KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Jaks Resources Bhd rose as much as five sen or 4% after the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) bought a 5.037% stake in the pipe manufacturer.

Jaks shares rose to their highest so far today at RM1.22. At 10:48am, the stock was traded at RM1.20, valuing the company at RM526.08 million.  Trading volume was about four million shares compared to 785,700 units yesterday.

Yesterday, Jaks said the EPF emerged as its substantial shareholder last Wednesday after acquiring 5.58 million shares.

The acquisition brought the EPF's stake in Jaks to 22.08 million shares or 5.037% in the company.  

The EPF upped its Jaks stake after the company reported better financials. Jaks' net profit rose to RM5.91 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15) from RM2.78 million a year earlier.

Revenue climbed to RM114.15 million from RM93.78 million.

For 9MFY15, Jaks posted higher net profit at RM12.25 million versus RM7.06 million a year earlier. Revenue climbed to RM314.25 million from RM301.77 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.)