KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): Lysaght Galvanized Steel Bhd saw its share price rise as much as 8.3% or 30 sen to RM3.90 today after the group posted a spike in its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 (1Q15).

At 3.50pm, Lysaght (fundamental: 1.65; valuation: 1.4) shares eased to RM3.84, still up 26 sen or 6.7%, with 67,400 shares traded. The counter was the third top gainer across the exchange today.

Yesterday, the group reported a net profit of RM6.76 million or 16.26 sen per share, up 121% from RM3.06 million a year earlier, with revenue at RM17.03 million, up 13% from RM15.08 million previously.

The significant rise in net profit was attributed to a gain from the sale of a piece of land in Bandar Sunway to Semai Haruman Sdn Bhd for RM6.4 million.

"The disposal of investment property was completed during the financial period under review," it said.

Going forward, Lysaght maintained a challenging outlook on the remainder of its financial year, as competition remained stiff.

It added that pricing will be very challenging, due to the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in April 2015.

(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.)