MARKET OVERVIEW
- The market could pull back further on deteriorating momentum indicators, nagging doubts about the US tax reform bill as well as worries about an oil glut.
- Technically, STI sees underlying support at 3,355, with topside resistance at 3,460.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*SingPost
- Posted lower 2QFY17 net profit of $28.5m (-9.5%) in absence of one-off gain but core earnings was up 1.9% to $27.6m, in line with estimates.
- Revenue grew 10.2% to $354.7m on the back of stronger postal (+16.9%) and logistics (+7.6%) performances, particularly from Alibaba volumes and e-commerce deliveries, partially offset by e-commerce (-0.8%) due to persistent weakness in TradeGlobal.
- Core operating profit fell 14.1% on depressed postal margin, while logistics was hit by a $5m bad debt provision but e-commerce loss narrowed.
- Interim DPS slashed to 0.5¢ (2QFY17: 1¢).
- Trades at 26x forward P/E.
*Olam
- 3Q17 net profit rose 17.5% to $24.1m, falling within the 5-10% full-year earnings range for the Sep quarter.
- Revenue jumped 41.7% to $6.71b on higher overall trading volume (+54.3%).
- But, EBITDA margin narrowed to 3.6% (-0.7ppt) on pressure in its cocoa business.
- Adjusted gearing stayed relatively stable at 0.80x (2Q17: 0.81x).
- Trading at FY18e P/E of 16.2x and 1.14x P/B.
*Wheelock Properties
- 3Q17 net profit surged 72.1% to $48.8m, boosted by a $10.8m write-back in value of the fully-sold The Panorama condo development.
- This brought 9M17 earnings to $95.3m (+27.5%), surpassing full-year estimate.
- For the quarter, revenue grew 19.7% to $182.7m on increased contribution from property development (+23.4%), although pared by reduced income from property investment (-4.4%) and investment (-33.3%) segments.
- Gross margin contracted to 14.5% (-5.8ppt) on the shift in revenue mix.
- Bottom line lifted by higher associate income of $8.6m (+47.3%) and a tax credit of $7.8m (3Q17: $3.7m expense).
- Last traded at 0.77x P/B.
*Boustead Singapore
- 2QFY18 net profit fell 7% to $7.1m, missing estimates.
- Revenue declined 8% to $104.9m on weakness in energy-related engineering (-11%) and real estate solutions (-19%), which outweighed growth in geo-spatial technology (+23%).
- Gross margin expanded to 38.9% (+7ppt) on a shift in revenue mix but operating level suffered a negative FX swing of $2.6m to $1.8m loss.
- Associates/JVs turned around to $0.3m profit (2QFY17: $0.6m loss).
- Bottom line was pressured by higher tax of $4.3m (+40%).
- Doubled interim DPS to 1¢.
- Last traded at 14.7x forward P/E.
*Tat Hong
- 2QFY18 net loss narrowed to $2.8m (2QFY17: $5.4m) on reduced minority interest of $0.2m (2QFY17: $1.1m).
- Revenue grew 13% to $124.3m on the back of higher takings from tower crane rental (+11%), Australia general equipment rental (+34%) and distribution (+25%), but pared by lower contribution from crane rentals (-6%).
- Gross margin contracted to 28.7% (-2.5ppt) on a shift in revenue mix.
- Bottom line was impacted by a $4.3m negative swing to FX loss of $0.8m.
- Trades at 0.61x P/B.
*Hong Leong Asia
- 3Q17 net loss deepened to $17.6m (+26.2%), bringing 9M17 loss to $45.6m (-6.4%).
- Revenue for the quarter grew 16.1% to $963.2m on increased contribution from diesel engine unit China Yuchai (+26.8%), but was dragged by declines in building materials (-12.2%) and consumer products (-24.5%).
- Gross margin contracted to 18.7% (-1.7ppt) on weaker profitability across all three units.
- Bottom line was further afflicted by higher general & admin (+62.1%) and finance (+55.9%) expenses.
- Last traded at 0.7x P/B.
*Straco
- 3Q17 net profit fell 6.1% to $21.3m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $41.7m.
- For the quarter, revenue dipped 3.2% to $46.1m on weakness at Underwater World Xiamen, which outweighed higher takings at Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Lixing Cable Car and Singapore Flyer.
- Overall visitorship to its attractions slipped 5.1%.
- Operating margin narrowed 1.8ppt to 68.4% in absence of a sales tax reversal.
- However, net cash position increased to $136.2m (2Q17: $103.6m), or 15.8¢/share.
- Trades at 15.7x trailing P/E.
*Spackman Entertainment
- Sank into 3Q17 net loss of US$0.8m (3Q16: US$1.5m profit), as revenue tumbled 35% to $1.7m on lower revenue recognition for the production of Golden Slumber.
- Top line was partially cushioned by new contribution from equipment leasing business that was acquired in Mar '17.
- Gross margin spiked 31.7ppt to 36.1%, mainly from the new business.
- However, bottom line was impacted by higher opex from the consolidation, absence of gain on disposal of subsidiaries (3Q16: $2.1m), external compensation for film loss of $0.5m, as well as an adverse FX swing of $0.15m.
- NAV/share at US$0.053.
- Last traded at 9.8x trailing P/E.
*GSS Energy
- 3Q17 net profit surged 44.7% to $2.1m, albeit from 3Q16's low base of $1.5m. This brought 9M17 net profit to $3.9m (-65.4%).
- 9M17 revenue grew 26.9% to $70.2m on higher orders from existing and new customers in its precision engineering business.
- However, gross margin contracted 2.3ppt to 21.7% on product mix changes and pricing challenges.
- YTD earnings was impacted by the absence of a disposal gain (9M16: $6.1m), as well as lower government compensation (-46%).
- Group updated that it has commenced drilling of the first production well at its Trembul Operation area.
- Trades at 14.3x trailing P/E.
*Rotary Engineering
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 29% from a low base to $1.6m, bringing 9M17 earning to $6.4m (+70%).
- Quarter revenue surged 43% to $75.2m on newly secured projects, but gross margin contracted 7.4ppt to 18.4%.
- Bottom line was buoyed by lower admin costs (-29%) and depreciation charges (-30%), although partly weighed by an adverse $1.8m swing into FX loss of $0.8m.
- Order book rose slightly to $474.8m (2Q17: $463.2m).
- Currently awaiting shareholders' approval on its proposed exit offer at $0.46/share.
- Trades at 17.8x trailing P/E.
*Fu Yu
- 3Q17 net profit tanked 56% to $0.8m, weighed by an adverse FX swing of $1.6m, JV loss of $0.2m and higher taxes.
- Revenue rose 4.5% to $50.2m, bolstered by growth in Singapore and Malaysia operations, while China held steady.
- Gross margin expanded 2.2ppt to 16.8% on lower depreciation and headcount.
- Maintained interim DPS of 0.25¢.
- Trading at 21.1x trailing P/E.
*ISDN
- 3Q17 met estimates as net profit soared 4.3x to $3m, helped by lesser professional expenses incurred for its HK listing.
- Revenue grew 8% to $76.7m, as sales of motion control solutions were buoyed by greater demand from existing and new customers in China and Singapore.
- Gross margin widened 1ppt to 25%.
- Bottom line was partly lifted by a new source of sales commission.
- Trades at 9.4x forward P/E.
*Uni-Asia Group
- 3Q17 results missed as it barely broke even with net profit of US$0.03m, although turning around from 3Q16 loss of US$0.8m.
- Revenue grew 11% to US$25.4m on improved vessel charter rates, greater number of rooms under hotel portfolio and higher investment returns.
- Operating margin expanded 6ppt to 9.9% on improved operating leverage.
- Last traded at 6.4x forward P/E.
*Dukang Distillers
- Slumped deeper into 1QFY18 net losses of Rmb25.8m (1QFY17: Rmb3.6m loss), as revenue dived 88.2% to Rmb20.1m.
- Weak sales were mainly due to lower ASPs across premium (-53.2%) and regular (-34.5%) baijiu segments, as well as an overall tumble in sales volume to 603 tons (1QFY17: 4,800 tons).
- Accordingly, gross margin crumbled to 16.9% (-14.4ppt).
- Bottom line was further impacted by lower associate contribution of Rmb0.06m (-88.3%), although pared by tax credit of Rmb0.4m (1QFY17: Rmb3.1m expense).
- Last traded at 0.08x P/B.
*Swee Hong
- 1QFY18 net profit dwindled 98% to $0.4m, mainly on the absence of a one-off scheme creditors' write-off (1QFY17: $22.4m).
- Revenue rose 14% to $14.2m on contribution of construction for a new road between MacRitchie Viaduct and Adam Flyover.
- However, gross margin slumped 22.6ppt to 8.7% on the absence of write-back of project costs provision on the Nee Soon tunnelling project.
- The 30% decline in admin expense of $0.7m was due to the reclassification of staff cost to cost of works.
- Bottom line was dragged further by finance cost of $0.2m (1QFY17: $2,000 income).
- Trading at 10.8x trailing P/E.
*Nam Cheong
- Dived to 3Q17 net loss of RM48.7m (2Q16: RM0.7m profit), mainly from a FX loss of RM15.4m and a spike in finance costs to RM27.4m (3Q16: RM4.7m).
- Revenue spiked to RM79.1m on sale and delivery of one vessel and higher contribution from the vessel chartering revenue arising from the addition of three vessels in the chartering fleet.
- Gross margin was lifted to 4.9% (+1.9ppt) on a turnaround into profitability for the vessel chartering unit.
- Bottom line was also impacted by restructuring expenses of RM2.6m.
- Net debt of RM1.67b are entirely short term and due within 12 months.
- Negative equity/share at RM0.35.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Net Pacific Financial
- Its intermediary for its Australia loan portfolio has entered into a conditional agreement to convert $5m worth of loans into shares of an Australian-based company.
- The Australian-based property development company is seeking to list on Australian Securities Exchange.
- The conversion is expected to positively impact FY17 EPS and NTA/share.
- Last traded at 12.7x trailing P/E.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Fraser Hospitality Trust
- Partially prepaid $110m out of the $615m facility agreement under the $500m 5-year term loan facility granted.
- Prepayment was funded through the issue of $120m, 3.08% fixed rate notes due 2024.
- As such, $110m of debt maturing in July 2019 has been extended to 2024 with the weighted average debt maturity increasing to 2.74 years from 1.95 years.
- Offers annualized 4QFY17 yield of 6.6%, and trades at 0.95x P/B.
*Cityneon
- Incorporated a subsidiary, Cityneon Korea, in Jeju, South Korea with paid up capital of 600m won.
- Business comprises 1) design and construction of buildings and theme parks, 2) events and exhibition works, 3) project management, consultancy and R&D.
- Trades at 16.9x forward P/E.
*Elipsiz
- Approached by a third party to explore a possible transaction involving the shares of the group.
- To date, no agreement has been materialised.
- Last traded at 16.5x trailing P/E and 1x P/B.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
SG Market (14 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- Attention could rotate to small and mid-caps and plantation stocks as blue chips take a break and 3Q results season winds to a close. Oil-related names could come into focus after OPEC lowered its production projection next year, amid increased demand for crude.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI remains at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Wilmar
- 3Q17 core net profit slid 15.9% to US$323.7m, missing estimates.
- Revenue inched up 0.4% to US$11.13b on growth in oilseeds & grains (+17%), but weighed by tropical oils (-2%) and sugar (-41%) units.
- EBITDA margin narrowed to 6.8% (-0.4ppt) as positive crush margins were negated by reduced downstream profitability and higher costs associated with the sugar marketing programme in Australia.
- Headline net profit of US$370m (-5.7%) was supported by higher non-operating items (+586.9%) arising from higher dividend income.
- Trading at 14x forward P/E.
*Golden Agri
- 3Q17 core net profit inched 3% higher to US$79.5m, topping estimates.
- However, revenue slipped 2.9% to US$1.78b, as lower average CPO price of US$663/MT (-2%) overshadowed higher palm production of 739,000 tonnes (+18%).
- EBITDA margin expanded 1.1ppt to 10.1% on improved production yield in the upstream segment.
- Trading at 17.5x FY18 P/E.
*First Resources
- 3Q17 net profit dropped 11% to US$31.9m, bringing 9M17 earnings of US$103.5m (+53.7%) to 68% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue fell 9.3% to US$137.4m due to lower ASP and sales volumes.
- Accordingly, EBITDA margin narrowed 0.8ppt to 50.3%.
- Bottom line was dragged by higher selling and distribution costs due to increased freight charges and export taxes, but was partially offset by a swing into FX gain of US$1.7m (2Q16: US$0.4m loss) and lower finance expense (-23.7%).
- Trading at 14.8x forward P/E.
- Maybank KE retains Hold with TP of $2.04.
*Yanlord Land
- 3Q17 net profit rose 11% to Rmb627.5m, lifting 9M17 earnings of Rmb2.02b (+76%) to 63% of FY17 estimate.
- This was despite a 32% drop in revenue to Rmb3.76b on lower gfa delivered, partly offset against an increase in average selling price per square metre.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded 14.5ppt to 41.8%.
- Bottom line was lifted by a turnaround at JV/associate into profitability to Rmb145.7m (3Q16: Rmb13.5m loss), but partly offset by FX loss of Rmb37.3m (3Q16: Rmb9.6m loss).
- Trading at 5.3x forward P/E.
*United Engineers
- 3Q17 net profit slid 9% to $10.1m but still ahead of estimates.
- Revenue jumped 41% to $143m on increased property sales in Singapore and revenue recognition for The Manhattan in Malaysia.
- But, bottom line was dragged by share of JV/associate loss of $0.8m (3Q16: $0.7m income, increased distribution cost (+20%) and higher impairment loss to the Shenyang Orchard Summer Palace project but was shored by lowered finance costs (-53%).
- Trading at 21.8x forward P/E.
*Health Management Int'l
- 1QFY18 met expectations as core net profit more than doubled to RM15.9m (+117%), following acquisition of remaining stakes in two key hospitals.
- Revenue climbed 7% to RM117m on higher patient loads (+5.4%) and average bill sizes for both outpatient (+12.2%) and inpatient (+3.6%).
- EBITDA margin improved 0.9ppt to 24.5%.
- But, bottom line was pared by higher FX loss, depreciation costs, finance expenses and absence of RM0.5m associate profit.
- Net gearing was reduced to 0.3x from 0.5x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 28.4x FY18 P/E.
*Hong Fok
- 3Q17 net loss deepened to $3.8m (3Q16: $0.8 loss), hurt by pre-opening cost of 610-room Yotel Singapore Orchard Road and higher finance expense.
- Revenue jumped 45 % to $20.2m on the sale of two residential units in Singapore.
- EBIT margin shrank 19.8ppt to 8.2%, partially on cost of the two development properties.
- Trading at 9.4x trailing P/E and 0.4x P/B.
*China Everbright Water
- 3Q17 met estimates as net profit jumped 35% to HK$122.8m.
- Revenue jumped 35% to HK$746.1m, mainly on higher construction revenue attributable to the sponge city construction project, the river-basin ecological restoration project and upgrades to several wastewater treatment plants.
- But, gross margin contracted to 39.8% (-0.4ppt) on a change in revenue mix.
- Bottom line was impacted by higher net finance expenses (+9.4%), taxes (+76%) and minority interests (+160%).
- Trading at 13.9x forward P/E.
*China Sunsine
- 3Q17 net profit grew 7% to Rmb77.6m, bringing 9M17 net profit to Rmb209.3m (+35%) in line with the street's expectations.
- Quarter revenue gained 16% to Rmb634.4m on higher ASPs (+25%) despite lower sales volume (-7.3%), as production was affected by rigorous environmental inspections.
- Gross margin contracted to 26.8% (-1.4ppt) on an increase in raw material prices.
- Bottom line was impacted by FX loss of Rmb10.6m (3Q16: Rmb3.7m gain).
- Notably, expected expansion in production capacity has been delayed to FY18 as management awaits regulatory approvals.
- Trading at 9.2x forward P/E.
*Ying Li
- 3Q17 net profit leapt to Rmb17.2m (3Q16: Rmb7k), bringing 9M17 earnings to Rmb33m (+51.3%).
- Revenue rose 25.3% to Rmb314.6m, mainly on stronger property sales (+31%) including the on-going handover of residential units at San Ya Wan Phase 2 and commercial units at Ying Li Int'l Electrical & Hardware Centre Phase 1A and 2A.
- Gross margin expanded 6.2ppt to 30.2% as revenue mix tilted more towards property sales from rental income.
- Bottom line was bolstered by lower selling expenses and higher interest income.
- Trades at 19.1x trailing P/E and 0.4x P/B.
*CWG International
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to Rmb24.9m (3Q16: Rmb53.3m loss) on revenue growth of 63% to Rmb193m.
- This brought 9M17 net loss to Rmb63.7m (9M16: Rmb107.5m loss).
- For the quarter, top line growth was attributable to higher ASPs (+250% to Rmb30,648/sqm) mainly due to sales of Uptown Roseville in Sydney, Australia, but was partially pared by lower GFA sold (-50.4% to 5,819sqm).
- Gross margin improved to 37.7% (+0.6ppt) on the change in project mix.
- Bottom line was supported by Rmb11.6m positive FX swing, but offset by higher admin (+92%) and net finance costs (+31%).
- Last traded at 2.8x trailing P/E and 0.31x P/B.
*Avi-Tech
- 1QFY18 results missed expectations despite a 16.6% increase in net profit to $1.7m.
- Revenue jumped 31.3% to $11.1m, bolstered by improved takings for manufacturing & PCBA services (+61%), while burn-in services, and engineering services stayed stable.
- However, gross margin contracted 3.1ppt to 26.4% on the shift in revenue mix.
- Bottom line growth pared by $0.1m inventory provision, absence of $0.1m gain on fixed asset disposal, and $0.1m of FX loss, but buttressed by lower taxes.
- Last traded at 10.5x FY18 P/E.
*Koh Brothers
- 3Q17 net profit surged to $5.1m from a low base, lifted by an $11.6m disposal gain of a JV. This brought 9M17 net profit to $7.7m (+21%).
- Quarter revenue grew 41% to $89.8m on higher contract revenue (+72.8%), mainly from the construction and building materials division.
- However, gross margin contracted to 2% (-6.1ppt) on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was also shored by stronger contributions from associates and JVs (+15%), as well as a $5.2m (3Q16: $1.1m provision) write back of impairment on loans to JVs.
- Scrapped special dividend-in-specie of shares in Koh Brothers Eco Engineering.
- Last traded at 0.58x P/B.
*ValueMax
- 3Q17 net profit rose 8.7% to $4.5m, as revenue climbed 7.6% to $64.4m on broad-based growth across trading in pre-owned jewellery and gold, as well as pawnbroking and moneylending.
- Accordingly, gross margin inched 0.9ppt to 17.3%.
- However, bottom line was impacted by an 89% spike in tax.
- Trading at 0.99x P/B.
*Moya
- 3Q17 results met estimates as net profit surged 137% from a low base to $5.5m, upon consolidation of newly-acquired Acuatico.
- Revenue spiked to $45.8m (3Q16: $4.9m) attributed to sale of water at Acuatico, as well as a higher construction revenue from BOT projects in Indonesia.
- Gross margin expanded to 41.5% (+28.6ppt) following the consolidation of Acuatico.
- Aside to the jump in operating expenses (+17.5x) stemming from the consolidation, bottom line was impacted by one-off expenses of $0.5m related to the acquisition, although partially mitigated by FX gains of $2.2m (3Q16: $0.4m loss).
- Net gearing stood at 2.37x (2Q17: 2.4x).
- Trading at 10.1x FY18 P/E.
*Sinarmas Land
- 3Q17 net profit ticked up 0.7% to $17.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $117.8m, or 71% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue surged 36.8% to $199.6m on higher sales of land parcels, larger number of residential units handed over to homebuyers, as well as recognised revenue from apartments in BSD City, Indonesia.
- Bottom line was dragged by impairment loss on properties held for sales of $11.7m, FX loss of $4.3m and share of loss from JV of $6.2m.
- Trading at 10.8x forward P/E.
*Accordia Golf Trust
- Disappointing 2QFY18 results as it swung into distributable loss of ¥323m (2QFY17: ¥497m income) on an unsually large repayment of membership deposit and payment of upfront borrowing fee.
- This dragged 1HFY18 distributable income to ¥1.47b (-27.3%) and reduced semi-annual DPS to 1.65¢ (-32.7%).
- For 2Q, revenue edged up 3.1% to ¥13.38b on a 4.8% increase in visitors.
- Operating margin widened 1.4ppt to 18.3%, attributable to higher course utilisation rate of 80.4% (+3.2ppt).
- Loan-to-value ratio ticked 0.3ppt lower q/q to 28.7%.
- Trades at 4.3% annualised 1HFY18 yield and 0.84x P/B.
*Metro Holdings
- Sank to a 2QFY18 net loss of $13.6m (2QFY17: $16.4m profit) due to associate/ JV loss of $9.5m (2QFY17: $12.5m profit), impacted by ABSD charge of $27.7m for residential development, The Crest.
- Revenue rose 6.8% to $30.2m on firmer retail business (+7.1%), while property segment stayed muted.
- Gross margin collapsed 4.6ppt to 1.2%.
- Bottom line was also hurt by absence of $3.3m of investment distribution and $2.4m of FX gain, as well as $2.3m loss on dilution of interest in an associate.
- Last traded at 15x trailing P/E and 0.76x P/B.
*Geo Energy
- 3Q17 net profit rose 16% to US$8.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings of US$33.2m (+344%) to 69% of full-year estimate.
- For the quarter, revenue jumped 32% to US$74.8m on higher coal ASPs (+24.4%) and sales volume (+4.5%), and additional $0.9m contribution from the newer coal mining management services business.
- Gross cash profit margin improved 1ppt to 27.7%.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by higher staff costs, depreciation, and one-off reversal of amortisation of deferred stripping costs.
- Proposed interim DPS of 1¢ (3Q16: nil).
- NAV/share at US$0.1202 ($0.1634).
