WESTPORTS HOLDINGS BHD (+ve)
WESTPORTS (Fundamental: N/A, Valuation: N/A), a port operator based in Port Klang, has soared by 32.7% year-to-date, partly due to its earnings results. Its share price remained unchanged at RM4.37 yesterday. 

For 1Q2015, revenue increased by 9.8% y-o-y to RM398.7 million while net profit rose 10.2% to RM120.2 million, buoyed by a 17.1% growth in container throughput. Going forward, earnings growth is likely to be affected by higher tax rate, following the expiration of Investment Tax Allowance in 2014.

Westports has commenced the construction of the RM1.0 billion Container Terminal 8 in January 2015. Once completed by mid-2017, its container handling capacity will increase to 13.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), from 11 million TEUs currently. 

The stock is trading at a high trailing 12-month P/E of 28.5 times and 8.9 times book. Dividends totalled 11.25 sen in 2014, giving a yield of 2.6%. Net gearing ratio stood at 47.3%.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 14, 2015.