We accompanied AEON on a non-deal roadshow recently to visit fund managers and analysts from New York, Boston and Chicago. The investors were positive on the company‟s outlook given its strong branding and aggressive expansion. AEON‟s upcoming Sri Manjung, Perak outlet will be opening end of this year whilethe Kulai, Johor outlet is slated to open by 2013. Management said the company is not involved in the reported deal between AEON Japan and Carrefour. Maintain NEUTRAL, with FV unchanged at RM10.28.
“Hello” US of A! Earlier this month, we showcased AEON to 17 fund managers and analysts in the United States (US), which attracted overwhelming response. Executive Director Mr Poh Ying Loo briefed investors on the company’s background, business model, future plans and strategies. The American fund managers were generally drawn to AEON’s strong brand name, unique business model and solid earnings record.
More malls in the pipeline. The company will be opening a two-level outlet in Sri Manjung in Perak which has a net lettable area (NLA) of 477k sq ft, by December this year, followed by another new mall in Kulai, Johor, with a NLA of approximately 457k sq ft, in 2013. AEON is also in the midst of expanding its presence in the northern region with plans to open a new mall each in Sungai Petani and Bukit Mertajam. In order to maintain its market share and penetrate the relatively untapped markets, the company is looking at the possibility of venturing to East Malaysia, as well as the east coast and secondary towns in Peninsular Malaysia. Going by this trend, we believe AEON will be opening more outlets in FY14 and FY15.
Not involved in Carrefour deal. Last week, the Nikkei reported that AEON Co Ltd (AEON Japan), the parent company of AEON, is set to buy Carrefour Malaysia for USD750m (~RM750m) in a deal expected to be completed soon. Management, however, clarified in a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday that AEON Malaysia “is not involved in and has nothing to do with the reported deal’’ at this stage. However, we would not be surprised if AEON Japan is keen on Carrefour Malaysia given the group’s history in acquiring other hypermarkets and its experience in managing Carrefour stores, having bought eight Carrefour hypermarkets in Japan in 2005.
Maintain NEUTRAL. As there is no change in the company’s fundamentals, we are keeping our FY12 and FY13 earnings forecasts untouched. Maintain NEUTRAL, with FV of RM10.28, based on 16x FY13 EPS.
“Hello” US of A! Earlier this month, we showcased AEON to 17 fund managers and analysts in the United States (US), which attracted overwhelming response. Executive Director Mr Poh Ying Loo briefed investors on the company’s background, business model, future plans and strategies. The American fund managers were generally drawn to AEON’s strong brand name, unique business model and solid earnings record.
More malls in the pipeline. The company will be opening a two-level outlet in Sri Manjung in Perak which has a net lettable area (NLA) of 477k sq ft, by December this year, followed by another new mall in Kulai, Johor, with a NLA of approximately 457k sq ft, in 2013. AEON is also in the midst of expanding its presence in the northern region with plans to open a new mall each in Sungai Petani and Bukit Mertajam. In order to maintain its market share and penetrate the relatively untapped markets, the company is looking at the possibility of venturing to East Malaysia, as well as the east coast and secondary towns in Peninsular Malaysia. Going by this trend, we believe AEON will be opening more outlets in FY14 and FY15.
Not involved in Carrefour deal. Last week, the Nikkei reported that AEON Co Ltd (AEON Japan), the parent company of AEON, is set to buy Carrefour Malaysia for USD750m (~RM750m) in a deal expected to be completed soon. Management, however, clarified in a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday that AEON Malaysia “is not involved in and has nothing to do with the reported deal’’ at this stage. However, we would not be surprised if AEON Japan is keen on Carrefour Malaysia given the group’s history in acquiring other hypermarkets and its experience in managing Carrefour stores, having bought eight Carrefour hypermarkets in Japan in 2005.
Maintain NEUTRAL. As there is no change in the company’s fundamentals, we are keeping our FY12 and FY13 earnings forecasts untouched. Maintain NEUTRAL, with FV of RM10.28, based on 16x FY13 EPS.
Hello „Uncle Sam‟! The US, which consists of 50 states and a federal district, is the world’s biggest economy with a population of 314.6m. It is also a global financial hub that is home to a large number of internationally well-known banks, businesses and stock exchanges. We brought AEON Malaysia to US for a non-deal four-day roadshow. We met up with 17 fund managers and analysts from “Big Apple’ New York, ‘Beantown’ Boston and “Windy City’ Chicago. The roadshow was timely, given that the US investors are currently looking at consumer plays in the emerging markets, especially Southeast Asia, and AEON is a prominent retailer in Malaysia.
Rebranding well in progress. AEON unveiled its new brand name ‘AEON’ – which means eternity in Latin – earlier this year to replace the ‘Jusco’ brand that most Malaysians have grown accustomed to over the past 28 years. This is part of the AEON Group’s global strategy to standardize its corporate identity. AEON’s customer loyalty programme, J card, has been replaced by the AEON member card and the ‘Jusco’ signs are progressively being replaced with ‘AEON’ signs. Currently, there are approximately 1m AEON members and >60% of AEON’s monthly sales are from its members.
Source: OSK
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