*Sing Myanmar
- 1HFY18 net loss widened to US$4.1m, weighed by losses at both continuing operations (US$2.1m loss) and discontinued operations (US$2.1m loss).
- Revenue rose 20.9% to US$11.6m, underpinned by firmer sales from duty free & fashion retail at Yangon International Airport new terminal and higher turnover from construction services.
- Gross margin expanded 5.5ppt to 26.6% on increased contribution from the higher-margin retail business.
- But, bottom line was impacted by the stubbornly high fixed overhead cost, weighed by a write-back of over-accrual bonus, increased legal costs and finance expenses, as well as FX loss.
- Trading at 3.25x P/B.
*Mermaid Maritime
- Swung to a 3Q17 net loss of US$2m (3Q16: US$7.5m profit), dragging 9M17 earnings to US$2.3m (-86%).
- Quarter's revenue tumbled 41.8% to US$30.2m on reduced subsea income due to day rate reduction, lower utilization of vessels, and a decline in other non-vessel projects.
- Gross margin shrank 15.6ppt to 8.9%.
- Bottom line was pummelled by a $0.9m drop in profits of associates/JVs.
- Last traded at 14.7x forward P/E and 0.5x P/B.
*Golden Energy And Resources
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 46.6% to US$9.9m, bringing 9M17 net profit to US$40.7m.
- Quarter revenue surged 83.7% to US$179.3m on stronger takings in coal mining (+77.7%) and trading (+187.3%), with the former led by increased selling prices (+25.3%).
- Accordingly, gross margin expanded to 41.1% (+0.7ppt).
- However, bottom line was hit by higher taxes (+232.5%), although partly mitigated by $4.6m (3Q16: nil) writeback in tax provision and lower finance costs (-43.2%).
- Declared interim DPS of 0.21¢ (3Q16: nil).
- NAV/share at US$0.1395.
*China Star Food
- 2QFY18 swung to net loss of Rmb4.6m, dragging 1HFY18 net loss to Rmb12.8m.
- Revenue tumbled 85.5% to Rmb17.5m as contribution only started in mid-Sep in Zilaohu factory following the group's production halt previously.
- Gross margin contracted to 24.7% (-21ppt) on change in channel management strategy and higher cost of sales (+80%) from subcontracting bulk of its production.
- Marketing and distribution cost slumped to Rmb2.5m as a result of the shift in channel management strategy.
- China Star Food is currently trading at ()x FY17 P/E.
*Sapphire
- 3Q17 net profit surged 31.1% to Rmb17.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $38m (+3.5%).
- Revenue grew 2.6% to Rmb369.5m on the back of the commencement of construction phase of several projects and the higher number of ongoing projects in China.
- Bottom line was dragged by higher staff costs (+56.9%) and distribution costs (+123.4%) but partially mitigated by a Rmb4.4m disposal gain from a subsidiary.
- Trading at 9x trailing P/E.
*Grand Banks Yachts
- 1QFY18 net profit tripled to $0.6m, albeit from 1QFY17's low base of $0.2m.
- Revenue jump 63.6% to $21.3m, driven by sales of three traded-in boats and one inventory boat, as well as more yachts reaching milestones for revenue recognition.
- Gross margin was stable at 17.2% (-0.1ppt).
- Bottom line was boosted by operating leverage.
- Orderbook increased to $38.6m from $36.8m in Jun '17.
- NAV/share at $0.2494.
*Zhongmin Baihui Retail
- 3Q17 net profit declined 20.4% to Rmb9.8m, bringing 9M17 earnings to Rmb49.8m (-42.6%).
- Quarter's revenue grew 17% to Rmb241.8m mainly due to a larger store network, which boosted direct sales (+21.5%) and commissions from concessionaire sales (+11.6%) .
- Gross margin contracted to 27.1% (-4ppt) on lower margin from its direct sales activities due to higher sales promotion.
- Bottom line was further hit by higher selling & distribution (+7%) and admin (+19.2%) expenses.
- Scrapped its third interim DPS of 1¢.
- NAV/share at Rmb0.8489.
*Wee Hur
- 3Q17 net profit plunged 51% to $4.4m in the absence of $1.5m FV gain on FX forwards, a $4m adverse FX swing, and higher taxes.
- Revenue grew 31% to $51.9m, mainly due to higher contributions from its construction business.
- Gross margin widened to 20.1% (+5ppt).
- Construction order book depleted to $304m from $360m in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 0.75x P/B.
*Midas
- 3Q17 net profit increased 6.6% to Rmb24.1m on revenue growth of 11.5% to Rmb458.5m. This brought 9M17 net profit to Rmb108.3m (+111.3%).
- Quarter's revenue growth was mainly due to firmer sales of its aluminium alloy extruded products (+16.9%), but partly offset by lower turnover from aluminium alloy stretched plates (-1.8%).
- Gross margin expanded to 28.2% (+3.6ppt) on the shift in product mix.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by lower contributions from its associate, CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Rail Transport (-40.4%), and a spike in finance costs (+47.6%).
- NAV/share at Rmb2.13.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*AGV
- Expects a 2H17 and FY17 loss, due to a decline in tonnage of services achieved and other income, coupled with higher costs.
- Trading at 27.6x trailing P/E.
POSITIVE NEWS
*HMI
- To issue 16.9m new ordinary shares, representing 2% stake of HMI, to Temasek's subsidiary Heliconia Capital for $11m.
- With the share placement, HMI hopes to leverage on Heliconia's network and resources to facilitate regional expansion.
- Net proceeds raised will be used for existing business and its expansion plan.
- Trading at 28.4x forward P/E.
*Sembcorp Marine
- Reached an undisclosed settlement with Marco Polo Marine, in relation to the termination of the US$214.3m rig construction project.
- Last traded at 67.2x forward P/E.
*Sembcorp Industries
- Emerged as the winning bidder in India's 250MW wind power tender.
- The project is expected to be developed in phases with full commission by 1H19. The project will have a 25-year long-term power purchase agreement.
- No other financial details were disclosed.
- Trading at 15.3x forward P/E.
*Trendlines
- Sold its subsidiary, MitrAssist Medical, to Wai Tech (Hong Kong) at US$1.15m.
- The exit results in a total gain of US$0.65m for Trendlines.
- Last traded at 0.76x P/B.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Darco
- Entered share placement agreement with Sofos Infrastructure Investment Fund for issuance of up to 3.5m new ordinary shares for $2m.
- Placement price of $0.60 represents a 7.1% premium to closing price on 10 Nov and transaction represents 5.75% of the enlarged share capital of Darco.
- Proposed placement is to raise fund for the investment in public-private partnership water infrastructure projects.
- Last traded at 8.7x trailing P/E and 1.2x P/B.
- Attention could rotate to small and mid-caps and plantation stocks as blue chips take a break and 3Q results season winds to a close. Oil-related names could come into focus after OPEC lowered its production projection next year, amid increased demand for crude.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI remains at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Wilmar
- 3Q17 core net profit slid 15.9% to US$323.7m, missing estimates.
- Revenue inched up 0.4% to US$11.13b on growth in oilseeds & grains (+17%), but weighed by tropical oils (-2%) and sugar (-41%) units.
- EBITDA margin narrowed to 6.8% (-0.4ppt) as positive crush margins were negated by reduced downstream profitability and higher costs associated with the sugar marketing programme in Australia.
- Headline net profit of US$370m (-5.7%) was supported by higher non-operating items (+586.9%) arising from higher dividend income.
- Trading at 14x forward P/E.
*Golden Agri
- 3Q17 core net profit inched 3% higher to US$79.5m, topping estimates.
- However, revenue slipped 2.9% to US$1.78b, as lower average CPO price of US$663/MT (-2%) overshadowed higher palm production of 739,000 tonnes (+18%).
- EBITDA margin expanded 1.1ppt to 10.1% on improved production yield in the upstream segment.
- Trading at 17.5x FY18 P/E.
*First Resources
- 3Q17 net profit dropped 11% to US$31.9m, bringing 9M17 earnings of US$103.5m (+53.7%) to 68% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue fell 9.3% to US$137.4m due to lower ASP and sales volumes.
- Accordingly, EBITDA margin narrowed 0.8ppt to 50.3%.
- Bottom line was dragged by higher selling and distribution costs due to increased freight charges and export taxes, but was partially offset by a swing into FX gain of US$1.7m (2Q16: US$0.4m loss) and lower finance expense (-23.7%).
- Trading at 14.8x forward P/E.
- Maybank KE retains Hold with TP of $2.04.
*Yanlord Land
- 3Q17 net profit rose 11% to Rmb627.5m, lifting 9M17 earnings of Rmb2.02b (+76%) to 63% of FY17 estimate.
- This was despite a 32% drop in revenue to Rmb3.76b on lower gfa delivered, partly offset against an increase in average selling price per square metre.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded 14.5ppt to 41.8%.
- Bottom line was lifted by a turnaround at JV/associate into profitability to Rmb145.7m (3Q16: Rmb13.5m loss), but partly offset by FX loss of Rmb37.3m (3Q16: Rmb9.6m loss).
- Trading at 5.3x forward P/E.
*United Engineers
- 3Q17 net profit slid 9% to $10.1m but still ahead of estimates.
- Revenue jumped 41% to $143m on increased property sales in Singapore and revenue recognition for The Manhattan in Malaysia.
- But, bottom line was dragged by share of JV/associate loss of $0.8m (3Q16: $0.7m income, increased distribution cost (+20%) and higher impairment loss to the Shenyang Orchard Summer Palace project but was shored by lowered finance costs (-53%).
- Trading at 21.8x forward P/E.
*Health Management Int'l
- 1QFY18 met expectations as core net profit more than doubled to RM15.9m (+117%), following acquisition of remaining stakes in two key hospitals.
- Revenue climbed 7% to RM117m on higher patient loads (+5.4%) and average bill sizes for both outpatient (+12.2%) and inpatient (+3.6%).
- EBITDA margin improved 0.9ppt to 24.5%.
- But, bottom line was pared by higher FX loss, depreciation costs, finance expenses and absence of RM0.5m associate profit.
- Net gearing was reduced to 0.3x from 0.5x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 28.4x FY18 P/E.
*Hong Fok
- 3Q17 net loss deepened to $3.8m (3Q16: $0.8 loss), hurt by pre-opening cost of 610-room Yotel Singapore Orchard Road and higher finance expense.
- Revenue jumped 45 % to $20.2m on the sale of two residential units in Singapore.
- EBIT margin shrank 19.8ppt to 8.2%, partially on cost of the two development properties.
- Trading at 9.4x trailing P/E and 0.4x P/B.
*China Everbright Water
- 3Q17 met estimates as net profit jumped 35% to HK$122.8m.
- Revenue jumped 35% to HK$746.1m, mainly on higher construction revenue attributable to the sponge city construction project, the river-basin ecological restoration project and upgrades to several wastewater treatment plants.
- But, gross margin contracted to 39.8% (-0.4ppt) on a change in revenue mix.
- Bottom line was impacted by higher net finance expenses (+9.4%), taxes (+76%) and minority interests (+160%).
- Trading at 13.9x forward P/E.
*China Sunsine
- 3Q17 net profit grew 7% to Rmb77.6m, bringing 9M17 net profit to Rmb209.3m (+35%) in line with the street's expectations.
- Quarter revenue gained 16% to Rmb634.4m on higher ASPs (+25%) despite lower sales volume (-7.3%), as production was affected by rigorous environmental inspections.
- Gross margin contracted to 26.8% (-1.4ppt) on an increase in raw material prices.
- Bottom line was impacted by FX loss of Rmb10.6m (3Q16: Rmb3.7m gain).
- Notably, expected expansion in production capacity has been delayed to FY18 as management awaits regulatory approvals.
- Trading at 9.2x forward P/E.
*Ying Li
- 3Q17 net profit leapt to Rmb17.2m (3Q16: Rmb7k), bringing 9M17 earnings to Rmb33m (+51.3%).
- Revenue rose 25.3% to Rmb314.6m, mainly on stronger property sales (+31%) including the on-going handover of residential units at San Ya Wan Phase 2 and commercial units at Ying Li Int'l Electrical & Hardware Centre Phase 1A and 2A.
- Gross margin expanded 6.2ppt to 30.2% as revenue mix tilted more towards property sales from rental income.
- Bottom line was bolstered by lower selling expenses and higher interest income.
- Trades at 19.1x trailing P/E and 0.4x P/B.
*CWG International
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to Rmb24.9m (3Q16: Rmb53.3m loss) on revenue growth of 63% to Rmb193m.
- This brought 9M17 net loss to Rmb63.7m (9M16: Rmb107.5m loss).
- For the quarter, top line growth was attributable to higher ASPs (+250% to Rmb30,648/sqm) mainly due to sales of Uptown Roseville in Sydney, Australia, but was partially pared by lower GFA sold (-50.4% to 5,819sqm).
- Gross margin improved to 37.7% (+0.6ppt) on the change in project mix.
- Bottom line was supported by Rmb11.6m positive FX swing, but offset by higher admin (+92%) and net finance costs (+31%).
- Last traded at 2.8x trailing P/E and 0.31x P/B.
*Avi-Tech
- 1QFY18 results missed expectations despite a 16.6% increase in net profit to $1.7m.
- Revenue jumped 31.3% to $11.1m, bolstered by improved takings for manufacturing & PCBA services (+61%), while burn-in services, and engineering services stayed stable.
- However, gross margin contracted 3.1ppt to 26.4% on the shift in revenue mix.
- Bottom line growth pared by $0.1m inventory provision, absence of $0.1m gain on fixed asset disposal, and $0.1m of FX loss, but buttressed by lower taxes.
- Last traded at 10.5x FY18 P/E.
*Koh Brothers
- 3Q17 net profit surged to $5.1m from a low base, lifted by an $11.6m disposal gain of a JV. This brought 9M17 net profit to $7.7m (+21%).
- Quarter revenue grew 41% to $89.8m on higher contract revenue (+72.8%), mainly from the construction and building materials division.
- However, gross margin contracted to 2% (-6.1ppt) on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was also shored by stronger contributions from associates and JVs (+15%), as well as a $5.2m (3Q16: $1.1m provision) write back of impairment on loans to JVs.
- Scrapped special dividend-in-specie of shares in Koh Brothers Eco Engineering.
- Last traded at 0.58x P/B.
*ValueMax
- 3Q17 net profit rose 8.7% to $4.5m, as revenue climbed 7.6% to $64.4m on broad-based growth across trading in pre-owned jewellery and gold, as well as pawnbroking and moneylending.
- Accordingly, gross margin inched 0.9ppt to 17.3%.
- However, bottom line was impacted by an 89% spike in tax.
- Trading at 0.99x P/B.
*Moya
- 3Q17 results met estimates as net profit surged 137% from a low base to $5.5m, upon consolidation of newly-acquired Acuatico.
- Revenue spiked to $45.8m (3Q16: $4.9m) attributed to sale of water at Acuatico, as well as a higher construction revenue from BOT projects in Indonesia.
- Gross margin expanded to 41.5% (+28.6ppt) following the consolidation of Acuatico.
- Aside to the jump in operating expenses (+17.5x) stemming from the consolidation, bottom line was impacted by one-off expenses of $0.5m related to the acquisition, although partially mitigated by FX gains of $2.2m (3Q16: $0.4m loss).
- Net gearing stood at 2.37x (2Q17: 2.4x).
- Trading at 10.1x FY18 P/E.
*Sinarmas Land
- 3Q17 net profit ticked up 0.7% to $17.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $117.8m, or 71% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue surged 36.8% to $199.6m on higher sales of land parcels, larger number of residential units handed over to homebuyers, as well as recognised revenue from apartments in BSD City, Indonesia.
- Bottom line was dragged by impairment loss on properties held for sales of $11.7m, FX loss of $4.3m and share of loss from JV of $6.2m.
- Trading at 10.8x forward P/E.
*Accordia Golf Trust
- Disappointing 2QFY18 results as it swung into distributable loss of ¥323m (2QFY17: ¥497m income) on an unsually large repayment of membership deposit and payment of upfront borrowing fee.
- This dragged 1HFY18 distributable income to ¥1.47b (-27.3%) and reduced semi-annual DPS to 1.65¢ (-32.7%).
- For 2Q, revenue edged up 3.1% to ¥13.38b on a 4.8% increase in visitors.
- Operating margin widened 1.4ppt to 18.3%, attributable to higher course utilisation rate of 80.4% (+3.2ppt).
- Loan-to-value ratio ticked 0.3ppt lower q/q to 28.7%.
- Trades at 4.3% annualised 1HFY18 yield and 0.84x P/B.
*Metro Holdings
- Sank to a 2QFY18 net loss of $13.6m (2QFY17: $16.4m profit) due to associate/ JV loss of $9.5m (2QFY17: $12.5m profit), impacted by ABSD charge of $27.7m for residential development, The Crest.
- Revenue rose 6.8% to $30.2m on firmer retail business (+7.1%), while property segment stayed muted.
- Gross margin collapsed 4.6ppt to 1.2%.
- Bottom line was also hurt by absence of $3.3m of investment distribution and $2.4m of FX gain, as well as $2.3m loss on dilution of interest in an associate.
- Last traded at 15x trailing P/E and 0.76x P/B.
*Geo Energy
- 3Q17 net profit rose 16% to US$8.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings of US$33.2m (+344%) to 69% of full-year estimate.
- For the quarter, revenue jumped 32% to US$74.8m on higher coal ASPs (+24.4%) and sales volume (+4.5%), and additional $0.9m contribution from the newer coal mining management services business.
- Gross cash profit margin improved 1ppt to 27.7%.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by higher staff costs, depreciation, and one-off reversal of amortisation of deferred stripping costs.
- Proposed interim DPS of 1¢ (3Q16: nil).
- NAV/share at US$0.1202 ($0.1634).
*Sing Myanmar
- 1HFY18 net loss widened to US$4.1m, weighed by losses at both continuing operations (US$2.1m loss) and discontinued operations (US$2.1m loss).
- Revenue rose 20.9% to US$11.6m, underpinned by firmer sales from duty free & fashion retail at Yangon International Airport new terminal and higher turnover from construction services.
- Gross margin expanded 5.5ppt to 26.6% on increased contribution from the higher-margin retail business.
- But, bottom line was impacted by the stubbornly high fixed overhead cost, weighed by a write-back of over-accrual bonus, increased legal costs and finance expenses, as well as FX loss.
- Trading at 3.25x P/B.
*Mermaid Maritime
- Swung to a 3Q17 net loss of US$2m (3Q16: US$7.5m profit), dragging 9M17 earnings to US$2.3m (-86%).
- Quarter's revenue tumbled 41.8% to US$30.2m on reduced subsea income due to day rate reduction, lower utilization of vessels, and a decline in other non-vessel projects.
- Gross margin shrank 15.6ppt to 8.9%.
- Bottom line was pummelled by a $0.9m drop in profits of associates/JVs.
- Last traded at 14.7x forward P/E and 0.5x P/B.
*Golden Energy And Resources
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 46.6% to US$9.9m, bringing 9M17 net profit to US$40.7m.
- Quarter revenue surged 83.7% to US$179.3m on stronger takings in coal mining (+77.7%) and trading (+187.3%), with the former led by increased selling prices (+25.3%).
- Accordingly, gross margin expanded to 41.1% (+0.7ppt).
- However, bottom line was hit by higher taxes (+232.5%), although partly mitigated by $4.6m (3Q16: nil) writeback in tax provision and lower finance costs (-43.2%).
- Declared interim DPS of 0.21¢ (3Q16: nil).
- NAV/share at US$0.1395.
*China Star Food
- 2QFY18 swung to net loss of Rmb4.6m, dragging 1HFY18 net loss to Rmb12.8m.
- Revenue tumbled 85.5% to Rmb17.5m as contribution only started in mid-Sep in Zilaohu factory following the group's production halt previously.
- Gross margin contracted to 24.7% (-21ppt) on change in channel management strategy and higher cost of sales (+80%) from subcontracting bulk of its production.
- Marketing and distribution cost slumped to Rmb2.5m as a result of the shift in channel management strategy.
- China Star Food is currently trading at ()x FY17 P/E.
*Sapphire
- 3Q17 net profit surged 31.1% to Rmb17.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $38m (+3.5%).
- Revenue grew 2.6% to Rmb369.5m on the back of the commencement of construction phase of several projects and the higher number of ongoing projects in China.
- Bottom line was dragged by higher staff costs (+56.9%) and distribution costs (+123.4%) but partially mitigated by a Rmb4.4m disposal gain from a subsidiary.
- Trading at 9x trailing P/E.
*Grand Banks Yachts
- 1QFY18 net profit tripled to $0.6m, albeit from 1QFY17's low base of $0.2m.
- Revenue jump 63.6% to $21.3m, driven by sales of three traded-in boats and one inventory boat, as well as more yachts reaching milestones for revenue recognition.
- Gross margin was stable at 17.2% (-0.1ppt).
- Bottom line was boosted by operating leverage.
- Orderbook increased to $38.6m from $36.8m in Jun '17.
- NAV/share at $0.2494.
*Zhongmin Baihui Retail
- 3Q17 net profit declined 20.4% to Rmb9.8m, bringing 9M17 earnings to Rmb49.8m (-42.6%).
- Quarter's revenue grew 17% to Rmb241.8m mainly due to a larger store network, which boosted direct sales (+21.5%) and commissions from concessionaire sales (+11.6%) .
- Gross margin contracted to 27.1% (-4ppt) on lower margin from its direct sales activities due to higher sales promotion.
- Bottom line was further hit by higher selling & distribution (+7%) and admin (+19.2%) expenses.
- Scrapped its third interim DPS of 1¢.
- NAV/share at Rmb0.8489.
*Wee Hur
- 3Q17 net profit plunged 51% to $4.4m in the absence of $1.5m FV gain on FX forwards, a $4m adverse FX swing, and higher taxes.
- Revenue grew 31% to $51.9m, mainly due to higher contributions from its construction business.
- Gross margin widened to 20.1% (+5ppt).
- Construction order book depleted to $304m from $360m in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 0.75x P/B.
