HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Jan excavator and wheel loader sales surged 97.2% YoY and 52.4% YoY, respectively, kicking off the year with a solid momentum. While a low base has partly contributed to the surge, this is not the entire reason as we found underlying demand very encouraging. Domestic market maintained its strength, and export sales growth rate has also improved against Dec 2020. All in all, the initial figures point to a robust year in 2021.Commencement of massive infrastructure projects and good order book of engine and equipment suppliers suggest continuation of the impressive growth pace in 1H21. Despite an 18.8% rise in share price YTD, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lonking-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3944:1" rel="noopener">Lonking Holdings (3339 HK)</a> is still trading on just 5.2x PER and an attractive 10.4% dividend yield for FY21F, and we see the stock stay appealing.

Jan excavator and wheel loader sales surged 97.2% YoY and 52.4% YoY, respectively, kicking off the year with a solid momentum. While a low base has partly contributed to the surge, this is not the entire reason as we found underlying demand very encouraging. Domestic market maintained its strength, and export sales growth rate has also improved against Dec 2020. All in all, the initial figures point to a robust year in 2021.Commencement of massive infrastructure projects and good order book of engine and equipment suppliers suggest continuation of the impressive growth pace in 1H21. Despite an 18.8% rise in share price YTD, Lonking Holdings (3339 HK) is still trading on just 5.2x PER and an attractive 10.4% dividend yield for FY21F, and we see the stock stay appealing. 

China Construction Machinery: An Excellent Start for a Sustained Uptrend in This Year

Equity Bottom-Up

For FY20, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lonking-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3944:1" rel="noopener">Lonking Holdings (3339 HK)</a> has managed to reduce its sales growth gap against industry in its key product categories when compared with 1H20. This will support the company to deliver a growth in core profit for the full-year as guided after the interim result, reversing the trend of a declining core profit in 1H20. Assuming it to maintain its payout ratio, the stock now sits on 9.9% dividend yield with a high ROE of 19.1%.As for FY21, Lonking's outlook is robust as it expects a strong leap in excavator sales and good recovery in export momentum, driven primarily by better fixed asset investment for infrastructure and resurgence in overseas economies. With minimal capex for next 2 years, it will continue to accumulate cash on the back of sound profitability - we see sound FCF yield of 19% for current year.

For FY20, Lonking Holdings (3339 HK) has managed to reduce its sales growth gap against industry in its key product categories when compared with 1H20. This will support the company to deliver a growth in core profit for the full-year as guided after the interim result, reversing the trend of a declining core profit in 1H20. Assuming it to maintain its payout ratio, the stock now sits on 9.9% dividend yield with a high ROE of 19.1%.As for FY21, Lonking's outlook is robust as it expects a strong leap in excavator sales and good recovery in export momentum, driven primarily by better fixed asset investment for infrastructure and resurgence in overseas economies. With minimal capex for next 2 years, it will continue to accumulate cash on the back of sound profitability - we see sound FCF yield of 19% for current year. 

Lonking (3339 HK): Company Suggests Robust Outlook for 2021

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China's construction machinery industry concluded 2020 with very solid sales growth of 56.4% for excavators and 10.2% for wheel loaders in Dec. Even on the back of the COVID-19 disruption early in the year, full-year growth still reached 39% and 6%, respectively. While domestic sales continued to hover at high levels in the month, we witnessed a pick up in the export momentum in Dec versus Nov.
In our view, the solid demand growth will extend well into FY21 as overseas demand strengthens and domestic demand sustains their boost by infrastructure investments. We believe outlook for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sany-heavy-industry-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20183:1" rel="noopener">Sany Heavy Industry (600031 CH)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xcmg-construction-machin-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:426:1" rel="noopener">Xcmg Construction Machin A (000425 CH)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zoomlion-heavy-industry-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7817:1" rel="noopener">Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lonking-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3944:1" rel="noopener">Lonking Holdings (3339 HK)</a> continue to be encouraging in 2021 after a marvelous 2020.
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China's construction machinery industry concluded 2020 with very solid sales growth of 56.4% for excavators and 10.2% for wheel loaders in Dec. Even on the back of the COVID-19 disruption early in the year, full-year growth still reached 39% and 6%, respectively. While domestic sales continued to hover at high levels in the month, we witnessed a pick up in the export momentum in Dec versus Nov.
In our view, the solid demand growth will extend well into FY21 as overseas demand strengthens and domestic demand sustains their boost by infrastructure investments. We believe outlook for Sany Heavy Industry (600031 CH), Xcmg Construction Machin A (000425 CH), Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK) and Lonking Holdings (3339 HK) continue to be encouraging in 2021 after a marvelous 2020.


