Sonic Healthcare: Jefferies upbeat on likely rise in COVID-19 testing

SHL-Japan

18/11/2021 20:04

** Jefferies lifts price target on Sonic Healthcare  SHL.AX 
to A$48.60 from A$46.30, after the medical diagnostics co said
strong COVID-19 testing volumes boosted results
    ** SHL in its trading update on Thursday said EBITDA rose
16% y-o-y to A$991 mln ($721.05 mln) in the year till October
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASX2ZnK4K
    ** SHL did not provide earnings guidance for FY22 due to
COVID-19-related uncertainties
    ** Brokerage forecasts COVID-19 testing to grow in FY22+ due
to the resurgence of the virus
    ** "Expect a degree of durability for elevated COVID-19 PCR
testing demand through at least end 4QCY21" in Australia, UK and
the U.S. - Jefferies
    ** Raises SHL's FY22 net profit estimate by 17.8% to
A$1,356.4 mln
    ** Seven of 13 analysts rate the stock "buy" or higher, six
"hold"; their median PT is A$42.70 – Refinitiv data
    ** SHL up 23.6% this year, as of last close, vs a 10.6%
increase in the healthcare subindex  .AXHJ 


($1 = 1.3744 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru)
 ((Jaskiran.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))