SYF buying into Leweko subsidiary company timber assets for 15.5mil which is consider low because it is desperate firesales since Majuweko Timber already leave the factory idle for sometimes without any logs productions.
Further there is some activities in between and behind the scene that could lead to uptrend on the stock new week and beyond.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 23, 2017.
KUALA LUMPUR: SYF Resources Bhd, which saw the property development segment contribute more than half of the group’s revenue in the first financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2016 (1QFY17), expects the manufacturing of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and rubberwood furniture to remain as its core business.
“SYF [Resources] was never a property counter to start with. We are always in manufacturing and sales of consumer products. But back in 2011 when we were undertaking a restructuring exercise, we thought the company needed to add another income stream to cater for future growth,” its executive director Datuk Seri Chee Hong Leong told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview.
SYF Resources’ net profit grew 8.1% to RM11.7 million in 1QFY17, from RM10.83 million a year ago, while revenue rose 56.7% to RM148.71 million from RM94.92 million in 1QFY16.
Out of the group’s revenue, the property development segment accounted for 51.4% (RM76.46 million) while the manufacturing of rubberwood furniture and MDF contributed the remaining 48.6% (RM72.23 million).
Chee said as earnings and revenue from the manufacturing business take time to come in, the property development segment will help support the group.
“When we first started [in the property development business], everybody thought we didn’t know what we were doing. But along the way, [our] property [division] has become a big revenue contributor,” he explained.
Chee believes that the property development business will provide a secure income for the group over the next five to seven years.
“While the property market has slowed down, our properties are located in niche areas in Selangor. We are unlike some property developers that have projects everywhere [which expose them to greater risks],” he said, adding that the group’s ongoing projects, Kiara Plaza in Semenyih and Lavender Residence Block A in Sungai Long, have achieved satisfactory sales.
“These two locations, where there are universities and big [property] players coming in, will further enhance the value there.
“Additionally, we are selling affordable homes, not to mention potential access to the mass rapid transit system,” he added.
This year, SYF Resources is targeting two new launches in Sungai Long with a combined gross development value of RM500 million.
Chee also said the tight lending guidelines by Bank Negara Malaysia have affected the group’s property sales.
“The sales will be there, but it [will] take a longer time to convert due to the end-financing issue. However, we are not the only property developer affected by this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chee expects revenue from the MDF manufacturing segment to grow by 20% to 30% in the current financial year ending July 31, 2017 (FY17), as its new manufacturing plant in Simpang Pertang, Negeri Sembilan, will be fully commissioned by the end of FY17.
“Our existing plant in Gemas (Negeri Sembilan) is already running at full capacity. Apart from Simpang Pertang, we are also setting up another plant in Rompin, which will be fully commissioned in FY18. In fact, we are finalising [machinery] installation in the next few months,” he said.
“The demand [for MDF] is there. It is just how to ramp up our capacity,” he added.
Earlier this month, SYF Resources announced that it is buying an 8.68ha piece of land in Gerik, Perak, for RM15.5 million from Leweko Resources Bhd. The group told Bursa Malaysia that the land will provide additional space for future expansion of its timber processing and MDF board manufacturing business.
Chee is unfazed by the shortage of foreign workers in the manufacturing industry. On its part, SYF Resources has reduced its dependency on foreign labour by focusing more on the manufacturing of MDF, which is less labour-intensive.
The group has also started hiring more locals to ease its dependency on foreign labour. Currently, more than 70% of its workers are foreigners.
SYF Resources executive chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ng Ah Chai said labour cost constitutes 5% to 6% of its MDF manufacturing segment’s total operating costs, while that of the manufacturing rubberwood furniture segment is about 12% to 13%.
Ng, who is the group’s largest shareholder, with a 51.49% stake as at Oct 31 last year, explained that an industry is deemed labour-intensive if its labour cost accounts for more than 13% of its total production costs.
Earlier this month, the government decided to postpone a move to make employers pay the levy for foreign workers instead of deducting it from the wages of their employees until 2018, following strong protests from manufacturers and employer groups.
“We need time to adjust to new policies that the government is going to implement so that we can plan our sales, costing and expansion. We need certainty in labour supply,” said Chee.
