HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

Equity Bottom-Up

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd / Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tourism-group-duty-free-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12278:1" rel="noopener">China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)</a> pre-announced its FY20 result with a 55.1% YoY growth in recurrent earnings to Rmb5.94bn, beating market expectation by significant magnitude. The strong result is driven by a 3.3pp expansion in operating margin, supported by good sales of high-margin products; and we believe the market should welcome this set of encouraging result.As for FY21, CTG Duty Free will benefit from the government's support of domestic consumption, improved portfolio of premium brand names and the slow recovery of outbound overseas travel appetite. While the Chinese New Year sales may be negatively affected by the resurgence of local COVID-19 cases, we expect full-year effect of the new Hainan duty free policies will help lift bottom line with an impressive earnings growth of over 80%.

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH) pre-announced its FY20 result with a 55.1% YoY growth in recurrent earnings to Rmb5.94bn, beating market expectation by significant magnitude. The strong result is driven by a 3.3pp expansion in operating margin, supported by good sales of high-margin products; and we believe the market should welcome this set of encouraging result.As for FY21, CTG Duty Free will benefit from the government's support of domestic consumption, improved portfolio of premium brand names and the slow recovery of outbound overseas travel appetite. While the Chinese New Year sales may be negatively affected by the resurgence of local COVID-19 cases, we expect full-year effect of the new Hainan duty free policies will help lift bottom line with an impressive earnings growth of over 80%.

CTG Duty Free Corp (601888 CH): Beating Market Expectations on Pre-Announced FY20 Result

Shanghai International Airport / Equity Bottom-Up

The announcement by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shanghai-international-airport-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6511:1" rel="noopener">Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH)</a> of a loss of between Rmb1.2-1.3bn for FY20 will disappoint the market due to the significant QoQ deterioration, in our view. While weaker domestic traffic and limited recovery of international traffic are reasons, the less favourable duty free agreement reached with Sunrise duty free, a subsidiary of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tourism-group-duty-free-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12278:1" rel="noopener">China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)</a>, has further added to the loss in last year.Based on the current pace of international traffic recovery, we believe SIAC will be difficult to achieve the required traffic for the minimum guarantee rental in the next two years, and this will have a negative effect on its bottom line. Since 2020, share price of SIAC has outperformed <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/guangzhou-baiyun-international-airport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10819:1" rel="noopener">Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH)</a> by over 20pp. With SIAC's new agreement and GBIA's stronger FY20 result, we believe there is room for SIAC to give back some of such outperformance in the near term.

The announcement by Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH) of a loss of between Rmb1.2-1.3bn for FY20 will disappoint the market due to the significant QoQ deterioration, in our view. While weaker domestic traffic and limited recovery of international traffic are reasons, the less favourable duty free agreement reached with Sunrise duty free, a subsidiary of China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH), has further added to the loss in last year.Based on the current pace of international traffic recovery, we believe SIAC will be difficult to achieve the required traffic for the minimum guarantee rental in the next two years, and this will have a negative effect on its bottom line. Since 2020, share price of SIAC has outperformed Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH) by over 20pp. With SIAC's new agreement and GBIA's stronger FY20 result, we believe there is room for SIAC to give back some of such outperformance in the near term.

Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH): Dragged by Unfavourable Duty Free Agreement

The approvals of more players in the Hainan duty free market at end-2020 is likely to pose challenge to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tourism-group-duty-free-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12278:1" rel="noopener">China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)</a> only in the long term, given the weaker relative competitiveness of the new entrants, CTG Duty Free's established strengths and the sustained positive growth in the overall market. Despite so, we see a trend of rise in competition in China's duty free industry, which is a threat that it cannot overlook in the long run.With the Dec (up to 28th) duty free sales value maintained a solid growth of over 150% YoY, the sustained market growth will offer CTG Duty Free a near-term buffer to competition. The low base in 1H20 as well as the limited appetite of overseas travel due to new coronavirus strains will continue to be positive factors for the company at least in the next six months.

The approvals of more players in the Hainan duty free market at end-2020 is likely to pose challenge to China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH) only in the long term, given the weaker relative competitiveness of the new entrants, CTG Duty Free's established strengths and the sustained positive growth in the overall market. Despite so, we see a trend of rise in competition in China's duty free industry, which is a threat that it cannot overlook in the long run.With the Dec (up to 28th) duty free sales value maintained a solid growth of over 150% YoY, the sustained market growth will offer CTG Duty Free a near-term buffer to competition. The low base in 1H20 as well as the limited appetite of overseas travel due to new coronavirus strains will continue to be positive factors for the company at least in the next six months.

CTG Duty Free Corp (601888 CH): Facing More Competition in a Rapidly Growing Market

China Travel International Investment Hong Kong / Equity Bottom-Up

China Travel International Investment Hong Kong

We think <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-travel-intl-inv-hk" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3879:1" rel="noopener">China Travel Intl Inv Hk (308 HK)</a> (CTII) is an interesting name misunderstood, overlooked and under-researched by the market. As such, this will potentially provide promising upside return given its undemanding valuation relative to the travel agency and package tour peers. CTII is not a travel agency and instead it is a major operator of tourist attractions in China that is well positioned to benefit from the recovery of the domestic travel market. Trading at just 0.4x P/B and with net cash equals to 36% of current share price, CTII is also a potential candidate for privatisation by its ultimate parent China Tourism Group.

