Frencken Gp Ltd

Frencken ( formally known as ElectroTech Invst ltd ) has been continuesly buying back its own shares for the last one month. As of 31st Mar 10,it has NAV of $0.52, cash of about $59.8m - which translate to about $0.16 per share. Its first quarter results is fantastic and that explains the reason why the company has slowly started buying back its own shares. Is this another ums waiting to fly ??

Frencken, like many manufacturers, are enjoying rising biz from the semi-con and electronic - related industries. Q1 net profit was $3 m, compared to $122,000 in 1Q2009. Frencken, pls note, has bank borrowings of S$14 m, so the net cash is not so high as you wrote. Also, note that Q4 was loss-making. Overall, why are you bullish on Frencken?

Harlequin, thank you for pointing out about the bank borrowing of about 14m. So the cash in hand is about $45 million. Still very significant. That is why the company has started buying in its shares. Just like all the other tech counters Frenken has seen a turn around of its fortune and that is why the management has taken the right strategy of buying back shares to enhance share holder value. On Friday, OCBC has an article about Valuetronics and has a TP of $0.32. It closed at $0.185 on Friday - an upside of about 70.6%. If we can take this as a guidence, then it doesn\'t take long to see what Frencken\'s TP will be. All the tech counters are going through a re-valuation as a result of the change in fortune the tech sector is going through. Companies like Venture, Broadway and Armstrong and UMS have seen recent new highs due to posative coverage by analyst. Lastly please read the article, \" Bet on stocks that lack media coverage\' by Insead dons in this site and you will understand why I believe Frencken is a jem waiting to be discovered.

As a general statement, I agree that a good idea is to invest in electronics/tech stocks because they are undergoing a boom. Valuetronics and Frencken -- am in one of them. My friends recommend another one, Hisaka, for its exposure to semiconductor rebound. NRA has target price of 40 c compared to stock price now of 26 cents. www.nextinsight.biz/content/view/2406/79/

Frencken is not a pure semicon play. For those who wish to bet on semicon, ASTI may be a better bet. While Valuetronics is cheap, I have a concern that Valuetronics may be taking too much risk in marketing the air purifier line in US.

Frencken has been steadily buying back its shares. Some days, it accounts for the majority of the shares transacted. Its stock price cannot move, though, and that is the sad part. The upcoming 2Q results will have to be really good to convince the market....