'Parkson Asia listing to benefit Parkson Hldgs'

Proposed listing of Parkson Holdings' subsidiary, Parkson Retail Asia Pte Ltd, on the Singapore Stock Exchange Main Board will enable the group to unlock value for its retail assets in Southeast Asia, says ECM Libra Investment Research.

It said the listing would raise capital for store expansion and further acquisition of store locations for Parkson Holdings' property management arm.

"The proposed listing is still in the preliminary stage and details on the proposed share offering structure and size of the offer have not been finalised and will be announced at a later stage," said the research house in a statement.

ECM Libra has maintained "buy" recommendation for Parkson Holdings and a target price of RM6.40 based on sum-of-parts valuation.

Another research firm, MIDF Research, said the listing impact on Parkson Holdings' earnings would depend on its pared down effective shareholding in Parkson Asia and utilisation of the proceeds.

"Without the listing, we expect Parkson Asia to contribute about 15 per cent of Parkson Holdings' financial year 2012 earnings," it said.

MIDF has also reiterated its "buy" recommendation on Parkson Holdings with an unchanged RM6.63 target price. -- Bernama