Remain bullish Mexican homebuilders heading into
2010. Earnings should accelerate from positive macroeconomic
and industry dynamics; consensus does not
reflect this upside, in our view, and valuations look
attractive. The group should benefit from economic
recovery, particularly employment and wages;
Infonavit’s attractive mortgage program; recovery in the
middle-income and residential segments; and improved
balance sheets and competitive position. Upgrading
Geo to Overweight; raising price targets on Homex, Urbi.
Consensus underestimates 2010. Consensus sees
5–6% real revenue growth, in line with 2009, even
though Infonavit forecasts 14% mortgage growth and
the market expects economic growth to swing from –7%
in 2009 to +3% in 2010. Our economists expect
employment to expand 2.3%, after an estimated drop of
3.9% in 2009. Our EPS estimates are 5–18% above
consensus.
Upgrade Geo to Overweight from Equal-weight. The
company has improved execution capabilities by
bringing in new management, upgrading its IT platform,
and implementing new construction technology. These
initiatives, together with a new multi-channel marketing
effort, should help Geo deliver attractive results in 2010.
Our target offers 42% upside, the highest in the group.
Raising EPS and price targets for the group. Our
new targets incorporate our new earnings forecasts and
lower discount rates given the contraction in sovereign
spreads. Further, we are rolling over our targets to
year-end 2010 figures. We remain Overweight on
Homex and Urbi; our price targets offer 34% and 16%
upside, respectively.