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(Post 1 of 3053) 08/02/1999.23:52:00 |
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Reports :- • Want Want exceeded market expectations again, growing earnings by 24% in the 6 months to June 30 when analysts were expecting a full-year growth of only 13%. • The sales incentive scheme introduced in Oct 98 is producing results, and so are new snack and beverage products introduced in 1997. With the new products providing 37% of sales, Want Want is no longer a one-product company. • Despite a general economic slowdown, Want Want increased China sales by 21% to S$230m and group sales by 19% to S$266m. Operating margins improved by 2.2 percentage points, reflecting higher plant utilisation, better cost control and increased local sourcing. OUTLOOK • Having introduced a sales incentive scheme that can bring out the best from its salesmen, and established a number of strong product lines, the company now plans to expand its salesforce by two thirds to 2,000 in 2-3 years. It will also set up sales offices to penetrate relatively untapped areas with high potential in China. • Want Want is well positioned to absorb a Yuan devaluation. It cut US$ debts by 40% to US$45m and gearing from 42% to 32% in 1H99. It has the cash flow to reduce gearing to 25% by end-99 and cover residual US$ debts with matching amount of US$ cash. • We expect earnings to grow by 24% p.a. in FY99-2000. The growth can support a 40% higher share price at US$2.46. Prospective ROE is high at 23-35%. Dividend yield is improving to about 4%. |
| (Post 2 of 3053) 08/11/1999.03:27:00 |
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WantWant – After completing parallel channel brkout towards approx. US$1.80……. 1. Seems to be in a consolidation phase which could take it to a new year high. 2. Likely to be well-supported above US$1.70 on closing. 3. It may takes little time b4 soaring towards new high of US$2.10 Bottomline – Spot any possible weakness and went for it (of course, not mean to contra)  |
| (Post 3 of 3053) 08/30/1999.20:07:00 |
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Want Want sees 2.926 million shares crossed Singapore, Aug 30 - A block deal of 2.926 million shares at US$2 per share was transacted on Monday morning for Taiwan-based snack food maker Want Want Holdings, dealers said. Source: Reuters |
| (Post 4 of 3053) 08/31/1999.02:42:00 |
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WantWant - Continue to enjoy the ride since last update on 11/8/99. 1. In fact, all 9/18days wma and 50/100days hav begun to move steadily uptrend. 2. I would considered last tgt of US$2.10 reached (highest hit US$2.05). 3. From now, I'm setting an even further tgt. of US$2.40 in short-term of 1-2 mths time, again. Bottomline : Buy on even the slightest possible weakness.  |
| (Post 5 of 3053) 08/31/1999.02:43:00 |
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WantWant - Continue to enjoy the ride since last update on 11/8/99. 1. In fact, all 9/18days wma and 50/100days hav begun to move steadily uptrend. 2. I would considered last tgt of US$2.10 reached (highest hit US$2.05). 3. From now, I'm setting an even further tgt. of US$2.40 in short-term of 1-2 mths time, again. Bottomline : Buy on even the slightest possible weakness.   |
| (Post 6 of 3053) 08/31/1999.10:19:00 |
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Want Want buys out partner in China Singapore, Aug 30 - Taiwan snack maker Want Want Holdings Ltd said on Monday it has agreed to buy from C.J. Van Houten & Zoon AG its 75 percent interest in Van Houten Want Want. Want Want said in a statement the acquisition of the company and its China subsidiary Hangzhou Van Houtan Foods would include certain undertakings including repaying debts totalling $4.71 million. Source: Reuters |
| (Post 7 of 3053) 09/01/1999.23:00:00 |
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deleted |
| (Post 8 of 3053) 09/01/1999.23:01:00 |
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What's wrong with Want Want ? See how the price plunge !  |
| (Post 9 of 3053) 09/01/1999.23:18:00 |
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Wile, Which charting software are you using? I am interested to use software to learn charting. |
| (Post 10 of 3053) 09/02/1999.10:11:00 |
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Lee, I am using MetaStock. It costs $600+. You can find out more from vendors such as KeyQuotes (Tel 2717075), Paritech (Tel 3228566), Econ (Tel 5388913) etc. Or you can visit the website of Equis (the manufacturer of MetaStock) at http://www.equis.com I am also a newbie in technical analysis and charting. Cheers and happy trading. |
| (Post 11 of 3053) 09/02/1999.10:25:00 |
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Do you download your data from SES or you subscribe to a data provider? Plse advise. |
| (Post 12 of 3053) 09/02/1999.10:25:00 |
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Do you download your data from SES or you subscribe to a data provider? Plse advise. |
| (Post 13 of 3053) 05/04/2004.21:57:00 |
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Hi Lee, I subscribe for my data. It cost between $10 - 20 per month depending on which provider and plan you use. Make sure they are providing price/vol adjustments in case of bonus issue etc. |
| (Post 14 of 3053) 09/02/1999.12:19:00 |
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Hi Wile, Thank you for your info. Will be installing my MetaStock some time next week and hope to learn to do charting. My data provider by a company known Neuronet Systems and is payable S$240 for 12 months upfront. Is such advance payment the usual practice? Kindly advise. |
| (Post 15 of 3053) 09/02/1999.12:56:00 |
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I understand that there are free utilities that help you convert data from one source to Metastock format. Why don't you use them instead? Can use data downloaded from SES right? |
| (Post 16 of 3053) 09/02/1999.13:45:00 |
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Dear Lee, Could you email to me the contact no. to this neuronet? Thanx. Nordic |
| (Post 17 of 3053) 09/02/1999.13:46:00 |
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Sorry, my email address: snordic@cyberway.com.sg">osnordic@cyberway.com.sg Thanx. Nordic |
| (Post 18 of 3053) 09/02/1999.14:53:00 |
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Insane, For a very non-technical guy like me, it may be a real hassle. But your point is very valid. So you see, I am slaughtered all over. Nordic, Just emailed the address to you. Hope you receive it. If not, plse let me know. |
