Thursday, 17 January 2013

DRB-Hicom, 17 Jan 2013 - Hinting of more corporate exercises – property spinoff? BUY


- It is reported in the media today that DRB Hicom’s (DRB) CEO Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil had hinted that the group would be active in corporate exercises this year as the group seeks to improve its bottom line and reduce gearing. Nonetheless, he stopped short of indicating which part of DRB’s business would be involved.  That aside, the group is targeting the divestment of its stake in UniAsia by 4Q2013. As far as the divestment of Bank Muamalat is concerned, there have been discussions with Affin Bank and there have also been interests from two more parties.
 
- Looking at its businesses, we find that the group could unlock a sizeable value from its property division given the assets in hand. It has a remaining GDV of RM11bil with key assets coming from Glenmarie Heights (1,500 acres at GDV of RM8bil) in Iskandar Malaysia and also the Jalan Tun Razak  (opposite IJN) development worth RM900mil accounting for 50% and 20% of its residential development market value. 

- We are not ruling out a possible spin-off of its property arm especially given the robust interest in Iskandar Malaysia currently. Recall there has been slew of land deals in Iskandar over the past few months involving Mah Sing and WCT and several high-net worth investors. In fact, Tan Sri Lim Kang Khoo’s Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) has been in the news for a possible listing with an angle of second play into Iskandar Malaysia. 

- DRB’s property division accounts for about 22% – including its investment properties and hotel and resorts – of our SOP value of RM10.7bil for DRB Hicom, albeit at a conservative average selling price assumption. 

- From a valuation standpoint, DRB is currently trading at an attractive CY13 PE of 9x versus its conglomerate peers of 17x. It is also trading at a steep discount of 37% to its SOP value.

- We believe there will be strong interests for the stock in the near term given the expected strong newsflow with the general election around the corner. 

- We maintain our BUY rating on DRB Hicom at RM3.80/share.   

Source: AmeSecurities

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