Macquarie - Outperform, $7.97 target

[Dow Jones] Macquarie believes the opportunity for Village Roadshow (VRL.AU) in Asia over the medium- to long-term is material and not reflected in its A$6.42 share price currently. "That said, the timing is difficult to predict and with Village Roadshow yet to open and operate a theme park in China we do not feel comfortable factoring in additional earnings at this point," the broker says. Disney, Universal Studios and DreamWorks are all building large theme parks and resort developments with local partners. Macquarie, which has an outperform call on Village Roadshow, thinks international operators have experience running and reinvesting in profitable parks as well as access to Hollywood studio intellectual property. Therefore, they should be able to price at a premium compared to local parks. Macquarie has a A$7.97/share price target on Village Roadshow. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)