Daily Briefs

• Multi Bintang Indonesia (MLBI IJ) reported its FY23 earnings with revenues/profits up 6.7%/15% YoY.  Q4 FY23 revenues and profits were up 5.6%/17% YoY. 
• OPM (%) expanded 180 bps from 40.6% to 42.4%, and NPAT margins 240 bps to 32.1%. We believe that trends will continue to improve in 2024.
• At its board meeting, we expect the company to declare a full-year FY23 dividend of 500 Rph/share ( implying a 7% yield). The H123 dividend was 110 Rph/share.

• Hon Hai shares have hit a new all-time high and have just risen past our target price of NT$155, surging after investors flocked to Hon Hai on AI news.
• Hon Hai showcased two key technologies at Nvidia’s GTC conference last week: Nvidia-based AI servers with liquid cooling systems and an AI autonomous driving controller using Nvidia’s Orin X processor.
• Hon Hai’s sharp rally appears to have partly been caused by a short squeeze; While we like the long-term fundamentals and increased TP to NT$170, Hon Hai appears near-term overbought.

• There is a lot of excitement and uncertainty about the paint sector especially Asian Paints’ leadership in the broader market and among analysts.
• We interact with a couple of paint dealers across Delhi and Dimapur to gauge the sentiment on the ground.
• While there is no denying that Grasim Industries (GRASIM IN) poses a credible threat it might be too early to write off the market leader Asian Paints (APNT IN). 

• PT Nippon Indosari Corpindo (ROTI IJ) saw a relatively slow finish to the year with a slight decline in sales but the key drag came from a higher return rate.
• 4Q2023 did not see the usual seasonal spike but 2024 has started well and the return rate has come down, which will boost profitability as new products gain traction. 
• ROTI has launched several more affordable products to help drive its push into general trade whilst raw material prices remain under control. Valuations are attractive with recovery ahead.

• The electronic financial transactions industry is expanding, with a focus on personalization, the gig economy, and fraud prevention
• Mastercard is well positioned to benefit from the shift away from cash and towards digital payments
• Magellan’s portfolio manager Alyssa DeMarco discusses Mastercard’s growth and innovation with Devin Core, highlighting the company’s evolution over the past decade and its strategic focus on diversification and global expansion

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• Despite Rakuten Bank shares’ re-rating, we believe it remains attractive, with its strong balance sheet and its low cost base with undemanding valuations compared to its Asian digital banking peers
• Rakuten Bank is well positioned to benefit from the negative interest rate policy exit in Japan, with its low LDR, high cash balances, growing loan book and healthy capital ratio
• It continues to leverage off the Rakuten Group eco-system, as a low cost source of new customers; nearly a third of clients use Rakuten Bank as their primary Japanese bank

• Citic Securities, China’s leading brokerage, has shifted over 100 investment bankers from initial public offering (IPO) roles to other divisions, in a major overhaul to address slowing business amid the stock market downturn.
• Most of the employees affected were transferred to debt financing business while the rest were relocated to mergers and acquisitions, and investment departments, a person close to the matter said.
• “The adjustment is an internal optimization of personnel, involving a broad range of investment banking positions,” said the person.

• Genesys Intl Corp (GENE IN) or (GICL) is engaged in Geospatial services.
• The balance sheet of the company is surrounded by impairments; in the last few years, the company has impaired a major chunk of its intangibles, investments, goodwill and advances
• Other forensic insights include doubts on revenue recognition, struggle with the cash flows and earnings quality, recon issues and treatment of few line items

• Hywin [NASDAQ:  HYW] announced a broad business transformation plan in response to overall market and regulatory conditions in China.
• The stock price, under considerable pressure since November last year, has clearly anticipated some of this uncertainty.
• As part of its transformation, Hywin will shift is wealth management product distribution away from asset-backed products.

• Astera Labs, an overvalued fabless semiconductor company, has completed its IPO and raised ~$565M of net proceeds in the offering. The IPO was priced at $36/share.
• Astera Labs shares jumped 70%+ in their first trading day and finished session at $62.03. The stock peaked at $95.21 on Tuesday and fell ~21% over the next 2 days.
• According to their prospectus, ~5.9M shares of Astera Labs will be available for sale following the public release of earnings for 1Q’24, which I expect to be announced in April.