*Midas
- 3Q17 net profit increased 6.6% to Rmb24.1m on revenue growth of 11.5% to Rmb458.5m. This brought 9M17 net profit to Rmb108.3m (+111.3%).
- Quarter's revenue growth was mainly due to firmer sales of its aluminium alloy extruded products (+16.9%), but partly offset by lower turnover from aluminium alloy stretched plates (-1.8%).
- Gross margin expanded to 28.2% (+3.6ppt) on the shift in product mix.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by lower contributions from its associate, CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Rail Transport (-40.4%), and a spike in finance costs (+47.6%).
- NAV/share at Rmb2.13.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*AGV
- Expects a 2H17 and FY17 loss, due to a decline in tonnage of services achieved and other income, coupled with higher costs.
- Trading at 27.6x trailing P/E.
POSITIVE NEWS
*HMI
- To issue 16.9m new ordinary shares, representing 2% stake of HMI, to Temasek's subsidiary Heliconia Capital for $11m.
- With the share placement, HMI hopes to leverage on Heliconia's network and resources to facilitate regional expansion.
- Net proceeds raised will be used for existing business and its expansion plan.
- Trading at 28.4x forward P/E.
*Sembcorp Marine
- Reached an undisclosed settlement with Marco Polo Marine, in relation to the termination of the US$214.3m rig construction project.
- Last traded at 67.2x forward P/E.
*Sembcorp Industries
- Emerged as the winning bidder in India's 250MW wind power tender.
- The project is expected to be developed in phases with full commission by 1H19. The project will have a 25-year long-term power purchase agreement.
- No other financial details were disclosed.
- Trading at 15.3x forward P/E.
*Trendlines
- Sold its subsidiary, MitrAssist Medical, to Wai Tech (Hong Kong) at US$1.15m.
- The exit results in a total gain of US$0.65m for Trendlines.
- Last traded at 0.76x P/B.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Darco
- Entered share placement agreement with Sofos Infrastructure Investment Fund for issuance of up to 3.5m new ordinary shares for $2m.
- Placement price of $0.60 represents a 7.1% premium to closing price on 10 Nov and transaction represents 5.75% of the enlarged share capital of Darco.
- Proposed placement is to raise fund for the investment in public-private partnership water infrastructure projects.
- Last traded at 8.7x trailing P/E and 1.2x P/B.
Monday, November 13, 2017
SG Market (13 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- The market might take a pause after Wall Street's wobble last Fri, snapping an eight-week winning streak, while as investors digest the last batch of 3Q results this week, which will include Wilmar, Golden Agri and Sing Post.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI remains at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
SECTOR WATCH
*Property
- Sales launch of Parc Botannia in Sengkang over the weekend saw sustained sales momentum.
- 70:30 JV between developers Sing Holdings and Wee Hur achieved a respectable average selling price of $1,270 psf for the 230 units sold.
- The healthy take-up underpins Maybank KE's Positive view on the Singapore residential sector.
- Among property counters, the house has Buy ratings on UOL (TP: $9.43), City Dev (TP: $12.05), GuocoLand (TP: $2.75) and Ho Bee Land (TP: $3.00).
CORPORATE RESULTS
*ComfortDelGro
- 3Q17 net profit reversed 8.2% to $80.1m, dented by private hire players, but met estimates.
- Revenue slipped 2.4% to $991.4m, on a smaller operating taxi fleet in Singapore and lower rentals from China, while bus and rail segments improved on transition to the bus contracting model and higher ridership, respectively.
- EBITDA margin narrowed 0.6ppt to 21.6% on higher staff costs (+3.3%).
- Bottom line was also weighed by unfavorable FX translation effects of $5.3m.
- Management is optimistic on its public transport business in Singapore and Australia, but is downbeat on the taxi and and related segments.
- Uber tie-up could be finalised this month. Maybank KE maintains Buy with TP of $2.40.
*UMS
- 3Q17 net profit doubled to $13.6m, blowing past expectations.
- Revenue surged 51% to $39.3m on solid sales of semiconductor systems (+61%) and components (+44%).
- Gross material margin improved 2ppt to 59% on higher proportion of component sales.
- Bottom line was also helped by lower depreciation (-23%).
- Maintained interim DPS of 1¢.
- Management is upbeat on strong order pipeline and expects cost savings from the migration of domestic production to Penang.
- Last traded at 13.1x forward P/E.
*Silverlake Axis
- 1QFY18 net profit plunged 81% to RM31.7m on absence of disposal gain from sale of shares in associate Global InfoTech (1QFY17: RM143.7m).
- Revenue declined 10% to RM114m on weaker contributions from software licensing (-86%) and software project services (-50%), as recently won contracts are still in early stages.
- Gross margin shrank 6ppt to 52% amid lower proportion of higher margin projects.
- Management expects project related licensing and services business to pick up in 2HFY18.
- Proposed interim DPS of 0.3¢ (1QFY17: 0.5¢) and special DPS of 0.5¢ (1QFY17: nil).
- Trades at 18.5x forward P/E.
*Asian Pay TV Trust
- 3Q17 DPU of 1.625¢ (unch) was in line with estimates.
- Revenue rose 6.5% to $84.5m mainly on positive FX effects. In constant TWD terms, contribution from all three segments improved across basic cable TV (+7.7%), broadband (+1.7%) and premium digital cable TV (+3.4%).
- EBITDA margin inched up 1.3ppt to 60.1%.
- Reaffirmed guidance for FY17 DPU of 6.5¢, implying 10.8% yield.
- NAV/unit at $0.85.
*HRnetGroup
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 20.2% to $10.7m, as revenue rose 7% to $97.5m on strong growth in flexible staffing business in Singapore.
- Gross margin contracted 1.9ppt to 35.3%, while operating margin held relatively steady at 14% (-0.2ppt).
- Updated that M&A work is on track and management expects to announce to series of further new projects.
- Trades at 20.1x forward P/E.
*Q&M
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 28% to $3.6m, buoyed by absence of portion to non-controlling interests (3Q16: $1.2m).
- However, revenue slumped 29.4% to $27.5m, mainly from the deconsolidation of Aoxin from a subsidiary to an associate in Apr '17, as well as lower takings from dental clinics (-11.8%) and dental equipment & supplies distribution (-54.6%).
- EBIT margin inched up 1.7ppt to 13.5%, lifted by new contribution from Aoxin of $0.7m.
- Trades at 32.5x forward P/E.
*QAF
- 3Q17 net profit plunged 62% to $7.4m, on flat revenue of $212m as higher bakery turnover in Philippines was offset by lower takings at Australian meat production unit due to reduced ASP from stiff competition.
- Operating margin shrank 5.9ppt to 3.6% on a broad-based cost increase, led by higher advertising and promotion expenses from the Philippines bakery business.
- Bottom line was dragged by $0.8m professional fees and $0.6m of doubtful debts.
- Trades at 7.9x trailing P/E.
*Cordlife
- Turned around to 1QFY18 net profit of $0.6m (1QFY17: $0.6m loss), thanks to absence of finance expenses (1QFY16: $1m) upon full redemption of its debt.
- Revenue climbed 13.2% to $16.6m from an increase in newborn deliveries (+6.3% to 6,700) as well as lower discounts given in India and Philippines.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded to 66.3% (+1.5ppt).
- Trades at 1.65x P/B.
*Straits Trading
- 3Q17 net profit declined 29.4% to $11.9m on a 2.7x jump in taxes to $2.6m.
- Revenue grew 16.5% to $132.1m on higher contribution from resources (+19.1%), but pared by weakness in real estate (-36.8%).
- Bottom line was impacted by a drop in other sources of income (-16%) from lower dividend income and reduced FV gains (-51.2%).
- Trades at 17.1x forward P/E.
*Haw Par
- 3Q17 net profit slipped 4.1% to $40.5m, dragged by a spike in expenses (+31.7%) from increased marketing activities and a negative $1.9m swing into FX loss of $1.5m.
- Revenue rose 7.4% to $53.4m, lifted by improved sales for Tiger Balm products.
- However, gross margin contracted 1.4ppt to 63.7%.
- Last traded at 18.8x forward P/E.
*Bukit Sembawang
- 2QFY18 net profit halved to $17.2m, dragging 1HFY18 earnings to $23.1m (-64%).
- Quarter revenue of $31.9m (-56%) was weighed by lower progressive revenue recognition from development projects.
- Gross margin narrowed 1ppt to 62.8%.
- Bottom line was buttressed by a lower effective tax rate of 6.6% (2QFY17: 17.6%).
- Trades at 1.25x P/B.
*GK Goh
- 3Q17 net profit grew 32% to $5.1m on improved operating margin (+4ppt to 9.9%).
- Revenue slipped 2% to $20.3m as growth in corporate services revenue (+6%) was negated by declines in investment (-8%) and other (-84%) income.
- Bottom line was further shored up by lower finance costs (-10%) and higher contributions from associates (+7%).
- Trades at 8.3x trailing P/E and 0.84x P/B.
*Hong Leong Finance
- 3Q17 net profit soared 84.2% to $23.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings of $60.9m (+58.7%) to 80% of FY17 estimate.
- Net interest income surged 48% to $47.4m on the back of higher loan yield and lower interest expense (-29.9%), albeit on a reduced loan base.
- Bottom line was dragged by the provision of doubtful debts and wealth management product of $2.8m (3Q16: $0.7m reversal).
- Last traded at 16x forward P/E and 0.71x P/B.
*KSH
- 2QFY18 net profit slumped 48.9% to $4.1m on a 42.7% drop in associate/JV contribution.
- This brought 1HFY18 net profit of $10.1m (-44.3%) to just 25% of full year estimate.
- For the quarter, revenue dived 64.1% to $24.5m on weakness in construction (-65.6%), partially caused by project delays.
- Operating margin inched 2.5ppt higher to 11.5% from a sharper decline in cost of construction (-68.9%).
- Shaved interim DPS to 1¢ (2QFY17: 1.25¢).
- Construction order book at $600m, while attributable share of progress billings from associates and JVs stood at $126.8m.
- Separately, KSH announced a LOI from 35%-owned Rio Casa Venture, for a $266.3m construction contract.
- The contract entails construction of 9 blocks of apartments and 22 units of strata landed houses. Construction on the showflat is expected to commence by end Dec '17 with the main development to commence by Nov '18 for 40 months.
- Trades at 13.2x forward P/E.
*Tiong Seng
- 3Q17 net profit spiked to $5.3m (3Q16: $1.9m) on improved operating leverage, and elevated 9M17 earnings to $19.6m (+94%).
- 9M17 revenue grinded up 1% to $554.2m as solid improvement in core construction business (+22%) was doused by weaker property development sales (-79%).
- Gross margin narrowed 3.3ppt to 4.1% on a shift in project mix.
- Bottom line was lifted by $3.5m drop in net finance cost, $2.3m positive swing in JV contribution, as well as lower selling and other expenses.
- Construction order book depleted to $636.9m from $730m in 2Q17.
- Trades at 7.2x trailing P/E.
*Stamford Land
- 2QFY18 net profit soared 68% to $9.9m, on a 2.8x leap in revenue to $135.3m, underpinned sale settlement of 131 apartments at Macquarie Park Village and firmer hospitality takings amid a stronger AUD.
- Operating margin narrowed 3.7ppt to 12.6%, as the lower margin property development business accounted for higher proportion of sales.
- Bottom line growth was eased by a $2.4m adverse FX swing and higher effective tax rate of 30% (2QFY17: 18.9%).
- Trades at 10.8x trailing P/E and 0.88x P/B.
*Yeo Hiap Seng
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 64.9% to $1.8m, as revenue slipped 7.4% to $87.7m on weakness in the F&B segment due to general market weakness, competitive pricing and sales disruption in Cambodia as new distributors ramp up sales.
- Gross margin contracted 6.4ppt to 31.2%
- Bottom line was further weighed by higher admin expenses (+25.3%), although offset by disposal gain of $4.1m.
- Trades at 4.8x trailing P/E.
*Neo Group
- Fell into 2QFY18 net loss of $0.5m (2QFY17: $3m profit) on absence of $1.8m disposal gain.
- Revenue grew 27.5% to $45.3m on stronger contributions from food retail (+14.4%), food manufacturing (+2.8%), supplies & trading (+270.5%), but partially pared by lower takings from food catering (-1.9%).
- Bottom line was further impacted by higher purchases (+62.5%) and staff costs (+13.6%).
- Trades at 22x forward P/E.
*Willas-Array
- 1HFY18 net profit leapt 312.8% from a low base to HK$60.2m, bolstered by a positive HK$15.3 swing into FX gain of HK$10m due to the stronger CNY against USD, as well as a reversal of doubtful debt of HK$3m.
- Revenue jumped 13.8% to HK$2.35b on strong demand industrial (+33%), automotive (+24.4%), electronic manufacturing services (+52.7%) and home appliance (+16%), but was partially offset by weakness in the dealer segment (-13.8%).
- Gross profit widened to 8.4% (+1ppts) on a shift in mix towards higher-margin products.
- Bottom line was partially offset by higher distribution costs (+22.1%) and staff cost (+3.2%).
- Trades at 4.9x trailing P/E.
*PEC
- 1QFY18 net profit inched 2% higher to $1.4m, despite a 2% slip in revenue to $81.3m following substantial completion of projects in FY17.
- However, gross margin expanded to 24.1% (+3.7ppts) due to higher-margin maintenance projects.
- But, bottom line was partially weighed by a negative FX swing of $2.4m into loss of $0.5m.
- Trades at 10.9x trailing P/E.
*ISOTeam
- 1QFY18 net profit surged 54.6% from a low base to $1.5m, supported by lower admin expense (-12.9%) due to reduced staff cost.
- Revenue jumped 20.9% to $25.1m on higher takings from addition & alteration (+34.9%) and repairs & redecoration (+62.7%), but was partially offset by a slump in coating & painting (-32.5%).
- Gross margin contracted to 17.7% (-4.8ppt) from the shift to lower-margin work.
- Trades at 7.2x forward P/E.
*Dasin Retail Trust
- 3Q17 DPU of 2.23¢ was 12% above IPO forecast, lifting 9M17 DPU to 5.23¢.
- Revenue and NPI of $18.7m and $15.9m exceeded estimates by 21% and 25% due to higher takings from newly-acquired Shiqi Metro Mall, increased turnover rent from the initial portfolio and the recognition of future rent escalations on straight-line basis for leases.
- Portfolio remains fully occupied, while aggregate leverage stayed flattish at 31.5% (-0.3ppt q/q).
- Trades at an annualised 3Q yield of 11.2% and 0.53x P/B.
*Sino Grandness
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 16.3% to Rmb193.3m, lifted by other operating income and absence of negative fair value change of convertible bonds.
- Revenue rose 10.8% to Rmb1.23b on higher takings from beverage (+12.9%) and domestic canned products (+14.3%), but partly offset by a slip in overseas sales (-1.3%).
- Gross margin contracted to 36.8% (-4.5ppt) on higher cost of raw materials.
- Notably, despite improved sales, operating cash flow was significantly weaker with an outflow of Rmb234.9m (3Q16: Rmb13.2m inflow).
- Nevertheless, management still remains cautiously optimistic on its prospects.
- Trades at 3.6x trailing P/E.
*Lum Chang
- 1QFY18 net profit surged 186% from a low base to $2.7m, mainly due to increased government grants (+521%).
- However, revenue slumped 44% to $57.3m on lower sales from substantially completed construction projects as well as fewer ongoing ones.
- Gross margin more than doubled to 19.3% (+10.3ppt) on cost savings derived from two substantially completed projects.
- Bottom line was aided by lower FX losses (-64%), but pared by increased JV loss of $0.3m (1QFY17: $19,000 loss) and higher taxes (+50%).
- Outstanding order book stood at $542.6m.
- Trades at 7.3x trailing P/E.
*Aspen Group
- 3Q17 net profit of RM24.9m (3Q16: RM1.1m) brought 9M17 earnings to RM43.4m, or 56% of full-year estimate.
- Quarter's revenue rose 6x to RM137.9m, bolstered by on-going projects Tri Pinnacle, Vervea, Vertu Resort, as well as land sale for a private medical centre in Aug '17.
- Gross margin widened 3ppt to 40%.
- Bottom line was boosted by RM1.3m of positive swing in net finance income following a debt restructuring for its recent IPO, but was pared by RM7m of listing expenses.
- Total unbilled sales of RM1.015b as at Sep '17.
- Last traded at 6.8x forward P/E.
*PACC Offshore
- Narrowed 3Q17 net loss to US$9.8m (3Q16: US$12.9m loss) mainly on a turnaround in JV contribution to US$11.8m (3Q16: US$0.2m loss).
- Revenue jumped 27% to US$52.8m from better contributions from offshore supply vessels (+25%), offshore accommodation (+53%) and harbour services and emergency response (+7%) segments, but was partially pared by lower takings from the transportation & installation (-37%) unit.
- Fell deeper into gross loss of US$4.3m (3Q16: US$1.4m loss) due to higher operating expenses stemming from POSH Arcadia, while POSH Xanadu and two light construction vessels remained idle.
- Bottom line was pressured by higher taxes (+504%).
- Trades at 0.72x P/B.
*Mewah International
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 27.4% to US$13.4m, shored by US$4.9m gain from fixed asset disposal and a US$1.3m drop in impairment loss.
- However, revenue slipped 2.4% to US$739m, as weaker sales volumes in the bulk segment (-21.8%) outweighed Ramadan-driven volume in the consumer segment (+46.6%). Overall average selling prices rose 7%.
- Operating margin narrowed 0.4ppt to 4.8%.
- Proposed an interim DPS of 1¢ (3Q16: nil).
- Trades at 12.8x trailing P/E.
*Sri Trang Agro-Industry
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of Bt166.7m (3Q16: Bt90.8m loss), lifted mainly by a surge in other gains to Bt253.1m (3Q16: Bt43.9m) and FV gain of Bt47.9m (3Q16: nil).
However, revenue slipped 5.6% to Bt18.22b from lesser sales volume (-20%), despite stronger ASP (+9.6%) of natural rubber.
- Gross margin improved 1.8ppt to 7.2%.
- Bottom line was partially pared by weaker associate/ JV contribution (-26.2%) and higher net finance costs (+132%).
- NAV/share at Bt14.9395.
*GSH
- 3Q17 net profit of $2.1m (3Q16: $0.1m) was partly boosted by $1.2m of profits from new associate Henan Zhongyuan, a food logistics hub.
- Revenue slid 26% to $20.9m, following the development completion of GSH Plaza, which outweighed progressive revenue from Eaton Residences project in Malaysia and improved taking from the hospitality segment.
- Gross margin widened 19ppt to 71% on the change in revenue mix.
- Bottom line also benefitted from lower distribution and finance expenses, as well as lower fair value loss.
- Trades at 14.9x trailing P/E.
*Top Global
- Slumped deeper into 3Q17 net loss of $1.5m (3Q16: $0.1m loss) on weaker gross margin (-6.1ppt to 13.7%).
- Revenue grew 27% to $51.6m on higher takings from property development (+31%), hospitality (+45%) and golf & country club (+4%), which curtailed weakness in rental income (-83%).
- Bottom line was hit by higher distribution expenses (+45%) and other losses of $1.7m (3Q16: $0.1m), partially mitigated by dividend income of $2.3m (3Q16: nil) and forfeited deposits of $0.4m (3Q16: nil).
- Trades at 0.37x P/B.
*Samurai 2K Aerosol
- 1HFY18 net profit jumped more than 4x to RM6.4m (1HFY17: RM1.5m) on lower effective tax rate of 19.6% (1HFY17: 43%).
- Revenue doubled to RM34.5m on higher sales volume across Indonesia, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, resulting from enhanced marketing initiatives.
- Gross margin contracted 1.3ppt to 44.9% amid lower ASP in Indonesia and higher raw material costs.
- Trades at 142.1x forward P/E.
POSITIVE NEWS
*STE
- Clinched a contract from Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport to build America's first offshore LNG Articulated Tug and Barge (ATB) unit.
- The ATB tug will have 5,100 horsepower and is designed to carry 4,000 m3 of LNG.
- Expected delivery date is 1Q20.
- Trading at 21.5x forward P/E.
*Zico Holdings
- Granted new capital markets license by the Securities Commission of Malaysia to conduct corporate finance advisory.
- Last traded at 47.9x trailing P/E.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Vard
- Received voluntary delisting from controlling shareholder Fincantieri at $0.25/share.
- Fincantieri owns 79.34% of share capital and intends to exercise its right of compulsory acquisition if it crosses the 90% threshold.
- The offer price implies at 0.8x P/B.
*SPH
- To acquire another 4.84% of MindChamps Preschool for $3.96m, raising its stake to 26.84%.
- MindChamps owns and/or franchise the operation of infant care centres and preschools.
- Trades at 20.5x forward P/E and 3.3% indicative yield.
*Sunpower
- To acquire 85% stake in Qingdao Xinyuan Thermal Power for Rmb212.5m.
- The acquisition would bring in recurring income for the group and is in line with the group's expansion plan into green investments.
- Trades at 14.9x trailing P/E.
*Federal International
- Entered into a 50:50 JV with KLSE-listed Destine to tender for oil & gas projects in South Asia and South-East Asia.
- Trades at 9x trailing P/E.
- The market might take a pause after Wall Street's wobble last Fri, snapping an eight-week winning streak, while as investors digest the last batch of 3Q results this week, which will include Wilmar, Golden Agri and Sing Post.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI remains at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
SECTOR WATCH
*Property
- Sales launch of Parc Botannia in Sengkang over the weekend saw sustained sales momentum.
- 70:30 JV between developers Sing Holdings and Wee Hur achieved a respectable average selling price of $1,270 psf for the 230 units sold.
- The healthy take-up underpins Maybank KE's Positive view on the Singapore residential sector.
- Among property counters, the house has Buy ratings on UOL (TP: $9.43), City Dev (TP: $12.05), GuocoLand (TP: $2.75) and Ho Bee Land (TP: $3.00).
