Wednesday 24 October 2012

Malaysia Airports Holdings - A Good Option Despite Flattish Earnings


MAHB  reported  flattish  earnings  in  3Q12  on  the  back  of  higher  operating  costs despite  a  jump  in  revenue.  Nonetheless,  they  were  largely  in  line  with  our  andconsensus expectations and hence, we are retaining our earnings projections. We rolled  forward  our  DCF  valuation,  raising  our  FV  to  RM8.00  premised  at  9.5% WACC.  Maintain  BUY,  as  we  continue  to  like  its  prospects  moving  forward.  The stock has been punished for not generating positive free cash flow in recent years due  to  capex  run-ups,  but  we  foresee  this  situation  changing  come  FY14  as  weexpect MAHB to generate RM405m and RM570m in FY14 and FY15 respectively.  
 
Flat on higher costs but forecasts unchanged.  MAHB reported 3Q core earnings of RM107.5m (+2% y-o-y, +3% q-o-q) on the back of RM536.7m in  revenue (+11% y-o-y, +2%  y-o-y)  bringing  its  YTD  earnings  and  revenue  to  RM326m  (+1%  y-o-y)  and RM1.57bn  (+11%  y-o-y)  respectively.  For  the  quarter,  net  exceptional  items  totaled RM4.7m  (YTD:  RM40m),  due  to  non-recurring  expenses  for  staff  provisions/accruals and  utilities  expenses  that  were  supposed  to  be  incurred  last  year.  Revenue  was boosted by higher PSC charges and lower airline incentives on the back of 3% y-o-y and 4% YTD passenger growth. The flattish earnings were largely attributed to higher utilities and maintenance costs coupled by a higher incurred tax rate. 9M earnings were largely in line, accounting for 70% of our full year forecasts and 75% of consensus’.  We expect 4Q earnings to catch up on higher pax numbers as new airlines are coming onboard, on top of MAS’ new A380s coming into operation. We maintain our earnings forecasts.

Management  briefing  highlights.  The  scheduled  completion  of  KLIA2,  which  is  to  be operational by 1 May 2013, is on track. This includes its third runway, with no costs run-ups. AirAsia has confirmed that it will shift to KLIA2 and this should dispel any concerns on  delays  and  costs  overruns.  MAHB  continues  to  maintain  its  passenger  growth expectation of 6%-7% for FY12, though we reckon it is unlikely to be met given that 9M growth came in at only 4%. It has yet to give any guidance for next year but with the new airlines and MAS A380’s, we expect passenger growth of 11% in FY13. 

Roping  in  the  first  foreign  duty  free  concessionaire.  The  management  may  be roping  in  an  established  duty-free  concessionaire,  allocating  up  to  30%  of  total  retail space for it. The term of the concession is for 3+2 years. Any impact of cannibalization on Eraman’s sales will be minimal as tobacco and alcohol will still come under their turf, while any impact on other goods will be mitigated by higher concession charges. Bidders are understood to include names such as DFS and other leading global retailers. With a key  global  retailer  coming  in  on  a  concession  basis,  this  allows  MAHB  to  collect significant portion of concession upfront. An announcement on all successful tenders for retail space will be made soon.
A dividend reinvestment plan.  MAHB has announced a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) and we believe this  bodes  well  for  its  share  price.  Khazanah  is  a  major  shareholder,  with  a  49%  stake  and  with  its  share being illiquid given its tight holding by many institutions  (as MAHB runs a cash cow model), we expect many investors  to  opt  for  their dividends  to  be  reinvested in  new  shares  -  as  was  the  case  with  Maybank  with  its high  take  up  rate  of  90%.  With  a  number  of  significant  investors  holding  MAHB  shares  at  a  low  cost  entry averaging at RM3-RM4, this would the decision to reinvest dividends into shares more compelling as it also avoids any brokerage costs.  The implementation of the first DRP is expected to be sometime in 1Q2013.

DRP to see minimal impact on dilution. It is too early to incorporate the DRP into our model and earnings estimates  as  we  have  yet  to know  what  its  take-up  rate  would  be  like.  Our gut  feeling is that  it  could hover around 70%, with Khazanah likely to opt for shares rather than cash dividends. With the 50% payout policy,  an  estimated  DPS  of  19.5sen  with  a  take-up  of  70%  would  ultimately  raise  32m  in  new  shares  worth RM165m, representing 2.7% of company’s enlarged issued and paid up capital. Any dilution impact on EPS would be minimal at only 2%, after taking into consideration the interest expense saved from the need to take up additional financing. However, with a dividend reinvestment plan in place, it is crucial for Management to continuously  address  its  capex  expansion  plans  and  budget  to  the  investment  community  in  order  for investors to make a sound decision.

Ride  on  this  cash  cow.  While  earnings  are  expected  to  drop  next  year  on  higher  depreciation  and amortization charges due to the completion of KLIA2, investors need to look out for MAHB’s free cash flow, which is expected to return back to positive territory by FY14. This is due its capex commitments freeing up, coupled with the full year contribution of KLIA2. However, the company’s free cash flow for the firm (FCFF) will  remain  negative  for  FY12  and  FY13,  as  KLIA2  has  yet  to  be  completed.  We  expect  RM405m  and RM570m  to  be  earned  in  FCFF  for  FY14  and  FY15  respectively,  in  absence  of  any  significant  capex commitments.

BUY  at  a  higher  FV  of  RM8.00,  a  36%  upside.  We  maintain  our  earnings  forecast  but  raise  our  FCFF valuation to RM8.00 (from RM7.53) as we roll over to FY13 numbers with our BUY call maintained. Our DCF is  premised  on  9.5% WACC based  on  a 65%  equity  and  35%  debt structure.  Dividend  yields  at  the  current level  stands  at  3.3%,  among  the  highest  compared  to  its  listed  airport  peers.  This  suggests  there  is  more upside  in  the  share price  when  dividend  yields  are highly  sought after  these  days.  MAHB’s  share price  has been  depressed  over  the  past  two  years  as  it  has  yet  to  generate  any  cash  flow  yields.  With  the  situation changing  come  FY14,  now  would  be  a  good  time  to  enter  and  accumulate  more  of  this  potential  cash  cow stock at its current price. 
Source: OSK

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