KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): Shares in Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd rose after the company reported yesterday that its quarterly profit more than quadrupled, on additional contribution from its recently acquired North Sabah assets and higher production efficiency at its Anasuria Cluster in the UK.

At 10.10am, the stock was traded four sen or 3.8% higher at its intra-day high so far of RM1.09, valuing Hibiscus at some RM1.72 billion.

Yesterday, Hibiscus announced a 354% jump in its net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 (2QFY19), to RM50.11 million from RM11.04 million a year ago, lifting its earnings per share to 3.15 sen from 0.72 sen before.

Revenue grew 117% to RM165.16 million from RM76.06 million a year ago.

The company said its total net oil production rate stood at approximately 8,850 barrels per day from two producing assets: Anasuria Cluster asset and the North Sabah production sharing contract.

In a note today, PublicInvest Research said Hibiscus' earnings were within its expectations, and further upside is to be seen.

"We remain positive on Hibiscus' long-term earnings outlook given its ongoing initiatives to constantly increase production levels in enhancing shareholder value. With oil prices currently stable at above US$60 (RM244.02) per barrel, we reckon it will provide further upside to the group's earnings," analyst Nurzulaikha Azali wrote.

She highlighted that Hibiscus' Anasuria asset, with an average uptime of 94% in 2QFY19 and an average daily oil equivalent production rate of 4,416 barrel of oil equivalent (boe) per day, achieved its highest production rate since the acquisition in March 2016.