Short update for the months of November and December to conclude the year.
1) Bought 5,000 shares of Viva Industrial Trust @ $0.955 for my income portfolio. Did the same for wifey's as well.
2) Bought 3,000 shares of SingTel @ $3.64 for wifey as part of her income portfolio after recent XD.
3) Bought 10,000 shares of RHT Health Trust as a punt on the acquisition by Fortis.
4) Received dividend of S$325 from ISOTeam.
5) Received dividend of S$99.32 from Suntec Reit.
6) Sold 3,000 shares of Wilmar after signs of price weakness and failure to break through resistance. Could have earned more but decided to lock in profits first.
Sunday 24 December 2017
Monday 4 December 2017
Review of Dim Sum Haus
In food paradise Singapore, dim sum has always been one of the frequent choice of food for my wife and I. So we decided to make a trip to one of the newer establishments in town yesterday:
Dim Sum Haus @ 57 Jalan Besar
It was our first time to this shop and having heard good reviews about this place, we went with high hopes.
First off, there are free parking around the area on Sundays. Otherwise Jalan Besar MRT station is less than 5 min walk away.
There are no outdoor seating as far as I can see. All the seats are indoor with air conditioner.
We reached there around lunch time and there were still couple of tables available.
Looking through the menu which although not very extensive, has enough choices to satisfy most people, we decided to order the following (with my personal score based on taste in bracket beside):
1) Plain congee (7/10)
Seasoning and texture of the congee are done just about right. Along with the accompanying crispy you tiao, this dish is not bad.
2) Pan fried carrot cake (6.5/10)
Surface of the carrot cake is not crispy enough. However the carrot cake has the right balance between hardness and softness. You can taste the lup cheong when you bite into it.
3) Crispy chee cheong fun with shrimp (7.5/10)
This is the best dish among what we ordered. First bite into the chee cheong fun you can taste the nice balance of the soft chee cheong fun and the crispiness within. The seasoning is pretty normal, about the same as other places.
4) Fried mee sua kueh (6.6/10)
Not impressed by this. First impression was the kueh has been over fried based on the dark brown colour of the kueh surface. Taste-wise is a tad too salty. Prefer the Swee Choon version.
5) Har gau (6.8/10)
The prawn is fresh and the thickness of the har gau skin is just right too.
6) Salted egg custard bun (7.2/10)
This is a refreshing change from the usual liu sha bao. The crispy exterior of this version adds another dimension to this common dim sum. The salted egg custard is nice too. However from the second piece onwards it gets a bit too much.
7) Hong Kong style egg tart (6/10)
This was quite disappointing. The crust is biscuit-like. The egg is a tad too solid. Personally prefer egg tarts with flaky crust and the egg 'bounceable' when you shake it.
Service:
Considering the place was not even full house, the service was quite slow. Took about 20 min for the first dish to arrive after we placed the order.
Catching the staff's attention was a bit of a challenge.
The staff's finger came into contact with our food when she was clearing some empty plates on our table. I'm sure it's not on purpose though.
Price:
About the same as elsewhere. Most dishes are within $5.00.
NETS payment, minimum $10.
Credit card payment, minimum $50.
Summary:
Overall nothing major to complain about. Neither is there anything impressive about this place.
This seems like just another place that serves dim sum. I can't see any differentiating factor between this place and others.
Would I go back again? Probably not on my own accord.
I would stick to my other tried and tested dim sum places where I frequent.
Disclaimer: This is my personal view. I'm not related to any of the establishments nor its owners in any way as far as I know.
Dim Sum Haus @ 57 Jalan Besar
It was our first time to this shop and having heard good reviews about this place, we went with high hopes.
First off, there are free parking around the area on Sundays. Otherwise Jalan Besar MRT station is less than 5 min walk away.
There are no outdoor seating as far as I can see. All the seats are indoor with air conditioner.
We reached there around lunch time and there were still couple of tables available.
Looking through the menu which although not very extensive, has enough choices to satisfy most people, we decided to order the following (with my personal score based on taste in bracket beside):
1) Plain congee (7/10)
Seasoning and texture of the congee are done just about right. Along with the accompanying crispy you tiao, this dish is not bad.
2) Pan fried carrot cake (6.5/10)
Surface of the carrot cake is not crispy enough. However the carrot cake has the right balance between hardness and softness. You can taste the lup cheong when you bite into it.
3) Crispy chee cheong fun with shrimp (7.5/10)
This is the best dish among what we ordered. First bite into the chee cheong fun you can taste the nice balance of the soft chee cheong fun and the crispiness within. The seasoning is pretty normal, about the same as other places.
4) Fried mee sua kueh (6.6/10)
Not impressed by this. First impression was the kueh has been over fried based on the dark brown colour of the kueh surface. Taste-wise is a tad too salty. Prefer the Swee Choon version.
5) Har gau (6.8/10)
The prawn is fresh and the thickness of the har gau skin is just right too.
6) Salted egg custard bun (7.2/10)
This is a refreshing change from the usual liu sha bao. The crispy exterior of this version adds another dimension to this common dim sum. The salted egg custard is nice too. However from the second piece onwards it gets a bit too much.
7) Hong Kong style egg tart (6/10)
This was quite disappointing. The crust is biscuit-like. The egg is a tad too solid. Personally prefer egg tarts with flaky crust and the egg 'bounceable' when you shake it.
Service:
Considering the place was not even full house, the service was quite slow. Took about 20 min for the first dish to arrive after we placed the order.
Catching the staff's attention was a bit of a challenge.
The staff's finger came into contact with our food when she was clearing some empty plates on our table. I'm sure it's not on purpose though.
Price:
About the same as elsewhere. Most dishes are within $5.00.
NETS payment, minimum $10.
Credit card payment, minimum $50.
Summary:
Overall nothing major to complain about. Neither is there anything impressive about this place.
This seems like just another place that serves dim sum. I can't see any differentiating factor between this place and others.
Would I go back again? Probably not on my own accord.
I would stick to my other tried and tested dim sum places where I frequent.
Disclaimer: This is my personal view. I'm not related to any of the establishments nor its owners in any way as far as I know.
Wednesday 15 November 2017
A Vote of Confidence for Wilmar
Two days ago Kerry Group Limited acquired $225,417 worth of shares in Wilmar at an average price of $3.45.
This has increased their stake in Wilmar to slightly over 11%.
Of particular significance is the price of $3.45 which might be the fair value deemed by the big boys.
This is no doubt a good news and a vote of confidence for Wilmar.
Personally I will continue holding my small stakes. It makes sense for small players to follow the big boys trend isn't it?
Snippet 1: Our former foreign minister Mr George Yeo is the chairman of Kerry Logistics and director of Kerry Holdings Ltd.
Snippet 2: Malaysia's richest man and sugar king Mr Robert Kuok is the chairman of Kerry Group Ltd.
And a big source of his wealth is his stake in Wilmar.
This has increased their stake in Wilmar to slightly over 11%.
Of particular significance is the price of $3.45 which might be the fair value deemed by the big boys.
This is no doubt a good news and a vote of confidence for Wilmar.
Personally I will continue holding my small stakes. It makes sense for small players to follow the big boys trend isn't it?
Snippet 1: Our former foreign minister Mr George Yeo is the chairman of Kerry Logistics and director of Kerry Holdings Ltd.
Snippet 2: Malaysia's richest man and sugar king Mr Robert Kuok is the chairman of Kerry Group Ltd.
And a big source of his wealth is his stake in Wilmar.
Tuesday 14 November 2017
City Developments vs CapitaLand
The recent release of CapitaLand's latest financial results sent the
share price downwards despite it being a decent set of results.
As I was thinking about this, it led me to the next questions.
Why is it that City Developments can be trading in the region of S$12+ while CapitaLand continues to languish at S$3+ and what are the differences between the two companies?
It piqued my interest as I have never delved into City Developments before and I set to find out more.
The comparisons gave me a big surprise.
Overview of City Developments (CDL)
City Developments Limited has a history of more than 50 years since their beginning in a small rented office in Amber Mansions on 7th September 1963.
They have since evolved into a Singapore-listed international real estate operating company with presence in 26 countries including Singapore, Australia, China, Japan, UK and rest of Europe.
CDL's portfolio consists of residences, offices, hotels, serviced apartments, integrated developments and shopping malls.
One of their most recognised brands is the Millennium & Copthorne hotels chain.
CDL's core markets are UK, US, China, Japan and China.
Overview of CapitaLand (CPL)
CapitaLand group is a property company created from the merger of Pidemco Land and DBS Land in November 2000.
Since then CPL has grown to become one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Based and listed in Singapore, it is an owner and manager of a S$85 billion portfolio comprising integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices, homes, REITs and funds in over 30 countries.
It is also one of the largest investment management businesses in Asia with 14 real estate private equity funds and 5 REITs worth over S$47 billion in assets under management.
CapitaLand acquired Raffles Holdings and The Ascott Group in 2006 and 2008 respectively and the latter is the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator.
Singapore and China remain the two core markets of CPL, totalling 82% of the group's total assets.
Comparison of the Financial Figures
As mentioned earlier I have never studied CDL before. But inferring from the share price I expect the scale of their business to be much bigger than CapitaLand.
However this is exactly the opposite.
No matter which metric you look at - cash holding, revenue, PATMI, assets or AUM, CapitaLand is clearly the bigger player.
Exception is the EPS where CDL is slightly higher than CPL.
Note: Figures are from the 3Q17 financial reports of both companies.
Valuation
I then did some quick calculations for the latest P/E and P/B ratios as a gauge of their valuation.
Again CPL is the winner here. In fact CPL is currently trading under book value whereas CDL is trading slightly above book.
Future Growth of City Developments
In 2016 CDL acquired 20% stake in mamahome - China's fast-growing online apartment rental platform.
In 2017 CDL acquired 24% stake in Distrii - China's leading operator of co-working space.
These synergistic acquisitions are a move away from their traditional sources of income and it's nice to see this forward-looking direction of the management.
In the near term, CDL has several upcoming local residential projects including New Futura, a Tampines Ave 10 project and South Beach Residences.
Upcoming overseas residential projects include 1 in China, 7 in UK and 1 in Japan.
CDL also embarked on 2 projects in Australia for luxury retirement village development with expected completion in 2020 and 2021.
CDL is also actively engaging in asset enhancement initiatives for various Millennium & Copthorne hotels in New Zealand, UK, KL and Singapore.
Future Growth of CapitaLand
CapitaLand has over 8,000 residential units with a value of RMB 13.8 billion sold in China and expected to be handed over from 4Q17 onwards. 10% of the value is expected to be recognised in 4Q17 and 70% in 2018.
On the shopping mall front, CPL opened their largest mall - Suzhou Centre Mall three days ago on 11th Nov 2017.
CPL is also set to continue their expansion in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Their residential project in Vietnam - d'Edge is close to 100% sold.
SingPost Centre opened on 12th Oct 2017, is CPL's first managed mall in Singapore under management contract.
