What the fish? There goes Boardroom out the door!

What the fish.

Boardroom's parent company, G K Goh, through its Salacca vehicle, is carrying out a "voluntary unconditional cash offer". That's another good stock exiting.

Can you feel the increasing preponderance of the recent trend?

• Good company bought out and exits from SGX.
• Shitty company hitting rock bottom and suspended.

At this rate, all we will have left soon will only be the mediocre.

Sigh.

On the bright side, that's more spare cash with which to hunt another fish.

Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - Oct 2016

It's been over a year since I started a Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks on 28 Aug 2015 for fun. How has that theoretical $100,000 portfolio fared after all the gyrations of 2016?

Stock	No. of  Shares	28 Aug 15	3 Oct 16	Value
OCBC	1,300	$9.280	$8.650	$11,245
Keppel	1,700	$7.200	$5.300	$9,010
M1	4,200	$2.920	$2.440	$10,248
Boustead	14,600	$0.855	$0.815	$11,899
Kingsmen	15,200	$0.820	$0.650	$9,880
VICOM	2,100	$6.000	$5.720	$12,012
HourGlass	17,000	$0.735	$0.650	$11,050
GKGoh	14,900	$0.840	$0.810	$12,740

The portfolio is now $88,084 (dividends not considered) and completely red. It's been a complete wash-out. I guess if I am a fund manager, I'm pretty much out of a job by now.

At the start of the year, I had stretched my neck out with a prediction that the portfolio would be positive by the end of 2016. Looks like I have stuck my neck out a tad? It's been a fairly horrible year. 

With only two months till the end of the year, is there still hope yet?  Perhaps a bridge too far? Time to recall the 1st British Airborne Division from Arnhem. The ghosts of Operation Market-Garden beckons.

Disclaimer: I have not bought such a portfolio on those dates. I am only doing this exploration for fun. But it is true that I do have all these stocks in my holdings and did buy more of some of them during Aug-Sep 2015. And I am certainly not clairvoyant, so I can't predict the future!

Related:
Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - 31 Dec 2015

Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - 31 Dec 2015

On 28 Aug 2015, I started exploring a portfolio of 8 Singapore stocks with a value of ~$100,000 (Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks). Although the actual value would have been $99,126, I am assuming for simplicity it would be $100,000 after accounting for transaction costs.

How has it fared? It's been four months and here's how it looked like on 31 Dec 2015:

Stock	No. of  Shares	28 Aug 2015	31 Dec 2015	Value
OCBC	1,300	$9.280	$8.800	$11,440
Keppel	1,700	$7.200	$6.510	$11,067
M1	4,200	$2.920	$2.720	$11,424
Boustead	14,600	$0.855	$0.835	$12,191
Kingsmen	15,200	$0.820	$0.670	$10,184
VICOM	2,100	$6.000	$6.020	$12,642
HourGlass	17,000	$0.735	$0.785	$13,345
GKGoh	14,900	$0.840	$0.810	$12,069

The portfolio is now $94,362 (dividends not considered) and overall deeply in the red after 4 months. Obviously not making any money. The split is now 2-6 in favour of the losers. HourGlass continues to hold the fort positively alongside VICOM. But everyone else is underwater.

Market sentiments continue to be bleak, so I don't think it's going to see daylight anytime soon. But perhaps it is a good time for more fishing when pessimism is most severe?

It is the new year. So I'll stretch my neck out with a prediction: that the portfolio will be positive by the end of 2016.

Disclaimer: I have not bought such a portfolio on those dates. I am only doing this exploration for fun. But it is true that I do have all these stocks in my holdings and did buy more of some of them during Aug-Sep 2015. And I am certainly not clairvoyant, so I can't predict the future!

Related:
8 SGX Companies to Keep Watch On

Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - 28 Oct 2015 [updated to correct error]

On 28 Aug 2015, I started exploring a portfolio of 8 Singapore stocks with a value of ~$100,000 (Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks). Although the actual value would have been $99,126 (without considering transaction costs), I am assuming $100,000 for simplicity. You could think of the difference as the transaction costs.

