MDR

mDR: the penny stock is +18% at 1.3cts in top volume at 533m shares traded, extending yday’s +10% gain on 888m shares traded.
The bullish sentiment coincides with yday’s glowing write up on mDR under The Business Times Hock Lock Siew column, which pipped mDR as a “gem among the penny stocks”.

Highlights that last mth, mDR unveiled its 9 consecutive quarter of profits and declared its maiden div payout of $2.1m, or ~0.033cts/sh.
Last yr, mDR repaid all $55m owed to bank and retired ~$12m of loan-stock overhang. It currently sits on ~$16m in cash, and has no debt. This compares with its current mkt cap of $84m.

Says following a massive restructuring, the co’s fortunes have been revived under the chairmanship of former Cycle & Carriage MD, Philip Eng. Mr Eng is best known for having engineered the purchase of a 31% stake in Indonesia’s Astra Int’l for US$296m, and subsequently raised its stake to 50.5%. Today, the Astra stake is worth ~$20.8b and contributes 95% of JC&C’s mkt value.

The article notes that Mr Eng is not content on overseeing a smallish telco eqpt player delivering thin margins, and hypothesizes that if he clinches an earnings accretive business, it could double the co’s topline from $360m now, and with economies of scale, deliver a four-fold boost to bottomline.

mDR (previously known as Accord Customer Care Solutions or ACCS) is involved in franchised distribution and retail services with M1 and SingTel as customers, and also provides after-market services for mobile phones.