This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 17, 2020

Malayan Cement Bhd (-ve)

Trading of shares in Malayan Cement Bhd (fundamental: 0.2/3, valuation: 0.3/3) triggered our momentum algorithm last Friday for the first time this year.

The counter settled 12 sen or 3.48% higher at RM3.57, with some 1.05 million shares done, exceeding its 200-day average volume of 728,300 shares.

Formerly known as Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, the group has been loss-making for the past two financial years.

Still, the group’s executive chairman Tan Sri Francis Yeoh told reporters that prospects for the loss-making company are “bright” this year, as it sees positive indicators in the take-up rate or orders for cement.

Also boosting the group’s upbeat sentiment is the government’s plan to use up the balance of its 2019 development budget this year, on top of the year’s allocated development expenditure, which Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng previously said would create a double-barrel effect.