CORPORATE RESULTS
*ComfortDelGro
- 3Q17 net profit reversed 8.2% to $80.1m, dented by private hire players, but met estimates.
- Revenue slipped 2.4% to $991.4m, on a smaller operating taxi fleet in Singapore and lower rentals from China, while bus and rail segments improved on transition to the bus contracting model and higher ridership, respectively.
- EBITDA margin narrowed 0.6ppt to 21.6% on higher staff costs (+3.3%).
- Bottom line was also weighed by unfavorable FX translation effects of $5.3m.
- Management is optimistic on its public transport business in Singapore and Australia, but is downbeat on the taxi and and related segments.
- Uber tie-up could be finalised this month. Maybank KE maintains Buy with TP of $2.40.
*UMS
- 3Q17 net profit doubled to $13.6m, blowing past expectations.
- Revenue surged 51% to $39.3m on solid sales of semiconductor systems (+61%) and components (+44%).
- Gross material margin improved 2ppt to 59% on higher proportion of component sales.
- Bottom line was also helped by lower depreciation (-23%).
- Maintained interim DPS of 1¢.
- Management is upbeat on strong order pipeline and expects cost savings from the migration of domestic production to Penang.
- Last traded at 13.1x forward P/E.
*Silverlake Axis
- 1QFY18 net profit plunged 81% to RM31.7m on absence of disposal gain from sale of shares in associate Global InfoTech (1QFY17: RM143.7m).
- Revenue declined 10% to RM114m on weaker contributions from software licensing (-86%) and software project services (-50%), as recently won contracts are still in early stages.
- Gross margin shrank 6ppt to 52% amid lower proportion of higher margin projects.
- Management expects project related licensing and services business to pick up in 2HFY18.
- Proposed interim DPS of 0.3¢ (1QFY17: 0.5¢) and special DPS of 0.5¢ (1QFY17: nil).
- Trades at 18.5x forward P/E.
*Asian Pay TV Trust
- 3Q17 DPU of 1.625¢ (unch) was in line with estimates.
- Revenue rose 6.5% to $84.5m mainly on positive FX effects. In constant TWD terms, contribution from all three segments improved across basic cable TV (+7.7%), broadband (+1.7%) and premium digital cable TV (+3.4%).
- EBITDA margin inched up 1.3ppt to 60.1%.
- Reaffirmed guidance for FY17 DPU of 6.5¢, implying 10.8% yield.
- NAV/unit at $0.85.
*HRnetGroup
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 20.2% to $10.7m, as revenue rose 7% to $97.5m on strong growth in flexible staffing business in Singapore.
- Gross margin contracted 1.9ppt to 35.3%, while operating margin held relatively steady at 14% (-0.2ppt).
- Updated that M&A work is on track and management expects to announce to series of further new projects.
- Trades at 20.1x forward P/E.
*Q&M
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 28% to $3.6m, buoyed by absence of portion to non-controlling interests (3Q16: $1.2m).
- However, revenue slumped 29.4% to $27.5m, mainly from the deconsolidation of Aoxin from a subsidiary to an associate in Apr '17, as well as lower takings from dental clinics (-11.8%) and dental equipment & supplies distribution (-54.6%).
- EBIT margin inched up 1.7ppt to 13.5%, lifted by new contribution from Aoxin of $0.7m.
- Trades at 32.5x forward P/E.
*QAF
- 3Q17 net profit plunged 62% to $7.4m, on flat revenue of $212m as higher bakery turnover in Philippines was offset by lower takings at Australian meat production unit due to reduced ASP from stiff competition.
- Operating margin shrank 5.9ppt to 3.6% on a broad-based cost increase, led by higher advertising and promotion expenses from the Philippines bakery business.
- Bottom line was dragged by $0.8m professional fees and $0.6m of doubtful debts.
- Trades at 7.9x trailing P/E.
*Cordlife
- Turned around to 1QFY18 net profit of $0.6m (1QFY17: $0.6m loss), thanks to absence of finance expenses (1QFY16: $1m) upon full redemption of its debt.
- Revenue climbed 13.2% to $16.6m from an increase in newborn deliveries (+6.3% to 6,700) as well as lower discounts given in India and Philippines.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded to 66.3% (+1.5ppt).
- Trades at 1.65x P/B.
*Straits Trading
- 3Q17 net profit declined 29.4% to $11.9m on a 2.7x jump in taxes to $2.6m.
- Revenue grew 16.5% to $132.1m on higher contribution from resources (+19.1%), but pared by weakness in real estate (-36.8%).
- Bottom line was impacted by a drop in other sources of income (-16%) from lower dividend income and reduced FV gains (-51.2%).
- Trades at 17.1x forward P/E.
*Haw Par
- 3Q17 net profit slipped 4.1% to $40.5m, dragged by a spike in expenses (+31.7%) from increased marketing activities and a negative $1.9m swing into FX loss of $1.5m.
- Revenue rose 7.4% to $53.4m, lifted by improved sales for Tiger Balm products.
- However, gross margin contracted 1.4ppt to 63.7%.
- Last traded at 18.8x forward P/E.
*Bukit Sembawang
- 2QFY18 net profit halved to $17.2m, dragging 1HFY18 earnings to $23.1m (-64%).
- Quarter revenue of $31.9m (-56%) was weighed by lower progressive revenue recognition from development projects.
- Gross margin narrowed 1ppt to 62.8%.
- Bottom line was buttressed by a lower effective tax rate of 6.6% (2QFY17: 17.6%).
- Trades at 1.25x P/B.
*GK Goh
- 3Q17 net profit grew 32% to $5.1m on improved operating margin (+4ppt to 9.9%).
- Revenue slipped 2% to $20.3m as growth in corporate services revenue (+6%) was negated by declines in investment (-8%) and other (-84%) income.
- Bottom line was further shored up by lower finance costs (-10%) and higher contributions from associates (+7%).
- Trades at 8.3x trailing P/E and 0.84x P/B.
*Hong Leong Finance
- 3Q17 net profit soared 84.2% to $23.6m, bringing 9M17 earnings of $60.9m (+58.7%) to 80% of FY17 estimate.
- Net interest income surged 48% to $47.4m on the back of higher loan yield and lower interest expense (-29.9%), albeit on a reduced loan base.
- Bottom line was dragged by the provision of doubtful debts and wealth management product of $2.8m (3Q16: $0.7m reversal).
- Last traded at 16x forward P/E and 0.71x P/B.
*KSH
- 2QFY18 net profit slumped 48.9% to $4.1m on a 42.7% drop in associate/JV contribution.
- This brought 1HFY18 net profit of $10.1m (-44.3%) to just 25% of full year estimate.
- For the quarter, revenue dived 64.1% to $24.5m on weakness in construction (-65.6%), partially caused by project delays.
- Operating margin inched 2.5ppt higher to 11.5% from a sharper decline in cost of construction (-68.9%).
- Shaved interim DPS to 1¢ (2QFY17: 1.25¢).
- Construction order book at $600m, while attributable share of progress billings from associates and JVs stood at $126.8m.
- Separately, KSH announced a LOI from 35%-owned Rio Casa Venture, for a $266.3m construction contract.
- The contract entails construction of 9 blocks of apartments and 22 units of strata landed houses. Construction on the showflat is expected to commence by end Dec '17 with the main development to commence by Nov '18 for 40 months.
- Trades at 13.2x forward P/E.
*Tiong Seng
- 3Q17 net profit spiked to $5.3m (3Q16: $1.9m) on improved operating leverage, and elevated 9M17 earnings to $19.6m (+94%).
- 9M17 revenue grinded up 1% to $554.2m as solid improvement in core construction business (+22%) was doused by weaker property development sales (-79%).
- Gross margin narrowed 3.3ppt to 4.1% on a shift in project mix.
- Bottom line was lifted by $3.5m drop in net finance cost, $2.3m positive swing in JV contribution, as well as lower selling and other expenses.
- Construction order book depleted to $636.9m from $730m in 2Q17.
- Trades at 7.2x trailing P/E.
*Stamford Land
- 2QFY18 net profit soared 68% to $9.9m, on a 2.8x leap in revenue to $135.3m, underpinned sale settlement of 131 apartments at Macquarie Park Village and firmer hospitality takings amid a stronger AUD.
- Operating margin narrowed 3.7ppt to 12.6%, as the lower margin property development business accounted for higher proportion of sales.
- Bottom line growth was eased by a $2.4m adverse FX swing and higher effective tax rate of 30% (2QFY17: 18.9%).
- Trades at 10.8x trailing P/E and 0.88x P/B.
*Yeo Hiap Seng
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 64.9% to $1.8m, as revenue slipped 7.4% to $87.7m on weakness in the F&B segment due to general market weakness, competitive pricing and sales disruption in Cambodia as new distributors ramp up sales.
- Gross margin contracted 6.4ppt to 31.2%
- Bottom line was further weighed by higher admin expenses (+25.3%), although offset by disposal gain of $4.1m.
- Trades at 4.8x trailing P/E.
*Neo Group
- Fell into 2QFY18 net loss of $0.5m (2QFY17: $3m profit) on absence of $1.8m disposal gain.
- Revenue grew 27.5% to $45.3m on stronger contributions from food retail (+14.4%), food manufacturing (+2.8%), supplies & trading (+270.5%), but partially pared by lower takings from food catering (-1.9%).
- Bottom line was further impacted by higher purchases (+62.5%) and staff costs (+13.6%).
- Trades at 22x forward P/E.
*Willas-Array
- 1HFY18 net profit leapt 312.8% from a low base to HK$60.2m, bolstered by a positive HK$15.3 swing into FX gain of HK$10m due to the stronger CNY against USD, as well as a reversal of doubtful debt of HK$3m.
- Revenue jumped 13.8% to HK$2.35b on strong demand industrial (+33%), automotive (+24.4%), electronic manufacturing services (+52.7%) and home appliance (+16%), but was partially offset by weakness in the dealer segment (-13.8%).
- Gross profit widened to 8.4% (+1ppts) on a shift in mix towards higher-margin products.
- Bottom line was partially offset by higher distribution costs (+22.1%) and staff cost (+3.2%).
- Trades at 4.9x trailing P/E.
*PEC
- 1QFY18 net profit inched 2% higher to $1.4m, despite a 2% slip in revenue to $81.3m following substantial completion of projects in FY17.
- However, gross margin expanded to 24.1% (+3.7ppts) due to higher-margin maintenance projects.
- But, bottom line was partially weighed by a negative FX swing of $2.4m into loss of $0.5m.
- Trades at 10.9x trailing P/E.
*ISOTeam
- 1QFY18 net profit surged 54.6% from a low base to $1.5m, supported by lower admin expense (-12.9%) due to reduced staff cost.
- Revenue jumped 20.9% to $25.1m on higher takings from addition & alteration (+34.9%) and repairs & redecoration (+62.7%), but was partially offset by a slump in coating & painting (-32.5%).
- Gross margin contracted to 17.7% (-4.8ppt) from the shift to lower-margin work.
- Trades at 7.2x forward P/E.
*Dasin Retail Trust
- 3Q17 DPU of 2.23¢ was 12% above IPO forecast, lifting 9M17 DPU to 5.23¢.
- Revenue and NPI of $18.7m and $15.9m exceeded estimates by 21% and 25% due to higher takings from newly-acquired Shiqi Metro Mall, increased turnover rent from the initial portfolio and the recognition of future rent escalations on straight-line basis for leases.
- Portfolio remains fully occupied, while aggregate leverage stayed flattish at 31.5% (-0.3ppt q/q).
- Trades at an annualised 3Q yield of 11.2% and 0.53x P/B.
*Sino Grandness
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 16.3% to Rmb193.3m, lifted by other operating income and absence of negative fair value change of convertible bonds.
- Revenue rose 10.8% to Rmb1.23b on higher takings from beverage (+12.9%) and domestic canned products (+14.3%), but partly offset by a slip in overseas sales (-1.3%).
- Gross margin contracted to 36.8% (-4.5ppt) on higher cost of raw materials.
- Notably, despite improved sales, operating cash flow was significantly weaker with an outflow of Rmb234.9m (3Q16: Rmb13.2m inflow).
- Nevertheless, management still remains cautiously optimistic on its prospects.
- Trades at 3.6x trailing P/E.
*Lum Chang
- 1QFY18 net profit surged 186% from a low base to $2.7m, mainly due to increased government grants (+521%).
- However, revenue slumped 44% to $57.3m on lower sales from substantially completed construction projects as well as fewer ongoing ones.
- Gross margin more than doubled to 19.3% (+10.3ppt) on cost savings derived from two substantially completed projects.
- Bottom line was aided by lower FX losses (-64%), but pared by increased JV loss of $0.3m (1QFY17: $19,000 loss) and higher taxes (+50%).
- Outstanding order book stood at $542.6m.
- Trades at 7.3x trailing P/E.
*Aspen Group
- 3Q17 net profit of RM24.9m (3Q16: RM1.1m) brought 9M17 earnings to RM43.4m, or 56% of full-year estimate.
- Quarter's revenue rose 6x to RM137.9m, bolstered by on-going projects Tri Pinnacle, Vervea, Vertu Resort, as well as land sale for a private medical centre in Aug '17.
- Gross margin widened 3ppt to 40%.
- Bottom line was boosted by RM1.3m of positive swing in net finance income following a debt restructuring for its recent IPO, but was pared by RM7m of listing expenses.
- Total unbilled sales of RM1.015b as at Sep '17.
- Last traded at 6.8x forward P/E.
*PACC Offshore
- Narrowed 3Q17 net loss to US$9.8m (3Q16: US$12.9m loss) mainly on a turnaround in JV contribution to US$11.8m (3Q16: US$0.2m loss).
- Revenue jumped 27% to US$52.8m from better contributions from offshore supply vessels (+25%), offshore accommodation (+53%) and harbour services and emergency response (+7%) segments, but was partially pared by lower takings from the transportation & installation (-37%) unit.
- Fell deeper into gross loss of US$4.3m (3Q16: US$1.4m loss) due to higher operating expenses stemming from POSH Arcadia, while POSH Xanadu and two light construction vessels remained idle.
- Bottom line was pressured by higher taxes (+504%).
- Trades at 0.72x P/B.
*Mewah International
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 27.4% to US$13.4m, shored by US$4.9m gain from fixed asset disposal and a US$1.3m drop in impairment loss.
- However, revenue slipped 2.4% to US$739m, as weaker sales volumes in the bulk segment (-21.8%) outweighed Ramadan-driven volume in the consumer segment (+46.6%). Overall average selling prices rose 7%.
- Operating margin narrowed 0.4ppt to 4.8%.
- Proposed an interim DPS of 1¢ (3Q16: nil).
- Trades at 12.8x trailing P/E.
*Sri Trang Agro-Industry
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of Bt166.7m (3Q16: Bt90.8m loss), lifted mainly by a surge in other gains to Bt253.1m (3Q16: Bt43.9m) and FV gain of Bt47.9m (3Q16: nil).
However, revenue slipped 5.6% to Bt18.22b from lesser sales volume (-20%), despite stronger ASP (+9.6%) of natural rubber.
- Gross margin improved 1.8ppt to 7.2%.
- Bottom line was partially pared by weaker associate/ JV contribution (-26.2%) and higher net finance costs (+132%).
- NAV/share at Bt14.9395.
*GSH
- 3Q17 net profit of $2.1m (3Q16: $0.1m) was partly boosted by $1.2m of profits from new associate Henan Zhongyuan, a food logistics hub.
- Revenue slid 26% to $20.9m, following the development completion of GSH Plaza, which outweighed progressive revenue from Eaton Residences project in Malaysia and improved taking from the hospitality segment.
- Gross margin widened 19ppt to 71% on the change in revenue mix.
- Bottom line also benefitted from lower distribution and finance expenses, as well as lower fair value loss.
- Trades at 14.9x trailing P/E.
*Top Global
- Slumped deeper into 3Q17 net loss of $1.5m (3Q16: $0.1m loss) on weaker gross margin (-6.1ppt to 13.7%).
- Revenue grew 27% to $51.6m on higher takings from property development (+31%), hospitality (+45%) and golf & country club (+4%), which curtailed weakness in rental income (-83%).
- Bottom line was hit by higher distribution expenses (+45%) and other losses of $1.7m (3Q16: $0.1m), partially mitigated by dividend income of $2.3m (3Q16: nil) and forfeited deposits of $0.4m (3Q16: nil).
- Trades at 0.37x P/B.
*Samurai 2K Aerosol
- 1HFY18 net profit jumped more than 4x to RM6.4m (1HFY17: RM1.5m) on lower effective tax rate of 19.6% (1HFY17: 43%).
- Revenue doubled to RM34.5m on higher sales volume across Indonesia, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, resulting from enhanced marketing initiatives.
- Gross margin contracted 1.3ppt to 44.9% amid lower ASP in Indonesia and higher raw material costs.
- Trades at 142.1x forward P/E.
POSITIVE NEWS
*STE
- Clinched a contract from Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport to build America's first offshore LNG Articulated Tug and Barge (ATB) unit.
- The ATB tug will have 5,100 horsepower and is designed to carry 4,000 m3 of LNG.
- Expected delivery date is 1Q20.
- Trading at 21.5x forward P/E.
*Zico Holdings
- Granted new capital markets license by the Securities Commission of Malaysia to conduct corporate finance advisory.
- Last traded at 47.9x trailing P/E.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Vard
- Received voluntary delisting from controlling shareholder Fincantieri at $0.25/share.
- Fincantieri owns 79.34% of share capital and intends to exercise its right of compulsory acquisition if it crosses the 90% threshold.
- The offer price implies at 0.8x P/B.
*SPH
- To acquire another 4.84% of MindChamps Preschool for $3.96m, raising its stake to 26.84%.
- MindChamps owns and/or franchise the operation of infant care centres and preschools.
- Trades at 20.5x forward P/E and 3.3% indicative yield.
*Sunpower
- To acquire 85% stake in Qingdao Xinyuan Thermal Power for Rmb212.5m.
- The acquisition would bring in recurring income for the group and is in line with the group's expansion plan into green investments.
- Trades at 14.9x trailing P/E.
*Federal International
- Entered into a 50:50 JV with KLSE-listed Destine to tender for oil & gas projects in South Asia and South-East Asia.
- Trades at 9x trailing P/E.
Friday, November 10, 2017
SG Market (10 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- Some profit-taking is likely following the overnight tumble on Wall Street on fears that the promised tax cuts could be delayed till 2019 and as the market rally extends into overbought territory amid a flood of corporate results.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*City Dev
- 3Q17 net profit dipped 8.3% to $156.1m, missing estimates as it was affected by lumpy recognition of project sales and disposal items.
- Revenue fell 6.5% to $863.1m due to lower contributions from property development (-21.8%) and rental properties (-3.3%) partially mitigated by increased hotel takings (+5%) due to recent acquisitions of The Lowry Hotel and Grand Millennium Auckland.
- Bottom line was hurt by the absence of one-off gain (3Q16: $49.5m), but was partially offset by a disposal gain of $38.6m from sale of an office building in Osaka.
- Trades at 12% discount to RNAV/share of $13.80.
*UOL
- 3Q17 core net profit grew 8% to $90.9m as higher minority interests (+391%) pared top line growth of 37% to $537.9m.
- This brought 9M17 core net profit to $270.5m (+8%) or 73% of the street's FY17 forecast.
- For the quarter, revenue growth was contributed by the consolidation of UIC. Excluding that, contributions from property development slipped 3% following completion of Riverbank@Fernvale in Mar '17 while hotel operations grew 5% from new contribution from Pac Pacific Melbourne acquired in Jul '17.
- Gross margin slipped to 31% (-2ppt) on accelerated depreciation expenses for Pan Pacific Orchard, which is due for redevelopment in 2Q18.
- Headline bottom line surged 7.1x due to FV gain of $542.1m on consolidation of UIC following the 4.23% stake acquisition from Haw Par.
- Trades at 20% discount to RNAV/share of $10.95.
- Maybank KE maintains Buy and raised TP by 12% to $9.85.
*GLP
- 2QFY18 net profit (ex-revaluation) jumped 40.6% to US$100.7m, bringing 1HFY18 core earnings to 59% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Quarter revenue rose 31.9% to US$281.7m, underpinned by fee income from financial services in China, rental growth as well as completion and stabilisation of China development projects.
- New and renewal leases grew 39% to 4.6m sqm, while rental growth remained strong with 4.6% increase in same-property income and 10.4% hike on renewal leases.
- Average lease ratio was stable at 91% (+1ppt).
- 1HFY18 development starts and completions were on track, at 25% and 49% of FY18 targets.
- Total fund management AUM stood at US$39b, of which 73% has been invested.
- Supported by buyout offer price of $3.38 against NAV/share of $2.62.
*SATS
- 2QFY18 core net profit rose 5% to $65.2m, bolstered by better performance of Indonesian and Indian associates.
- However, revenue slipped 0.8% to $434.8m on weaker takings from food solutions (-3.1%) as TFK in Japan declined 13% after Delta cut flights and Vietnam Air switched caterers.
- Bottom line was impacted by weaker operating margin of 14.1% (-0.4ppt) on higher licence fees (+24.2%) and other costs (+7.4%) consisting of fuel costs, FX losses and lower grants received.
- Maintains interim DPS of $0.06.
- Trades at 21.2x forward P/E.
*NetLink NBN Trust
- 1QFY18 net profit of $13m met expectations, but 4.9% above IPO forecast due to lower-than-expected operating expenses (-2.3%).
- Revenue was 1.2% below forecasts from lower installation revenue as the rate of migration, by non-fibre subscribers to fibre, was slower-than-expected.
- This was partially offset by higher-than-expected monthly recurring residential and non-residential connection revenue.
- EBITDA margin was 2.3ppt higher-than-expected at 72.2% on lower staff (-14%) and amortisation (-10%) costs.
- Net gearing at 14%.
- NAV/unit at $0.80.
*Frasers Centrepoint
- FY17 core net profit of $488.2m (+1.7%) met consensus estimate. Including fair value gain of $215.3m and other one-offs, headline net profit rose 15.4% to $689.1m.
