sheryn74 There will always be problems. The company performance hinges upon a confluence of perennial factors like market demand, competitors, cost of raw materials, currency risks, energy costs, etc.
The crux of success will depend on the efficiency and the wisdom of business hindsight of the board of management in handling a good balance of these variables, leveraging on its ability to secure market segmentation and differentiation as well as expansionary plans.
Judging from their major shareholdings of COMFORT, the onus is on the board of directors to strive hard for the company success. They stand to win and lose more than the others.
Some assuring stabilisers can be found in the positions taken by two Eastspring Investment Trust Funds, namely Eastspring Investment Small-caps (1.84%) and Eastspring Investment Islamic Small-caps.(1.50%). Another is KWAP with holdings at 1.13%. RHB Capital holds 0.65%.
Western businessmen very particular on their suppliers or customers involve in legal case especially related to patent issue and board tussle. Few of them might switch some of their order to others.
In case of TG, if 5% of their FY2017 revenue (RM170mil) move to other big glove companies and it will coz these other companies will facing 'happy problem' that related to capacity constrain as most of them are running at full cap.
Breaking news. I attended COMFORT AGM today. We had shareholders all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Penang too. Attendees from Eastspring Investment Trust Funds and RHB Capital. Board of management expressed positiveness towards 2H 2018 performance. Management stated that FDA Issue approval pending but doesn't affect company performance. Moving forward production capacity to increase with additional new lines in progressive completion. No immediate expansion on the recent acquisition of industrial land in Ipoh.
Based on your infor, sufficient to simulate CG capacity increase based on their record ( for reference purposes only):
FY2017 AR (Cap WIP) = RM6mil.
In FY2018, total Capex=RM35m FY2018 AR (Cap WIP) = RM18m Note: Invest 35m and at the end 18m still WIP (only completed 17m and this 17m should be for the 3 newly completed lines as mentioned in their AR)
FQ1FY2019=invested 14m. So total which will be completed in FY19 = 32m (18+14)
Average cost per line (depend on line cap) = 4.5mil. estimated can add 7 lines in FY2019 = 0.7bil cap.
4.3b (current cap) + 0.7b (new cap) = 5b. With this 5bil, Rev can hit RM500mil per yr. NP=9%=45mil. EPS=8sen If PE=13, then share px=1.04.
Based on 80sen share px, upside is 30% by year end.
@wakarimas, @VFTRADER @Wakarimas should work out your own version of "UNTRUE" calculations to verify how true VFTRADER's calculations are. It will definitely help forum members to arrive at a better well-informed calculated understanding. Thanks.
Responses from The Board of Directors 1. The Board of Directors has a balanced mix of individuals with specific expertise relevant to glove making industry, corporate financial and accounting systems. 2. The Managing Director, Cheang Phoy Ken asserted that the BOD have successfully turned a loss-making company into a profitable one without any injection of fresh capital into the company. 3. The BOD has decided to reward the shareholders for their loyal support by declaring a dividend of 1 sen for the first time in 2018. 4. (a) MD Cheang at first retorted bluntly as unfair in response to a new shareholder who requested for statistical data about the production capacity of Comfort for the past years. (b) However, his son Executive Director helped to tone down the abrasiveness by patiently answering the questions. (c) I remarked that no questions should be deemed as unfair or unreasonable as the AGM is the legitimate platform for all shareholders to know about the company. All questions are made in good faith in the best interests of the company. (d) I believed that the BOD are taken aback by the quality of "easy" questions posed by the shareholders. The questions are quite sharp, probing and dissective, requiring evidence of figures and facts and not some corporate lingo or stereotyped rhetoric. (e) A shareholder remarked that the questions were posed to seek comfort for their investment commitments in Comfort.
normally when a company was put into a fda detention list, it reflect a poor quality management system. i don't think comfort have improved on it. They do not have a strong management team like top glove, kossan and hartalega . This is their weakness.
well, comfort indeed sitting on a fair price. just the matter of market. When market good, it could jump high like previously. The highest price around rm1.2 few months ago. So considered rm0.40 discount, 33%. Looks good
@gongkia, hotsteel 1. MD Cheang pointed out that all the information had been publicly disclosed through bursa announcements over the past few years. He said it was unfair for him to quote past historical figures offhand to answer the question. 2. Personally speaking, the abrasive way he replied to a new shareholder politely seeking information was unacceptable. 3. (a) As a board director and Managing Director who is paid between MYR150,000 - MYR200,000 (Company) and MYR950,000 - MYR1,000,000 (Group), he is obligated to handle all queries in the best possible way. (b) As the Managing Director responsible for the daily operations, it's not difficult for him to provide some estimates. (c) He seemed aloof probably thinking he held substantial controlling shares and a key person in turning the company around. 4. Nevertheless, his son Executive Director Sean's professional intervention in answering helped to smoothen the discussion subsequently.
@sheryn74 smartInvestor1 wow. good news to glove sector. 上次也是中国减产 这次是竞争力减少 会慢慢发酵反映在业绩 12/07/2018 10:29 wow. good news to glove sector. The last time was when China cut down production. This time around with less competition, its positive impact will steadily be reflected in the next quarterly report. X yuanlong57 @ smartinvestor1 对啊, 肯定会发酵反映在八月份第2业绩报道。 You're right. Its positive impact will surely be reflected in the 2QR in August.
those board of directors are not good managers, if you look at the way they dilute the shares for their own advantages, and the compensation they took all these years, though they did turn around the company result.
sheryn74 Don't be disappointed. It's part of investing life. Learn from your mistakes to serve as wisdom for future. Technical analysis may be useful for viable entry price.
Questions by Proxy Shareholder (Phang) 1.What is the progressive expansion capacity of the recent acquisition of 39- acre industrial land, the details of this expansion; the conversion of the 2 existing pieces of agricultural land in Jebong District, Matang into industrial land? 2. What is the FDA status? 3. What are the specific steps taken to upgrade the operational efficiencies of the company? 4. What is the projected manufacturing capacity for FY2019?
BOD Answers 1. (a) In phase 1 production capacity is expected to increase when all the 9 lines are progressively completed. (b) For now, there won't be much happening on the recently acquired industrial land in Ipoh. It's more for its price and investment purpose as it has electricity, water and natural gas. (c) As the gas installation is expected to be connected only at the end of Dec 2018, any further concrete plans will most likely to appear in 2019. 2. As pertaining the FDA matter, the company has filed in the necessary papers, only waiting for FDA approval. 3. (a) The company is heavily invested in operational upgrades to streamline operations especially in IT and financial operations. (c) COMFORT is using investment allowance of green tax incentive credits to cut costs in electricity and gas. (d) As to the problems of labour, it is typically an industry challenge. (e) Installation of automated printing machines, etc but not all things can be automated. 4. Moving forward 2019, with the full completion of 9 more lines, and the existing 43 lines, there will be altogether 52 production lines.
* Contending with higher raw material costs and natural gas tariffs
* The company is appealing against its products being placed on the US FDA watch list
* Focusing on expansion and operational efficiencies
Increasing global demand for nitrile gloves is still spurring the local glove manufacturing sector. Nitrile gloves now account for 61% of Malaysian rubber glove exports. With the growing demand for nitrile gloves, the industry is seeing increased product segmentation and differentiation to maintain the economics of global demand and supply.
Despite resilient global demand, Comfort Gloves Bhd will have to keep a close eye on raw material costs and natural gas prices as they are key ingredients in glove making and have been rising in price.
The company’s financial performance is also affected by foreign exchange fluctuations, particularly when the ringgit strengthens against the greenback. The ringgit strengthened almost 4% against the US dollar from RM4.02 on Jan 2, 2018 to around RM3.86 on Apr 2, 2018. It has since weakened to RM4.03 per dollar as of July 11.
The glove maker says all these factors were a drag on its profit for the first quarter of FY19. During the quarter, Comfort Gloves’ revenue rose 14% to RM106.6 mil from RM94 mil in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. However, its pre-tax profit fell 4% year-on-year (yoy) to RM9.7 mil from RM10 mil.
“The drop was mainly due to the prices of raw nitrile and natural gas increasing by 10% and 17% respectively since the beginning of the year. Besides, the strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar (during the period) also impacted the group’s profit margin,” says the company.
