This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 7, 2016.

Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd (-ve)

JAYA Tiasa (Fundamental: 0.3/3, Valuation: 1.4/3) has surged 35% to RM1.79 in just three days since the start of the year. This came after Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission uplifted its bank account that was frozen in relation to its investigation in illegal logging.

With timber concessions in Sarawak, Jaya Tiasa is mainly involved in log extraction, timber products manufacturing as well as oil palm plantation. Timber operations accounted for 71% of FYJun2015 revenue with the balance coming from plantation.

For 1QFY16, revenue dropped 5% y-o-y to RM247.6 million due to lower timber sales and crude palm oil prices. Net profit was marginally higher at RM24.1 million, thanks to the favourable exchange rates, lower production and operating costs.

To recap, its log extraction quota has been cut by 15% to 78,000 m3 per month during FY15. With relatively young and maturing palm age profile, the company expects higher yields from the plantation division.