• Westports disclosed that there was a collision of a berthing container vessel with two ship-to-shore cranes at Westports, Port Klang, on 8 Nov 2019. The company has closed two berths to assess damages and is currently investigating the contributing factors that led to the incident. The company said that that “both the container vessel concerned and affected assets have insurance coverage”.

• We expect minimal earnings impact on Westports from the incident. The temporary closure of the two berths is not expected to have any material impact on the operations as all other berths will continue as usual. Westports currently has a total of 20 container berths and 67 ship-to-shore cranes.

• We maintain our FV of RM4.81 based on 23x FY20F EPS, in line with its average 5- year historical forward P/E.

• We like Westports as it has returned to its growth path following the loss of a major customer during a major reshuffling of the global shipping alliances in 2017. A 13% tariff hike effective 1 March this year will help lift its margins and earnings.

• We also believe that the seaport operator is a beneficiary of the trade diversion from the US-China trade war, as well as the improved China-Malaysia relations. Maintain BUY.

Source: AmInvest Research - 12 Nov 2019