Apart from the above, CPL has 6 management contracts in China to date as well.
CPL also launched CapitaLand online mall on Lazada on 16th Oct 2017.
It's good to see these new initiatives from CPL which show that the management is actively looking for new income sources.
On the serviced residences front, Ascott is on track to achieve their target of 80,000 units under management by 2020.
Summary and Conclusion
Beside the fact that both are real estate companies, City Developments and CapitaLand are also similar in terms of assets composition, development type and geographical composition.
In terms of business scale, CapitaLand is much bigger with significantly higher top and bottom lines compared to City Developments.
However in terms of share price, City Developments is the clear winner. Since January this year, share price of CDL has rose 50% while share price of CPL has increased by 18%.
Shareholders make money either through dividends and / or capital appreciation.
Since both CDL and CPL are not fantastic dividend counters I will look at capital appreciation instead.
For capital to appreciate, the share price must appreciate. Simple.
Based on the basic valuation metrics, CapitaLand share price has much room for appreciation.
However since the share price has dropped after the release of 3Q17 results, is it because shareholders feel that the results are not comparable to the previous year?
Comparing Y-o-Y revenue, latest 3Q indeed fell by 0.1%.
However Y-o-Y, profit increased by ~70%, EPS increased from $0.179 to $0.302 and ROE increased to 4.97% from a negative figure.
This is what perplexes me. The company is earning more and generating more returns on the shareholders' investment but the market feels otherwise.
Can anyone enlighten me please?
As I was thinking about this, it led me to the next questions.
Why is it that City Developments can be trading in the region of S$12+ while CapitaLand continues to languish at S$3+ and what are the differences between the two companies?
It piqued my interest as I have never delved into City Developments before and I set to find out more.
The comparisons gave me a big surprise.
Overview of City Developments (CDL)
City Developments Limited has a history of more than 50 years since their beginning in a small rented office in Amber Mansions on 7th September 1963.
They have since evolved into a Singapore-listed international real estate operating company with presence in 26 countries including Singapore, Australia, China, Japan, UK and rest of Europe.
CDL's portfolio consists of residences, offices, hotels, serviced apartments, integrated developments and shopping malls.
One of their most recognised brands is the Millennium & Copthorne hotels chain.
CDL's core markets are UK, US, China, Japan and China.
Overview of CapitaLand (CPL)
CapitaLand group is a property company created from the merger of Pidemco Land and DBS Land in November 2000.
Since then CPL has grown to become one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Based and listed in Singapore, it is an owner and manager of a S$85 billion portfolio comprising integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices, homes, REITs and funds in over 30 countries.
It is also one of the largest investment management businesses in Asia with 14 real estate private equity funds and 5 REITs worth over S$47 billion in assets under management.
CapitaLand acquired Raffles Holdings and The Ascott Group in 2006 and 2008 respectively and the latter is the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator.
Singapore and China remain the two core markets of CPL, totalling 82% of the group's total assets.
Comparison of the Financial Figures
As mentioned earlier I have never studied CDL before. But inferring from the share price I expect the scale of their business to be much bigger than CapitaLand.
However this is exactly the opposite.
No matter which metric you look at - cash holding, revenue, PATMI, assets or AUM, CapitaLand is clearly the bigger player.
Exception is the EPS where CDL is slightly higher than CPL.
Note: Figures are from the 3Q17 financial reports of both companies.
Valuation
I then did some quick calculations for the latest P/E and P/B ratios as a gauge of their valuation.
Again CPL is the winner here. In fact CPL is currently trading under book value whereas CDL is trading slightly above book.
Future Growth of City Developments
In 2016 CDL acquired 20% stake in mamahome - China's fast-growing online apartment rental platform.
In 2017 CDL acquired 24% stake in Distrii - China's leading operator of co-working space.
These synergistic acquisitions are a move away from their traditional sources of income and it's nice to see this forward-looking direction of the management.
In the near term, CDL has several upcoming local residential projects including New Futura, a Tampines Ave 10 project and South Beach Residences.
Upcoming overseas residential projects include 1 in China, 7 in UK and 1 in Japan.
CDL also embarked on 2 projects in Australia for luxury retirement village development with expected completion in 2020 and 2021.
CDL is also actively engaging in asset enhancement initiatives for various Millennium & Copthorne hotels in New Zealand, UK, KL and Singapore.
Future Growth of CapitaLand
CapitaLand has over 8,000 residential units with a value of RMB 13.8 billion sold in China and expected to be handed over from 4Q17 onwards. 10% of the value is expected to be recognised in 4Q17 and 70% in 2018.
On the shopping mall front, CPL opened their largest mall - Suzhou Centre Mall three days ago on 11th Nov 2017.
CPL is also set to continue their expansion in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Their residential project in Vietnam - d'Edge is close to 100% sold.
SingPost Centre opened on 12th Oct 2017, is CPL's first managed mall in Singapore under management contract.
Apart from the above, CPL has 6 management contracts in China to date as well.
CPL also launched CapitaLand online mall on Lazada on 16th Oct 2017.
It's good to see these new initiatives from CPL which show that the management is actively looking for new income sources.
On the serviced residences front, Ascott is on track to achieve their target of 80,000 units under management by 2020.
Summary and Conclusion
Beside the fact that both are real estate companies, City Developments and CapitaLand are also similar in terms of assets composition, development type and geographical composition.
In terms of business scale, CapitaLand is much bigger with significantly higher top and bottom lines compared to City Developments.
However in terms of share price, City Developments is the clear winner. Since January this year, share price of CDL has rose 50% while share price of CPL has increased by 18%.
Shareholders make money either through dividends and / or capital appreciation.
Since both CDL and CPL are not fantastic dividend counters I will look at capital appreciation instead.
For capital to appreciate, the share price must appreciate. Simple.
Based on the basic valuation metrics, CapitaLand share price has much room for appreciation.
However since the share price has dropped after the release of 3Q17 results, is it because shareholders feel that the results are not comparable to the previous year?
Comparing Y-o-Y revenue, latest 3Q indeed fell by 0.1%.
However Y-o-Y, profit increased by ~70%, EPS increased from $0.179 to $0.302 and ROE increased to 4.97% from a negative figure.
This is what perplexes me. The company is earning more and generating more returns on the shareholders' investment but the market feels otherwise.
Can anyone enlighten me please?
Friday 3 November 2017
Viva Industrial Trust - My First Foray Into Industrial REITs
Today (actually it's yesterday since it has passed midnight) marks my first foray into the industrial class of REITs if I don't consider Mapletree Logistics Trust as industrial.
Viva Industrial Trust is not a pure industrial REIT. It has a hotel among its properties.
Viva Industrial Trust is not a pure industrial REIT. It has a hotel among its properties.
I have been monitoring Viva Industrial Trust for some time. When the price dropped more than the dividend post-XD today, I decided to take advantage of this and buy into this counter @ $0.955.
Ideally I would like to go in below $0.95 but guess I am not that disciplined.
Results from Viva's latest quarter look promising.
Comparing Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q,
Other results,
Gearing is reasonable at <40%.
WALE is 2.8 years. To be honest I would prefer this to be higher.
And portfolio occupancy is 90.9%.
As a matter of fact, the above figures allude to the good fundamentals and good management of the trust.
Furthermore with the opening of the Downtown line station connecting directly to UE BizHub East, there is a real possibility of upcoming positive rental reversion and increment of the property value.
Ideally I would like to go in below $0.95 but guess I am not that disciplined.
Results from Viva's latest quarter look promising.
Comparing Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q,
Other results,
Gearing is reasonable at <40%.
WALE is 2.8 years. To be honest I would prefer this to be higher.
And portfolio occupancy is 90.9%.
As a matter of fact, the above figures allude to the good fundamentals and good management of the trust.
Furthermore with the opening of the Downtown line station connecting directly to UE BizHub East, there is a real possibility of upcoming positive rental reversion and increment of the property value.
However the deal clincher for me is the AEI done for their Viva Business Park (VBP) in Chai Chee. I've been to VBP several times in the past for business meetings before they commenced the AEI.
Post-AEI, I've went back several times with my wife and what a world of difference the initiatives made!
The most obvious improvement is the number of retailers and anchor tenants such as Harvey Norman and Decathlon taking up space in the business park.
This is a far cry from the old VBP where majority of the tenants are commercial entities and the only retail shops on the ground floor are cafes and such.
The effort made for the AEI is actually visually-obvious. It changes the whole vibe of the business park. And I have to say I am impressed by what I see.
Paying at $0.955 a piece for Viva means paying a premium to its NAV and this is usually what I don't do.
However I see limited downside and much upside to the price due to the increased buying interest in this REIT, value-realisation of UE BizHub East and potential of increased income from VBP.
The way I see it, Viva will break $1.00 soon.
My plan when I placed the queue order today was this:
a) If the price appreciated within these few days, I might do a short term trade.
b) If the price drops, I will hold as part of my income portfolio. A dividend yield of nearly 8% doesn't hurt.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Saturday 28 October 2017
Recent Actions - Sept & Oct 2017
Mapletree Logistics Trust
Added 2,300 shares from preferential offering. Total holdings at 7,300 shares.
Received S$85.30 dividend this month.
CapitaLand Commercial Trust
Added 1,000 shares from rights issue. Total holdings at 4,000 shares.
mm2 Asia
Sold for some small profits this month.
Added 2,300 shares from preferential offering. Total holdings at 7,300 shares.
Received S$85.30 dividend this month.
CapitaLand Commercial Trust
Added 1,000 shares from rights issue. Total holdings at 4,000 shares.
mm2 Asia
Sold for some small profits this month.
Friday 27 October 2017
ISOTeam AGM 2017
ISOTeam's AGM is held at Sheraton Towers this year.
The room size is about 100 seating and from my observation about 80% seated.
The AGM started with the usual Q&A and taking the questions are the chairman, CEO and the CFO.
In all only three persons, including myself asked questions. Listed as follows are the Q&A as far as I can remember. Probably have missed couple of them due to my forgetfulness. Was listening intently to the replies from the board. Sorry about that.
Q: General, admin and finance costs are high - pg 66 of annual report. Revenue went down but these costs went up.
A: This is due to the increased in staff and admin costs of the new acquisitions. The company is working to streamline these additional manpower resources to bring down the costs.
Q: Big drop in R&R revenue.
A: This is due to classification of projects. Some projects involve R&R and A&A works for example. The revenue is classified under A&A segment if major portion of the project consists of A&A works.
Secondly due to the recent lift problems, town councils allocated 40% of funds to fire fight lift the issues. So nowadays project values are only around S$1 M compared to S$5 M last time.
Q: Doubtful debt.
A: One customer is in receivableship but this debt is not written off yet.
Q: Cash receivable is negative.
A: This is mainly due to 3 reasons:
ISOTeam invested S$5 M in Sunseap. Bought another company for S$5 M. Invested in a new company HQ in Changi to consolidate operations.