| (Post 19 of 3053) 09/09/1999.11:57:00 |
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Edited from Company Watch of CNA for reference only. It is now trading at US$1.53. At present, I do not hold any Want Want shares. Episode 12 (5/9/1999) Company Watch: Want Want Holdings Rice-crackers is big business in China and Taiwan, with the market worth some US$300 million. As a result, Taiwanese-run Want Want Holdings has raked in double-digit growth earnings and is second to none in the region. The corporate mascot for the company is the Hot Kid, which is a familiar icon to children in both Taiwan and China. In fact, sales of its products, particularly its flagship rice crackers, were so strong last year that despite the economic slowdown in China, the group still managed to chalk up a 21 percent rise in sales on the mainland, to US$260 million. The China market accounted for 83 percent of Want Want’s revenues and almost all its net profits last year. That was a remarkable feat for this Taiwanese-run company, considering that all of this was achieved in the span of less than a decade. Said Mr Adams Lim, Vice President of Want Want Holdings, regarding the company’s success: "When we entered China in 1992-93, the competition then was not as keen. Most food ompanies did not put strong emphasis on marketing. Want Want however with more than ten years of experience in Taiwan took advantage of this. And we were able to successfully market our products in China in 1994/93. "For Want Want, our competitive edge lies in our wide product range. With so many products to expand our market reach, we believed we have not fully exploited this advantage. For instance, sales of rice crackers is strong in the cities but not so for less developed areas, which means opportunities for improvement," he explained. This is a view that is shared by many analysts, especially after the snack maker served up a cracker of a result at half time for the financial year 1999. According to Mr Danny Chung, Investment analyst of JM Sassoon and Company, the company's strategy for penetrating China was very successful, as it managed to build up a wide distribution network, spending a 100 million RMB a year just for advertising. However, despite the encouraging rise in sales, Mr Lin, is of the view that the group’s products have yet to achieve their full market potential. "Their China share is 250 million, that means if they have 50 million customers and everyone spent five US dollar a year. That's not very much. In the future, I would expect the company to grow even further," said Mr Chng optimistically. The group had turned in a 24 percent rise in net profits to US$33 million, just when most were expecting a 13 percent rise for the full year. While Want Want has consistently managed to chalk up double-digit growth since it was listed on the Singapore stock exchange in 1996, its management admits that there had been hiccups too. An example would be back in 1997, when the group made the mistake of over-extending in China, launching too many new products in too short a time-span. This is a misstep, which the company says it has since rectified to get back on high profit track, by reviewing its product range, sales and marketing strategies as well as cost control measures. The company stopped introducing new products so as to focus on existing products to improve utilisation. At the same time, the group also rationalised their workforce by reducing total size from 12,500 in 1997 to 8,500 in 1998, and currently about 9,700. One area which the group had managed to improve, is its cost efficiency in packaging, which accounts for nearly half of production costs. Want Want now packages most of its own products in-house. "For 1998, the group's gross profit margin rose from 42 percent to 48 percent. Out of the 6 percent improvement, more than half was due to the savings in packaging. Currently, we manufacture our own carton boxes, plastic bags and plastic trays," said Mr Lin. Another area, which the group has managed to rein in costs, is the sourcing of raw material, which exposes it to foreign exchange risks. According to Mr Lin, 18 percent of their raw material in 1998 was imported, which was lower than that of 1997. It intends to reduce it to 10 percent for 1999. The rationale is that the localising of purchases would not only help to lower purchasing cost but also reduce stocks levels. If the group imports, it would have to keep a high inventory, but by sourcing locally, it allows the company to maintain a lower inventory, as the supply can be more frequent. Finally, the group, which had in the past relied on US dollar borrowings to fund its expansion, had also slashed its US-dollar gearing by 40 percent since the beginning of this year. Said Mr Lin: "Currently our total debt is about the equivalent of US$114 million, out of which about 50 percent is in US dollar loans. We hope in future to further reduce that debt." Mr Chung added: "They source their revenues and costs in RMB. So there is no mismatch in costs and revenues and the other point is the company has very strong cash flows." With all these cost control measures in place, Want Want is also confident of its ability to fine-tune its product mix to cater to changing market conditions. For example, it can produce a new range of lower- priced products to fend off competition from cheaper imitations, instead of lowering the prices of its more popular brands. According to Mr Chung, the group is very experienced in detecting any changes in consumer taste. He said that the management is very dynamic and is able to use new products to catch new markets. "Currently we have the capability of introducing new products. We have already developed more than 10 new products, but the time is not right to launch them. With the higher income level among Chinese consumers, the demand for better quality product will rise. This is unlike in the past, when most of them were price conscious. This will be the trend for all kinds of products. In addition, products which are targeted at the health conscious and health food, I believe will be the main trend for future consumption pattern," said Mr Lin. Mr Lin had said that the core product is rice-crackers, but the group has been diversifying their products. Besides rice-crackers, it is also developing other snacks, beverages and wine. "I would expect contribution from other snacks to grow, like gummy sweets, rice balls, ice-bars and other canned meal products to go up. If you look at recent results, the growth from other snacks and beverages is phenomenal," said