In this briefing:
- GrainCorp (GNC AU): Better Late than Never Move to Get an LTAP Binding Proposal
- Sea Ltd Placement – Capitalizing on Momentum
- HK Connect Discovery – February Snapshot (Tencent, COFCO Meat)
- Rakuten (4755) Lyft Lifts Shares Price but There Is Much Further to Go.
- JKN: 4Q18 Earnings Grew Both YoY and QoQ
1. GrainCorp (GNC AU): Better Late than Never Move to Get an LTAP Binding Proposal
Graincorp Ltd A (GNC AU)‘s ability to generate shareholder value remains in doubt as LTAP enters its fourth month of due diligence. Yesterday, GrainCorp announced the first result (but overdue) of its portfolio review – the deal to sell its Australian bulk liquid terminals business to ANZ Terminals for A$350 million.
The option with the highest potential to unlock shareholder value remains the LTAP bid. The sale of the Australian bulk liquid terminals business would represent 13% of the current EV which in the absence of an LTAP bid, is unlikely to sustain GrainCorp’s current rating. However, we believe that the proposed sale is a necessary step to push LTAP towards a binding proposal.
2. Sea Ltd Placement – Capitalizing on Momentum
Sea Ltd (SE US) is looking to raise about US$1.2bn in its upcoming placement. It will be larger than its IPO in 2017, which raised about US$880m.
The deal scores well on our framework owing to decent valuation, strong price and earnings momentum but had little track record for comparison. The company announced a strong set of FY2018/Q4 2018 results which had beaten estimates.
Even though, the deal size is large, representing 23.2 days of three-month ADV, there is enough time between the announcement to the end of the bookbuild to price in the impact of the placement.
3. HK Connect Discovery – February Snapshot (Tencent, COFCO Meat)
This is a monthly version of our HK Connect Weekly note, in which I highlight Hong Kong-listed companies leading the southbound flow weekly. Over the past month, we have seen the outflow continue from January. In February, we have seen Chinese investors were selling Tencent in February after buying Tencent in January. Chinese investors were also buying domestic automotive manufacturers and Macau gaming sectors.
Our February Coverage of Hong Kong Connect southbound flow
- HK Connect Discovery Weekly: China Tower, Geely, COFCO Meat (2019-02-15)
- HK Connect Discovery Weekly: Geely, Great Wall Motor and Sands China (2019-02-22)
4. Rakuten (4755) Lyft Lifts Shares Price but There Is Much Further to Go.
Assuming a sum of the parts valuation the shares are cheap. We can assume the fintech business is worth perhaps Y800-900bn (based on 10x ebit, similar to Credit Saison), the domestic e-commerce operation (which makes an operating profit of about Y70bn on revenue of Y450bn) is worth perhaps Y1.2tr (assuming a valuation of 3x sales vs. 3.5x for Amazon). There are other parts of the business which detract and there are others, including a Y350bn plus investment portfolio which add but overall, all this compares with a market cap of a mere Y1.3tr. This suggests the market is thinking that Rakuten is more than throwing its MNO investment of Y600bn away. Given the Governments desire to reduce prices in the mobile market, and its desire for 4 operators, we would suggest this is overly negative. The recent announcement that Lyft will seek an IPO has lifted the share price given its 10% stake in this name (rumoured valuation of $23bn vs. $15bn currently), but we suspect the shares have much further to run. The market knows earnings will be depressed for the next 2 years or so but does not anticipate any recovery thereafter it would appear.
5. JKN: 4Q18 Earnings Grew Both YoY and QoQ
The company’s 4Q18 net profit was at Bt46m (+298%YoY and +8%QoQ). The result was in line with our 2018 forecast and accounted for 97% of our full-year forecast.
- A YoY surge in earnings was due to a 30% increase in revenue to Bt360m, mainly from export revenue (50% revenue contribution in 3Q18 from 0% in 4Q17). A QoQ gain was caused a reduction in extra expenses for holding an annual event ‘JKN mega showcase’ in early August.
- 2019 earnings outlook is still decent on the back of 1.) higher revenue contribution from export market especially South East Asia (26% of revenue in 2018), 2.) CNBC studio commencement in 2Q19, and, 3.) revenue recognition from new channel subscribers (No.5, Thairath, Spring news, True4U, Nation and MONO)
We maintain our forecast and BUY rating for JKN with a target price of Bt8.80 based on 14.8xPE’19E mean of the Asia ex-Japan Consumer Discretionary Sector.
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