The latest Market Talks covering the Auto and Transport sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET. 0645 GMT – The financial drag due to disruptions stemming from severe flooding in Bangkok is likely to remain manageable for Thai Airways, says DBS Group Research’s Jason Sum in a note. The flooding prevented half the airline operator’s workforce from reaching Suvarnabhumi Airport, which led to delays and cancellations, he notes.
The disruption is likely to trim Thai Airways’ 2026 earnings before interest and taxes by 230 million baht, which is equivalent to only 0.9% of DBS’s 2026 Ebit estimate. Thai Airways also didn’t completely suspend its cargo warehouse operations, which could reduce its eventual cargo loss, and its operations are recovering quickly, he adds. DBS maintains its buy rating and 8.50 baht target price.
Shares rise 0.9% to 5.75 baht. 0544 GMT – Transport operator Comfort Del Gro seems to lack strong share catalysts, says Eric Ong at Maybank Securities in a note. While the impending Singapore public transport fare increase offers some relief from sharply higher fuel costs, the adjustment is unlikely to fully offset higher expenses, he says. Meanwhile, competition in the local taxi market shows no signs of easing, with Alphabet’s Waymo set to launch driverless ridehailing services in the city-state from 2028, the analyst adds.
Maybank sees Comfort Del Gro’s valuations and dividend yield as decent but retains its hold and target price of 1.45 Singapore dollars. Shares are up 1.6% at S$1.28. 0046 GMT – RBC Capital Markets sees a big positive in Transurban’s A$4.5 billion acquisition of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s stake in companies that own the Westlink M7, North Connex and West Connex highways in Sydney. Analyst Owen Birrell says a criticism of Transurban following its FY26 result was the lack of incremental portfolio growth over the medium term, in excess of underlying traffic growth and inflation-linked toll rates. “If the transaction closes, then we could potentially estimate an 8% uplift in proportional earnings through FY27-28, and the potential for improved distributable free cash flows and ultimately distributions,” RBC says.
Transurban is down 1.2% at A$13.08. 1229 GMT – Global air passenger demand declined 0.8% in August compared with the same month a year earlier with falls in the Middle East and North America offsetting rises in other regions, the International Air Transport Association says. Passenger demand—measured in revenue passenger kilometers—fell 14.6% in the Middle East and was 2.2% lower in North America. Latin America and the Caribbean showed the biggest growth at 5.3%, followed by Africa at 4.4%, IATA said.
The coming months will show whether travelers might be discouraged from traveling due to geopolitical instability, IATA’s Marie Owens Thomsen says.
Source: Wall Street Journal Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing