HwangDBS keeps 'hold' rating on MHB

Shares of Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) fell 5.4 per cent after its second quarter result fared below expectations.

At 4.30 pm, MHB's share declined 29 sen to RM5.09 with 1.2 million lots traded, while the price hovered between RM5.02 and RM5.29.

"The result is due to poor earnings visibility due to a slow order book replenishment," HwangDBS Vickers said in a research note today.

MHB's pre-tax profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012 fell to RM60.5 million from RM96.4 million in the same quarter last year.

Revenue, however, rose to RM965.712 million from RM957.798 million previously.

HwangDBS Vickers has maintained its "hold" rating on MHB with a new target price of RM4.90 from RM4.75.

In contrast, Maybank IB Research maintained a "buy" call on the shares with a target price of RM5.70.

The research house said it expects MHB's earnings from the new Kababangan and Shell F14/29 projects to kick-in progressively.
The company is also currently bidding for 15 projects worth a combined value of RM5.0 billion.

"We believe that MHB is a frontrunner for three fabrication projects worth a total of RM1.4 billion, which will likely be awarded in the second half of this year," Maybank IB Research said. -- Bernama

2QFY12 Results Report

Stock Name: NHFATT
Company Name: NEW HOONG FATT HOLDINGS BHD

Research House: NETRESEARCH

Price Call: BUY

Target Price: 2.80

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Stock Name: TRIUMPL
Company Name: TRIUMPHAL ASSOCIATES BHD

Research House: NETRESEARCH

Price Call: BUY

Target Price: 1.30

An Integrated Media Player

Stock Name: STAR
Company Name: STAR PUBLICATIONS (M) BHD

Research House: TA

Price Call: SELL

Target Price: 3.29

Weak 1H12 but Orderbook is Growing

Stock Name: MHB
Company Name: MALAYSIA MARINE AND HEAVY ENG

Research House: TA

Price Call: HOLD

Target Price: 5.86

Genting Plant Q2 profit seen flat

Stock Name: GENP
Company Name: GENTING PLANTATIONS BERHAD

Research House: MAYBANK

Price Call: HOLD

Target Price: 9.10

Genting Plantation Bhd's (GENP) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012 is expected to be flat quarter-on-quarter at RM80 million-RM90 million, says Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB).

In a research note today, the bank said the expected flattish results followed disappointing fresh fruit bunches (FFB) output and stable spot of crude palm oil average selling price.

"As a result, the first-half results would amount to just about 35 per cent of our previous financial year 2012 (FY12) net profit forecast.

"Ahead of its results release, we cut our FY12 net profit estimate by 12 per cent to reflect no growth in FFB production for 2012," it said.

Maybank IB said production has entered a seasonally stronger period and the bank expected earnings to play significant catch-up in second half of 2012.

"GENP has said unlike in the past four years whereby the first- and second-half production ratio averaged 45:55 per cent, the ratio in 2012 will be unique at around 40-42 per cent:58-60 per cent," it said.

The bank said the contributions from the property sector would be small but growing as the company continued to enjoy robust sales for its Johor properties in second quarter of this year with positive spillover effect from its Johor Premium Outlet.

Maybank IB has maintained its 'hold' call on the company with an unchanged target price of RM9.10. -- Bernama

Pos Malaysia a 'buy': HwangDBS

HwangDBS Vickers Research initiated coverage of Pos Malaysia and Services Holdings Bhd with a "buy" rating and a target price of RM4.60, citing its attractive valuations.

"Valuation for Pos is cheap, based on its forward financial year ending March 31, 2014 (FY14) price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 9 times (versus industry average of 11 times) while ex-cash FY14 PE stood at 5 times," the research house said in a note on Friday.

HwangDBS said Pos Malaysia has more room to reinvent and improve itself now with DRB-Hicom Bhd as its major shareholder, offering new services ranging from pawnbroking to shared banking services. DRB-HICOM holds 32.2 percent stake in Pos Malaysia.

By 10:19 am, shares of the company were up 1.72 percent at RM2.95 per share, outperforming the Malaysia's benchmark stock index's 0.03 percent rise. -- Reuters

MIDF cuts Malaysia Marine to 'hold'

Stock Name: MHB
Company Name: MALAYSIA MARINE AND HEAVY ENG

Research House: MIDF

Price Call: HOLD

Target Price: 5.06

MIDF Research cut its rating on Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) to "hold" from "buy" after the firm announced disappointing second-quarter earnings.

MMHE's earnings declined 28 percent quarter-on-quarter and 29 percent year-on-year, while its first-half earnings accounted for only 38.7 percent of the market's full-year earnings forecasts.

"We believe that at this point in time, MMHE's market price has run ahead of its valuation," MIDF said in a research note on Friday.

The research house cut its earnings forecast for the financial years 2012 and 2013 by 12.8 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively, and reduced its order-book replenishment assumption to RM1.5 billion per annum.

MIDF also cut MMHE's target price to RM5.06 per share from RM5.97 previously. -- Reuters

MMHE - Still Below Expectation

Stock Name: MHB
Company Name: MALAYSIA MARINE AND HEAVY ENG

Research House: BIMB

Price Call: TRADING SELL

Target Price: 4.90

Privatising SKP... Why Not!

Stock Name: SKPRES
Company Name: SKP RESOURCES BHD

Research House: TA

Price Call: BUY

Target Price: 0.54