Excerpts from analysts' reports

DBS Vickers says investors will increasingly favour growth stocks over yield stocks

Singapore equities will be underpinned by the recovery momentum in the US, and the anticipated shift out of recession in the Eurozone.

In Asia, China’s GDP slowdown should also stabilise in 2014. However, optimism will be capped by the extent of QE tapering and the weak market sentiment for ASEAN.

STI is likely to range trade as sentiment gyrates between optimism in recovery in developed markets and uncertainties within ASEAN.

We peg a STI range of 2950 to 3350 in the coming months, which coincides quite closely with 12.33x (-1SD) to 13.9x (Ave) blended FY14/FY15 PE.

We expect the companies under our coverage to enjoy earnings growth acceleration in 2014. We see earnings (before EI) jumping 12.8% in 2014F compared with just 0.5% for 2013F.
  
Key themes for investment are centred around external recovery and global cyclicals, supported by earnings growth drivers in the industrial, oil and gas sectors.

As QE tapering progresses, expectations of a steepening yield curve reduces investors’ appetite for yield stocks.

The rotation from yield sensitive sectors to growth stocks will gain momentum.

As such, we Overweight Banks, Industrials, Oil and Gas, Consumer Services, Underweight Consumer Goods and REITS, and Neutral on Property and Telcos. 

DBS_picks1.14
 
Patrick-ChewPatrick Chew, CEO of Midas Holdings.
Photo: Company
In terms of stock pick, global proxies, China beneficiaries and oil and gas plays are key focus. Proxies to global recoveries are Hutchison Port, Goodpack and Venture.

With China’s outlook stabilising, beneficiaries of China’s reform efforts are Midas, Global Logistics and Osim.

Domestic recovery proxies are Genting Singapore, Courts and OCBC.

Rate of recovery in the OSV market will drive a re-rating for the sector, benefitting vessel owners like Pacific Radiance, while Ezion will continue to thrive on its niche product offerings.
 
Turnaround plays to watch out for in 2014 are Ezra and Vard; resolving their execution issues and a sustainable recovery could see both stocks re-rating.

Keppel Corp’s order wins have surpassed expectations with more potential orders in the offing, while margins are recovering.


The full DBS Vickers report is accessible here. 

Recent story: Recovery stories for 2014: NOBLE GROUP, JAYA HOLDINGS 




Maybank initiates coverage of Mermaid Maritime with 61-c target

Analyst: YEAK Chee Keong, CFA

MMaritime_chart1.14We initiate coverage of Mermaid Maritime with a BUY and TP of SGD0.61, implying a 20% upside.

Earnings should remain robust in FY9/14E, buoyed by a USD650m orderbook (including an unrecognised portion of a USD530m Saudi Aramco subsea contract), which practically guarantees a diluted EPS growth of 212%.

But the larger investment case is Mermaid’s potential evolvement into an integrated oilfield services player a la Malaysia’s SapuraKencana, which the market has yet to price in.
 
Industry dynamics in its favour. Mermaid is in a sweet spot to scale up its business as offshore oil and gas spending picks up pace.

We see favourable industry dynamics, characterised by

(1) high oil prices keeping E&P activities and drilling demand elevated,

(2) 2013-2017 subsea sector spending likely to double vis-à-vis the preceding five years, and

(3) Thailand’s national oil company PTTEP’s higher capex budget of USD25b for 2013-2017 (vs ~USD9b for 2008-2012). 

mermaid_m1.14 
Counter NameLastChange
AEM Holdings2.300-0.060
Best World2.4600.020
Boustead Singapore0.955-0.005
Broadway Ind0.125-0.003
China Aviation Oil (S)0.900-0.010
China Sunsine0.400-0.010
ComfortDelGro1.450-0.010
Delfi Limited0.890-0.010
Food Empire1.290-0.030
Fortress Minerals0.310-0.010
Geo Energy Res0.305-
Hong Leong Finance2.480-0.010
Hongkong Land (USD)2.850-
InnoTek0.520-0.015
ISDN Holdings0.3000.005
ISOTeam0.042-0.001
IX Biopharma0.040-0.005
KSH Holdings0.245-0.005
Leader Env0.050-
Ley Choon0.043-
Marco Polo Marine0.067-0.002
Mermaid Maritime0.135-0.004
Nordic Group0.310-0.005
Oxley Holdings0.088-0.001
REX International0.1390.004
Riverstone0.790-0.005
Southern Alliance Mining0.445-
Straco Corp.0.4950.010
Sunpower Group0.210-
The Trendlines0.069-
Totm Technologies0.022-
Uni-Asia Group0.825-
Wilmar Intl3.3900.010
Yangzijiang Shipbldg1.750-0.020