Parkway Holdings (Kim Eng initiates Buy with $3.24 PT)

Event
Kim Eng is initiating coverage on Parkway with a Buy recommendation and a $3.24 price target. You can access the full report here.

Our Take

Miles ahead of its competitors
Parkway is the "de facto" standard for highly complex medical procedures, and a class above its peers. We are excited about their upcoming Novena hospital as it is setting itself miles ahead of its competitors. We are also looking forward to its exciting growth tragectory through the rapid expansion of its hospital operations in Asia.  At 13x FY10F PER (including gains from sale of 1/3 of medical suites at Novena), Parkway is still trading close to 'crisis-level' valuations. 

Sale of medical suites poses as potentially strong catalysts
The strongest near term catalyst could come from the potential sale of 1/3 of its medical suites at the new and upcoming hospital at Novena. Parkway is preparing to launch them in 1Q10, at indicative selling price of $3500psf. Proceeds from the sale (~$200m) can be deployed towards reducing the Group's net gearing, which currently stands at 0.4x. Parkway is likely to be successful during the first launch due to the pent-up demand from doctors and recent transactions done at Farrer Park Mediplex (at $3000-3500 psf)

Action
We initiate coverage on Parkway with a target price of $3.24, based on a SOTP valuation. It has been a laggard in the recent rally. The timing is ripe for a strong entry now.