CIMB Research maintains Outperform on Mah Sing

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research is maintaining its Outperform on MAH SING GROUP BHD [].

The research house said on Thursday, Aug 18 Mah Sing’s interim results were in line with its expectations but beat consensus again.

CIMB Research said the 1H11 net profit made up 49.5% of its full-year forecast and 55% of consensus estimates.

The RM1.24 billion sales achieved in 1H should be sustainable in 2H given the RM500 million additional bookings up to July that should be converted into sales.

“This means that Mah Sing could exceed its 2011 sales target of RM2 billion to RM2.5 billion. Unbilled sales now stand at a record RM1.9 billion, up from RM1.6 billion in 1Q,” it said.

CIMB Research said it maintained its EPS forecasts and RM3.55 target price, which it continued to base on its CY12 target market P/E of 14.5 times. “Potential rerating catalysts include 1) newsflow on continued landbanking, 2) sustained strong sales, and 3) accelerating earnings growth. Mah Sing remains our top pick in the property sector,” it said.