In today’s briefing:
- Kokusai Electric (TSE: 6525) – KKR’s Secondary Sale Marks Typical PE Exit
- Travel Food Services IPO: Capitalizing on the Global Airport F&B Boom
- A Pair Trade Between SM Entertainment (Long) Vs HYBE (Short)
- Samsung 2Q25: It’s Even Worse than the Official Leak
- Meta Just Bought into EssilorLuxottica.
- Arena REIT (ARF AU) Vs National Storage REIT (NSR AU): Statistical Arbitrage in Two Australian REITs
- Zhou Liu Fu (6168 HK): Are We or the Market Wrong?
- Lifestyle Communities Ltd – The Overnight Report: Nvidia Tops US$4trn
- TechChain Insights: Zhen Ding – How Next Generation PCBs/Substrates Will Be Critical for AI Devices
- Nameson Holdings (1982 HK) FY25 Concall And Results: Yield At 14% Following Weak Season
Kokusai Electric (TSE: 6525) – KKR’s Secondary Sale Marks Typical PE Exit
- On July 9, 2025, KKR announced it would reduce its stake in Kokusai Electric from ~23.5% to ~10.6% through a ¥90 billion overnight secondary offering.
- KKR’s move reflects a classic private equity monetization strategy following operational improvements and a successful IPO.
- While the sale caused a modest short-term share reaction (~2% dip), such liquidity events rarely impact long-term value—fundamentals remain the key driver for patient investors.
Travel Food Services IPO: Capitalizing on the Global Airport F&B Boom
- Travel Food Services leads India’s airport QSR sector with a 24% market share and expands internationally through strategic partnerships, capitalizing on the growing global travel F&B market.
- With a debt-free balance sheet and robust margins, TFS ensures scalable growth through strategic joint ventures and partnerships, minimizing capital expenditure while expanding operations.
- With its diverse brand portfolio and a presence in high-traffic airports across India and abroad. The company’s expansion into new airports ensures sustained growth in the travel food services sector.
A Pair Trade Between SM Entertainment (Long) Vs HYBE (Short)
- In this insight, we discuss a pair trade between SM Entertainment Co (041510 KS) (long) vs HYBE (352820 KS) (short).
- There is an increasing probability that HYBE’s founder Bang Si-hyuk could face some jail time in which case there could be some vacuum of management leadership at HYBE.
- Despite its recent outperformance, SM Entertainment’s valuation is much more attractive than HYBE (SM is trading at 9.6x EV/EBITDA vs 18.5x for HYBE in 2026).
Samsung 2Q25: It’s Even Worse than the Official Leak
- 1st July the Korean media was “pre-announcing” 2Q25 operating profit to be “weaker than expected”, declining “by more than 15% from the first quarter” to KRW mid-5 trillion range.
- Samsung official announcement is worse: operating profit KRW 4.6tn, down -56% YoY and -31% QoQ. This suggests a lower margins mix (less HBM, higher Foundry losses) and more Opex.
- Last week, Consensus was expecting 2Q OP KRW 6.7tn, now down to 6.1tn. The reported 4.6tn is a nasty miss that implies that Consensus is way too high for 2H25.
Meta Just Bought into EssilorLuxottica.
We won’t be generation heads-down forever. Handsets are impractical as our primary device to interact with information technology.
When we use them, we lose touch to the real world. Headsets are the obvious next step to allow for a more integrated experience.
Meta has been betting on the handset-to-headset transition for more than a decade. And they have been doing so with courage and determination.
Arena REIT (ARF AU) Vs National Storage REIT (NSR AU): Statistical Arbitrage in Two Australian REITs
- The Arena REIT (ARF AU) vs. National Storage REIT (NSR AU) Price-Ratio has deviated more than two standard deviations from its one-year average, presenting a potential relative value opportunity.
- This relative value opportunity can be implemented as a long-short pair trade or as relative over-/underweights in a long only context.
- Why Read: Essential for quantitative traders seeking mean-reversion opportunities, with detailed execution framework, risk management protocols, and historical simulation showing the statistical basis for this relative value play.
Zhou Liu Fu (6168 HK): Are We or the Market Wrong?
- Zhou Liu Fu Jewellery (6168 HK) has an impressive debut, but it is currently expensive, at 4.33x PEG with just a 3-year EPS CAGR of 4.7%.
- It is overpriced by ROE vs. P/B, given it stands higher than the best-fit line. Its inferior market position in the industry makes it deserve to trade below.
- At 20% discount to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (1929 HK), it should value at HK$27.80. Even at par, it still implies an 8.5% downside.
Lifestyle Communities Ltd – The Overnight Report: Nvidia Tops US$4trn
- A global perspective on what happened overnight
TechChain Insights: Zhen Ding – How Next Generation PCBs/Substrates Will Be Critical for AI Devices
- Zhen Ding Technology Holding (4958 TT) is leveraging its full-stack PCB and IC substrate portfolio to position itself as a critical enabler of AI hardware across cloud, channel, and edge applications.
- AI-Linked hardware is expected to account for over 70% of Zhen Ding’s revenue in 2025, up sharply from 45% in 2024 and just 8% in 2023.
- Zhen Ding shares remain substantially below their 52-week highs; we see the company well-placed in terms of long-term drivers. Well placed for an upcoming AI robotics boom.
Nameson Holdings (1982 HK) FY25 Concall And Results: Yield At 14% Following Weak Season
- Nameson Holdings (1982 HK) reported FY25 revenue/net profit declines of 0.6%/5.3% YoY, respectively, primarily driven by a margin contraction of approximately 40 basis points.
- The company declared a 1.5-cent final dividend (total dividend 11.3 cents/share), maintaining a 75% payout ratio, resulting in a 14% yield on the current share price.
- The stock trades at a 5.5x FY26e PE with a 3x EV-EBITDA and a 14% dividend yield, assuming the company can maintain flat earnings for FY26.
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