Asia/Pacific News
Marco Polo Stock Upgraded from 'Hold' to 'Buy'
OCBC Investment Research (OCBC) has improved its stock rating for Singapore listed Marco Polo Marine (Marco Polo) [SGX:5LY] from 'hold' to 'buy' by after the marine logistics company reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, according to a Reuters report.
Its target price was also raised to S$0.53 (USD $0.43) from S$0.43 (USD $0.34).
Marco Polo shares rose as much as 4.5 percent to S$0.35 on Tuesday, a high of almost three months.
OCBC said after changing to a new functional currency, Marco's Indonesian associate BBR reversed its earlier losses arising from the movements in the U.S. dollar against the Indonesian rupiah.
Ship & Bunker reported Wednesday that Marco Polo noted a "strong start" for its bunkering joint venture with Marine Tankers Holdings, with CEO Mr Sean Lee Yun Feng saying, "We are encouraged by our commendable set of results, in particular, our record net profit achieved."
Net profit in the nine months ending June 30 was a record high of S$17.5 million (USD $14.1 million) an increase of 1.5% from the entire FY2011 profits of S$17.3 million (USD $13.9 million).
