Upcycle for Global Chemical Industry Expected until 2022 Lotte Chemical: To Be Biggest Beneficiary of Curbed U.S. Ethane Production
By Baek Young-chan & Yoon Jang-han May 25, 2020, 14:54Share Print Email Fonts The authors are analysts of KB Securities. They can be reached at yc.baek@kbfg.com and se18190@kbfg.com, respecitively. – Ed.
Raise TP by 6.8% to KRW250,000; upcycle for global chemical industry expected until 2022
We raise our TP by 6.8% to KRW250,000 to reflect revised earnings forecasts (higher 2021-22 PE/PP profitability). As our second-best industry pick, Lotte Chemical is appealing because: (1) PE/PP profitability is forecast to climb on a boost in packaging demand in 2H20 (2) PE industry conditions in Asia are forecast to recover in 2020-21 vs. stagnant ethylene/PE supply in the U.S.
Positive lag to improve profitability beginning in 2Q20
We forecast 2Q20 revenue of KRW2.93tr (-27.3% YoY) and OP of KRW163.1bn (-52.9% YoY), with earnings swinging into the black QoQ. Sales volume should decline QoQ stemming from curbed demand from the U.S. and European automobile industries, but profitability should improve on a positive lag based on cheaper naphtha, a key input. HDPE/PP prices are estimated to dive USD85.00/USD75.00 QoQ to USD740.00/ USD800.00, but feedstock naphtha is also forecast to plummet 50.4% QoQ (or USD269) to USD265. The positive lag is expected to continue should economic activity gradually normalize in 2H20.
Curbed U.S. ethane production to dampen U.S. PE exports
Despite an earnings slump in 1Q20, we recommend BUY for Lotte Chemical given (1) the start of a positive lag in 2H20, (2) COVID-19-triggered packaging-purpose PE/PP demand and (3) stagnant ethylene/PE supply in the U.S. for 2020-21. We emphasize the prospect of shrinking chemical production in the U.S. Plunging international oil prices will cause U.S. crude/natural gas production to tumble. Given this, we estimate 2020/21 U.S. ethane production volume to shrink 3.7%/5.8% YoY.
Current insufficient availability of feedstock indicates that ethane cracker utilization rates in the U.S. should decline from 90.0% in 2019 to 85.3% in 2022. Thus, despite annual ramp ups for cracker facilities, net U.S. PE exports are not expected to exceed the current 6mn tons. In 2018-19, Asian PE market conditions deteriorated because of massive PE inflow from the U.S.; for 2020, we forecast the beginning of an upcycle.
RAIDER SAYS;
I THINK LCTITAN WILL OUTPERFORM COMPARE PCHEM LOH...!!
JUST BUY & HOLD LCTITAN, YOUR UPSIDE WILL BE TREMENDOUS MAH...!!
Agreed with Stockraider on this stock. Have been buying this stock from RM1.20 all the way up. Expect Lotte to defer their planned expansion and retain the cash. Lotte may also reward shareholders with an interim dividend if the 2nd and 3rd quarter profits beat street estimates, cheers.
One thing I wanted to share is that some ppl have the perception that LCTITAN is only competing locally against PCHEM for its business. LCTITAN has one 1 plant in Malaysia i think, the rest of are overseas. Their 2b+ expansion is actually in Indonesia so i dont understand why someone earlier was trying to compare with Pengerang project and PCHEM.
Posted by BornToSpeculate > May 3, 2020 10:41 AM | Report Abuse X
With the current oil prices at historical low, being an downstream user is definitely better than being an integrated player. Is anyone doubting that Petronas group is now suffering badly right now ? Is there transfer pricing to PCHEM and will this change ? What is the avg cost of oil production for Petronas ?
Why did PCHEM report a substantial drop in profits ( since 2018, it has dropped every quarter except Jun2019 ) to a low in Dec 2019 its a worrying underlying down trend but im not going to go into details. This is before MCO. They have the same financial closing as LCTITAN but the latter already reports 1 month earlier consistently. Lets see what PCHEM reports end of May.
No need to argue. You buy GLC producer, you pay 16 PE ( based on 2019 results ). LCTITAN is 7-8x ( based on 2019 results ) and has higher cash per share. Both are expanding, doesnt matter is one is bigger than the other, what matters is the EPS to shareholders and dividend. If you think 16 PE is cheap for PCHEM please go ahead.
Deadchicken, you're strong holder here. I exited Titan and wen out fishing and came back. Today exited 1.94 again, not sure if tomorrow can get lower but don't mind buying higer in a good company like Titan. My TP RM 3 but i dont have the time to wait for gold egg to hatch. need to go out hunting for more food. haha
Correctloh...i do not understand why those sohai says pchem is much better than lctitan loh....!!
Posted by BornToSpeculate > May 27, 2020 11:00 AM | Report Abuse
One thing I wanted to share is that some ppl have the perception that LCTITAN is only competing locally against PCHEM for its business. LCTITAN has one 1 plant in Malaysia i think, the rest of are overseas. Their 2b+ expansion is actually in Indonesia so i dont understand why someone earlier was trying to compare with Pengerang project and PCHEM.
Posted by BornToSpeculate > May 3, 2020 10:41 AM | Report Abuse X
With the current oil prices at historical low, being an downstream user is definitely better than being an integrated player. Is anyone doubting that Petronas group is now suffering badly right now ? Is there transfer pricing to PCHEM and will this change ? What is the avg cost of oil production for Petronas ?
Why did PCHEM report a substantial drop in profits ( since 2018, it has dropped every quarter except Jun2019 ) to a low in Dec 2019 its a worrying underlying down trend but im not going to go into details. This is before MCO. They have the same financial closing as LCTITAN but the latter already reports 1 month earlier consistently. Lets see what PCHEM reports end of May.
No need to argue. You buy GLC producer, you pay 16 PE ( based on 2019 results ). LCTITAN is 7-8x ( based on 2019 results ) and has higher cash per share. Both are expanding, doesnt matter is one is bigger than the other, what matters is the EPS to shareholders and dividend. If you think 16 PE is cheap for PCHEM please go ahead.
Once under MSCI, lots of funds will start to buy unlike before this volume is quite small now volume will start to build up. Soon 2 is history. Anything below 2 just hold till 3
no need good news to move back up to 3 level. its only natural progression. MSCI inclusion will lift up the buying by those funds following MSCI index. come 2nd qtr reporting the healthy spread in PE/PP will rerate the stocks back up to 4/5 level.
Rubberex and some other counter hits limit up today. Watch out the LC Titan May also hit limit up soon ....avoid selling. Wait for big funds to snatch up
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....
jinghee
134 posts
Posted by jinghee > 2020-05-21 16:20 | Report Abuse
Yes, technically all turn well, as long as naptha price keep lower.. Hope that it still keep far below from it previous high of >USD500.....