KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — MISC Bhd share price slipped four sen to RM7.70 as at 9.52am despite positive revision and outlook from research firms. Affin Hwang Capital has raised its earnings forecast for 2015-2016 on the shipping company by 4.1 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively, following its bullish 2014 financial year (FY) results posted last week.

For the FY14 ended Dec 31, MISC’s pre-tax profit rose to RM2.41 billion from the RM2.23 billion recorded year-on-year while revenue increased to RM9.3 billion versus RM8.97 billion previously.

The better figures was due to the improved freight rates in the petroleum business, commencement of finance lease of floating production, storage and offloading vendor in the current year and higher earning days in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business.

LNG and petroleum segment would drive MISC’s revenue going forward, said Affin Hwang. It has kept a “hold” call on MISC with a higher target price of RM7.60.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) has revised upward its earnings forecast on MISC’s FY15-16 by 16.7 per cent and 7.0 per cent, respectively.

It has also introduced FY17 earnings at RM1.98 billion.

With a positive stance, HLIB has maintained its “hold” recommendation on MISC with higher target price of RM7.40.

Another research firm, AllianceDBS Research, said the outlook for petroleum segment was increasingly bright with rates firmly on an uptrend.

“We expect rates to continue rising in 2015, as tonnage demand is forecasted to continue outgrowing tonnage supply,” AllianceDBS said, adding it has kept the “buy” call on MISC with target price of RM8.05. — Bernama