Riding on aluminium price recovery. We hold a bullish view on aluminium prices, premised on the increasing popularity of aluminium in the auto industry as a steel alternative, growing demand in emerging markets, and declining global production rates. Thus, we expect aluminium prices to increase to an average of USD1900/MT (+3%) in FY14E and USD2100/MT (+11%) in FY15E. Based on our sensitivity analysis, every USD100/MT increase in aluminum prices could directly translate into a 5% increase in Press Metal (PMETAL)’s bottom line. Hence, we believe PMETAL should benefit directly from the higher price trend as 97% of revenue is derived from its Manufacturing & Trading (M&T) division, which sells aluminum ingots, billets and extrusion products.

Margin expansion in M&T division to drive earnings growth. We are expecting M&T division’s margin to expand significantly by 4.5 times to 8.6% (from 1.9% in FY13). Note that the large quantum of growth is due to a low base effect in FY13 as a result of the Mukah plant shutdown which depressed FY13 earnings. Our margin expectation is on the conservative side, as it is similar to the FY12 level of 8.6%, even though margin should see improvement vs. FY12 due to the new and higher energy-efficient Samalaju plant. As for FY15, we expect PBT margin improvement to 9.2% as the Group is embarking on additional logistics upgrades, which should lower average manufacturing cost per MT. Furthermore, the company is targeting to increase its alloyed aluminum production to 40% by FY16E, which commands a better price premium with minimal additional capex. Overall, we expect the margin expansion to flow straight to bottom line as M&T division contributed 97% of PMETAL’s revenue and 99% of PBT in FY13.

Expect FY14E revenue to surge 25% due to capacity expansion. On top of margin expansion, we are also expecting superior revenue growth of 25% to RM3.9b in FY14E on additional capacity expansion. PMETAL has continued to ramp up production at the Samalaju plant by 33% to its full rated capacity of 320k MT/year of aluminum production. We expect the newly-added capacity to boost revenue immediately. This is because each ‘potline’ consists of about 150 aluminium smelting pots which are operated as a batch. The smelting process runs continuously with each pot producing almost 3 MT of aluminium per day. Hence PMETAL’s new expansion should enjoy optimal capacity utilization from the new potline upon commencement of operations. As for FY15E, we expect revenue growth of 16% to RM4.5b, driven mainly by rising aluminium prices and a shift towards value-add alloyed aluminium products, which command a 15-20% price premium above the market price of aluminum.

Sustainable operating margin due to attractive electricity cost. Based on our estimates, PMETAL has a higher-than-average expected FY14E operating margin of 10.8% compared to its regional peers’ average FY14E margin of 4.5%. The margin advantage is due to the attractive electricity costs compared to other aluminium smelters in the region. We expect the high margin trend to be sustainable as the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed between PMETAL and Sarawak Energy (Sesco) in 2011 should be effective for another 22 years. Lastly, we note that PMETAL’s subsidiary Press Metal Bintulu (PMB), which operates the Samalaju smelter, may get an additional 5 years extension for its pioneer status upon expiry in Dec 17 (the current extension started Jan 13).

Trading Buy with a Target Price of RM8.87 based on a target Fwd. P/E of 14.5x on FY15E EPS of 61 sen. Our Fwd. P/E is based on a 5% premium to FBM Mid 70 Index FY15E Fwd. P/E of 13.8x. We believe our benchmark is appropriate as the average FBM Mid 70 (FBM70) market cap of RM4.6b is comparable to PMETAL’s current market cap of RM4.0b. Our premium is justified by strong FY14E-FY15E expected earnings growth of 91%-28%, well exceeding FBM70’s expected 16%-6% growth. At our current TP, we expect a potential total return of 24.1% (21.7% upside, 2.5% dividend yield) which warrants a trading buy recommendation.

Source: Kenanga