Upgrades and downgrades
HOLD
Esprit Holdings ING Financial Markets has downgraded its rating on the retailer to 'hold' as the bank sees little upside for the stock. Analyst Amelia Mehta said the retailer was trading close to her new target price of $21 after results that were 2 per cent above ING's forecasts but said she saw slow earnings growth for the company. Ms Mehta said strength in the euro had contributed about 10 per cent to Esprit's group turnover this year, although she expected currency effects to be much lower next year. The counter closed yesterday at $20.95.
SELL
China Mobile (Hong Kong) BOC International has maintained an 'underperform' rating on the counter despite the mainland mobile-telephone operator's market share bouncing back to 54 per cent last month from 52.5 per cent in July. BOC said China Mobile's subscriber uptake for last month seemed steady, despite its share of new subscribers being forecast to decline to about 53 per cent on average this year from 56 per cent last year. Analyst Allan Ng said the stock was trading at 12.3 times this year's expected earnings, making it overvalued given expectations of a decline in earnings in the next couple of years. The stock closed yesterday at $19.95.
SELL
Sino Land JP Morgan has issued an 'underweight' rating on the developer in anticipation of today's final results announcement. The brokerage expects yearly profit to drop 47 per cent to $140 million due to losses from sales at two of its associated property projects. Analyst Raymond Ngai said Sino's valuation had become demanding after the recent rally with shares trading at a 21 per cent discount to net asset value and 20 times next year's expected earnings.
