YUE Yuen Industrial dubs itself the world's biggest manufacturer of athletic and casual shoes, with 87 per cent of its sales derived outside Asia and its revenues earned in US dollars.
ING Barings has upgraded the stock to a buy from a hold recommendation, saying it is being re-rated against the market while local economies and currencies remain weak.
'Given the expectation of continued economic weakness and currency volatility, Yue Yuen represents a safe haven,' ING says.
'We believe this is justified as Yue Yuen is more than 20 times the size of its closest competitor in terms of market capitalisation and trades 13 times more often than the next most liquid stock.' The brokerage says the manufacturer's market should improve as big brand-names are halving their suppliers to a six larger manufacturers.
ING says Yue Yuen will deliver flat earnings-per-share this year as a result of inventory adjustments, but expects a 16 per cent increase in volume to 86 million pairs of shoes.