- Revenue grew 17% to $4.03b, mainly due to the sale of two student accommodation and several residential projects in Australia, sale settlements of two Chinese projects and Vauxhall Sky Gardens project in UK.
- Gross margin narrowed 0.6ppt to 29.4%.
- Bottom line was bolstered by a $31.3m positive FX swing, $21.2m drop in net interest expenses, and $13.8m increase in associates/JV income.
- Net gearing held steady q/q at 0.7x.
- Final DPS of 6.2¢ maintained.
- Last traded at 0.83x P/B.
*Yangzijiang
- 3Q17 net profit surged 2.1x to Rmb866m, ahead of expectations, on fair value gains of investments at associates and absence of impairment loss.
- Revenue rose 13% to Rmb4.38b on higher volume of shipbuilding activities (+4%) and stronger trading business (+45%).
- But, gross margin contracted 7ppt to 15.4% due to stronger CNY against USD and increased raw material costs.
- Secured orders for 59 new vessels ytd worth US$1.59b, almost double that of 2016.
- Order book expanded to US$4.3b (2Q17: US$4b).
- Trades at 12.6x forward P/E.
*Noble Group
- Racked up another massive net loss of US$1.17b for 3Q17 as guided, mainly from asset sales and impairments.
- This took its 9M17 loss to a whopping US$3.05b.
- 3Q17 revenue fell 18% to US$1.46b as liquidity and credit constraints disrupted its trading business, leading to a 26% drop in volumes.
- Notably, operating cash flow turned positive US$295m but adjusted net debt/capital blew up to 73% and questions remain on how the group is going to deal with its US$3.7b net debt.
- Last traded at 0.25x P/B but risks further asset write-offs.
*Ho Bee Land
- 3Q17 results beat as net profit doubled to $54.4m.
- However, revenue slid 6.9% to $43.7m on lower sales recognition from two Australian residential development projects in Melbourne and Gold Coast, which outweighed growth in rental income.
- Bottom line was boosted by stronger associates & JV contributions from two China projects in Shanghai and Tangshan, and Eporo Tower in Melbourne.
- Last traded at a steep 39% discount to Maybank KE's RNAV/share of $4.23.
- House rates Buy with TP of $3.00.
*Fragrance Group
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 35% to $4.2m, as revenue soared 69.6% to $55.9m.
- Top line was bolstered by City Gate project in property development (59% to $45.1m), higher occupancy achieved from property investment (+23% to $5.8m), and $5.1m (3Q16: nil) contribution from hotel business.
- However, gross margin compressed 7.2ppt to 32.4% as profitability narrowed for the property development segment.
- Bottom line growth was also pared by substantial commission expenses for development projects and leasing of properties.
- Net gearing crept up to 0.9x from 0.8x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 1.04 P/B.
*Banyan Tree
- Swung into 3Q17 net profit of $20.1m (3QFY16: $10.8m loss), mainly boosted by divestment gain arising from partial sale of hotels and assets in China.
- Revenue climbed 9% higher to $68.3m on completion of Cassia Bintan (Phase 1) and sold units progressively handed over.
- Overall unrecognised property sales stood at $132.4m (3Q16: $84.5m), of which 17% will be recognised in 4Q17.
- Over the next 12 months, group expects to open eight new resorts and 11 spas under management.
- NAV/share at $0.73.
*SBS Transit
- 3Q17 net profit surged 42% to $11.1m on improved operating leverage.
- Revenue rose 7.4% to $295m on higher contribution from bus services, following the transition to the bus contracting model and improved ridership from rail services.
- EBITDA margin expanded 2ppt to 13%, helped by lower other operating costs.
- Trades at 18.6x trailing P/E.
*SIIC Environment
- 3Q17 net profit grew 17.2% to Rmb110.2m, bringing 9M17 earnings of Rmb350.2m (+23%) to 70% of full year forecast.
- Quarter revenue more than tripled to Rmb1.36b on growth across construction (+16.1x to Rmb731.5m), operating & maintenance (+77.6% to Rmb385m) and finance income from concessions (+215% to Rmb180.7m).
- Gross margin declined to 25.6% (-20.2ppt) on the shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was hit by higher finance costs (+269%) and weaker associate/ JV contributions (-25.6%).
- Last traded at 12.2x forward P/E.
*Food Empire
- 3Q17 results blew past expectations as net profit jumped 26.8% to US$7.4m, on a turnaround in associate income to US$0.2m (3Q16: US$0.7m loss).
- Revenue edged 2.7% higher to US$70.1m on improved sales in Russia (+2.1%), Indochina (+1.5%) and others (+34%) partially pared by weakness in Ukraine (-3.5%) and Kazakhstan (-29.2%).
- Operating margin expanded to 13.2% (+1.6ppt) on lower selling & distribution expenses (-16.5%).
- Bottom line was bolstered by a US$0.3m swing to FX gain of US$0.1m, but pared by higher taxes (+73.7%).
- Trades at 16.2x forward P/E.
*Memtech
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 26.5% to US$3.9m, with 9M17 net profit of US$10.4m (+360.7%) still ahead of expectations.
- However, quarter revenue slipped 0.5% to US$46.2m on weakness in consumer electronics (-8.8%) and telecommunication (-24.9%) segments, mitigated by growth in automotive (+17.3%) and industrial & medical (+11.8%) segments.
- Gross margin expanded to 18.4% (+0.7ppt) on increased automation and change in sales mix.
- Bottom line was boosted by lower sales & marketing expenses (-19%) and higher other operating income (+87.8%) on government incentives & subsidies.
- Trades at 11.1x forward P/E.
*Courts Asia
- 2QFY18 net profit crashed 74.7% to $1.5m, bringing 1HFY18 net profit of $7.6m (-49%) to just 29% of FY18 forecast.
- For the quarter, revenue slipped 1.4% to $176.5m as growth in sales from Singapore (+5.9%) was negated by a 19.7% decline in Malaysia on the weaker MYR as well as lower sale of goods and earned service charge income.
- Gross margin contracted to 34.2% (-1.7ppt) on promotions and lower credit sales in Singapore, but was offset by higher margins in Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Bottom line was hit by higher opex (+2.6%) and increased provisions for doubtful debts of $6.8m (+31.8%).
- Trades at 7.5x forward P/E.
*Vard
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to NOK8m (3Q16: NOK80m loss), dragging 9M17 loss to NOK102m (9M16: NOK96m loss), vs full year loss estimate of NOK167m.
- Revenue improved 33% to NOK2.01b on high activity level at the Romanian and Vietnamese yards due to rapid progress on module carrier vessels projects for Topaz Energy and Marine and Kazmortransflot, and the ongoing construction on all six expedition cruise vessels contracted in 2016.
- EBITDA margin improved to 2.7% (+0.5ppt y/y, -0.1ppt q/q).
- Order book stood at NOK12b (2Q17: NOK12.88b).
- NAV/share at $0.32.
*Hyflux
- 3Q17 net profit collapsed to $0.5m (3Q16: $41.1m), dragging 9M17 earnings to $24.1m (-76%).
- Quarter revenue plunged 61% to $98m on lower EPC activities at TuasOne waste-to-energy project and Qurayyat Independent Water project in Oman.
- Bottom line would have been further hit if the $26.6m loss from the planned partial divestment of Tuaspring plant (announced Feb '17) is accounted for.
- Trades at 0.63x P/B.
*KrisEnergy
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to US$25.6m (3Q16: US$31.6m loss).
- Revenue slipped 12% to US$39m on reduced sale of crude oil (-11%) and gas (-23%) due to lower production from the Wassana oil field in the Gulf of Thailand, but partly pared by higher ASPs.
- However, EBITDAX jumped 66% to US$7m, thanks to a 20% drop in adjusted operating cost.
- Notably, operating cash flow improved to US$12m (3Q16: US$4m).
- Trades at 0.45x P/B.
*CNMC Goldmine
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 45.8% to barely US$1m, shored up by a US$0.9m tax credit (3Q16: US$0.3m expense) on a partial reversal of deferred tax liability.
- For the quarter, revenue tumbled 44.3% to US$4.7m due to lower production volume of gold (-41.3%) and average realised gold price (-5.2%).
- Notably, group fell into an operating loss of US$22,673 (3Q16: US$2.2m profit), as all-in costs more than doubled to US$1,546/oz due to reduced production and sales volume of fine gold stemming from lower ore grades, as well as capex for the construction of a carbon-in-leach plant.
- Trading at hefty 71.1x forward P/E.
*Nordic Group
- Respectable 3Q17 results as net profit rose 23% to $4.4m, on a 25% growth in revenue to $26.8m from improved takings in both maintenance services (+83%) ad project services (+4%).
- Gross margin widened by 3ppt to 34% on a shift to higher-margin maintenance services.
- However, bottom line was slightly impacted by higher admin expense of $3.2m (+17%).
- Order book stood at $99.4m, providing revenue visibility up to FY2020.
- Trades at 15.5x trailing P/E.
*Singapore Shipping
- 2QFY18 net profit edged up to US$2.3m (+4.1%) on reduced operating costs, which lifted 1HFY18 earnings to US$4.9m (+27%).
- For the quarter, revenue slipped 3% to US$11.2m, mainly weighed by agency and logistics (-9.5%) segment, while ship owning (-0.5%) business stayed muted.
- Operating margin improved 1.4ppt to 27.6% on cost controls.
- Bottom line was also helped by a $0.1m dip in finance costs.
- Net gearing was stable at 0.75x as compared to 1QFY18.
- Last traded at 9.7x trailing P/E.
*APAC Realty
- 3Q17 net profit rose 7.2% to $5.5m, as revenue of $105.5m (+30.3%) on higher brokerage income due to increased market transactions for new home sales (+54% to $30.8m), as well as resale and rental of properties (+23.2% to $72.3m).
- Gross margin narrowed 1.3ppt to 12.9%, while growth in bottom line was also slowed by $1.1m of IPO expenses.
- Trades at 4.1x trailing P/E.
*Asia Enterprises
- 3Q17 net profit surged 69% from a low base to $0.3m, as revenue jumped 48% to $9.4m on increased ASP of steel products and higher sales volume to customers in O&M and construction sectors.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded to 25.4% (+0.5ppts).
- NAV/share at $0.271.
*Tiong Woon
- Swung to 1QFY18 net loss of $1.4m (1QFY17: $1.5m profit) amid a $1.2m drop in disposal gain and $0.9m adverse FX swing.
- Revenue tumbled to $23.5m (-32%) from fewer heavy lift and haulage projects and the substantial completion of an engineering services project in the Middle East.
- Gross margin held steady at 22%.
- Net gearing stood unchanged q/q at 0.46x.
- NAV/share at $1.0584.
*TA Corp
- 3Q17 net loss shrank to $4.2m (3Q16: $10m loss), bringing 9M17 losses to $15.2m (9M16: -$9.8m).
- 9M17 revenue rose 14.8% to $159m on broad-based growth across property development (+12%), real estate investment (+142%), construction (+6%) and lubricant & tyre distribution (+35%) businesses.
- Gross margin held at 18.7%.
- But, 9M17 bottom line was hit hard by $6.7m increase in fair value loss of investment properties and a $1.8m jump in provision for doubtful receivables.
- Net gearing increased to 1.57x from 1.49x in Jun '17.
- Construction order book depleted to $96m from $129m in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 0.58x P/B.
*The Trendlines
- 3Q17 net profit spiked 91.2% from a low base to US$3m, supported by lower operating, general and admin expenses (-10.8%).
- Revenue jumped 65.7% to US$6.8m mostly on fair value gains (+717%) in portfolio companies, as well as higher services income to portfolio companies (+22.6%).
- Bottom line was pared by a leap in tax expense to US$1.1m (3Q16: US$0.1m).
- Trades at 0.8x P/B.
*SUTL Enterprise
- 3Q17 net profit expanded 30% to $0.7m on lower staff (-1%) and utilities (-32%) expenses, which brought 9M17 net profit to $2.1m (+13%).
- For the quarter, revenue inched 1% higher to $6.5m on increased takings from membership related and management fees (+3%) and other income (+19%), but offset by weaker sales of goods & services (-1%).
- Pretax margin improved to 12.7% (-2.3ppt).
- Net cash position grew to $42.9m (2Q17: $41.8m), representing $0.497/share.
- Trades at 16.6x forward P/E and 1.15x P/B.
*GCCP Resources
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of RM0.3m (3Q16: RM2.2m loss).
- Revenue surged 2.6x to RM9.1m, underpinned by higher sales of crushed calcium carbonate stones of ground calcium carbonate (GCC), and precipitated calcium carbonate grades from the Hyper Act Quarries and Gridland Quarry.
- Gross margin expanded 5ppt to 50% on economies of scale from increased production of GCC limestone at Hyper Act Quarries.
- NAV/share at RM0.07.
*New Silkroutes
- 1QFY18 net loss deepened to US$0.6m (1QFY17: US$0.1m loss), despite a doubling in revenue to US$149.3m.
- The jump in top line was attributable to increased oil trades and contribution from newly acquired healthcare subsidiaries.
- However, gross margin nearly halved to 1.3% (-1.1ppt) on weak margin from the oil trading business.
- Bottom line was further impacted by higher personnel expenses (+110%) and other operating expenses (+206%).
- Trades at 1.05x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Sembcorp Marine
- Signed letter of intent with Statoil Petroleum worth US$490m, for EPC of newbuild FPSO hull and living quarters for the Johan Castberg field development.
- Trades at hefty 67.1x forward P/E.
*HRnet
- To acquire PT Rimbun Job Agency for the establishment of a new brand, HRnet Rimbun, to provide professional recruitment services in Jakarta.
- Jakarta will be the 11th Asian growth city for the group.
- Consideration price has yet to be finalised.
- Trades at 20.2x forward P/E.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings
- Hor Kew
- Hiap Seng Engineering
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Maxi-Cash
- Proposed renounceable non-underwritten 1-for-10 rights issue at $0.16 each.
- Estimated net proceeds of $14.4m earmarked for secured lending business ($10m) and the remaining for working capital.
*Jason Marine
- To grant a convertible loan of up to $0.75m to risk analytics solution provider Sense Infosys (SIS).
- The loan will enable SIS to further develop its business, while presenting an opportunity for the Jason Marine to further its stake in a complementary business with promising prospects.
- Some profit-taking is likely following the overnight tumble on Wall Street on fears that the promised tax cuts could be delayed till 2019 and as the market rally extends into overbought territory amid a flood of corporate results.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*City Dev
- 3Q17 net profit dipped 8.3% to $156.1m, missing estimates as it was affected by lumpy recognition of project sales and disposal items.
- Revenue fell 6.5% to $863.1m due to lower contributions from property development (-21.8%) and rental properties (-3.3%) partially mitigated by increased hotel takings (+5%) due to recent acquisitions of The Lowry Hotel and Grand Millennium Auckland.
- Bottom line was hurt by the absence of one-off gain (3Q16: $49.5m), but was partially offset by a disposal gain of $38.6m from sale of an office building in Osaka.
- Trades at 12% discount to RNAV/share of $13.80.
*UOL
- 3Q17 core net profit grew 8% to $90.9m as higher minority interests (+391%) pared top line growth of 37% to $537.9m.
- This brought 9M17 core net profit to $270.5m (+8%) or 73% of the street's FY17 forecast.
- For the quarter, revenue growth was contributed by the consolidation of UIC. Excluding that, contributions from property development slipped 3% following completion of Riverbank@Fernvale in Mar '17 while hotel operations grew 5% from new contribution from Pac Pacific Melbourne acquired in Jul '17.
- Gross margin slipped to 31% (-2ppt) on accelerated depreciation expenses for Pan Pacific Orchard, which is due for redevelopment in 2Q18.
- Headline bottom line surged 7.1x due to FV gain of $542.1m on consolidation of UIC following the 4.23% stake acquisition from Haw Par.
- Trades at 20% discount to RNAV/share of $10.95.
- Maybank KE maintains Buy and raised TP by 12% to $9.85.
*GLP
- 2QFY18 net profit (ex-revaluation) jumped 40.6% to US$100.7m, bringing 1HFY18 core earnings to 59% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Quarter revenue rose 31.9% to US$281.7m, underpinned by fee income from financial services in China, rental growth as well as completion and stabilisation of China development projects.
- New and renewal leases grew 39% to 4.6m sqm, while rental growth remained strong with 4.6% increase in same-property income and 10.4% hike on renewal leases.
- Average lease ratio was stable at 91% (+1ppt).
- 1HFY18 development starts and completions were on track, at 25% and 49% of FY18 targets.
- Total fund management AUM stood at US$39b, of which 73% has been invested.
- Supported by buyout offer price of $3.38 against NAV/share of $2.62.
*SATS
- 2QFY18 core net profit rose 5% to $65.2m, bolstered by better performance of Indonesian and Indian associates.
- However, revenue slipped 0.8% to $434.8m on weaker takings from food solutions (-3.1%) as TFK in Japan declined 13% after Delta cut flights and Vietnam Air switched caterers.
- Bottom line was impacted by weaker operating margin of 14.1% (-0.4ppt) on higher licence fees (+24.2%) and other costs (+7.4%) consisting of fuel costs, FX losses and lower grants received.
- Maintains interim DPS of $0.06.
- Trades at 21.2x forward P/E.
*NetLink NBN Trust
- 1QFY18 net profit of $13m met expectations, but 4.9% above IPO forecast due to lower-than-expected operating expenses (-2.3%).
- Revenue was 1.2% below forecasts from lower installation revenue as the rate of migration, by non-fibre subscribers to fibre, was slower-than-expected.
- This was partially offset by higher-than-expected monthly recurring residential and non-residential connection revenue.
- EBITDA margin was 2.3ppt higher-than-expected at 72.2% on lower staff (-14%) and amortisation (-10%) costs.
- Net gearing at 14%.
- NAV/unit at $0.80.
*Frasers Centrepoint
- FY17 core net profit of $488.2m (+1.7%) met consensus estimate. Including fair value gain of $215.3m and other one-offs, headline net profit rose 15.4% to $689.1m.
- Revenue grew 17% to $4.03b, mainly due to the sale of two student accommodation and several residential projects in Australia, sale settlements of two Chinese projects and Vauxhall Sky Gardens project in UK.
- Gross margin narrowed 0.6ppt to 29.4%.
- Bottom line was bolstered by a $31.3m positive FX swing, $21.2m drop in net interest expenses, and $13.8m increase in associates/JV income.
- Net gearing held steady q/q at 0.7x.
- Final DPS of 6.2¢ maintained.
- Last traded at 0.83x P/B.
*Yangzijiang
- 3Q17 net profit surged 2.1x to Rmb866m, ahead of expectations, on fair value gains of investments at associates and absence of impairment loss.
- Revenue rose 13% to Rmb4.38b on higher volume of shipbuilding activities (+4%) and stronger trading business (+45%).
- But, gross margin contracted 7ppt to 15.4% due to stronger CNY against USD and increased raw material costs.
- Secured orders for 59 new vessels ytd worth US$1.59b, almost double that of 2016.
- Order book expanded to US$4.3b (2Q17: US$4b).
- Trades at 12.6x forward P/E.
*Noble Group
- Racked up another massive net loss of US$1.17b for 3Q17 as guided, mainly from asset sales and impairments.
- This took its 9M17 loss to a whopping US$3.05b.
- 3Q17 revenue fell 18% to US$1.46b as liquidity and credit constraints disrupted its trading business, leading to a 26% drop in volumes.
- Notably, operating cash flow turned positive US$295m but adjusted net debt/capital blew up to 73% and questions remain on how the group is going to deal with its US$3.7b net debt.
- Last traded at 0.25x P/B but risks further asset write-offs.
*Ho Bee Land
- 3Q17 results beat as net profit doubled to $54.4m.
- However, revenue slid 6.9% to $43.7m on lower sales recognition from two Australian residential development projects in Melbourne and Gold Coast, which outweighed growth in rental income.
- Bottom line was boosted by stronger associates & JV contributions from two China projects in Shanghai and Tangshan, and Eporo Tower in Melbourne.
- Last traded at a steep 39% discount to Maybank KE's RNAV/share of $4.23.
- House rates Buy with TP of $3.00.
*Fragrance Group
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 35% to $4.2m, as revenue soared 69.6% to $55.9m.
- Top line was bolstered by City Gate project in property development (59% to $45.1m), higher occupancy achieved from property investment (+23% to $5.8m), and $5.1m (3Q16: nil) contribution from hotel business.
- However, gross margin compressed 7.2ppt to 32.4% as profitability narrowed for the property development segment.
- Bottom line growth was also pared by substantial commission expenses for development projects and leasing of properties.
- Net gearing crept up to 0.9x from 0.8x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 1.04 P/B.
*Banyan Tree
- Swung into 3Q17 net profit of $20.1m (3QFY16: $10.8m loss), mainly boosted by divestment gain arising from partial sale of hotels and assets in China.
- Revenue climbed 9% higher to $68.3m on completion of Cassia Bintan (Phase 1) and sold units progressively handed over.
- Overall unrecognised property sales stood at $132.4m (3Q16: $84.5m), of which 17% will be recognised in 4Q17.
- Over the next 12 months, group expects to open eight new resorts and 11 spas under management.
- NAV/share at $0.73.
*SBS Transit
- 3Q17 net profit surged 42% to $11.1m on improved operating leverage.
- Revenue rose 7.4% to $295m on higher contribution from bus services, following the transition to the bus contracting model and improved ridership from rail services.
- EBITDA margin expanded 2ppt to 13%, helped by lower other operating costs.
- Trades at 18.6x trailing P/E.
*SIIC Environment
- 3Q17 net profit grew 17.2% to Rmb110.2m, bringing 9M17 earnings of Rmb350.2m (+23%) to 70% of full year forecast.
- Quarter revenue more than tripled to Rmb1.36b on growth across construction (+16.1x to Rmb731.5m), operating & maintenance (+77.6% to Rmb385m) and finance income from concessions (+215% to Rmb180.7m).
- Gross margin declined to 25.6% (-20.2ppt) on the shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was hit by higher finance costs (+269%) and weaker associate/ JV contributions (-25.6%).
