlook, Insas said its board is of the view that the group is positioned adequately to meet as well as be resilient to the challenging market conditions.

However, it is cautiously optimistic its technology unit and Inari Amertron Group will maintain their positive financial performance in the current financial year despite the uncertainties in the global markets.

Insas shares closed unchanged at 92.5 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM613.28 million.