Monday, August 22, 2011

UOB Kay Hian expects UMW to report stronger 2H earnings

KUALA LUMPUR: UOB Kay Hian Malaysia Research expects UMWE HOLDINGS BHD [] to report a better second half in 2011 (2H11) compared with the first half of this year (1H11), due to increased vehicles production to meet pent-up demand.

It said on Monday, Aug 22 that starting end-May 2011, supply of automobile parts has normalised, which enabled UMW to work over time (two shifts).

'We maintain our forecast of 94,711 units of Toyota sales for 2011F vs 79,467 units sold in 1H11,' it said.

UOB Kay Hian Research'' said Perodua sales are expected to have jumped 86% on-month Jul 2011. This 38% associate of UMW guided July 20 11 sales of about 16,500 units vs 8,870 units in June 2011,v11,157 units in May 11 and 13,779 units in Apr 11.

'This followed the launch of its new MyVi replacement model mid-June 2011. Recall that Perodua was clearing the old MyVi vehicles to make way for the new model.

Unfortunately, parts supply disruption from Japan caught it unaware. However, with the normalisation of parts supply, Perodua was able to launch its new car and had been aggressively catching up on sales target. We retain our sales forecast of 194,300 units for 2011F,' it said.

The research house said although there was also vehicle sales disruption in registering new vehicles (hence, vehicle sales) as a result of amendments to the Hire Purchase Act (HPA), it believed that it can be overcome with adjustments to internal processes of manufacturers, dealers and bankers.

Just last week, the government announced that the affected parties had agreed to accommodate.

'Hence, we believe sales would normalise this month onwards,' it said.

On the oil and gas (O&G) division, it said these operations did well in 2Q11, due to maiden quarterly contribution from its Naga 3 jack-up rig. The Naga 3 was chartered out on a one-year drilling contract, worth US$41.5 million (with an option to renew at year 2 and 3).

UOB Kay Hian Research also said UMW's 23% associate, WSP, should benefit from winning a total US$97 million worth of contracts in June 2011 from the government of Venezuela and Ecuador.

'We expect WSP to continue to diversify its revenue geographically, after it was hit with countervailing rules in the US; and to breakeven this year vs a US$118 million loss in 2010,' it said.

No comments:

Post a Comment