KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
Lower valuations matched by lower ROE projections The mood conveyed by management teams at recent bank analyst briefings has generally been a somber one, the consensus being that 2016 will continue to be a challenging year. We project 5% 2016 core earnings growth and while valuations have come off across the board, these are matched by lower ROE projections. We remain NEUTRAL on the sector – BUY AFG, HL Bank and HLFG; SELL AMMB. No growth in 2015 Though 2015 was challenging in many ways, banks’ operational performance was decent, with a 7% YoY growth in operating profit on an aggregate basis. NIMs held up better than expected towards year end while NOII growth was robust, aided in large part by forex income/gains. Profitability was nevertheless crimped at the net level due to the jump in credit costs and other allowances, resulting in aggregate core net profit coming in flat YoY. All banks saw core earnings drop YoY except for CIMB (from a low base) and Public Bank. ...