KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): KESM Industries Bhd shares rose 6.24% after it proposed a final dividend of 6 sen for its financial year ended July 31, 2017 (FY17), which brings its FY17 payout to 12.5 sen against 7.5 sen in FY16.

At 10.40am, the share price rose 96 sen to RM16.02, with 120,400 shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM679.63 million. Year to date, the counter has gained about 63%.

The group's fourth quarter profit jumped 67% year-on-year to RM13.4 million, from RM8.05 million, thanks to higher revenue, which mitigated higher raw material and operating costs in the quarter.

Earnings per share for 4QFY17 improved to 31.2 sen, from 18.7 sen a year ago.

Quarterly revenue grew 20% y-o-y to RM89.77 million, from RM74.53 million, driven by higher demand for burn-in and test services, KESM said.

For its full FY17, KESM's net profit rose 43% y-o-y to a record RM43.99 million, from RM30.68 million, while revenue climbed 18% to RM337.99 million, also a historic high, from RM285.73 million.