On the other hand, there was a 4% y-o-y decline due to some project delays in Australia and New Zealand.
In the quarter, the company won orders worth $155 million, down 11% y-o-y.
CSE recorded a healthy order book of S$616m as of March 31. Orders from its electrification segment dropped but automation and communications-related orders rose.
UOB Kay Hian analysts John Cheong and Heidi Mo maintained their "buy" call and 61 cents target price, which is pegged to 11x FY2025 earnings 2025, its long-term historical mean. The stock is also supported by a "decent" 2025 dividend yield of 5.4%.
For Jarick Seet of Maybank Securities, there are several reasons to be optimistic about this stock.
Citing the management, he expects orders to pick up significantly in the current 2HFY2025. "CSE Global is reserving capacity, especially in the US, for projects within the data centre and the utilities markets space," says Seet, who has kept his "buy" call and 58 cents target price.
He expects the company to be on the right side of the trend with the US pushing companies to set up factories in the US, as well as more data centres to be built.
See also: New customer orders for UMS warms analysts’ sentiments
"CSE Global is likely to be the main beneficiary in all three segments of its business and it’s likely to enjoy a multi-year growth story," he adds.
In addition, Seet believes that this company, whose single largest shareholder is Temasek unit Heliconia Capital, will be one of the key beneficiaries of the proposed $5 billion fund that the Singapore government will allocate to fund managers to invest in small and mid-caps.
Lim Siew Khee of CGS International remains "constructive" on CSE Global's long-term fundamentals, thanks to its healthy order book and diversified revenue streams.
However, for now, she has trimmed her FY2025 to FY2027 earnings estimates by 2-3% to reflect a slower pace of order wins impacting its topline, as clients may adopt a more cautious approach, says Lim, whose new target price is 68 cents, down from 70 cents.
"Management is confident of stronger 2HFY2025 order momentum," adds Lim, who is keeping her "buy" call.
"Notably, management’s decision to increase the dividend payout ratio to a minimum of 50% underscores confidence in the company’s earnings resilience and stable cash flow," she says.
CSE Global closed at 45 cents on May 16, up 1.12%.
