Daily Brief Consumer: Exedy Corp, Vesync, Global Digital Niaga Tbk PT, JD.com Inc (ADR), SGX Rubber Future TSR20, TSE Tokyo Price Index TOPIX, Culp Inc, National World, Herbalife Ltd and more

• Exedy Corp (7278 JP) announced an offering of 36% of its shares at end-May. Long-time “owner” Aisin (7259 JP) was getting out. Since then, the company has bought back shares.
• Activist Murakami Group has bought 27% of the company. Between Murakami and the buyback, the public has net sold 5% of the company since end-March. Kinda shocking.
• There is another 35% of Max Real World Float to buy back, and at current pace, they’ll be done by mid-March 2025. Then what? That’s the really big question.

• Vesync (2148 HK), a manufacturer of small home appliance, is currently suspended pursuant to the Takeovers Code. 
• FY23 was Vesync’s best result since its December 2020 listing; and FY24E is on track to go one better.  Yet the share price is 24% adrift of the IPO price.
• The Yang family, led by chairman/CEO, control ~69.26% of Vesync. An Offer price around the IPO price may be enough to take Vesync private.

• A recent meeting with Global Digital Niaga (BELI IJ) looking at its longer-term strategy confirmed its differentiated standing, with a keen focus on an omnichannel strategy across key verticals.
• The restructuring of its 1P business is yielding positive returns and higher margins, whilst its 3P business is being driven by strong performance from tiket.com, with offline stores performing well.
• BELI recently opened a new 100,000 sqm distribution centre, which will further underpin its logistics excellence and improve delivery times even further. Valuations are attractive with profitability ahead in FY2025.

• JD.com is a profitable Chinese e-commerce company trading below its cash value
• Despite challenges in China’s retail market and competition from rivals, JD.com offers a potential 2x-3x upside over the next two years
• Stock has fallen approximately 20% since last write-up, presenting a good opportunity for investors

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.

• 79% of ELTs consumed by end-use markets, up 10.5%
• Tire-derived fuel tops ELT use, followed by ground rubber
• Sumitomo Rubber USA announces closing of Buffalo plant

• From FY3/2027, companies with market capitalization of over 3 trillion yen will be required to disclose GHG sequentially. 76% of companies with market capitalization of over 500 billion yen disclose.
• A guarantee program is scheduled to be introduced in FY3/2028, but only 21% of companies with market capitalization of over 500 billion yen have disclosed their guarantees.
• The guarantee program will begin in Scope 1 and 2 with limited guarantees. Disclosure of guarantees will increase once the discussion on qualification system for guarantee service providers is finalized.

• Culp posted another tough quarter (1), as industry conditions remain challenged.
• The firm posted an adjusted EPS loss of $0.28, $0.10 below our estimate and $0.09 below the prior year on weaker-than-expected earnings.
• As we said in our update after the release, this shortfall may have been unexpected, but it’s certainly not surprising to anyone who has been following the space. 

• Media Concierge’s £0.23/share offer for National World represents a 9.5% upside, with shareholder approval likely guaranteed.
• Antitrust risk is negligible due to Media Concierge’s focus on Irish newspapers and NWOR’s exclusive UK operations.
• NWOR’s valuation is challenging due to lack of local peers and varying global newspaper company valuation ranges.

• The GIG economy has been viewed as a disruptor to the direct selling channel with respect to the business opportunity.
• However, GIG concepts are top-down, have a specific formula, and assign tasks to their independent contractors for a fee, while direct sellers are micro-entrepreneurs who find a way to build their own businesses.
• Herbalife has been successful in taking some of the best business models developed by distributors at a local level, and then globalizing them, such as. the Nutrition Clubs that arose in Mexico in the early 2000s.