Friday, 30 March 2012

Jaya Tiasa Holdings - Entering into a new plantation era; bonus bonanza HOLD


- We downgrade Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd to HOLD, with  a slightly downward revised fair value of RM8.24/share (vs. RM8.37/share previously), based a PE of 13x its annualised FY12F core EPS of 63.4 sen (vs. basic EPS of 64.4 sen previously).

- The stock has reached our previous fair value since last week after it announced a 2-for-1 bonus issue (est. total of 645mil bonus shares) and a 15% placement of new shares (est. 42mil shares that may raise RM300mil, prior to bonus issue – which will partly lower borrowings and keep gearing in check).

- Its proposed dividend of one treasury share for every 20 shares held will go ex- on 6 April 2012. We believe Jaya Tiasa’s latest proposals are aggressive measures to spur trading liquidity of its shares and would go a long way towards enhancing the attractiveness of the stock.

- We welcome the proposals in the belief that management is signalling strong intent in fiscal prudence (though gearing remains manageable), while preparing the group for its next phase of mid-cycle growth in the oil palm sector, with potential landbank acquisition ahead.   

- Our downward adjustment to FY12F earnings follow the result for the three months to 31 January 2012, which came in slightly below expectations due to lower CPO prices (QoQ and YoY), and a decline in log prices given the significant slowdown of exports to India in view of the weakening Rupee during the period.

- Its net profit of RM143mil (+54% YoY) for the nine months to 31 January accounted for 83% of our previous annualised FY12F net profit of RM172mil. However, excluding an exceptional gain of RM27.6mil on the disposal of a subsidiary, the core net profit of RM115mil (+24.4% YoY) would bring that down to 67% (vs. 70% now given our revised annualised earnings to RM164mil).

- Log prices have improved in view of the strengthening Rupee in the recent months. Sarawak Timber Association this week said new orders from Japan's plywood importers had continued to flow in since late last year and that  Sarawak manufacturers would benefit from anticipated stronger demand from Japan at the start of spring next month.

- The oil palm division, which accounted for over 60% of its latest quarterly earnings, is expected to continue to perform significantly better than the timber division given the current strong CPO prices. 

- Our target PE of 13x is conservative vis-à-vis its forward PE mean of 20x, and well within 1+SD and -1SD of 9x and 31x, respectively.  

Source: AmeSecurities

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