In this briefing:
- Chunbo Co. IPO Preview
- SoftBank Corp (9434 JP) & Arteria Networks (4423 JP): A Tale of Two IPOs
- GUNKUL (GUNKUL TB): Solar to Drive Top-Line Growth
- Daelim Industrial Share Class: One of Prefs to Arb Trade on Div Payout Record Date
- TRACKING TRAFFIC/Containers & Air Cargo: Container Rates Up
1. Chunbo Co. IPO Preview
- Chunbo Co Ltd (278280 KS) is a provider of fine chemical materials in Korea, and it is expected to complete its IPO in January 2019. Its chemical materials are used in numerous industries including the display, semiconductors, rechargeable batteries, and pharmaceutical.
- The bankers used nine comparable companies, including Sk Materials (036490 KS), Foosung Co Ltd (093370 KS), and Iljin Materials (020150 KS), to value Chunbo Co Ltd (278280 KS). The bankers used the annualized net profit of these companies from 1Q-3Q18 in their valuation analysis. The average P/E multiple of the comps were 25.3x. The bankers then applied Chunbo’s annualized net profit of 19.8 billion won from 1Q18 to 3Q18 and applied the P/E multiple of 25.3x to derive an implied market cap of 501.3 billion won. After applying an IPO discount of 20.2% to 30.2%, the bankers derived an IPO range of 35,000 to 40,000 won.
- The company has a consistent record of generating solid growth in sales and profits in the past few years. The company’s sales increased 18.4% CAGR from 2014 to 2017. Its operating margin averaged 21% from 2014 to 3Q18.
2. SoftBank Corp (9434 JP) & Arteria Networks (4423 JP): A Tale of Two IPOs
During the second half of December 2018, Japan saw two telecom companies list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange: Softbank Corp (9434 JP) and ARTERIA Networks (4423 JP). After years of industry consolidation, which saw several stocks delist, this felt like a Christmas miracle (at least for those watching the sector’s stocks).
It would be hard to find two companies in the same industry that are so different – both in their business models as well as in how their IPOs were positioned to investors. One stock is 100 times larger than the other, but this is not a story of David and Goliath. It is two unique stories in parallel.
While each company took a very different approach to selling its stock, both have suffered from the subsequent broader market weakness, irrespective of company specifics. We can’t say it has been the worst of times, but it certainly has been a tough time with SoftBank Corp down 13% and Arteria down 20% from their IPO prices.
In this Insight we explore how each company approached its IPO and how each has fared since.
3. GUNKUL (GUNKUL TB): Solar to Drive Top-Line Growth
- Good payout ratio, good growth in core profit, and strong long-term sales growth relative to its sector
- Acquisition of 49% stake in a 30MW solar farm in Malaysia with a commercial operation date (COD) set for 1Q20 to support revenue growth
- High volume of solar rooftop installation projects planned for Charoen Pokphand Foods Pub (CPF TB) and other private firms to boost GUNKUL’s construction revenue
- Attractive at 19CE* PEG ratio of 0.5 relative to ASEAN Industry at 1.6
- Risk: Lower than expected electricity demand, unfavorable weather conditions
* Consensus Estimates
4. Daelim Industrial Share Class: One of Prefs to Arb Trade on Div Payout Record Date
- Daelim Industrial (000210 KS) is one of the main targets of local activist movement. This makes a setting for higher dividends. Common div yield to 1.58% and Pref to 4.18%. Difference is 2.59%p. This is the widest gap in many years.
- Pref is currently at a 60.89% discount to Common. Among those > ₩100bil MC prefs, it is the second highest discounted pref, only behind CJ Cheiljedang 1P (097955 KS). Local street expects at least ₩1,600 div per share. This should be a conservative estimate. On a 20D MA, Pref is above +1 σ.
- Dec 26 is record date of dividend payout. I expect a price catchup movement tomorrow in favor of Pref. I’d go long Pref and short Common as early in the morning as possible.
5. TRACKING TRAFFIC/Containers & Air Cargo: Container Rates Up
Tracking Traffic/Containers & Air Cargo is the hub for all of our research on container shipping and air cargo, featuring analysis of monthly industry data, notes from our conversations with industry participants, and links to recent company and thematic pieces.
Tracking Traffic/Containers & Air Cargo aims to highlight changes to existing trends, relationships, and views affecting the leading Asian companies in these two sectors. This month’s note includes data from about twenty different sources.
In this issue readers will find:
- An analysis of November container shipping rates, which our index suggests increased by over 20% Y/Y. We concede that our index skews toward volatile spot rates rather than contract rates, but we suspect higher average container rates in Q418, combined with moderating fuel prices, will result in surprisingly strong earnings for the quarter.
- A look at November air cargo activity and air cargo pricing, which diverged. The volume of air cargo handled by the five airlines we track declined slightly (-0.1% Y/Y) but some of those carriers reported sharply higher yields (circa +10% Y/Y), due to limited capacity expansion in the region.
- Some good news: fuel prices have continued to moderate. Bunker climbed by just 5.1% Y/Y as of mid-December, and jet fuel prices have fallen about 11% Y/Y. Given firm container rates and air cargo pricing, the drop in fuel prices bodes well for Q418 margins, though it’s unclear whether such gains are sustainable.
Although slowing demand growth is unlikely to generate impressive top-line improvements, firmer pricing combined with lower fuel costs should support an ongoing improvement in profitability for container carriers and air cargo operations in the near-term. We believe many investors remain too pessimistic regarding near-term earnings for container carriers and airlines.
