Siam City Cement upgraded, Thailand

Kasikorn Securities upgraded Siam City Cement Pcl to "outperform" from "neutral", citing a positive earnings outlook for Thailand's second-largest cement maker on rising cement demand and construction activity.

"We maintain a positive outlook on the cement business and expect accelerating construction activity during the current quarter to be a key driver for top line growth across the sector," it said.

The broker said it expected Siam City Cement to report a 15 per cent net profit increase for the April-June quarter to THB1.2bn (US$38.07m), with market conditions likely to relatively remain buoyant in the second half of the year.