Daily China: Autohome (ATHM): Commission Conflict with Dealers, as Auto Industry Suffers First Decline Since 1990 and more

In this briefing:

1. Autohome (ATHM): Commission Conflict with Dealers, as Auto Industry Suffers First Decline Since 1990
2. China Housing: Are Prices Rising Faster Or Slower?
3. Early Investors Say “Xiaomi The Money” Post LockUp Expiry

1. Autohome (ATHM): Commission Conflict with Dealers, as Auto Industry Suffers First Decline Since 1990

• China vehicle sales volume declined in 2018, which was the first time since 1990.
• Car dealers are negotiating commission rate with Autohome.
• We believe Autohome has more bargaining power than dealers, but will compromise to some extent.
• Our previous financial assumptions had already integrate the potential weakness in automobile industry.
• The stock price has been fully reflected the impact of the negotiation.

2. China Housing: Are Prices Rising Faster Or Slower?

Today’s data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on new home prices for 70 major cities shows on average an accelerating year-on-year price growth and a slower month-on-month increase. This contrasts with a picture of a slowing price growth based on a different index from SouFun-CREIS.

3. Early Investors Say “Xiaomi The Money” Post LockUp Expiry

Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK) is likely to break HK$10 this morning again after a placement equal to about 1% of shares outstanding was proposed to buyers last night at a sharp discount to the close. This insight attempts to nail down the shape and size of the ongoing overhang.

After the HK Stock Exchange announced in late April 2018 that it would permit companies with Weighted Voting Rights (WVRs) to list on the HKEx, after sticking to the one-share one-vote principle for years (losing the Alibaba Group Holding (BABA US) listing to NASDAQ in the process), Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK) quickly raised its hand with the prospect of a US$10bn IPO and a US$100bn market cap – heady numbers even for a fast-growing company. This was quickly followed by the launch of the China Depositary Receipt program which saw a quick establishment and even quicker acceptance of a Xiaomi application, potentially setting up a situation where demand was pulled from HK to China. 

Then investors got cold feet, and what was a $100bn valuation dropped to $90bn then $70bn.  The CSRC also pushed back on the possible CDR issuance to such an extent that Xiaomi withdrew its application, and then pricing delivered a valuation of approximately US$50bn at a sharply reduced IPO price of HK$17/share. 

Day1 saw a 6% fall on the open and the shares closed down 1%. After the Day 1 close, fast-track inclusion into the Hang Seng indices was a pleasant and somewhat unexpected surprise for IPO buyers and responded by rising almost 12% on Day 2 on sharply higher volume. MSCI did not follow suit (it had not been expected) but several days later on inclusion day, the stock was 25% higher than the IPO price. 10 days later the over-allotment option had been fully-exercised.

Xiaomi last year grew its ecosystem and its hardware base, but saw lower market share in China (13%) than in 2017 (14%) according to several sources, including Counterpoint Research quoted in the media. The company, which has targeted 50% of revenue from overseas is now just shy of that mark at 44% after ramping up sales in India, Europe, and MENA. 

Global weakness in handsets on mobile tech led by Apple did not spare Xiaomi, but MOST notable was the sharp drop in the share price in December from HK$14.30-50 area to just below HK$13 at year end. The first day of the new year saw the shares fall 5.5%, and the next day the price fell another 3.6%. The shares fell a little more in the next few days but somewhat stabilised until the morning of the 8th. 

Then the volume picked up. The lockup had expired.  

In five days, the shares have traded 880mm shares, and that is before a large placement proposed after the close on 15th January. 

“Xiaomi The Money” was the title of David Blennerhassett‘s initial pre-IPO insight ( Xiaomi The Money!), followed when details came out by Xiaomi the Ecosystem!