- Last traded at 12.2x forward P/E.
*Food Empire
- 3Q17 results blew past expectations as net profit jumped 26.8% to US$7.4m, on a turnaround in associate income to US$0.2m (3Q16: US$0.7m loss).
- Revenue edged 2.7% higher to US$70.1m on improved sales in Russia (+2.1%), Indochina (+1.5%) and others (+34%) partially pared by weakness in Ukraine (-3.5%) and Kazakhstan (-29.2%).
- Operating margin expanded to 13.2% (+1.6ppt) on lower selling & distribution expenses (-16.5%).
- Bottom line was bolstered by a US$0.3m swing to FX gain of US$0.1m, but pared by higher taxes (+73.7%).
- Trades at 16.2x forward P/E.
*Memtech
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 26.5% to US$3.9m, with 9M17 net profit of US$10.4m (+360.7%) still ahead of expectations.
- However, quarter revenue slipped 0.5% to US$46.2m on weakness in consumer electronics (-8.8%) and telecommunication (-24.9%) segments, mitigated by growth in automotive (+17.3%) and industrial & medical (+11.8%) segments.
- Gross margin expanded to 18.4% (+0.7ppt) on increased automation and change in sales mix.
- Bottom line was boosted by lower sales & marketing expenses (-19%) and higher other operating income (+87.8%) on government incentives & subsidies.
- Trades at 11.1x forward P/E.
*Courts Asia
- 2QFY18 net profit crashed 74.7% to $1.5m, bringing 1HFY18 net profit of $7.6m (-49%) to just 29% of FY18 forecast.
- For the quarter, revenue slipped 1.4% to $176.5m as growth in sales from Singapore (+5.9%) was negated by a 19.7% decline in Malaysia on the weaker MYR as well as lower sale of goods and earned service charge income.
- Gross margin contracted to 34.2% (-1.7ppt) on promotions and lower credit sales in Singapore, but was offset by higher margins in Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Bottom line was hit by higher opex (+2.6%) and increased provisions for doubtful debts of $6.8m (+31.8%).
- Trades at 7.5x forward P/E.
*Vard
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to NOK8m (3Q16: NOK80m loss), dragging 9M17 loss to NOK102m (9M16: NOK96m loss), vs full year loss estimate of NOK167m.
- Revenue improved 33% to NOK2.01b on high activity level at the Romanian and Vietnamese yards due to rapid progress on module carrier vessels projects for Topaz Energy and Marine and Kazmortransflot, and the ongoing construction on all six expedition cruise vessels contracted in 2016.
- EBITDA margin improved to 2.7% (+0.5ppt y/y, -0.1ppt q/q).
- Order book stood at NOK12b (2Q17: NOK12.88b).
- NAV/share at $0.32.
*Hyflux
- 3Q17 net profit collapsed to $0.5m (3Q16: $41.1m), dragging 9M17 earnings to $24.1m (-76%).
- Quarter revenue plunged 61% to $98m on lower EPC activities at TuasOne waste-to-energy project and Qurayyat Independent Water project in Oman.
- Bottom line would have been further hit if the $26.6m loss from the planned partial divestment of Tuaspring plant (announced Feb '17) is accounted for.
- Trades at 0.63x P/B.
*KrisEnergy
- 3Q17 net loss narrowed to US$25.6m (3Q16: US$31.6m loss).
- Revenue slipped 12% to US$39m on reduced sale of crude oil (-11%) and gas (-23%) due to lower production from the Wassana oil field in the Gulf of Thailand, but partly pared by higher ASPs.
- However, EBITDAX jumped 66% to US$7m, thanks to a 20% drop in adjusted operating cost.
- Notably, operating cash flow improved to US$12m (3Q16: US$4m).
- Trades at 0.45x P/B.
*CNMC Goldmine
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 45.8% to barely US$1m, shored up by a US$0.9m tax credit (3Q16: US$0.3m expense) on a partial reversal of deferred tax liability.
- For the quarter, revenue tumbled 44.3% to US$4.7m due to lower production volume of gold (-41.3%) and average realised gold price (-5.2%).
- Notably, group fell into an operating loss of US$22,673 (3Q16: US$2.2m profit), as all-in costs more than doubled to US$1,546/oz due to reduced production and sales volume of fine gold stemming from lower ore grades, as well as capex for the construction of a carbon-in-leach plant.
- Trading at hefty 71.1x forward P/E.
*Nordic Group
- Respectable 3Q17 results as net profit rose 23% to $4.4m, on a 25% growth in revenue to $26.8m from improved takings in both maintenance services (+83%) ad project services (+4%).
- Gross margin widened by 3ppt to 34% on a shift to higher-margin maintenance services.
- However, bottom line was slightly impacted by higher admin expense of $3.2m (+17%).
- Order book stood at $99.4m, providing revenue visibility up to FY2020.
- Trades at 15.5x trailing P/E.
*Singapore Shipping
- 2QFY18 net profit edged up to US$2.3m (+4.1%) on reduced operating costs, which lifted 1HFY18 earnings to US$4.9m (+27%).
- For the quarter, revenue slipped 3% to US$11.2m, mainly weighed by agency and logistics (-9.5%) segment, while ship owning (-0.5%) business stayed muted.
- Operating margin improved 1.4ppt to 27.6% on cost controls.
- Bottom line was also helped by a $0.1m dip in finance costs.
- Net gearing was stable at 0.75x as compared to 1QFY18.
- Last traded at 9.7x trailing P/E.
*APAC Realty
- 3Q17 net profit rose 7.2% to $5.5m, as revenue of $105.5m (+30.3%) on higher brokerage income due to increased market transactions for new home sales (+54% to $30.8m), as well as resale and rental of properties (+23.2% to $72.3m).
- Gross margin narrowed 1.3ppt to 12.9%, while growth in bottom line was also slowed by $1.1m of IPO expenses.
- Trades at 4.1x trailing P/E.
*Asia Enterprises
- 3Q17 net profit surged 69% from a low base to $0.3m, as revenue jumped 48% to $9.4m on increased ASP of steel products and higher sales volume to customers in O&M and construction sectors.
- Consequently, gross margin expanded to 25.4% (+0.5ppts).
- NAV/share at $0.271.
*Tiong Woon
- Swung to 1QFY18 net loss of $1.4m (1QFY17: $1.5m profit) amid a $1.2m drop in disposal gain and $0.9m adverse FX swing.
- Revenue tumbled to $23.5m (-32%) from fewer heavy lift and haulage projects and the substantial completion of an engineering services project in the Middle East.
- Gross margin held steady at 22%.
- Net gearing stood unchanged q/q at 0.46x.
- NAV/share at $1.0584.
*TA Corp
- 3Q17 net loss shrank to $4.2m (3Q16: $10m loss), bringing 9M17 losses to $15.2m (9M16: -$9.8m).
- 9M17 revenue rose 14.8% to $159m on broad-based growth across property development (+12%), real estate investment (+142%), construction (+6%) and lubricant & tyre distribution (+35%) businesses.
- Gross margin held at 18.7%.
- But, 9M17 bottom line was hit hard by $6.7m increase in fair value loss of investment properties and a $1.8m jump in provision for doubtful receivables.
- Net gearing increased to 1.57x from 1.49x in Jun '17.
- Construction order book depleted to $96m from $129m in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 0.58x P/B.
*The Trendlines
- 3Q17 net profit spiked 91.2% from a low base to US$3m, supported by lower operating, general and admin expenses (-10.8%).
- Revenue jumped 65.7% to US$6.8m mostly on fair value gains (+717%) in portfolio companies, as well as higher services income to portfolio companies (+22.6%).
- Bottom line was pared by a leap in tax expense to US$1.1m (3Q16: US$0.1m).
- Trades at 0.8x P/B.
*SUTL Enterprise
- 3Q17 net profit expanded 30% to $0.7m on lower staff (-1%) and utilities (-32%) expenses, which brought 9M17 net profit to $2.1m (+13%).
- For the quarter, revenue inched 1% higher to $6.5m on increased takings from membership related and management fees (+3%) and other income (+19%), but offset by weaker sales of goods & services (-1%).
- Pretax margin improved to 12.7% (-2.3ppt).
- Net cash position grew to $42.9m (2Q17: $41.8m), representing $0.497/share.
- Trades at 16.6x forward P/E and 1.15x P/B.
*GCCP Resources
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of RM0.3m (3Q16: RM2.2m loss).
- Revenue surged 2.6x to RM9.1m, underpinned by higher sales of crushed calcium carbonate stones of ground calcium carbonate (GCC), and precipitated calcium carbonate grades from the Hyper Act Quarries and Gridland Quarry.
- Gross margin expanded 5ppt to 50% on economies of scale from increased production of GCC limestone at Hyper Act Quarries.
- NAV/share at RM0.07.
*New Silkroutes
- 1QFY18 net loss deepened to US$0.6m (1QFY17: US$0.1m loss), despite a doubling in revenue to US$149.3m.
- The jump in top line was attributable to increased oil trades and contribution from newly acquired healthcare subsidiaries.
- However, gross margin nearly halved to 1.3% (-1.1ppt) on weak margin from the oil trading business.
- Bottom line was further impacted by higher personnel expenses (+110%) and other operating expenses (+206%).
- Trades at 1.05x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Sembcorp Marine
- Signed letter of intent with Statoil Petroleum worth US$490m, for EPC of newbuild FPSO hull and living quarters for the Johan Castberg field development.
- Trades at hefty 67.1x forward P/E.
*HRnet
- To acquire PT Rimbun Job Agency for the establishment of a new brand, HRnet Rimbun, to provide professional recruitment services in Jakarta.
- Jakarta will be the 11th Asian growth city for the group.
- Consideration price has yet to be finalised.
- Trades at 20.2x forward P/E.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings
- Hor Kew
- Hiap Seng Engineering
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Maxi-Cash
- Proposed renounceable non-underwritten 1-for-10 rights issue at $0.16 each.
- Estimated net proceeds of $14.4m earmarked for secured lending business ($10m) and the remaining for working capital.
*Jason Marine
- To grant a convertible loan of up to $0.75m to risk analytics solution provider Sense Infosys (SIS).
- The loan will enable SIS to further develop its business, while presenting an opportunity for the Jason Marine to further its stake in a complementary business with promising prospects.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
SG Market (09 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- The market may face some profit-taking as recent gains were not broad-based.
- Focus will be on a deluge of quarterly results that is expected to be released over the next two days, including City Dev, UOL, SATS, Ezion, Noble, GLP, CDG.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*SingTel
- 2QFY18 core net profit slipped 4.1% to $929m, at low end of estimates as associate Bharti Airtel (-67.1%) was hurt by aggressive price competition in India.
- Revenue rose 6.9% to $4.37b on improved enterprise (+6%), digital (+106%) and consumer (+2.3%) businesses.
- But underlying consumer operations was weak in Australia (-1%) and Singapore (-2.1%) due to reduced equipment sales.
- EBITDA margin tightened to 29.6% (-0.6ppt), dragged by the enterprise segment.
- Contribution from regional associates slipped 4.8%, mainly dragged by Airtel.
- Headline net profit of $2.89b was boosted by a $2.05b gain on disposal of 75.2% stake in NetLink Trust.
- Maintained interim DPS of 6.8¢ but declared special DPS of 3¢ (1HFY17: nil).
- Affirms low single digit revenue growth and flat EBITDA for FY18.
- Trades at 15.8x forward P/E and 4.8% yield.
*ParkwayLife REIT
- 3Q17 DPU of 3.37¢ (+10.1%) met estimates on lower finance cost and divestment gains.
- Gross revenue and NPI slipped to $27.7m (-1.4%) and $25.9m (-1.2%) largely on lower income from its Japanese portfolio, which was eroded by JPY depreciation, which offset higher rents received from its Singapore properties.
- Aggregate leverage contracted 0.1ppt q/q to 37.3%.
- Trades at annualised 3Q yield of 4.7% and 1.68x P/B.
*Best World
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 36.4% to $12.2m, ahead of street expectations.
- However, revenue slid 10.3% to $46.8m as the slump in Taiwan sales (-46%) due to an earlier implementation to remove promotions to drive sales overshadowed the continued increase in export sales to China (+33.3%), from greater adoption of its DR's Secret skincare products.
- Gross margin contracted 4.4ppt to 67.2% due to the shift in sales mix towards the relatively lower profitability export segment, but resulted in a surge in net margin to 26% as the segment does not incur commissions.
- Management expects growth momentum in China to sustain and that the decline in Taiwan will be sufficiently buffered for FY17.
- MKE maintains Buy and TP of $1.88.
*Valuetronics
- 2QFY18 beat as net profit leapt 33.5% to HK$50.8m, boosted by better operating leverage.
- Revenue jumped 26.5% to HK$725.7m, as its consumer electronics (+45.7%) segment was buoyed by growing interest for smart LED lighting, while the industrial & commercial electronics unit (+10.5%) saw higher customer demand.
- Gross margin dipped 0.2ppt to 14.4% on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was backed by wider operating margin of 8% (+0.5ppt), as costs rose at a slower pace relative to top line.
- Proposed interim DPS of HK7¢ (2QFY17: nil).
- Last traded at 13.2x FY18 P/E.
*Jardine C&C
- 3Q17 net profit of US$21.1m (+13%) brought 9M17 earnings to US$610.2m (+19%), or 77% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Quarter revenue jumped 13% to US$4.44b, while operating margin was stable at widened to 10.1% (+0.5ppt).
- Astra's profit contributions surged 22% to US$183.2m on improved performances across automotive (+11%), financial services (+10%), agribusiness (+1%), information technology (+38%), heavy equipment and mining (+71%), but was partially dragged by infrastructure & logistics (-29%).
- NAV/share at US$15.42.
*EC World REIT
- 3Q17 DPU of 1.44¢ was 3.7% lower than its IPO forecast, due to impact from witholding tax and absence of investment income.
- This brought 9M17 payout to 4.521¢, 1.8% above IPO forecast.
- Quarter gross revenue of $23.9m and NPI of $22.1m outperformed by 5.5% and 7.7%, respectively, backed by higher rental income after the completion of a sheltered warehouse in Chongxian Port Investment.
- Portfolio occupancy improved 1.4ppt q/q to 97.8%, while aggregate leverage was stable at 29.2%.
- Offers an annualised 3Q yield of 7.3% and trades at 0.88x P/B.
*CSE Global
- 3Q17 net profit tumbled 25% to $3m, bringing 9M17 loss to $7.8m (9M16: $15m profit) against FY17 estimate for a $2m profit.
- Quarter revenue rose 5.7% to $85.6m, mainly attributed to higher takings from the infrastructure segment, particularly in the Americas region and oil & gas sector.
- Gross margin shrank 4ppt to 25.1% amid pressure within the O&G industry.
- Bottom line was further hit by a $2m allowance for doubtful debts, but partially offset by a $3.4m positive FX swing.
- New orders in 3Q17 amounted to $86.4m (+22% y/y), with outstanding order book at $207.6m (2Q17: $207.9m).
- Last traded at 12.5x trailing P/E.
*MoneyMax
- 3Q17 net profit rose 6% to $1.8m, shored by a favorable FX swing of $0.3m.
- Revenue grew 22.3% to $38.7m on firmer pawnbroking business, as well as retail & trading of pre-owned items.
- Gross material margin narrowed 2.2ppt to 29.7%.
- Bottom line was pared by higher depreciation (+32.5%) and finance costs (+35.2%).
- Trades at 9.9x trailing P/E.
*UG Healthcare
- 1QFY18 net profit increased 8.8% to $0.9m, achieving 27% of FY18 estimate.
- Revenue grew 16.7% to $18.3m on increased glove sales at higher ASPs, following production capacity increase and expansion of its distribution networks.
- Gross margin expanded to 16.3% (+2.1ppt) on lower raw material prices.
- Bottom line was lifted by positive contribution from minority interests of $45,000 (1QFY17: $0.1m loss).
*Maxi-Cash
- 3Q17 net profit surged 32% to $4.3m on interest income of $0.9m (3Q16: nil). This brought 9M17 net profit to $9.5m (+13%).
- For the quarter, revenue grew 11% to $45.5m attributable to its pawnbroking business and sales from its jewellery, watches and branded bags business.
- Bottom line was further boosted by other income of $0.9m (3Q16: $60,000) from disposal gains and reversal of doubtful debt provisions.
- Trades at 10.6x trailing P/E.
*Gaylin
- Slumped into a deeper 2QFY18 loss of $2.5m (2QFY17: $1.6m loss) on weak margins.
- Revenue increased 3.9% to $19.1m on growth in its rigging and lifting segment, but partly offset by weakness in its ship chandling segment.
- Gross margin contracted to 15.6% (-4.6ppt) on a weaker pricing environment.
- Bottom line was further hit by FX loss of $0.4m (2QFY17: $0.4m gain).
*Sunningdale Tech
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 24.2% to $7.7m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $23.6m (+34.4%) or 61% of full year consensus estimates.
- Revenue grew 9.1% to $188.1m on broad-based growth across automotive (+2.5%) and consumer/IT (+5.5%), healthcare (+6.2%) and mould fabrication (+35%) segments.
- Gross margin remained at 14.3% (+0.1ppt).
- Bottom line was dragged by negative FX swing of $3.1m and lower contribution of other income (-67.5%).
- Last traded at 11.4x forward P/E.
*Jadason Enterprises
- 3Q17 net profit slid 19% to $1m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $2m (9M16: $0.3m), or 50% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Revenue jumped 18% to $17.6m on growth in both equipment & supplies (+25.3%%) and manufacturing & support services (+14.1%) segments from increased work.
- Gross margin shrank to 19% (-7.8ppt) due to higher cost of sales (+31%) and the absence of write-back allowance for inventory obsolescence of $0.4m.
- Trades at 9.3x forward P/E.
*Frencken
- 3Q17 net profit surged 14.5% to $5m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $27.9m (+141.9%), surpassing full-year estimate.
- Revenue rose 7.1% to $126.2m on higher contribution from mechatronics (+20.9%), led by semiconductors (+50.7%), while the IMS segment (-20.1.9%) was dragged by weak automotive (-27.1%) sub-segment.
- Gross margin expanded to 16% (+0.4ppt) from improved capacity utilisation and shift in sales mix.
- Trades at 9.4x forward P/E.
*Singapore O&G
- 3Q17 net profit tumbled 3.3% to $2.3m but still came within expectations.
- Revenue edged up 2.4% to $7.7m on increased patient loads in Dermatology and Cancer-related segment, as well as maiden contribution from new Paediatrics segment, but was partially offset by weakness in O&G division.
- Operating margin narrowed 1.7ppt to 36.5% on increased headcount to support new paediatric clinics, as well as higher depreciation (+19.4%) from addition of new medical machines.
- Bottom line was eroded by higher tax expense of $0.4m (+25.2%).
*First Ship Lease Trust
- No distribution declared following a 3Q17 net loss of US$21.7m (3Q16: US$3.5m profit), arising from a US$22.2m impairment on three chemical tankers.
- Revenue sank 18.5% to US$18.7m amid the dry-docking of one tanker, softening rates across all segments and the non-extension of a time charter agreement for Aframax tankers.
- Aggregate leverage crept up 1ppt q/q to 45.2%.
- Last traded at 0.17x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Keppel KBS US REIT
- Its IPO of 34.1m units was 5.7x oversubscribed.
- Trading will commence on 9 Nov, at 2pm.
*CITIC Envirotech
- Secured two EPC projects in Fujian, China, that are slated to complete by Jun '18.
- First contract is worth Rmb247m, and work involves upgrading Fujian Haixia Environmental Protection Group's existing 400,000 m3/day conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to adopt membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology .
- Second project is worth Rmb55m, and involves the upgrading of a 40,000 m3/day conventional textile industrial WWTP in Shi Shi City to use MBR technology.
- Trades at 18x forward P/E.
*Sanli
- Secured four new contracts worth $8.1m from bother public and private sectors, bringing the group's order book to $112.3m.
- Contracts include EPC of a water reclamation plant and O&M of the sewerage pumping and treatment system.
- Trades at 19.3x forward P/E.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings
- Travelite
- United Food
- Pollux Properties
- Dyna-Mac
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Marco Polo Marine
- Proposed to undertake a refinancing and debt restructuring exercise, involving a $60m equity fund raising via new ordinary shares and rights issuance, consent solicitation with noteholders and settling trade debt via instalments and share issuance.
*Penguin International
- To subscribe 10% of the enlarged share capital of Marco Polo Marine (MPM) for $10m, of which $2m is payable to MPM's executive chairman.
*The Place
- To acquire an 80% stake in Tianjin Yuntai Wanrun (Xiuwu) Property Development for US$20.5m from Jingneng Tianjin Yuntaishan Investment.
- The target is an 80:20 JVCo, which intends to develop a plot of commercial land spanning 2.4m sqm in Zhengzhou City, Henan, China into an integrated tourism township.
- The market may face some profit-taking as recent gains were not broad-based.
- Focus will be on a deluge of quarterly results that is expected to be released over the next two days, including City Dev, UOL, SATS, Ezion, Noble, GLP, CDG.
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,355.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*SingTel
- 2QFY18 core net profit slipped 4.1% to $929m, at low end of estimates as associate Bharti Airtel (-67.1%) was hurt by aggressive price competition in India.
- Revenue rose 6.9% to $4.37b on improved enterprise (+6%), digital (+106%) and consumer (+2.3%) businesses.
- But underlying consumer operations was weak in Australia (-1%) and Singapore (-2.1%) due to reduced equipment sales.
- EBITDA margin tightened to 29.6% (-0.6ppt), dragged by the enterprise segment.
- Contribution from regional associates slipped 4.8%, mainly dragged by Airtel.
- Headline net profit of $2.89b was boosted by a $2.05b gain on disposal of 75.2% stake in NetLink Trust.
- Maintained interim DPS of 6.8¢ but declared special DPS of 3¢ (1HFY17: nil).
- Affirms low single digit revenue growth and flat EBITDA for FY18.