Mr Chung. Thus besides rice crackers, the group is now looking to boost sales in other food categories, such as other snack products as well as liquid beverages, a move which would see better returns on equity because of lower production costs. Contributions from the non-cracker operations have in fact risen from 17 percent to 27 percent of overall profits last year, with sales expected to grow by 20 to 26 percent compared to 11 to 12 percent for rice crackers. As for the group’s growth prospects, Mr Lin is confident that within the next three to five years, there would be no major competitors threatening its leadership position. The company hopes to achieve double digit in both turnover and profits, as they emphasis is placed on group profits rather than market share. Want Want stocks is a firm favourite with most institutional investors. Said Mr Chung: "My 12-month target price is US$2.46 based on one times PEG, that means I expect PE to match the EPS growth in the medium term. So I put 24 times PE which will get 2. 46 per share." As for the long-term investors, a point in favour is also Want Want's high dividend yield of between 3.5 to 4 percent. According to a market consensus, many analysts are now predicting a rise in profits of up to 97 percent to US$99 million for the current financial year. Out of 16 houses, there was only one sell recommendation. |
| (Post 20 of 3053) 09/20/1999.12:33:00 |
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WANT WANT HOLDINGS LTD PROPOSED ISSUE OF 58; 867; 405 WARRANTS ("WARRANTS") TO SUBSCRIBE FOR 58; 867; 405 NEW ORDINARY SHARES OF US$0.20 EACH IN THE CAPITAL OF WANT WANT HOLDINGS LTD (THE "COMPANY") ON A RENOUNCEABLE PREFERENTIAL BASIS IN THE PROPORTION OF ONE (1) WARRANT FOR EVERY TEN (10) ORDINARY SHARES OF US$0.20 EACH ("SHARES") TO BE OFFERED TO MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY ("MEMBERS") BY CREDIT AGRICOLE INDOSUEZ MERCHANT BANK ASIA LTD ("WARRANT OFFER"). THE PROPOSED WARRANT ISSUE IS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A TRANSFERABLE LOAN FACILITY IN THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF US$30; 000; 000 TO BE GRANTED TO THE COMPANY. CLOSURE OF BOOKS FOR WARRANT OFFER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, subject to the approval of Members for the issue of Warrants being obtained at the Extraordinary General Meeting to be convened on 27 September 1999, the Transfer Books and Register of Members of the Company will be closed at 5.00 p.m. on 5 October 1999 ("Books Closure Date") up to and including 7 October 1999 for the purpose of determining the provisional allocations of Members (other than those whose registered addresses with The Central Depository (Pte) Limited ("CDP") or the Company, as the case may be, are outside Singapore and who have not, prior to the Books Closure Date, provided to the CDP or the Company, as the case may be, addresses in Singapore for the service of notices and documents) under the Warrant Offer ("Entitled Members"). Entitled Members (being Depositors as defined in the Companies Act, Chapter 50 of Singapore) whose securities accounts with CDP are credited with Shares as at 5.00 p.m. on the Books Closure Date will be provisionally allocated the Warrants on the basis of the number of Shares standing to the credit of their securities accounts with CDP as at 5.00 p.m. on the Books Closure Date. Duly stamped and completed transfers in respect of Shares not registered in the name of CDP and together with all relevant documents of title received by the Company's Share Registrar, Lim Associates (Pte) Ltd, at 10 Collyer Quay #19-08, Ocean Building, Singapore 049315 prior to 5.00 p.m. on the Books Closure Date will be registered in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company to determine the provisional allocations of Entitled Members under the Warrant Offer. Any Member (being a Depositor) having a registered address with CDP outside Singapore, may provide CDP, directly at 20 Cecil Street #06-03/08, The Exchange, Singapore 049705, with a registered address in Singapore not later than 5.00 p.m. on 28 September 1999, being the date falling five market days prior to the Books Closure Date. Any Member (not being a Depositor) who does not presently have an address in Singapore for the service of notices and documents and who wishes to be eligible to participate in the Warrant Offer should provide such an address in Singapore by notifying the Company's Share Registrar, Lim Associates (Pte) Ltd, 10 Collyer Quay #19-08, Ocean Building, Singapore 049315 prior to 5.00 p.m. on the Books Closure Date. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD Submitted by ADAMS LIN FENG I, DIRECTOR/GROUP VICE PRESIDENT on 20/09/1999 to the SES |
| (Post 21 of 3053) 09/26/1999.14:38:00 |
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Thinks Want Want is a buy now that it has fallen quite a bit recently. Has reasonable growth prospects at a decent pe ratio. Its F&B biz provides strong cashflow & is quite recession resistant. Its margins & ROE are excellent too. Cause for concern is China-Taiwan tensions which may affect its biz severely. |
| (Post 22 of 3053) 09/27/1999.15:30:00 |
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This is one of d counters I'm eyeing on base on its fundamentals. As Taiwan only accounts for 10% of its mkt, the Quake's impact is limited. My main concern is d possibility of d devaluation of RMB in Y2000. Comments welcome. ===== From Fraser(27/09)... Want Want - BUY (US$1.27) Want Want share price has fallen more than a third from its highs of US$2.05 after the announcement of its better than expected half year profits. Nevertheless, Want Want is expected to see good profit growth of about 17% for the next 2 years.The group will continue to focus on improving its product range and profitability and margins for its products. The recent earthquake in Taiwan is not expected to have a significant impact on Want Want. It has a rice cracker factory in I Fang in the northen part of Taiwan producing for local consumption. Furthermore, Taiwan is not a major market accounting for less than 10% of Want Want total sales. Most of its operations and sales are derived from China. At this level, Want Want is attractively priced at PER of 12.4x (1999) and 11.6x (2000) and EV/EBITDA of 8x (1999). This compares favourably with the F&B sector’s average PERs of about 27x (1999) and 23x (2000) respectively. Furthermore, the stock is trading at a steep discount to our fair valuation of US$2.00 based on DCF and an equity risk premium of 2.23% and WACC of 5.8%. We maintain our buy call for Want Want. BUY Share Price: US$1.27 (S$2.16) Year To Dec Turnover S$m Net Profit S$m EPS cents P/E (x) 1998 447.2 83.7 14.2 15.2 1999F 520.4 102.9 17.5 12.4 2000F 576.6 109.6 18.6 11.6 2001F 640.6 130.5 22.2 9.8 ===== |
