KPJ Healthcare Berhad

Will KPJ pose a threat to Masterskill?

Masterskill Education Group Bhd, the country’s largest provider of healthcare and nursing education, now has to contend with a new competitor in the form of KPJ Healthcare Bhd, the largest private h

instalments".

On Aug 29, however, Hwang-DBS downgraded Masterskill to "fully valued" from "buy" and slashed its price target from RM2.50 to RM1.20 after changing its valuation method to nine times forward earnings from a discounted cash flow methodology previously. This was after Masterskill reported weak 2Q11 numbers, which reflected lower student enrolments and margin squeeze.

Masterskill shares tanked 14 senor 10.61% to RM1.18 last Friday following the downgrade. At the time of writing, HwangDBS’ was the only "sell" call with three research houses recommending a "buy" and three others saying "hold"-By Joanne Nayagam