China Construction Machinery: Good to the Last Drop

Managing Director

Elan Gore

TMI Data Science

TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade & traditional media.  Our proprietary software, TMI Machine, is a text-mining platform designed with the buy-side & capital markets professional in mind, text-mining the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income & individual equities.  TMI provides custom leading indicators and systematic trading strategies, operating at the nexus of linguistics & statistics drawing on vast experience in investment banking and hedge fund settings in senior quantitative and fundamental roles.  

TMI Data Science was founded by Elan Gore, an award-winning Senior Global Basic Materials Equity Analyst & China Economist with 15 years of experience in North American hedge funds & institutional managers; and Alessandro Porrino, Ph.D., an Algorithmic Trading Analyst and Programmer with 10 years of front-office experience ranging from complex FX option pricing to auto-hedging strategies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered.  Mr. Gore holds an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business, and Mr. Porrino holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Brunel University London.

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>In the first week of 2021, TMI's machinery sentiment indicators hit their highest levels since pre-pandemic readings, attributed to recent bullish commentary from the likes of Sany Heavy, Hengli Hydraulic, Zoomlion and the CCMA (China Construction Machinery Association); the indicators have been strongly correlated with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/caterpillar-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:697:1" rel="noopener">Caterpillar Inc (CAT US)</a> , <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/komatsu-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8416:1" rel="noopener">Komatsu Ltd (6301 JP)</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zoomlion-heavy-industry-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7817:1" rel="noopener">Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK) </a> with a slight lead</li>
<li>On Friday, Komatsu reported Komtrax equipment utilization data for December, highlighting sharply stronger average hours of machinery use Y/Y comps in key jurisdictions</li>
<li>The CCMA recently pointed out that Chinese OEMs expect 2021 demand to range from high single-digits to 15% Y/Y while the association expects a range of 8-10% supported by continued robust infrastructure FAI</li>
<li>Komatsu's European data indicates potential positive surprise with a second month of +4% Y/Y growth, despite weaker EU Construction PMI readings throughout Q4</li>
<li>US data also highlights a first positive utilization comp in over a year, despite still-tentative construction spending data and slippage in the ABI index</li>
<li>Japanese machinery utilization also bounced back in December to its best Y/Y comp in more than a year, with elevated public sector construction in progress and a potential inflection in housing starts</li>
<li>Given such a robust starting point for 2021, markets are more likely to look through seasonal air pockets going into Spring</li>
</ul>


In the first week of 2021, TMI's machinery sentiment indicators hit their highest levels since pre-pandemic readings, attributed to recent bullish commentary from the likes of Sany Heavy, Hengli Hydraulic, Zoomlion and the CCMA (China Construction Machinery Association); the indicators have been strongly correlated with Caterpillar Inc (CAT US) , Komatsu Ltd (6301 JP) &amp; Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK)  with a slight lead
On Friday, Komatsu reported Komtrax equipment utilization data for December, highlighting sharply stronger average hours of machinery use Y/Y comps in key jurisdictions
The CCMA recently pointed out that Chinese OEMs expect 2021 demand to range from high single-digits to 15% Y/Y while the association expects a range of 8-10% supported by continued robust infrastructure FAI
Komatsu's European data indicates potential positive surprise with a second month of +4% Y/Y growth, despite weaker EU Construction PMI readings throughout Q4
US data also highlights a first positive utilization comp in over a year, despite still-tentative construction spending data and slippage in the ABI index
Japanese machinery utilization also bounced back in December to its best Y/Y comp in more than a year, with elevated public sector construction in progress and a potential inflection in housing starts
Given such a robust starting point for 2021, markets are more likely to look through seasonal air pockets going into Spring


