Raffles Ed - Buy rating with a price target of S$0.81

Raffles Education is one of the key stock picks in Simon Smiles’ Q-Series®: Asian Structural Themes report, published on 4 February 2009. We believe the education sector would benefit from rapid economic and consumption growth, because spending patterns would evolve from basic consumption, to goods and services associated with a ‘better life’.

China’s one-child policy coupled with rapid urbanisation has led to a generation of single-child families with the capacity to spend a significant portion of income on education. This will drive demand for Raffles Education’s (REC) services, in our view. The company’s China footprint spans several first- and second-tier cities, where it is able to offer courses with different price points and content to cater to local demand.

We believe potential catalysts for re-rating are: 1) the good take-up rate for its scrip dividend scheme, we estimate a 60% take-up rate could potentially save S$55m for internal use; 2) divestment of the Raffles Institute in Mumbai could unlock S$10- 20m in value; 3) scope for earnings updates if two OUC colleges are transferred faster than expected; and 4) traction in opening new colleges and Sino-foreign ventures.

Our DDM-based price target assumes 11.9% COE and 5% terminal growth.

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China Green's share price shed 13%

China Green's share price shed 13% over the last two weeks after it reported a set of disappointing 1HFY09 results that were dragged by slower Japanese sales and a higher tax rate. However sales to Japan have picked up as customers regained confidence in its products, generating some 20% yoy growth in the 2HFY09. This is encouraging as it vouches for the group's high product quality. Although corn milk sales have yet to recover, the group has already developed a new vegetable juice product to be launched in the upcoming weeks, reflecting the flexibility it enjoys given its well developed upstream business. Upgrade to OUTPERFORM with an unchanged SOP derived target price of HK$6.12, which works out to 7.7x CY10 P/E.

温家宝:考虑采取新措施提振经济

中国总理温家宝周六表示,中国国内银行业处在稳健的经营状态,这就为政府推出提振实体经济的刺激计划提供了支持,中国新闻网(China News Service)报导。 报导援引温家宝的话称,这与部分西方国家的情形截然不同,这些国家的政府不得不动用大量资金来填补银行系统的窟窿。

温家宝向中国银行股份有限公司(Bank of China Ltd.)伦敦分行管理人士发表了上述讲话。伦敦是此次温家宝出访欧洲行程中的一站。 报导引述温家宝的话称,中国的银行资产质量比较好,流动性充裕,处在一种比较稳健、健康的经营状态,这就对中国政府应对金融危机起了巨大的支撑作用。

报导称,温家宝敦促国内银行加强监管,不能向产能过剩项目放贷,使今天的贷款不至于日后变成新的坏帐。 温家宝警告全球银行的问题正从投资银行向商业银行蔓延,金融危机的走势还不明朗。

报导援引温家宝的话称,在海外一线的金融工作者应密切关注国际金融动向,分析金 融危机的走势以及其可能给中国带来的影响。 中国新闻社网站周末时另一篇报导称,中国总理温家宝表示中国是否继续购买美国国 债将取决于中国的需要。 报导援引温家宝的话称,中国的外汇储备这些年增长很快。中国实行外汇储备的多元 化,购买美国债券是其中一个重要部分。

温家宝周六在伦敦会见四十八家集团俱乐部(The 48 Group Club)代表时表示,中国是否会继续购买美国国债以及购买的规模将取决于外汇安全和保值的要求。四十八家集 团俱乐部是致力于积极促进中英关系的独立商业组织。 与此同时,温家宝还重申了周四在欧盟(European Commission)布鲁塞尔总部新闻发布 会上的观点,称中国的汇率政策是正确的,也是符合中国国情的。

温家宝周六表示,维持人民币汇率稳定不仅有利于中国,也有利于世界经济。 温家宝还重申,中国政府并不追求贸易顺差,也不倡导贸易保护主义。 此外,英国《金融时报》(Financial Times)网站周日报导,中国国务院总理温家宝称,中国正考虑在去年年底宣布的5,850亿美元刺激方案的基础上采取新措施来提振经济。

温家宝在专访中表示,中国将使人民币稳定在一个均衡、合理的水平上。他指出,若人民币汇率出现巨大波动,将是一个大灾难。 温家宝向该报称,中国希望维持其所持美元资产的价值,但同时也需要把外汇储备用 于国内的发展。 温家宝称,国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund)和世界银行(World Bank)需要进行改革。这两个组织均希望中国能够出资应对当前这场经济危机。 温家宝表示,中国一直都希望能够扩大在这两个机构的影响力以及投票权。