KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 26): Solid hardwood flooring manufacturer Ekowood International Bhd has piqued investors’ interest today, with its shares soaring 20.45% to an intra-day high of 26.5 sen.

It pared some gains before settling at 24.5 sen, up 11.36% or 2.5 sen at market close, with 5.8 million shares traded. The closing price gives it a market capitalisation of RM42 million.

Plantation player TSH Resources Bhd (fundamental: 0.45; valuation: 0.30) owns a controlling stake of 67.46% in Ekowood. TSH’s counter was also on the uptrend today; it climbed 0.88% or two sen to close at RM2.28, with some 314,700 shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.06 billion.

Notably, Lembaga Tabung Haji had ceased to be Ekowood’s substantial shareholder in July 2013, after disposing 3.5 million shares. The pilgrim funds owned a 7.52% stake in the company, according to its annual report 2012.

According to its annual report released on May 12 last year, Ekowood chairman Datuk Kelvin Tan Aik Pen, together with his family members, holds about 4.95% shares, while Ekowood’s independent non-executive director Tee Choon Hwa has a 0.03% stake.

(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.)