| (Post 23 of 3053) 06/19/2000.18:57:00 |
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Admin, I think there is something wrong with this page. All the postings are gone!! |
| (Post 24 of 3053) 06/19/2000.22:43:00 |
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maybe someone doesnt want us to know about the recent happenings at Want Want???? Just joking.... :)) |
| (Post 25 of 3053) 06/19/2000.22:54:00 |
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Please access the black bar above at Help, Feedback and Suggestions and you will know. Learnt this from Chosingkum. |
| (Post 26 of 3053) 06/20/2000.06:57:00 |
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Sorry folks. Some data integrity issues which I believe we have sorted out. We will be looking at our backup copies to see if we can reinsert these back over the weekend. Thanks for the understanding. |
| (Post 27 of 3053) 06/20/2000.09:05:00 |
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Folks, I'm reposting some of the discussions that I've managed to retrieve from the SI's useful email notification function, hope that helps? ps. if there are others who have more back history, could you kindly help out and repost at site under relevant threads? ------------------------------------------------------------ By Willylim on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 12:16 pm: Hi all, I did a balance sheet analysis on WantWant 1999 Financial Report. To my surprise, it suffers from quite a severe short-term liquidity crisis. The current ratio is about 1 and its quick ratio is about 0.6. Furthermore, it doesn't have sufficient working capital to fund its daily operations. That being said, the long-term financial strength is still strong. It's just going through a pretty tight corner with all the rapid expansions. I would recommend waiting until we see the latest annual report. No vested interest yet. ------------------------------------------------------------ By Indomee on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 09:38 am: I notice that on 16.6.00 Want Want warrent volume done was 436 lots at US$0.30 and it is NOT married deal. All done is from the mkt. This counter looks fishy to me. Any idea what is going on? But the mother share itself closed lower at $1.01. ------------------------------------------------------------------ By Gowani on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 09:21 am: Old report from DMG but still relevant WANT WANT HOLDINGS (US$1.30) BUY Deserving a better rating 27 October 1999 Concerns of the devaluation of RMB, cross-straits tension and the emergence of competition may be reasons for the lacklustre share price performance. Although valid, such fears may be overblown and mask the investment merits of the company, which include strong market presence and brand equity, extensive distribution network, prospects of new businesses and attractive valuation. We estimate the stock to be worth US$1.83 for a 41% upside. Recommend BUY. * Concerns overblown. Impact of the possible devaluation of RMB is not likely to be significant as majority of revenue and costs are denominated in RMB, although there will be higher interest expense and some translation loss. The heightened cross-straits tensions following Taiwan’ s “two-states” policy has subsided, while price cuts by emerging competitors are unlikely to severely erode Want Want’ s market share given the latter’ s brand equity and market position. * Strong market position and new initiatives. We believe Want Want will be able to protect its 85% share of the rice cracker market in China despite the aggressive competition. It is well regarded in the market place with high product quality and extensive distribution network. Recently launched businesses such as rice wine and snack food bars should also start contributing to group’ s profitability in the near-term. * Attractive valuation. Prospective P/E of 11.1-13.1x is attractive as compared to major listed food & beverage players. The market has accorded a discount to its US$ listing and perceived risks, which magnitude we feel is excessive. Our fair value estimate, based on a DCF valuation model, is US$1.83, which offers 41% upside. Risk factors / concerns * RMB devaluation. In our opinion, the widely speculated devaluation of the Renminbi (RMB) will probably only come in late 2000 if ever, and the magnitude is expected at 10-20%. Even then, the operations may not be significantly affected as majority of revenue and costs are in RMB (Table 1). The biggest impact will come from its interest payment on its outstanding US$80m loans and translation loss from RMB to S$ for result reporting. We estimate the impact to be some S$10-15m for a 10% devaluation. * Cross-straits relation. The relation between China and Taiwan took a plunge following Taiwan President’ s “two states” policy in mid-July, with China again warning of possible military offensive on Taiwan. It is still unclear if the cross-straits relation will deteriorate further to affect Want Want. However, we feel that a war is unlikely as it is not in the economic interest of China to adopt such drastic measures, especially with Taiwan easing on its stand on the “two-states” policy. Attention is now focused on rebuilding Taiwan after the recent earthquakes. * Competition. There has been more intense competition in the China rice cracker market, with the major rival brand “Kang Sifu” pricing its products at half that of Want Want’ s. The threat of losing market share (estimated at 85% currently) is very real. However, with the strong brand equity of Want Want and the weaker financial standing of the competitors to prolong the price cuts, we share management’ s view that any loss in market share should be temporary and insignificant. * Adverse impact of recent earthquake. This does not present a great concern for Want Want as it has only two factories in Taiwan and there has been no report of any damage. Furthermore, the China plants should be able to satisfy the demand should production in Taiwan be adversely affected. Prospects] * New markets. Want Want intends to target the villages, which offer huge potential, with some product differentiation in terms of packaging. With its extensive and well-organised sales force, the group wants to increase the its market penetration and the portion of direct sales revenue from 10% currently. More competitive pricing