ISOTeam will be selling off existing properties in Kaki Bukit, AMK, etc. This will have cost savings and generate profits.
Q: How is ISOTeam mitigating the increased competition from smaller players in the R&R segment?
A: Streamlining costs and acquisition of recent companies enables ISOTeam to offer a whole suite of services including M&E to customers.
Suggestion: A suggestion was also made to the board to use thinner paper for annual reports next time since it's in line with ISOTeam's 'Green' initiatives and will also leads to some cost savings.
Lastly, all resolutions are passed.
Summary for the Q&A:
Management gives the feeling that they know what they are doing.
Their answers are sincere. No brushing off of questions unlike AGM of other companies.
Most important point of the entire AGM. The food! Haha just joking.
Customary photo of the refreshments as follows. I thought the selection is nice. Not too excessive.
After the meeting has ended, the CEO is seen engaging in small talks with shareholders at the refreshment area. I crept over discreetly to join in and asked some further questions of mine.
This is what I gathered.
Next 1 to 2 years will be exciting years for ISOTeam and shareholders. Fruits of their recent plantings will bear by then and results are going to be very positive.
This is due to the several new streams of income from the new BUs and expected improved macro environment which will boost the performance of their R&R, A&A and C&P segments.
CnO and SGBikes are expected to contribute significantly to the top line and bottom line soon.
CnO is pending registration with NEA as a vector control product. Once done this will be pushed to other areas in Singapore with the support of the town councils. Successful trial has already been conducted in Tampines.
SGBikes is working very closely with the town councils, LTA, NParks and HDB. They have kicked off in Bukit Panjang and will extend very soon to Nee Soon. After that it will go on to other adjoining new towns.
There's another news which I won't share here due to the potential sensitivities. But this will be a huge advantage to SGBikes in the local bike-sharing industry.
By the way SGBikes is targeted to contribute 10% of ISOTeam revenue by next year. Imagine that!
Currently town councils are allocating 40% of their budget to fire-fight the lift issues. This is expected to change soon with the budget reverting to the previous HDB upgrading projects and this will likely boost the earnings of ISOTeam's traditional segments.
One key advantage of ISOTeam is that they are working closely with the government in their initiatives as mentioned above. The close relationships doesn't hurt do they?
Last but not least, get your bullets ready. There MIGHT be a big positive news coming up in months time.
In conclusion, this is somewhat similar to my experience with OCBC AGM 2016. I walked away from that AGM feeling confident of the company.
This time round I felt the same. Perhaps even more. Especially after my chat with the CEO and CSO during the refreshment after AGM.
I learned much more about the company and it's future plans from the informal chat than from the actual AGM and annual report.
I am seriously considering adding another 50,000 shares of ISOTeam now. Currently vested with 50,000.
Wednesday 25 October 2017
These 3 Reits Go Ex-Dividend in these 2 Days
Since I am reading the results of and following some counters in my free time, I thought I might as well share some brief albeit important points from these readings, especially for the counters that interest me.
Capitaland Mall Trust (C38U.SI)
CMT probably needs no introduction. It is Singapore's first and largest retail Reit by market capitalisation, S$7.1 billion (as of 20 Sept 2017), and is listed on SGX since July 2002.
CMT's portfolio is a diverse list of 16 quality shopping malls with 2,900 local and international leases.
Based on results of 3Q17,
Ex-Date: 26/10/2017
Payment Date: 29/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.0278 (2.78 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.1103 (11.03 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 5.43%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$121.4 million (increased of 1.6% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$98.7 million (increased of 0.3% yoy)
Portfolio Occupancy Rate: 99.0%
NAV: S$1.95
First Reit (AW9U.SI)
Listed on November 2006, First Reit is Singapore's first healthcare Reit that aims to invest in real estate and / or real estate-related assets in Asia that are primarily used for healthcare and / or healthcare-related purposes.
First Reit's portfolio valued at S$1.3 billion consists of 19 properties located in Indonesia (15), Singapore (3) and South Korea (1).
Based on results of unaudited 3Q17,
Ex-Date: 27/10/2017
Payment Date: 29/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.0214 (2.14 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.0858 (8.58 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 6.1%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$27.47 million (increased of 3.2% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$16.7 million (increased of 2.2% yoy)
NAV: S$1.006
Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (RW0U.SI)
Listed on Mar 2013, MGCCT with a market cap of S$3.2 billion, is the first commercial Reit with assets in China and Hong Kong.
MGCCT's portfolio currently consists of 3 properties - Festival Walk (Hong Kong), Gateway Plaza (Beijing) and Sandhill Plaza (Shanghai) which totaled S$6.0 billion in portfolio value.
Based on results of 1H18,
Ex-Date: 26/10/2017
Payment Date: 20/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.03714 (3.714 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.07428 (7.428 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 6.06%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$142.9 million (increased of 4.5% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$104.4 million (increased of 4.1% yoy)
Portfolio Occupancy Rate: 98.2%
NAV: S$1.246
Capitaland Mall Trust (C38U.SI)
CMT probably needs no introduction. It is Singapore's first and largest retail Reit by market capitalisation, S$7.1 billion (as of 20 Sept 2017), and is listed on SGX since July 2002.
CMT's portfolio is a diverse list of 16 quality shopping malls with 2,900 local and international leases.
Based on results of 3Q17,
Ex-Date: 26/10/2017
Payment Date: 29/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.0278 (2.78 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.1103 (11.03 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 5.43%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$121.4 million (increased of 1.6% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$98.7 million (increased of 0.3% yoy)
Portfolio Occupancy Rate: 99.0%
NAV: S$1.95
First Reit (AW9U.SI)
Listed on November 2006, First Reit is Singapore's first healthcare Reit that aims to invest in real estate and / or real estate-related assets in Asia that are primarily used for healthcare and / or healthcare-related purposes.
First Reit's portfolio valued at S$1.3 billion consists of 19 properties located in Indonesia (15), Singapore (3) and South Korea (1).
Based on results of unaudited 3Q17,
Ex-Date: 27/10/2017
Payment Date: 29/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.0214 (2.14 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.0858 (8.58 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 6.1%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$27.47 million (increased of 3.2% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$16.7 million (increased of 2.2% yoy)
NAV: S$1.006
Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (RW0U.SI)
Listed on Mar 2013, MGCCT with a market cap of S$3.2 billion, is the first commercial Reit with assets in China and Hong Kong.
MGCCT's portfolio currently consists of 3 properties - Festival Walk (Hong Kong), Gateway Plaza (Beijing) and Sandhill Plaza (Shanghai) which totaled S$6.0 billion in portfolio value.
Based on results of 1H18,
Ex-Date: 26/10/2017
Payment Date: 20/11/2017
Dividend per Unit (DPU): S$0.03714 (3.714 cents)
Annualised DPU: S$0.07428 (7.428 cents)
Based on today's closing price, yield comes up to: 6.06%
Net Property Income (NPI): S$142.9 million (increased of 4.5% yoy)
Distributable Income: S$104.4 million (increased of 4.1% yoy)
Portfolio Occupancy Rate: 98.2%
NAV: S$1.246
Tuesday 10 October 2017
Pennies are Better than Blue Chips for Trading?
I am not so much of a trader for 2 reasons.
1. I'm a lousy chart reader.
2. I'm investing for an income portfolio.
However when opportunity strikes I would enter some small positions here and there for hopefully, some quick bucks. The holding period for my trading positions usually range from 5 days to 6 months though I am often not nimble enough when the trend moves against me.
Anyway through my poor and amateurish trading eyes, I noticed that the price of blue chips usually move within a tight range and is usually more influenced by the big boys.
Sometimes the big boys choose to sell or buy a particular blue chip contrary to the news in the market.
Take for example CapitaLand. Despite a slew of positive news recently, its share price has been inching down last month (though thankfully it has recovered slightly since last week).
I took a look at the top institutional sells then and if I remember correctly CapitaLand was among the most heavily sold counter amongst the big boys.
On the other hand, price of pennies are more easily influenced by retail traders / speculators who are in turn, often influenced by market news.
Big boys usually shun the pennies since there is often not enough volume on the other side of their trades to effect their transactions anyway.
This means that the pennies have higher volatility and the share prices have potential for greater swings than that of blue chips. Profit-taking opportunities are higher too.
Having said that, I also noticed technical analysis is sometimes not applicable to pennies due to for example, fast price swing on piece of news before the charts can capture.
Of course this might be due to my own inadequacies in TA.
For pennies, the risks are higher. But the potential rewards are correspondingly higher too.
Last but not least, a gentle reminder which I always keeps in mind: Only buy what you can afford to lose.
1. I'm a lousy chart reader.
2. I'm investing for an income portfolio.
However when opportunity strikes I would enter some small positions here and there for hopefully, some quick bucks. The holding period for my trading positions usually range from 5 days to 6 months though I am often not nimble enough when the trend moves against me.
Anyway through my poor and amateurish trading eyes, I noticed that the price of blue chips usually move within a tight range and is usually more influenced by the big boys.
Sometimes the big boys choose to sell or buy a particular blue chip contrary to the news in the market.
Take for example CapitaLand. Despite a slew of positive news recently, its share price has been inching down last month (though thankfully it has recovered slightly since last week).
I took a look at the top institutional sells then and if I remember correctly CapitaLand was among the most heavily sold counter amongst the big boys.
On the other hand, price of pennies are more easily influenced by retail traders / speculators who are in turn, often influenced by market news.
Big boys usually shun the pennies since there is often not enough volume on the other side of their trades to effect their transactions anyway.
This means that the pennies have higher volatility and the share prices have potential for greater swings than that of blue chips. Profit-taking opportunities are higher too.
Having said that, I also noticed technical analysis is sometimes not applicable to pennies due to for example, fast price swing on piece of news before the charts can capture.
Of course this might be due to my own inadequacies in TA.
For pennies, the risks are higher. But the potential rewards are correspondingly higher too.
Last but not least, a gentle reminder which I always keeps in mind: Only buy what you can afford to lose.
Sunday 1 October 2017
Stock Screening on a Wet Sunday
Feeling curious on a rainy Sunday, I decided to do my periodic stock screening which I have not done so for some time.
Using my usual screening criteria, the result actually surprised me this time.
I use the P/E, P/B, dividend yield, net profit and gearing in terms of debt/equity for my screenings.
P/E - Less than 10. However for today's screening I set it as 20 with reason given below.
P/B - Less than 1. Depending on the circumstances I usually do not want to over pay for my stock.
Dividend Yield - At least 4%. Above the risk-free interest rate from CPF.
Net Profit - At least 10%. I feel more comfortable with this figure as I feel there is more sustainability in the business.
Gearing - Less than 40%. Obviously I do not feel comfortable investing in a company with high debt level.
So with this set of screening criteria, I managed to get only 3 counters this time. These are:
1. Frasers Centrepoint Limited
2. Global Investments Limited
3. Keong Hong Holdings Limited
This is a far cry from the previous screenings where I usually get at least 10 - 20 results. If I set the P/E ratio to 10, Global Investments Limited will be out of the picture.
