Padini at record high ahead of dividend going ex, upgrades

The company said in a Bursa Malaysia filing that revenue grew 20.71% to RM342.36mil, boosted by new stores including an additional five Padini Concept and eight Brands Outlet stores.

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of fashion retailer Padini Holdings Bhd rose to a record high of RM4.45 on Thursday as analysts were upbeat about its outlook and ahead of its dividend of 2.5 sen per share going ex on Sept 16.

At 11.05am, it was up 19 sen to RM4.44 with 1.09 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI was up 3.09 points or 0.17% to 1,775.57. Turnover was 1.01 billion shares valued at RM608.50mil. There were 379 gainers, 263 losers and 329 counters unchanged.

In the financial year ended June 30, 2017, Padini's earnings rose 14.5% to RM157.38mil from RM137.38mil a year ago. In the fourth quarter, earnings edged up to RM39.48mil from RM37.35mil.

At the current price of RM4.44, it is trading at a price-to-earnings of 18.48 times and for the FY ending June 30, 2018, it is trading at a forward P/E of 15.56 times.

KAF Seagroatt & Campbell has a Hold call with a target price of RM4.20 while Credit Suisse and Kenanga Investment Bank Research have Outperforms calls at RM4.80 or RM4.60. DBS Vickers has a Hold at RM3.55.