ASEAN Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Angus Mackintosh

ASEAN Insight Provider

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> announced its 1Q2021 results which look like a blowout set of numbers with +147% growth in total GAAP revenues with +117% growth in digital bookings for digital entertainment and +250% YoY growth in e-commerce GAAP revenues.</p>
<p>Gross Profit increased a staggering +212% YoY to US$645.4m in 1Q2021 and the company booked a positive EBITDA of US$88.1m versus a (US$69.9m) loss in 1Q2020.</p>
<p>The gross profit margin increased from 28% in 1Q2020 to 36% in 1Q2021, which is a testament to the fact that the company is moving along the path to profitability. Digital entertainment saw higher margins, while-commerce saw falling EBITDA loss per order.</p>
<p>In Digital Entertainment (DE) division continues to see strong growth in its user base with +61% YoY growth in quarterly active users (QAU) to 648.6m but more importantly quarterly paying users saw growth of +12.3% YoY to 79.8m signifying a higher level of monetization on its self-developed game <em>Free Fire.</em></p>
<p>The company continues to successfully expand its gaming business to new geographies, with India being the latest growth engine and players are spending more time on Free Fire and spending more. It continues to add new content and characters to increase the appeal and stickiness of <em>Free Fire</em>. It is also seeing huge response in the eSports arena for <em>Free Fire.</em></p>
<p>Shopee ranked number one in the shopping category by monthly active users and time spent in app in 1Q2021 for both South East Asia and Taiwan, according to App Annie. E-commerce continues to show supercharged growth and especially in the core market of Indonesia.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a>'s move into digital payments in South -East Asia under SeaMoney and ShopeePay in Indonesia continues to see strong momentum.  The mobile wallet total payment volume saw total payment volume triple in 1Q2021 to US$3.4bn. </p>
<p>The company is also expanding the offline use-cases for ShopeePay most recently extending use to Indomaret in Indonesia, the largest mini-market operator in the country.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a>'s move into food delivery through ShopeeFood and evidence suggests that it has already had a strong reception to its launch in Jakarta, with growth similar to that in other categories.</p>
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<p>This latest set of results provides further proof of the success of the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> growth model which generates huge EBITDA from gaming and reinvests that money into growing the company's e-commerce and digital finance businesses, whilst maintaining the investment momentum into the gaming cash cow, buy pushing out into new geographies such as India.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> continues to standout as the best way to play the explosive growth in e-commerce in South East Asia, funded by the popularity of its self developed game <em>Free Fire </em>and its gaming business, together with its move into digital payments a third leg to future growth.</p>
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<section class="figure"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> valuations are higher than its listed peers on 13x and 9x EV/Sales for FY21E and FY22E respectively but it is growing at more than twice the pace in terms of sales to justify this. The market is also paying a premium for its unique financing plus its market leadership and strong track record on execution, with 11 consecutive quarters of triple-digit growth.</section>
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Sea Ltd (SE US) announced its 1Q2021 results which look like a blowout set of numbers with +147% growth in total GAAP revenues with +117% growth in digital bookings for digital entertainment and +250% YoY growth in e-commerce GAAP revenues.
Gross Profit increased a staggering +212% YoY to US$645.4m in 1Q2021 and the company booked a positive EBITDA of US$88.1m versus a (US$69.9m) loss in 1Q2020.
The gross profit margin increased from 28% in 1Q2020 to 36% in 1Q2021, which is a testament to the fact that the company is moving along the path to profitability. Digital entertainment saw higher margins, while-commerce saw falling EBITDA loss per order.
In Digital Entertainment (DE) division continues to see strong growth in its user base with +61% YoY growth in quarterly active users (QAU) to 648.6m but more importantly quarterly paying users saw growth of +12.3% YoY to 79.8m signifying a higher level of monetization on its self-developed game Free Fire.
The company continues to successfully expand its gaming business to new geographies, with India being the latest growth engine and players are spending more time on Free Fire and spending more. It continues to add new content and characters to increase the appeal and stickiness of Free Fire. It is also seeing huge response in the eSports arena for Free Fire.
Shopee ranked number one in the shopping category by monthly active users and time spent in app in 1Q2021 for both South East Asia and Taiwan, according to App Annie. E-commerce continues to show supercharged growth and especially in the core market of Indonesia.
Sea Ltd (SE US)'s move into digital payments in South -East Asia under SeaMoney and ShopeePay in Indonesia continues to see strong momentum.  The mobile wallet total payment volume saw total payment volume triple in 1Q2021 to US$3.4bn. 
The company is also expanding the offline use-cases for ShopeePay most recently extending use to Indomaret in Indonesia, the largest mini-market operator in the country.

