GEORGE TOWN (Aug 6): Westports Holdings Bhd soared to an intra-day high of RM4.44, after the port operator is granted a 15% container tariff hike from the Transport Ministry effective next month.

Earlier today, Westports (valuation: 0.9; fundamental: 1.45) announced the ministry also approved its second phase tariff hike of another 15% that will take effect on Sept 1, 2018.

The revised tariff covers container terminal handling charges for import, export, transhipment, shifting and restow, storage charge for container and handling charge for heavy lift or uncontainerised cargo, said Westports in its filing on Bursa Malaysia today.

Westports said the container tariff revision has been approved and was gazetted on June 12 and Aug 3 this year, and the letter of approval from the ministry, dated Aug 5, was addressed to Port Klang Authority.

The stock price surged to an intra-day high of RM4.44, before it retreated to RM4.32 as at 3.30pm. It has rebounded from the recent low of RM3.80 in late last month.

Some 6.5 million shares changed hands so far today.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)