For a value investing fund, its ROE has been declining over the past 10 years. I used to own it but sold it when I found that it seemed to be resting on its past performance

BLD Plantation – peak price that is not reflected in the ROE
I have concerns from both a fundamental perspective and share price perspective.
The company share price has been on an uptrend to reach a 10-year peak. But while its ROE was increasing from 2018, there was a decline last year. Is the market thinking that its ROE will eventually turnaround? Or have prices peaked? Refer to the chart at https://i.postimg.cc/Bnrd5Ptw/BLD-Plantation.png
From a fundamental angle, the company ROE is not as good as my 2 reference Bursa plantation companies – Boustead Plantation and KLK. This is not my pick from a fundamental perspective.
For more insight into the Bursa plantation companies go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhboTCMdEg

I am very wary about companies with volatile ROE

I have 2 reference companies when looking at Bursa plantation companies – BPlant and KLK. Astral ROE relative to these 2 were very low. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhboTCMdEg
So it is not a company I would dig further from a fundamental perspective. But if you are a punter, the comparison of its ROE and share price may present some ideas. https://i.postimg.cc/bwj00p8R/Astral-Asia.png

But look at its discrepancy between its ROE and share price. Would you consider that this is a catalyst for re-rating? https://i.postimg.cc/63XZ4JNK/UMW.png

Prices may be going up. But although it has a good auto segment, its Group ROE has been struggling to be above 10% for many years. From an auto perspective, there are better Bursa auto companies to look at when considering the ROE. https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/

From a ROE perspective, the ROE is 2023 is about the same as that in 2019. When you look at the stock price, it peaked in Aug 2019 at about RM 1.33 but today its stock price is only half of that of the peak. If you are a speculator, would you think that history will repeat itself?

The performance of TChong has deteriorated over the past decade so that today you would not consider it one of the better auto company from a ROE perspective. Companies like BAUTO or HLInd have better ROE as per my analysis "Are there opportunities in the Bursa auto sector?" in my blog

From a fundamental perspective, the company has not generated any positive ROE over the past few years. This is despite the high oil prices. Surely you are expecting crude oil prices to go higher so that it has a chance to make profits?

If you are hunting for good fundamental performaners in the auto sector, I would not look at Solid. Based on my analysis of the Bursa auto sector, there are companies like BAUTO or HLInd where you have better chance of finding consistently good ROE. Refer to https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/

If you are looking for auto companies to invest in, would you consider Sime? Looking at the overall performance of the Bursa auto companies, I would say that it does not stand out. The best performer in terms of the past 10 years ROE is BAUTO

From a fundamental perspective, there are companies with better ROE.

For a car company, its performance is terrible when compared to other Bursa auto companies. Refer to https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/

For most of the time over the past decade, its ROE has been around 5%. You can get similar returns from your EPF. If you want to hunt for Bursa auto companies, there are better choices in BAUTO and HLInd. Go to "Are there opportunities in the Bursa auto sector" in my blog

When you compare the past 10 years ROE of NHFatt with those of my 2 reference Bursa car companies - BAUTO and HLInd, you will conclude that the parts companies are not doing as well as the vehicle manufacturers. For more insights of the Bursa auto sector go to "Are there opportunities in the Bursa auto sector" in my blog

The ROE has been pretty low over the past few years although last year did show some improvement.

I have 2 references for the Bursa auto sector that I use to screen for companies - BAUTO and HLInd. Refer to "Are there opportunities in the Bursa auto sector?"Refer to https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/ I found that ROE of MBMR over the past decade is worse than those of my reference companies.

Over the past few years, its ROE had dropped by about half. But its PE has dropped by about 80%. It is no longer the hot stock it once was

In my analysis of the Bursa auto sector, (https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/) HLInd came up on top of my screen. Of course, you have to dig deeper if you want to invest as a value investor

From a fundamental perspective DRBHCOM's ROE over the past decade had underperformed those of BAUTO and HLInd. I think there are better Bursa auto companies to look at. For insights into the Bursa auto sector refer to https://focusmalaysia.my/are-there-investment-opportunities-in-the-bursa-auto-sector/

The chart (https://i.postimg.cc/c4JN3Hgm/Bermaz-auto.png) shows the ROE of the dozen Bursa auto-related companies. You can see that Bermaz Auto (BAUTO) stood out well above the pack.
But there is a difference between a good company (strong fundamentals) and a good investment (one that can enable you to make money).
From a fundamental investment perspective, a good investment is one which is trading below its intrinsic value.
Well, I have not carried out an intrinsic valuation of BAUTO yet. But looking at the PE and PBV trends can give you some insights whether it is worth the trouble. You can see that the multiples today are actually near the historical lows while the ROE is near the historical highs. An investment worth a detailed look?
For more insights into the Bursa auto sector go to “Are there opportunities in the Bursa auto sector?” at my blog.

White Horse is currently trading below its Graham Net Net. The Graham Net Net is a short hand for its liquidation value. So why is the market so pessimistic? This is not a sunset sector and there is no digital disruption

The steel sector is cyclical. So you would expect its business performance to be correlated with the global steel prices. The company does not have enough readily available historical info over the past 2 cycles to enabled detailed analysis. There are lots of other listed steel companies with such info. Why give yourself the headache with this one?

If you compare TDM market price over the past 10 years with that of its ROE, you can see a great disconnect as illustrated in the chart https://i.postimg.cc/YCtQs4Y3/TDM.png
The share price had declined to its low in 2019. Over the past 5 years it has not really gotten out of the low. While the ROE had improved since the 2019 low, the market price did not seem to reflect this.
But its financial performance as measured by the ROE has been volatile compared to the market price.
Does it mean that there is an investment opportunity? From a fundamental perspective I would still compare its intrinsic value with the market price before deciding whether to invest.
Both the plantation and healthcare are not sunset sectors. If you want to know more about the plantation sector, go to “How the Malaysian plantation sector performed over the past 10 years” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhboTCMdEg

Property sector is cyclical. The performance of property companies have been on a decline since 2016/7. Are were near the bottom? I would guess so. But will there by significant uptrend or will the bottom drag on? If you are looking for quick gains, this is not the sector to hunt

From a fundamental performance perspective, Minho ROE lie in between my 2 reference Bursa timber/wood-products companies – Eksons and Taann. But from a valuation perspective, Minho PE is higher that the other 2. Refer to https://i.postimg.cc/28b6hKB7/Minho.png Does this mean that it is overpriced? For an overview of Eksons see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM

This is an engineering/construction company that saw more losses than profits over the past decade. From a fundamental perspective why would you want to consider this company?

Whenever I hunt for Bursa timber/wood-based companies, I compare them with 2 reference companies where I have detailed analysis - Eksons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM) and Taann. This will give me a quick assessment of whether to pursue further. In this context, over the past 11 years, there was only 1 year that Mieco ROE was better than that of Taann. Compared with Eksons, Mieco did better for 5 years. Not exactly an exciting track record.

I have 2 reference companies with detailed analysis - Eksons and Taann - that I used when hunting for companies in the timber/wood-based sector. With this lens, I found that Hevea ROE pre-2018 was much better than these reference companies. But post-2018, Hevea ROE lies in between these 2. From a fundamental perspective, I would focus on Taann.

There are several product categories under the timber/wood-based products sector. The common characteristics is that they all use timber/logs as the ultimate raw materials and would be considered a cyclical sector. I screen for companies in this sector by looking at their performance relative to Eksons and Taann where I have detailed fundamental analysis. In this context, I would not consider EVERGRN past few years ROE to be better than those of Eksons. I have concluded that Eksons is a cash holding value trap so I would not dig deeper into EVERGRN

From a fundamental perspective, I have 2 reference companies in the timber/wood products sector with detailed analysis – Eksons and Taann. Timwell ROE over the past decade was better than than for Eksons. But it is not better than Taan. So I would prefer to hunt elsewhere as a fundamental investor.
But if you are a stock trader, look at this anomaly between its market price and business performance. https://i.postimg.cc/Z5C5pTYL/Timwell.png
I find it interesting that while the ROE has been trending up, the market price is relatively flat. If you believe that market price will eventually follow fundamentals, does it mean that there is now an investment opportunity from a trading perspective?

Its ROE has been improving post Covid. But I have not seen similar trend in its share price

This company has been achieving negative ROE for 6 out of the past 7 years. And to think that it is in the oil and gas sector.

One of the ways I screen for companies is to compare their ROE trends with those of companies in the same sector that I have carried out detailed fundamental analysis. On such a basis, I found that WTK did worse than my 2 references - Eksons and Taann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM

With about 10% ROE for the past few years, it is a reasonable performance. The challenge is that from a fundamental perspective, the price is way more than its business value.

If you are looking for companies dealing with wood-based products, Woodlan would not be my first choice. When I looked at its ROE over the past 10 years, it was not much better than Eksons (refer https://focusmalaysia.my/eksons-dont-be-mesmerised-by-the-cash-hoard/) which I consider a cash value trap. It did much worse than Taann.

If you look at the chats and comments, you will realize that most are short term traders. So there are few fundamental investors. Well short term traders buy based on market sentiments. I guess you can see that with the Hamas and Ukraine conflicts, travel is not going to have a bright future.

