KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21) Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis-REIT) shares were among the top gainers in early morning trades today following an The Edge Markets report stating that the company would be eyeing an asset under management (AUM) of RM 3 billion.

At 10:23 am, shares of the Axis-REIT (fundamental: 0.9; valuation 0.5) rose 2.27% to a high of RM3.6 before settling at RM3.54 per share on thin volume trades.

Affin Hwang Capital REIT analyst, Tan Ei Leen in a note today raised the company’s earning per unit estimates by 2-3%.

“We expect Axis-REIT’s 2015-17 earnings to remain resilient, backed by tenancy agreements with MNCs, as bolstered by recent property acquisitions and improving occupancy rates.” she said.

Tan maintains a buy call on the Axis-REIT with a target price of RM 3.90 per share.

Kenanga Investment Bank’s property analyst Sarah Lim remains unconvinced as Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) continue to put downward pressure on the unit price.

“We expect a volatile bond market in FY15, brought about by the weakening ringgit and soverign credit de-rating risk, which may put downward pressure on Malaysian REITs unit prices,” said Lim.

Lim maintains an “underperform” rating on the company with a TP of RM3.27 per share.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)