Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Our worst fears regarding Europe has not materialized, and the global economy does seem to be improving. Thai equities (SET index) have rebounded a recent low of 1,535 to its current level of 1,575 in March largely because of the seemingly obscure Dutch election. This is likely to continue if Macron defeats LePenn this month during the French elections. Stocks with high levels of European exposure (eg. Thai Optical, Exotic Foods) may do well in the short run, but we think the real money is in more fundamentally competitive exporters such as Thai Union and tourism plays, which we expect to benefit from both Brexit (for outbound travel) and THAAD (for inbound travel).

Our worst fears regarding Europe has not materialized, and the global economy does seem to be improving. Thai equities (SET index) have rebounded a recent low of 1,535 to its current level of 1,575 in March largely because of the seemingly obscure Dutch election. This is likely to continue if Macron defeats LePenn this month during the French elections. Stocks with high levels of European exposure (eg. Thai Optical, Exotic Foods) may do well in the short run, but we think the real money is in more fundamentally competitive exporters such as Thai Union and tourism plays, which we expect to benefit from both Brexit (for outbound travel) and THAAD (for inbound travel).

Thai Market Update: Europe, Tourism, and More

ASEAN Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Angus Mackintosh

ASEAN Insight Provider

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

<h2>The Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma</h2>In this week's ASEAN offering, I will start with some political commentary highlighting a significant change in the landscape surrounding the second round of the run off in the Jakarta Gubernatorial elections. After the first round, incumbent Governor "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was left with the uphill task of persuading a large portion of his opponent Agus Yudhoyono's supporters (17% of the vote in round one) to come across to him in order to defeat his opponent…

The Week that Was in ASEAN@SmartkarmaIn this week's ASEAN offering, I will start with some political commentary highlighting a significant change in the landscape surrounding the second round of the run off in the Jakarta Gubernatorial elections. After the first round, incumbent Governor "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was left with the uphill task of persuading a large portion of his opponent Agus Yudhoyono's supporters (17% of the vote in round one) to come across to him in order to defeat his opponent…

The Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Reconciliation, BreadTalk and Golf

Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Nicolas Van Broekhoven

Insight Provider

Value-focused bottom-up Asian equity research

NVB Asia Pte Ltd

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Singapore Inc. consumer brands are on sale</li><li>After OSIM and Super Group the next one might be BreadTalk</li><li>Revenue and Gross profit growth has been remarkable last 17 years, CAGR of 40%+</li><li>Net Profit growth and net margin has been lagging due to heavy expansion capex and depreciation charges</li><li>Opportunity to increase bottom line profits is ignored by public markets</li><li>BreadTalk trades at 4.11x 2017 EV/EBITDA and has 3% dividend yield</li><li>57% of enterprise value backed up by property investments which can easily be monetized</li><li>Strategic buyer might see opportunity and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/2154" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2154:1">Minor International Pcl (MINT TB)</a> is logical suitor</li><li>Fair Value between 1.7 and 2 SGD (30-54% upside)</li></ul>

Singapore Inc. consumer brands are on saleAfter OSIM and Super Group the next one might be BreadTalkRevenue and Gross profit growth has been remarkable last 17 years, CAGR of 40%+Net Profit growth and net margin has been lagging due to heavy expansion capex and depreciation chargesOpportunity to increase bottom line profits is ignored by public marketsBreadTalk trades at 4.11x 2017 EV/EBITDA and has 3% dividend yield57% of enterprise value backed up by property investments which can easily be monetizedStrategic buyer might see opportunity and Minor International Pcl (MINT TB) is logical suitorFair Value between 1.7 and 2 SGD (30-54% upside)

Discover Singapore: BreadTalk (BREAD SP EQUITY)

<h2>The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma</h2>In this week's ASEAN weekly, better consumption numbers in Indonesia are a theme, with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/937" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:937">Angus Mackintosh</a>highlighting better numbers for February in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ace-hardware-consumers-are-back-on-the-ground-in-j-town" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:9387">ACE Hardware - Consumers Are Back!</a> and writing about more optimism on mortgages in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/bank-central-asia-surprising-in-its-positivity-on-the-ground-in-j-town" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:9343">Bank Central Asia - Surprising in Its Positivity</a>. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/1006" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:1006">Henry Soediarko</a>  writes on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/23035" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23035">GMA Network Inc (GMA7 PM)</a> which is the second largest TV network in the Philippines, trading on almost a five-year low PER, with a dividend yield of 6.5%.We…

The Week That Was in ASEAN@SmartkarmaIn this week's ASEAN weekly, better consumption numbers in Indonesia are a theme, with Angus Mackintoshhighlighting better numbers for February in ACE Hardware - Consumers Are Back! and writing about more optimism on mortgages in Bank Central Asia - Surprising in Its Positivity. Henry Soediarko  writes on GMA Network Inc (GMA7 PM) which is the second largest TV network in the Philippines, trading on almost a five-year low PER, with a dividend yield of 6.5%.We…

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Consumers, Frontiers, and Mortgages

Investing in high growth Asian frontier economies., Asia Frontier Capital

Scott Osheroff

Investing in high growth Asian frontier economies.

