THAT hardly traded Tiong Nam Logistics Holdings Bhd was one of the top 10 best performing stocks on Bursa Malaysia last year would have caught many by surprise, but not those who track the company closely and followed the series of restructuring exercises the company underwent in recent years to unlock asset value and streamline operations. These exercises also paved the way for Tiong Nam to venture into property development in its home base of southern Johor. But more importantly, the low-profile company’s earnings have been on an upward trend over the last five years. Profit grew nearly 10 times from RM2.5 million in FY2009 ended March 31 to RM21.8 million in FY2013 while revenue rose from RM275.9 million to RM340 million. In its latest cumulative six months ended Sept 30, 2013, the company chalked up a net profit of RM34.62 million or 32.22 sen per share, which was almost five times its net profit of RM7.1 million or 8.44 sen per share in the previous corresponding period. Tiong Nam also rewarded its shareholders with a higher dividend of 12 sen per share in FY2013. Since 2012, its property letting and warehousing division has overtaken its logistics division in terms of earnings, becoming the main contributor to group profit, thanks to the company’s asset restructuring exercise. Property letting and warehousing raked in a profit before tax of RM13.36 million in FY2012 whereas logistics only managed RM6.76 million. In its latest annual report, the company states that it is expecting its property division to contribute positively to the group, backed by the growth potential of Iskandar Malaysia, which is supported by foreign interest. It is worth noting that Tiong Nam has been actively streamlining its assets since 2008 to keep its debt under control. In 2010, it made a significant move to become asset-light and adopted a sale and leaseback model for its trucking services. Tiong Nam explained in its announcement then that the sale and leaseback model would enable the company to raise fresh cash for working capital and at the same time repay part of its borrowings to strengthen its balance sheet. Since its inception, Tiong Nam has evolved from a transport company into a full-fledged logistics solution provider with its services now including warehousing, customs forwarding, cold room facilities, express delivery and crane and forklift rental services. The company also provides property letting and warehousing services in different parts of the country. Its property division could be a potential growth catalyst for Tiong Nam as it has been focusing on such activities recently. Its 2013 annual report shows that it has over 54 acres of vacant land, mainly in Senai, that could be developed. Tiong Nam’s interest in property became obvious in 2011 when it began to actively acquire land in Johor and buy into companies with property development as their core business. Last year, the company proposed a rights issue of 210 million warrants, raising RM42 million of fresh capital. About RM20 million of this has been earmarked for land acquisitions in Johor, Selangor and Penang. In a circular to shareholders, the company said it was looking for land in the said areas for warehouse construction to support its logistics services. It also revealed that it was keen to expand its landbank for the development of industrial properties, shopoffices and serviced apartments. A top concern for the company is probably its stubbornly high net debt, which, as at Sept 30, 2013, stood at RM288.66 million. This indicated a net gearing of 89% — about the same levels recorded in FY2011 and FY2012. However, Tiong Nam’s net gearing should have dropped to 76.2% — based on the assumptions made in the circular to its shareholders — since it completed its share split and rights issue of warrants recently. The exercise price of the five-year warrants is RM1. Should all the warrants be exercised in the future, its cash will be boosted by RM210 million while its shareholders’ funds will grow to RM549.9 million. This will consequently bring net gearing down to a mere 8%. Tiong Nam’s shares spiked to 22.4 sen in July 2012 after trading below 18 sen for years. The surge came on the heels of rumours that the company planned to launch a real estate investment trust to unlock its asset value. There was also speculation that the company, which was then trading way below its current market price, was privatisation target. Investors who had bought into the logistics company at the beginning of last year, when the shares were at 38.6 sen, would have seen their investments quadruple at the end of it for the stock rose to RM1.45. Needless to say, the market will watch Tiong Nam closely this year in the expectation that its shares will maintain their growth momentum. While the company’s logistics and warehousing services continue to operate in a challenging environment of stiff competition and rising costs, will its property division help boost its earni
i alway dont see good on this counter as some hidden selling since split ! yesterday and today is the only time i DO NOT trace any hidden selling !! may be now got some buying coming in especially on warrant !! The warrant is trading at second highest price since listing ! if it can break 66 sen, then its a uptrend from now !!!
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
sookfun
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Posted by sookfun > 2014-01-22 11:52 | Report Abuse
Wat announcement