- Trades at 15.8x forward P/E and 4.8% yield.
*ParkwayLife REIT
- 3Q17 DPU of 3.37¢ (+10.1%) met estimates on lower finance cost and divestment gains.
- Gross revenue and NPI slipped to $27.7m (-1.4%) and $25.9m (-1.2%) largely on lower income from its Japanese portfolio, which was eroded by JPY depreciation, which offset higher rents received from its Singapore properties.
- Aggregate leverage contracted 0.1ppt q/q to 37.3%.
- Trades at annualised 3Q yield of 4.7% and 1.68x P/B.
*Best World
- 3Q17 net profit jumped 36.4% to $12.2m, ahead of street expectations.
- However, revenue slid 10.3% to $46.8m as the slump in Taiwan sales (-46%) due to an earlier implementation to remove promotions to drive sales overshadowed the continued increase in export sales to China (+33.3%), from greater adoption of its DR's Secret skincare products.
- Gross margin contracted 4.4ppt to 67.2% due to the shift in sales mix towards the relatively lower profitability export segment, but resulted in a surge in net margin to 26% as the segment does not incur commissions.
- Management expects growth momentum in China to sustain and that the decline in Taiwan will be sufficiently buffered for FY17.
- MKE maintains Buy and TP of $1.88.
*Valuetronics
- 2QFY18 beat as net profit leapt 33.5% to HK$50.8m, boosted by better operating leverage.
- Revenue jumped 26.5% to HK$725.7m, as its consumer electronics (+45.7%) segment was buoyed by growing interest for smart LED lighting, while the industrial & commercial electronics unit (+10.5%) saw higher customer demand.
- Gross margin dipped 0.2ppt to 14.4% on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was backed by wider operating margin of 8% (+0.5ppt), as costs rose at a slower pace relative to top line.
- Proposed interim DPS of HK7¢ (2QFY17: nil).
- Last traded at 13.2x FY18 P/E.
*Jardine C&C
- 3Q17 net profit of US$21.1m (+13%) brought 9M17 earnings to US$610.2m (+19%), or 77% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Quarter revenue jumped 13% to US$4.44b, while operating margin was stable at widened to 10.1% (+0.5ppt).
- Astra's profit contributions surged 22% to US$183.2m on improved performances across automotive (+11%), financial services (+10%), agribusiness (+1%), information technology (+38%), heavy equipment and mining (+71%), but was partially dragged by infrastructure & logistics (-29%).
- NAV/share at US$15.42.
*EC World REIT
- 3Q17 DPU of 1.44¢ was 3.7% lower than its IPO forecast, due to impact from witholding tax and absence of investment income.
- This brought 9M17 payout to 4.521¢, 1.8% above IPO forecast.
- Quarter gross revenue of $23.9m and NPI of $22.1m outperformed by 5.5% and 7.7%, respectively, backed by higher rental income after the completion of a sheltered warehouse in Chongxian Port Investment.
- Portfolio occupancy improved 1.4ppt q/q to 97.8%, while aggregate leverage was stable at 29.2%.
- Offers an annualised 3Q yield of 7.3% and trades at 0.88x P/B.
*CSE Global
- 3Q17 net profit tumbled 25% to $3m, bringing 9M17 loss to $7.8m (9M16: $15m profit) against FY17 estimate for a $2m profit.
- Quarter revenue rose 5.7% to $85.6m, mainly attributed to higher takings from the infrastructure segment, particularly in the Americas region and oil & gas sector.
- Gross margin shrank 4ppt to 25.1% amid pressure within the O&G industry.
- Bottom line was further hit by a $2m allowance for doubtful debts, but partially offset by a $3.4m positive FX swing.
- New orders in 3Q17 amounted to $86.4m (+22% y/y), with outstanding order book at $207.6m (2Q17: $207.9m).
- Last traded at 12.5x trailing P/E.
*MoneyMax
- 3Q17 net profit rose 6% to $1.8m, shored by a favorable FX swing of $0.3m.
- Revenue grew 22.3% to $38.7m on firmer pawnbroking business, as well as retail & trading of pre-owned items.
- Gross material margin narrowed 2.2ppt to 29.7%.
- Bottom line was pared by higher depreciation (+32.5%) and finance costs (+35.2%).
- Trades at 9.9x trailing P/E.
*UG Healthcare
- 1QFY18 net profit increased 8.8% to $0.9m, achieving 27% of FY18 estimate.
- Revenue grew 16.7% to $18.3m on increased glove sales at higher ASPs, following production capacity increase and expansion of its distribution networks.
- Gross margin expanded to 16.3% (+2.1ppt) on lower raw material prices.
- Bottom line was lifted by positive contribution from minority interests of $45,000 (1QFY17: $0.1m loss).
*Maxi-Cash
- 3Q17 net profit surged 32% to $4.3m on interest income of $0.9m (3Q16: nil). This brought 9M17 net profit to $9.5m (+13%).
- For the quarter, revenue grew 11% to $45.5m attributable to its pawnbroking business and sales from its jewellery, watches and branded bags business.
- Bottom line was further boosted by other income of $0.9m (3Q16: $60,000) from disposal gains and reversal of doubtful debt provisions.
- Trades at 10.6x trailing P/E.
*Gaylin
- Slumped into a deeper 2QFY18 loss of $2.5m (2QFY17: $1.6m loss) on weak margins.
- Revenue increased 3.9% to $19.1m on growth in its rigging and lifting segment, but partly offset by weakness in its ship chandling segment.
- Gross margin contracted to 15.6% (-4.6ppt) on a weaker pricing environment.
- Bottom line was further hit by FX loss of $0.4m (2QFY17: $0.4m gain).
*Sunningdale Tech
- 3Q17 net profit slumped 24.2% to $7.7m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $23.6m (+34.4%) or 61% of full year consensus estimates.
- Revenue grew 9.1% to $188.1m on broad-based growth across automotive (+2.5%) and consumer/IT (+5.5%), healthcare (+6.2%) and mould fabrication (+35%) segments.
- Gross margin remained at 14.3% (+0.1ppt).
- Bottom line was dragged by negative FX swing of $3.1m and lower contribution of other income (-67.5%).
- Last traded at 11.4x forward P/E.
*Jadason Enterprises
- 3Q17 net profit slid 19% to $1m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $2m (9M16: $0.3m), or 50% of full-year consensus estimate.
- Revenue jumped 18% to $17.6m on growth in both equipment & supplies (+25.3%%) and manufacturing & support services (+14.1%) segments from increased work.
- Gross margin shrank to 19% (-7.8ppt) due to higher cost of sales (+31%) and the absence of write-back allowance for inventory obsolescence of $0.4m.
- Trades at 9.3x forward P/E.
*Frencken
- 3Q17 net profit surged 14.5% to $5m, bringing 9M17 earnings to $27.9m (+141.9%), surpassing full-year estimate.
- Revenue rose 7.1% to $126.2m on higher contribution from mechatronics (+20.9%), led by semiconductors (+50.7%), while the IMS segment (-20.1.9%) was dragged by weak automotive (-27.1%) sub-segment.
- Gross margin expanded to 16% (+0.4ppt) from improved capacity utilisation and shift in sales mix.
- Trades at 9.4x forward P/E.
*Singapore O&G
- 3Q17 net profit tumbled 3.3% to $2.3m but still came within expectations.
- Revenue edged up 2.4% to $7.7m on increased patient loads in Dermatology and Cancer-related segment, as well as maiden contribution from new Paediatrics segment, but was partially offset by weakness in O&G division.
- Operating margin narrowed 1.7ppt to 36.5% on increased headcount to support new paediatric clinics, as well as higher depreciation (+19.4%) from addition of new medical machines.
- Bottom line was eroded by higher tax expense of $0.4m (+25.2%).
*First Ship Lease Trust
- No distribution declared following a 3Q17 net loss of US$21.7m (3Q16: US$3.5m profit), arising from a US$22.2m impairment on three chemical tankers.
- Revenue sank 18.5% to US$18.7m amid the dry-docking of one tanker, softening rates across all segments and the non-extension of a time charter agreement for Aframax tankers.
- Aggregate leverage crept up 1ppt q/q to 45.2%.
- Last traded at 0.17x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Keppel KBS US REIT
- Its IPO of 34.1m units was 5.7x oversubscribed.
- Trading will commence on 9 Nov, at 2pm.
*CITIC Envirotech
- Secured two EPC projects in Fujian, China, that are slated to complete by Jun '18.
- First contract is worth Rmb247m, and work involves upgrading Fujian Haixia Environmental Protection Group's existing 400,000 m3/day conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to adopt membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology .
- Second project is worth Rmb55m, and involves the upgrading of a 40,000 m3/day conventional textile industrial WWTP in Shi Shi City to use MBR technology.
- Trades at 18x forward P/E.
*Sanli
- Secured four new contracts worth $8.1m from bother public and private sectors, bringing the group's order book to $112.3m.
- Contracts include EPC of a water reclamation plant and O&M of the sewerage pumping and treatment system.
- Trades at 19.3x forward P/E.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings
- Travelite
- United Food
- Pollux Properties
- Dyna-Mac
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Marco Polo Marine
- Proposed to undertake a refinancing and debt restructuring exercise, involving a $60m equity fund raising via new ordinary shares and rights issuance, consent solicitation with noteholders and settling trade debt via instalments and share issuance.
*Penguin International
- To subscribe 10% of the enlarged share capital of Marco Polo Marine (MPM) for $10m, of which $2m is payable to MPM's executive chairman.
*The Place
- To acquire an 80% stake in Tianjin Yuntai Wanrun (Xiuwu) Property Development for US$20.5m from Jingneng Tianjin Yuntaishan Investment.
- The target is an 80:20 JVCo, which intends to develop a plot of commercial land spanning 2.4m sqm in Zhengzhou City, Henan, China into an integrated tourism township.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
SG Market (08 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- The market could see some profit taking in bank stocks as investors rotate to second tier property and gaming names such as UOL (Buy, TP $9.43), GuocoLand (Buy, TP $2.75) and Genting Singapore (Buy, TP $1.35).
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,360.
SECTOR WATCH
*Tourism/Hospitality
- Singapore 2Q visitor arrivals and tourism receipts grew 5% to 4.2m and $6.4b, with stronger takings from shopping (+6%) and entertainment & gaming (+5%), while accommodation held steady.
- This could spell better times for retailers and leisure operators such as Genting Singapore and Straco.
- However, hotel room revenue in 2Q17 remained weak (-1.8%) despite the overall increase in occupancy rate to 84% (+1.1ppt) and higher RevPAR of $194 (+1.7%), as the segment was dragged by a drop in RevPAR for mid-tier hotels (-1.5%).
CORPORATE RESULTS
*CapitaLand
- 3Q17 core net profit of $204.5m (-18.8%) came in ahead of expectations.
- Revenue rose 9.7% to $1.51bm on higher contributions from Singapore development projects and rental revenue from newly acquired/opened shopping malls and serviced residences, but was partially offset by lower handover of units to in China.
- It also booked $112.5m of portfolio and reval gains.
- Net gearing expanded to 0.43x (2Q17: 0.39x).
- Trades at 29% discount to its RNAV/share of $5.25.
*SIA
- 2QFY18 net profit soared 193% to $189.9m, surpassing estimates.
- Revenue of $3.85b (+5.3%) was lifted by higher pax load factor of 81.8% (+1.9ppt), but yield (-3.1%) remained weak, while cargo was boosted by better freight carriage (+5.4%) and yield (+9.1%).
- Operating margin doubled to 6% on sharp drop in fuel hedging loss, lower aircraft maintenance & overhaul costs and reduced rentals on leased aircraft.
- Raised interim DPS to $0.10 (1HFY17: $0.09).
- Last traded at 0.9x P/B.
*ST Engineering
- 3Q17 net profit surged 67% to $128.4m in absence of a $61.1m one-off charge for its specialty vehicle business in China, falling in line with estimates.
- Revenue inched 1% higher to $1.62b as stronger growth in aerospace (+8%) and electronics (+6%) was doused by the weak marine (-22%) and land systems (-5.4%) divisions.
- Operating margin expanded 3.9ppt to 9% on a turnaround in land systems unit.
- Secured $1.1b of new contracts, keeping its order book at $13.3b (2Q17: $13.5b).
- Guided for flat revenue and pretax profit in FY18.
- Trading at 21.7x FY17 P/E.
*Perennial
- 3Q17 net profit soared to $16.9m (2Q16: $0.4m), boosted by a $25.9m gain on bargain purchase arising from its acquisition of United Engineers (UE).
- However, revenue slumped 41.8% to $20.4m on absence of sales from TripleOne Somerset following divestment of its entire 20.2% stake in Mar '17, but was partly offset by a one-off consultancy fee related to the UE transaction.
- Accordingly, gross margin expanded 18ppt to 70%.
- NAV/share at $1.636.
*Riverstone
- 3Q17 earnings came in line as net profit rose 15.1% to RM34.3m.
- Revenue jumped 12.5% to RM187.8m on increased demand for both its healthcare and cleanroom gloves.
- Gross margin expanded 6.6ppt to 27.1% on better product mix and lower cost of raw materials.
- However, bottom line was partly weighed by a FX loss of RM2.3m (3Q16: RM3.2m gain).
- Phase 4 expansion plan is on track, which will raise annual production capacity to 7.6b (+23%) by Dec 2017.
- Trades at 18.3x forward P/E.
- Maybank KE last had a Hold with TP of $1.05.
*Civmec
- 1QFY18 net profit plunged 38.6% to $3.8m, despite higher revenue of $140.3m (+34%) on a ramp up in projects.
- The weak earnings were due to a contraction in gross margin to 7.2% (-7.5ppt) due to a cost reallocation exercise.
- Order book increased to $627m from $610m in Jun '17.
- NAV/share at $0.3587.
*BHG Retail REIT
- 3Q17 DPU climbed 9.3% to 1.41¢, bringing 9M17 DPU to 4.15¢ (+3.5%).
- Gross revenue increased 7% to $16.5m from higher rental reversion and increased occupancy, while NPI grew at a faster clip to $10.5m (+10.5%) on VAT reform.
- Portfolio occupancy edged higher to 99% (+0.1ppt q/q), while aggregate leverage stood at 32.5% (+0.1ppt).
- Trades at a 3Q annualised yield of 7.6% and 0.9x P/B.
*OKP
- 3Q17 net profit dived 62.4% to $0.7m on margin contraction.
- Revenue dipped 3.6% to $27.1m, weighed by a 5.7% drop in contribution from the core construction segment, although partly offset by a 147.4% surge in maintenance.
- However, gross margin shrank to 9.8% (-4.7ppt) on additional costs associated with the PIE work site collapse and a $0.3m penalty relating to a separate work side accident in Sep '15.
- Bottom line was partially supported by higher associate/ JV contribution (+39.1%), although pared by higher taxes (+29.3%).
- Order book slipped to $288m (2Q17: $299m), with projects extending till 2020.
- Trades at 17.9x forward P/E.
*TalkMed
- 3Q17 net profit declined 17.2% to $7.1m, as revenue slumped 17.7% to $14m.
- The drop in revenue was due to reduced patient visits following the suspension of key oncologist Dr Ang Peng Tiam, who was suspended from end Jul '17 for an eight-month period.
- Bottom line was supported by lower associate loss at Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Centre of $0.4m (3Q16: $1.5m loss), but pared by higher other operating expenses (+83.3%).
- Last traded at 28.2x forward P/E.
*Mun Siong Engineering
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of $0.8m (3Q16: $0.4m loss), boosting 9M17 earnings to $1.5m (+571%).
- Quarter revenue dropped 40% to $16.3m from lower volume of project work completed.
- However, gross margin spiked to 14.3% (3Q16: breakeven) on additional billings for project work.
- Notably, net cash position ballooned to $30.5m (+67% q/q) translating to 78% of market cap, as net operating cash flow was boosted by working capital changes.
- Last traded at 0.65x P/B, and 0.14x on ex-cash basis.
*Ellipsiz
- Turned around to 1QFY18 net profit of $0.2m (1QFY17: $1.2m loss).
- Revenue grew 13% to $11.4m, lifted by higher contributions from Taiwan and China.
- Gross margin remained flat at 23.4% (+0.3ppt).
- Bottom line was bolstered by lower operating expenses (-35%) and absence of $1.1m in impairment losses, pared by FX loss of $0.3m (1QFY17: nil).
- Last traded at 17.8x forward P/E.
*Singhaiyi
- 2QFY18 net profit surged 59% to $6.2m, elevating 1HFY18 earnings to $24.4m (+217%).
- Quarter revenue soared 8x to $106.7m, mainly contributed by the completed executive condo project The Vales.
- Gross margin collapsed 31.5ppt to 13.5% on a significant shift in sales mix towards lower margin project in property development segment.
- Bottom line growth was also lifted by an absence of $2.5m of one-offs, but weighed by a $1.7m drop in associate profit.
- Last traded at 0.7x P/B.
*Sinwa
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 19% to $1.7m, lifting 9M17 earnings to $6.1m (+4%).
- Quarter's revenue jumped 35% to $44.1m on stronger marine and offshore supply business in Singapore and Thailand.
- However, gross margin narrowed 2ppt to 22.5% amid stiff market competition.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by a $0.35m drop in FX gain.
- NAV/share at $0.2203.
*Hatten Land
- 1QFY18 net profit jumped 63.2% from a low base to RM3m, mainly thanks to increased interest income of RM2.1m (QFY18: RM0.2m).
- Revenue increased 5% to RM56.5m on higher progressive sales recognised from Harbour City project.
- Gross margin expanded to 37% (+1.5ppt) on the change in revenue mix.
- Group has unrecognised revenue of RM760m (Jun: RM662m) as at 30 Sep.
- NAV/share at RM0.1669.
*AusGroup
- Turned around to 1QFY17 net profit of A$3.1m (4QFY16: A$2.1m loss) on lower admin expense (-46%) and absence of consulting and arrangement fee of $1.3m.
- Revenue surged 53.6% to A$153.7m on increased contributions from core projects in the energy and process sector.
- Gross margin slipped 0.4ppt to 7.4%.
- Bottom line was also supported by lower finance cost of $3.3m (-21.9%) and a net gain on partial debt restructure of $0.5m.
- NAV/share at A$0.021.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*OCBC
- With AVIC Trust's recent private placement, OCBC's interest in the trust has been diluted to 17.27% from 19.99%.
- As a result, AVIC Trust is no longer an associate of OCBC.
- Trades at 1.33x P/B.
*QAF
- Proposed listing of its subsidiary, Rivalea, on Australian Securities Exchange will be put on hold given the current market conditions.
- Trades at 7.3x trailing P/E.
*Imperium Crown
- Appointed Asia Fund Space as a strategic adviser to improve its network of investors in China.
- Asia Fund Space will engage Chinese investors through roadshows and presentations.
- Last traded at 0.92x P/B.
*Tee Land
- Entered into 11 option-to-purchase agreements to acquire a freehold land at 35 Gilstead Road in Singapore for $72m.
- Site has an area of 3,527.7sqm and Tee Land plans to build a block of residential apartments.
- Trades at 0.6x P/B.
- The market could see some profit taking in bank stocks as investors rotate to second tier property and gaming names such as UOL (Buy, TP $9.43), GuocoLand (Buy, TP $2.75) and Genting Singapore (Buy, TP $1.35).
- Technically, topside resistance for STI is seen at 3,460, with underlying support at 3,360.
SECTOR WATCH
*Tourism/Hospitality
- Singapore 2Q visitor arrivals and tourism receipts grew 5% to 4.2m and $6.4b, with stronger takings from shopping (+6%) and entertainment & gaming (+5%), while accommodation held steady.
- This could spell better times for retailers and leisure operators such as Genting Singapore and Straco.
- However, hotel room revenue in 2Q17 remained weak (-1.8%) despite the overall increase in occupancy rate to 84% (+1.1ppt) and higher RevPAR of $194 (+1.7%), as the segment was dragged by a drop in RevPAR for mid-tier hotels (-1.5%).
CORPORATE RESULTS
*CapitaLand
- 3Q17 core net profit of $204.5m (-18.8%) came in ahead of expectations.
- Revenue rose 9.7% to $1.51bm on higher contributions from Singapore development projects and rental revenue from newly acquired/opened shopping malls and serviced residences, but was partially offset by lower handover of units to in China.
- It also booked $112.5m of portfolio and reval gains.
- Net gearing expanded to 0.43x (2Q17: 0.39x).
- Trades at 29% discount to its RNAV/share of $5.25.
*SIA
- 2QFY18 net profit soared 193% to $189.9m, surpassing estimates.
- Revenue of $3.85b (+5.3%) was lifted by higher pax load factor of 81.8% (+1.9ppt), but yield (-3.1%) remained weak, while cargo was boosted by better freight carriage (+5.4%) and yield (+9.1%).
- Operating margin doubled to 6% on sharp drop in fuel hedging loss, lower aircraft maintenance & overhaul costs and reduced rentals on leased aircraft.
- Raised interim DPS to $0.10 (1HFY17: $0.09).
- Last traded at 0.9x P/B.
*ST Engineering
- 3Q17 net profit surged 67% to $128.4m in absence of a $61.1m one-off charge for its specialty vehicle business in China, falling in line with estimates.
- Revenue inched 1% higher to $1.62b as stronger growth in aerospace (+8%) and electronics (+6%) was doused by the weak marine (-22%) and land systems (-5.4%) divisions.
- Operating margin expanded 3.9ppt to 9% on a turnaround in land systems unit.
- Secured $1.1b of new contracts, keeping its order book at $13.3b (2Q17: $13.5b).
- Guided for flat revenue and pretax profit in FY18.
- Trading at 21.7x FY17 P/E.
*Perennial
- 3Q17 net profit soared to $16.9m (2Q16: $0.4m), boosted by a $25.9m gain on bargain purchase arising from its acquisition of United Engineers (UE).
- However, revenue slumped 41.8% to $20.4m on absence of sales from TripleOne Somerset following divestment of its entire 20.2% stake in Mar '17, but was partly offset by a one-off consultancy fee related to the UE transaction.
