KUALA LUMPUR (May 6): Steel product and equipment maker Prestar Resources Bhd rose by as much as 12% this morning following the 351% increase in its net profit for its first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21).

Prestar opened at RM1.30 apiece, which is 4% or five sen higher than its closing price yesterday of RM1.25 per share.

It reached an intra-morning high of RM1.40, which is up 12% or 15 sen from yesterday’s closing price.

At 11.06am, shares of the company were 6.4% or eight sen higher at RM1.33 apiece, valuing it at RM272.54 million. The counter was the fourth top value gainer on the local bourse at the time of writing.

In terms of trading volume, it saw 7.06 million shares done. To put this in perspective, its 200-day average trading volume is 1.77 million shares.

The group announced yesterday that its 1QFY21 net profit jumped 351% to RM18.33 million, from RM4.07 million a year prior on higher demand for its steel products. Quarterly revenue rose 49.6% to RM140.18 million from RM93.7 million in 1QFY20.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Prestar said its net profit grew 16.3% from RM15.76 million in 4QFY20, while revenue increased 2.3% from RM137.05 million.

The group declared a first interim dividend of one sen per share amounting to RM1.94 million, to be paid on a date to be announced later.