Dividends seem to decline over time. The true test of a Co is the ability to pay out dividends. Profits can be easily manufactured & shareholders can be easily excited with announcements of great prospects & promises.

Some cos when it does badly, it holds back dividend payments and when it does well it also holds back dividend payment to shore up for the bad times. My suggestion is to pay good dividends as at least the shareholders have some $ in the pocket. If money is needed, then go to the bank (afterall interest rates are low) or cut overheads & dispose-off non-core assets. If you do the math, a normal profitable co should pay increasing dividends with time as inflation raises everything (including profits and dividends).

I hope this co does not remain forever a good prospect & it will realise the full potential soon and not 50 years after the sun in our solar system has burnt out.

Curious as to who are selling and why

If the Govt is fair, then it should treat it like the car industry. 10% sales tax is replaced with 6% GST which comes out to about the same in absolute terms.

Gaming industry already paying all sorts of taxes hence GST should substitute a portion of the existing gaming taxes.

Normally Toto should see a good quarterly in CNY quarter as many would punt (unless some other thing like HR Owen pull it down)

How low can it go?

I hope it does not take the same path as Maybank. A glimmer of hope & then politicians get involved

BTW Magnum already has quite a bit of shares bought back - almost 1% of issued.

BToto looks delicious at 3.38. Unfortunately quarter ending 31 Jan is the last to enjoy absence of GST.

I usually count the number of patrons whenever I pass by a Sports Toto outlet. Usually I noticed if Toto is next to Magnum, more patrons will be at Magnum. Does any of you agree with me?

A few days ago I was pleasantly surprised a lone Toto half shop outlet at Hartamas had a rather large crowd - about 14.

The way to go forward ...

1. Buy-back & cancel shares &

2. Get rid of HR Owen if it cannot improve the Co in 3 years (or else like a bottomless pit, it will suck money without paying back)

Govt is squeezing blood out of stone & killing the goose that lays the golden eggs

This co had a lot of potential

VT sold a big chunk > 4.6m cum dividend. Something negative maybe when he sold so cheap without waiting for the div??

Better wait after Thaipusam

The lower the share price goes the higher the possibility that it will rise

Even today's valuation at about 3.53 is a good buy yielding > 7%.

The 2 points of concern are :

a) the GST (as mentioned above) &

b) How HR Owen acquisition will pan out. If the Mat Sallehs have for years a tough time getting the Co in shape, I don't think our Toto guys can make any positive radical changes.

The buybacks certainly inject confidence into other shareholders as it cuts down moral hazard.

Share price is tanking. Investors have spoken.

Will the parent co just sit by the sidelines & watch the co slide? or
Will it take the bull by the horns & implement major changes to halt the decline?

Why is the stock price falling like hot knife through butter?

CCM (seller) is headed by a politician. Do you think they shareholders' interest at heart? It's also a related party deal which is normally frowned upon by regulators.

The cash flow statement indicates that BToto paid in 2014 about RM800m taxes/duties to the govt. As TVT's son said - BToto is like a mini Petronas.

If the Govt proceeds to impose GST without reducing other gaming taxes, then illegal gambling will be even more rewarding for bettors and Govt will lose this goose that lays the Golden eggs.

The reason for rights it appears that CCM BIO is intending to buy some companies from CCM. I am not certain that CCM BIO will have the technical capability to manage them. These Cos were sinking under CCM management.

Another question - Is it paying a fair price for these bunch of losers?

Thank you gungho92

Extracts from the latest quarterly :-

"A holistic customer-centric approach will be taken in our forward thinking solutions designed to help our customers’ most significant financial decisions. We will offer a range of innovative ...blah, blah, blah" - Sounds like hogwash to me

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances and the change in MGS yields, the Directors expect the
Group’s performance to remain satisfactory in the current financial year ending 31 December 2014" - Huh? Did I miss out something? Seems out of whack when profits compared to corresponding previous quarter fell more than 73%!!

