KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd (UMWOG) rose as much as 2.5 sen or 8% to 32 sen in active trade after chairman Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said the company is cautiously optimistic of making a turnaround in the current financial year.

UMWOG's income statement showed that for the previous financial year ended Dec 31, 2017 (FY17), the oil and gas support services provider's net loss narrowed to RM1.13 billion from a net loss of RM1.18 billion a year earlier.

Yesterday, Abdul Rahman told reporters after UMWOG's annual general meeting that the company is "cautiously optimistic" of making a turnaround in FY18 if FY17's positive momentum continues.

"We believe the company is on a strong trajectory to move forward, and we are pleased with the continuing strength of oil prices. We hope this will encourage greater capital expenditure by oil and gas companies, which would mean an increase in demand for our oil rigs," he said.

Today, UMWOG shares were traded at 31 sen at 2:39pm after some 56 million units changed hands. UMWOG was the fourth most-active stock across Bursa Malaysia.