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

A  call with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> management post the company's recent results revealed a more cautious tone given the recent pick-up in COVID-19 cases in the so-called "third wave". 
Restaurants remain open and dining in is allowed although not permitted to serve alcohol and bars and nightclubs are shut under the current measures. Alcohol can be sold through retail outlets for consumption at home. Big C and Mini Big continue to sell alcohol through all of their outlets. 
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> continued to experience difficult YoY comparisons for its packaging supply chain business, which is focused on glass bottling and aluminium cans, given that there was some stocking upon glass bottles last year in 1Q. 
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> consumer supply chain division had a mixed picture given that non-food had a high base last year since tissue sales were very strong in 1Q2020, as was personal care, whilst demand for snacks remained soft.
For the company's healthcare and technical supply chain (H&amp;TSC), it saw a positive performance for the technical side, mainly driven by food additives but the lube business was relatively weaker
The company's core modern supply chain division, which consists mainly of its Big C retail business, continues to see big declines in both sales and SSSG given that January and February last year were relatively normal ahead of the onset of the pandemic. The higher portion of B2B sales to offset competition from traditional trade has negatively impacted margins slightly.
Big C continues to expand its store network with plans to add two new Big C hypermarkets this year and 100 mini-Big C proximity stores. There are also a number of Big C Marketplace stores being converted to other formats including Big C Depot and Food Place.
Omnichannel sales are growing, which include sales through Line and Whatsapp as well as various online channels now account for just under 3% of sales.
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> will continue to face headwinds in 2Q2021, as the third wave impacts mobility and beer sales but YoY comparisons will start to get easier. We continue to see <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> as an interesting proxy to the consumer recovery, not just in Thailand but also to South East Asia, given its exposure in Vietnam, and Malaysia. It remains cheap relative to peers, with a stronger growth outlook for the next two years.

A  call with Berli Jucker (BJC TB) management post the company's recent results revealed a more cautious tone given the recent pick-up in COVID-19 cases in the so-called "third wave". 
Restaurants remain open and dining in is allowed although not permitted to serve alcohol and bars and nightclubs are shut under the current measures. Alcohol can be sold through retail outlets for consumption at home. Big C and Mini Big continue to sell alcohol through all of their outlets. 
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) continued to experience difficult YoY comparisons for its packaging supply chain business, which is focused on glass bottling and aluminium cans, given that there was some stocking upon glass bottles last year in 1Q. 
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) consumer supply chain division had a mixed picture given that non-food had a high base last year since tissue sales were very strong in 1Q2020, as was personal care, whilst demand for snacks remained soft.
For the company's healthcare and technical supply chain (H&amp;TSC), it saw a positive performance for the technical side, mainly driven by food additives but the lube business was relatively weaker
The company's core modern supply chain division, which consists mainly of its Big C retail business, continues to see big declines in both sales and SSSG given that January and February last year were relatively normal ahead of the onset of the pandemic. The higher portion of B2B sales to offset competition from traditional trade has negatively impacted margins slightly.
Big C continues to expand its store network with plans to add two new Big C hypermarkets this year and 100 mini-Big C proximity stores. There are also a number of Big C Marketplace stores being converted to other formats including Big C Depot and Food Place.
Omnichannel sales are growing, which include sales through Line and Whatsapp as well as various online channels now account for just under 3% of sales.
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) will continue to face headwinds in 2Q2021, as the third wave impacts mobility and beer sales but YoY comparisons will start to get easier. We continue to see Berli Jucker (BJC TB) as an interesting proxy to the consumer recovery, not just in Thailand but also to South East Asia, given its exposure in Vietnam, and Malaysia. It remains cheap relative to peers, with a stronger growth outlook for the next two years.

Berli Jucker (BJC TB) - Stock-Up for Canned Recovery?

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas, CrossASEAN Research

Henry Soediarko

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas

Stable result in Q2 2021 despite the increasing COVID-19 cases in Thailand from nightclubs and concerts prompting the Thai government to extend the ban for nightlife entertainment. The interesting part is that contrary to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)'s </a>observation that the Thais are quite happy to drink and socialize at home versus Vietnamese, who tend to consume outside the home, Sabeco (Saigon Bev Company)'s sales volume actually went up during this period and lifted <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/thai-beverage-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3656:1" rel="noopener">Thai Beverage (THBEV SP)</a> results, further reiterating that the Thai may be happy to drink at home but the difficult period has dampened their home drinking appetite. Thai Beverage is still trading at a lower valuation to its peak, the current valuation at 17x PER is still higher than 14x forward PER.  The recent Q2 2021 result brought some optimism especially when the management displayed cost savings ability but the spirits and beer outlook remain soft as long as the pandemic is still there.