Meanwhile, Ng, who also owns a 56.8% stake in Mieco Chipboard Bhd, said it is t
It could be due to gradual recovery of RM, bad outlook for exporters in the long term. Traders started to take profit already, not willing to test historical high of 1 year ago
Low supply of raw materials may push prices up by over 10%
PETALING JAYA: Mieco Chipboard Bhd, one of the largest particle board manufacturers in Malaysia, stands to benefit from the increasing demand and higher prices of particle boards in the coming months. According to industry observers and analysts, particle board prices will likely increase by over 10%, following floods in Thailand which are curbing the supply of raw materials. Demand for particle boards is also seen increasing with many local furniture players enjoying better sales on the back of the stronger US dollar since last year. Since more than 80% of Mieco’s production is sold to the local market, the company is not one of the beneficiaries of better export margins like the other furniture and board manufacturers. Particle board or chipboard is made by using wood particles and rubber wood together. It is cheaper than conventional timber and is said to be denser and cheaper than plywood. “Board prices are likely to increase in the coming months, especially with prolonged rainfall that has increased the prices of raw materials, as well as increasing demand for wood-based furniture products,” said a market observer. Other particle board manufacturers include Heveaboard Bhd and SYF Resources Bhd. Last year, Mieco was a takeover target of SYF Resources’ major shareholder and chairman Datuk Seri Ng Ah Chai. Since the takeover attempt, shares in Mieco have risen by as much as 93% to their all-time high of RM1.73 compared to 90 sen a year ago. At first, Ng entered into a conditional share sale agreement with BRDB Developments Sdn Bhd in June 2016, for the acquisition of 119.19 million shares representing approximately 56.76% of Mieco for a total purchase consideration of RM107.27mil or equivalent to 90 sen per Mieco share. He later extended the offer to the other shareholders after triggering an unconditional mandatory takeover offer to acquire all the remaining Mieco shares. However, the other shareholders of Mieco did not accept the offer at 90 sen a share. The offer closed in November with Ng owning a 56.7% stake in Mieco. Following the purchase, Ng, 54, was appointed as the managing director of Mieco in November. Ng has a substantial stake in furniture and particle board manufacturer SYF Resources with a 51.4% stake, and has been the chief executive officer of the company since 2005. “Investors could be excited about new blood coming into Mieco that may synergise both SYF Resources and Mieco’s operations in the future,” a market observer said. On the flip side, an analyst said that the consolidation of SYF Resources and Mieco would take years to develop. “Right now, the sales of particle board are picking up. Consolidation can only be in the picture in the later part of the year,” the analyst said. When contacted, SYF Resources director Datuk Seri Chee Hong Leong said the company would make the necessary annoucements should there be any new direction between Mieco and SYF Resources. “It is too early to comment on the matter,” he told StarBiz. He noted that SYF Recources was currently in the midst of expanding its particle boards manufacturing capacity to ride on the growing export market. UOB Kay Hian senior analyst Lester Chin was previously quoted as saying that the acquisition of a controlling 56.7% stake in Mieco by Ng may result in the largest particle board-manufacturing entity in Malaysia, if the consolidation takes off. Right now, Mieco’s annual production capacity of particle board is 900,000 cu m, making it the largest manufacturer of the product in Malaysia. In terms of sales, Mieco’s revenue has been growing steadily at a compounded annual growth rate of 2.14%. Its profit margins were hovering at about 5.2% in 2014 and 2015. In 2013, the company reported a net loss of RM30.30mil due to impairments, the shutdown of plants and lower selling prices of its products due to a supply glut. Going into 2017, analysts reckon that local particle board manufacturers can experience a stable price on stronger demand from China. “The export market for particle board is growing, especially with the closing down of factories in China due to a shortage of raw material from the strict logging imposed by the country since 2015,” said an analyst. Since 2015, he said the particle board selling price has risen by more than 25%. For the first nine months ended Sept 30, 2016, Mieco posted a higher net profit of RM36.23mil due to a one-off gain from the disposal of assets. Revenue for the period was at RM231.7mil. Direct competition for Mieco’s products come from Heveaboard, which has a lower particle board capacity than Mieco. However, Heveaboard has another production line for ready-to-assemble products that contributes half of its sales. The company has higher revenue and profits compared to Mieco, due to its export market exposure and ready-to-assemble product line. At the current share price of RM1.47, Heveaboard is trading at a historical price-earnings
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Posted by Abdul Rahim > 2017-01-04 21:47 | Report Abuse
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