TMI Snapshot: Machinery Sentiment at Pre-COVID High as Komtrax Data Shows Synchronized Global Surge

Even with an extremely strong sales performance in this year, the excavator industry is still expecting promising outlook for 2021, with the projected sales growth ranging between 5% and 20%.  The positive tone of the industry should bode well for China's construction machinery sector in next year - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sany-heavy-industry-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20183:1" rel="noopener">Sany Heavy Industry (600031 CH)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xcmg-construction-machin-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:426:1" rel="noopener">Xcmg Construction Machin A (000425 CH)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zoomlion-heavy-industry-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7817:1" rel="noopener">Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lonking-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3944:1" rel="noopener">Lonking Holdings (3339 HK)</a>.As for Nov, excavator sales growth sustained the powerful trend with a 68% YoY increase, driven partly by a recovery in export momentum. Wheel loader sales have moderated lightly to 7.4% in the month, but remained ahead of the 11M20 growth rate of 5.8%. We like Lonking's quality management and sound financial position. The stock now trades on attractive 4.8x PER, 0.81x P/B and 11.3% yield for FY20, with net cash amounting to 31% of its market cap.

Even with an extremely strong sales performance in this year, the excavator industry is still expecting promising outlook for 2021, with the projected sales growth ranging between 5% and 20%.  The positive tone of the industry should bode well for China's construction machinery sector in next year - Sany Heavy Industry (600031 CH), Xcmg Construction Machin A (000425 CH), Zoomlion Heavy Industry H (1157 HK) and Lonking Holdings (3339 HK).As for Nov, excavator sales growth sustained the powerful trend with a 68% YoY increase, driven partly by a recovery in export momentum. Wheel loader sales have moderated lightly to 7.4% in the month, but remained ahead of the 11M20 growth rate of 5.8%. We like Lonking's quality management and sound financial position. The stock now trades on attractive 4.8x PER, 0.81x P/B and 11.3% yield for FY20, with net cash amounting to 31% of its market cap.

China Construction Machinery: Industry Players Expressed Bullish Outlook for 2021

China

SANY Heavy Industry Co., Ltd manufactures and markets construction and engineering machinery and related parts. The Company produces and sells concrete pumps, concrete pump vehicles, road rollers, pavers, and other related products. Sany Heavy Industry markets its products worldwide.

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Sany Heavy Industry (600031 CH)

China Construction Machinery: An Excellent Start for a Sustained Uptrend in This Year

Excavator and wheel loader sales growth rates reached a monthly high in Jan since Jan-2018, suggesting excellent demand momentum. Lonking is an...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Lonking (3339 HK): Company Suggests Robust Outlook for 2021

Lonking successfully narrowed sales growth gap against industry in FY20 and painted a robust picture for product demand in FY21. Strong net cash is...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Construction Machinery: Good to the Last Drop

Strong unit sales of excavators (+56.4%) and wheel loaders (+10.2%) in Dec and recovery in export momentum suggested a positive trend for the start...

Osbert Tang, CFA

TMI Snapshot: Machinery Sentiment at Pre-COVID High as Komtrax Data Shows Synchronized Global Surge

TMI's Machinery Sentiment Indicators are now back to pre-pandemic levels, while Komatsu's Friday release of Komtrax machinery utilization hours...

Elan Gore

China Construction Machinery: Industry Players Expressed Bullish Outlook for 2021

Industry expectation of 5-20% growth in excavator sales in 2021 is bullish to China's construction machinery sector; and while not the largest...

Osbert Tang, CFA

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