KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Allianz Malaysia’s shares jumped 42 sen or 4.03 per cent in the early session after posting stronger results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

The stock, the top gainer in early trading, stood at RM10.82 as at 10.02am, with 70,800 shares transacted.

The company yesterday announced to Bursa Malaysia that its pre-tax profit surged to RM124.01 million in the first quarter from RM78.74 million in the same period last year, on higher revenue of RM1.01 billion from RM862.07 million previously.

RHB Research said the company’s first-quarter performance came above expectations driven by better underwriting margins and growth in its life insurance business.

“We maintain our ‘neutral’ call on the stock with a fair value of RM11.50, but will review our forecasts upon further information from its briefing today,” it said in a note. — Bernama