This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 1, 2016.

KPS Consortium Bhd (-ve)

Shares of KPS Consortium (fundamental: 1/3; valuation: 1.7/3) rose 6.96% to an intraday high of 61.5 sen yesterday, following the release of its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 (4QFY15) results. The stock closed 4 sen or 6.96% at 61.5 sen.

The company recorded a net profit of RM11.5 million in 4QFY15, compared to a net loss of RM6.6 million a year ago, while revenue grew 15.6% y-y to RM143.4 million, due mainly to higher contributions from the building materials segment.

However, its latest quarterly net profit figure includes a write back of provision for doubtful debt, fair value gain on reclassified investment property, and interest/compensation for the recession of sale and purchase agreement with Shanghai City Sdn Bhd totalling RM9.3 million.

As for its 4QFY14 net loss, the figure included provisions and write-downs of assets amounting to RM9.4 million, without which the company would have made a net profit of RM2.7 million.

Primarily engaged in the distribution of building materials and the conversion of paper into related products, KPS also has interests in paper milling and trading of paper-related products.