Renong Profit Leap Fails To Excite

Malaysian conglomerate Renong Bhd's near doubling in annual earnings failed to excite most industry analysts despite beating market forecasts, analysts said on Friday. Much of the profit surge reflected the sale of land in Johore state, the analysts said, adding that Renong's cash position remained weak and net profit would have run within expectations if proceeds from the land sale were excluded. The infrastructure developer announced on Thursday a net profit of 407.11 million ringgit for the to June 30, 1996, against 207.83 million ringgit in the previous year. Analysts had forecast net profit of between 360 million and 390 million ringgit.