How has it fared since? In truth, two months is way too short a time to be meaningful. Nonetheless, here's how it looks:

Stock	No. of  Shares	28 Aug 2015	28 Oct 2015	Value
OCBC	1,300	$9.280	$9.200	$11,960
Keppel	1,700	$7.200	$7.160	$12,172
M1	4,200	$2.92	$2.870	$12,054
Boustead	14,600	$0.855	$0.955	$13,943
Kingsmen	15,200	$0.820	$0.780	$11,856
VICOM	2,100	$6.000	$6.150	$12,915
HourGlass	17,000	$0.735	$0.740	$12,580
GKGoh	14,900	$0.840	$0.825	$12,293

Thanks to CSCCC who highlighted that I had made a mistake with M1's price on 28 Aug 2015, I have adjusted the error as indicated in yellow highlights above.

The portfolio is now $99,723, so it really hasn't moved the needle over the two elapsed months. This valuation does not take into account any dividends. The split is 3-5 between the winners and losers (as indicated in red above). The only significant winner has been Kingsmen.  So it looks pretty flat-line for now and in need of some resuscitation.

Disclaimer: I have not bought such a portfolio on those dates. I am only doing this exploration for fun. But it is true that I do have all these stocks in my holdings and did buy more of some of them during Aug-Sep 2015.

Related:
8 SGX Companies to Keep Watch On

Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - Aug 2015 [updated 31 Oct 2015]

On 14 Aug 2015, as the Singapore market trended down, I highlighted 8 Singapore companies to keep watch on. I figured that an opportunity would come soon if the downwards trend continued. Indeed, it came pretty suddenly on 24 Aug 2015 (see Playing with the bears of 2015).

While the STI never quite hit the official 20% bear territory, it was pretty close, reaching -19.9%? A 0.1% difference is perhaps just a technicality. Many stocks reached their low point that day.

I thought it might be interesting to see how a portfolio made up of these 8 stocks would fare over time. I assumed that a reasonable investor wouldn't have caught the lowest point to buy, but would have delayed a few days to watch how things unfolded before jumping in.

So, taking reference from the prices a few days later on 28 Aug 2015, here's how a $100,000 portfolio would look like for this portfolio of 8. No REITs nor business trusts. But the 8 are broadly diversified.

Stock	Number of Shares	28 Aug 2015	Dividend Yield	Price to Book ratio
OCBC	1,300	$9.280	4.03%	1.1
Keppel	1,700	$7.200	7.02%	1.15
M1	4,200	$2.920	6.43%	7.08
Boustead	14,600	$0.855	4.73%	1.46
Kingsmen	15,200	$0.820	4.43%	1.59
VICOM	2,100	$6.000	2.93%	3.82
HourGlass	17,000	$0.735	3.06%	1.23
GKGoh	14,900	$0.840	4.73%	0.73

In working out the above, I did not take into account transaction fees. The number of shares were based on approximately $12,500 for each stock, rounded to the minimum lot size of 100. With that, the whole portfolio would have cost $99,126. I guess if transaction costs had been factored in, it would have come close to $100,000 anyway.

Let's see how this fares over the next few years with a buy and hold strategy.

--
1 Sep 2015 ...

I forgot to indicate the dividend yield and their price-to-book (P/B) ratio of the stock previously. So I have updated into the above table, but these are based on the data on 1 Sep 2015.

These are all dividend yielding stocks, and mostly with P/B below 2.0. The exceptions were M1 and VICOM which had much higher P/B. These probably reflect the premium that M1 commands as a Telco and likewise VICOM in their vehicle inspection role.

I'm drawing inspiration from Teh Hooi Ling's article where she mentioned a finding from historical analysis that stocks with a healthy dividend yield over P/B ratio tended to perform better over time.
--

31 Oct 2015 ...

The data for M1 was amended due to earlier error. Changes are highlighted in yellow.

8 SGX Companies to Keep Watch On

In my recent interview by Giraffe, I mentioned several stocks that I felt may be worth keeping a close watch on due to various challenges that they are facing. So I thought I may elaborate a bit further on these.

OCBC. They have certain exposure to China and is hoping to grow its market there. With China experiencing some slow down, it will be affected. But my view is that a slow down does not mean that China will come to a halt. Business will continue to ebb and grow. It is a huge emerging market that is hard to ignore. And they will need capital (loans) to support business operations. Cash is king.

