Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS ASEAN-Barclays optimistic on Singapore banks

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STOCKS NEWS ASEAN-Barclays optimistic on Singapore banks Mar 26th 2012, 01:39 Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:39pm EDT Singapore banks are well placed to win regional market share and re-price assets as peers battle increasingly tight conditions, with the city-state seen as the best-funded banking system in the region, Barclays Capital said. "Given our cautious view of banks around the region, we would rank the Singapore lenders amongst our preferred exposures in a regional portfolio," Barclays said in a report. It set an overweight rating on Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and ranked it as its top pick among local banks, with United Overseas Bank Ltd coming in second with an overweight recommendation. DBS was rated as equal weight. "Singapore banks are trading around 15 percent below long term average multiples. While currently valued at a 30 percent premium to the regional sector price to earnings, we believe their strong funding position and earnings visibility justify this premium," Barclays said. Singapore banks have reported strong loans growth since early 2011 as some European banks cut their exposure to Asia. For a related story, click: 0930 (0130 GMT) (Reporting by Anshuman Daga) Reuters messaging rm://anshuman.daga.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ******************************************************** 09:16 STOCKS NEWS ASEAN-CIMB upgrades CSE Global to outperform CIMB Research raised its rating on Singapore's CSE Global , a systems integrator for the global oil industry, to outperform from neutral and kept its target price, citing its current share price as an attractive level to buy the stock. "We deem that the current trading price provides a good entry point to this quality company," CIMB said in a report. It said CSE Global is trading at 7 times its 12-month forward price-to-earnings, compared to a 5-year mean of 11 times. The broker expects CSE to post first-quarter net profit of S$14 million, up 11 percent from a year ago. Stronger-than-expected results and order wins could lead to a re-rating of CSE Global, it said. By 0109 GMT, CSE Global shares were up 1.9 percent at S$0.80, and have gained 6.7 percent since the start of the year. 0911 (0111 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore) Reuters messaging rm://charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ************************************************************ 09:03 STOCKS NEWS ASEAN-Singapore's index futures higher Singapore's index futures rose 0.23 percent, indicating a stronger start for the benchmark Straits Times Index. The Nikkei share average was up 0.36 percent on Monday, while the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan gained 0.27 percent, finding some support after losing ground last week on fears of the impact of an economic slowdown in China. 0845 (0045 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore) Reuters messaging rm://charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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