KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): ECM Libra financial group Bhd saw its full year net profit surged 129.76% to RM28.23 million in its financial year ended Jan 31, 2015 (FY15), from RM12.29 million a year ago, largely due to a gain on disposal of securities in a fund managed by its subsidiary.

This translated into a higher earnings per share (EPS) of 10.52 sen, compared to 3.97 sen in FY14. Revenue was at RM47.57 million, up 69.84 % from RM28.01 million.

In a filing with Bursa, ECM Libra (fundamental: 1.35; valuation: 1.2) said its earnings was mainly contributed by portfolio management fees income of RM11.02 million, loan and other fee income of RM2.37 million, interest income of RM8.64 million, investment income of RM25.54 million, and rental income of RM1.37 million; partially offset by operating expenses of RM16.23 million and impairment of securities of RM3.19 million.

It also said the fund managed by a subsidiary reported a profit before tax of RM22.02 million for the year ended Jan 31, 2015, largely contributed by gain on disposal of securities of RM19.32 million.

Meanwhile, for the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (4QFY15), ECM Libra recorded a net profit of RM2.14 million or 0.8 sen per share, up 38.14% from RM1.55 million or 0.58 sen per share in the previous year.

The improvement was primarily due to higher revenue which came in at RM10.82 million, up 40.63% from RM7.69 million in 4QFY14.

On prospects, the financial group expects stable performance from its fund management and structured lending and advisory activities in FY16.

“Income stream from investment in private equity and quoted securities is opportunistic by nature, and barring unforeseen circumstances, is expected to contribute positively in FY16,” it added.

ECM Libra closed unchanged RM1.02 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM273.16 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)