3Q14 core earnings were 31% below our expectation and consensus, bringing 9M14 core EPS to 67% of our FY14 forecast. The difference was mainly caused by execution issues for three PSVs, which weighed down margins. Ship repair and chartering fared poorer too. Factoring in the margin shortfall, we cut our FY14 core EPS by 7% and FY15-16 by 13-17%. With two consecutive quarters of earnings misses,
we downgrade ASL to Hold from Add, as we wait for its earnings to trough.
We also downgrade our target price, now based on 0.7x CY14 P/BV, -0.5 s.d. below its 5-year mean (0.9x CY14 P/BV, 5-year mean). We would revisit the stock when its shipbuilding business stabilises.
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