Sea Ltd (SE US)'s move into food delivery through ShopeeFood and evidence suggests that it has already had a strong reception to its launch in Jakarta, with growth similar to that in other categories.

This latest set of results provides further proof of the success of the Sea Ltd (SE US) growth model which generates huge EBITDA from gaming and reinvests that money into growing the company's e-commerce and digital finance businesses, whilst maintaining the investment momentum into the gaming cash cow, buy pushing out into new geographies such as India.



Sea Ltd (SE US) continues to standout as the best way to play the explosive growth in e-commerce in South East Asia, funded by the popularity of its self developed game Free Fire and its gaming business, together with its move into digital payments a third leg to future growth.

Sea Ltd (SE US) valuations are higher than its listed peers on 13x and 9x EV/Sales for FY21E and FY22E respectively but it is growing at more than twice the pace in terms of sales to justify this. The market is also paying a premium for its unique financing plus its market leadership and strong track record on execution, with 11 consecutive quarters of triple-digit growth.

















Global TMT analyst with Asia ex-Japan focus.

Mitchell Kim

<ul>
<li>
<strong>There are only a few large cap stocks in Asia that can deliver on 30%+ revenue growth and trade at 1x P/Sales (TTM)</strong> and forward P/E of 40x (on consensus estimate). <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:446:1" rel="noopener">JD.com Inc (ADR) (JD US)</a> just happens to be one of them.  </li>
<li>
<strong>JD reported the highest topline growth</strong> (39% YoY) in the last 5 years, aided by the explosive JD Logistics and marketplace revenue growth.  The stock still trades at 34% below the peak in March. </li>
<li>JD's product revenue growth was 35% YoY, outpacing the China over all online physical goods sales growth of 32%.  This suggests <strong>JD is gaining market share. </strong>I highlight this trend in my report, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-e-commerce-robust-consumption-data-hints-at-online-spending-spree" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:50798" rel="noopener">China E-Commerce: Robust Consumption Data Hints at Online Spending Spree</a>.  </li>
<li>
<strong>Some may be concerned over operating margin declining, but I remain constructive as the core business (JD Retail) operating margin hit 4%</strong>, second highest level in its history.  However, total Non-GAAP operating profit margin declined to 1.7% from 2.2% in 1Q20.  This was due to investments in JD Logistics capacity and in new businesses -- Jingxi, cloud and AI.  </li>
<li>Risk: The market may hold back its enthusiasm as lower revenue growth relative to 1Q21 is estimated in 2Q21 because of the skewed growth in 2Q20.  Management stressed that similar growth is expected for 1H21 compared to 1Q20.  </li>
</ul>



There are only a few large cap stocks in Asia that can deliver on 30%+ revenue growth and trade at 1x P/Sales (TTM) and forward P/E of 40x (on consensus estimate). JD.com Inc (ADR) (JD US) just happens to be one of them.  

JD reported the highest topline growth (39% YoY) in the last 5 years, aided by the explosive JD Logistics and marketplace revenue growth.  The stock still trades at 34% below the peak in March. 
JD's product revenue growth was 35% YoY, outpacing the China over all online physical goods sales growth of 32%.  This suggests JD is gaining market share. I highlight this trend in my report, China E-Commerce: Robust Consumption Data Hints at Online Spending Spree.  

Some may be concerned over operating margin declining, but I remain constructive as the core business (JD Retail) operating margin hit 4%, second highest level in its history.  However, total Non-GAAP operating profit margin declined to 1.7% from 2.2% in 1Q20.  This was due to investments in JD Logistics capacity and in new businesses -- Jingxi, cloud and AI.  
Risk: The market may hold back its enthusiasm as lower revenue growth relative to 1Q21 is estimated in 2Q21 because of the skewed growth in 2Q20.  Management stressed that similar growth is expected for 1H21 compared to 1Q20.  


