KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 19): Shares of HELP International Bhd chalked up small gains on Thursday after it announced plans to set up a private primary and secondary international school in Subang but concerns about the growing competition from other players restrained strong buying interest.
At 11.31am, it was up 2.0 sen to RM1.52 with 83,200 shares done.
HELP announced late Wednesday it was expanding its education business which would see it investing RM20 million to set up the school with the capacity for more than 3,000 students. The first phase will open in September 2012 with an initial intake of 500 to 600 students.
OSK Research said it lauded the move as part of management’s strategy to diversify away from its traditional stronghold in the tertiary education segment and to penetrate into the fast-growing private education sector.
However, it maintained its Neutral call for now as it remained wary of the potential equity dilution to fund the project.
“We are also cautious on the heightening competition as its bigger peers continue to expand aggressively as well as a possible downside risk to earnings as management ramps up its headcount after obtaining university status.
“Retain our FV at RM1.63 based on an unchanged 9.0 times FY12 PER plus its net cash per share of 42 sen as of 4QFY11,” OSK Research said.
At 11.31am, it was up 2.0 sen to RM1.52 with 83,200 shares done.
HELP announced late Wednesday it was expanding its education business which would see it investing RM20 million to set up the school with the capacity for more than 3,000 students. The first phase will open in September 2012 with an initial intake of 500 to 600 students.
OSK Research said it lauded the move as part of management’s strategy to diversify away from its traditional stronghold in the tertiary education segment and to penetrate into the fast-growing private education sector.
However, it maintained its Neutral call for now as it remained wary of the potential equity dilution to fund the project.
“We are also cautious on the heightening competition as its bigger peers continue to expand aggressively as well as a possible downside risk to earnings as management ramps up its headcount after obtaining university status.
“Retain our FV at RM1.63 based on an unchanged 9.0 times FY12 PER plus its net cash per share of 42 sen as of 4QFY11,” OSK Research said.
