Breadtalk revisited - A RamenPlay?

There was an occasion when I needed to go to Velocity at Novena. I flagged down a cab and promptly fell asleep. Some time later, I woke up and found myself at Vivocity. Not quite where I wanted to be. Need to be careful with places like this. Kind of recalled another time when I was took a cab to Causeway Point at Woodlands. I was nearly sent across the Causeway! Yesterday, I had an errand to run and went to Velocity once again. This time, I took the train instead.

Having just returned from a trip to Japan recently, I had this continued craving for Japanese food. So it was great to discover a RamenPlay outlet there. I decided to give it a go.

I had previously reviewed Breadtalk - A Case of Over-expanded Yeast? and mentioned that I wasn't too impressed with its RamenPlay chain. Boy was I wrong. It was lunch time and the store was crowded. The food wasn't bad either. Yummy. Location was good and clearly attracted the working class from the neighborhood. I wonder if all its stores are doing as well?

I had originally bought some shares in BreadTalk in 2012 at $0.57. And again when it went down to $0.53. Shortly after, in 2013, it went up to $0.805. I decided to sell off the equivalent amount that I had invested and held onto the balance. Amazingly, it continued to trend upwards, and more recently, reached $1.45. Given that its PE ratio had reached 29x, I decided it was time to exercise caution and trimmed my holding. It's now at $1.32.

Stock Data
Market Capitalization (SGD 'mil)	372.10
Common Shares Outstanding ('mil)	281.3286
52 Week High (SGD) (07/05/2014)	1.490
52 Week Low (SGD) (03/09/2013)	0.835
52 Week Return (%)	53.490
Average Volume ('mil)	0.2840
Beta	1.31

Financial strength
Current Ratio	0.70
Quick Ratio	0.65
Long Term Debt to Equity (%)	147.11
Total Debt to Equity (%)	179.57
Interest Coverage Ratio (TTM)	22.77
Free Cash Flow to Firm (TTM) (SGD 'mln)	-33.08

Margin
Gross Margin (TTM) (%)	52.56
Operating Profit Margin (TTM) (%)	4.03
Net Profit Margin (TTM) (%)	2.88

Dividend §
Annual Dividend per share (SGD)	0.0180
Dividend Yield (TTM) (%)	1.36
Dividend Yield (Annual) (%)	1.36
Payout Ratio (TTM) (%)	37.05
3-Year Growth Rate (%)	21.64

Valuation
Historical P/E Ratio	27.39
P/E Ratio (TTM)	27.01
P/BV (latest interim)	3.90
BVPS (latest interim) (SGD)	0.3388
EPS TTM (SGD)	0.0489

ROA (%)	7.29	5.94	5.04	4.38	3.91
ROE (%)	19.60	17.44	15.82	14.95	15.41
DPS (SGD)	0.0083	0.0100	0.0100	0.0080	0.0180
EPS (SGD)	0.0394	0.0399	0.0411	0.0425	0.0482

[Source: POEMS, dated 28 Jun 2014]

Breadtalk remains an interesting prospect for me. Although its PE ratio had improved to 27x, it's still too high for my liking. It appears highly leveraged at ~180% of debt. Can it go all the way down to $0.73? I'll maintain watch on this stock. I like Breadtalk. Munch munch.

Disclaimer: This is not a call to buy or sell. Do make your own assessment and decide for yourself. I am not a financial advisor. I have sold down but continue to hold some shares in Breadtalk.