KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 25): Poh Kong Holdings Bhd saw its net profit jumped 496% to RM7.71 million or 1.88 sen a share for the second financial quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (2QFY15) from RM1.29 million or 0.31 sen a share a year ago, on improved gross profit margin.

This was despite revenue for the quarter falling 4.6% to RM216.45 million from RM226.91 million in 2QFY14 due to decreased demand for gold investment products and jewellery items.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Poh Kong (fundamental: 0.65; valuation: 1.2) said the improved earnings was due to improvement in gross profit margin during the quarter under review.

For the cumulative six months (1HFY15), Poh Kong's net profit grew 81.8% to RM10.79 million or 2.63 sen per share from RM5.94 million or 1.45 sen per share a year ago.

Revenue increased a marginal 0.83% to RM410.41 million from RM407.04 million in 1HFY14.

Going forward, Poh Kong said it would continue to consolidate its business, realign business strategies and undertake new initiatives to pursue sustainable growth and ultimately enhanced profitability of the group.

The strategy was to tackle the challenging operating environment. The group foresees cautiousness in consumer spending, which will pose challenges for the retail industry.

Despite this, the group maintained a positive long-term outlook.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group is cautiously optimistic of the group's performance for the financial year ending July 31, 2015," it said.

Shares in Poh Kong traded unchanged at 43 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM176.45 million.

(Notes: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)