KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Land & General Bhd (L&G) rose as much as 0.5 sen or 2% after the property developer announced net profit more than doubled to RM25.36 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (2QFY18), from RM10.28 million a year earlier.

Yesterday, L&G said 1HFY18 net profit also more than doubled to RM49.29 million, from RM20.56 million a year earlier.

Today, L&G shares rose to their highest so far at 22 sen at 10:14am, with some 11 million shares traded. L&G was Bursa Malaysia's ninth most-active stock. At 22 sen, L&G has a market value of RM629.75 million. 

AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd said L&G's 2QFY18 results met expectations, according to AllianceDBS analyst Quah He Wei's note today.

"L&G reported a 2QFY18 net profit of RM25.4m which was largely lifted by RM35.5m write-back of cost arising from the Damansara Foresta project that was handed over last year. On a core earnings basis, a net loss of RM10.2m was recorded in 2QFY18. Nevertheless, we expect a much stronger performance in 2HFY18, as its Astoria project will start to contribute meaningfully, following the completion of the podium of the project.
 
"We reiterate our BUY recommendation with a target price of RM0.28, based on a 65% discount to our RNAV (revalued net asset value). It is trading at an unjustifiably steep discount of 73% to its RNAV, thus giving a decent dividend yield of 4.5%. With a net cash position of RM218m (representing ~35% of its market cap), L&G is set to unlock its deep land value via more launches," Quah said.