RHB Research sees value in property developer and hotelier Amara Holdings even though FY2020 earnings are likely to be impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak.

On March 4, the research house maintained its "buy" recommendation on Amara, but lowered its price target to S$0.78 from S$0.88 to take into account an estimated 14 per cent dip in earnings due to lower occupancies at hotels owned by the company.

"The Covid-19 outbreak has affected tourism across the region. This includes Singapore, China and Thailand, where the group has its establishments," RHB Research analyst Leng Seng Choon said in a report.

That said, he stood pat on his call as Amara shares were trading at a 44 per cent discount to its RNAV (revalued net asset value), presenting value for would-be investors.

On Feb 27, Amara posted a 11.9 per cent decline in fiscal 2019 net profit to S$28.2 million from S$32 million a year ago. But Mr Leng noted that bottom-line performance exceeded RHB's estimate of S$18 million.

"Whilst no breakdown was disclosed by management, the gains were for its investment properties that include retail and office assets in Singapore and Shanghai," Mr Leng said.

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Revenue for FY2019 edged up 1.1 per cent to S$105.3 million from S$104.2 million the previous year.

Amara declared a S$0.02 dividend per share for the full year, which Mr Leng noted represents a "respectable" FY2019 dividend yield of 5 per cent.

As at 1.50pm on Thursday, Amara shares were trading 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent up at S$0.40, presenting a 95 per cent upside to RHB's target price.