Daily India: Ten Years On – Asia’s Time Is Coming, Don’t Miss The Boat and more

In this briefing:

1. Ten Years On – Asia’s Time Is Coming, Don’t Miss The Boat
2. Screening the Silk Road: Q1-2019 Small-Mid Cap GARP (Zulu Warrior Screening)
3. Metropolis Healthcare IPO: Stands Apart in Pricing Power, Revenue Growth and Margins
4. Shaily Engineering-Q2FY18 Results Update
5. Godrej Agrovet to Merge with Astec Lifesciences: An Arbitrage Opportunity Coupled with Concerns.

1. Ten Years On – Asia’s Time Is Coming, Don’t Miss The Boat

We noted in   Ten Years On – Asia Outperforms Advanced Economies Asia’s economies and companies have outperformed advanced country peers in the ten years to 2017.  Growing by 6.8%, real, through the crisis the region is 188% larger in US dollar terms while US dollar per capita incomes 170% higher compared with 2007. In this note we argue even though Asian stock markets have underperformed since 2010 and the bulk of global capital flows have gone to advanced countries, Asia’s time is coming. Valuations are cheap. Growth fundamentals strong. There are few external or internal imbalances. Macroeconomic management has been better than in advanced economies and the scope to ease policy to ward off headwinds in 2019 is greater. China has already started.

2. Screening the Silk Road: Q1-2019 Small-Mid Cap GARP (Zulu Warrior Screening)

• Value made a comeback, but growth remains core: In May 2018, we examined the divide between value and growth stocks, ( Notes from the Silk Road: Small-Mid Cap Screening for Zulu Warriors). As Q3 unfolded, this eventuated with a +7.5% reversal in favour of value stocks, only to see growth resume dominance in October and November.
• The optimal value/growth style dynamic: We feel exposure to growth at a reasonable price (GARP) coupled with a healthy FCF yield (via our amended Zulu Screen) should provide some healthy medium to long term returns for investors.
• The Screen’s Risk: The Zulu Screen relies on analyst estimates. When market sentiment is weak and forecasts are not amended in a timely manner, the screen is susceptible to mis-selection.
• Q2 2018 screening list succumbed to volatile markets: This was seen in our May screen with our list posting on average a 30% decline in share price, relative to the broader Asia-Pacific Ex-Japan declining 13.6% and the Asia Pacific index by 11.8%.
• Are there reasons for the underperformance? 10 of the 19 stocks in the May screen were from Hong Kong, which saw the Hang Seng Index (HIS) decline 16% over the same period. The decrease seems due to concern over trade wars and doubts about the China economy. Our key approach to stock selection is to take a medium-to-long-term view as well as focus on quality ranked stocks relative to their peers. This is highlighted via the average stock rank of the group declining only 15.8% from 89.6 to 75.5 points.
• Our Q1 2019 screen selected only 9 stocks. Of the 9 stocks identified, the average PEG Ratio was 0.4x, the price to FCF yield was 11% and ROCE was 25%. Stocks were selected from Australia, New Zealand, India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Cowell Fashion Company from Korea was the only remaining stock from our May screening.

3. Metropolis Healthcare IPO: Stands Apart in Pricing Power, Revenue Growth and Margins

• Metropolis Health Services Limited (MHL IN) is the 3^rd largest pathology chain in India and caters to the Rs600bn market growing at 15% Cagr. It is strongest in the lucrative Mumbai and Chennai markets.
• Though India’s pathology market has seen intense price competition and price discounting, Metropolis managed to grow revenue/patient much ahead of peers
• Its revenue/patient is 20% higher than its nearest competitor and the gap has been widening over FY16-18
• It is the only major pathology chain to have accelerated revenue growth over FY16-18 despite the lowest A&P spend
• It managed to grow Gross Margin 330bps and hold Ebitda margins over FY16-18. Major competitors like Dr Lal Pathlabs (DLPL IN) (-340bps) and SRL (-520bps) saw sharp contraction in Ebitda margins.
• On the flip side, its patient growth has lagged its retail network growth by a wide margin. Its cash conversion cycle is much longer than DLAL’s. It is also the most vulnerable to any government regulated price caps on testing in the future owing to its premium pricing.
• Lastly, it doesn’t need any fresh money and the entire IPO is an offer for sale by the promoters and Carlyle Group.

4. Shaily Engineering-Q2FY18 Results Update

Shaily Engineering Plastics (SHEP IN) Q2 FY19 results were below our expectations. While revenue increased by 10% YoY, PAT declined by 9% YoY in Q2 FY19. This muted performance was primarily due higher raw material prices and a shortage of labour as well as power outage that resulted in low machine utilization. We analyze the results.

5. Godrej Agrovet to Merge with Astec Lifesciences: An Arbitrage Opportunity Coupled with Concerns.

Godrej Agrovet is a large conglomerate operating in various business verticals in the agriculture sector. It is looking to merge with Astec LifeSciences which is a pure agro-chemical company that focusses on Chemical molecule production and formulation for domestic and export markets. In this report, we analyze the implications of the merger as well as the impact on minority shareholders in both companies.