Mentiga's ROE over the past decade lies in between those of Eksons and Taann. I of course consider Eksons a value trap. Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM
From a fundamental perspective, why look at Mentiga when it is not better than Taann?

Despite the high oil prices, the ROE of Yinson over the past few years has been around 10%. I think this reflects its position that it is more like a provider of facilities rather than a mining company.

Boustead Plantation – should you take the GO?

LTAT announced that it will proceed with the GO of BPlant at RM 1.55 per share. The NTA of BPlant as of the end of Dec 2022 was RM 1.21 per share.

The offer price is 1.3 times the NTA. You may think that this is low when considering that the price to NTA for Sime Plantation is 2.0

If you compare BPlant’s ROE over the past 10 years with those of the Bursa plantation sector, you may think that this is a good performance. So why a low offer price for such a good performance? Refer to https://i.postimg.cc/vTVXvMwM/BPlant-ROE.png

But don’t be misled. The EBIT from 2013 to 2022 was RM 2.1 b. During this period, the gain from the disposal of land and securities amounted to RM 1.5 billion. The significant land sales (> RM 50 million gain) were carried out in 2013, 2015 to 2017, and 2019 and 2022

Without these gains, the returns in these years would have been much lower. BPlant did not make much from its plantation operations. I am sure the company is aware and has been trying to address this.

The historical performance showed that it was not successful. Are you going to wait for another decade ie reject the GO or should you take what is offered and look elsewhere?
For more insights into BPlant go to https://focusmalaysia.my/boustead-plantation-is-the-company-really-in-the-plantation-biz/

Over the past decade, BTM ROE was even lower than that for Eksons which ceased its plywood business in Jan 2023. Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM
From a fundamental investor perspective, it is better to spend time hunting elsewhere.

There is not enough published history to make a reliable long-term fundamental analysis. But for electronic testing business, my benchmark would be KESM

The company also trades in wood moulding and plywood. As such I compares its ROE with my 2 plywood references - Eksons and Taann. Over the past decade, would be assess KPSCB ROE as in between those of Taann and Eksons. I of course consider Eksons performance as bad. Refer to https://focusmalaysia.my/eksons-dont-be-mesmerised-by-the-cash-hoard/

I thought that Eksons was in a bad shape as its plywood business was dependent on 3rd party timber supplies. You can imagine the timber companies giving priority to thier own plywood operations making life hard for Eksons. Refer to https://www.malaysiastock.biz/Blog/BlogArticle.aspx?tid=27024. But when I compared the past 10 years ROE of these 2 companies, I found that Auro performance was worse.

The performance of BPlant had not been fantastic over the past few years. It made money from land sale rather than operations. So there is a good chance that LTAT would have to find another buyer. Unfortunately for those of you who failed to get it when it was < RM 1.00, you are merely speculating if you buy it now.

Is KSL one of the better Bursa property companies?
While the Malaysian property companies have recovered from the effects of Covid-19, it is still a long way to recovering to the 2013/14 peak.
The chart (refer to https://i.postimg.cc/fLs0G99v/KSL-vs-Property-co.png) shows the ROE of the Bursa property companies with total equity greater than RM 1 billion. You can see the recovery post-2020.
The chart also shows that KSL was an outstanding performance pre-Covid and suffered badly in 2020. However, it seems to have recovered to have its ROE greater than the upper quartile of the large property companies.
But if you look at KSL share price (refer to https://i.postimg.cc/59nFrjNw/KSL-share-price.png) it did not dip significantly in 2020 like its ROE. So unless you think that its ROE in the next 2 years will reach the 2024 level, I would not expect the share price to uptrend so much.
For more insights into the property sector, go to “Will the Malaysian Property industry turn around by 2024?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn4p31y0CUQ

ROE has been declining since 2014 and became negative over the past 3 years. I think it will take a while before it returns to the 2014 level

I use 2 references for plywood companies - Eksons which is relying on 3rd party for its logs and Taann with its own logging operations. Eksons decided to exit the plywood business in Jan 2023 while Taann is still manufacturing plywood.

You can see that FLBHD ROE was better than both pre-Covid. Refer to https://i.postimg.cc/gkshNMqt/FLBH.png

Go here for more details of Eksons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM

Over the past 10 years, it only had positive ROE for 3 years. And of these, only one year was good with ROE > 10%. This is not a company I would dig deeper from a fundamental perspective

Subur has an advantage over Eksons in that its timber operations can supply logs to its mills and facilities. As such I was surprised to see that over the past 10 years, its ROE was worse than Eskons which I consider as a cash value trap. Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1byo-eO4CM
Considering that Subur ROE trend is worse than Eksons and Taann, (refer to chart in https://i.postimg.cc/Dwsjg2cm/Subur-vs-Eskons.png) don't you think that there are better options elsewhere?