HLIB maintains Sell rating on IHH

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Investment Research (HLIB) has maintained its Sell rating on IHH Healthcare with a target price of RM4.47 as share price has run ahead of fundamentals.

In a note on Friday, the research house said its 1Q15 sales of RM2bil were translated into a core net profit of RM227.8mil. 

"This came in above our expectations but in line with consensus, accounting for 29.4% and 24.1% of HLIB and consensus full year estimates, respectively," it noted.

The research house said that inpatient admission volume (4Q14) grew yoy in all three key markets, with Singapore, Malaysia and Turkey gained 7.2%, 0.3% and 2.6%, respectively. 

Qoq growth was mixed, with Singapore being the only one recording a flat growth of 0.4%. 

Malaysia and Turkey both suffered declines. Malaysia was lower by 5.2% due to Chinese New Year as well as lower number of days in the quarter. 

Despite it being a winter season for Turkey, qoq dropped 1.5%.

However IHH is confident that it will enjoy higher growth in 2015. 

Revenue should be supported by the opening of new facilities in the group’s home markets coupled with higher capacity to sustain the increasing demand for healthcare services.