Talks of BEA divesting its shares push Affin to highest since August

Shares of Affin Holdings Bhd surged to RM3.38, on speculation that Bank of East Asia could be divesting its 23.5% stake in Affin.

It is the highets price since August 2011.

Kenanga Investment Research had maintained its Outperform rating on Affin with an unchanged target price of RM4.30, based on 1.0 times FY13 price-to-book value, implying 11.7 times price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of FY13E.

"BEA is said to have explored options to retain capital, including the sale of its non-core assets according to a few reports. Any sales could include its 23.5% investment stake in Affin, in our view," said the research house.

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