KUALA LUMPUR (July 30): Xidelang Holdings Bhd rose as much as 1.5 sen or 9% to 19 sen on the sports-shoe manufacturer's acquisition plan to expand into apparel production.
 
Yesterday (July 29), Xidelang (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1.5) said it planned to acquire China-based Jinjiang Yangsen Garments Co Ltd under a cash and share deal.

XideLang said since apparel might contribute more than 25% of the company's net profit in the future, the firm intended to seek shareholders' approval for the acquistion of Jinjiang Yangsen.

Today, Xidelang's shares pared gains at 18.5 sen at 10:59 am, with some 27 million shares having changed hands.
 
Similarly, Xidelang warrants XDL-WC also rose. The warrants rose as much as one sen or 13% to 8.5 sen, before trading flat at 7.5 sen at 11:01am. Some 8.3 million units were traded.

Earlier, Xidelang shares and XDL-WC were the second and ninth most-active traded counters on Bursa Malaysia.

At 18.5 sen, Xidelang shares have gained 85% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the FBM KLCI's 3% decline.
 
Xidelang has also outperformed China-based peers such as shoe-sole manufacturer Multi Sports Holding Ltd (fundamental:1.45; valuation: 2.1), which had fallen 22% this year.

(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.)