This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 25, 2017

UMW Holdings Bhd (-ve)
SHARES in UMW Holdings Bhd (fundamental: 0.35/3, valuation: 0.3/3) triggered our momentum algorithm for the first time this year when the stock closed up six sen at RM6.20 last Friday.

A total of 4.9 million shares changed hands compared with its 200-day average volume of 981,506.5 shares.

UMW Holdings’ net loss widened to RM1.57 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (4QFY16), from RM284.29 million a year ago, on continued losses on its oil and gas business.

Soft demand in the automotive industry, low oil prices and a weakening ringgit also dragged the group’s revenue down by 26.8% to RM3.1 billion from RM4.2 billion in 4QFY15.

For the full FY16, UMW Holdings suffered a net loss of RM1.69 billion versus RM37.17 million in FY15. Revenue for FY16 dipped 67% from RM14.44 billion to RM10.97 billion.

Its property arm, UMW Land Sdn Bhd, plans to transform a 348.3ha land in Serendah, Selangor, into a high-value manufacturing park focused on aerospace and smart manufacturing, in collaboration with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.