KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Bhd's prospects are looking promising, says RHB Research, as the group's key business divisions are poised for improved growth in the ensuing year.
The research house said following a virtual meeting with Sunway Chief financial officer Chong Chang Choong, it projects Sunway's fourth quarter 2022 earnings will beat consensus estimates while growth for the property development, property investment and healthcare units will likely sustain in 2023.
RHB said in a company update it raised its FY22-23 earnings forecasts on shares in the conglomerate by 6% to 9%. It maintained its "buy" call with an unchanged target price of RM2.06.
Post-meeting, the research firm said the completion of the Parc Canberra and Parc Central executive condominium projects in Singapore should bode well for earnings in the development segment in 2023.
It added that, as at 3Q22, the accumulated progressive profit for the two projects is about RM100mil for Sunway's 35% stake.
In the leisure and hospitality segments, Sunway will likely see a boost in occupancy and visitorship due to the full reopening of the economy as well as resilient domestic tourism and return of foreign tourists.
Adding to earnings growth, Sunway Medical Centre in Seberang Jaya is expected to break even earlier than expected as its two-month performance in 2022 was two to three times better compared to the performance of Sunway Velocity in the past.
"Management attributed this to the pent-up demand for quality tertiary healthcare services in Penang Mainland and booming commercial activities in the area following the opening of Sunway Carnival Mall extension last year.
"Hence, SMC Seberang Jaya will likely achieve breakeven faster than SMC Velocity, which hit pre-tax profit breakeven in two years since the opening," said RHB.
However, it noted that the bottomline growth may be mitigated due to the initial start-up losses arising from the new hospital and the upcoming assisted-living facility in SMC Bandar Sunway to be opened in 1Q23.
RHB added that Sunway Construction Bhd is also expected to resolve its manpower shortage issue very soon given its proactive effort.
It said the resolution was important to realise its earnings visibility given it recently secured sizeable contracts, which include a RM1.7bil data centre and, potentially, RM10bil Vietnam power plant jobs.