Jefferies lifts PT on Vicinity Centers after strong quarterly update

Vicinity Centres

10/11/2021 20:04

** Brokerage Jefferies lifts price target on Australia's
Vicinity Centers  VCX.AX  to A$1.79 from A$1.73, after the mall
operator on Wednesday announced a strong quarterly update
    ** Vicinity said its Q1 retail sales decreased 25.7% from a
year earlier, which Jefferies sees as "irrelevant" given that
the lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria impacted co's
numbers  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2S023U 
    ** Brokerage says Q1 retail sales were up 7.1% from a year
ago excluding the income from New South Wales and Victoria,
which makes up about 74% of co's portfolio 
    ** Raises VCX's 2022 net profit estimate by 10.8% to A$493.7
mln ($364.01 mln)
    ** Jefferies adds that while VCX is optimistic on continuing
positive momentum in Q2, they have not provided a FY guidance
due to uncertainties surroundings COVID-19
    ** VCX said Q1 occupancy rate dipped by 10 bps to 98.1%
compared with last year
    ** Three of 11 analysts rate the stock "buy" or higher,
seven "hold" and one "sell"; their median PT is A$1.79 –
Refinitiv data
    ** Stock has risen 7.8% this year, as of last close

    
($1 = 1.3563 Australian dollars)

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