Sheng Siong shares fall 3% after Maybank downgrade, target price cut
The counter falls as low as S$2.83 in early trade on Monday
Shares of Sheng Siong supermarket chain fell 3 percent on Monday after Maybank downgraded the company to "hold" from "buy" and cut its target price. The supermarket's stock fell as low as S$2.83 in early trade, but recovered slightly to S$2.87 by 10:10 am. This came after Maybank reduced the target price from S$3.22 to S$3.12 due to a narrower upside and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 times.
Despite a net profit after tax growth of 8 percent through 2028, Sheng Siong is considered one of the region's most expensive food retailers. Maybank analyst Hussaini Saifee noted that the supermarket chain appears to have benefited from resilient consumption and market-share gains, but that these tailwinds are weakening. Maybank expects Sheng Siong's growth to track underlying income and population trends rather than benefit from favorable conditions of recent years.
The analyst also mentioned that the supermarket chain's capture of displaced demand from store closures at Giant and Cold Storage has dwindled, as both competing chains have only closed one store between them. Sheng Siong appears to be more exposed to northern Singapore catchments than its larger competitors, with about 10 percent of its network within 5 km of the RTS station and about 27.5 percent within 15 km.
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