Credit Suisse Keeps Wilmar At Neutral; Tgt S$4.30

0236 GMT [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: Credit Suisse keeps Wilmar (F34.SG) at Neutral with target price unchanged at S$4.30 after China announces measures to curb inflation on range of food products, including cooking oil; measure requires company to seek approval from government for price increases. Notes uncertainty over whether measure in place for Chinese New Year or until food inflation ceases to be a concern. Estimates 25%-30% of Wilmar's total pretax profit comes from China cooking oil business. "If palm oil prices continue to be on an upward trend, there is a strong possibility that Wilmar will find it more difficult to increase selling prices or there could be a time lag between rising raw material costs and passing the increased cost to the end consumers. This would result in a margin squeeze for Wilmar." Says believes palm oil's upward price momentum intact, leading to downside risk to FY08-09 earnings projections; says if FY08-09 cooking oil division profit is half of forecasts, Wilmar's forecasts may be cut 15%-16%. Share down 8% at S$4.13; STI down 3.1%. (LES)