is now possible a ------------------------------------------------------------ By Warren on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 08:57 am: Relevant Company Announcements found at SGX website ------------------------------------------------------------ WANT WANT HOLDINGS LTD Business Review Turnover improved for all segments. Overall, turnover improved by 11% to S$ 494.5 million and profit before taxation registered a higher growth of 26% to S$ 108.5 million. The 11% improvement in turnover was mainly due to the Group's efforts in product rationalisation and the restructuring of the sales organisation. Products were streamlined with a diversified range in different packaging size to cater to the varied demands of customers at different income brackets. Sales offices were split into smaller units to enable sales teams to better focus on different product lines. The Group registered a growth of 26% in profit before tax. This was mainly attributable to efficient cost management arising from consolidation of purchases and vertical integration into packaging manufacturing. Higher utilization, in particular for the Other snacks, results in economies of scale , which in turn led to reduction in costs. In addition, the Group has undertaken steps to review the individual production sub-processes, which resulted in increased production efficiency. The Directors believe market potential in China remains huge. The Group will be committed to continue to further improve product quality and coupled with our established brands to strengthen our market position. Further sales restructuring involving setting up more focused sales teams and conducting more comprehensive training courses for the sales staff to ensure effective implementation of strategies will enable the Group to meet the challenges ahead. Submitted by Adams Lin Feng I, Group Vice President & Director on 09/03/2000 to the SGX ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ By Warren on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 08:51 am: This agency report (emailed by broker) is a bit old, but still relevant for strategy and analysis. ============================================================ Rice-crackers is big business in China and Taiwan, with the market worth some US$300 million. As a result, Taiwanese-run Want Want Holdings has been raking in double-digit growth earnings and is second to none in the region. The corporate mascot for the company is the Hot Kid, which is a familiar icon to children in both Taiwan and China. In fact, sales of its products, particularly its flagship rice crackers, were so strong in 1998 that despite the economic slowdown in China, the group still managed to chalk up a 21 percent rise in sales on the mainland, to US$260 million. The China market accounted for 83 percent of Want Want’s revenues and almost all its net profits last year. That was a remarkable feat for this Taiwanese-run company, considering that all of this was achieved in the span of less than a decade. Said Mr Adams Lim, Vice President of Want Want Holdings, regarding the company’s success: "When we entered China in 1992-93, the competition then was not as keen. Most food companies did not put strong emphasis on marketing. Want Want however with more than ten years of experience in Taiwan took advantage of this. And we were able to successfully market our products in China in 1994/93. "For Want Want, our competitive edge lies in our wide product range. With so many products to expand our market reach, we believed we have not fully exploited this advantage. For instance, sales of rice crackers is strong in the cities but not so for less developed areas, which means opportunities for improvement," he explained. This is a view that is shared by many analysts, especially after the snack maker served up a cracker of a result for the financial year 1999. Turnover improved for all segments, chalking up growth of 11% to S$ 494.5 million and profit before taxation registered a higher growth of 26% to S$ 108.5 million. According to Mr Danny Chung, Investment analyst of JM Sassoon and Company, the company's strategy for penetrating China was very successful, as it managed to build up a wide distribution network, spending a 100 million RMB a year just for advertising. However, despite the encouraging rise in sales, Mr Lin, is of the view that the group’s products have yet to achieve their full market potential. "Their China share is 250 million, that means if they have 50 million customers and everyone spent five US dollar a year. That's not very much. In the future, I would expect the company to grow even further," said Mr Chng optimistically. While Want Want has consistently managed to chalk up double-digit growth since it was listed on the Singapore stock exchange in 1996, its management admits that there had been hiccups too. An example would be back in 1997, when the group made the mistake of over-extending in China, launching too many new products in too short a time-span. This is a misstep, which the company says it has since rectified to get back on high profit track, by reviewing its product range, sales and marketing strategies as well as cost control measures. The company stopped introducing new products so as to focus on existing products to improve utilisation. At the same time, the group also rationalised their workforce by reducing total size from 12,500 in 1997 to 8,500 in 1998, and currently about 9,700. One area which the group had managed to improve, is its cost efficiency in packaging, which accounts for nearly half of production costs. Want Want now packages most of its own products in-house. "For 1998, the group's gross profit margin rose from 42 percent to 48 percent. Out of the 6 percent improvement, more than half was due to the savings in packaging. Currently, we manufacture our own carton boxes, plastic bags and plastic trays," said Mr Lin. Another area, which the group has managed to rein in costs, is the sourcing of raw material, which exposes it to foreign exchange risks. According to Mr Lin, 18 percent of their raw material in 1998 was imported, which was lower than that of 1997. It intends to reduce it to 10 percent for 1999. The rationale is that the localising of purchases would not only help to lower purchasing cost but also reduce stocks levels. If the group imports, it would have to keep a high inventory, but by sourcing locally, it allows the company to maintain a lower inventory, as the supply can be more frequent. Finally, the group, which had in the past relied on US dollar borrowings to fund its expansion, had also slashed its US-dollar