Stable result in Q2 2021 despite the increasing COVID-19 cases in Thailand from nightclubs and concerts prompting the Thai government to extend the ban for nightlife entertainment. The interesting part is that contrary to Berli Jucker (BJC TB)'s observation that the Thais are quite happy to drink and socialize at home versus Vietnamese, who tend to consume outside the home, Sabeco (Saigon Bev Company)'s sales volume actually went up during this period and lifted Thai Beverage (THBEV SP) results, further reiterating that the Thai may be happy to drink at home but the difficult period has dampened their home drinking appetite. Thai Beverage is still trading at a lower valuation to its peak, the current valuation at 17x PER is still higher than 14x forward PER.  The recent Q2 2021 result brought some optimism especially when the management displayed cost savings ability but the spirits and beer outlook remain soft as long as the pandemic is still there. 

Thai Beverage (THBEV): Weak Quarter Ahead

The two weeks nightlife ban has been put in place by the Thai government and possible further extension if this third wave is not resolved soon enough as the increase in the daily community cases have reached the second wave level. If things do not go under control soon enough, we should expect a stricter measure from the Thai government which means a further extension of the nightlife ban.
<div>Compared to other listed breweries in the region, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/thai-beverage-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3656:1" rel="noopener">Thai Beverage (THBEV SP)</a> is trading at 65% PER discount, 78% PBR discount, and 51% EV/EBITDA discount. Compared to November last year, the valuation gap with the peers remains on the same level with the exception of EV/EBITDA where Thai Bev's high D/E (120%) is the possible cause. </div>
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<div>Compared to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cp-all-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13889:1" rel="noopener">CP ALL PCL (CPALL TB)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/airports-of-thailand-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:239:1" rel="noopener">Airports of Thailand (AOT TB)</a> , Thai Beverage is trading at 50% PER discount, 54% PBR discount, and 24% EV/EBITDA discount - the gap somewhat narrowed but Thai Bev remains undervalued. </div>
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Since 6 months ago, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/thai-beverage-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3656:1" rel="noopener">Thai Beverage (THBEV SP)</a> has been trading at a discount compared to the peers due to the bigger exposure in domestic tourism. With the reinstatement of the nightlife ban, Thai Bev is likely to trade at discount to the peers until the third wave pandemic is solved and vaccination has started to take place.

The two weeks nightlife ban has been put in place by the Thai government and possible further extension if this third wave is not resolved soon enough as the increase in the daily community cases have reached the second wave level. If things do not go under control soon enough, we should expect a stricter measure from the Thai government which means a further extension of the nightlife ban.
Compared to other listed breweries in the region, Thai Beverage (THBEV SP) is trading at 65% PER discount, 78% PBR discount, and 51% EV/EBITDA discount. Compared to November last year, the valuation gap with the peers remains on the same level with the exception of EV/EBITDA where Thai Bev's high D/E (120%) is the possible cause. 

Compared to CP ALL PCL (CPALL TB) and Airports of Thailand (AOT TB) , Thai Beverage is trading at 50% PER discount, 54% PBR discount, and 24% EV/EBITDA discount - the gap somewhat narrowed but Thai Bev remains undervalued. 

Since 6 months ago, Thai Beverage (THBEV SP) has been trading at a discount compared to the peers due to the bigger exposure in domestic tourism. With the reinstatement of the nightlife ban, Thai Bev is likely to trade at discount to the peers until the third wave pandemic is solved and vaccination has started to take place.

Thai Beverage (THBEV): Not the Time to Buy Yet

A conversation with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> management post its recent results revealed a company primed for a rebound as the Thai economy recovers and eventually tourism recovers.
4Q2020 saw some recovery QoQ with the glass and aluminium can businesses only down slightly versus 4Q2019. The was despite major repair (scheduled) to one of the company's glass furnaces in 4Q2020 with a 60-day shutdown.
Demand for aluminium cans was impacted by the lack of tourists and less cross-border trade but boosted by new RTD customers plus the introduction of new can variants, which will continue into 2021. 
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> has already added new aluminium can capacity to take advantage of increased demand in Vietnam from Sabeco. 
Big C continues to suffer from a high-base effect from last year and will also suffer from this in 2Q2021 before YoY comparisons start to improve in 2Q2021. 
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> will resume its store expansion and widespread renovation in 2021, which will support future growth and returns. 
The company is taking a more digital approach to marketing using Nielsen data plus collaborating with platforms such as Food Panda, Happy Fresh, Shopee (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a>), and Lazada to sell more online. 
Competitive pressures remain as always although probably lessening from Tesco as it is slowly rebranded under Lotus, with the main pressure for Big C now coming from government copayment schemes, which have just been extended. 
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a> will start to see much better numbers from 2Q2021 but 1Q2021 should see sequential improvements QoQ, underlining the momentum behind the recovery.  
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berli-jucker-public-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3685:1" rel="noopener">Berli Jucker (BJC TB)</a>trades on 25.5x FY21E PER and 21.6x FY22E PER versus its 5-year aveRage forward PER of 29.4x. The company is also expected to see EPS growth of +44% and +18% for FY21E and FY22E respectively, making it look like an attractive recovery prospect and looks like good value versus peers.

