Written by Joseph Chin
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 11:34
KUALA LUMPUR: PROTON HOLDINGS BHD []'s share price revved up to RM4.16 in late morning trade on Sept 16, the highest since February last year, fuelled by market talk about the government being keen to reduce its stake in Proton.
At 11.19am, Proton rose 25 sen to RM4.16 with 1.53 million shares done. This was the biggest one-day gain since April 20, according to stock market data.
In a recent report, AmResearch reaffirmed its Buy rating on Proton with higher fair value of RM4.80 a share after moving up valuations to 0.8 times adjusted NTA from 0.7 times previously - to reflect increasing prospects of strategic structural improvements and positive newsflows ahead.
"The local auto industry has shown signs of bottoming and this is a strategic period for foreign carmakers to come into the picture given alleviating concerns on investment outlook. Asset values have recovered, but is still cheap relative to historical standards," it said.