STOCKS NEWS ASEAN-Companies to see upbeat Q3 earnings-Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley expects upbeat third-quarter earnings across

Southeast Asian markets, with the MSCI Southeast Asia Index

likely to post profit growth of 16.2 percent

from a year ago.

The brokerage expects MSCI Thailand to see

the strongest year-on-year earnings growth at 34.6 percent,

driven mostly by energy and financial companies, followed by

Malaysia at 19.3 percent.

Singapore is forecast to grow 14.5 percent, boosted by

banks, capital goods and telecommunications companies, Morgan

Stanley said, adding that the transportation sector is projected

to see the strongest growth, mainly due to an anticipated

reversal in container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines's

(NOL) earnings.

In August, NOL posted its sixth straight quarterly net loss

in the April-June period, mainly due to one-time charges for

restructuring and vessels held for sale. Its shares are down 2

percent since the start of the year, underperforming the FTSE ST

Mid Cap's 26 percent gains.

Morgan Stanley is 'overweight' on Thailand financial

companies such as Bangkok Bank Public Company, and

Singapore consumer firms. It is 'underweight' on Singapore's

banks, Indonesia energy and materials firms including PT Semen

Gresik and Thai utilities and consumer discretionary

stocks.

Indonesia is likely to see third-quarter earnings rise 17.5

percent compared with a year ago, with its financials, energy

and telecommunications sectors outperforming broad Indonesia

earnings.

"Amid a falling coal price environment, the upbeat consensus

view on the sector could leave room for disappointment," said

Morgan Stanley.

For related story on Southeast Asian equities click

1424 (0624 GMT)

(Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore;

charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com); Editing by Jijo Jacob

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10:38 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-M1 to post lower Q3 net profit-

Maybank

Telecommunications firm M1 Ltd is expected to post

lower net profit in the third quarter compared to the previous

three months, but dividends should still be maintained, Maybank

Kim Eng said.

The brokerage forecasts M1 to report net profit of S$33-34

million in the third quarter, as earnings before interest taxes

depreciation and amortisation margin is expected to fall further

quarter-on-quarter.

Margins may stay depressed in the fourth quarter from

subsidies for iPhone 5, but will see an improvement in the

subsequent quarters, Maybank said.

Although positive catalysts are limited for M1, with

dividends likely to be maintained at 2011 level of S$0.45 a

share, the stock's yield of 5.5 percent should limit downside,

Maybank said.

1030 (0230 GMT)

(Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; Editing by Sunil

Nair; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com)

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9:51 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Nam Cheong's 2012 profits likely

higher - DMG

DMG & Partners said Singapore-listed Malaysian offshore

vessel builder Nam Cheong Ltd's net profit this year

is likely to exceed what it made in 2011, helped by strong order

wins.

By 0137 GMT, Nam Cheong shares were up 2.2 percent at

S$0.235. They have surged about 80 percent this year, compared

with the Thomson Reuters Asia Pacific + Russia Industrial Goods

Index's 5 percent drop.

Nam Cheong said on Wednesday it won contracts of $52.1

million to build two platform supply vessels from customers

based in West Africa.

DMG said the two vessels are expected to contribute at least

20 million ringgit to Nam Cheong's profits, meaning it could

post 105-100 million ringgit in profits, exceeding last year's

net profit of 93.2 million ringgit.

"Nam Cheong has run up a good 23 percent since our

initiation, but we still see deep value in this company," said

DMG in a report, maintaining its 'buy' rating and a target price

of S$0.29 on the firm.

0941 (0141 GMT)

(Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore;

charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-news-asean-companies-see-upbeat-q3-earnings-064724762--sector.html

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