KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): Oriental Holdings Bhd’s fourth quarter earnings jumped 59.59% from a year earlier, thanks to a turnaround in its automotive segment and its plantations business. The conglomerate has also declared a dividend that was 71.43% higher year-on year, at six sen a share.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Oriental Holdings (fundamental: 2.5; valuation: 2.4) said net profit for the fourth quarter of its financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14) was RM115.14 million, while revenue stood at RM969.33 million.

To compare, Oriental Holdings made RM72.15 million in net profit, with turnover of RM750.44 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

For FY14, the group’s net profit of RM328.06 million or 52.88 sen per share — 76.94% higher than the previous year’s RM185.4 million or 29.89 sen a share.. Revenue was up 25.88% to RM3.47 billion.

On its prospects, Oriental Holdings said its performance in FY15 “will be a respectable one”, in view of the current global economic condition.

The company’s shares closed one sen or 0.14% higher at RM6.96, giving a yield of 0.86% from its interim dividend of six sen a share. It has a market capitalisation of RM4.31 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.)