KUALA LUMPUR: Westports Holdings Bhd
's higher 9M18 EBITDA of RM724mil but softer core net profit of RM384mil came in within Affin Hwang Capital research's expectations.
It maintained a hold rating on the counter with an unchanged target price of RM4.01.
The research house said EDBITA grew 2% year-on-year on the back of higher container volume and net profit slid 11% y-oy due to higher depreciation and finance costs from the completion of the CT8 and CT9 facilities expansion in 2017.
It added that Wesports handled 2.45mil TEUs of conatiners in 3Q18, which was the highest since 4Q16.
Management expects 2019 throughout volume to grow by a modest 3-8% due to trade tension between the US and China.
Meanwhile, management does not expect further delays in the container tariff revision.
"Recall that Port Klang Authority (PKA) has deferred the impending container tariff revision by 6 months to 1 March 2019 instead of 1 September 2018 to allow port users and other industry players to adapt and stabilise their business following the implementation of the sales and service tax in 1 September 2018."
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