This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s Energy Index gained 2.72% or 26.18 points to close at 989.7 points yesterday, as oil and gas (O&G) companies announce better earnings in the ongoing results season amid higher oil prices.

According to Bloomberg data, the main driver behind the Energy Index’s climb yesterday was Petra Energy Bhd, which hit its limit-up high of 72 sen after rising 30 sen or 71.43%.

This was followed by Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd, which gained 22.5 sen or 28.3% to RM1.02. Dayang was also the most actively traded counter of the day, with 152.77 million shares traded.

Both Petra Energy and Dayang Enterprise released their quarterly earnings report last Friday, which saw them return to the black.

In announcing a net profit of RM20.88 million for its fourth quarter of financial year 2018 (4QFY18) ended Dec 31, 2018 versus a net loss of RM46.5 million a year ago, Petra noted that there were signs the industry was recovering from a period of low activities, though it said concerns remained over the sustainability of the recovery.

Dayang, meanwhile, posted a net profit of RM97.72 million for its 4QFY18 compared to a net loss of RM55.21 million a year ago. The group is optimistic that its strong earnings trend would be sustainable considering its “fairly sizeable” order book of RM3 billion that could last them until 2023.

Other gainers under the Energy Index included Scomi Group Bhd (up half a sen or 12.5%), Perdana Petroleum Bhd (up 3.5 sen or 12.07%), Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd (up one sen or 10%), Uzma Bhd (up six sen or 6.67%), and Deleum Bhd (up 11 sen or 9.4%).

It is also worth noting that crude oil prices have been rising steadily of late. Bloomberg data show that Brent crude climbed 1.31% week-on-week to US$67.12 (RM273.18) per barrel last Friday, from US$66.25 per barrel on Feb 15.

At press time, the commodity was trading at US$67.12 per barrel.

Laggards under the Bursa Energy Index yesterday included Carimin Petroleum Bhd (down four sen or 4.94% to 77 sen), Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd (down 23 sen or 3.34% to RM6.66), and Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd (down 15 sen or 2.49% to RM5.88).