9M14 core net profit was in line at 75% of our and consensus forecasts.
There will be no 4Q earnings growth recovery as management hoped; UMS is seeing orders being pushed back and is expecting 4Q to be flat qoq. The usual 1 Sct DPS was declared and its balance sheet remains in net cash with no debt. It may be too early to upgrade UMS; 4Q13 was an exceptionally strong quarter, impeding yoy comparison.
We also believe management will be prudent hence the chance of a special dividend in 4Q14 is low. We cut our FY14-16 EPS by 4-7.5% to factor in the slowdown it is currently going through. At 1.19x CY15 P/BV, our target price notches up slightly to S$0.56.
Maintain Hold. Re-rating could come from earlier-than-expected recovery in customer demand.
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