23/08/2007 (Bloomberg) - IOI Corp. shares had their biggest gain in two months after the world's largest palm oil producer said fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as the price of the commodity surged.

IOI climbed 19.2 sen, or 3.9 percent, to 5.15 ringgit at 11:21 a.m. local time on Malaysia's stock exchange, set for its biggest gain since the close on June 18. The stock resumed trading after a halt since Aug. 9 for a capital repayment plan.

Palm oil producers have benefited as rising demand from China and India, the world's largest consumers of palm oil, sent the commodity's price to a record in June. IOI is seeking more estates in Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for about 85 percent of global palm oil output.

``We're positive on plantation stocks,'' said Tan Beng Ling, who helps oversee about $434 million of assets at Meridian Asset Management Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur.

Net income rose to 451.7 million ringgit ($130 million), or 7.28 sen a share, in the three months ended June 30, from 211.9 million ringgit, or 3.58 sen, a year earlier, Putrajaya, Malaysia-based IOI said in a statement Aug. 21.

Palm oil futures in Malaysia, the global benchmark, rose to a five-day high yesterday on prospects of rising demand from China, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils. China imported 2.7 million tons of palm oil in the first seven months of the year, 4.5 percent more than the same period last year and 17 percent higher than a preliminary estimate by the Beijing- based customs office.