KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Privasia Technology Bhd emerged among the top 10 active stocks on Bursa Malaysia after The Edge Research highlighted the information technology (IT) player as one of the ‘Stocks with Momentum’ in The Edge Financial Daily today.

At 2.54pm, Privasia shares were down 0.5 sen or 2.63% at 18.5 sen, with 24.2 million shares done.

The counter closed at a five-year high of 19 sen yesterday. It was just trading at levels of 9 sen to 10 sen in the beginning of the year.

The Edge Research pointed out that Privasia – which specialises in consultancy, systems integration services, IT outsourcing, E-bidding and E-procurement for the port and logistics industry – interestingly has a total order book of RM130.9 million in mid-2014, which was higher than the combined revenue for 2012 and 2013.

Privasia’s revenue in 2013 dropped by 3.6% to RM58.5 million, from RM60.6 million; but net profit rose by 8.5% to RM5.4 million, from RM4.9 million.

For the first half ended June 30, 2014, revenue declined 6.6% year-on-year to RM27.5 million, while net profit fell 28.9% to RM2.3 million, due to slower billings and higher operating costs.

“Valuations for the stock are higher than the broader market, but relatively lower compared to other technology stocks, especially those that are actively involved in GST software and have received a recent price and earnings boost ahead of its April 2015 implementation,” The Edge Research noted.

It said Privasia is currently trading at 1.3 times book, with a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.8 times.

“By comparison, technology stocks such as IFCA MSC Bhd is trading at 6.5 times book and a trailing 12-month P/E ratio of 32.5 times while Censof Holdings Bhd is trading at 2.53 times book and trailing 12-month P/E ratio of 332.6 times.”

The Edge Research added that Privasia, which also provides wireless and satellite-based communication solutions business, has seen its gearing ratio improve from 26.84% in 2011 to 9.83% in 2013. The company paid out a 0.3 sen dividend per share in 2013 which translates into a yield of 1.7%.

The Edge Research rates Privasia a 1.4 out of 3 on fundamentals, and 0.6 out of 3 in terms of valuation attractiveness.