Tuesday 4 October 2016

Timber related stocks initial coverage part II

Based on the analysis in part I (Read more here), US housing market is performing better than other region.  Thus, companies that have high wooden furniture export to US market may continue to do well.  However, this assumption requires further analysis to identify the company earnings growth quality, whether it was due to foreign exchange rate or business growth.   Secondly, as the timber business is cyclical, companies that have higher cash reserved could weather the downturn better and the ability to pay dividend is higher too.  Finally, either single stage or multistage DDM model may not be appropriate to evaluate the stocks as the perpetual value is hard to estimate.  Thus, the Monte Carlo valuation model based on P/E ratio, using three years projection is recommended.

A quick search on Bursa Market Place yielded the following stocks (Table 1).  The five columns of ratings are AlphaFactor developed by S&P Capital IQ (Read more here).  It is a free and easy tool to help investor to screen the stocks in Bursa Malaysia.  Most stocks that have exposure to US market have good rating except Sern Kou.  Thus, Sern Kou is removed from the subsequent screening.


Table 1

Stocks
Momentum
Valuation
Growth
Efficiency
Quality
Average
SHH
1
1
1
1
1
1
LiiHen
2
1
1
1
1
1.2
Latitude Tree
3
1
1
1
1
1.4
Jaycorp
3
1
1
1
1
1.4
HomeRiz
2
2
1
1
1
1.4
PoHuat
3
2
2
2
1
2
Sern Kou
2
5
4
4
5
4



Table 2 is the percentage of revenue from US market.  Only 4 companies derived more than 50% revenue from US market.  Thus, HomeRiz and Jaycorp are excluded in subsequent screening as these companies may require different valuation method.


Table 2

Stocks
% of revenue from US (2015)
SHH
Only stated all products mainly exported to US.  No numbers were given in AR
Latitude
92%
PoHuat
79%
LiiHen
79%
HomeRiz
40%
Jaycorp
28%



The next step is to use Beneish M-Score (Read more here) to scan for any potential financial manipulation (Table 3).  Most of the companies passed the Beneish M-Score test except SHH on year 2015.  It is due to the high receivable level on 2015, which was doubled to RM12,714,843 compared to 2014 level RM6,353,626.  The company acknowledged the credit risk in 2015 annual report.  The receivable level has subsequently improved to RM8,323,000 in the Q4’2016 balance sheet, tallied with cash flow from operating adjustment figures.


Table 3

Beneish M-Score
2015
2014
Benchmark (lower better)
Comment
SHH*
-2.85377
-1.57566
< -1.78
* 2016 and 2015.
LiiHen
-2.82747
-1.96595
< -1.78

Latitud*
-2.53439
-2.03448
< -1.78
* 2016 and 2015.
PoHuat
-2.06839
-2.26697
< -1.78

 

Table 4 is the growth comparison for US housing start, Malaysia wooden furniture export, companies’ revenue and profit after tax attributable to owners.  From 2013 to 2015, the US housing start is growing at CAGR 12.24%.  Malaysia wooden furniture export CAGR is 3.36% due to the negative growth in 2013.  All four companies exhibited similar trend in 2013 at a different degree.  Most of the companies are doing well in recent years except SHH.  Even though its US market exposure is the highest among the companies, its earnings trend is very volatile.  As such, combining with the Beneish M-Score results, SHH will be excluded in the subsequent analysis.
   
From 2014 to 2015, assuming that USD appreciated against RM at the rate of 20%, thus, either the revenue or profit has to gain more than 20% in order to be classified as business growth.  Among the remaining three companies, only LiiHen and PoHuat meet these criteria.  Latitud Q4’16 PAT attributable to owner was at -6.8%.  In fact, Latitud stated in the Q4’16 unaudited report that US sales was declining due to strong competition.  As such, Latitud will be excluded in the subsequent analysis.

