Hengyuan unaware of reason for share price spike

PETALING JAYA: Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, which was the top gainer yesterday, has been queried by Bursa Securities on the sharp rise in its share price.
The company’s share price languished between RM5.30 and RM5.90 from June 30 to July 24, before rising to RM6.90 last Friday (July 28).
Yesterday, the stock jumped 13.91% to close at RM7.86 with a total of 8.24 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.35 billion.
The company said it is not aware of any corporate developments relating to the group’s business and affairs that have not been previously announced, that may account for the trading activity including those in the stage of negotiations/discussion.
It also said it is not aware of any rumour/report concerning the business and affairs of the group and whether it is aware of any other possible explanation to account for the trading activity.
Hengyuan, formerly known as Shell Refining Co (Federation of Malaya) Bhd, is involved in the refining and manufacturing of petroleum products.
Shell Refining became a subsidiary of Malaysia Hengyuan International Limited after the latter acquired a 51% stake for US$66.3 million (RM283.7 million) last year.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, profit more than doubled to RM279.49 million from RM101.65 million a year ago due to improved gross profit margin as a result of improved average product cracks during the period.
It also recorded a net gain on foreign currency exposure, mainly on trade receivables as the ringgit gradually strengthened against the US dollar during the quarter.
Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter rose 56.77% to RM2.93 billion from RM1.87 billion a year ago due to higher average product prices in the current period of US$65/barrel compared with US$42/barrel a year ago.
Sales volume during the quarter was 10.1 million barrels, marginally lower than the 10.4 million barrels sold a year ago.