KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 29): NCB Holdings Bhd saw its net profit for the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2015 (1QFY15) rise 144% to RM11.64 million or 2.5 sen a share, on better performance from port operation and lower operating expenditure.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, NCB (fundamental: 1.95; valuation: 1.4) attributed the improvements to higher container handling from its port business and 16.9% reduction in operating expenses in 1QFY15.

NCB operates the Northport at Port Klang Malaysia. During the first quarter, the number of containers it handled had increased to 685,091 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) from 609,335 TEUs for the same quarter in the previous year.

It is worth noting that the much higher profit was achieved despite a 3.7% fall in 1QFY15 revenue to RM197.98 million. The reduction was mainly dragged by 19.6% decrease in revenue from the group’s logistics operations.

Moving forward, NCB said it will continue to upgrade its wharf capacity to attract larger shipping lines that require transhipment hub facility.

As for its logistics operations, the group pledged to continue its rationalisation programme so as to improve efficiency that would reduce the cost of operations.

NCB has proposed a final tax exempt dividend of 5 sen per share for FY14, which is 0.5 sen higher than FY13’s. The dividend is payable on June 17, 2015.

The counter fell nine sen or 3.09% to RM2.82 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.37 billion.

(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.)