Khee San Bhd (-ve)

Shares of KHEE San (Fundamental: 0.3/3, Valuation: 1.7/3) rose to an intraday high of 76 sen, before closing up 0.7% to 73.5 sen yesterday.

The stock rallied to a 3-year high of 79.5 sen in April, following the entry of Lim Pei Tiam as a substantial shareholder with a 5.18% stake. Lim, an executive director of Komarkcorp Bhd — a manufacturer of self-adhesive labels and stickers — has since raised his stake in Khee San to 7.56% via the open market.

Khee San manufactures and sells sweets and confectionery under established brands such as "Fruit Plus" and "Torrone". London Biscuits is the single largest shareholder of Khee San, owning a 28.58% stake.

For 9MFYJun2015, revenue grew 13.6% y-o-y to RM97.0 million while net profit remained flat at RM2.9 million, mainly due to higher operating expenses and finance costs. Net gearing stood at 31.5% at end-March. ROE ranged between 4.3-4.9% from FY2011-FY2014.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 7, 2015.