Tuesday 22 January 2013

Perdana Petroleum Berhad - Back On The Radar, Poised For Take-Off


We are initiating coverage on Perdana Petroleum (“PERDANA”) with an OUTPERFORM call given that our target price of RM1.62 (based on a target PER of 14x on CY13 EPS of 11.6 sen) implies a 38% upside to its current share price. Perdana is an offshore  marine services (OSV) provider for the upstream oil and gas industry. Well known by the investment community, it was put in the back-burner from 2009 to early 2012 due to: 1) a long-drawn out management tussle;        2) poor reported earnings; and 3) a weak OSV industry-wide outlook. However, Perdana’s turnaround in its 2012 net profit and the slew of offshore marine contracts awarded since the beginning of the year has led us to believe that the industry is back on track and is poised for a re-rating. We expect a 2-year CAGR of 70.1% heading into 2013-14 and we like the stock for its: 1) optimal marine vessel product mix; 2) young fleet; and 3) linkages with Dayang Enterprise (“DAYANG”). 

Recovery of the OSV market.  As of Jan-2013, c.RM1.4b worth of offshore marine vessel contracts has already been awarded to the local OSV players for the year. We note that this has far surpassed the contract values seen in the 2007-2008 cycle when the sector was last considered to be the most vibrant. We see the swift turnaround as a signal that the OSV market is finally coming around and that the sector is poised for a re-rating by the investment community. 

Optimal offshore vessel mix.  Perdana’s current asset fleet can be largely categorised under the Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) and Accommodation marine vessels, which serve both the  green and brownfield segments of the oil and gas (O&G) value chain. Perdana’s strategy ensures that its fleet is balanced to cater to the various phases of the O&G value chain and in our view; this will be the main driver of its current earnings turnaround. Longer-term contracts and sustainable earnings ahead. Half of Perdana’s AHTS capacity has been chartered on long-term contracts (on 4 Jan, Perdana won a 5+1 year contract for four of its 10k Brake-horse-Power (BHP) vessels). We suspect that a majority of its accommodation vessel fleet could be similarly chartered on long-term contracts as well, assuming its Dayang Enterprise (“DAYANG”) will be able to secure a sizeable portion of the RM7-10bn Pan Malaysia Hook-up and Commissioning contract (estimated to be awarded by 1QFY13).

The Dayang Enterprise factor. Its link to Miri-based Dayang allows Perdana some access to the turnkey contracting market that OSV players typically do not have. In our view, this enhances Perdana’s chartering success as it is riding on the prospects of a reputable turnkey contractor. We also see Perdana as a cheaper proxy to the brownfield O&G segment given its attractive       CY13-14 PER valuations of just 10.1x-8.2x vis-à-vis the CY13-14 12.2x-11.3x that Dayang is currently trading at.

2-year net profit CAGR of 70.1% from FY12.  We are forecasting a significant net profit jump of 135.5% for FY13, and thereafter, another 22.9% jump in earnings for FY14 on the back of heightened utilisations for both its AHTS (89.1%-93.5%) and Accommodation Workbarge and boat (82.9-91.4%) fleet. 

The risks to its optimistic outlook include: 1) a downturn in the oil and gas sector that will delay contract flows; 2) lower-than-expected capacity utilisation and a charter rate downturn; 3) inability to sell off old vessels, which will continue to tax Perdana’s financials and 4) inability of its partner – Dayang to secure a sizeable portion of the Pan Malaysia contract.

Source: Kenanga

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