Straco -- gem?

Quiet stock now. 33 cents. Until the next wave of good news demonstrate that its earnings power is truly awesome.

As an owner of 2 aquariums, Straco is riding on a megatrend in China -- the urbanisation of its rural population. Cities are expanding. Millions more people are achieving a higher standard of living.

www.industryleadersmagazine.com/china%E2...million-into-cities/

Domestic tourism in China is booming. Straco's aquariums are going to enjoy rising revenue and profits. 3Q is coming. There is always a tourism crush. Straco's earnings peak in 3Q of the year. It will be a result I look forward to, in abt 4 months time.

Just found some 'wow' info :

In 2012, the Forbidden City in Beijing had a new record of 182,000 visitors within one day on October 2, the Mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen had 215,000 visitors on October 4 (10 times the number of visitors on a normal busy day).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(China)

Picked up some shares this morning at 28.5 cents. Must be some impatient seller. What a bargain! Market cap is S$253 million. Take away the S$102 million of cash (net cash), the market is valuing Straco at just $151 million, or just 5.5X trailing earnings.

Straco bought back 100,000 shares yesterday at 28.5 cents.

Bought Straco yesterday @ 28.5cts
Bought Straco today @ 28cts
At this price, yield of about 4.5% not bad can sleep well.


Will buy again on further price weakness @ 25cts.

Haw Par owns the Underwater World aquarium on Sentosa. It is feeling the heat from competition posed by the new Resorts World aquarium. Following is excerpt from Credit Suisse report today on Haw Par, fyi:

Leisure business under stress
Increased competition from newer attractions has impacted revenue at Sentosa. Visitor arrivals have fallen meaningfully. The company has not reduced ticket prices in response, but has increased incentives for
tour operators. The aquarium has another four years of lease left.

HPAR does not have a ROFR (right of first refusal) on new development at the site. HPAR feels the leisure business is high risk/reward, and it needs to be careful about new investments in the space.