Latest news with #YikBanChong
Business Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Centurion seen as small-cap ‘jewel' amid demand for dormitory spaces, potential Reit listing
[SINGAPORE] With demand for foreign workers continuing to outpace the supply of dormitory spaces, Centurion Corporation is ramping up capacity and exploring asset monetisation, making it a small-cap property play to watch. This is according to RHB Bank Singapore, which highlighted Centurion as one of its top stock picks for 2025 among companies with small market capitalisation. Centurion was featured in RHB's Singapore Small Cap Jewels 2025, published on May 16. The bullish sentiment is echoed by analysts from Maybank Securities and Phillip Securities Research, who cited favourable demand-supply dynamics and a robust pipeline of expansion projects across key markets. Headquartered in Singapore, Centurion operates purpose-built worker accommodation (PBWA) in Singapore and Malaysia, and student housing in Australia, the UK, and the US. Phillip Securities analyst Yik Ban Chong noted that the group's first-quarter FY2025 revenue rose 13 per cent year-on-year to S$69 million, driven by higher rental rates for its Singapore dormitories. Contributing to this growth, said Yik, was the ramp-up of new capacity, including a 1,650-bed facility at Westlite Ubi, which became operational in late 2024 and has already reached near-full occupancy. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Meanwhile, RHB Singapore's head of small-mid cap research Alfie Yeo said in a separate May 23 note that he anticipates Centurion's earnings to rise by 4 per cent annually for FY2025 and FY2026, and 5 per cent for FY2027, on the back of stronger-than-expected bed rates and occupancy levels across its PBWA and student housing segments. While concerns linger over US-led reciprocal tariffs, Maybank analysts Eric Ong and Jarick Seet pointed out that Centurion expects minimal disruption to its business operations. They highlighted a clear capacity expansion roadmap for 2025–2026 spanning Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, aimed at striking a 'strategic balance between occupancy levels and rental rate growth'. Undemanding valuation Looking ahead, RHB's Yeo pointed to Centurion's ongoing capacity expansion and asset monetisation plans as key reasons for its positive outlook. For instance, he said in the Singapore Small Cap Jewels report that the total number of revenue-contributing beds for FY2025, he said, is expected to grow by 5.3 per cent year-on-year to 73,000, and it will be supported by Singapore's new Westlite Ubi Ave 3 and Malaysia's Westlite Johor Tech Park Centurion has also expanded into Hong Kong and China. In FY2024, the group entered these markets through two majority-owned partnerships. In China, it will manage and operate build-to-rent properties comprising around 1,500 residential apartments, targeted at fresh graduates and working professionals. In Hong Kong, it entered the worker housing market with Westlite Sheung Shui, a 539-bed facility catering to foreign workers in sectors such as food and beverage and services. More value could be unlocked over the mid to longer term, Yeo said. Centurion has previously monetised assets through sale-and-leaseback deals in Malaysia, and is now exploring a potential Reit (real estate investment trust) listing involving some of its student and worker accommodations. While still at an exploratory stage, Yeo said that the move is aimed at supporting growth, shifting to an asset-light model, and generating fee-based income. RHB also flagged the possibility of special dividends, depending on how any proceeds are used. Centurion's net gearing stood at 0.4 times in FY2024, and the business has generated over S$75 million in operating cash flow annually for the past five years, according to RHB. While it uses debt to fund property developments, the group has remained cash-generative, said Yeo. He also noted that Centurion typically pays a sustainable dividend, with a payout of S$0.025 per share in FY2023, representing around 30 per cent of earnings. This payout ratio is expected to be maintained, with occasional special dividends possible if more assets are unlocked and excess cash is not reinvested, said Yeo. Still, Yeo cautioned that RHB's earnings forecasts are premised on stronger occupancy and improved bed rates at Centurion's student accommodation assets. Any shortfall in these areas could pose downside risks to its estimates, he added. That said, Yeo said that Centurion remains a leading dormitory operator in Singapore, where a shortage of beds continues to support both occupancy and rental growth. With opportunities for further capacity expansion, he added that the stock is trading at an 'undemanding valuation' of nine times FY2025 forecast earnings, and offers a dividend yield of around 3 per cent. RHB has set a target price of S$1.50 for shares of Centurion – implying a potential upside of 11.9 per cent from its closing price of S$1.34 on Friday (May 23). In the year to date, the counter has generated a total return – with dividends reinvested – of 41.8 per cent. In comparison, the benchmark Straits Times Index has a total return of 5 per cent over the same period.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) – MI300X, EPYC Chips Fuel AMD Growth Despite China Export Headwinds
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) stands against other AI stocks surging on news and ratings. According to Daniel Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, the US- China agreement is once again creating a bull market environment for tech. 'If you are a tech investor, this is a dream scenario,' Ives noted on CNBC's 'Worldwide Exchange.' On Monday, the U.S. and China announced that they would temporarily reduce tariffs on each other for 90 days. Following the news, Wall Street's three major indexes surged sharply on the same day, with the S&P 500 marking its highest level since early March. READ ALSO: and The U.S. said it will cut tariffs imposed on Chinese imports to 30% from 145% while China said it would cut duties on U.S. imports to 10% from 125%. Investors saw this as a big positive surprise. 'It's a relief rally because there was a lot of anxiety and angst about tariffs between the U.S. and China. They are going to scale it down to much more reasonable levels so the fall-out from tariffs will probably be more manageable and limited.' Unfortunately, the rally in US stock futures paused as investors focused on a key inflation report and lingering economic concerns. 'The challenges are not over. The de-escalation was a lot stronger than even the best hopes, but you have to remember that the US economy still faces average of effective tariffs of more than 13%.' For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A close up of a complex looking PCB board with several intergrated semiconductor Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) develops and sells semiconductors, processors, and GPUs for data centers, gaming, AI, and embedded applications. On May 13, Yik Ban Chong from Phillip Securities maintained a 'Buy' rating on the stock with a price target of $120.00. Yik Ban Chong's buy rating is a reflection of AMD's strong potential and resilience despite the challenges that it is facing. The company's robust sales of MI300X chips, EPYC server CPUs, and Ryzen CPUs have led to revenue and profit figures in line with expectations for the first quarter of 2025. Its client PC segment has also demonstrated remarkable growth, maintaining over 50% year-over-year revenue growth for four consecutive quarters. This growth can largely be attributed to record average selling prices for client CPUs and market share gains in AI PC chips. The company's second quarter guidance for 2025 also remains strong despite potential revenue impacts from recent U.S. export controls on AI chips to China. Moreover, with major tech companies ramping up their capital expenditure to expand data centers, AMD's EPYC CPUs and MI325X GPUs are expected to see a boost in demand. Together with AMD's stabilizing gaming and embedded businesses, all these factors contribute toward a positive outlook for the stock. Overall, AMD ranks 7th on our list of AI stocks surging on news and ratings. While we acknowledge the potential of AMD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