Get rid of them before it's too late!!

This Co is a puzzle. The management has succeeded in driving profits (quarterly) to less than a third despite acquiring asset management business. Asset management is a fee-based activity where the asset manager i.e. Manulife gets income irrespective of which direction the market goes.

I hope the head office sees the absence of quality among the top management & gets rid of them. They know how to make impressive statements in the annual report which is a mere Public Relations nonsense to hoodwink the shareholders. We want to see them earn their keep by sustaining & improving profits.

I'm happy with 6 sen. Many research houses seem to set lower target price which is somewhat disappointing.

Magnum at current price of 2.62 is better than B.Toto in terms of PE but equal in terms of Dividend yield.

After distribution then the Co would be a shell with no business?

Hopefully VT is expecting to pocket a large dividend.

TSVT is accumulating shares is good for us - reduces moral hazard since it aligns his risk with ours - he's got more skin in the game !!

CIMB research view appears rational - that 5 sen/litre will continue & the removal of Govt subsidies will improve cash flow - both of which are positive for the counter.

I heard that shale oil production not viable if oil prices drop below $65

1000 share lots or 100 share lots?

I blindly entered although I do not really know how this subsidy removal will pan out. Perhaps there may be a window-dressing activity towards year end & this stock could be tinkered to push up FBMKLCI.

Oil price drop means less subsidy from the government hence increase in cost of production which translates into lower profit margins. I believe that there's a timing difference issue in the derivation of subsidies which works to the disadvantage of Petdag.

At the rate of share buybacks, I'd be happy with 6 cts

Some share buyback taking place - good if one regards the price as too low but if excessive, then no cash for dividends

Dividend yield and PE wise, it's better than Magnum, yet Toto price is falling while Magnum is stable ... puzzling indeed

Some share repurchase at lower price noted with cumulative to date standing at 6.17% of shares in issue.

Someone raised the issued of share buyback. The response was vague & I believe held no basis. They mentioned that the Co would be in breach of a "creeping or incremental rule" in a buyback. I perused through the share-buyback circular but there was no such rule. Sounded like BS to me.

Btoto has plenty of room on the existing criteria i.e. public share holding spread, 10% issued share & retained earnings respectively. Maybe the main shareholders prefer to pick up the shares themselves as indicated in the recent purchase rather than have Btoto do it. This is in fact better as it means that they are willing to put more of their skin into the game.

Personally I'm not fond of bonus issue - it just cuts the same cake but into thinner slices which would affect EPS and hence share price.

Interesting to note from the outcome of the AGM is that Dato Dickson isn't exactly popular with 117m shares voted against his reelection. To the crowd, he's no different from other non-exec directors hence my guess is that he may have some issues with the top management.

Toto's management sees a lot of fat & areas of improvement in HR Owen but they can't just hire & fire hence it may take sometime before it's higher values are realised.

I certainly hope they know what they're doing.

Yeah kkng - it was I who raised that matter.
I must say that all questions answered by the CEO, aided by his CFO was clearly articulated.

Does anyone knows if Toto's numbers forecasting activity escapes GST via exemption or zero-rated etc?

I guess when CPO prices are sky-high, the Co has tonnes of money flowing in but unfortunately share prices are also high. When CPO prices are down "bo lui" to buy shares back although going for cheap.
On hindsight perhaps it's better to accumulate excess cash in good time & buy them only when share price dips.

This stock may have good PE & Dividend yield but fund managers avoid it because it lacks liquidity

The good thing is that the brand new CEO is buying a lot of Paramount stocks. This will align his interest with the rest of the shareholders.

I noticed ironically that share buybacks are only active when the price of the stock is high. When it comes down, it stops. Funny isn't it??

Can anybody enlighten as to who is selling ?

Check out this research report. Optimistic, Pessimistic or Realistic - you be the judge.

http://www.bursamarketplace.com/index.php?ch=24&pg=88&ac=6446&bb=research_article_pdf