Hot stock Padini rises 5.45% on better 1Q result

by **Cals** Tue 26 Nov 2013, 16:28

Hot stock Padini rises 5.45% on better 1Q result

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Zatil Husna of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 26 November 2013 10:18

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): Padini Holdings Bhd shares roses as much as 5.45% at mid-morning on Tuesday on better first quarter (1Q) results announced yesterday, backed by analysts’ upgrades on the stock.

At 9.53am, the stock was among the top gainers, rising 9 sen to RM1.74 with some 557,700 shares done.

The retail group posted profit of RM27.74 million for the 1QFY13 from RM25.31 million year-on-year (y-o-y). Revenue climbed to RM217.22 million from RM201.06 million.

Padini, a garment manufacturer, plans to pay total dividends of four sen a share for the quater in review.

These comprise an interim dividend of 2.5 sen and a special payout of 1.5 sen.

Maybank IB research has upgraded its call to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and raised target price (TP) to RM1.87 (from RM1.75).

In its note today, Maybank said with Padini’s special dividend, the stock offers an attractive net dividend yield of 7% for FY6/14.

“We roll forward our valuations. Upgrade to buy with higher TP of RM1.87. Padini is the highest yielding stock within our consumer sector coverage,” it said.

Alliance IB Research has raised its TP on the stock to RM1.66 from RM1.62 while reiterating its ‘neutral’ call.

“With no positive catalysts insight, we keep our Neutral call on Padini, with a higher TP of RM1.66 (+2.3%).

“While we believe competition risk remains a key concern, we believe it has largely been captured in current price.

“Furthermore, we believe Padini should be well supported by its attractive FY14 yield of 6.1%,” it said.