GoldenAgr - PhillipCapital cuts Golden Agri-Resources' FY13 earnings estimates by 19%
Driven by paltry 3Q13 performance.
Golden Agri-Resources reported 3Q13 net profit of US$36mn (-38.5% QoQ, -59.8% YoY), excluding exceptional items, bringing 9M13 core net profit to US$203mn (-44.7% YoY), accounting for 54%/58% of PSR/consensus full-year forecast.
"The weak performance was due to lower CPO prices, which fell by ~23% YoY during the period, higher operating costs and higher inventory levels," said PhillipCapital.
"China operation has a slight net loss of US$2mn in 3Q13, after two quarters of positive trend, indicating that the operating environment in China remains unstable for the group," it added.
This led PhillipCapital to trim their FY13E earnings estimates by 19% mainly on the higher operating cost assumptions to reflect weaker 3Q13. But the research firm left their FY14E/15E estimates intact.
The group also declared an interim dividend of 0.585 SG cents (vs. 0.6 SG cents last year), given what it considers Golden Agri's "strong cash position and limited M&A investment opportunities at this point in time."
Singapore Airlines Limited (SGX: C6L) grew its revenue for the first half of 2014 (1H 2014) by 2.2% year-on-year to S$6.4 billion. The revenue increase was mainly due to “recognition from settlement pertaining to changes in aircraft delivery slots and growth in passenger carriage”. The operating profit for the 1H 2014 improved 19.0% to $169 million. SIA Engineering (SGX: S59), a subsidiary of SIA, contributed 33.1% of the operating profit.
The net profit flew 68% to S$282.4 million, as compared to 1H 2013. There was an exceptional item of $21.8 million due mainly to “a gain of $339.2 million upon completion of the sale of Virgin Atlantic Limited to Delta Air Lines, Inc and an impairment loss of $293.4 million on four surplus freighters that have been removed from the operating fleet and marked for sale”.
For the second quarter, the passenger carriage grew 4.9% against a 3.2% increase in capacity. As a result, passenger load factor improved to 81.1%. Load factor is an industry measure of the amount of utilisation of the total available capacity of an aircraft.
As of 30th September 2013, the SIA has a total debt of S$988.7 million. The cash balance stands at S$5.0 billion.
For the half year, the company generated S$1.3 billion in net cash flow from operations. This was a 37.1% year-on-year.
SIA has declared an interim dividend of 10.0 Singapore cents per share. The company expects keen competition, amid continued global economic uncertainty. It also said that the prices of fuel are “likely to remain high and volatile”.
The shares of SIA closed at S$10.25 on Tuesday. The historical PE is at 31.8 and the dividend yield is at 2.2%.
Courts Asia net profit nosedives 55% to S$7.2m in 2QFY14
Many factors blamed, including shorter festive season.
Retailer Mainboard-listed Courts Asia Limited (Courts Asia) posted its results for the second quarter and first half ended 30 September 2013 (Q2FY13/14 and H1FY13/14, respectively), revealing total sales for Q2FY13/14 rose 3.3% to S$222.9 million, from S$215.8 million in the corresponding quarter last year (Q2FY12/13).
Revenue from Singapore, which makes up 70% of the Group’s sales, was up 10.8% on the back of bulk sales for digital products and a focus in the air systems category which drove consumer demand.
Sales in Malaysia in Q2FY13/14 were mainly affected by poorer consumer sentiment due to the government’s newly-introduced policies to reign in household debt as well as a reduction in fuel subsidies. As a result, the Group registered an 11.0% decrease in sales for Malaysia.
Gross profit margin decreased from 34.0% in Q2FY12/13 to 28.5% in Q2FY13/14. This was mainly due to a shift in product sales mix from Furniture to IT products, which carry a lower gross profit margin and lower service charge income resulting from lower credit sales.
Moreover, the Group’s profitability was impacted by its tightened credit sanctions which led to lower credit sales, disruption to its store in JEM in Singapore, and a shorter festive season this year that resulted in fewer delivery weeks.
Factoring in operational expense and tax, the Group registered a 55.0% decline in net profit to S$7.2 million in Q2FY13/14, from S$15.9 million in Q2FY12/13.
On a half-year basis, sales for H1FY13/14 recorded a 2.5% increase from S$409.7 million in H1FY12/13 to S$420.0 million in 1HFY13/14. Net profit declined by 37.2%, from S$22.6 million for H1FY12/13 to S$14.2 million for H1FY13/14.
Courts Asia’s Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Terence Donald O’Connor, said, “This quarter has been tough for us, with a difficult retail operating environment in Malaysia brought on by macro economic factors. Nonetheless Malaysia's long term fundamentals remain favourable and the Group continues to execute its expansion plans, which are progressing well. We have taken steps and reviewed our marketing plans to ensure there is a good balance in our growth pursuit, whilst taking into consideration the broader external environment."
O'Connor added that it is opening new stores, introducing new product categories, and launching new digital products to boost sales.
As at 30 September, 2013, the Group maintains a strong balance sheet with cash and bank balance of S$135.1 million.
For H1FY13/14, the Group has declared an interim dividend of 0.76 S/cent per ordinary share. This amounts to 30% of the Group’s net profit after tax for H1FY13/14.
AMMB makes RM40m provision for trading at Singapore unit
KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd said it is making a RM40 million provision for some RM120 million “gross exposure” the clients of its Singapore unit had on the trading of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp Ltd, making it the first to do so. This sparks questions on who will be next to volunteer information.........
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