
In today’s briefing:
- Cantabil Retail Ltd- Inventory Concerns Evident
- BWMX; 4Q Review: Remaining Focused in Uncertain Times; Reiterate Buy, PT
- Fomento Economico Mexica-Ubd – Actinver Research – FEMSA 4Q24: Better than expected (Quick View)
- Geo Holdings (2681 JP) – Q3 Sales Improve, but Costs Weigh on OP
- Shareholder Benefits to Return Amid Rise in Foreign Ownership and Dissolution of Cross-Shareholdings

Cantabil Retail Ltd- Inventory Concerns Evident
- Cantabil Retail India (CANT IN) is one of the few vertically integrated garment players and has a store count of 576 and retail space of 7.4 lakh sq.ft.
- The company has done well over the last five years to improve its financial position; it has grown its topline at a healthy rate while margins have improved significantly.
- But having said that, we have concerns with elevated inventory levels that have remained high historically for a garment player. Moreover, some capital advances and RPT should also be considered.
BWMX; 4Q Review: Remaining Focused in Uncertain Times; Reiterate Buy, PT
- We are reiterating our Buy rating and $22.50 price target and raising our 2025 revenue projection, but becoming more conservative on margins and introducing 2026 projections after Betterware de Mexico announced 4Q24 results which demonstrated material top line upside, driven by JAFRA Mexico’s over 20% YoY revenue growth.
- That said, 4Q24 EBITDA and EPS were below Street expectations, as JAFRA Mexico margins slightly weakened YoY and the company was impacted by supply chain issues and FX.
- Further, initial 2025 guidance continued the trends with top line guide above and EBITDA below Street consensus.
Fomento Economico Mexica-Ubd – Actinver Research – FEMSA 4Q24: Better than expected (Quick View)
- Sales of P$208.3bn were 12.8% higher YoY, better than our estimates and consensus, driven by healthy growth across all segments, FX tailwinds, KOF’s solid results, and inorganic growth (4Q24 was the first full quarter reflecting the Delek acquisition).
- SSS at Proximity Americas reached 3.8%, better vs 3Q24 and our estimates.
- For the third consecutive quarter, nonetheless, traffic declined (2.8%), while ticket grew 6.8% YoY.
Geo Holdings (2681 JP) – Q3 Sales Improve, but Costs Weigh on OP
- Sales improve in Q3 but personnel and store opening costs weigh on OP – Although Q1-3 FY3/25 sales declined -3.4% YoY to ¥316.16bn, reflecting the difficult annual comps for new games and consoles in H1, in Q3 the absence of this drag meant that this quarter alone rose +4.3% YoY to ¥116.43bn.
- Demand for reuse clothes and smartphones remained robust, buoyed by store openings, year-end sales for clothes and price conscious consumers.
- However, increased hiring, base salary increases and credit card fees continued to eat into OP, which in FY3/25 Q1-3 fell -26.4% YoY to ¥9.82bn.
Shareholder Benefits to Return Amid Rise in Foreign Ownership and Dissolution of Cross-Shareholdings
- Most shareholder benefits items can be used in Japan. There’s history of more companies abolishing shareholder benefits programs because they believed that shareholder returns should conducted rather than shareholder benefits.
- Amid rising foreign ownership and the dissolution of cross-shareholdings, more companies have begun to reverse the trend toward companies approaching individual shareholders with shareholder benefits programs.
- The fact that stock prices of companies offering shareholder benefits tended to fall lower during stock market plunges may be due to the fact that they were mostly defensive stocks.