In this briefing:
- Blue Bird (BIRD IJ) – Transport Wizzard with a Twist – On the Ground in J-Town
- ECM Weekly (2 March 2019) – Futu, Tiger Brokers, China Risun, China Tobacco, Zhejiang New Century
- Topcon (7732 JP): Weak 3Q, Likely to Fall Short of FY Mar-19 Guidance
1. Blue Bird (BIRD IJ) – Transport Wizzard with a Twist – On the Ground in J-Town
A visit in Jakarta to the Blue Bird (BIRD IJ) office was well-timed as the company is close to the conclusion of two corporate actions, as well as an interesting extension to its relationship with Go-Jek Indonesia (1379371D IJ).
Both acquisitions are synergistic with its existing business and represent long-term opportunities rather than an immediate significant boost to earnings.
The company’s underlying fundamentals continue to improve with fleet utilisation up versus last year in 4Q18, as was the average revenue per taxi.
The company continues to see the benefits of its tie-up with Go-Jek, which will soon morph into something even more significant.
Blue Bird (BIRD IJ) remains an interesting way to play the rising levels of affluence amongst the rising middle classes in Indonesia. the company is close to completing two corporate actions including a new venture into the car auction business with Mitsubishi UFJ and the acquisition of an intercity bus company. It is also close to signing an extension and expansion of its relationship with Go-Jek, which will help to cement its position in the online ride-hailing space. Underlying fundamentals continue to improve both in terms of fleet utilisation and average revenue per taxi. According to Capital IQ consensus, the company trades on 14.9x FY19E PER and 13.7x FY20E PER, with forecast EPS growth of +16.2% and +8.9% for FY19E and FY20E respectively. The near-term completion of two corporate actions and an extension of its agreement with Go-Jek Indonesia (1379371D IJ) should provide positive catalysts for the share price coupled with improving ridership, average revenue per taxi, and fleet utilisation.
2. ECM Weekly (2 March 2019) – Futu, Tiger Brokers, China Risun, China Tobacco, Zhejiang New Century
Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that have been covered by Smartkarma Insight Providers recently, along with updates for upcoming IPOs.
ECM activity seems to be picking up as we get more information on upcoming large IPOs in Hong Kong and the US.
Starting with Hong Kong, there are a handful of small ongoing IPOs such as Yincheng International Holdings (1902 HK), China Risun (1907 HK), and Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management Group (1158 HK). Yincheng, a small and highly levered property developer, will list next week on the 7th of March.
But, the upcoming IPOs are the ones that seem to be more exciting with the HKEX filing of ESR Cayman’s draft prospectus. The company is a logistics real estate developer backed by Warburg Pincus and was said to be seeking US$1.5bn in its IPO. There are also Global Switch and OneConnect which seemed to be one step closer to their IPO.
In the US, we are finally getting approvals after the government shutdown starting with the Tencent-backed Futu Holdings Ltd (FHL US) launching its IPO and it will be listing on the 8th of March.
Jumping on the broker IPO bandwagon, Jim Rogers-backed Up Fintech (TIGR US) has also filed with the SEC. Sumeet Singh had already compared the two companies in his note, Futu Holdings IPO Quick Note – Comparison with Tiger Brokers – Same Market, Different Economics.
There are also news reports that Luckin Coffee, a Starbucks competitor in China, has already tapped three banks for its US IPO.
Accuracy Rate:
Our overall accuracy rate is 72.2% for IPOs and 63.7% for Placements
(Performance measurement criteria is explained at the end of the note)
New IPO filings
- ESR Cayman (Hong Kong, ~US$1.5bn)
- Jinshang Bank (Hong Kong, ~US$500m)
- China Everbright Water (Hong Kong, >US$100m, dual-listing)
- Up Fintech/Tiger Brokers (the US, >US$100m)
Below is a snippet of our IPO tool showing upcoming events for the next week. The IPO tool is designed to provide readers with timely information on all IPO related events (Book open/closing, listing, initiation, lock-up expiry, etc) for all the deals that we have worked on. You can access the tool here or through the tools menu.
News on Upcoming IPOs
- Global Switch Picks Banks for Over $1 Billion IPO
- Warburg Pincus-backed ESR files for Hong Kong IPO of up to $1.5 billion
- Ping An plans IPO of fintech unit in HK at $1.35b
- Starbucks’ China rival Luckin Coffee taps 3 banks for US IPO
Smartkarma Community’s this week Analysis on Upcoming IPO
- Up Fintech (Tiger Brokers) Pre-IPO Quick Note – Much Too Reliant on IBKR
- Futu Holdings IPO Quick Note – Comparison with Tiger Brokers – Same Market, Different Economics
- China Risun (中国旭阳) IPO Quick Note: Past the Peak of Coking Cycle
- Futu Holdings IPO – Given the Team, Execution, and Backers, Might Be Worth a Look at the Low-End
- China Tobacco Intl (HK) IPO: Proxy For the Chinese Cigarette Consumption
- New Century Hotel (浙江開元酒店) IPO Review – Higher ADR and RevPAR than Peers but Margins Fall Short
- Futu Holdings Pre-IPO – FY18 Updates And Quick Thoughts on Valuation
- Yincheng Intl (银城国际) IPO Quick Note: A Highly Levered Nanjing Developer Bet
3. Topcon (7732 JP): Weak 3Q, Likely to Fall Short of FY Mar-19 Guidance
Topcon’s FY Mar-19 guidance looks over-optimistic. Operating profit was up 8.5% year-on-year on a 1.4% increase in sales in the nine months to December, but down 10.1% on a 2.3% decrease in sales in 3Q. To make management’s full-year targets, it would have to increase by 41.0% on a 6.8% increase in sales in 4Q. The sales of all three major product segments – Smart Infrastructure, Positioning and Eye Care – have been slow. Intra-company eliminations have undercut segment profits.
At ¥1,561 (Friday, March 1, close), the shares are selling at 23.6x our EPS estimate for this fiscal year and 9.8x projected EV/EBITDA. These multiples compare with 5-year historical lows of 16.1x and 6.8x. Japan Analytics’ calculation of Annual No-Growth Valuation shows further downside risk (see chart below).
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