We think China Travel Intl Inv Hk (308 HK) (CTII) is an interesting name misunderstood, overlooked and under-researched by the market. As such, this will potentially provide promising upside return given its undemanding valuation relative to the travel agency and package tour peers. CTII is not a travel agency and instead it is a major operator of tourist attractions in China that is well positioned to benefit from the recovery of the domestic travel market. Trading at just 0.4x P/B and with net cash equals to 36% of current share price, CTII is also a potential candidate for privatisation by its ultimate parent China Tourism Group.   

China Travel Intl Inv (308 HK): Recovery Play Overlooked by the Market + Privatisation Possibility

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

Last month saw China allocations hit record levels across Asia Ex-Japan, Emerging Market and Global active long-only funds.  The average China weight in Asia Ex-Japan funds stands at a record 50.96%, in active GEM funds a record 37.63% and in active Global funds an all-time high of 5.33%However, these increases have come at the expense of greater concentration.  Among Global managers, the top 10 largest China stock holdings now account for 62% of total China allocations, among GEM and Asia Ex-Japan funds just under 50% - an all-time high across all 3 investor groups. Dedicated China managers, however, are more diversified.  In this analysis, we look at the differences between dedicated China funds and their regional peers.  We find that Asia, GEM and Global managers are more concentrated in the Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services sectors, whereas dedicated China managers are more diversified across Technology, Industrials and Health Care stocks.  Regional funds are also underinvested in China A-Shares compared to dedicated China managers, who are running significant overweights vs the MSCI China benchmark.We identify the next generation of Chinese stocks outside of the big index names by following the lead of dedicated managers in the region.  We provide a list of 40 stocks, identified as 'Next Generation' stocks due to their widespread investment in dedicated China funds, but that are currently underowned by Asia Ex-Japan, GEM and Global investors.The list is headed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jiangsu-hengrui-medicine-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14128:1" rel="noopener">Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (600276 CH)</a>, one of the standout domestic holdings within the Health Care sector, followed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tourism-group-duty-free-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12278:1" rel="noopener">China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/luxshare-precision-industry-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12310:1" rel="noopener">Luxshare Precision Industry (002475 CH)</a> .Analysis taken from our Global, GEM, Asia Ex-Japan and China fund universes.  Global:  386 Active Funds, combined AUM $750bn                                                                                        GEM:  242 Active Funds, combined AUM $370bn                                                                                          Asia Ex-Japan: 98 Active Funds, combined AUM $70bn                                                                              China:  119 Active Funds, combined AUM $50bn

Last month saw China allocations hit record levels across Asia Ex-Japan, Emerging Market and Global active long-only funds.  The average China weight in Asia Ex-Japan funds stands at a record 50.96%, in active GEM funds a record 37.63% and in active Global funds an all-time high of 5.33%However, these increases have come at the expense of greater concentration.  Among Global managers, the top 10 largest China stock holdings now account for 62% of total China allocations, among GEM and Asia Ex-Japan funds just under 50% - an all-time high across all 3 investor groups. Dedicated China managers, however, are more diversified.  In this analysis, we look at the differences between dedicated China funds and their regional peers.  We find that Asia, GEM and Global managers are more concentrated in the Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services sectors, whereas dedicated China managers are more diversified across Technology, Industrials and Health Care stocks.  Regional funds are also underinvested in China A-Shares compared to dedicated China managers, who are running significant overweights vs the MSCI China benchmark.We identify the next generation of Chinese stocks outside of the big index names by following the lead of dedicated managers in the region.  We provide a list of 40 stocks, identified as 'Next Generation' stocks due to their widespread investment in dedicated China funds, but that are currently underowned by Asia Ex-Japan, GEM and Global investors.The list is headed by Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (600276 CH), one of the standout domestic holdings within the Health Care sector, followed by China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH) and Luxshare Precision Industry (002475 CH) .Analysis taken from our Global, GEM, Asia Ex-Japan and China fund universes.  Global:  386 Active Funds, combined AUM $750bn                                                                                        GEM:  242 Active Funds, combined AUM $370bn                                                                                          Asia Ex-Japan: 98 Active Funds, combined AUM $70bn                                                                              China:  119 Active Funds, combined AUM $50bn

China's Next Generation:  Diversifying Away from Tencent and Alibaba.

China

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corporation Limited engages in sales of duty free goods and tax goods. The Company sells tobacco, wine and spirits, perfume, cosmetics, fashion and accessories, watches, jewelry, food, luggage products,and other products. China Tourism Group Duty Free also engages in investment and development of tourism destination commercial complexes.

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)

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China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp Ltd (601888 CH)

CTG Duty Free Corp (601888 CH): Beating Market Expectations on Pre-Announced FY20 Result

Strong FY20 result with good margin expansion should lead to market earnings forecast upgrades. The first full-year impact of new Hainan duty free...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH): Dragged by Unfavourable Duty Free Agreement

We see SIAC's FY20 unencouraging, mostly due to the unfavourable duty free agreement reached which will erode its profitability. It is possibly...

Osbert Tang, CFA

CTG Duty Free Corp (601888 CH): Facing More Competition in a Rapidly Growing Market

New players to Hainan duty free market will not bring near-term impact to CTG Duty Free's leadership, but can be long-term challenges. However,...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Travel Intl Inv (308 HK): Recovery Play Overlooked by the Market + Privatisation Possibility

China Travel Intl Inv is an interesting recovery play yet to be full appreciated by the market. Its depressed valuation and exposure to the...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China's Next Generation: Diversifying Away from Tencent and Alibaba.

China exposure is becoming more concentrated in a small number of large cap stocks. We identify the next generation of China stocks by analyzing...

Steven Holden

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