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Thoresen Thai Agencies
SCB Securities has recommended "buy" on shares of shipping and shipping-services company Thoresen Thai Agencies, with a revised target price of Bt36 apiece.
The company's management says time-charter (TC) shipping rates have risen to US$13,000 (Bt452,000) per day, with apparent upside risks. The strong year-to-date performance has led the company to raise its full-year TC assumption to $13,000 a day, from $12,600 a day before.The broker's new forecast sees continued growth from a base of $12,789 per day in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 and from a rate of $10,777 a day in the first quarter of fiscal 2006. The key factor driving rates is a strong rise in demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East, against limited supply. Thoresen Thai Agencies' average daily TC rate in the first three months of 2007 rose less than the increase in the Baltic Dry Index. Rates for larger ships (Cape- and Panamax-size) rose more, due to higher demand for vessels of this size to import coal from Australia. The broker raised its core profit forecast for this year to Bt3.88 billion, or 7 per cent (consensus forecast, Bt3.51 billion), and for next year to Bt3.97 billion, or 2 per cent (consensus forecast, Bt3.76 billion).
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