KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Shares and structured warrants in Datasonic Group Bhd rose as much as 16% and 14.2% respectively, placing the latter among Bursa Malaysia’s top 10 most active counters at the midday break today.

Datasonic warrants, which gained six sen to 48.5 sen, were also the most active counter in the technology sector, with 71.48 million units changing hands. Its stock was up 16 sen to RM1.16 with 42.48 million shares traded. This valued the company at RM1.57 billion.

At the time of writing, Bursa’s Technology Index had risen 2.39 points or 0.85% to 36.37 with a total volume of 237.37 million.

Positive momentum was seen across Bursa with the benchmark FBM KLCI gaining 10.17 points to 1,386.76 as at press time, tracking regional markets and overnight gains on Wall Street.

RHB Research in a March 12 note said that Datasonic boasts strong business fundamentals, backed by an outstanding order book of RM611 million and sustainable earnings.

The firm maintained its “buy” rating on the tech stock with an unchanged target price (TP) of RM1.96.

It noted that tenders for the foreign visa system (VLN) and National Integrated Immigration System (NIIS) were ongoing and could potentially be rolled out in April or May.

“Datasonic is eyeing both and is among the front runners, given its track record and experience in the existing immigration system,” it said.

Datasonic’s net profit more than doubled to RM20.18 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 (3QFY19) from RM8.99 million for 3QFY18. Revenue for the period rose to RM74.97 million from RM56.76 million.

The higher revenue stemmed from stronger MyKad orders and bigger contributions from other projects, such as security and surveillance, maintenance, as well as Europay, Mastercard and Visa-related solutions.

“We expect another strong quarter ahead on profit recognition from auto-gate maintenance-related works,” said RHB Research.