Maybank Research maintains Buy on AMMB, ups TP to RM8.30

KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Kim Eng Research is maintaining a Buy recommendation on AMMB and raised the target price to RM8.30 from RM7.60 on a higher CY13 price-to-book value target of 1.9 times from 1.8 times.
It said on Friday AMMB's FY13 net profit of RM1.63b (up 10% on-year) was within its expectations and consensus.
“Our
forecasts are maintained but with the stock offering stable returns on
equity of about 14.5%, we do believe higher valuations are warranted,”
it said.
Maybank Research said AMMB continues to offer exposure
to a decently valued (CY14 price-to-earnings ratio of 11.1 times versus
the sector's 11.9 times) financial stock with sustainable, rather than
declining, ROEs of about 14.5%.
It said AMMB was also a beneficiary of the Economic Transformation Programme while the group's fee income base is growing a double the rate of its peers.