KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Furniture manufacturer Lii Hen Industries Bhd, which reported a near tripling in its latest quarterly net profit last Friday, saw its shares rise as much as 16 sen or 5.5% this morning to RM3.03.

In its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015, Lii Hen said its net profit came in 2.7 times higher at RM15.5 million from RM5.8 million in the same quarter last year, while revenue rose 41.8% to RM144.25 million, largely due to the strengthening of the US dollar and higher contribution from bedding products.

This brought its net profit for the nine-month period (9MFY15) to RM38.9 million, up 89.8% from RM20.5 million in 9MFY14, while its revenue strengthened 33.8% to RM394.6 million from RM295 million.

The share price spike also came amid the continued strengthening of the US dollar against the ringgit. At the time of writing, the ringgit had weakened 0.36% to 4.3010 against the greenback.

About 80% of Lii Hen's products are exported to America — its single largest market. Its second largest market is Asia, contributing about 13% of sales.

According to Reuters, the ringgit fell as sliding crude oil prices underscored worries about Malaysia's falling oil and gas revenues.

Most emerging Asian currencies slid on Monday as the dollar hit a seven-month peak against major currencies with expectations of further easing in Europe, while slumping commodity prices indicate sluggish global demand.

At 3pm, Lii Hen shares were trading at RM3, still up 13 sen or 4.5%, after some 1.45 million shares were traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM538.2 million.

(Note: 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.)