Monday 28 February 2011

Paramount advances after 4Q strong earnings, boost from Jerneh Insurance sale

Paramount advances after 4Q strong earnings, boost from Jerneh Insurance sale
Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 25 February 2011 11:33


KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Paramount Corp Bhd was among the top gainers in the morning on Friday, Feb 25 after it announced a strong set of earnings, which were boosted by the 20% equity in Jerneh Insurance Bhd and higher margins achieved in property development.

At 11.28am, Paramount rose 34 sen to RM4.85 with 345,200 shares done.

The FBM KLCI rose 2.98 points to 1,492.85, off the early high of 1,499. Turnover was 522.46 million shares valued at RM620.44 million. There were 386 gainers, 278 losers and 248 stocks unchanged.

On Thursday, Paramount said while 4QFY10 revenue was at RM102.9 million, a slight decline from RM104.5 million a year ago, profit before tax of RM87.1 million was substantially higher compared with RM22.0 million a year ago.

This 296% increase was attributed to a gain of RM60.8 million recognized on the disposal of the Group’s 20% equity in Jerneh Insurance and higher margins achieved in property development.

It also said FY10 revenue grew by 7% to RM432.3 million from RM404.9 million recorded in FY09 the previous year while profit before tax grew by 123% to RM177.1 million from RM79.3 million in FY09.

Discounting the gain from the disposal of Jerneh Insurance, it said the group’s core businesses, that is property development, CONSTRUCTION [] and educational services contributed to 47% of the growth in profits.

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