So what does this tells us about the current market?
Anyway for Frasers Centrepoint, it has always been in my watch list. I have no qualm in investing into this company once my TP hits.
For Global Investments, I have only recently started to read up on this company. Without more in-depth understanding I won't take any further action for now.
For Keong Hong, I have previously done some study here. It continues to be in my watch list.
With focus being on my new company now, I will probably be less active in the market unless good bargains appear.
Good luck everyone.
Using my usual screening criteria, the result actually surprised me this time.
I use the P/E, P/B, dividend yield, net profit and gearing in terms of debt/equity for my screenings.
P/E - Less than 10. However for today's screening I set it as 20 with reason given below.
P/B - Less than 1. Depending on the circumstances I usually do not want to over pay for my stock.
Dividend Yield - At least 4%. Above the risk-free interest rate from CPF.
Net Profit - At least 10%. I feel more comfortable with this figure as I feel there is more sustainability in the business.
Gearing - Less than 40%. Obviously I do not feel comfortable investing in a company with high debt level.
So with this set of screening criteria, I managed to get only 3 counters this time. These are:
1. Frasers Centrepoint Limited
2. Global Investments Limited
3. Keong Hong Holdings Limited
This is a far cry from the previous screenings where I usually get at least 10 - 20 results. If I set the P/E ratio to 10, Global Investments Limited will be out of the picture.
So what does this tells us about the current market?
Anyway for Frasers Centrepoint, it has always been in my watch list. I have no qualm in investing into this company once my TP hits.
For Global Investments, I have only recently started to read up on this company. Without more in-depth understanding I won't take any further action for now.
For Keong Hong, I have previously done some study here. It continues to be in my watch list.
With focus being on my new company now, I will probably be less active in the market unless good bargains appear.
Good luck everyone.
Friday 29 September 2017
Reviewing Comfort Delgro in Wifey's Portfolio
Price of Comfort Delgro (CDG) has dropped since I bought it for wifey's dividend portfolio last month. This is mainly due to the double whammy of recent negative news.
This begets a question - Will I cut loss and sell it? Simple answer is no.
This is because the Grab / Uber factor has been overly played and I believe it has largely been priced in. Furthermore if I assume a drastic worst case of 10% drop in dividend next year, based on our purchased price the yield is still a respectable 4.3% (above my criteria of 4% CPF interest).
In fact I am looking out for an opportunity to buy in for myself and wifey.
I have previously sold my holdings for a small profit when the price hit $2.3x about a month ago.
Another important question is - Do I expect CDG to languish below $2 for the next 3 - 5 years? Simple answer is no again.
At this point of writing, CDG has a closing price of $2.08. It has risen for 2 days but this is probably due to the shorts covering.
I personally expect the price to drop again in the near term before rising to a stable point when market realise the fear is actually not that fearful.
Already I am seeing some analyst reports saying the above.
Sometimes it's funny to see how quickly they change opinion. Faster than the prata man opoosite my place flipping his prata : )
This begets a question - Will I cut loss and sell it? Simple answer is no.
This is because the Grab / Uber factor has been overly played and I believe it has largely been priced in. Furthermore if I assume a drastic worst case of 10% drop in dividend next year, based on our purchased price the yield is still a respectable 4.3% (above my criteria of 4% CPF interest).
In fact I am looking out for an opportunity to buy in for myself and wifey.
I have previously sold my holdings for a small profit when the price hit $2.3x about a month ago.
Another important question is - Do I expect CDG to languish below $2 for the next 3 - 5 years? Simple answer is no again.
At this point of writing, CDG has a closing price of $2.08. It has risen for 2 days but this is probably due to the shorts covering.
I personally expect the price to drop again in the near term before rising to a stable point when market realise the fear is actually not that fearful.
Already I am seeing some analyst reports saying the above.
Sometimes it's funny to see how quickly they change opinion. Faster than the prata man opoosite my place flipping his prata : )
Tuesday 12 September 2017
September Oh September
Hope everyone is doing well so far.
I realised I hasn't been blogging as much as I would like to in September. This is because there was a major happening in my career recently.
In August I left the company in which I was employed as well as being one of the shareholders. Due to certain disagreements between two of the shareholders - and I'm not one of them, a decision has been made to close down the company.
So now I'm striking out on my own. No longer with partners.
Incorporating the new company was easy. There are many companies out there offering incorporation service for a fee. I engaged one of those to incorporate my new company.
What's occupying my time are stuff that are often taken for granted such as:
Creating my company logo
Designing and printing my name card
Creating letter head
Designing and creating the content for my website
Selecting a host and creating the email accounts
Creating my company profile and individual product catalogues
Creating quotation, DO and invoice formats
etc
These tasks look mundane and I too took these for granted when I was an employee previously. However what needs to be done got to be done. So who else but me.
Most of the designing stuff can be outsourced to professionals. But I wanted to be frugal on this front as I need the funds to be put to better use.
On the bright side I have already completed several projects, thanks to the support from my customers!
I would say it is a good start for me.
On the other hand, I have increased the frequency of my runs recently. I have always love running but for various reasons, I have not been running as much as I would love to.
My pace has suffered as a result however I should be able to return to my old pace soon. Not that I care much about the pace, just that it serves as an indication of how 'lazy' or 'hardworking' I have been.
Most importantly I love what I do and I do what I love and this helps me to maintain my healthy lifestyle.
Just to show off before I log off!
Our dear traffic police sent me a surprise letter, complimenting me for being a careful driver for the past 5 years. Instead of a compliment I would very much prefer some tangible rewards though. 😁
And the environmental-conscious me is thinking why sent a hardcopy compliment? Actually an SMS will suffice.
And I thought I can show off! More than half of the motorists have received this compliment as well. Lol.. 😂
I realised I hasn't been blogging as much as I would like to in September. This is because there was a major happening in my career recently.
In August I left the company in which I was employed as well as being one of the shareholders. Due to certain disagreements between two of the shareholders - and I'm not one of them, a decision has been made to close down the company.
So now I'm striking out on my own. No longer with partners.
Incorporating the new company was easy. There are many companies out there offering incorporation service for a fee. I engaged one of those to incorporate my new company.
What's occupying my time are stuff that are often taken for granted such as:
Creating my company logo
Designing and printing my name card
Creating letter head
Designing and creating the content for my website
Selecting a host and creating the email accounts
Creating my company profile and individual product catalogues
Creating quotation, DO and invoice formats
etc
These tasks look mundane and I too took these for granted when I was an employee previously. However what needs to be done got to be done. So who else but me.
Most of the designing stuff can be outsourced to professionals. But I wanted to be frugal on this front as I need the funds to be put to better use.
On the bright side I have already completed several projects, thanks to the support from my customers!
I would say it is a good start for me.
On the other hand, I have increased the frequency of my runs recently. I have always love running but for various reasons, I have not been running as much as I would love to.
My pace has suffered as a result however I should be able to return to my old pace soon. Not that I care much about the pace, just that it serves as an indication of how 'lazy' or 'hardworking' I have been.
Most importantly I love what I do and I do what I love and this helps me to maintain my healthy lifestyle.
Just to show off before I log off!
Our dear traffic police sent me a surprise letter, complimenting me for being a careful driver for the past 5 years. Instead of a compliment I would very much prefer some tangible rewards though. 😁
And the environmental-conscious me is thinking why sent a hardcopy compliment? Actually an SMS will suffice.
And I thought I can show off! More than half of the motorists have received this compliment as well. Lol.. 😂
Wednesday 30 August 2017
August Updates
August has been a good month for me in terms of investments.
Dividends Collected
S$1,486.57
This comes from M1, SingTel, OCBC, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Suntec Reit.
Stocks Purchased
Mapletree Logistics Trust @ S$1.185
This purchase forms part of my long term portfolio. Reasons for entering have been shared here.
Comfort Delgro @ S$2.18
Bought a second tranche when the price took a battering recently. This lowered my average price and subsequently I sold my holdings to take in some profits.
However I will enter CDG again once the opportunity arises as it is still a solid stock that I fancy and my belief in its fundamentals remains unchanged.
Wilmar @ S$3.11
I have been monitoring Wilmar for some time and when the price dropped recently to what I felt is a value with sufficient safety margin, I decided to make my maiden purchase into this commodities giant.
This will be a short term trade for me as it does not fits into my long term plan.
Stock Sold
Comfort Delgro @ S$2.33
Sold CDG for a small profit during the mini run up on news of possible collaboration with Uber. Decided to lock in the profits first for deployment elsewhere.
Last but not least, I received a bonus S$100 in the form of NS50 vouchers. Cheers!
Dividends
S$1,486.57
This comes from M1, SingTel, OCBC, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Suntec Reit.
Stocks Purchased
Mapletree Logistics Trust @ S$1.185
This purchase forms part of my long term portfolio. Reasons for entering have been shared here.
Comfort Delgro @ S$2.18
Bought a second tranche when the price took a battering recently. This lowered my average price and subsequently I sold my holdings to take in some profits.
However I will enter CDG again once the opportunity arises as it is still a solid stock that I fancy and my belief in its fundamentals remains unchanged.
Wilmar @ S$3.11
I have been monitoring Wilmar for some time and when the price dropped recently to what I felt is a value with sufficient safety margin, I decided to make my maiden purchase into this commodities giant.
This will be a short term trade for me as it does not fits into my long term plan.
Stock Sold
Comfort Delgro @ S$2.33
Sold CDG for a small profit during the mini run up on news of possible collaboration with Uber. Decided to lock in the profits first for deployment elsewhere.
Last but not least, I received a bonus S$100 in the form of NS50 vouchers. Cheers!
Tuesday 29 August 2017
Surprise Call from M1
I have always been satisfied with M1's customer service in my close to 20 years with them.
From the way they handled my queries over the phone to their staff at the front line, perhaps I have been lucky. So far I'm pretty impressed with their flexibility and initiatives.
Today I received a call from one of their customer service officers who offered me a loyalty voucher with quite a substantial amount to re-contract with them.
On top of that he also told me to delay my purchase (if any) to next month as phone prices will change after end of this month and Comex is coming so I might get a better deal!
I am pleasantly surprised as I was actually looking around for the past two weeks for a replacement for my 3 year old phone which apparently is nearing the end of its life 😞
Looking beyond the surface, this actually tells me that instead of being reactive to market changes, M1 is in fact proactively trying to retain customers.
Kudos to them 👏
Apart from that they are also coming up with promotions to get more customers on board. One example is the 300 mbps broadband plan @ $23 per month for the first year for customers who do not need a 'free' router.
I almost wanted to tell the CSO not to offer so many incentives especially handset subsidies to customers 😀
The above together with the initiatives I highlighted in my previous posts, further reinforce my belief that the sun will be shining brightly for M1 soon!
From the way they handled my queries over the phone to their staff at the front line, perhaps I have been lucky. So far I'm pretty impressed with their flexibility and initiatives.
