MIDF Research said, in a note to clients, the group which is a prominent player in producing national ID security solutions, has a strong cash position with almost non-existence gearing ratio. It is also a prime beneficiary to the full reopening of borders.
PETALING JAYA: Datasonic Group Bhd
’s world class identity (ID) security technologies have the potential to capture the growing market of digital identity and security space, according to MIDF Research.
The research house said, in a note to clients, the group which is a prominent player in producing national ID security solutions, has a strong cash position with almost non-existence gearing ratio.
It is also a prime beneficiary to the full reopening of borders.
Given the positive factors, the research house has initiated coverage on Datasonic with a “buy” call on the stock at a target price of 57 sen.
The valuation is derived by pegging the group’s estimated financial year 2023 (FY23) core earnings per share of 2.94 sen to the five years average mean price-to-earnings ratio of 19.5 times.
“We believe the valuation is justified in view of the group’s improved prospects, mainly due to the expected pent-up demand for travel documents in tandem to the easing of travelling restrictions,” it added.
Datasonic management is also confident of secure new contracts for the soon-to-be-rolled-out MyKad as well as contract extension for passport-related solutions, MyKad-related solutions, i-Kad solutions and national digital ID cards on the back of its technologiess.
“All in all, we believe that Datasonic’s commitment to stay ahead of security technology make it much more appealing than its peers to continuously be selected as the national ID security-related solution vendor,” MIDF noted.
On earnings forecast, the research house anticipated Datasonic’s earnings to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 106.9% over FY22-FY25.
“This is mainly driven by the pent-up demand for passports due to the lifting of travel restriction as well as outstanding expired and non-renewed Malaysian passports of 4.5 million.
“We think Datasonic could deliver 2.5 million to three million units more of passports over FY23-FY25, converting into sales of RM175mil to RM210mil respectively.”
Moving forward, MIDF was optimistic that the group could secure, among others, the new generation of MyKad contracts as well as the national digital ID projects which are expected to roll out soon, on the back of its sturdy order book, proven track record of winning government’s projects as well as competitive advantage.
