Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Nicolas Van Broekhoven

Was on the buyside for 15 years, most recently at a medium-sized boutique asset management firm. I grew up in Europe, went to university in the US and have been living in Singapore for the last 7 years which has given me a broad scope on the world and investing in general.

Consider myself a generalist investor with a preference for small and mid-cap companies and special situations. However, a large cap that has gone temporarily out of favor might also pique my interest. 

My style of investing could be categorized as more of value investor, rather than growth at any cost. Learning from Charlie Munger on the importance of quality of a company has been of tremendous value over the years.I like businesses with real earnings, cash flows, dividends, book value and insider ownership.

Insight Provider

Valuetronics (VALUE SP): Trade War Victim = Trial Production in Vietnam & Looking for N.American M&A

AGM Valuetronics (VALUE SP): Talking Points Remain Trial Production in Vietnam + M&A in N. America

Valuetronics: Full Steam Ahead with Vietnam Factory; Interim Dividend +20%; Net Cash 60% of Mkt Cap

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Equity Bottom-Up

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/valuetronics-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8387:1">Valuetronics Holdings (VALUE SP)</a> has been a long-term favorite holding as it has been a steady FCF machine and dividend payer. Management at Valuetronics is dedicated and reasonably shareholder-friendly. <strong>However, over the past 24 months, our advice has been there was little reason to rush into the stock as Valuetronics was a prime victim of the trade war with 100% of its factory footprint in China and 40-45% of its revenues derived from North America.</strong></p></div><div><p>Management has been hard at work diversifying its manufacturing footprint and has been shipping products from Vietnam to US customers over the last two quarters. Valuetronics is now hit by Covid-19 issues. First, it encountered supply issues in China from January-March. Second, it is now encountering demand issues from Western clients in April and May. FY21 will surely be much weaker than FY20 as the company lost a major automotive client. Management is beefing up its Vietnam operations and hiring more business development staff in the USA.</p></div><div>
<p>Currently, it is very hard to make a strong argument for Valuetronics given its 90%+ China production footprint and heavy reliance on the US market. Unless the trade war rhetoric improves it is certain there will be a painful and costly adjustment phase the company will have to endure. YTD the share price is -25% as the market remains unsure how trade friction between US/China is resolved when Western COVID19 inflicted demand comes back.</p>
<p>The valuation of Valuetronics remains very cheap with 71% of the market cap in net cash. </p>
</div>

Valuetronics Holdings (VALUE SP) has been a long-term favorite holding as it has been a steady FCF machine and dividend payer. Management at Valuetronics is dedicated and reasonably shareholder-friendly. However, over the past 24 months, our advice has been there was little reason to rush into the stock as Valuetronics was a prime victim of the trade war with 100% of its factory footprint in China and 40-45% of its revenues derived from North America.Management has been hard at work diversifying its manufacturing footprint and has been shipping products from Vietnam to US customers over the last two quarters. Valuetronics is now hit by Covid-19 issues. First, it encountered supply issues in China from January-March. Second, it is now encountering demand issues from Western clients in April and May. FY21 will surely be much weaker than FY20 as the company lost a major automotive client. Management is beefing up its Vietnam operations and hiring more business development staff in the USA.
Currently, it is very hard to make a strong argument for Valuetronics given its 90%+ China production footprint and heavy reliance on the US market. Unless the trade war rhetoric improves it is certain there will be a painful and costly adjustment phase the company will have to endure. YTD the share price is -25% as the market remains unsure how trade friction between US/China is resolved when Western COVID19 inflicted demand comes back.
The valuation of Valuetronics remains very cheap with 71% of the market cap in net cash. 


Valuetronics (VALUE SP): Cash Is an Important Asset + Expansion in Vietnam Continues