UPDATE 1-Malaysia's MISC boosts Q4 profit but outlook glum

(Adds outlook comments)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Reuters) - Malaysian liquefied natural gas shipper MISC Bhd (MISC.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a 10 percent jump in fourth-quarter net profit on Monday, boosted by its heavy-engineering unit and offshore businesses.

But the firm, a unit of state oil company Petronas, painted a tough outlook, saying its results could be hurt by record crude oil prices, which were pushing up its bunker fuel costs, and by weaker markets for both LNG and containers.

"The global petroleum and container shipping markets are expected to weaken further, with escalating operational costs, especially bunker (fuel)," MISC said in a statement.

The firm made net profit of 774.4 million ringgit ($241 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with 702.6 million ringgit a year earlier, largely thanks to continued growth of its heavy-engineering unit, which makes oil rigs.

Its core energy-related shipping business reported an 11 percent fall in annual operating profit.

The full-year group profit of 2.43 billion ringgit fell short of an average forecast of 2.63 billion ringgit, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. MISC held its final dividend at 20 Malaysian cents a share, making a total of 35 cents for the year.

MISC, 62-percent owned by state oil and gas firm Petronas, took delivery of two new LNG tankers and a Very Large Crude Carrier in 2006.

MISC shares fell 5.6 percent in the January/March quarter, outperforming a drop of 13.7 percent in the main Kuala Lumpur Composite Index .KLSE. (Reporting by Clarence Fernandez, editing by Will Waterman)