New Zealand, India lead Asia on price valuations; South Korea, China lags

(Reuters) - New Zealand and India were the most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), Refinitiv data showed.

Indian equities, despite being the sole decliners in Asia in January, had the second highest forward 12-month price-to-earnings of 16.46 at the end of last month, below NewZealand's 20.64.

Graphic: Valuations of Asia-Pacific equities https://tmsnrt.rs/2HJCWVq

"We are sanguine about the valuation premium as it is more than deserved given that earnings growth in India is 22.7% in 2019E, almost 50% higher than the second highest, China," said Paul Kitney, chief equity strategist at Daiwa Securities in Hong Kong.

 

South Korea and China were the cheapest in the region, despite their sharp gains in January.

The forward 12-month P/E of the MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose to 12.24 at the end of last month, from 11.44 in December, the data showed.

Graphic: MSCI Asia Pacific index valuation https://tmsnrt.rs/2TseyZK

Though the regional markets registered solid gains in January, analysts have slashed their earnings estimates for this year due to worries over slowing global growth and trade tariffs.

Refinitiv data showed analysts have cut Asia's large and mid-cap companies' 2019 earnings by 0.86 percent over the past month.

(Reporting by Patturaja Murugbaoopathy and Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)