Analysts bullish on First Resources

[SINGAPORE] In recent weeks, analysts have held a neutral rating for the palm oil sector, save for a select few companies, including Singapore-listed First Resources. The latter is one of the fastest-growing palm oil plantation owners in Asia.

Liquid Singapore-listed planters have declined the most, said Citigroup, but along with analysts from Jefferies, CIMB and UOB Kay Hian, the team continues to prefer First Resources for its execution of strong hectarage growth.

From late August to early September, the analysts gave First Resources a target price of S$2.39-S$2.80, a premium over its closing price of S$2.01 on Friday.

Jefferies' equity analyst Abhijit Attavar said that the share prices of Singapore-listed plantation companies have corrected almost 20-30 per cent since the CPO prices began to fall in May 2014, a stark contrast to Mala…