Saturday 3 April 2010

A quick look at Maybulk

Stock Performance Chart for Malaysian Bulk Carriers Bhd




A quick look at Maybulk 2009
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=t1cbkYBrl-qTfTAwdDlo6ZA
A quick look at Maybulk 2009 (Earnings normalised)
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=teSUeL8rtSOTpKZ7hfAV0aw



Shipping industry starts to turn

The US economy is on the mend. So says Emil Wolter, head of regional strategy, Asian markets at RBS, who prefers to play developed market growth over emerging market growth. He is forecasting that US unemployment is going to fall to 8% from 10%. That would support a continued recovery in US consumption. As a consequence, global trade is poised to rebound by 6-8% in the next 12 month, Wolter says. While the shipping sector has supply issues, Wolter says “You can buy a lot of these companies at their NAVs and although some companies have problems with their balance sheets, there are also a lot of companies with strong balance sheets.” Moreover, pricing power is returning, and the shipping companies are operating more efficiently too.

That’s a view that Survo Sarkar, an analyst at DBS Group Research, agrees with. In a 32-page report on Neptune Orient Lines, DBS has re-initiated coverage with a price target of $2.40. According to Sarkar, the figure represents seven times FY11 EV/EBITDA, (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) and a price to book of 1.6 times. These valuations are conservative compared to peers’ average of about 10 times FY11 EV/EBITDA, the report says.

According to the report fundamentals for the shipping sector are indeed turning increasingly positive. “Year to date, container rates and volumes have both made a strong comeback — with rates on Asia-Europe routes now about 70% higher than last October levels,” Sarkar writes. NOL’s operating statistics for the first 10 weeks of FY10 reflect the improved fundamentals, the report says. Volumes have risen 52% y-o-y, and freight rates are up 7% and 10% on a sequential basis in the first two reporting periods, it adds. “According to our estimates, NOL’s container shipping business should return to profitability by 4Q10, on the back of 9% growth in trade volumes, a 10% growth in average freight rates/FEU and a 3% drop in average operating expenses/FEU for FY10,” Sarkar states in the report. NOL last traded at $2.01.

The Edge Singapore

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