*Maybank IBG Kopi-O (21 Jan 2022)*
Nikkei 27772.9 1.11%
Kospi 2862.7 0.72%
SSE 3555.1 -0.09%
HSI 24952.4 3.42%
TWSE 18218.3 -0.05%
SET 1657.0 -0.08%
JCI 6626.9 0.53%
STI 3294.8 0.33%
KLCI 1527.8 -0.17%
*Maybank IBG Key Calls*
*Thailand Tourism - Test and Go resumes*
The Thai government announced it will lift the suspension of “Test and Go” from 1 February 2022, which means international tourists won’t need to quarantine. Moreover, the earlier “Test and Go” rules only applied to “low-risk” countries but this time, there is no restriction on the origin country and all nationalities can apply. We view the resumption of “Test and Go” as positive for the sector, as it bypasses the quarantine process that heavily deters tourists. AOT is our Top Pick because it’s the main beneficiary of recovery of Thai tourism, being the gateway to the country.
*MY*
o Expect market to remain choppy on the last trading day of the week particularly after Wall Street ended broadly lower overnight. Plantation stocks, however, may benefit from rotational play thanks to higher CPO prices. Technically, we expect the KLCI to range between 1,515 pts and 1,555pts today, with supports at 1,515pts and 1,475pts.
o *Econs*: BNM’s first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting this year (19-20 Jan 2022) kept OPR at record-low 1.75% for the ninth consecutive meeting and since July 2020. Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) remained “neutral” in our view. Maintain our call of unchanged OPR for much of 2022 before a +25bps rise in 4Q 2022 i.e. 2-3 Nov 2022 MPC meeting.
o *Axis REIT (AXRB MK)*: 4QFY21 core earnings and 4th interim gross DPU of 2.41sen (FY21: 9.49sen) were within expectations, with FY21 earnings coming in at 96%/100% of our/consensus estimates. We adjust higher our FY22/23E earnings by 1%/12%, which increases our rolled-forward DDM-TP to MYR2.30. Maintain BUY. Axis remains as our top pick in the REITs sector, supported by resilient rental income from industrial properties and active assets acquisitions.
o *Pantech (PGHB MK)*: Reported a 133% YoY jump in 3QFY2/22 net profit, lifting its 9MFY2/22 PATMI to MYR50.9m (+% YoY). The stronger 9MFY2/22 results were mainly attributable to: 1) a 41% YoY increase in revenue, arising from higher deliveries to the local O&G sector and higher product prices; 2) a 7.6ppts expansion in PBT margin to 13.2% (9MFY2/21: 5.6%) on better product mix; and 3) a lower effective tax rate of 22.1% (9MFY2/21: 29.1%). Judging from the 9MFY2/22 results, Pantech is on track to end the year stronger. Stock trades at 7.3x consensus FY2/23 EPS.
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