Net profit was 28% lower yoy at RM7.3 mil versus RM10 mil after the company was hit with a one-off provision for deferred tax. This had not been provided for in the previous corresponding period, it adds.
If it is unable to manage these factors going forward, then FY19 could prove to be a challenging year for the company. To mitigate the impact of more costly raw materials and energy, the company plans to improve its research and design capabilities and is making enhancements to boost efficiency.
“The group will continue to emphasise research and development as the key method to expand market offerings and grow sales,” its management details in the notes accompanying its Q1FY19 results. Expanding production
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd analyst Diana Cheok forecasts that Comfort Gloves will face a challenging operating environment over the near term. She highlights trade and other political uncertainties as factors which will likely impact the group’s bottom line.
Cheok is more sanguine on the glove maker’s prospects on a longer-term basis as she believes it has a promising growth trajectory. She identifies the company’s on-going production expansion plans, and focus on process rationalisation and efficiency strategies as boosters to long-term earnings growth.
RHB Research Institute analyst Lim Jia Yi also sees added capacity as a contributing factor to earnings growth. “Comfort Gloves has finalised an additional three new highly flexible and customisable production lines, which will contribute an additional production of 360 million pieces per annum.
“This brings the total number of production lines to 43, and manufacturing capacity to approximately 4.36 billion pieces per annum,” Lim says. She has revised her FY19 to FY21 earnings estimates upwards by 3% to 11% as she factors in the company’s additional capacity from the three new production lines.
The glove maker also plans to add another eight new production lines and a warehouse, highlights Malacca Securities’ Cheok. The company has also proposed to acquire a 39-acre piece of leasehold land in Perak for RM13.2 mil as part of its larger expansion plans, she adds. The ongoing expansion plans are seen to be positive.
Comfort Gloves has also positioned itself as a specialty gloves manufacturer which, it believes, helps it stand out among its peers. Cheok agrees this is a plus point for the company as it gives a “competitive advantage in the increasingly saturated nitrile gloves industry”.
US FDA watch list issues The company’s unit, Comfort Rubber Gloves Industries Sdn Bhd, was recently placed on the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) import alert list. The US and Canada are a very important market for the glove manufacturer as it represents its largest market at 36%.
Comfort Gloves’ share price began to tumble on March 28, when news emerged about the FDA watch list. It hit a one-year low of 49 sen on April 4 before starting to recover two days later. The counter managed to regain some lost ground but has yet to recover to the RM1.12 mark it was at on March 27. The counter closed at 80.5 sen on July 11.
There has been no disruption to Comfort Gloves’ operations in the US, despite being listed on the FDA import watch list, says management. The company emphasises that its operations are continuing as normal as its products are still being admitted into the US after inspection.
“The company continues to run at a high average production utilisation level of above 80% through Q1FY18, indicating that orders are resilient despite concerns of potentially lower sales after it was included in the US FDA list,” acknowledges Cheok.
Comfort Gloves says it is working to remove itself from the list so it will no longer be subjected to the inspections. It has filed an appeal and is confident it will be successful.
The successful petition for removal from the FDA watch list could help “alleviate concerns” over its exports to this important market, says Cheok. RHB Research’s Lim similarly opines that “the uplift from the FDA Import Alert list could be a re-rating catalyst for the stock”.
Malacca Securities has a target price of 92 sen with a hold rating on the stock. “The ascribed target PE ratio remains at a discount to the PE ratio of industry bellwethers like Hartalega Holdings Bhd, due to its smaller market capitalisation and capacity,” Cheok explains.
RHB Research’s Lim is neutral on the counter, assigning it a target price of 76 sen.
@questionmark11 NOTES FROM COMFORT AGM, 9 JULY 2018 - PART 2 (from an earlier thread 13/07/2018 01:14)
Questions by Proxy Shareholder (Phang) 2. What is the FDA status?
BOD Answers 2. As pertaining the FDA matter, the company has filed in the necessary papers, only waiting for FDA approval.
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wakarimas
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Posted by wakarimas > 2018-06-29 19:20 | Report Abuse
just ignore comfort for 12 months. Then you will be happy to see the share price double up. ahhaa