STOCK FOCUS
Banpu
Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) has upgraded its recommendation on Banpu shares from "long-term buy" to "buy on weakness", with a fair value of Bt186 apiece.
The broker expects Banpu to record a third-quarter net profit of Bt880 million, a decrease of 48 per cent year on year.Although the volume of coal sales surged 17 per cent year on year, the average price fell 5 per cent. Indonesian export taxes on coal and higher production expenses were also negative factors. The broker has forecast that Banpu will attain a gross margin of 38 per cent in the quarter, compared with 48 per cent in the same period last year. In the third quarter, Banpu sold 17 million shares of Aromatics (Thailand) at an average price of Bt34. As a result, the company should book an extra gain of about Bt517 million, similar to the gain of Bt506 million in the same period last year. The company still holds about 2 million shares in Aromatics, which will be sold this quarter. The broker predicts a full-year net profit of Bt4.42 billion, based on higher sales volume and the huge gain from Aromatics' share divestment.
|
