SUNWAY SHARES SURGE ON RM380 MILLION EQUALBASE DEAL

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Sunway Bhd's shares rose at midmorning after it sealed a deal with Singapore-based Equalbase Pte Ltd worth more than RM380 million.

At 11.45 am, Sunway shares advanced 3.39 per cent, or 13 sen, to RM3.96 with 11.92 million shares changing hands.

Equalbase will acquire two parcels of land spanning 25.9 hectares in Sunway City Iskandar Puteri (SCIP) in Johor for data centre development.

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Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said in a note that the current data centre boom is providing property developers with a new avenue for monetising suitable land banks, as seen from the recent surge in land transactions in the data centre space.

“We are positive on this development as Sunway has capitalised on this trend and seized the opportunity to monetise its land bank at a very attractive price,” the investment bank said.

HLIB maintained its "buy" call for Sunway with a target price of RM4.30.

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Meanwhile, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd downgraded Sunway, citing limited upside for the group following an 86 per cent surge in its share price this year.

The investment bank downgraded its “buy” call to “neutral” with an unchanged target price of RM3.98.

MIDF made no changes to its earnings forecast for the financial years of 2024 (FY24), FY25 and FY26, as land sales gains, if any, will be excluded from its core net income estimates.

“We see positive earnings prospects for Sunway due to earnings recognition from its project in Singapore.

“Additionally, earnings contribution from the healthcare division should remain encouraging due to the increase in bed capacity,” it added.

-- BERNAMA