Today I received a call from one of their customer service officers who offered me a loyalty voucher with quite a substantial amount to re-contract with them.
On top of that he also told me to delay my purchase (if any) to next month as phone prices will change after end of this month and Comex is coming so I might get a better deal!
I am pleasantly surprised as I was actually looking around for the past two weeks for a replacement for my 3 year old phone which apparently is nearing the end of its life 😞
Looking beyond the surface, this actually tells me that instead of being reactive to market changes, M1 is in fact proactively trying to retain customers.
Kudos to them 👏
Apart from that they are also coming up with promotions to get more customers on board. One example is the 300 mbps broadband plan @ $23 per month for the first year for customers who do not need a 'free' router.
I almost wanted to tell the CSO not to offer so many incentives especially handset subsidies to customers 😀
The above together with the initiatives I highlighted in my previous posts, further reinforce my belief that the sun will be shining brightly for M1 soon!
Friday 18 August 2017
Wifey's S$20,000 Portfolio
Wifey recently got interested in investment for passive income too.
So one fine day she asked me to build up a dividend-paying portfolio for her with S$20,000 as the base capital.
The first thing I did was to look through my watch list for suitable stocks with dividend yield of at least 4%.
After identifying the stocks I waited for the opportune moment with comfortable price point to buy in for the long term.
After several weeks the first stock I bought is M1 at $1.86 pre-XD.
Weeks later, another opportunity arose. I bought Mapletree Logistics Trust at $1.185 when the price dipped.
Finally when the price fell yesterday, I bought Comfort Delgro at $2.18.
So as it stands wifey's portfolio now consists of the following:
M1 @ 4,000 shares (+ another 2,000 shares bought previously)
MLT @ 5,000 shares
CDG @ 3,000 shares
There are several more stocks in my watch list which will be added if the opportunity arises.
So one fine day she asked me to build up a dividend-paying portfolio for her with S$20,000 as the base capital.
The first thing I did was to look through my watch list for suitable stocks with dividend yield of at least 4%.
After identifying the stocks I waited for the opportune moment with comfortable price point to buy in for the long term.
After several weeks the first stock I bought is M1 at $1.86 pre-XD.
Weeks later, another opportunity arose. I bought Mapletree Logistics Trust at $1.185 when the price dipped.
Finally when the price fell yesterday, I bought Comfort Delgro at $2.18.
So as it stands wifey's portfolio now consists of the following:
M1 @ 4,000 shares (+ another 2,000 shares bought previously)
MLT @ 5,000 shares
CDG @ 3,000 shares
There are several more stocks in my watch list which will be added if the opportunity arises.
Wednesday 2 August 2017
Recent Action - Mapletree Logistics Trust
Taking advantage of the dip in price, I purchased 10,000 shares of Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) today as my maiden entry to the Mapletree family.
Has been eyeing several of the Mapletree counters in my watch list for some time and ironically my first choice in the Mapletree family is actually another trust : )
Anyway the reasons for purchase are summarised as follows.
The recent news concerning logistics players such as FLT and GLP signal a favourable outlook for this sector as a whole.
With a diversified portfolio in 8 countries, MLT presents a good choice with exposure to growth in the APAC region.
And add a well spread of tenants to the equation. I like the fact that the biggest sector of tenants accounts for just 24% of the revenue contribution. This is from the F&B sector by the way.
Exposure to the troubled oil & gas and marine sectors is also limited as they account for only 5%.
Customers-wise, none account for more than 5% of total gross revenue. I find this a good hedge against any major upheaval in specific industries.
Weighted lease term to expiry (WALE) of over 4 years. Although this is not too long in my opinion, I am not overly concern with this.
After all there is no one anchor tenant account that makes up a substantial portion of the revenue where it can skews the results upwards (or downwards!).
Furthermore a lower WALE might be advantageous to MLT since it has shown positive rental reversions in China, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong.
Portfolio occupancy remains high at 95.5% despite a slight decline from previous quarter. This can be be explained by the transitional downtime from a property in South Korea.
Importantly, occupancy rates from other countries actually improved from the last quarter.
93% of leases that expired in 1Q FY17/18 has been renewed or replaced.
Freehold and long leasehold properties. About 30% of MLT's portfolio is freehold and average expiry to their leasehold land is 47 years. Pretty long if you ask me.
Talking about portfolio, I also like the current and future yield-accretive acquisitions and AEIs by MLT.
Even with lower contributions from the South Korean property and absence of contribution from one block of Ouluo Logistics Centre, MLT's gross revenue actually grew by 7% year on year and NPI grew by 7.5%.
Nice!
Of course DPU increased of 2% year on year and 1.5% quarter on quarter doesn't hurt ; )
Risks
Total outstanding debt increased by S$18 million. However approximately 79% of total debt has been hedged into fixed rates.
Continued pressure over the increased in supply of warehouse space locally. However this is mitigated by the renewal and replacement of expiring leases as well as positive rental reversions in other markets.
Lastly, I'm paying a slight premium to the NAV. Not my usual style. But I feel the upsides outweigh this hence this purchase.
Note: Figures obtained from 1Q FY17/18 financial results.
Has been eyeing several of the Mapletree counters in my watch list for some time and ironically my first choice in the Mapletree family is actually another trust : )
Anyway the reasons for purchase are summarised as follows.
The recent news concerning logistics players such as FLT and GLP signal a favourable outlook for this sector as a whole.
With a diversified portfolio in 8 countries, MLT presents a good choice with exposure to growth in the APAC region.
And add a well spread of tenants to the equation. I like the fact that the biggest sector of tenants accounts for just 24% of the revenue contribution. This is from the F&B sector by the way.
Exposure to the troubled oil & gas and marine sectors is also limited as they account for only 5%.
Customers-wise, none account for more than 5% of total gross revenue. I find this a good hedge against any major upheaval in specific industries.
Weighted lease term to expiry (WALE) of over 4 years. Although this is not too long in my opinion, I am not overly concern with this.
After all there is no one anchor tenant account that makes up a substantial portion of the revenue where it can skews the results upwards (or downwards!).
Furthermore a lower WALE might be advantageous to MLT since it has shown positive rental reversions in China, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong.
Portfolio occupancy remains high at 95.5% despite a slight decline from previous quarter. This can be be explained by the transitional downtime from a property in South Korea.
Importantly, occupancy rates from other countries actually improved from the last quarter.
93% of leases that expired in 1Q FY17/18 has been renewed or replaced.
Freehold and long leasehold properties. About 30% of MLT's portfolio is freehold and average expiry to their leasehold land is 47 years. Pretty long if you ask me.
Talking about portfolio, I also like the current and future yield-accretive acquisitions and AEIs by MLT.
Even with lower contributions from the South Korean property and absence of contribution from one block of Ouluo Logistics Centre, MLT's gross revenue actually grew by 7% year on year and NPI grew by 7.5%.
Nice!
Of course DPU increased of 2% year on year and 1.5% quarter on quarter doesn't hurt ; )
Risks
Total outstanding debt increased by S$18 million. However approximately 79% of total debt has been hedged into fixed rates.
Continued pressure over the increased in supply of warehouse space locally. However this is mitigated by the renewal and replacement of expiring leases as well as positive rental reversions in other markets.
Lastly, I'm paying a slight premium to the NAV. Not my usual style. But I feel the upsides outweigh this hence this purchase.
Note: Figures obtained from 1Q FY17/18 financial results.
Tuesday 1 August 2017
New Subsidiary for ISOTeam - Tide is Turning?
So ISOTeam has incorporated a new subsidiary for the wholesale and leasing of bikes, including provision of bike sharing services.
Bike sharing is not new in Singapore with Ofo, Mobike and Obike having the first mover advantage. Now with SG Bike (ISOTeam's subsi) jumping into the bandwagon, we have a homegrown player in this business.
I like this move of ISOTeam because of two reasons:
1) Green and eco-friendly business development
2) New business that rides with the trend
These two are among the reasons why I initiated a position in this counter and I have blogged about them here previously.
However I feel it's more than these reasons as to why ISOTeam decided to go into this business.
Our government is pushing for a car-lite country and they have long taken steps to move in this direction. Among these is the round the island park connector.
Now with a park connector that is more than 100 km and can connect you to most parts of the country, how do you traverse on it?
Bikes of course! So this makes business sense afterall.
Another plus point for me (I like companies that leverage on the governments initiatives)!
Bike sharing is not new in Singapore with Ofo, Mobike and Obike having the first mover advantage. Now with SG Bike (ISOTeam's subsi) jumping into the bandwagon, we have a homegrown player in this business.
I like this move of ISOTeam because of two reasons:
1) Green and eco-friendly business development
2) New business that rides with the trend
These two are among the reasons why I initiated a position in this counter and I have blogged about them here previously.
However I feel it's more than these reasons as to why ISOTeam decided to go into this business.
Our government is pushing for a car-lite country and they have long taken steps to move in this direction. Among these is the round the island park connector.
Now with a park connector that is more than 100 km and can connect you to most parts of the country, how do you traverse on it?
Bikes of course! So this makes business sense afterall.
Another plus point for me (I like companies that leverage on the governments initiatives)!
Monday 31 July 2017
Quotable Quotes
Last day of July, decided to share some quotable quotes that I have came across over the years.
Some of these quotes are inspirational, some funny, some serious, some serve as a reminder and some are simply coined by myself.
1. When you are nobody everything you say is rubbish. When you are somebody everything you say is a quote.
2. It's not what you say. It's how you say it.
3. Having a bad day doing something you love is better than having a good day in an uninspiring workplace.
4. Second place is the first loser.
5. Nobody dies a virgin because life fucks us all.
6. Enjoy life. There is plenty of time to be dead.
7. Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak.
8. Money is not everything. There's Mastercard & Visa.
9. Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.
10. Every man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.
11. The wise never marry. And when they marry they become otherwise.
12. Earlier in my life I have to choose between hypocritical humility and honest arrogance, I chose arrogance.
13. Only speak if you can better the silence.
14. We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing.
15. Try and regret rather than regret for not trying.
Some of these quotes are inspirational, some funny, some serious, some serve as a reminder and some are simply coined by myself.
1. When you are nobody everything you say is rubbish. When you are somebody everything you say is a quote.
2. It's not what you say. It's how you say it.
3. Having a bad day doing something you love is better than having a good day in an uninspiring workplace.
4. Second place is the first loser.
5. Nobody dies a virgin because life fucks us all.
6. Enjoy life. There is plenty of time to be dead.
7. Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak.
8. Money is not everything. There's Mastercard & Visa.
9. Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.
10. Every man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.
11. The wise never marry. And when they marry they become otherwise.
12. Earlier in my life I have to choose between hypocritical humility and honest arrogance, I chose arrogance.
13. Only speak if you can better the silence.
14. We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing.
15. Try and regret rather than regret for not trying.
Friday 28 July 2017
Recent Actions - June & July 17
Just to update my transactions for June and July 2017 as follows.
OCBC
Received some dividend last month for the scrips that I'm still holding on.
