Maybank IB Research maintains Hold on PChem, target price RM6.70

Maybank IB Research maintains Hold on PChem, target price RM6.70
Business & Markets 2013
Written by theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 04 September 2013 08:57

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4): Maybank IB Research has maintained its Hold rating on Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PChem) at RM6.38 with an unchanged target price of RM6.70 and said PChem’s performance in 2013 had been good so far relative to 2012.

In a note Wednesday, the research house said 1Q13 was an exceptional quarter with record plant utilization rate coupled with strong average selling prices (ASP) and 2Q13 was also better year-on-year (y-o-y).

Maybank said that overall, PChem’s 1H13 PATAMI grew by +10.1% y-o-y to RM2,063 million on the back of 5.6% volume growth y-o-y and a slightly lower ASP of -0.7% y-o-y.

“We expect PChen to record high utilization rates for the remainder of 2013 due to stable feedstock supply and fewer planned factory maintenance shutdowns.

“We maintain our Hold call with no change to our earnings forecasts and target price of RM6.70 based on unchanged 12.8x 2013 PER – in line with global peers,” it said.