Increase construction activity:
Construction activity in Malaysia rose 6.1 percent year-on-year in the June quarter of 2022, rebounding from a 6.1 percent drop in the prior period and indicating the first increase in a year, as the economy fully emerged from coronavirus curbs. There was an upturn in activity related to residential buildings (7.9 percent vs - 11.9 percent in Q1), while the output of non-residential buildings picked up strongly (18.1 percent vs 4.2 percent), and special trade activities continued their double-digit growth (11.9 percent vs 24.1 percent). In contrast, civil engineering activity fell at a slower rate (-4.4 percent vs -15.5 percent). Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia.
Steel price increase as shown below:
AYS reported EPS in the last 5 quarters as shown below:
Steel stocks comparison update
Name | Price | Latest EPS | 4 X EPS | PE ratio |
AYS | 45.5 | 5.24 | 20.96 | 2.03 |
Leon Fuat | 50 | 4.11 | 16.44 | 3.04 |
Prestar | 43.5 | 3.27 | 13.08 | 3.33 |
Hiap Tek | 23 | 1.41 | 5.64 | 4.10 |
Pantech | 67.5 | 3.78 | 15.12 | 4.46 |
CSC Steel | Rm 1.17 | 4.62 | 18.48 | 6.30 |
Currently AYS is selling at 45.5 sen. As shown on the above table, it is selling at the lowest PE of 2.03.
It reported latest EPS 5.24 sen and 22.94 sen for the last 4 quarters as shown above. It is selling PE 1.98.
In view of the increase of construction activity and the rising steel price, AYS is best stock to buy.