Singapore Hot Stocks-Raffles Education hits 3-mth high on JVs

SINGAPORE, May 28 (Reuters) - Raffles Education Corp (RLSE.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) rose as much as 6.3 percent to a three-month high of S$1.36 after the firm formed joint ventures with India's Educomp Solutions (EDSO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) in India and China.

The $150 million joint ventures with Educomp Solutions, which provides multimedia teaching aids and computer education programmes to schools, allows Raffles Education to tap into the Indian market.

"The Indian education market mirrors that of China in many ways -- inefficient spending by the government on infrastructure and restrictive regulations that stagger private sector participation," Credit Suisse said in a client note.

Credit Suisse analysts kept Raffles Education at "outperform" with a price target of S$1.75, a 30-percent upside from the stock's last traded price.

They said both firms would have limited near-term synergies, and that their education programmes and systems would take time to gain recognition in China and India.

0151 GMT - Straits Times Index .FTSTI was up 0.1 percent. (Reporting by Tan Wei Xin; Editing by Louise Heavens)