YTL Shares Jump After Sixfold Rise in Quarterly Profit
By Ying Xian Wong
Shares of Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate YTL rose after the company reported a sixfold rise in its second-quarter profit.
The stock was 8.8% higher at 2.34 ringgit on Friday, bringing year-to-date gains to 24%. YTL's share price has quadrupled over the past year, buoyed by its utilities unit's robust earnings outlook amid stronger overseas operations and tailwinds from the collaboration with chip giant Nvidia on an artificial-intelligence infrastructure project.
The company said late Thursday that net profit for the three months ended December was MYR589.2 million ($123.3 million), up sharply from MYR96.9 million a year earlier, thanks to solid results from listed units YTL Power International and Malayan Cement. Quarterly revenue rose 14% to MYR7.53 billion.
CGS-CIMB raised its fiscal 2024-2026 earnings-per-share forecasts for YTL by 2%-57% after the results, citing higher expected utility and construction earnings as more infrastructure projects are rolled out. The brokerage also increased the target price on the stock to MYR3.00 from MYR2.13 and maintained an add rating.
Analyst Chong Tjen-San said in a note that the infrastructure conglomerate maintained a balanced exposure and could serve as a proxy for Malaysia's benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index and the MSCI Malaysia Index.
MIDF Research kept a buy rating on the stock but raised the target price to MYR2.27 from MYR1.78, saying it is bullish on the earnings outlook for YTL's power and building-material units.
Write to Ying Xian Wong at yingxian.wong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2024 23:11 ET (04:11 GMT)
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