KEY INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Naza group looking to divest interest in Kia and Peugeot distribution; BAuto reported to be front-runner

• Fills up gaps in BAuto’s model mix, management has strong track record of turning around ailing brands

• An M&A is within BAuto’s financial capacity, but piecemeal acquisition preferred as we do not see the need for a minority stake in another assembly plant

• BUY maintained at unchanged TP of RM1.75, premised on structural volume expansion and EPS recovery

What’s new? The Edge Weekly’s interview with Naza Corp’s (Naza) Joint Executive Chairman, highlighted Naza’s intention to divest its interest in its Kia and Peugeot operations. This comes hot on the heels of recent news reports/rumors of BAuto being the front-runner to take over distributorship of the brands from Naza.

Sales and production of Korean marques have dwindled. One of the reasons cited for Naza’s decision, other than thin margins and low returns, were dwindling sales. To be fair, a similar scenario is seen across all the Korean marques in the country. SsangYong (no longer represented in Malaysia), Hyundai (distributed by Sime Darby) and Kia’s aggregate TIV has fallen from a high of 18K-19K units in 2013-14 to just 5649 units in 2019 (a negative CAGR of 22%); the contraction was seen across all three brands. Aggregate market share of the Korean marques in Malaysia have declined from close to 3% in 2014 to just below 1% last year.

Source: MIDF Research - 19 Oct 2020