Singapore Hot Stocks-SingTel slumps to near 9-mth low

SINGAPORE, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Shares in Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) (STEL.SI) fell as much as 3.2 percent to a near nine-month low on Friday, in line with a faltering broader market hurt by fears of slowing economies.

CIMB downgraded the stock to "underperform' from "neutral" on Friday, with a revised target price of S$3.50, citing a looming bidding war between the firm and rival StarHub (STAR.SI).

The two telecom firms are set to vie for the rights to televise the 2010 to 2012 seasons of the Barclays Premier League and the 2010 World Cup next year.

Kevin Goh, a CIMB analyst, said in a research note a loss will be another setback for SingTel's fledgling pay television franchise mio TV.

However, a win will allow SingTel to gain traction in the pay television industry, but likely at the expense of shareholder value in the short term because of rising cost of television content, Goh said.

Goh said the strengthening Singapore dollar was also a concern as he believed it could further dilute overseas earnings.

At 0751 GMT, SingTel was down 1.2 percent at S$3.41 with 44.9 million shares changing hands.

CIMB also downgraded StarHub (STAR.SI) to "underperform" from "neutral" causing the stock to fall as much as 3.3 percent on Friday.

0737 GMT - Straits Times Index was down 1.72 percent.

CHINA SPORTS SINKS ON CITI DOWNGRADE

Shares of sports apparel maker China Sports International (CSIL.SI) tumbled as much as 6.3 percent on Friday after Citigroup downgraded it to a "sell" from "buy" with a reduced target price of S$0.28.

Citigroup cited concerns over the firm's ability to sustain robust growth in an increasingly competitive environment and said it expects China Sports International to trade at a steep discount to established peers like Li Ning (2331.HK) due to its deteriorating earnings prospects beyond 2008.

It added it was unsure whether China Sports could increase sales as the firm derived its growth largely from low-income consumers who were likely to cut spending in view of rising inflation.

At 0638, China Sports was trading at S$0.30 with 1.3 million shares changing hands.

0639 GMT - Straits Times Index was down 1.99 percent

CHINA HONGXING FALLS AFTER CITI DOWNGRADE