Asia Frontier Capital

Asia Frontier Capital Ltd. is a pioneering fund management company based in Hong Kong that specializes in investing in high growth Asian frontier economies by managing the AFC Asia Frontier Fund , AFC Iraq Fund and the AFC Vietnam Fund.

The AFC Asia Frontier Fund invests in public equities of Asian frontier countries that are seeing increasing consumption due to favorable demographic trends, rising incomes and high GDP growth. The fund invests in listed equities of companies that have their principal business activities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Iraq, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The AFC Asia Frontier Fund is positioned to take advantage of the continuing economic shifts in these countries and offers high returns combined with significant diversification opportunities. This fund is directed by the founder and CEO of Asia Frontier Capital, Thomas Hugger, who has been investing in frontier markets across Asia and Africa for more than 20 years.

The AFC Iraq Fund was launched on the 26th June 2015 and aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation for investors by capturing value and growth potential in the post conflict high-growth & resource rich Iraq market. The fund emphasises long term investment horizon to truly capture the opportunity in Iraq. The fund's investable universe consists of locally listed companies that have their principal business activities in Iraq as well as foreign listed companies that have the majority of the business in Iraq as a whole including the prosperous Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). The AFC Iraq Fund offers access to investments in post conflict recovery potential of Iraq, including the KRI, and/or stability in its territory. The AFC Iraq Fund is managed by Asia Frontier Capital (Iraq) Limited, Cayman Islands under the executive leadership team of Thomas Hugger (CEO & Fund Manager) and Ahmed Tabaqchali (CIO) who have more than 47 years of investment experience as well as an extensive background covering global, emerging, frontier and MENA markets.

The AFC Vietnam Fund invests exclusively in listed Vietnamese equities to capture value in growth companies with a focus on the small to medium size companies. This market segment offers a unique investment opportunity as the valuation gap between large- and small-cap stocks in Vietnam is presently much wider than in comparable neighboring markets and the valuations are significantly depressed versus their regional peers. The fund adopts a fundamental-quantitative approach and employs an in-house earnings model to identify attractive companies where we see high growth opportunities. In conjunction with targeting the maximum upside potential the portfolio has been structured to mitigate corporate government and liquidity risks. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of 70-90 attractively valued companies to carefully control concentration risk.  This approach allows the fund to sell, or buy, positions without having a significant market impact. The fund is directed under the executive leadership of Thomas Hugger and Andreas Vogelsanger who have more than 50 years combined experience managing investments in frontier markets, Asia and around the world.

For more information about the fund, management team and investment strategy please contact us at info@asiafrontiercapital.com.

In line with our process of being on the ground in the countries we invest in, Scott Osheroff, Analyst at Asia Frontier Capital, traveled to Laos to visit portfolio companies and other companies on our shortlist. The photos in this article are all by AFC.

In line with our process of being on the ground in the countries we invest in, Scott Osheroff, Analyst at Asia Frontier Capital, traveled to Laos to visit portfolio companies and other companies on our shortlist. The photos in this article are all by AFC.

Asia Frontier Capital Travel Report: Laos

Thailand

Minor International PCL is a global company focused on three primary businesses including restaurants, hotels and lifestyle brands distribution.

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Minor International (MINT TB)

Thai Market Update: Europe, Tourism, and More

Our worst fears regarding Europe has not materialized, and the global economy does seem to be improving. Thai equities (SET index) have rebounded a...

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

The Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Reconciliation, BreadTalk and Golf

The Week that Was in ASEAN@SmartkarmaIn this week's ASEAN offering, I will start with some political commentary highlighting a significant change...

Angus Mackintosh

Discover Singapore: BreadTalk (BREAD SP EQUITY)

Singapore Inc. consumer brands are on sale After OSIM and Super Group the next one might be BreadTalk Revenue and Gross profit growth has been...

Nicolas Van Broekhoven

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Consumers, Frontiers, and Mortgages

The Week That Was in ASEAN@SmartkarmaIn this week's ASEAN weekly, better consumption numbers in Indonesia are a theme, with Angus...

Angus Mackintosh

Asia Frontier Capital Travel Report: Laos

In line with our process of being on the ground in the countries we invest in, Scott Osheroff, Analyst at Asia Frontier Capital, traveled to Laos...

Asia Frontier Capital

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