In this briefing:
- Harbin Electric: The Price Is Not Right
- ICT (ICT PM): Beneficiary of Higher Trading Activity
- 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
1. Harbin Electric: The Price Is Not Right
As speculated in Harbin Electric Expected To Be Privatised, Harbin Electric Co Ltd H (1133 HK) has now announced a privatisation Offer from parent and 60.41%-shareholder Harbin Electric Corporation (“HEC”) by way of a merger by absorption.
The Offer price of $4.56/share, an 82.4% premium to last close, has been declared final. The price corresponds to the subscription of 329mn domestic shares (~47.16% of the existing issued domestic shares and ~24.02% of the existing total issued shares) @$4.56/share by HEC in January this year.
Of greater significance, the Offer price is a 37% discount to HE’s net cash of $7.27/share as at 30 June 2018. Should the privatisation be successful, this Offer will cost HEC ~HK$3.08bn, following which it can pocket the remaining net cash of $9.3bn PLUS the power generation equipment manufacturer business thrown in for free.
On pricing, “fair” to me would be something like the distribution of net cash to zero then taking over the company on a PER with respect to peers. That is not happening. It will be difficult to see how independent directors can justify recommending an Offer to shareholders at any price which gave cash less cavalier than cash.
Dissension rights are available, however, what constitutes a “fair price” under those rights, and the timing of the settlement under such rights, are not evident.
As all PRC approvals have been obtained, this transaction may complete earlier than prior mergers by absorption, which have taken 6-8 months from the initial announcement.
2. ICT (ICT PM): Beneficiary of Higher Trading Activity
- Low downside risk, low correlation with Western stock markets, and good price momentum relative to its sector
- Growing demand from emerging markets as seen by increase in trading activities e.g. Asia sales increased 10% YoY in 3Q18
- Planned terminal expansions in Manila, Mexico, Iraq, and Honduras are underway and should provide about 7% capacity growth by end 2019
- Trades below ASEAN Transportation at 19CE* 17.1x PE and offers much better EPS growth
- Risk: Foreign exchange risk, disruption from US-China trade war
* Consensus Estimates
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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