JD.com (JD US): Robust Growth, Impressive Core Profit

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zomato-media-pvt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28820:1" rel="noopener">Zomato (ZOM IN)</a>  aims to raise US$1.1bn in its upcoming India IPO. This would be the largest listing in India from the technology sector.</p><p>Zomato operates a technology platform that provides services for restaurant partners, customers, and delivery partners. During FY20, Zomato recorded 41.5m average MAU and was one of the leading Food Services platforms in India, in terms of value of goods sold, according to RedSeer. As of 31 Dec 20, it had a presence in 526 Indian cities and had 350,174 active restaurant listings</p>

Zomato (ZOM IN)  aims to raise US$1.1bn in its upcoming India IPO. This would be the largest listing in India from the technology sector.Zomato operates a technology platform that provides services for restaurant partners, customers, and delivery partners. During FY20, Zomato recorded 41.5m average MAU and was one of the leading Food Services platforms in India, in terms of value of goods sold, according to RedSeer. As of 31 Dec 20, it had a presence in 526 Indian cities and had 350,174 active restaurant listings

Zomato Pre-IPO - Filings Lack Narrative, a Little Bit of History Helps

Overseas Chinese Equities, Aequitas Research

Ming Lu

Overseas Chinese Equities

<ul>
<li>JD’s revenue growth accelerated in 1Q21.</li>
<li>An important competitor, Suning, is shrinking.</li>
<li>The Logistics service for third parties is rewarding.</li>
<li>JD's GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) is still No. 2 in China.</li>
<li>We set an upside of 58% for the end of 1H22.</li>
</ul>


JD’s revenue growth accelerated in 1Q21.
An important competitor, Suning, is shrinking.
The Logistics service for third parties is rewarding.
JD's GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) is still No. 2 in China.
We set an upside of 58% for the end of 1H22.


JD.com (JD): 1Q21, Direct Sales Got Opportunity and Service Got Reward

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Shifara Samsudeen, ACMA, CGMA

Equity Analyst

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a>  announced 1Q2021 results on Tuesday (18<sup>th</sup> May) and this marked the company’s first results post its secondary listing on HKEx. Baidu’s revenue for the quarter grew 24.8% YoY to RMB28bn driven by a 34.2% YoY increase in revenue from Baidu Core. The company reported an operating profit of RMB2.8bn (an OPM 9.9%) whereas Baidu made operating losses of RMB437m in the same quarter a year ago due to the pandemic.</p><p>Baidu’s 1Q revenues beat consensus estimates by 2.7% while reported operating profit for the quarter beat consensus by a huge 70.2% margin.  </p>

Baidu (BIDU US)  announced 1Q2021 results on Tuesday (18th May) and this marked the company’s first results post its secondary listing on HKEx. Baidu’s revenue for the quarter grew 24.8% YoY to RMB28bn driven by a 34.2% YoY increase in revenue from Baidu Core. The company reported an operating profit of RMB2.8bn (an OPM 9.9%) whereas Baidu made operating losses of RMB437m in the same quarter a year ago due to the pandemic.Baidu’s 1Q revenues beat consensus estimates by 2.7% while reported operating profit for the quarter beat consensus by a huge 70.2% margin.  

Baidu 1Q21: Post-Pandemic Recovery in Online Marketing and New Initiatives Drive Earnings Beat

China

Alibaba Group Holding Limited provides online sales services. The Company provides internet infrastructure, electronic commerce, online financial, and internet content services through its subsidiaries. Alibaba Group Holding offers its products and services worldwide.

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Alibaba Group Holding (9988 HK)

Sea Ltd - Supercharged

Sea Ltd (SE US) is the best way to proxy for the explosive growth in e-commerce in South East Asia, funded by its gaming revenue, with its move...

Angus Mackintosh

JD.com (JD US): Robust Growth, Impressive Core Profit

When a USD115 billion revenue company is growing 39% YoY and core business operating margin improving 27 bps to 4%, it is hard to sit on the fence....

Mitchell Kim

Zomato Pre-IPO - Filings Lack Narrative, a Little Bit of History Helps

Zomato aims to raise US$1.1bn in its upcoming India IPO. This would be the largest listing in India from the technology sector.

Sumeet Singh

JD.com (JD): 1Q21, Direct Sales Got Opportunity and Service Got Reward

JD’s revenue growth accelerated in 1Q21. An important competitor, Suning, is shrinking.The Logistics service for third parties is rewarding. JD's...

Ming Lu

Baidu 1Q21: Post-Pandemic Recovery in Online Marketing and New Initiatives Drive Earnings Beat

Baidu’s revenue for 1Q21 grew 24.8% YoY to RMB28bn driven by a 34.2% YoY increase in revenue from Baidu Core. 1Q revenues beat consensus estimates...

Shifara Samsudeen, ACMA, CGMA

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