Table 4


2013
2014
2015
CAGR
Comment
US Housing Start
18.44%
7.85%
10.70%
12.24%

Wooden Furniture Export
-12.41%
10.30%
15.13%
3.61%

SHH revenue
-3.84%
15.09%
-0.57%
3.24%
Q4'16 growth 6.7%
LiiHen revenue
-8.83%
25.98%
37.43%
16.43%
Q2'16 + growth intact
Latitud revenue
-4.67%
31.87%
9.06%
11.09%
Q4'16 growth 8.5%
PoHuat revenue
-8.69%
5.36%
20.35%
5.01%
Q3'16 + growth intact
SHH PAT attributable to owner
n/a
432.19%
-20.03%
106.30%
Q4'16 growth 79%.
LiiHen PAT attributable to owner
-17.25%
59.45%
103.79%
39.06%
Q2'16 + growth intact
Latitud PAT attributable to owner
117.22%
100.75%
21.64%
74.40%
Q4'16 growth -6.8%
PoHuat PAT attributable to owner
10.59%
41.90%
64.62%
37.21%
Q3'16 + growth intact


Table 5 is the financial strength of the remaining two companies based on their most recent financial results.  Both companies have decent cash level and able to serve the debt without additional funding.


Table 5


LiiHen
PoHuat
D/E Ratio
0.12
0.17
Cash/Share
0.69
0.27
Debt/Share
0.17
0.17
NTA/Share
1.33
0.97
Price 30/9/2016
3.10
1.53
P/Cash
4.51
5.62
P/Book
2.33
1.58


Finally, the valuation model is based on Monte Carlo simulation with the following assumption

1.       PE ranges from 7 – 10.  Based on average historical range.
2.   The lowest EPS for any particular forecasted year are fixed at 10% lower than 2015 value.  The intention is to capture any unforeseen impact such currency fluctuation or market slowdown.
3.      The highest EPS for any forecasted year are maxed at 15% or lesser than the previous forecast year.  The intention is to capture any possible market share expansion.
4.       The average EPS for any forecasted year are maxed at 8.5% or lesser than the previous forecast year.  The intention is to capture the average growth below the CAGR of US housing start.
5.       3000 samples are used in the simulation.

Table 6a and Table 6b are the forecasted prices using Monte Carlo simulation for LiiHen and the potential return scenario based on the closing price as at 30-Sep-16 (LiiHen: RM3.1).  Table 7a and 7b are the forecasted prices using Monte Carlo simulation for PoHuat and the potential return scenario based on the PoHuat closing price as at 30-Sep-16 (PoHuat: RM1.53). 

Table 6a

LiiHen
2016F
2017F
2018F
Average
2.88
3.11
3.36
Min
1.96
1.96
1.96
Max
4.00
4.50
5.10
Median
2.80
3.04
3.30

Table 6b

LiiHen
2016F
2017F
2018F
Average
-7.10%
0.32%
8.39%
Min
-36.77%
-36.77%
-36.77%
Max
29.03%
45.16%
64.52%
Median
-9.68%
-1.94%
6.45%

Table 7a

PoHuat
2016F
2017F
2018F
Average
1.49
1.61
1.74
Min
1.12
1.12
1.12
Max
1.90
2.20
2.50
Median
1.52
1.60
1.71

Table 7b

PoHuat
2016F
2017F
2018F
Average
-2.61%
5.23%
13.73%
Min
-26.80%
-26.80%
-26.80%
Max
24.18%
43.79%
63.40%
Median
-0.65%
4.58%
11.76%

Based on the simulation results, both LiiHen and PoHuat are trading around the average value as at 30-Sep-2016, with LiiHen slightly on the high side.  PoHuat valuation seems fairer might due to potential EPS dilution of outstanding warrant that expired on 2020.  The valuation model in this article only factored in certain percentage of dilution up to 2018. 

This part II analysis is based on publicly available data, using mainly quantitative approach.  Qualitative method such as supply chain analysis, product mix, and new product development quality and capability are not covered.

Part III will focus on conventional timber companies that have logging, plywood manufacturing and other timber harvesting business.



Disclaimer:  The above analysis does not imply any buy or sell recommendation.  The author disclaims all liabilities arising from any use of the information contained in this article.


Disclosure:  The author may have interest in the stocks of the companies in this article.

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