Dubai – Mubasher: Renaissance Capital on Tuesday said it initiated coverage of Dubai Parks & Resorts (DPR) with a “hold” recommendation and target price of AED 1.55.
“We like DPR’s value proposition as a structural play on theme park under-penetration but believe the market has broadly priced in the company’s prospects on a five-year view. Footfall surprises and/or more favourable risk perception post-opening would be key catalysts to the share price,” the research firm said in its statement.
Dubai Parks’ share ended Monday in the green, adding 0.64% and closing at AED 1.58 after 14.30 million shares were exchanged at a turnover of AED 22.47 million.
With its planned opening of three theme parks and a water park set by October 2016, added to a fourth theme park by Q4-19, “DPR appears to be the answer to the region’s lack of branded international theme park solutions” according to the report.
“We expect DPR to take the UAE’s theme park penetration rate from virtually zero currently to 46% by 2021, capitalising on its strong intellectual property licence line-up and Dubai’s standing as the world’s fourth most-visited city in 2015 and one of the fastest growing global touristic destinations,” Renaissance Capital highlighted.
It noted that around 3 billion people, representing 40% of the world’s population, live within a four-hour flight range to Dubai. Many of these people do not have access to world-class parks within the convenience of this four-hour flight.
