China/Asia TMT

Shawn Yang

China growth and global non-US Internet equities

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Research is a Hong Kong Type 4 Licensed investment advisory firm focusing on Chinese growth equities and global non-US Internet equities

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>C2Q23 revenue (1.9%)/2.6% vs. our estimate/consensus, its non-GAAP NI is 18.5%/18.3% higher than estimate/consensus. 1) GPM improvement from revenue mix ; 2) less than expected OPEX from IP licensing fee. </li>
<li>We think Miniso’s strategy to open more flagship stores is in-line with its brand upgrade strategy for seeking price premium beyond value-for-money, which bodes well for its long-term brand value. </li>
<li>We maintain Buy rating and maintain TP at US$26. We raise 2024 EPADS by 6.4% to project lower OPEX with efficiency improvement.</li>
</ul>


C2Q23 revenue (1.9%)/2.6% vs. our estimate/consensus, its non-GAAP NI is 18.5%/18.3% higher than estimate/consensus. 1) GPM improvement from revenue mix ; 2) less than expected OPEX from IP licensing fee. 
We think Miniso’s strategy to open more flagship stores is in-line with its brand upgrade strategy for seeking price premium beyond value-for-money, which bodes well for its long-term brand value. 
We maintain Buy rating and maintain TP at US$26. We raise 2024 EPADS by 6.4% to project lower OPEX with efficiency improvement.


[Miniso Group (MNSO US, BUY, TP US$26) Review]: Strong Demand Support Further Store Openings

<ul>
<li>We expect MNSO to report C2Q23 revenue 4.6% higher than cons and non-GAAP NI in-line with cons. The beat is due to strong sales from larger ticket size &amp;store expansion.  </li>
<li>We think the brand upgrade strategy had effectively drove up Miniso stores’ blended ASP, combined with mild recovery of foot traffic, leading to 46% YoY growth in China revenue.</li>
<li>Besides, we anticipate 37% YoY growth in oversea revenue and 43% YoY growth in total revenue in C2Q23. We maintain Buy rating and raise TP by US$0.5 to US$26.</li>
</ul>


We expect MNSO to report C2Q23 revenue 4.6% higher than cons and non-GAAP NI in-line with cons. The beat is due to strong sales from larger ticket size &amp;store expansion.  
We think the brand upgrade strategy had effectively drove up Miniso stores’ blended ASP, combined with mild recovery of foot traffic, leading to 46% YoY growth in China revenue.
Besides, we anticipate 37% YoY growth in oversea revenue and 43% YoY growth in total revenue in C2Q23. We maintain Buy rating and raise TP by US$0.5 to US$26.


[Miniso Group (MNSO US, BUY, TP US$26) TP Change]: Shifting from Value- To Interest-Based Retailer

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

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.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>After one month from the March batch of Hong Kong Connect inclusion, we provide an analysis on the stock inclusion for 24 stocks. </li>
<li>We analysed the inclusion by performance post announcement, performance post inclusion, inflows and analyst coverage.</li>
<li>This time we observe outperformance when inclusion took place but not between announcement and inclusion. Southbound trade account for a significant portion of the trading volumes, still.</li>
</ul>


After one month from the March batch of Hong Kong Connect inclusion, we provide an analysis on the stock inclusion for 24 stocks. 
We analysed the inclusion by performance post announcement, performance post inclusion, inflows and analyst coverage.
This time we observe outperformance when inclusion took place but not between announcement and inclusion. Southbound trade account for a significant portion of the trading volumes, still.


HK Connect: Mar '22 Inclusion Post-Event Analysis

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Oshadhi Kumarasiri

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.

<ul>
<li>Despite a 15% drop in March 2023, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/miniso-group-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29673:1" rel="noopener">Miniso (MNSO US)</a> remains relatively expensive compared to peers, having rallied 330% between October 2022 and March 2023.</li>
<li>We think this is a good opportunity to short <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/miniso-group-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36659:1" rel="noopener">MINISO Group Holding (9896 HK)</a> as we see around 35% downside purely from a valuation angle.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, red flags like insider selling, Blue Orca's accusations, senior management departures, and a mature domestic market could send the share price back below $5.0.</li>
</ul>


Despite a 15% drop in March 2023, Miniso (MNSO US) remains relatively expensive compared to peers, having rallied 330% between October 2022 and March 2023.
We think this is a good opportunity to short MINISO Group Holding (9896 HK) as we see around 35% downside purely from a valuation angle.
Meanwhile, red flags like insider selling, Blue Orca's accusations, senior management departures, and a mature domestic market could send the share price back below $5.0.


Miniso: Investors Turning a Blind Eye to Red Flags in Miniso

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

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>There are 35 adds and 28 deletes for the Hang Seng Composite Index (HSCI) at the March rebalance to take the number of index constituents up to 527.</li>
<li>We expect 29 of the 35 inclusions to the HSCI will be added to Stock Connect, while 20 of the 28 HSCI deletions will be removed from Southbound Stock Connect.</li>
<li>19 stocks could be deleted from Stock Connect only since their average market cap has dropped below HK$5bn- unless the new threshold of HK$4bn is approved in the next week.</li>
</ul>


There are 35 adds and 28 deletes for the Hang Seng Composite Index (HSCI) at the March rebalance to take the number of index constituents up to 527.
We expect 29 of the 35 inclusions to the HSCI will be added to Stock Connect, while 20 of the 28 HSCI deletions will be removed from Southbound Stock Connect.
19 stocks could be deleted from Stock Connect only since their average market cap has dropped below HK$5bn- unless the new threshold of HK$4bn is approved in the next week.


HSCI Index Rebalance: 35 Adds, 28 Deletes & Changes to Southbound Stock Connect

China

MINISO Group Holding Limited operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, retails home decor, small electronics, textile, accessories, beauty tools, toys, cosmetics, personal care, snacks, fragrance and perfumes, and stationery and gifts. MINISO Group Holding serves customers worldwide.

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MINISO Group Holding (9896 HK)

[Miniso Group (MNSO US, BUY, TP US$26) Review]: Strong Demand Support Further Store Openings

We think Miniso’s strategy to open more flagship stores is in-line with its brand upgrade strategy for seeking price premium beyond value-for...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

[Miniso Group (MNSO US, BUY, TP US$26) TP Change]: Shifting from Value- To Interest-Based Retailer

We expect MNSO to report C2Q23 revenue 4.6% higher than cons and non-GAAP NI in-line with cons. The beat is due to strong sales from larger ticket...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

HK Connect: Mar '22 Inclusion Post-Event Analysis

We analyzed the performance of stocks for the March 2023 batch of Hong Kong Connect inclusion, including the performance post announcement, post...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Miniso: Investors Turning a Blind Eye to Red Flags in Miniso

Investors have overlooked insider selling, Blue Orca's allegations, management departures, and market saturation. Despite this, we see a 35%...

Oshadhi Kumarasiri

HSCI Index Rebalance: 35 Adds, 28 Deletes & Changes to Southbound Stock Connect

There are 35 adds & 28 deletes for the HSCI in March leading to 29 adds & 20 deletes for Stock Connect. 19 index constituents could be dropped from...

Brian Freitas

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