Stock Upgraded: Hiap Seng with fair price of 0.37 by Net Research!

Net Research said it has initiated coverage on Hiap Seng Engineering Ltd, with a "buy" rating and fair value of 0.37 sgd per share. Hiap Seng is a provider of mechanical engineering services comprising fabrication, installation and plant maintenance for the petroleum and petrochemical industries in Singapore, Asia Pacific and other regions. The research firm is also forecasting Hiap Seng's net profit to rise from 5.60 mln sgd in the year to March 2006 to 9.6 mln sgd in the year to March 2007 and 10.6 mln sgd in the year to March 2008. "We believe this forecast is reasonable as Hiap Seng's latest order book is already about 180 mln sgd," Net Research said, noting that more than 80 pct of the orders comes from oil-and-gas players like ExxonMobil, Shell and China National Offshore Oil Co. Net Research noted that Hiap Seng is also hoping to get a slice of the 3. 0 bln usd cracker plants that ExxonMobil and Shell are reportedly planning to build on Singapore's Jurong Island.