A conversation with Berli Jucker (BJC TB) management post its recent results revealed a company primed for a rebound as the Thai economy recovers and eventually tourism recovers.
4Q2020 saw some recovery QoQ with the glass and aluminium can businesses only down slightly versus 4Q2019. The was despite major repair (scheduled) to one of the company's glass furnaces in 4Q2020 with a 60-day shutdown.
Demand for aluminium cans was impacted by the lack of tourists and less cross-border trade but boosted by new RTD customers plus the introduction of new can variants, which will continue into 2021. 
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) has already added new aluminium can capacity to take advantage of increased demand in Vietnam from Sabeco. 
Big C continues to suffer from a high-base effect from last year and will also suffer from this in 2Q2021 before YoY comparisons start to improve in 2Q2021. 
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) will resume its store expansion and widespread renovation in 2021, which will support future growth and returns. 
The company is taking a more digital approach to marketing using Nielsen data plus collaborating with platforms such as Food Panda, Happy Fresh, Shopee (Sea Ltd (SE US)), and Lazada to sell more online. 
Competitive pressures remain as always although probably lessening from Tesco as it is slowly rebranded under Lotus, with the main pressure for Big C now coming from government copayment schemes, which have just been extended. 
Berli Jucker (BJC TB) will start to see much better numbers from 2Q2021 but 1Q2021 should see sequential improvements QoQ, underlining the momentum behind the recovery.  
Berli Jucker (BJC TB)trades on 25.5x FY21E PER and 21.6x FY22E PER versus its 5-year aveRage forward PER of 29.4x. The company is also expected to see EPS growth of +44% and +18% for FY21E and FY22E respectively, making it look like an attractive recovery prospect and looks like good value versus peers.

Berli Jucker (BJC TB) - Primed for Rebound

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has commenced a market consultation on changing the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/stock-exchange-of-thailand-set-50-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31493:1" rel="noopener">Stock Exchange of Thailand SET 50 Index (SET50 INDEX)</a>, SET100 and SETHD indices to free float market cap weighted indices from the upcoming rebalance in June.The market consultation document is short on detail, but the main points are the change in index calculation from full market cap weighted to free float market cap weighted, implementation of the changes in two tranches at the June and December reviews, and implementation of quarterly changes in free float for moves of +/-5%.The biggest uncertainty for us is whether the selection of the stocks for inclusion/exclusion will use the full market cap or the free float market cap.Using the full market cap for stock selection could see 3 changes at the upcoming June review, while using free float market cap for stock selection could result in up to 6 changes at the review. The two step implementation of the free float changes will dampen the index turnover but it will still be relatively high, ranging from a one-way turnover of 7.8% for changes in free float only to 9.52% if the stock selection methodology uses free float market cap.In this Insight, we look at the proposed changes and enumerate three scenarios, the changes they will entail, the impact on the stocks and the turnover for each scenario.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has commenced a market consultation on changing the Stock Exchange of Thailand SET 50 Index (SET50 INDEX), SET100 and SETHD indices to free float market cap weighted indices from the upcoming rebalance in June.The market consultation document is short on detail, but the main points are the change in index calculation from full market cap weighted to free float market cap weighted, implementation of the changes in two tranches at the June and December reviews, and implementation of quarterly changes in free float for moves of +/-5%.The biggest uncertainty for us is whether the selection of the stocks for inclusion/exclusion will use the full market cap or the free float market cap.Using the full market cap for stock selection could see 3 changes at the upcoming June review, while using free float market cap for stock selection could result in up to 6 changes at the review. The two step implementation of the free float changes will dampen the index turnover but it will still be relatively high, ranging from a one-way turnover of 7.8% for changes in free float only to 9.52% if the stock selection methodology uses free float market cap.In this Insight, we look at the proposed changes and enumerate three scenarios, the changes they will entail, the impact on the stocks and the turnover for each scenario.

SET50 Index - Proposed Methodology Changes: Scenarios, Names Affected & Impact

Thailand

CP ALL PCL operates convenience store chains in Thailand and China.  The Company also owns and operates the a department store chain located primarily in Shanghai city and Chonqing city of China.

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CP ALL PCL (CPALL TB)

Berli Jucker (BJC TB) - Stock-Up for Canned Recovery?

Berli Jucker is an interesting proxy to the consumer recovery in Thailand and South-East Asia, through its packaging, retail, and consumer supply...

Angus Mackintosh

Thai Beverage (THBEV): Weak Quarter Ahead

Q2 2021 result brought some optimism especially when the management displayed cost savings ability but the spirits and beer outlook remain soft as...

Henry Soediarko

Thai Beverage (THBEV): Not the Time to Buy Yet

Thai Bev is likely to trade at discount to the peers until the third wave pandemic is solved and vaccination has started to take place.

Henry Soediarko

Berli Jucker (BJC TB) - Primed for Rebound

Berli Jucker is an interesting proxy for the consumer rebound in Thailand and Vietnam through its consumer packaging, retail, and other consumer...

Angus Mackintosh

SET50 Index - Proposed Methodology Changes: Scenarios, Names Affected & Impact

The SET has commenced a market consultation on the proposed changes to make its indices free float market cap weighted. We look at the impact on...

Brian Freitas

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