Malaysia Stocks

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rose 15.85, or 1.3 percent, to close at 1,285.01, its highest close since May 21. The gauge slid 4.6 percent this month, its biggest monthly decline since a 15 percent slump in October.

Axiata Group Bhd. (AXIATA MK), a mobile-phone operator, rose 2.2 percent to 3.77 ringgit, its highest close since May 18.
The company said first-quarter profit surged more than 14-fold from a year earlier to 921.5 million ringgit ($280 million), bolstered by income from its overseas units and the sale of shares in an Indonesian subsidiary.

Genting Bhd. (GENT MK), Asia’s second-biggest publicly traded casino operator, added 1 percent to 6.80 ringgit, its highest level since May 18. The company said first-quarter profit rose 9 percent to 232.4 million ringgit, helped by revenue from its new gambling resort in Singapore. The company’s casino and hotel unit Genting Malaysia Bhd. (GENM MK) gained 4.9 percent to 2.78 ringgit.

Sime Darby Bhd. (SIME MK), the world’s biggest listed palm oil producer, dropped 1 percent to 7.75 ringgit, the worst performer on the stock index today. The company posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade after cost overruns prompted the company to remove its chief executive officer. The third-quarter net loss was 308.6 million ringgit, compared with a profit of 150.6 million ringgit a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd. (T MK), a fixed-line phone and internet operator, advanced 2.8 percent to 3.35 ringgit, its largest gain since March 23, after saying first-quarter net income jumped to 242.9 million ringgit from 27.7 million ringgit a year ago.

Zelan Bhd. (ZELN MK), a builder, tumbled 9.5 percent to
47.5 sen, its lowest close since March 19, 2009, after its fourth-quarter loss widened to 184.3 million ringgit from 57.5 million ringgit a year earlier on cost overruns in some of its overseas projects.