This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 14, 2018

Guan Chong Bhd (+ve)
Shares in Guan Chong Bhd (fundamental: 0.9/3, valuation: 1.5/3) closed down eight sen or 2.86% at RM2.72 yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.31 billion.

The counter saw 3.54 million shares traded, about seven times its 200-day average volume of 508,577.5 shares.

On Monday, Guan Chong reported a 47.7% year-on-year jump in net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 to RM43.87 million amid higher sales, increased bean grinding and lower input cost.

Its quarterly revenue grew 10.3% to RM598.78 million from RM542.86 million for the previous year’s corresponding quarter, as the sales volume of cocoa ingredients increased almost 20%.

The group said it is confident of posting its best-ever performance for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2018, backed by higher sales of cocoa ingredients amid strong demand from the global chocolate industry.