E&O shares rise following strong Q2 performance

PETALING JAYA: Eastern & Oriental Bhd’s (E&O) share price rose 1.38% after it announced a five-fold surge in earnings for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2017.
At 10.52am, its share price rose 1.38% or 2 sen to RM1.47 with a total of 839,700 shares traded. The stock fell 1.36% or 2 sen to close at RM1.45 yesterday with a total of 503,100 shares traded.
Yesterday, E&O said its net profit for the quarter grew five-fold to RM19.68 million from RM3.83 million a year ago due to higher operating profit from the property segment on the back of higher revenue recognised.
The group said the higher operating profit was also due to steady progress in construction from ongoing projects. Operating profit for the quarter stood at RM46.29 million compared with RM8.15 million a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter more than doubled to RM195.88 million from RM79.28 million a year ago mainly due to higher revenue contribution from the property segment as a result of higher revenue recognition from ongoing projects and higher sales of completed properties.
For the six months ended Sept 30, 2017, net profit grew almost sixfold to RM40.92 million from RM7.07 million a year ago while revenue rose 52.24% to RM369.32 million from RM242.59 million a year ago.