[%Aahf%] 
Research by HLIB 
Buy – TP of MYR 0.52

“Strong earnings recovery” 

HTVB’s 3QFY24 core net profit of RM46.2m (3.4x QoQ; 2.3x YoY) took 9MFY24’s total sum to RM78.6m (vs. core net loss of -RM4.0m SPLY). The results surpassed our expectation, accounting for 91.7% of our full-year estimate, due mainly to better-than-expected JV contribution (ESSB). Maintain earnings forecasts for now (with upside bias), pending updates from management, as well as BUY rating with an unchanged TP of RM0.52 based on 7x FY25 core EPS of 7.5 sen. We remain optimistic on HTVB’s earnings prospects, supported by (i) the pending rollout of mega infrastructure projects and robust private sector job flows in Malaysia, (ii) rising capacity utilisation at ESSB’s new blast furnace, which will boost its contribution to HTVB’s bottomline, and (iii) weak demand sentiment for steel products in China may have bottomed.

Analyst(s):
Chye Wen Fei
[%nLbx%]

$KLSE-HIAPTEK 
Research by HLIB 
Buy – TP of MYR 0.52

“Strong earnings recovery” 

HTVB’s 3QFY24 core net profit of RM46.2m (3.4x QoQ; 2.3x YoY) took 9MFY24’s total sum to RM78.6m (vs. core net loss of -RM4.0m SPLY). The results surpassed our expectation, accounting for 91.7% of our full-year estimate, due mainly to better-than-expected JV contribution (ESSB). Maintain earnings forecasts for now (with upside bias), pending updates from management, as well as BUY rating with an unchanged TP of RM0.52 based on 7x FY25 core EPS of 7.5 sen. We remain optimistic on HTVB’s earnings prospects, supported by (i) the pending rollout of mega infrastructure projects and robust private sector job flows in Malaysia, (ii) rising capacity utilisation at ESSB’s new blast furnace, which will boost its contribution to HTVB’s bottomline, and (iii) weak demand sentiment for steel products in China may have bottomed.

Analyst(s):
Chye Wen Fei
wfchye@hlib.hongleong.com.my

$HIAPTEK / 5072 (HIAP TECK VENTURE BERHAD)