KUALA LUMPUR: Pelikan International Corp Bhd saw strong buying interest in early trade Friday, making it one of the most actively traded counters on Bursa Malaysia.

       The stationery maker rose 2.15%, or one sen to 47.5 sen with 9.44 million shares traded at 9.18am. Year-to-date, the counter has risen almost 51%. It is currently trading at a PE ratio of 24.88 times.

       RHB Research said Pelikan was set for an uptrend reversal after it broke past the 46 sen level – forming a Bullish Engulfing pattern.

       “If it remains above that breakout level, the positive momentum may persist, boosting the stock towards the next resistance of 51 sen, followed by 55 sen or its 52-week high.

       “In the event, it falls below the 44 sen support, this expectation would be cancelled,” RHB said.

       Pelikan’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 fell on a year-on-year basis by 10.6% to RM17.94mil as revenue dipped by about 12.5% to RM287.32mil.

       In the first six months to June 30, it posted a net profit of RM5.22mil on revenue of RM489.73mil.