KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 21): MISC Bhd rose as much as 22 sen or 2.45% to RM9.21 on reports speculating the shipping firm may sell its loss-making tanker unit to Canada-based Teekay Tankers Ltd.

The Edge Financial Daily (Edge FD) reported today MISC had neither denied nor confirmed the reports that it might sell AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd to Teekay.

“MISC is not in a position to comment on Teekay’s business plans," MISC told Edge FD when asked to verify news reported by Oslo-based shipping press Tradewinds.

At 12.30pm, MISC (fundamental: 2.0; valuation: 1.0) shares pared gains at RM9.18. There were some three million shares traded.

At RM9.18, MISC has a market capitalisation of RM40.98 billion. The stock had gained 27% this year, surpassing the FBM KLCI's 5% rise.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is the controlling shareholder of MISC with a 62.67% stake.

Last Friday, Tradewinds speculated that Teekay chief executive Kevin Mackay had conducted discussions about the acquisition of AET from MISC. But it was not clear how receptive MISC had been on the proposal, according to the report.

Today, Edge FD, quoting Companies Commission of Malaysia updates, reported that AET incurred loss after tax of above RM550 million since financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 (FY11) to FY13.

(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.)