Stcok upgraded: Venture with price target of 13.8 by OCBC

OCBC Investment Research said it has lifted its fair value for Venture Corp to 13.80 sgd from 12.60 on the back of a more upbeat outlook for electronic contract manufacturers from the second half of the year onwards. It is keeping its "buy" recommendation on Venture. "Venture Corp's diversified portfolio appears to be on track to produce a good performance in the seasonally stronger half," OCBC Investment analyst Carey Wong said in a note. He said the company may get some margin boost from its niche products/others divisions, which manufactures higher-margin products like medical, automotive and other measuring devices. Wong raised his 2007 revenue forecast for Venture by 5.7 pct to 4.3 bln sgd to factor in higher contributions from the proposed acquisition of GES International Ltd and other recent acquisitions. OCBC Investment also raised its 2007 net profit forecast for Venture by 6. 1 pct to 269.2 mln sgd. At 9.21 am, Venture was up 0.50 sgd or 3.97 pct at 13.10 on volume of 160, 000 shares.