Brokers' take

Consumer Sector | Neutral

OCBC Investment Research, Mar 11

All of our selected countries saw lower consumer confidence levels quarter on quarter in Q4 2014 but stayed in the optimistic territory except for Malaysia. Challenges will remain in the short-term but we continue to be optimistic on the regional consumption outlook in the longer-term, underpinned by supportive policy reforms and accelerated government spending.

We also note that the FSTCG (FTSE ST Consumer Goods) index is no longer trading at a one standard deviation premium (on forward earnings) since its run-up from August 2014. Perhaps it is time to reconsider consumer counters, and within our coverage, we continue to favour Sheng Siong Group…