Daily Brief Industrials: HD Hyundai Marine Solution , Urban-Gro and more

In today’s briefing:

Local Color on HD Hyundai Marine Solution’s Excessive IPO Valuation
HD Hyundai Marine Solution IPO – Strong Profitability Growth but Lacking in Disclosures
UGRO: 4Q Review: Stuff Happens; Reiterate Buy & PT after Tough 4Q

Local Color on HD Hyundai Marine Solution’s Excessive IPO Valuation

Valuation controversy arises from comparing HD Hyundai Marine Solution, a ship AS specialist, with diverse global companies, leading to a target market cap of ₩5T.
HD KSOE’s inclusion worsens the valuation controversy. Applying HD KSOE’s last year PER without adjusting for a significant one-off profit seems to inflate HD Hyundai Marine Solution’s PER.
Currently, major local IPO funds see HD Hyundai Marine’s valuation nearing ₩4T as excessive, despite the industry’s revival and potential growth in eco-friendly ship conversions, impacting the upcoming bookbuilding process.

HD Hyundai Marine Solution (443060 KS) is looking to raise up to US$555m in its Korean IPO.
HD Hyundai Marine Solution (HMS from hereon) is a ship aftermarket service provider that provides necessary services throughout a ship’s life cycle after the delivery of a new ship.
In this note, we talk about the company’s historical performance.

We are reiterating our Buy rating and $8 price target, but lowering our 2024 projections after urban-gro reported disappointing 4Q23 (December) results, as the company had three material commercial contracts shift from late 4Q into 2024, obscuring what would have been a strong end to the year.
While the contracts are expected to be materially completed in 2024, management has decided to be highly conservative in their guidance and rebuild credibility going forward.
Given the current valuation, we believe investors are discounting the urban-gro business model and the potential for the company to register positive EBITDA. While we understand investor skepticism, we believe CEO Brad Nattrass and his team have aggressively cut costs and positioned urban-gro to surprise low Street expectations.

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