IJM Plantations’ share price has been on a downward trend since early 2016, dropping from RM3.50 to below RM1.50, no thanks mainly to the soft crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
In August last year, there was news that IOI Corp Bhd and Hap Seng Plantation Bhd were eyeing IJM Plantation. Its market capitalisation was at RM2 billion then versus RM1.3 billion currently, which translates into a discount of over 35%.
Some quarters say the price is even more appealing now. That said, is IJM Plantations an attractive prospect that IJM Corp can marry off soon?
“It is rare to find a decent-sized estate that will be a meaningful addition to a larger plantation company’s portfolio. For IJM Plantations, aside from its size, it is also the locations [of its estates] and some parts of its estates are newly replanted,” says CGS-CIMB Research head of research Ivy Ng, who covers the plantation sector.
“It is unclear if a suitor will have the appetite to take over IJM Plantations’ entire portfolio as it has land in Malaysia and Indonesia and not everyone wants exposure to both markets. Plantation companies usually like to acquire assets that are close to their existing estates.
So, it will be interesting to see how a deal will be structured and how it will impact the price,” she adds.
Ng also points out that there is a moratorium on new planting. “If a plantation company wants to look at expansion, it might not be able to do so in Malaysia because of the lack of available land. Our minister [Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok] has indicated the plan to essentially restrict new planting.
From this perspective, if a plantation company wants to expand, believes in the growth of this industry and wants to acquire a decent-sized estate portfolio, IJM Plantations’ portfolio could represent an opportunity.”
Another analyst points out that, as with most M&A exercises, it all boils down to price and valuation.
“Everything has a price. If it’s a deal that makes sense for the buyer and seller, why not? More often than not, it is down to the price and what future value-add the acquisition can bring.”
IJM Corp posted a 220% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit to RM70.1 million for its second quarter ended Sept 30, 2019, on improved earnings from its property development, manufacturing and quarrying, plantation and infrastructure divisions.
Revenue for the period rose 20.2% YoY to RM1.57 billion. On a year-to-date basis, net profit increased 52.96% YoY to RM129.53 million as revenue grew 13.45% YoY to RM3.12 billion.
The company declared a single-tier first interim dividend of two sen per share which will be paid on Dec 27, 2019, to entitled stakeholders.
IJM Plantations Bhd’s net loss narrowed substantially to RM2.32 million in its second quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (2QFY20), from losses of RM28.30 million in the year-ago quarter, helped by higher sales volume and favourable foreign exchange positions.
Higher sales volume helped lift the group’s quarterly revenue by 23.4% to RM172.86 million, from RM140.09 million in 2QFY19, its exchange filing today showed.
During the quarter, IJM Plantations’ overall fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production improved as a result of the recovery of crop production in the home operations by 42.3%.
IJM PLANTATIONS's main business segments include oil palm plantations and milling.
Its earning performance has been overall unstable in last five years, whereby its earning per share overall fluctuated from -4.13 sen to 13.07sen. IJM reported losses before tax (RM 43.31 million) in the current financial year was mainly due to lower crude palm oil (CPO) prices, a signifcant net unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM25.79 million resulting from the translation of the US Dollar denominated borrowings and increasing production cost.
Based on comparison of 44 plantation counters listed in Bursa Malaysia, it is found that currently IJM is not ranked as one of the TOP 8 plantation counters worthy to pay attention to and potentially invest in. However, IJM stands out in performance indicators such as having strong support from institutional investors.
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....
Waterlee77
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Posted by Waterlee77 > 2019-11-20 11:25 | Report Abuse
是时候开始收货了