Wednesday 8 August 2012

UMW Holdings - Management echoes our bullish view on earnings BUY


- Local dailies and Bloomberg today highlighted an interview with UMW CEO, Datuk Syed Hisham Syed Wazir. Key takeaways from the interview are:- (1) Management expects FY12F profits to increase, driven by stronger auto sales; (2) Earnings expected to rebound at its oil & gas division which is recovering after two years of losses; (3) Management is confident of surpassing its initial 93,000 unit sales target for UMW Toyota in FY12.

- The abovementioned views underpin our expectation of a multi-year record earnings streak for UMW – reflected in FY11-FY14F earnings CAGR of 21%. We re-affirm our FY12F net profit of RM888mil (+52% YoY), which will be the group’s highest ever earnings, on strong auto recovery (off two natural disasters in 2011 and tighter banking policies since Jan 2012) as well as oil & gas division turnaround into profits.

- We project a 14% growth in FY12F auto earnings – driven by an 11% growth in Toyota sales to 96,965 units. Toyota accounts for 74% of UMW auto’s earnings, which in turn, account for over 72% of group bottomline. Recall that management has revised up its target sales to 96,000 units (vs. earlier target of 93,000), now much closer to our forecast. More importantly, management highlighted that the new forecast is still very conservative and we see room for significant upside. 1H12 Toyota sales of 51,567 already account for 54% of the revised target.

- UMW is also at the cusp of the oil & gas division recovery, building up momentum on FY charter contributions from Naga 2 and Naga 3 jack-up rigs, new rig acquisitions this year and potential marginal field contract wins. Our FY12F O&G projections are still very conservative at RM50mil net profit vs. 1Q12 O&G earnings of RM20mil (annualised: RM80mil). This compares to a RM216mil net loss in FY11.

- At FY12F PE of 13x, UMW is looking attractive (11% discount), relative to a mid-cycle PE of 14x given a strengthening earnings cycle.  Additionally, UMW provides cheap access as an O&G asset owner & operator – as a comparison, Bumi Armada is trading at 24x CY12F earnings. As a valuation yardstick, UMW traded up to a high of 17x in 2010 when earnings recovered from the economic crisis in 2009. A solid balance sheet (23% net gearing postrig acquisition) positions the group well to capitalise on M&A opportunities in the auto sector, should it arise. Re-affirm our BUY call at an unchanged SOP-derived fair value of RM11/share.

Source: AmeSecurities

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