gearing by 40 percent since the beginning of this year. Said Mr Lin: "Currently our total debt is about the equivalent of US$114 million, out of which about 50 percent is in US dollar loans. We hope in future to further reduce that debt." Mr Chung added: "They source their revenues and costs in RMB. So there is no mismatch in costs and revenues and the other point is the company has very strong cash flows." With all these cost control measures in place, Want Want is also confident of its ability to fine-tune its product mix to cater to changing market conditions. For example, it can produce a new range of lower- priced products to fend off competition from cheaper imitations, instead of lowering the prices of its more popular brands. According to Mr Chung, the group is very experienced in detecting any changes in consumer taste. He said that the management is very dynamic and is able to use new products to catch new markets. "Currently we have the capability of introducing new products. We have already developed more than 10 new products, but the time is not right to launch them. With the higher income level among Chinese consumers, the demand for better quality product will rise. This is unlike in the past, when most of them were price conscious. This will be the trend for all kinds of products. In addition, products which are targeted at the health conscious and health food, I believe will be the main trend for future consumption pattern," said Mr Lin. Mr Lin had said that the core product is rice-crackers, but the group has been diversifying their products. Besides rice-crackers, it is also developing other snacks, beverages and wine. "I would expect contribution from other snacks to grow, like gummy sweets, rice balls, ice-bars and other canned meal products to go up. If you look at recent results, the growth from other snacks and beverages is phenomenal," said Mr Chung. Thus besides rice crackers, the group is now looking to boost sales in other food categories, such as other snack products as well as liquid beverages, a move which would see better returns on equity because of lower production costs. Contributions from the non-cracker operations have in fact risen from 17 percent to 27 percent of overall profits last year, with sales expected to grow by 20 to 26 percent compared to 11 to 12 percent for rice crackers. As for the group’s growth prospects, Mr Lin is confident that within the next three to five years, there would be no major competitors threatening its leadership position. The company hopes to achieve double digit in both turnover and profits, as they emphasis is placed on group profits rather than market share. Want Want stocks is a firm favourite with most institutional investors. Said Mr Chung: "My 12-month target price is US$2.46 based on one times GPE ratio, that means I expect PE to match the EPS growth in the medium term. So I put 24 times PE which will get 2. 46 per share." As for the long-term investors, a point in favour is also Want Want's high dividend yield of between 3.5 to 4 percent. According to a market consensus, many analysts are now predicting a rise in profits of up to 97 percent to US$99 million for the current financial year. Out of 16 houses, there was only one sell recommendation. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ By Caocao on Friday, June 16, 2000 - 07:16 pm: Warrant price slightly up... Interesting indeed.... ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ By Warrenb on Friday, June 16, 2000 - 03:16 pm: Want Want went below $1 just. Hhmmm...interesting...anyone got any news of this counter?? |
| (Post 28 of 3053) 06/21/2000.19:15:00 |
| Author : |
0.95???? I hope it is not my comment about its short-term liquidity crisis that's causing this.... |
| (Post 29 of 3053) 06/21/2000.19:49:00 |
| Author : |
Willylim, So, we have Commandment No 1 here.....Thou shalt keep adverse news to oneself. But Commandment No 2....Thou shalt share good news with everyone else. If not can cause stampede of .....#@*&#@ *seeing stars* *no vested interest* PS...Juz Joking |
| (Post 30 of 3053) 06/21/2000.20:50:00 |
| Author : |
Dear WillyLim, Want Want 1999 earning was 108.472 million. P.E. is only 10. Up to February 2000, cash in hand is US$ 49.8m . Intending to buy back its share up to 10% of its issued capital. On August 1999, raised US$29.5m through the issuing of US$30m loan facility. Hence your comment that it has severe short term liquidity crisis need to be varified, as it will scare some timid forumers and severe selling in this counter. Pls be more careful to what you said. And I heard rumours that the Taiwanese boss tends to delist its listing in Singapore and relist it in Hongkong or China ,as in Singapore its share is thinly traded. May be he is the one who is collecting in the market now. It is just a rumours. Hear/say... Trade with your own risks. |
| (Post 31 of 3053) 06/21/2000.20:59:00 |
| Author : |
Dear WillyLim, I notice that WantWant warrant was done 291 lots at 0.33 which is 0.015 higher than yesterday closing, while its mother was done 736 lots and down to 0.95. It seems that there is an invisible hand trying to push down its price to collect? |
| (Post 32 of 3053) 06/21/2000.21:40:00 |
| Author : |
Hi all, Sorry if I've scared anyone with my call about Want Want's short-term cash-flow crisis, especially without any supporting analysis. I've included the balance sheet analysis with the relevant financial ratios. I urge interested forumers to take a real close look under the "Short-Term Liquidity" column. A few points to note. 1. Current ratio is only 1. Recommended >1.5 2. Quick ratio is only 0.67. Recommended >1.0 3. WantWant needs 25.44 days of working capital. It has only 6.93 days. 4. Working Cap/Sales is only 1.9%. Recommended >10% I've leave it to you to conclude whether it is in a short-term cash-flow crisis.  |
| (Post 33 of 3053) 06/21/2000.22:22:00 |
| Author : |
A short-term liquidity crisis is usually banker's speak for a company that is in dire straits, if there was such a thing happening to WantWant currently this would be REALLY serious. Analysts would then probably call this an AVOID - but what substance is there? I think we should leave the balance sheet analysis to the specialists, and while Willy might have done some interesting work, speaking of a liquidity crisis is tough talk. The other numbers from the company do not speak that language, and in any case, it is rather naive to expect a scary (for those who hold the stock) posting in a local investor forum with 2 Mio hits a day NOT to have a real impact on the price !!! So unless that was intentional (these things happen on the web...), there is a lesson to be learnt here. |
