KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to close higher on Wednesday on selective buying of defensive stocks after a volatile trading session. IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said consumer products and services stocks lifted the key index higher, overcoming lingering geopolitical concerns. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.08 points to 1,715.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,712.48. The benchmark index, which opened 1.91 points higher at 1,714.39, moved between 1,710.79 and 1,720.59 during the day’s trading. In the broader market, gainers outstripped decliners 550 to 476, while 612 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded, and 48 suspended. Turnover rose to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion from 2.94 billion units valued at RM2.56 billion on Tuesday.
Maintain BUY with unchanged target price (TP) of RM2.21 Results OldTown’s 2QFY17 net profit declined 9.0% q-o-q and 5.5% y-o-y to RM12.63mil. Meanwhile, quarterly revenue down 3.2% q-o-q while climbed 7.5% y-o-y to RM99.55mill. For 1HFY17, net profit was registered at RM26.51mill, up 16.1% y-o-y. Similarly, revenue up by 8.4% y-o-y to RM202.43mill. Within expectation- The Group’s 1HFY17 net profit was within expectations by accounting for 47% of our full year net profit forecast and market consensus mainly buoyed by positive performance in FMCG division coupled with slight recovery in F&B division in this quarter. We reckon that OldTown could achieve impressive earnings in 2HFY17, aided by better performance from both divisions in conjunction of Christmas and Chinese New Year celebrations. Comment Better earnings of 1HFY17. The Group’s 1HFY17 net profit posted a positive growth amid its higher topline as the resilient performance of FMCG segment was st...