Always looking for a chance to enter OCBC again. But at current price points I would stay on the side line.
NetLink Trust
Will be keeping my 4,000 shares from the IPO for the long haul if the >5% annual dividend can be maintained. This is a more than decent yield considering our 'risk-free' interest from CPF SA is 4%.
Furthermore I see potential capital gain for this counter as well. Am secretly hoping this can eventually be a free holding for me.. Shhh 😀
M1
Taking advantage of the recent drop in price and added 2,000 shares to my holdings. Bought pre-XD at $1.86. Current total holdings @ 12,000 shares.
From the release of their 2Q results on 18th July to now, the share price has dropped from $2.10 to $1.785.
To me this is simply irrational. Seems artificial to me even. Looking at the broader scheme of things, is M1's performance so lousy that it warrants a 15% drop in a span of 8 trading days?
Not to me. I can understand if M1 becomes loss-making. But considering it's a profitable company, this simply baffles me. 😖
Perhaps.. Just perhaps.. is someone pressing the price down for a potential take over?
Just a wild guess. In the mean time I will consider adding more if opportunity arises.
mm2 Asia
Bought 5,000 shares when the price dipped to $0.51 on news of the stalemate at buying over GV.
I'm more of a dividend investor than growth or value, however I see an opportunity for a short term capital gain at this price. Time will tell whether I'm right or wrong.
Plus it wouldn't hurt to try balloting for free concert tickets isn't it? 😁
OCBC
Received some dividend last month for the scrips that I'm still holding on.
Always looking for a chance to enter OCBC again. But at current price points I would stay on the side line.
NetLink Trust
Will be keeping my 4,000 shares from the IPO for the long haul if the >5% annual dividend can be maintained. This is a more than decent yield considering our 'risk-free' interest from CPF SA is 4%.
Furthermore I see potential capital gain for this counter as well. Am secretly hoping this can eventually be a free holding for me.. Shhh 😀
M1
Taking advantage of the recent drop in price and added 2,000 shares to my holdings. Bought pre-XD at $1.86. Current total holdings @ 12,000 shares.
From the release of their 2Q results on 18th July to now, the share price has dropped from $2.10 to $1.785.
To me this is simply irrational. Seems artificial to me even. Looking at the broader scheme of things, is M1's performance so lousy that it warrants a 15% drop in a span of 8 trading days?
Not to me. I can understand if M1 becomes loss-making. But considering it's a profitable company, this simply baffles me. 😖
Perhaps.. Just perhaps.. is someone pressing the price down for a potential take over?
Just a wild guess. In the mean time I will consider adding more if opportunity arises.
mm2 Asia
Bought 5,000 shares when the price dipped to $0.51 on news of the stalemate at buying over GV.
I'm more of a dividend investor than growth or value, however I see an opportunity for a short term capital gain at this price. Time will tell whether I'm right or wrong.
Plus it wouldn't hurt to try balloting for free concert tickets isn't it? 😁
Monday 24 July 2017
Little Milestone 2
All readers and fellow bloggers who read and commented on my blog.
Just realised my blog has reached 10K readership!
I'm normally not a number person. But at least this little milestone shows that my blog is still being read by people who don't mind the lack of quality and sometimes boring posts of my musings.
And this is still going strong seven months after I blogged my first post.
Because of this I will keep going and keep posting my thoughts be it random, serious or not.
Cheers and thanks all.
Sunday 23 July 2017
Property Buying - Rule of 15
Eyeing that particular unit but not sure whether you are overpaying it?
This question must be one of the most common faced by property buyers.
I was doing some research as my wife and I are thinking of getting a second property when I came across an interesting piece of information - The Rule of 15.
The Rule of 15 is a guideline or rule of thumb that enables a buyer to judge whether that listed price will get you a bargain or make you end up being a carrot head.
Similarly it can help sellers price their property better too.
Basically the rule works this way:
1) Find the going monthly rent of a similar unit (e.g. 2 bedder) in the location you are interested in.
2) Multiply that rent by 12 to get the annual rent and multiply again by 15.
3) If the unit that you are eyeing costs much more than the figure you obtained in step 2, the listed price is probably way over.
This is a simple way to get a quick valuation. However there are many factors that can affect a property's price. So due diligence must still be done in your research.
Hope this piece of information helps.
This question must be one of the most common faced by property buyers.
I was doing some research as my wife and I are thinking of getting a second property when I came across an interesting piece of information - The Rule of 15.
The Rule of 15 is a guideline or rule of thumb that enables a buyer to judge whether that listed price will get you a bargain or make you end up being a carrot head.
Similarly it can help sellers price their property better too.
Basically the rule works this way:
1) Find the going monthly rent of a similar unit (e.g. 2 bedder) in the location you are interested in.
2) Multiply that rent by 12 to get the annual rent and multiply again by 15.
3) If the unit that you are eyeing costs much more than the figure you obtained in step 2, the listed price is probably way over.
This is a simple way to get a quick valuation. However there are many factors that can affect a property's price. So due diligence must still be done in your research.
Hope this piece of information helps.
Wednesday 19 July 2017
Why I Feel M1 is a Potential Winner
With the release of the results yesterday, the selldown in M1 is expected today.
The magnitude of drop also doesn't surprised me. Afterall it has happened not too long ago during the announcement of the 4th entrant.
This is a classic example of market (people) sentiment.
People seldom look beyond the surface. Yes M1's earnings dropped. But they are still profitable. It is a company still making money and churning out decent dividends.
Furthermore as announced in their AGM, they are branching out into other stuffs apart from their traditional income. Stuffs such as smart metering and IoT. It takes time to realise the fruits from these plantings.
But the most important thing is this:
M1 is a prime candidate for M&A.
Considering the high barrier of entry into the telco sector, if I were a conglomerate looking to enter, I would seriously consider buying over the current players with existing infrastructure and customer base instead of starting from the ground.
Among the 3 incumbents, M1 looks attractive.
And we already have a hint to that happening recently. The interest is there. Buyers are willing to buy just that the seller is not willing. For now.
However I believe this is not the end of story. On the contrary this is just the beginning.
We will soon see more news on the takeover of M1 from this point onwards.
Usually deals like this takes a long time before coming to fruition. Just look at GLP.
* Extremely bias view with vested interest.
The magnitude of drop also doesn't surprised me. Afterall it has happened not too long ago during the announcement of the 4th entrant.
This is a classic example of market (people) sentiment.
People seldom look beyond the surface. Yes M1's earnings dropped. But they are still profitable. It is a company still making money and churning out decent dividends.
Furthermore as announced in their AGM, they are branching out into other stuffs apart from their traditional income. Stuffs such as smart metering and IoT. It takes time to realise the fruits from these plantings.
But the most important thing is this:
M1 is a prime candidate for M&A.
Considering the high barrier of entry into the telco sector, if I were a conglomerate looking to enter, I would seriously consider buying over the current players with existing infrastructure and customer base instead of starting from the ground.
Among the 3 incumbents, M1 looks attractive.
And we already have a hint to that happening recently. The interest is there. Buyers are willing to buy just that the seller is not willing. For now.
However I believe this is not the end of story. On the contrary this is just the beginning.
We will soon see more news on the takeover of M1 from this point onwards.
Usually deals like this takes a long time before coming to fruition. Just look at GLP.
* Extremely bias view with vested interest.
Finally had some Luck - NetLink Trust
Hasn't had the best of luck in the recent IPOs that I applied. Pressed for Unusual and Sanli but ended up with zero for both and $4 poorer.
So it was pleasant that I managed to get some for the latest IPO - NetLink NBN Trust. I applied for 30,000 shares via ibanking on Sunday night and was allocated 6,000 shares today.
20% allocation. Hmm not too shabby.
Though I mentioned about the lack of luck above, I am not too surprised about getting some allocation for NetLink. Afterall the public float was huge as compared to other IPOs such as Kimly's.
Furthermore I have read about some lacklustre online opinions about this stock from fellow investors these few days.
So I was quietly confident this time.
I have actually wanted to write about this IPO few days ago. But I realised many bloggers had already done so and they did such a good job in their writeups which I felt I could not contribute more in a meaningful manner.
Anyway everyone has their own reasons for and against this stock.
I will just share my reasons for my interest in this stock.
Firstly I like the recurring income of this business. Stability.
Secondly like I have mentioned previously in another post, I like companies that are in sync with governmental policies. In this way they can leverage naturally on the government's push to further their growth.
NetLink is one such company.
With Singapore gearing up to be a smart nation, I can only see upside for NetLink's macro environment.
Also, with the projected continuous population growth depicted in the government's white paper, number of residential homes can only continue to increase. Another upside for NetLink.
Thirdly, if the projected dividend yield is accurate, a 5+% dividend is not too shabby at all. Good even.
Last but not least, even though the public float is relatively big the placement was still 2 times over subscribed. This shows there are significant interest in this stock, contrary to what some say.
For me barring any major upheavals, this stock is a keeper for at least the next two years.
Cheers and congrats to those who managed to get the allocation!
So it was pleasant that I managed to get some for the latest IPO - NetLink NBN Trust. I applied for 30,000 shares via ibanking on Sunday night and was allocated 6,000 shares today.
20% allocation. Hmm not too shabby.
Though I mentioned about the lack of luck above, I am not too surprised about getting some allocation for NetLink. Afterall the public float was huge as compared to other IPOs such as Kimly's.
Furthermore I have read about some lacklustre online opinions about this stock from fellow investors these few days.
So I was quietly confident this time.
I have actually wanted to write about this IPO few days ago. But I realised many bloggers had already done so and they did such a good job in their writeups which I felt I could not contribute more in a meaningful manner.
Anyway everyone has their own reasons for and against this stock.
I will just share my reasons for my interest in this stock.
Firstly I like the recurring income of this business. Stability.
Secondly like I have mentioned previously in another post, I like companies that are in sync with governmental policies. In this way they can leverage naturally on the government's push to further their growth.
NetLink is one such company.
With Singapore gearing up to be a smart nation, I can only see upside for NetLink's macro environment.
Also, with the projected continuous population growth depicted in the government's white paper, number of residential homes can only continue to increase. Another upside for NetLink.
Thirdly, if the projected dividend yield is accurate, a 5+% dividend is not too shabby at all. Good even.
Last but not least, even though the public float is relatively big the placement was still 2 times over subscribed. This shows there are significant interest in this stock, contrary to what some say.
For me barring any major upheavals, this stock is a keeper for at least the next two years.
Cheers and congrats to those who managed to get the allocation!
Thursday 13 July 2017
Why I Long After CapitaLand
Yes, pun intended. I am long on this counter.
Especially after watching today's Money Week, it has further reinforced my belief in CapitaLand. I am of the opinion that a big upside lies ahead for this company with a well balanced portfolio of 45% in China, 35% in Singapore and the rest in Europe and other parts of Asia.
This diversified portfolio is a good hedge against the sudden downturn of any of the markets which they operate in. Not to mention the big potential of China's and Vietnam's property markets.
