Moya Holdings Asia -- the only listed water business in Indonesia and the only Indonesian water play on the SGX -- has just reported 4Q17 results that, on the surface, look dismal. But it's not. |
1. Strong cashflow: Moya, in 4Q17, enjoyed very strong cashflow.
It reported S$10.9 million in net operating cashflow. If you add back about S$9.3 million in construction costs for a Build-Operate-Transfer water plant, the operating cashflow of its water business was S$20 million.
Thus on an annualised basis, going into 2018, the operating cashflow from this stable business is roughly S$80 million.
Moya Holdings |
|
Stock price: |
Target: 15 c |
Source: RHB |
2. Leaking pipes: The technical term for this is "non-revenue water". The percentage of non-revenue water in the Acuatico concession is high at around 42%.
That is, 42% of the water produced doesn't get billed because it leaked while being transmitted through a network of pipes or, to a smaller degree, it was stolen.
Replacing leaking pipes over a number of years will consume a waterfall of cashflow from the business but the returns will be massive.
Every 1 percentage point decrease in non-revenue water will boost Moya’s bottom line by about US$2 million.
Stock price |
9.5 cents |
52-week range |
7 - 13 cents |
PE (ttm) |
34 |
Market cap |
S$266 million |
Shares outstanding |
2.8 billion |
Dividend yield |
- |
1-year return |
42% |
Source: Bloomberg |
3. M&A: Controlled by the Salim Group, Moya is actively seeking M&As, which will likely tap into the operating cashflow and the S$101.5 million cash sitting on Moya's balance sheet.
That's why no dividend payout is contemplated in the near term.
Moya, as at 31 December 2017, had total borrowings of S$389.7 million. It is exploring fund-raising activities to strengthen its balance sheet as well as to fund future growth.
4. One-off costs: The 4Q17 numbers contain some one-off expenses arising from the Acuatico acquisition.
These expenses bumped up administrative expenses to S$11.2 million but management guided that, on a steady state, it would be around S$8m a quarter.
Ditto for finance costs: 4Q17 clocked S$9.8 million but the steady number is around S$7 million a quarter.
The finance costs are largely attributable to the US$275 million loan that Moya took to help pay for the Acuatico purchase.
5. Gross profit margin: This improved from 32.6% in FY2016 to 41.5%. At that level, the business is a highly profitable one.
Forecasts & Valuation |
Dec-16 |
Dec-17 |
Dec-18F |
Dec-19F |
Total turnover (SGDm) |
21 |
137 |
214 |
231 |
Net profit (SGDm) |
3.2 |
7.7 |
27.6 |
31.4 |
Dividend |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Return on average equity (%) |
3.4 |
6.2 |
20.8 |
19.3 |
Source: RHB |
For more on the FY17 results, click on press release here.
RHB's full report is here.