KUALA LUMPUR: RHB research has lowered its 2019 net profit forecast for Bursa Malaysia Bhd
by 9% to RM233mil from RM255mil due to its lower 2019F securities average daily value (SADV) assumption.
Meanwhile, its 2020-2021 net profit forecasts were both cut by 8% due to lower SADV assumptions.
The research house said SADV fell 25% year-on-year in the first quarter but was up 6% quarter-on-quarter to RM1.97bil.
In the first two months of 2019, derivatives average daily contracts (DADC) traded was 38,497, down 33% against 4Q18 due to weakness in volumes traded for both KLCI futures and CPO futures.
"We are assuming 2019 DADC of 56,488, unchanged YoY, as we believe volumes will pick up in subsequent months," said RHB.
It forecast dividend FY19 DPS at 27 sen.
"Total FY18 DPS (inclusive of a MYR0.08 special dividend for 2Q18) was MYR0.336. 2019F dividend yield (without factoring in any special dividend) is a respectable 4% – this is slightly ahead of the 10-year Malaysia sovereign bond yield of 3.78%," it said.
Moving forward, RHB said optimism over the US-China trade talks could result in more active equities trading for the remainder of the year as compared to the first quarter.
The research house maintained its buy call on the coutner with a lower target price of RM7.50 from RM8.20 previously.
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