KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to end higher today with the benchmark FBM KLCI reclaiming the 1,700 psychological level, supported by improved global sentiment after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential de-escalation of the Iran conflict, alongside Malaysia’s stronger Industrial Production Index (IPI) data. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 27.51 points, or 1.64 per cent, to 1,701.68 from yesterday’s close of 1,674.17. The benchmark index opened 10.68 points higher at 1,684.85, its lowest point today, and hit a high of 1,703.61 in the late afternoon session. Market breadth was positive, with gainers thumping losers 929 to 382. A total of 361 counters were unchanged, 982 untraded and 19 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.60 billion units worth RM3.75 billion from yesterday’s 5.52 billion units worth RM5.87 billion.
Maintain Buy with unchanged Target Price of RM2.40
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| Berjaya Auto Bhd |
We maintain our BUY call for Berjaya Auto due to its:
1. Attractive product pipeline going forward;
2. Aggressive expansion from its Philippines operations, helped by a booming auto market (projected growth of 15% in 2016); and,
3. Strong ability to capture market share (2.4% YTD from 1.5%).
Continuously filling its product pipeline.
We expect Berjaya Auto (BAuto) to maintain an interesting product launch schedule in 2016, mainly from its facelifted models and diesel variants. The face-lift completely knocked down (CKD) CX-5 was recently launched in February, while the CKD CX-3 is anticipated to hit the market by end-2016. As for its “diesel wave”, we believe Mazda 6 would be introduced by mid-year. The diesel CKD CX-5 is also likely to be offered, as the model is already being assembled in Malaysia for the Thailand market.
Strong growth from the Philippines.
The Philippines operations recorded a quarterly sales growth of 41.8% YoY, driven largely by the Mazda 2 and Mazda 3, which saw an increase of volume by 69.3% and 36.4% YoY respectively. The Philippines market would become increasingly significant for BAuto, with industry sales expected to grow 15% to 350,000 units.
Forecasts and risks.
We revised our earnings forecasts for FY16-18 down by 9.4%, 3.7% and 5.0% respectively. Downside risks for our recommendation and TP include: i) unfavourable forex movements, ii) disruption in product pipeline, and iii) lacklustre consumer spending.
Source: RHB Research

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