QNBFS remains upbeat on Milaha in long-term

QNB Financial Services (QNBFS) has announced that it remains ‘Outperform’ on Qatar Navigation’s (Milaha) with a target price of QR10.

In a company report released on Thursday, QNBFS said, “We remain bullish longer-term on Milaha’s growth story. Milaha should enjoy several catalysts, which could help in its rerating. We note recovery in oil prices, the lifting of Qatar’s blockade, the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the massive North Field Expansion project, are all positive tailwinds.”

“Milaha posted 4Q2021 earnings of QR205.2 million, before impairments, which was up 84.4 percent YoY but down 5.2 percent QoQ. Reported earnings, before impairments, fell short of our estimate of QR223.2 million by 8 percent. These results and the lower-than-expected dividend could put some pressure on the stock and we would view any weakness opportunistically,” the report said.

Milaha Maritime & Logistics segment’s container shipping business should benefit as Qatar-GCC trade picks up post the blockade, while industrial and project logistics should get a boost from the 2022 World Cup in the near-to-medium term and the NFE project in the longer-term, it said.