Alpha-Centric ESG Research

Kyle Rudden

On 23 July, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/jason-yap-cfa" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:24996" rel="noopener">Jason Yap</a> publised an excellent Insight titled <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/bnpl-industry-through-an-esg-lens" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:54887" rel="noopener">BNPL Industry Through an ESG Lens</a>. His knowledge of the "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) industry per se is well beyond mine, so I defer to his report for fundamentals on the industry and its companies.I do, however, have a few thoughts to add regarding ESG. Whilst Jason is spot-on for ESG issues he covered, I want to: 1) point out a potential ESG positive related to inclusive finance and sustainable development, and 2) expand on a major ESG negative associated with advertising and marketing.This is a deep dive into a few specific ESG issues, and hopefully complementary to Jason's work.

On 23 July, Jason Yap publised an excellent Insight titled BNPL Industry Through an ESG Lens. His knowledge of the "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) industry per se is well beyond mine, so I defer to his report for fundamentals on the industry and its companies.I do, however, have a few thoughts to add regarding ESG. Whilst Jason is spot-on for ESG issues he covered, I want to: 1) point out a potential ESG positive related to inclusive finance and sustainable development, and 2) expand on a major ESG negative associated with advertising and marketing.This is a deep dive into a few specific ESG issues, and hopefully complementary to Jason's work.

ESG and BNPL: Whether It's "Buy Now, Pay Later" Or "Buy, Not Pay Later" Makes All the Difference

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Singapore's manufacturing sector saw a reduced contraction of 0.7% in the first five months of 2024, improving from a 4.3% contraction the previous year.</li><li>The iEdge SG Adv Manufacturing Index has also booked more than S$90 million of net institutional inflow in 2024 (up to 8 July) led by net inflows to YZJ Shipbldg, ST Engineering, Venture, SATS and ThaiBev, while Beng Kuang Marine, Dyna-Mac, Frencken, Global Invacom and Marco Polo Marine saw highest net inflow relative to market cap.</li><li>Leading the net institutional inflow for the 2024 year (up to 8 July) within the iEdge SG Advanced Manufacturing Index, were five STI stocks Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Venture Corporation, SATS and Thai Beverage: https://investors.sgx.com/securities/stocks?security=BS6 maintains an ROE of 21% and P/B of 4x, compared its 5-year average P/B of 0.9x.</li></ul>

Singapore's manufacturing sector saw a reduced contraction of 0.7% in the first five months of 2024, improving from a 4.3% contraction the previous year.The iEdge SG Adv Manufacturing Index has also booked more than S$90 million of net institutional inflow in 2024 (up to 8 July) led by net inflows to YZJ Shipbldg, ST Engineering, Venture, SATS and ThaiBev, while Beng Kuang Marine, Dyna-Mac, Frencken, Global Invacom and Marco Polo Marine saw highest net inflow relative to market cap.Leading the net institutional inflow for the 2024 year (up to 8 July) within the iEdge SG Advanced Manufacturing Index, were five STI stocks Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Venture Corporation, SATS and Thai Beverage: https://investors.sgx.com/securities/stocks?security=BS6 maintains an ROE of 21% and P/B of 4x, compared its 5-year average P/B of 0.9x.

Market Mechanics: Evaluating Singapore's Manufacturing and Equities

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>It's just a question of when, not if, the bubble bursts for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pt-barito-renewables-energy-tbk" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40150:1" rel="noopener">Barito Renewables Energy (BREN IJ)</a>, which is up 1,200% since it October 2023 IPO. </li>
<li>A Reuters article suggests a ¥500bn secondary offering for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/honda-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:154:1" rel="noopener">Honda Motor (7267 JP)</a>. Honda has since said there is smoke. And we can assume there is fire.</li>
<li>Loo Choon Yong, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/raffles-medical-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:879:1" rel="noopener">Raffles Medical Group (RFMD SP)</a>'s founder and major shareholder, continues to chip away at minorities, and now holds 54.944%,</li>
</ul>


It's just a question of when, not if, the bubble bursts for Barito Renewables Energy (BREN IJ), which is up 1,200% since it October 2023 IPO. 
A Reuters article suggests a ¥500bn secondary offering for Honda Motor (7267 JP). Honda has since said there is smoke. And we can assume there is fire.
Loo Choon Yong, Raffles Medical Group (RFMD SP)'s founder and major shareholder, continues to chip away at minorities, and now holds 54.944%,