- Accordingly, gross margin expanded 18ppt to 70%.
- NAV/share at $1.636.
*Riverstone
- 3Q17 earnings came in line as net profit rose 15.1% to RM34.3m.
- Revenue jumped 12.5% to RM187.8m on increased demand for both its healthcare and cleanroom gloves.
- Gross margin expanded 6.6ppt to 27.1% on better product mix and lower cost of raw materials.
- However, bottom line was partly weighed by a FX loss of RM2.3m (3Q16: RM3.2m gain).
- Phase 4 expansion plan is on track, which will raise annual production capacity to 7.6b (+23%) by Dec 2017.
- Trades at 18.3x forward P/E.
- Maybank KE last had a Hold with TP of $1.05.
*Civmec
- 1QFY18 net profit plunged 38.6% to $3.8m, despite higher revenue of $140.3m (+34%) on a ramp up in projects.
- The weak earnings were due to a contraction in gross margin to 7.2% (-7.5ppt) due to a cost reallocation exercise.
- Order book increased to $627m from $610m in Jun '17.
- NAV/share at $0.3587.
*BHG Retail REIT
- 3Q17 DPU climbed 9.3% to 1.41¢, bringing 9M17 DPU to 4.15¢ (+3.5%).
- Gross revenue increased 7% to $16.5m from higher rental reversion and increased occupancy, while NPI grew at a faster clip to $10.5m (+10.5%) on VAT reform.
- Portfolio occupancy edged higher to 99% (+0.1ppt q/q), while aggregate leverage stood at 32.5% (+0.1ppt).
- Trades at a 3Q annualised yield of 7.6% and 0.9x P/B.
*OKP
- 3Q17 net profit dived 62.4% to $0.7m on margin contraction.
- Revenue dipped 3.6% to $27.1m, weighed by a 5.7% drop in contribution from the core construction segment, although partly offset by a 147.4% surge in maintenance.
- However, gross margin shrank to 9.8% (-4.7ppt) on additional costs associated with the PIE work site collapse and a $0.3m penalty relating to a separate work side accident in Sep '15.
- Bottom line was partially supported by higher associate/ JV contribution (+39.1%), although pared by higher taxes (+29.3%).
- Order book slipped to $288m (2Q17: $299m), with projects extending till 2020.
- Trades at 17.9x forward P/E.
*TalkMed
- 3Q17 net profit declined 17.2% to $7.1m, as revenue slumped 17.7% to $14m.
- The drop in revenue was due to reduced patient visits following the suspension of key oncologist Dr Ang Peng Tiam, who was suspended from end Jul '17 for an eight-month period.
- Bottom line was supported by lower associate loss at Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Centre of $0.4m (3Q16: $1.5m loss), but pared by higher other operating expenses (+83.3%).
- Last traded at 28.2x forward P/E.
*Mun Siong Engineering
- Turned around to 3Q17 net profit of $0.8m (3Q16: $0.4m loss), boosting 9M17 earnings to $1.5m (+571%).
- Quarter revenue dropped 40% to $16.3m from lower volume of project work completed.
- However, gross margin spiked to 14.3% (3Q16: breakeven) on additional billings for project work.
- Notably, net cash position ballooned to $30.5m (+67% q/q) translating to 78% of market cap, as net operating cash flow was boosted by working capital changes.
- Last traded at 0.65x P/B, and 0.14x on ex-cash basis.
*Ellipsiz
- Turned around to 1QFY18 net profit of $0.2m (1QFY17: $1.2m loss).
- Revenue grew 13% to $11.4m, lifted by higher contributions from Taiwan and China.
- Gross margin remained flat at 23.4% (+0.3ppt).
- Bottom line was bolstered by lower operating expenses (-35%) and absence of $1.1m in impairment losses, pared by FX loss of $0.3m (1QFY17: nil).
- Last traded at 17.8x forward P/E.
*Singhaiyi
- 2QFY18 net profit surged 59% to $6.2m, elevating 1HFY18 earnings to $24.4m (+217%).
- Quarter revenue soared 8x to $106.7m, mainly contributed by the completed executive condo project The Vales.
- Gross margin collapsed 31.5ppt to 13.5% on a significant shift in sales mix towards lower margin project in property development segment.
- Bottom line growth was also lifted by an absence of $2.5m of one-offs, but weighed by a $1.7m drop in associate profit.
- Last traded at 0.7x P/B.
*Sinwa
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 19% to $1.7m, lifting 9M17 earnings to $6.1m (+4%).
- Quarter's revenue jumped 35% to $44.1m on stronger marine and offshore supply business in Singapore and Thailand.
- However, gross margin narrowed 2ppt to 22.5% amid stiff market competition.
- Bottom line growth was slowed by a $0.35m drop in FX gain.
- NAV/share at $0.2203.
*Hatten Land
- 1QFY18 net profit jumped 63.2% from a low base to RM3m, mainly thanks to increased interest income of RM2.1m (QFY18: RM0.2m).
- Revenue increased 5% to RM56.5m on higher progressive sales recognised from Harbour City project.
- Gross margin expanded to 37% (+1.5ppt) on the change in revenue mix.
- Group has unrecognised revenue of RM760m (Jun: RM662m) as at 30 Sep.
- NAV/share at RM0.1669.
*AusGroup
- Turned around to 1QFY17 net profit of A$3.1m (4QFY16: A$2.1m loss) on lower admin expense (-46%) and absence of consulting and arrangement fee of $1.3m.
- Revenue surged 53.6% to A$153.7m on increased contributions from core projects in the energy and process sector.
- Gross margin slipped 0.4ppt to 7.4%.
- Bottom line was also supported by lower finance cost of $3.3m (-21.9%) and a net gain on partial debt restructure of $0.5m.
- NAV/share at A$0.021.
NEUTRAL NEWS
*OCBC
- With AVIC Trust's recent private placement, OCBC's interest in the trust has been diluted to 17.27% from 19.99%.
- As a result, AVIC Trust is no longer an associate of OCBC.
- Trades at 1.33x P/B.
*QAF
- Proposed listing of its subsidiary, Rivalea, on Australian Securities Exchange will be put on hold given the current market conditions.
- Trades at 7.3x trailing P/E.
*Imperium Crown
- Appointed Asia Fund Space as a strategic adviser to improve its network of investors in China.
- Asia Fund Space will engage Chinese investors through roadshows and presentations.
- Last traded at 0.92x P/B.
*Tee Land
- Entered into 11 option-to-purchase agreements to acquire a freehold land at 35 Gilstead Road in Singapore for $72m.
- Site has an area of 3,527.7sqm and Tee Land plans to build a block of residential apartments.
- Trades at 0.6x P/B.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
SG Market (07 Nov 17)
MARKET OVERVIEW
- Tech manufacturers could enjoy further momentum on positive 3Q results from Venture and Hi-P, while oil-related stocks could be lifted by the 3% surge in crude prices to a 2-year high on the political turmoil in Saudi Arabia.
- Momentum indicators for the STI look to be turning south, underlying support at 3,320 and topside resistance at 3,460.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Genting Singapore
- 3Q17 net profit of $143.8m (+35$) beat estimates.
- Revenue rose 8% to $629.9m on stronger VIP and premium mass business volume, higher daily visitorship and spending at its attractions and healthy hotel occupancy.
- Adjusted EBITDA jumped 37% to $320.1m, underpinned by improved operating margin of 50.8% (+10.6ppts) and reduced provisions from a more measured credit policy.
- Last traded at 24.6x forward P/E.
*Hi-P
- Record 3Q17 net profit of $38.4m (+25%) topped estimates, boosted by improved operating leverage.
- Revenue climbed 6.2% to $411.3m, while gross margin widened 2.4ppt to 16.5% on better product mix and operating efficiency.
- Raised interim DPS to 2¢ (3Q16: 0.4¢), bringing 9M17 payout to 21¢ (9M16: 0.4¢).
- Guided for higher 4Q17 top and bottom lines on both y/y and q/q basis.
- Trades at 15.8x FY18e P/E.
*Ascendas Hospitality Trust
- 2QFY18 DPS climbed 2.9% to 1.42¢, bringing 1HFY18 DPS of 2.73 (+2.2%) to 47% of FY18 estimate.
- Quarter revenue rose 5.2% to $58.4m while NPI inched 0.8% higher to $24.5m, from improved operational performance for Australian properties and further bolstered by the stronger AUD, but was partly offset by weaker JPY against SGD.
- Australia RevPAR of A$148 (+4.2%) was lifted by increased conferences and events, while China RevPAR of Rmb389 (+4.6%) was driven by higher demand. Japan RevPAR inched up 1.6% to ¥9,974 on higher room rates.
- Aggregate leverage remained steady at 32.6% (-0.1ppt q/q).
- Expanded its investment scope to a global basis from just Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
- Last traded at an annualised 2Q yield of 6.42% and 1.0x P/B.
*Hock Lian Seng
- 9M17 results lagged as net profit plunged 55.8% to $8.3m from an absence of JV income (9M16: $10.7m).
- This brought 9M17 earnings to 53% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue jumped 18.6% to $100.6m on contribution from civil engineering works for the Changi Airport JV project, while gross margin was relatively flattish at 11% (-0.4ppt).
- Order book contracted to $830m (2Q17: $890m).
- Last traded at 1.4x P/B.
*Vallianz
- 2QFY18 net profit surged 469.5% from a low base to US$5.3m, boosted by stronger contributions from the core chartering & brokerage services.
- Revenue slumped 24.8% to US$41.2m on lower utilisation of certain vessels, but was partially mitigated by the commencement of new contracts with a key Middle Eastern client.
- Gross margin expanded 1.8ppt to 25.3% on a shift towards higher margin chartering & brokerage services.
- Bottom line was further aided by other income of US$1.8m (2QFY17: US$0.7m), a positive US$0.9m swing into profitability at associate/ JV and lower taxes (-53%).
- Order book stood at US$950m to be fulfilled over the next eight years.
- Lowered the pricing of its proposed 1-for-1 rights-cum-detachable warrants issue to 1.6¢/share (prior: 2¢), with reduced exercise price of $0.016 (prior: $0.02).
- Last traded at 0.27x P/B.
*Nera Telecommunications
- Turned in 3Q17 net profit of $2m (3Q16: $1.3m loss) on improved gross margin.
- Revenue grew 24.9% to $42.2m on improved contribution from both network infrastructure (+21%) and wireless infrastructure network (+30.8%) businesses.
- Gross margin expanded 9.7ppt to 28.5% on better profitability from equipment sales and higher write back from project closure.
- However, group did not declare a special DPS this year (3Q16: $0.15).
- Trades at 18.6x trailing P/E and 1.99x P/B.
*Far East Orchard
- 3Q17 net profit dived 72.1% to $2.9m, bringing 9M17 earnings to just $9.5m (-85.2%).
- Quarter revenue slumped 20.7% to $36.3m on weaker performance of two hospitality assets in Perth, Australia, as well as the completion of certain lease agreements.
- Gross margin held relatively steady at 29.7% (-0.9ppt).
- Bottom line was weighed by lower FX gain of $0.5m (3Q16: $3.6m) and a drop in JV contribution to $1.6m (-77.8%) due to the TOP of property development project RiverTrees Residences last year.
- Last traded at 0.53x P/B.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Kingsmen Creatives
- 3Q17 net profit grew 33.4% on a low base to $0.8m on a turnaround in associate contribution to $68,000 (3Q16: $0.9m loss).
- However, revenue slipped 10.1% to $69.1m on weakness across retail & corporate interiors (-20.8%), research & design (-6.8%) and alternative marketing (-10.7%) units, but partly mitigated by stable takings in exhibitions & thematic (+2.7%) segment.
- Gross margin grew to 23.7% (+0.7ppt) on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was impacted by higher FX losses of $0.3m (3Q16: $89,000 loss).
- Trades at 9.3x trailing P/E.
*Soo Kee
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 137% from a low base to $0.56m on higher gross material margin, which helped cushion 9M17 earnings to $2.8m (-17.4%).
- However, quarter revenue slumped 22.3% to $38.7m on lower turnover from precious metal retailer and solutions provider, SK Bullion.
- Gross material margin expanded 8.5ppt to 35.4% on a shift in product mix.
- Bottom line was shored by lower finance cost, as well as absence of FX and fixed asset disposal loss.
- Net gearing crept up to 0.65x from 0.62x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 11.3x trailing P/E and 1.37x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Jumbo
- Marks its foray into Taiwan.
- Group will enter a 51:49 JV with Baipin Co to establish at least eight franchised Jumbo Seafood outlets across the country.
- Baipin was founded by F&B industry veteran Henry Tseng, who also brought in several Michelin-starred restaurants into Taiwan, including TimHoWan, Tsuta and Hawker Chan.
- Total capital contribution for the JVCo is expected to be NT$50m ($2.3m).
- Trades at 23.1x forward P/E.
*TEE International
- Proposed to acquire 50.1% stake in local waste management and environmental solutions provider, Chiang Kiong Group, for $9.3m (6.2x FY16 P/E).
- The remaining 49.9% stake will be acquired by two independent business associates of TEE for $9.2m.
- Post-deal, TEE's FY5/17 pro forma loss would be narrowed to $0.2m (prior: $1.6m loss).
- The deal is expected to complete by 29 Dec '17.
*King Wan
- Secured $24.1m worth of new mechanical and electrical projects in Singapore.
- Major projects involve supply and installation of plumbing, sanitary, fire hydrant system and air-conditioning at Defu Industrial City and Bedok Food City.
- Projects are scheduled to be completed by 2020.
- Current order book stood at $168.9m.
*G. K. Goh
- Proposed to divest EUN Holdings to PE firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for US$79m.
- The disposal is expected to net a gain of $60m, of which 15% is earmarked for reinvestment into Stonepeak.
*Anchor Resources
- Signed non-binding MOU with Tianjin Universal-Link Enterprise to sell 300-500 tonnes/month of semi-processed gold concentrated ore.
- Ore price will be based on prevailing gold price on the London Bullion Market.
- Definitive agreement to be signed upon receipt of all approvals from relevant authorities, including export approvals.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings:
- ASL Marine
- Weiye
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Progen
- Entered into a 20:70:10 with TSky Development and Seacare Property Development to redevelop two plots of land at 17 Balmoral Road.
- Tech manufacturers could enjoy further momentum on positive 3Q results from Venture and Hi-P, while oil-related stocks could be lifted by the 3% surge in crude prices to a 2-year high on the political turmoil in Saudi Arabia.
- Momentum indicators for the STI look to be turning south, underlying support at 3,320 and topside resistance at 3,460.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Genting Singapore
- 3Q17 net profit of $143.8m (+35$) beat estimates.
- Revenue rose 8% to $629.9m on stronger VIP and premium mass business volume, higher daily visitorship and spending at its attractions and healthy hotel occupancy.
- Adjusted EBITDA jumped 37% to $320.1m, underpinned by improved operating margin of 50.8% (+10.6ppts) and reduced provisions from a more measured credit policy.
- Last traded at 24.6x forward P/E.
*Hi-P
- Record 3Q17 net profit of $38.4m (+25%) topped estimates, boosted by improved operating leverage.
- Revenue climbed 6.2% to $411.3m, while gross margin widened 2.4ppt to 16.5% on better product mix and operating efficiency.
- Raised interim DPS to 2¢ (3Q16: 0.4¢), bringing 9M17 payout to 21¢ (9M16: 0.4¢).
- Guided for higher 4Q17 top and bottom lines on both y/y and q/q basis.
- Trades at 15.8x FY18e P/E.
*Ascendas Hospitality Trust
- 2QFY18 DPS climbed 2.9% to 1.42¢, bringing 1HFY18 DPS of 2.73 (+2.2%) to 47% of FY18 estimate.
- Quarter revenue rose 5.2% to $58.4m while NPI inched 0.8% higher to $24.5m, from improved operational performance for Australian properties and further bolstered by the stronger AUD, but was partly offset by weaker JPY against SGD.
- Australia RevPAR of A$148 (+4.2%) was lifted by increased conferences and events, while China RevPAR of Rmb389 (+4.6%) was driven by higher demand. Japan RevPAR inched up 1.6% to ¥9,974 on higher room rates.
- Aggregate leverage remained steady at 32.6% (-0.1ppt q/q).
- Expanded its investment scope to a global basis from just Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
- Last traded at an annualised 2Q yield of 6.42% and 1.0x P/B.
*Hock Lian Seng
- 9M17 results lagged as net profit plunged 55.8% to $8.3m from an absence of JV income (9M16: $10.7m).
- This brought 9M17 earnings to 53% of FY17 estimate.
- Revenue jumped 18.6% to $100.6m on contribution from civil engineering works for the Changi Airport JV project, while gross margin was relatively flattish at 11% (-0.4ppt).
- Order book contracted to $830m (2Q17: $890m).
- Last traded at 1.4x P/B.
*Vallianz
- 2QFY18 net profit surged 469.5% from a low base to US$5.3m, boosted by stronger contributions from the core chartering & brokerage services.
- Revenue slumped 24.8% to US$41.2m on lower utilisation of certain vessels, but was partially mitigated by the commencement of new contracts with a key Middle Eastern client.
- Gross margin expanded 1.8ppt to 25.3% on a shift towards higher margin chartering & brokerage services.
- Bottom line was further aided by other income of US$1.8m (2QFY17: US$0.7m), a positive US$0.9m swing into profitability at associate/ JV and lower taxes (-53%).
- Order book stood at US$950m to be fulfilled over the next eight years.
- Lowered the pricing of its proposed 1-for-1 rights-cum-detachable warrants issue to 1.6¢/share (prior: 2¢), with reduced exercise price of $0.016 (prior: $0.02).
- Last traded at 0.27x P/B.
*Nera Telecommunications
- Turned in 3Q17 net profit of $2m (3Q16: $1.3m loss) on improved gross margin.
- Revenue grew 24.9% to $42.2m on improved contribution from both network infrastructure (+21%) and wireless infrastructure network (+30.8%) businesses.
- Gross margin expanded 9.7ppt to 28.5% on better profitability from equipment sales and higher write back from project closure.
- However, group did not declare a special DPS this year (3Q16: $0.15).
- Trades at 18.6x trailing P/E and 1.99x P/B.
*Far East Orchard
- 3Q17 net profit dived 72.1% to $2.9m, bringing 9M17 earnings to just $9.5m (-85.2%).
- Quarter revenue slumped 20.7% to $36.3m on weaker performance of two hospitality assets in Perth, Australia, as well as the completion of certain lease agreements.
- Gross margin held relatively steady at 29.7% (-0.9ppt).
- Bottom line was weighed by lower FX gain of $0.5m (3Q16: $3.6m) and a drop in JV contribution to $1.6m (-77.8%) due to the TOP of property development project RiverTrees Residences last year.
- Last traded at 0.53x P/B.
CORPORATE RESULTS
*Kingsmen Creatives
- 3Q17 net profit grew 33.4% on a low base to $0.8m on a turnaround in associate contribution to $68,000 (3Q16: $0.9m loss).
- However, revenue slipped 10.1% to $69.1m on weakness across retail & corporate interiors (-20.8%), research & design (-6.8%) and alternative marketing (-10.7%) units, but partly mitigated by stable takings in exhibitions & thematic (+2.7%) segment.
- Gross margin grew to 23.7% (+0.7ppt) on a shift in sales mix.
- Bottom line was impacted by higher FX losses of $0.3m (3Q16: $89,000 loss).
- Trades at 9.3x trailing P/E.
*Soo Kee
- 3Q17 net profit leapt 137% from a low base to $0.56m on higher gross material margin, which helped cushion 9M17 earnings to $2.8m (-17.4%).
- However, quarter revenue slumped 22.3% to $38.7m on lower turnover from precious metal retailer and solutions provider, SK Bullion.
- Gross material margin expanded 8.5ppt to 35.4% on a shift in product mix.
- Bottom line was shored by lower finance cost, as well as absence of FX and fixed asset disposal loss.
- Net gearing crept up to 0.65x from 0.62x in Jun '17.
- Last traded at 11.3x trailing P/E and 1.37x P/B.
POSITIVE NEWS
*Jumbo
- Marks its foray into Taiwan.
- Group will enter a 51:49 JV with Baipin Co to establish at least eight franchised Jumbo Seafood outlets across the country.
- Baipin was founded by F&B industry veteran Henry Tseng, who also brought in several Michelin-starred restaurants into Taiwan, including TimHoWan, Tsuta and Hawker Chan.
- Total capital contribution for the JVCo is expected to be NT$50m ($2.3m).
- Trades at 23.1x forward P/E.
*TEE International
- Proposed to acquire 50.1% stake in local waste management and environmental solutions provider, Chiang Kiong Group, for $9.3m (6.2x FY16 P/E).
- The remaining 49.9% stake will be acquired by two independent business associates of TEE for $9.2m.
- Post-deal, TEE's FY5/17 pro forma loss would be narrowed to $0.2m (prior: $1.6m loss).
- The deal is expected to complete by 29 Dec '17.
*King Wan
- Secured $24.1m worth of new mechanical and electrical projects in Singapore.
- Major projects involve supply and installation of plumbing, sanitary, fire hydrant system and air-conditioning at Defu Industrial City and Bedok Food City.
- Projects are scheduled to be completed by 2020.
- Current order book stood at $168.9m.
*G. K. Goh
- Proposed to divest EUN Holdings to PE firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for US$79m.
- The disposal is expected to net a gain of $60m, of which 15% is earmarked for reinvestment into Stonepeak.
*Anchor Resources
- Signed non-binding MOU with Tianjin Universal-Link Enterprise to sell 300-500 tonnes/month of semi-processed gold concentrated ore.
- Ore price will be based on prevailing gold price on the London Bullion Market.
- Definitive agreement to be signed upon receipt of all approvals from relevant authorities, including export approvals.
NEGATIVE NEWS
*Profit warnings:
- ASL Marine
- Weiye
NEUTRAL NEWS
*Progen
- Entered into a 20:70:10 with TSky Development and Seacare Property Development to redevelop two plots of land at 17 Balmoral Road.
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