Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Citigroup raises price targets on banking shares

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STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Citigroup raises price targets on banking shares Aug 7th 2012, 04:21 Tue Aug 7, 2012 12:21am EDT Citigroup raised price targets on the shares of a number of Thai banks, including Krung Thai Bank Pcl, Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, citing strong second-quarter results and a positive outlook for the banking sector. It raised the target price for Krung Thai Bank's shares to 23 baht from 19.5 baht and Siam Commercial Bank's shares to 190 baht from 164 baht. Bank of Ayudhya's price target was increased to 38 baht from 30 baht. The bank subindex is up 28.4 percent so far this year, outperforming a 17.9 percent gain of the broader stock market. "Thai banks' second quarter results showed continued strong momentum of 25 percent increase year on year. Positive surprises came from net interest margins as the pressure on the cost of funds continued to ease," the broker said in a report. "We raise 2012-13 estimated earnings by 4 percent, on average ... We anticipate strong consumer and SME loans to continue. NIM, in general, should stabilize from the second quarter, which is a positive revision," it said. Citi said Kasikornbank Pcl remained its top buys list thanks to its balanced earnings growth without too much dependence on loan growth. It added Krung Thai Bank to its list of top picks, saying negative news on management change and capital-raising appeared to have been priced in. 1101 (0401 GMT) (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok; viparat.jantraprapaweth@thomsonreuters.com) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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