Stocks in the news (bgrim, epco, fte, grand, kkp, mega, irpc, tvo, ziga) 26.01.18
BGRIM
BGRIM is expanding its investment in CLMV; it set up two subsidiaries in Cambodia for the power plant and transmission wire business. It expects to sign an MOU for a project in Vietnam in 1Q18 and expects a project in Malaysia to be finalized in 3Q18. (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
Comment: Out of all the energy companies, BGRIM could arguably be considered the most professionally managed organisation
EPCO
EPCO is going to request board approval to list EP and to consider to preemptive right for shareholders. It expects to submit the filing in 1Q18 and to trade on the market in 3Q18. (Khao Hoon, 26/1/18)
FTE
FTE targets 2018 revenue to grow by at least 20% to Bt1.15bn and believes revenue will grow steadily in the next three years. It plans to maintain net margin at 12-13% and currently has backlog of Bt380mn. It plans to penetrate to plants in eastern Thailand and is researching expansion to Vietnam. It also plans to expand its customer base for system installation. (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
GRAND
GRAND has budgeted Bt2.366bn to acquire Royal Orchid Hotel (ROH) by buying 68% of shares from Starwood and THAI and plans a tender offer for the remainder. It believes this business has a positive outlook and will raise hotel business revenue significantly from the current Bt1bn. (Khao Hoon, 26/1/18)
Comment: I’ve always thought that GRAND could be undervalued but there’s a lot of question surrounding the management and shareholders.
KKP
KKP targets 2018 loan growth at 10% with NPLs at 4.5%. It says 2018 provisions will be higher than 2017 as it prepares a cushion for repossessed cars. It says the increase in provisions in 2018 is not related to IFRS9, as it believes its high 189% provisions is enough for that. It also reports that it has closed some branches over the past 2-3 years and currently has 66. ( Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
Comment: The closing of branches is now the hot topic of the moment given that SCB announced that they would be aggressively doing this, if you go back a few years you’ll see that TCAP was the first to do this.
MEGA
MEGA has set a two-year investment budget (2018-2019) of Bt750mn to build storage facilities in Myanmar and add new production lines at home in order to support sales growth this year. It believes 2018 revenue will be higher than 2017, as it has launched 8-12 new products. It plans to expand to new customer groups . (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
Comment: They have had great earnings growth driven by acquisitions and an increase in their GPM
IRPC
IRPC has a positive outlook this year with a good margin, wider spread and 20% expansion in capacity after improving efficiency. It will continue investment in the US$1.2bn Beyond Everest program and it is going to book a full year of revenue from the 240MW Clean Power plant. (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
TVO
TVO’s earnings bottomed out and it believes 2018 revenue will be higher than 2017, as soy bean price has been rising. It plans to launch a new product to improve margin and baht appreciation has also lowered cost, as 90% of costs come from imported materials. (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)
Comment: Always looked at this company as a bit of trade, not as a long term holding due to the nature of the industry
ZIGA
ZIGA plans to raise production capacity by 30% to 79,000 tons/year, which it expects to start up in 2Q18. It projects production capacity to increase to 120,000 tons/year in 2019. (Thun Hoon, 26/1/18)