Hiap Teck's share price dips despite stellar performance in Q2

PETALING JAYA: Hiap Teck Venture Bhd saw its share price fall this morning despite reporting a sevenfold rise in its second quarter net profit.
At midday, its share price was 1.19% or half sen lower at 41.5 sen with 6.31 million shares traded. The stock gained 3.70% to close at 42 sen yesterday with a total of 6.91 million shares done.
The steel player reported a sevenfold increase in its net profit for the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2018 to RM30.54 million from RM3.90 million a year ago due to lower finance costs and share of profit recognised from a joint venture (JV) as opposed to a share of loss in the same quarter last year.
It said that the profit recorded by the JV was due to unrealised foreign exchange gain as a result of the strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar in the quarter under review.
On the recent announcement of 25% import tariffs to be imposed on steel products by the US, Hiap Teck said the decision may have an impact on the steel export market globally but the group remains optimistic on the steel industry outlook in Malaysia, which is supported by growth in the construction industry.