Friday, 24 February 2012

Guinness Anchor - Glass half full at half time HOLD


• Guinness Anchor Bhd (Guinness) posted a higher net profit of RM68mil for 2Q, bringing the total to RM121mil for 1H. Annualised, interim net profit is 28% above our forecast and 24% above consensus. We deem the results at half time to be a tad above expectations, given  an anticipated strong 2HFY12F on the back of the UEFA European Football Championship special world event from 8 June -1 July.

• Consequently, our FY12F-14F earnings forecasts havebeen tweaked upwards by 3%-8%. We now project net profit to grow 13% YoY to RM205mil for FY12F. 

• Our earnings model  takes into account a marginal margin compression due to  higher costs of raw materials, packaging and distribution, which are due to kick-in over the next few quarters. As an indication, packaging costs and price of malting barley for CY12 are circa 30%-40% higher YoY.  

• Guiness’s turnover and net profit for 1HFY12 surged 16% and 17% on a YoY basis. This was attributed mainly to:- 1) Increased beer volumes amid successful events (Tiger Street Football, Arthur’s Day and Heineken Thirst), and 2) Enhancement of the route-to-market strategy.

• Guinness Stout remains as the star performer, while Heineken continues to chalk up a double-digit growth.  Tiger, the group’s main earnings driver, is estimated to have maintained market leadership within the mainstream malt liquor segment.

• On a sequential basis, 2Q turnover and net profit was up 5% and 19%, respectively. Apart from this quarter being heavily seasonal due to Christmas and the New Year celebrations, bottom line growth was boosted by a 2.3ppts improvement in EBITDA margin from lower costs of goods sold. 

• Management declared a single-tier interim dividend of 10 sen/share for this quarter, similar to previous years. Including a special interim dividend of 60 sen/share declared in December 2011, dividends total 70 sen/share for 1HFY12. No change to our dividend forecast of 117sen/share for FY12F. 

• No change to our HOLD recommendation on Guinness with a DCF-based fair value of RM13.55/share (WACC:8.9%).  At the current share price, the stock still offers a decent 5% dividend yield, premised on an established dividend payout of 90% per annum.   

Source: Amesecurities

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