RHB stays positive on MAS turnaround story after Feb data

RHB stays positive on MAS turnaround story after Feb data
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Lee Wen Ai of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 27 March 2013 12:36


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KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 27): RHB is maintaining its "buy" call on MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] (MAS) at a fair value RM1.00.

MAS’ operating data in February 2013 showed a significant improvement, with its overall load factor of 74.4% improving by 590 basis points year-on-year, RHB Research said in a note today.

“Domestic demand accelerated due to the Chinese New Year holidays, while international revenue passenger kilometres and load factor picked up after the national carrier joined the Oneworld alliance since Feb 1, 2013," RHB said

“This has shown that joining in Oneworld alliance is the right move for MAS to fly higher by intensifying its revenue from international flights. We expect passengers fed from the Oneworld alliance will continue to be strong."

MAS is also offering seamless one-stop air connectivity between Kuala Lumpur and several Eastern cities in the USA through a code-share arrangement with American Airlines, one of its partners in the Oneworld alliance, it said.

In a poll of 16 analysts by Bloomberg, there are nine analysts with a “sell” call, two analysts with a “hold” call and five analysts with a “buy” call on MAS. Their target price ranges from 55 sen to RM1.00. MAS closed down 1 sen at 70.5 sen yesterday.