Stock Upgraded: Raffles Medical Group target price upgraded to 1.15 by DBS Vickers!

DBS Vickers said it has lifted its target price for Raffles Medical Group Ltd to 1.15 sgd per share from 1.0 previously as it expects the hospital operator's earnings growth to remain robust in the next few years. "Given the improvement in efficiency and continued increase in local and foreign patients, we are positive on the group's growth and earnings for the next few years," DBS Vickers said in a note to clients. DBS expects Raffles Medical's net profit to rise from 12 mln sgd last year to 15.4 mln this year, 21.3 mln in 2007 and 27.4 mln in 2008. Future growth will be driven by Raffles Medical's expansion into key gateway cities in China by 2008, it said. At the midday break, Raffles Medical was up 0.065 sgd or 7.1 pct at 0.98 with 1.3 mln shares traded.