Scientex earnings weaker than expected, says Kenanga

KUALA LUMPUR: Kenanaga Research said Scientex Bhd's 9M18 core earnings of RM201.3mil came in below its and consensus estimates on weaker-than-expected recognition for the property segment. 

The research house said the segment was also impacted by longer-than-expected timeframe in attaining regulatory approval and permit dor some of the projects due to uncertainty during the election period. 

Meanwhile, the announced single-tier interim dividend of 10 sen came in below its FY18E dividend of 17.2 sen.

Kenanga said it is lowering its FY128-19E core net profit by 13%-8% to RM256mil-RM293mil on lower revenue recognition in FY18 while it has also backloaded some of the FY19E launches on marginally lower recognitions. 

"All in, we are expecting launches of RM700-800m in FY18-19 (vs. RM900-1,100m)," it said.

The research house upgraded the counter to market perform from underperform previously due to a steep share price decline year-to-date, but lowered its target price to RM6.90 from RM7.35 previously.