Singapore stock market “unappealing” versus regional peers, says Maybank Kim Eng

The market is unattractively priced.

Firms listed on the local bourse are unattractively priced at the moment, according to a report by Maybank Kim Eng.

Data from Maybank Kim Eng show that the market is priced at fourteen times the 2015E price earnings ratio, which is not cheap against an earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 8% for 2015E-16E.

In price to book value terms, the Singapore market is trading below its 7-year average. Returns on equity are also expected to stay low, with consensus estimates implying ROEs of 10-11%. This is below the market’s 14.7% average in 2008-12.

“Not appealing in region. The Singapore market also looks unappealing against regional peers in PER and P/BV terms. Singapore earnings are expected to climb much slower than the rest of the region. Meanwhile, 2015E ROE could be a tepid 10.2%,” stated the report.