Last Week in Event SPACE: Barito Renewables, Honda, Raffles Medical, Daidoh, Hanwha Corp

<ul>
<li>I tally 49 - mostly firm, mostly Asia-Pac - transactions currently being discussed and analysed on Smartkarma. Inside is a timetable of upcoming key events for each deal.</li>
<li>Just one new deal was discussed this week on Smartkarma: <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sermsuk-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15918:1" rel="noopener">Sermsuk PCL (SSC TB)</a>'s Delisting Offer. There are also rumours of an Offer for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/raffles-medical-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:879:1" rel="noopener">Raffles Medical Group (RFMD SP)</a>.</li>
<li>Key updates took place on: <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/l-occitane-international-sa" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6772:1" rel="noopener">L'Occitane (973 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shinko-electric-industries" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15066:1" rel="noopener">Shinko Electric Industries (6967 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mma-offshore-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:594:1" rel="noopener">MMA Offshore (MRM AU)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hollysys-automation-technologies" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26078:1" rel="noopener">Hollysys Automation Technologies (HOLI US)</a>.</li>
</ul>


I tally 49 - mostly firm, mostly Asia-Pac - transactions currently being discussed and analysed on Smartkarma. Inside is a timetable of upcoming key events for each deal.
Just one new deal was discussed this week on Smartkarma: Sermsuk PCL (SSC TB)'s Delisting Offer. There are also rumours of an Offer for Raffles Medical Group (RFMD SP).
Key updates took place on: L'Occitane (973 HK), Shinko Electric Industries (6967 JP), MMA Offshore (MRM AU), and Hollysys Automation Technologies (HOLI US).


(Mostly) Asia-Pac M&A: Sermsuk, L'Occitane, Shinko Electric, MMA Offshore, Hollysys

<ul>
<li>
<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 proposing to take 64.67%-held <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sermsuk-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15918:1" rel="noopener">Sermsuk PCL (SSC TB)</a>  private by way of a voluntary Delisting Offer.</li>
<li>T<a href="https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Tender_Offer_SSC_Shares.ashx?App=Announcement&amp;FileID=808724" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he Offer price is THB 63/share</a>, a 27.9% premium to last close.</li>
<li>This Delisting Offer requires a Scheme-like shareholder vote. Payment may occur late 4Q24. This is an illiquid arb.</li>
</ul>



Thai Beverage (THBEV SP) is proposing to take 64.67%-held Sermsuk PCL (SSC TB)  private by way of a voluntary Delisting Offer.
The Offer price is THB 63/share, a 27.9% premium to last close.
This Delisting Offer requires a Scheme-like shareholder vote. Payment may occur late 4Q24. This is an illiquid arb.


Sermsuk (SSC TB): THBEV's Delisting Offer

Singapore

Fraser and Neave Limited is principally engaged in the food and beverage, and printing and publishing business. The Company's principal activities include the production and sale of beverages, which includes soft drinks, beer, stout, and dairy products; and printing and publishing.

Wilmar International Ltd. is an agribusiness company. The Company is involved in oil palm cultivation, edible oils refining, oilseeds crushing, consumer pack edible oils processing and merchandising, specialty fats, oleochemicals and biodiesel manufacturing, and grains processing and merchandising. Wilmar also manufactures and distributes fertilizers and owns a fleet of vessels.

Golden Agri-Resources Limited cultivates, harvests, processes, distributes, and sells crude palm oil and palm kernel.  The Company also refines crude palm oil into cooking oil, margarine, and shortening for sale and distribution.

Established in 1992 and listed on the Singapore Exchange since 2007, First Resources is one of the leading palm oil producers in the region, managing over 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia.

Our core business activities include cultivating oil palms, harvesting the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and milling them into crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK). In addition to plantations and palm oil mills, the Group through its refinery, fractionation, biodiesel and kernel crushing plants, processes its CPO and PK production into higher value palm-based products such as biodiesel, refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) olein and RBD stearin, palm kernel oil and palm kernel expeller. This enables the Group to extract maximum value out of our upstream plantation assets. Our products are sold to both local and international markets.

First Resources is committed to the production of sustainable palm oil. Our sustainability strategy is centred upon maximising output while minimising the adverse environmental and social impact from our operations. We will constantly strengthen our sustainability framework through regular benchmarking against industry standards and best practices.

Del Monte Pacific Limited produces and markets packaged vegetable and fruit, beverage and culinary products. The Group has the exclusive right to use the Del Monte brand for packaged products in the USA, South America, Philippines, the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar, and the S&W brand for both packaged and fresh products globally except Australia and New Zealand.

