SECOND and third liners have gained firm support because of strong growth in their corporate earnings. Union Bank, which posted a profit growth of 38.8 per cent, was one of the day's best performers, rising 8.71 per cent to close 42.5 cents higher at $5.30 on a turnover of $16.24 million. The mainland-backed bank reported a net profit of $204 million last year and disclosed a much higher transfer to inner reserves. Giordano's share price continued to flare after the clothing retailer announced strong corporate earnings growth on Wednesday. The counter was among the best performers, gaining 6.45 per cent to close 30 cents higher at $4.95, on a turnover of $28.2 million. The company reported a better-than-expected 41.9 per cent rise in attributable profits to $195.34 million for the year ended December 31. The strong performance comes when local retail sales face a slowdown. However, Kosonic International took a beating because of a disappointing company performance. The counter plunged 18.91 per cent to close at 30 cents on thin turnover. It was the worst performer. For the year ended September, the consumer electronics manufacturer posted a loss of $32.45 million because of the unexpected delay in the production and delivery of its new products. Lamex, involved in the manufacture and distribution of office furniture, dropped to its lowest since January last year. The counter declined 15.18 per cent or 31.5 cents to $1.76. The performance of H shares and red chips was also mixed. Maanshan Iron suffered heavy selling, losing a further 1.23 per cent to $1.60 with 12.88 million shares changing hands. Shanghai Petrochemicals finished the day flat at $2.325 with 9.73 million shares traded. After its share price decline on Thursday, Guangzhou Shipyard rebounded 14.81 per cent to top the performers' list. The counter rose 40 cents to $3.10 on a turnover of $1.08 million. The company is one of the eight major shipyards in China and is among the largest mainland container manufacturers.