| (Post 34 of 3053) 06/21/2000.22:52:00 |
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Truevalue, A balance sheet is meant to shed light on the financial health of a firm, short-term and long-term. It is meant for anyone who is even vaguely interested in the underlying health of the business, not just bankers or experts. Short-term cashflow to a business is like blood to a person. While a business can be very healthy, a loss of short-term cashflow can quickly bring it to its knees pretty much the same way as a excessive loss of blood can bring down a normal healthy person. The condition of WantWant short-term cash flow does warrant the attention of investors and would-be investors. Prudency is advised. I shall refrain from commenting on the true intentions behind analysts' "buy" and "sell" calls. I have no vested interest. |
| (Post 35 of 3053) 06/22/2000.09:11:00 |
| Author : |
Hello, Thanks to Warren, Gowani, Indomee, Willylim & all for providing info on Want Want. Willy, do you have the figures necessary for the calculation of Want Want's Free cashflow/share?? If you do, pls post it here just for reference. Thanks. Rgds |
| (Post 36 of 3053) 06/22/2000.09:20:00 |
| Author : |
Willy & all, I posed the questions raised to analyst who covers Want Want at one of leading broker firms and this is his response: "Disagree with the comments below on Want Want's cashflow capability. Capex is not expected to be heavy these few years as the bulk of the expansion has been done over the last couple of years. Cashflow expected to be strong and Want Want's net debt is expected to be lowered from S$97m at end 1999 to S$41m by end 2000. Maintaining Outperform recommendation for Want Want. Valuations attractive at 8.7x (FY2000) and 7.5x (FY2001) on EPS growth averaging 15% p.a." Vested interest. Just my 2.5c of market intelligence ------------------------------------------------------------ By Willylim on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 12:16 pm: Hi all, I did a balance sheet analysis on WantWant 1999 Financial Report. To my surprise, it suffers from quite a severe short-term liquidity crisis. The current ratio is about 1 and its quick ratio is about 0.6. Furthermore, it doesn't have sufficient working capital to fund its daily operations. That being said, the long-term financial strength is still strong. It's just going through a pretty tight corner with all the rapid expansions. I would recommend waiting until we see the latest annual report. No vested interest yet. |
| (Post 37 of 3053) 06/22/2000.09:34:00 |
| Author : |
I refer to WillyLim's numbers. Which financial year are these figures based on? They don't look current enough. Also, if one wants to do a B/S analysis, shouldn't one compare them to industry figures? What are your assumptions for the "recommended ratios"? Also, you claim there is a cash flow crisis; other than the working capital turnaround numbers (which incidently looks quite decent to me), where are your cash flow numbers? Your capex projections for the next 12 months? No vested interest. |
| (Post 38 of 3053) 06/22/2000.10:18:00 |
| Author : |
speculation that wantwant's taiwanese shareholder wants to delist in singapore and go for a HK or China listing |
| (Post 39 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:09:00 |
| Author : |
Folks, I smell invisible hands working overtime here.... Want Want stock price was holding steady about US$1.08-1.12 in recent weeks. Then the stock went 'ex' on 5 June for interim tax-exempt dividend of 30% of 20c par value, or a juicy 6c (remember its S$, which works out to US$0.036 per share). So, IH knows that all those who bought into the stock hoping to collect a good yield, now find it unneccessary to hold stock till next payout. What does he do? Helps them make their next decision. To sell. Now it is interesting to watch the charts. The IH sells persistently and helps push stock down to BELOW the full value of the US3.6c dividend (thereby negating the dividend collecting exercise) that triggers a bearish tone on the stock chart. Taking a look at the weekly Want Want charts (sorry unable to post it here) you will notice that there was a floor of sort around US$1.00 level that goes back to 1Q 1999. In order to create 'panic' among weak holders, they edge it just below that marker and notice how quickly the sellers come out?! Fearing a breakdown in chart pattern, many feel it worth their while to sell in hope of getting back in at lower prices. Clever, but their sales are being scooped up by somebody big on the other side. Just see the volumes in recent days to know what I mean (3.42 mil shares changed hands so far in June between US$1.11 and $0.95, or average of US$1.03 compared to usual 1-2 mil in April and May). The trick is, while there is seemingly panic at the mother shares, somebody else is scooping up the warrants. Over the same period, the warrants have moved in the opposite direction -- rising from their lows of 26c to today's high of 34c, a sterling 30% jump. What gives? The warrants 2004 have a strike price of US$1.25, DON'T have entitlement to 3.6c dividends, have a premium of 59%, but a decent 3x gearing. Why are some of souls out there so eager to collect them at ever rising prices? Not logical. Unless... ....unless they are quite certain a return rally in mother shares lies ahead?! Again studying the volume figures, I notice the mother shares peaked at US$1.87 back in Aug 1999. Volumes in the run up to that peak were routinely 20-30 mil shares a month. So lots of stale bulls here. The drift and decline since then must have convinced many that Want Want is a 'lousy' stock and they will be only to eager to sell on any rebound. Many could not have sold as monthly volumes since Aug 1999 dwindled to just 1.3 mil in May and prices down to US$1.10ish levels. So the trap has been laid. Now IH is awaiting the trigger and execution of their plan. What could be the trigger? Our friend Indomee could be onto something when he posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2000 - 08:50 pm: "Dear WillyLim, Want Want 1999 earning was 108.472 million. P.E. is only 10. Up to February 2000, cash in hand is US$ 49.8m . Intending to buy back its share up to 10% of its issued capital. On August 1999, raised US$29.5m through the issuing of US$30m loan facility. Hence your comment that it has severe short term liquidity crisis need to be varified, as it will scare some timid forumers and severe selling in this counter. Pls be more careful to what you said. And I heard rumours that the Taiwanese boss tends to delist its listing in Singapore and relist it in Hongkong or China, as in Singapore its share is thinly traded. May be he is the one who is collecting in the market now. It is just a rumours. Hear/say... Trade with your own risks." Interesting isn't it? You see, that is all that is required: a rumour of delisting and panic follows...but many would have miss a vital point. To delist, you MUST offer a cash payout. That effectively means a management buyout, or takeover requiring a general offer. The question now is how much? However, it need not even be true! Just a mere rumour is enough to set the market alive for this stock again. The house traders, stockist, contra punters etc will jump in, hoping to scalp a few cents and that will trigger a recovery... Yes, I shall be watching the situation closely for I have vested interest. Just my 2.5c worth |