Bumitama Agri is a leading producer of crude palm oil and palm kernel in Indonesia. The Group is principally engaged in the cultivation of oil palm trees, as well as the harvesting and processing of fresh palm fruit bunches into CPO and PK. It was founded in 1996 and listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2012. 

Past extensification efforts, combined with continuous improvement in production processes, have bolstered Bumitama’s FFB (internally sourced) and CPO production volumes to climb significantly over the last ten years, with a CAGR of 11.8%. The Group has consistently stayed on the path towards achieving higher yields and extraction rates by investing in research and development, technology, and best practices in cultivation of oil palm. These efforts have made the Group one of the most efficient producers in the industry today, boasting a CPO yield of 4.2 tonnes per ha in 2021.

In recognition of its operations’ superiority, the Group has received numerous accolades which include having listed as Forbes Asia’s 200 Best Under a Billion 2013, earned Frost & Sullivan Indonesia’s Excellence Award in 2014, and obtained the Best Managed Small Cap Company in 2016 and the Most Outstanding Company in Singapore for the Decade (2010-2019) in 2019 from Asiamoney.

Japfa Ltd. operates in the agricultural industry. The Company breeds and processes chicken, pork and beef. Japfa also operates dairy farms.

Food Empire Holdings Limited manufactures and markets instant beverage products, frozen convenience food, confectionery and snack food. The Company exports its products to markets such as Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Indochina.

Petra Foods Limited manufactures and distributes branded consumer products, primarily chocolate confectionery, across Southeast Asia.

Indofood Agri Resources Limited is an integrated agribusiness company. The Company and its subsidiaries are involved in research and development, oil palm seed breeding, oil palm cultivation and milling. Indofood Agri Resources also refines, brands and markets cooking oil, margarine, shortening and other palm oil products.

China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited is an alcoholic beverage retailer.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Southbank, Victoria, Australia. The Company's line of business includes vineyard operations and international marketing and distribution of wine.

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited produces and distributes beer products.  The Company markets its products throughout China and around the world under the Tsingtao Beer brand name.

United Spirits Ltd. manufactures and distributes alcoholic beverages. The Company provides a variety of alcohols and spirits, including whiskey, brandy, and rum. United Spirits also manufactures indian-made foreign liquor brands. United Spirits serves customers worldwide.

Molson Coors Brewing Company operates as a brewing company. The Company brews and produces beer. Molson Coors Brewing serves customers worldwide.

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd manufacture and sells beverages and food products worldwide. The company is a part of Suntory Holdings ltd.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes nonalcoholic beverages such as energy drinks, bottled water, tea, ready-to-drink coffee, enhanced water, juices, and sports drinks.

Coca Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (COKE US)

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited produces beer, soft drinks, food products, whisky, and pharmaceuticals.  The Company sells its products in Japan and overseas.

Coca-Cola Icecek AS bottles and distributes carbonated soft drinks and noncarbonated beverages.

Anhui Yingjia Distillery Co., Ltd. develops, produces and sells liquor products. The Company operates in China.

Thai Beverage Public Company Limited produces a wide range of branded beer and spirits in Thailand.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Thai Beverage (THBEV SP)

ESG and BNPL: Whether It's "Buy Now, Pay Later" Or "Buy, Not Pay Later" Makes All the Difference

This delves into a few specific ESG issues highly material to BNPL companies. It is intended as a complement to Jason Yaps excellent comprehensive...

Kyle Rudden

Market Mechanics: Evaluating Singapore's Manufacturing and Equities

Singapore's manufacturing sector saw a reduced contraction of 0.7% in the first five months of 2024, improving from a 4.3% contraction the...

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Last Week in Event SPACE: Barito Renewables, Honda, Raffles Medical, Daidoh, Hanwha Corp

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a coffee, grab a comfortable seat, and sift through a brief summary of insights on various events discussed...

David Blennerhassett

(Mostly) Asia-Pac M&A: Sermsuk, L'Occitane, Shinko Electric, MMA Offshore, Hollysys

This insight provides a summary of gross/annualised spreads (on deals discussed on Smartkarma) across Asia-Pacific as at the last trading date, and...

David Blennerhassett

Sermsuk (SSC TB): THBEV's Delisting Offer

This is done. The Offer Price is fair. Assuming completion early January 2025, I'd buy around THB 58.50, a 7% gross spread, or 15% annualised.

David Blennerhassett

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)