If their China investments play out well, contributions to the top and bottom lines should come in the near to mid term which in turn translate to hopefully, capital and dividend yield gains.
Strong, visionary management team is often one of the factors that I look out for and the team at CapitaLand has my vote of confidence. Another one is ARA Asset Management which has since been delisted.
I am definitely long on this counter. Currently vested with 4,000 shares at $2.98. Looking to add more when opportunity arises. Wouldn't rule out averaging up too.
Especially after watching today's Money Week, it has further reinforced my belief in CapitaLand. I am of the opinion that a big upside lies ahead for this company with a well balanced portfolio of 45% in China, 35% in Singapore and the rest in Europe and other parts of Asia.
This diversified portfolio is a good hedge against the sudden downturn of any of the markets which they operate in. Not to mention the big potential of China's and Vietnam's property markets.
If their China investments play out well, contributions to the top and bottom lines should come in the near to mid term which in turn translate to hopefully, capital and dividend yield gains.
Strong, visionary management team is often one of the factors that I look out for and the team at CapitaLand has my vote of confidence. Another one is ARA Asset Management which has since been delisted.
I am definitely long on this counter. Currently vested with 4,000 shares at $2.98. Looking to add more when opportunity arises. Wouldn't rule out averaging up too.
Wednesday 21 June 2017
Hong Kong Trip June 2017
We got a minor scare prior to this trip when Misa Travel suddenly closed down its shutters. However all's well ends well when the two tickets that we bought for our parents were honored eventually. Kudos to all parties involved - Misa Travel, DBS and Cathay Pacific.
Especially to Misa Travel. I dropped them an email but wasn't expecting any reply. However they did and gave a positive reply. Thumbs up!
With that resolved, my brother and I took our early morning Tiger flight and met our parents at Hong Kong airport to begin our 4d3n trip.
As this wasn't our first time to HK, we did not visit the usual attractions like The Peak and Big Buddha. Instead it's more like a foodie tour this time.
Our lunch on the first day was a visit to Australian Dairy Co. where bad service is supposedly the norm rather than exception. Personally I find the food pretty normal tasting.
After that we went to the nearby Yee Shun Milk Co. for their double boiled milk pudding.
The pudding is pretty good I must say. But at about S$6 a bowl it doesn't comes cheap. Nevertheless we went back on the next day to try the other flavours.
The next two days were spent on visiting some famous food joints. Among these are Tai Cheong Bakery for their egg tarts which taste better than the branch in Singapore.
Lan Fong Yuen which is rumored to be the founding place of stocking milk tea. Their tea is indeed different from the others that I had in HK.
Also ordered their 'must-have' chicken chop noodles and pork bun. Not bad at all.
Oh, happened to pass by this iconic place too and took a quick photo.
On the last night we went to our hotel rooftop to take in the sights. I took the opportunity to take this photo of the full moon using my old and still trusty LG G4. Haha..
Last day in HK, had this roast goose rice at the airport. It was surprisingly quite good.
However something is brewing while we were having our lunch...
A tropical cyclone is on its way while we were happily biting into our char siew and roast goose.
And things escalated quickly. After checking in, the notice was changed to No. 8. Thankfully our plane has arrived and we managed to fly back before the full effect was felt.
All's well ends well.
There you go.. A quick update for June..
Especially to Misa Travel. I dropped them an email but wasn't expecting any reply. However they did and gave a positive reply. Thumbs up!
With that resolved, my brother and I took our early morning Tiger flight and met our parents at Hong Kong airport to begin our 4d3n trip.
As this wasn't our first time to HK, we did not visit the usual attractions like The Peak and Big Buddha. Instead it's more like a foodie tour this time.
Our lunch on the first day was a visit to Australian Dairy Co. where bad service is supposedly the norm rather than exception. Personally I find the food pretty normal tasting.
After that we went to the nearby Yee Shun Milk Co. for their double boiled milk pudding.
The pudding is pretty good I must say. But at about S$6 a bowl it doesn't comes cheap. Nevertheless we went back on the next day to try the other flavours.
The next two days were spent on visiting some famous food joints. Among these are Tai Cheong Bakery for their egg tarts which taste better than the branch in Singapore.
Lan Fong Yuen which is rumored to be the founding place of stocking milk tea. Their tea is indeed different from the others that I had in HK.
Also ordered their 'must-have' chicken chop noodles and pork bun. Not bad at all.
Oh, happened to pass by this iconic place too and took a quick photo.
On the last night we went to our hotel rooftop to take in the sights. I took the opportunity to take this photo of the full moon using my old and still trusty LG G4. Haha..
Last day in HK, had this roast goose rice at the airport. It was surprisingly quite good.
However something is brewing while we were having our lunch...
A tropical cyclone is on its way while we were happily biting into our char siew and roast goose.
And things escalated quickly. After checking in, the notice was changed to No. 8. Thankfully our plane has arrived and we managed to fly back before the full effect was felt.
All's well ends well.
There you go.. A quick update for June..
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Recent Actions - April & May 17
Just a quick update on my stock related activities for the past two months.
S$1,282 contra loss on Rotary Engineering.
S$590 M1 dividends received.
S$121 Comfort Delgro dividends received.
S$400 Capitaland dividends received.
S$97 Suntec Reit dividends received.
On the watch list, some of the counters have been inching towards or have reached my buying target price.
I am keeping a close eye on:
ISOTeam - to add more on further dips
Raffles Medical, ThaiBev and Wilmar - to initiate position
Will enter when the time arrives.
I have not been that successful in trading recently. However at least I know what went wrong. Will definitely keep these lessons in mind.
Last but not least, I hope to be more active in the market in the coming months. But I won't buy just for the sake of buying. After all a bird in hand is worth two in the bushes.
S$1,282 contra loss on Rotary Engineering.
S$590 M1 dividends received.
S$121 Comfort Delgro dividends received.
S$400 Capitaland dividends received.
S$97 Suntec Reit dividends received.
I am keeping a close eye on:
ISOTeam - to add more on further dips
Raffles Medical, ThaiBev and Wilmar - to initiate position
Will enter when the time arrives.
Last but not least, I hope to be more active in the market in the coming months. But I won't buy just for the sake of buying. After all a bird in hand is worth two in the bushes.
Wednesday 24 May 2017
ISOTeam - Why I Like This Counter
ISOTeam has recently released its quarter results and there are many excellent articles online that discuss about the good and bad of this counter.
Hence I am not going to repeat the same thing. Instead I am just going to write about why I'm still vested and why I like ISOTeam.
Usually when a company caught my eye which led me to delve deeper into the good and bad, I would start with the macro environment and nature of business, and finally the several fundamental criteria which I look out for in a company.
Macro Environment
I like businesses that are in line with and that can leverage on the government's policies.
The outlook for the construction sector at least for the next two years looks promising with the push from our government.
Being in the construction industry though not directly as a builder, ISOteam is poised to benefit from the upgrading and A&A projects coming along as a result.
Nature of Business
Simply put, I like ISOTeam for its defensive and recurring business.
Being an environmental-conscious person, I also like the Green and Eco-friendly initiatives from the company such as the development of green products which could be a new source of income (E.g. enzyme-based pesticide).
Apart from their traditional core businesses, they are also constantly looking into building up other capabilities which ride with the trend around the world.
One example is their installation capability in renewable energy which is an area where the government is heading into (Synergy with government policies).
ISOTeam currently has an order book of more than S$94 million which will be progressively delivered in the next two years (Top line stability).
Looking at the list of current projects on their website (provided the list is updated), one can see that they have quite a number of ongoing projects that will contribute to the top and bottom lines in the near future.
The Management
One big plus for me is the bold and forward-looking management team of ISOTeam.
I like how they grow the company organically and inorganically (New products & services and M&As).
They have also proven to be unafraid to invest when the opportunity arises (Sunseap).
On the M&A side, they have also been aggressive when they deemed the target synergistic to IsoTeam.
One example is Rong Shun, which by the way has a profit guarantee as contribution to ISOTeam's bottom line.
Others
Mr Goh Cheng Liang is a substantial shareholder of ISOTeam. And he happens to be Singapore's richest man as well.
When you invest in the same company with an astute man as Mr Goh, you tends to feel safer.
I'm not saying things will go smoothly for sure. But at least this can makes me sleep more soundly at night. Knowing that my vested interest is the same as this man.
Lastly, there is also a dark horse in ISOTeam. And that is their Myanmar's venture (Growth catalyst).
In my opinion, this has the potential to be the biggest contributory factor in the performance of the company in the mid to long term.
If you believe in the fundamentals of a company and if you don't buy in during the bearish trend, then when?
Hence I am not going to repeat the same thing. Instead I am just going to write about why I'm still vested and why I like ISOTeam.
Usually when a company caught my eye which led me to delve deeper into the good and bad, I would start with the macro environment and nature of business, and finally the several fundamental criteria which I look out for in a company.
Macro Environment
I like businesses that are in line with and that can leverage on the government's policies.
The outlook for the construction sector at least for the next two years looks promising with the push from our government.
Being in the construction industry though not directly as a builder, ISOteam is poised to benefit from the upgrading and A&A projects coming along as a result.
Nature of Business
Simply put, I like ISOTeam for its defensive and recurring business.
Being an environmental-conscious person, I also like the Green and Eco-friendly initiatives from the company such as the development of green products which could be a new source of income (E.g. enzyme-based pesticide).
Apart from their traditional core businesses, they are also constantly looking into building up other capabilities which ride with the trend around the world.
One example is their installation capability in renewable energy which is an area where the government is heading into (Synergy with government policies).
ISOTeam currently has an order book of more than S$94 million which will be progressively delivered in the next two years (Top line stability).
Looking at the list of current projects on their website (provided the list is updated), one can see that they have quite a number of ongoing projects that will contribute to the top and bottom lines in the near future.
The Management
One big plus for me is the bold and forward-looking management team of ISOTeam.
I like how they grow the company organically and inorganically (New products & services and M&As).
They have also proven to be unafraid to invest when the opportunity arises (Sunseap).
On the M&A side, they have also been aggressive when they deemed the target synergistic to IsoTeam.
One example is Rong Shun, which by the way has a profit guarantee as contribution to ISOTeam's bottom line.
Others
Mr Goh Cheng Liang is a substantial shareholder of ISOTeam. And he happens to be Singapore's richest man as well.
When you invest in the same company with an astute man as Mr Goh, you tends to feel safer.
I'm not saying things will go smoothly for sure. But at least this can makes me sleep more soundly at night. Knowing that my vested interest is the same as this man.
Lastly, there is also a dark horse in ISOTeam. And that is their Myanmar's venture (Growth catalyst).
In my opinion, this has the potential to be the biggest contributory factor in the performance of the company in the mid to long term.
If you believe in the fundamentals of a company and if you don't buy in during the bearish trend, then when?
Sunday 14 May 2017
Lessons from The Big Short
Some time ago I finally watched the movie 'The Big Short' which was about the subprime mortgage crisis that eventually led to the global financial crisis of 2007.
