NCB Holdings Bhd (-ve)

SHARE price of NCB (Fundamental: 2.05/3, Valuation: 0.8/3) has risen by 38.0% since it was first picked by our momentum algorithm on March 17. The stock rose as much as 4.3% before ending 0.3% higher at RM3.52 yesterday. 

On June 16, MMC Corp, the flagship company of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, raised its stake in NCB to 21.05% from 15.73% previously. The 5.3% stake was acquired from the Port Klang Authority at RM86.2 million or RM3.45 per share. 

NCB operates Northport in Port Klang and provides container haulage services. Northport has about 24% market share of Port Klang’s 10.95 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units). For 2014, net profit plunged 46.1% to RM27.9 million, largely affected by lower container throughput volume, higher expenditures and loss-making logistics operations. 

Net profit for 1Q15, however, jumped 144.4% y-o-y to RM11.6 million, thanks to a 12.4% growth in container throughput volume and lower fuel cost.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 27, 2015.