KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) rose among top gainers on the heels of confirming it had surpassed the 80-million mark in passenger traffic for the first time last year.

Airport operator MAHB announced yesterday that all its 39 airports recorded passenger traffic of 83.32 million in 2014, which was 4.7% higher year-on-year.

Today, MAHB rose 23 sen or 3.63% to settle at RM6.56 at the 12.30pm break. The third-largest gainer on the exchange saw a turnover of 1.11 million.
 
The shares were traded at a high of RM6.60 earlier.

While MAHB said the passenger traffic number was below target due to the twin airline tragedies of Malaysian Airline System Bhd’s MH370 and MH17 flights affecting travelers’ sentiment last year, international passenger traffic increased by a bigger quantum compared to its domestic counterpart.

The international passenger traffic segment grew 4.9% to 40.14 million, while domestic movements rose 4.5% to 43.19 million.

Analysts who issued notes today on MAHB are positive towards the stock. Both JP Morgan and RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd gave “buy” calls, with target prices at RM8.50 and RM8.06 respectively.

RHB analyst Ahmad Maghfur Usman said the impact on MAHB's passenger traffic from AirAsia's QZ8501 flight crash last month could be temporary, as the incident was efficiently handled.

Ahmad Maghfur Usman said RHB expected an earnings upside for MAHB on the high possibility that its Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey could be profitable in financial year ending December 31, 2015.

“We have also yet to factor in contributions from the opening of Southeast Asia’s largest modern outlet mall – in which MAHB has an associate stake – at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in mid-2015.

"We maintain ‘buy’, and keep our discounted cash flow-derived target price of RM8.06,” Ahmad Maghfur said.