Though the subject is a heavy one which includes stuff like CDOs and such, the movie has comedy incorporated into the plot which I find it laudable.
I would recommend this movie to anyone.
Apart from the entertainment associated from watching a movie, I also derived some lessons from the movie which I felt are applicable to many successful persons around us as well:
1) The guys who got the windfall in the end are rich originally.
2) They have a 'gui ren' to help them (Brad Pitt helping the two guys).
And this leads to another important point which is the power of Networking.
3) They have luck on their side (the wrong phone call to Mike Baum).
4) They did their homework and stick to their findings.
5) They remain steadfast in their belief even when the whole world goes against them.
Well, personally I feel these are useful guide lines for my investment journey and career. Especially points 2, 4 and 5.
Hope they can serve as a reminder to you too.
Though the subject is a heavy one which includes stuff like CDOs and such, the movie has comedy incorporated into the plot which I find it laudable.
I would recommend this movie to anyone.
Apart from the entertainment associated from watching a movie, I also derived some lessons from the movie which I felt are applicable to many successful persons around us as well:
1) The guys who got the windfall in the end are rich originally.
2) They have a 'gui ren' to help them (Brad Pitt helping the two guys).
And this leads to another important point which is the power of Networking.
3) They have luck on their side (the wrong phone call to Mike Baum).
4) They did their homework and stick to their findings.
5) They remain steadfast in their belief even when the whole world goes against them.
Well, personally I feel these are useful guide lines for my investment journey and career. Especially points 2, 4 and 5.
Hope they can serve as a reminder to you too.
Friday 12 May 2017
True Cost of Car Ownership in Singapore (My Case Study)
I bought my current ride in March 2009 and this work horse has been serving me well for the past 8 years 2 months.
Perhaps it's due to the expiring COE, it suddenly occured to me how much in fact is the total cost of my ownership of the car.
Hence I did a quick calculation to find out.
Of course due to various reasons, the calculated figure would not be 100% accurate. However it is 'more or less there' and serves as a guideline to find out the ownership cost.
1. Car price including interest: $45,000
This was the second lowest price historically for this model and I was lucky to get it at this price mainly due to two reasons.
COE price was low.
Korean won was weakening at that time.
Therefore I decided to seize the opportunity and purchased the car.
This mentality is somewhat similar to my stock investment mentality - I do not time the market. Instead I move in for the purchase once my perceived fair value for that stock has reached.
2. 10 year road tax: $7,200
3. 10 year insurance: $10,000
My insurance premium for the first few years of driving was about $1,200 per annum. Now is about $800.
4. 10 year servicing: $5,000
First three years of servicings were complimentary. After that I did the regular servicings in other workshops outside. Each servicing range from $108 - $128 depending on which package I chose. I send my car for servicing about 4 times a year.
On top of these I also went for the occasional comprehensive servicing which costs more.
5. 10 year ERP: $6,000
6. 10 year season parking: $10,800
7. 10 year petrol: $38,400
My mileage is averaging 14 - 15 km/l of petrol. And my monthly petrol bill is between $280 - $320.
8. Repair: $3,000
The car has no major issue in the first 5 years. After that I only changed 2 major components which were giving me problem - the aircon compressor and cooling coil.
Cost of both came up to about $1,200. Hopefully nothing more from now on.
9. Tyres: $5,000
4 tyres cost about $500 and I changed just about every year.
10. Misc: $2,000
I changed my rims once along with a set of new tyres for about $1,200 when my ride was still new.
To summarise the total cost of my car ownership, it costs me S$132,400 !! to use the car for a miserly ten years in Singapore.
This is enough to pay for the down payment of a condo unit.
Not that I am a strong advocate for cars. I usually take the public transport with my wife during the weekends.
However due to the nature of my job, a car has became a need, not a want in my case.
Perhaps it's due to the expiring COE, it suddenly occured to me how much in fact is the total cost of my ownership of the car.
Hence I did a quick calculation to find out.
Of course due to various reasons, the calculated figure would not be 100% accurate. However it is 'more or less there' and serves as a guideline to find out the ownership cost.
1. Car price including interest: $45,000
This was the second lowest price historically for this model and I was lucky to get it at this price mainly due to two reasons.
COE price was low.
Korean won was weakening at that time.
Therefore I decided to seize the opportunity and purchased the car.
This mentality is somewhat similar to my stock investment mentality - I do not time the market. Instead I move in for the purchase once my perceived fair value for that stock has reached.
2. 10 year road tax: $7,200
3. 10 year insurance: $10,000
My insurance premium for the first few years of driving was about $1,200 per annum. Now is about $800.
4. 10 year servicing: $5,000
First three years of servicings were complimentary. After that I did the regular servicings in other workshops outside. Each servicing range from $108 - $128 depending on which package I chose. I send my car for servicing about 4 times a year.
On top of these I also went for the occasional comprehensive servicing which costs more.
5. 10 year ERP: $6,000
6. 10 year season parking: $10,800
7. 10 year petrol: $38,400
My mileage is averaging 14 - 15 km/l of petrol. And my monthly petrol bill is between $280 - $320.
8. Repair: $3,000
The car has no major issue in the first 5 years. After that I only changed 2 major components which were giving me problem - the aircon compressor and cooling coil.
Cost of both came up to about $1,200. Hopefully nothing more from now on.
9. Tyres: $5,000
4 tyres cost about $500 and I changed just about every year.
10. Misc: $2,000
I changed my rims once along with a set of new tyres for about $1,200 when my ride was still new.
To summarise the total cost of my car ownership, it costs me S$132,400 !! to use the car for a miserly ten years in Singapore.
This is enough to pay for the down payment of a condo unit.
Not that I am a strong advocate for cars. I usually take the public transport with my wife during the weekends.
However due to the nature of my job, a car has became a need, not a want in my case.
Thursday 4 May 2017
A Tale of Two Hawkers
Recently wifey and I went to Seah Im food centre for lunch before going to Sentosa.
Initially we ordered our favourite chicken rice which is tasty as usual. In fact this is my top 5 chicken rice stall in Singapore.
On top of that the aunty serving us is very friendly and courteous.
If you are interested, the stall name is Ding's Hainanese Chicken Rice.
After that we decided to try a hokkien mee from a stall with queue. So I went ahead to order.
Funny thing is the front of the stall has a placard that states 'One person one plate' and other conditions.
When my order is done I handed the money to the uncle and proceeded to take two pairs of chopsticks.
The uncle stared at me and with held my change. Then he told me one person one plate.
I don't really understand so I asked "cannot take two pairs of chop sticks?"
He said cannot so I put one pair back and walked away.
But what irked me are the words he said sacarstically before I walked off and I quote: "两块半已经很便宜了还要两个人吃!"
I have met some rude hawkers before but none as guai lan as this. To top it off, the hokkien mee actually tastes quite sucky.
The stall name is Cheng Ji Chao Xia Mian Hao Jian. It faces the main road.
Initially we ordered our favourite chicken rice which is tasty as usual. In fact this is my top 5 chicken rice stall in Singapore.
On top of that the aunty serving us is very friendly and courteous.
If you are interested, the stall name is Ding's Hainanese Chicken Rice.
After that we decided to try a hokkien mee from a stall with queue. So I went ahead to order.
Funny thing is the front of the stall has a placard that states 'One person one plate' and other conditions.
When my order is done I handed the money to the uncle and proceeded to take two pairs of chopsticks.
The uncle stared at me and with held my change. Then he told me one person one plate.
I don't really understand so I asked "cannot take two pairs of chop sticks?"
He said cannot so I put one pair back and walked away.
But what irked me are the words he said sacarstically before I walked off and I quote: "两块半已经很便宜了还要两个人吃!"
I have met some rude hawkers before but none as guai lan as this. To top it off, the hokkien mee actually tastes quite sucky.
The stall name is Cheng Ji Chao Xia Mian Hao Jian. It faces the main road.
Tuesday 18 April 2017
Bangkok Trip April 2017
So wifey and I went on a Bangkok trip for 3 nights recently, taking advantage of the long weekend for some relaxation.
It was quite a last minute trip. We talked about it and made the bookings within a week.
Now Bangkok is not a new place to us since we have been there several times before. However what we didn't realised until much later, is that our trip coincides with the Songkran!
Needless to say, we were 'attacked' more than a few times by kids who look so happy and carefree with their guns and buckets, and by tourists who 'shot' at us while speeding past us on a tuk tuk.
However it was all in the spirit of fun.
I felt particularly happy to see those kids as they remain so cheerful and worry-free despite the environment they lived in. Kids in Singapore in general are very lucky indeed.
There are a few places that we will visit every time we go to Bangkok. These include Platinum Mall and Chatuchak for obvious reasons.
In addition for this round, we also went to some other places which we have never went before. E.g. Talad Rot Fai Ratchada.
It's an interesting place which sells... protein-laden bugs for example.
And.. Guess what are these?
We also went to a smaller train market by the name Talad Neon. It's not as big as Ratchada but still worth a go as it's conveniently located near Platinum Mall.
We came across some dinner options that made us reconsider our options.. As far as I know Cellophane is not edible so we didn't ordered this.
I guess the oysters machine deliverer is busy so we didn't ordered the oysters either.
The crabs are busy as well? No wonder I always couldn't get through.
Not sure whether I want to swim under this waterfall..
We didn't attend this seminar but it must be interesting..
In the end we didn't eat much. But our damage is quite huge elsewhere.
Looking forward to the next soul searching trip. Cheers!
It was quite a last minute trip. We talked about it and made the bookings within a week.
Now Bangkok is not a new place to us since we have been there several times before. However what we didn't realised until much later, is that our trip coincides with the Songkran!
Needless to say, we were 'attacked' more than a few times by kids who look so happy and carefree with their guns and buckets, and by tourists who 'shot' at us while speeding past us on a tuk tuk.
However it was all in the spirit of fun.
I felt particularly happy to see those kids as they remain so cheerful and worry-free despite the environment they lived in. Kids in Singapore in general are very lucky indeed.
There are a few places that we will visit every time we go to Bangkok. These include Platinum Mall and Chatuchak for obvious reasons.
In addition for this round, we also went to some other places which we have never went before. E.g. Talad Rot Fai Ratchada.
It's an interesting place which sells... protein-laden bugs for example.
And.. Guess what are these?
We also went to a smaller train market by the name Talad Neon. It's not as big as Ratchada but still worth a go as it's conveniently located near Platinum Mall.
We came across some dinner options that made us reconsider our options.. As far as I know Cellophane is not edible so we didn't ordered this.
I guess the oysters machine deliverer is busy so we didn't ordered the oysters either.
The crabs are busy as well? No wonder I always couldn't get through.
Not sure whether I want to swim under this waterfall..
We didn't attend this seminar but it must be interesting..
In the end we didn't eat much. But our damage is quite huge elsewhere.
Looking forward to the next soul searching trip. Cheers!
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