It cited Hyundai's leading market position and solid earnings momentum for the upgrade.
"There's no (strong) rival for Hyundai Heavy," the brokerage said, adding though the stock is undervalued compared to Japanese shipbuilders.
It said the operating profit margin at the South Korean shipbuilder is seen rising to 14 pct by 2009 from 7.0 pct in 2006.
In the three months to March, Hyundai's operating profit expanded by 140 pct year-on-year to 402.4 bln won thanks to profitable ship orders, with sales at 3.68 trln won, up 29 pct.
At 10:00 am, Hyundai Heavy was up 10,000 won or 3.08 pct at 335,000, compared to a 0.13 pct decline on the mainboard KOSPI.
Other shipbuilders were also firm, with Samsung Heavy up 650 won or 1.45 pct at 45,550 and Daewoo Shipbuilding up 50 at 49,300.
Just three and a half years ago the stock price of HHI, the world's largest shipbuilder, stood at 30,000 won. HHI's net profit leapt 300% last year as it sits on a record orderbook. The yard is predicting orders to dip slightly by 5% to $18.1bn but this follows the group's exceptional 2006 performance - when the original target of $14.9bn was exceeded by more than 25% thanks to shipbuilding orders being almost 50% ahead of the targeted $7.4bn. [19/06/07]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
