SVC – Updates From Investors Meeting

On 15 November 2017, Saigon General Service Corporation (HSX:SVC) held a meeting with investors to share information on the business results in the first 9 months of the year 2017.

Pharmaceutical Sector – 9M 2017 Earnings Picture

In overall, after the correction phase in Q3, recent events have delivered top pharmaceutical companies back to the valuation level of over 20 times P/E. Meanwhile, the P/E of small stocks such as DP3 and DHT has also risen dramatically since the beginning of the year, making them not cheap anymore. As 2017 coming to an end, this is a good time to assess the growth potential of these stocks to see which stocks truly deserve such high P/E ratio.

QNS – Business Update Q3 2017

Quang Ngai Sugar JSC (Upcom: QNS) has just held a meeting to publish the information about Q3 2017 results as well as the future direction of sugar and soymilk business. RongViet Research would like to give the investors some key points

DRC – Business Update Q3 2017

Da Nang Rubber JSC (HSX:DRC) announced its Q3 business results with net sales of VND877.9 billion, up 10.4% compared to the same period of last year. Notwithstanding, DRC’s net profit after tax (PAT) was only VND25.3 billion, and decreased 69.6% YoY. In the first nine months of 2017, DRC fulfilled 72.6% of its sales target, but only 24.2% of profit’s goal.

NT2 – Business Update in 10M 2017

Despite poor business results in the first three quarters of this year, with reported NPAT falling by 43% to about VND491 billion, PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 JSC (HSX:NT2) kept gaining investors’ confidence during its recent analyst meeting on 10 November 2017. According to the company, the successful major repair work in 2017 and the temporary halt of Competitive Generation Market (CGM) led to strong business results in October, while 2018 outlook could be far stronger.

HSG- Underperforming FY2016-2017

HSG- Underperforming FY2016-2017

HSG has ended its fiscal year with a disappointing net profit even though other indicators met its growth targets. HSG estimated that the total sales volume of the FY was 1.66 million tons, up 20% over the same period last year and exceeded 5% of the plan. Revenue reached over VND26,000 billion, up 46% over the same period and exceeded 14% over the plan. It can be seen that HSG achieved impressive revenue growth, thanks to a satisfactory sales volume and better sales prices compared to the plan. However, HSG’s EAT is only VND1,330 billion, down 12% YoY and 19% lower than the plan. Taking into account the fact that the world steel price was higher in FY2016-2017 than the previous fiscal year, the underperforming results could be attributed to two main reasons as follows:

PVT – Profit would return to growth track from 2018

Petro Vietnam Transportation (HSX:PVT) has lately announced its Q3 2017 business result with consolidated revenue recording VND1424 billion (-11%YoY) and profit after tax (after minority interest) of VND102 billion (-6%YoY). So, for the first nine months, the firm posted accumulated revenue of VND4447 billion (-8%YoY) and bottom-line (after minority interest) of VND256 billion (-15%YoY).  

Novaland – Business Update Q3 2017

In 9M 2017, NVL recorded revenue of VND5,736 billion (-20% YoY) and NPAT-MI of VND 1,322 billion (-16% YoY), due to a sharp decrease in financial income and lower number of handovers in real estate projects. Revenue mainly comes from three projects, namely Lakeview City (56%), Orchard Garden (13%) and Garden Gate Residence (16%).

BFC – Comments on Q3 Business Results

Binh Dien Fertilizer (HSX:BFC) announced its Q3 business results with VND1,581B revenues (+6.4% YoY) and VND72.7B NPAT (-13.4% YoY). For 9M 2017, the company recorded VND4,856B revenue (+6.2% YoY) and VND280B NPAT (+9.6%), fulfilling 71% and 82% of its revenue and profit targets, respectively.

The low gross margin is the main reason for the fall of BFC’s NPAT. Looking more deeply into raw material expenses (which constitute nearly 90% of BFC’s operating cost), and selling prices, we found two notable points:

PHR – Company Report Released on 07 November 2017

Phuoc Hoa Rubber JSC (HSX:PHR) is a large player among the listed rubber companies with core business revolving around planting and exploiting natural rubber in the Southeast, which is a key region for planting natural rubber trees. In addition, the company also expanded its plantation area through Kampong Thom project in Cambodia. Besides the natural rubber business, PHR is highly appreciated for its huge land bank at favorable location, which enables the company to have valuable assets in industrial park segment and even transfer its land to industrial park developers at relatively high prices. In the long term, Phuoc Hoa-Dak Lak forestry project is expected to have significant contribution to the growth of PHR’s business results.

Reviewing Q3 2017 Business Results of Listed Companies

In conclusion, the earnings growth of HSX and HNX were 15.1% and 22.0%, respectively. For the VN30, the earnings growth was just only 11%. This figure implies a somewhat unsustainable increase of the index, which was clearly affected by ROS. Meanwhile, the performance of mid-cap stocks, displayed by the VNMID index, seems to lag behind their high earnings growth (led by PPC, DXG, HBC and NLG). This could yield interesting opportunity, but investors need to pay attention to the quality and sustainability of earnings.

PME – Initial Coverage Released on 06 November 2017

In terms of valuation, the leading pharmaceutical companies are trading at a high P/E of about 20 times, a significant premium compared to the 16 times P/E of the VNIndex. For PME, we believe that the company is worthy of P/E of a growth company. It should be able to maintain a growth rate of 20% per year, thanks to support from the upcoming policies and competitive advantage brought by its modern facilities. Using P/E and FCFF method, we estimate the reasonable price of PME to be VND124,000/share. This target price, combined with a cash dividend of VND2,000/share, yields a total return of 85% from the initial listing price of VND68,000/share. Therefore, we recommend investors to BUY the stock.