| (Post 40 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:15:00 |
| Author : |
Warlock, The delisting rumour is reported in the Dow Jones newswires. 0956 [Dow Jones] SINGAPORE: Shares in rice cracker maker Want Want (W07) up 4.7% at 99.5 U.S. cents on vague speculation its major Taiwanese shareholder intends to delist stock from Singapore because it is thinly traded and relist in Hong Kong or China.(AXH) |
| (Post 41 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:17:00 |
| Author : |
warren listing in Shanghai is probably a good move for WANTWANT. most of the business are in China. look at Snanghai index, very close to STI now |
| (Post 42 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:19:00 |
| Author : |
Thanks to DETECTIVE Sherlock WARREN Holmes for the posting about Want Want & the methods of IH....very interesting :) |
| (Post 43 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:22:00 |
| Author : |
Warren, Kudos to you for an insightful analysis off what is happening to this counter. Certainly sounds more possible scenario. Full attention then to the movement of this share. Cheers |
| (Post 44 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:50:00 |
| Author : |
Errr, Want Want's volume already 900 at half-time...IH accelerating their buyings?? |
| (Post 45 of 3053) 06/22/2000.11:54:00 |
| Author : |
Warren, Excellent insights. Keep up the snooping. Cash-flow issues aside, a delisting offers a possible arbitrage situation where the management has pay a premium to current market price to buy back all the shares from smaller shareholders. An educated guess of what that may be? Think "strike-price" of warrants...US$1.25. That's a 25% premium to current price. Hey...maybe the management is really the IH. By forcing the price down, the management can grab as much share from the open market as possible at a low price before they announce the delisting. That way they can avoid paying US$1.25.... |
| (Post 46 of 3053) 06/22/2000.16:05:00 |
| Author : |
Folks, Speaking to brokers who are dealing in Want Want today, the sellers of the mother shares are said to be from many different brokers, all in many different sizes, mostly 1-5lots. This indicates to me that there are very few natural sellers left at these depressed prices? That is borne out because of the 992,000 volume done today, 741,000 of that arose from three separate married deals: 460,000 shares at $0.961; 234,000 shares at $0.972 and the odd one of 47,000 shares at an incredible US$2.428!! I reckon the latter is probably an error and likely to be cancelled. Further, someone has placed a huge sell order of 284,000 shares at US$1.00 to try and 'scare' players into dumping their stock at lower prices?! It would be interesting to note if the invisible hands here buys up that block, or the seller merely withdraws and stock closes above US$1.00? Meanwhile, on the warrants front, broker Kim Eng has been the top buyer for the past few days, paying 32-33c for most of the stock. When hit with stock, they always place more buy orders on screen, usually 5-10 lost per go. That does not look like the work of the uninformed, but suggests to me that there are very few 'loose' warrants about. There you have it...from detective Sherlock Warren Holmes! Just my 2.5c worth of snooping |
| (Post 47 of 3053) 06/22/2000.23:24:00 |
| Author : |
thank you warren once again for the 'detedtive'work |
| (Post 48 of 3053) 06/22/2000.23:34:00 |
| Author : |
Warren, Your nose for IH is most impressive! Thanks for shedding light on WantWant (yet again)! |
| (Post 49 of 3053) 06/27/2000.10:50:00 |
| Author : |
Folks, One of my favourite practises is to go through old research notes to gather perspective of a stock's recent history and the market mood that underlyies it. I unearth this email note from GKGoh. Note the date of the report and the price level Want Want was trading at then. Now look at the price is trading at now? See how much cheaper the stock has become? Key question is will it continue to remain so? I'm betting not. Have vested interest. Just my 2.5c worth of market intelligence. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, September 24, 1999 Want Want price weakness unjustified - maintain Outperform Our telephone conversation with Want Want indicated that the earthquake has not affected its production in Taiwan. Want Want has only one production facility in northern Taiwan and the area was not affected by the earthquake. Want Want's head office in Taipei is also in sound condition. Price weakness is unjustified even though Want Want is a Taiwan-based company. In fact, China accounted for all of Want Want's profits in 1998. Other than the sole production facility in northern Taiwan, the rest of the production facilities are in China. We understand that net profit growth YTD is still in excess of 20% although turnover growth is not as robust as Want Want has resisted pressure to lower selling prices in response to competition. The Board made a decision last month to maintain selling prices despite the competition from Tingyi and other smaller players. We believe it can hold on given the strong brandname. We remain comfortable with our net profit projection of $103.5m (EPS: 17.6cts) and $122.6m (EPS: 20.8cts) for FY99 and FY2000 respectively. At current share price of US$1.29, valuations are attractive at 12.5x (FY99) and 10.5x (FY2000). We maintain the Outperform recommendation. From a technical chart perspective, Want Want is already at an oversold level and the intraday low of US$1.25 has already met the 50% fibonacci retracement. |
| (Post 50 of 3053) 06/28/2000.02:51:00 |
| Author : |
hi, does anybody knows what's the payout ratio of Want Want last year? aligato. |
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