PhillipCapital analyst Paul Chew has upgraded Sembcorp Industries to 「buy」 from 「accumulate」 as he sees stable growth ahead on the back of the group’s acquisition of its remaining stake in Senoko Energy.

On June 13, Sembcorp confirmed that it completed the acquisition of its additional stake in Senoko, bringing it to 50% from 20%. The acquisition was made via a 28.6% stake in Lion Power, which holds a 70% stake in Senoko. Senoko is currently jointly owned by Sembcorp and Marubeni Corporation.

In Chew’s view, Senoko has several attractive factors including having a direct gas pipeline from Malaysia, its location near energy intensive semiconductor facilities as well as land for a new gas power plant.