Keppel. A significant part of Keppel's business is in the marine sector which is facing challenges from the declining price of oil. Much of the oil around the world are moved by maritime shipping. There has been few new orders, although it does have a sizeable order book to carry it forward. If the situation persists, painful layoffs may well be necessary. Such layoffs could result in some loss of capabilities for the future. Since Choo Chiau Beng stepped down as its CEO, the new management team has had much to deal with.

M1. M1 is largely dependent on the domestic market telco market, unlike Singtel which has an international market for diversification. With a 4th entrant coming into the local telco scene, it would face cannibalisation from the competition. But the question is, will the 4th player survive? M1 has also been the first off the block to introduce new service schemes (innovation?) to try to take the market in the meantime.

Boustead. A part of its business comes from the oil and gas, as well as property development. Both of which are facing difficulties. The oil and gas challenge is similar to Keppel's problem. With a slowdown in population growth, the need for housing in land-limited Singapore is going to slow down. There is also a lot of competition from the many companies in Singapore. They are experiencing forex downside given the extensive business operations in Malaysia (rapidly depreciating M$) and Australia (A$ is almost the same as S$ now).

Kingsmen. If there is slow down in regional economies, resulting in less business shop upgrades and MICE events, then they are likely to experience difficulties in growing their revenue. But they seem to have a strong reputation. Good branding. The emergence of more and more theme parks in the region, as well as upgrades at existing ones, are continued business opportunities for Kingsmen.

VICOM. There are some on the shrinkage of car population with many cars due to replace those at the end of 10 years. As car owners replace with new cars, they will not need to go to VICOM that soon. Maybe there will be near term shrinkage in revenue. But VICOM is dominant and car inspections are legally required. All VICOM need to do is to just raise its charges?

HourGlass. Luxury goods would most certainly benefit from a large newly rich Chinese market, hungry for symbolism. But the stamp down on corruption in China has made many self-conscious, and an economic slow down would likely create further reason for pause and caution. The company is also in the midst of transition from its founders to the next generation.

GKGoh. It's businesses operations in Europe and Australia would probably be affected by the foreign exchange rates when translated into the S$ currency. Its Boardroom subsidiary (itself a SGX stock) seems to dominate in providing services to many SGX companies, providing a stable revenue stream.

But all the above are likely things that will blow over as things reach equilibrium with time (reversion to mean?). Demand for the goods and services will still be there to provide growth. Ultimately, the businesses will thrive, so long as they are not experiencing the "Kodak moment" and continue to be led by responsible management teams that do not engage in any shenanigan.

A ship full of bears

This week in particular has been an "excitable" week, with the market in a sea of red for a couple of days. Looks like a ship full of bears. But I'm a contrarian. The market goes down, I'm excited. So I'm buying. Gradually. Because I can't be sure the market wouldn't go down even further.

Disclaimer: Do conduct your own research and make your own decisions. I do not possess any all-seeing eye that claims to predict the future. So I am not a clairvoyant. Above is just a personal view of things.

My Singapore Team of Dividend Stocks 2015

My first 11 team of dividend shares have remained largely unchanged over the past year.

Goalkeeper

(1) OCBC remains my stalwart to guard the goalpost. An increasing interest rate environment can only benefit the banks.

Defenders

My defence is built around Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) in the form of (2) Capita Commercial Trust, (3) Capita Retail China Trust and (4) Mapletree Industrial Trust.  That gives me 3 REITs covering commercial, retail and industrial properties, with some exposure to China. 

My fourth defender is (5) Vicom.  a proxy play for car ownership in Singapore. It could be facing some windy resistance as there are supposedly less cars that require routine inspections over the next 3 years. But will there ever be less cars in Singapore? Not in my view. So long as there is a high level of demand for car ownership, there will be business in car inspections and Vicom is dominant in this regard.

Midfielders

Midfielders need to control the play. They have to create opportunities for offensives, and at times have to roll back to the defensive. For this, I am standing by (6) Boustead, (7) Hour Glass, (8) Kingsmen Creative and (9) SATS.

Boustead is about to break off its property business. For Hour Glass, its founders continue to buy its stock. I view that as positive. Kingsmen Creative has been doing well, expanding regionally and in Greater China. There are many MICE events and theme parks being built in the region. SATS on the end could face some issues with the airline business somewhat affected by negativity with the number of unfortunate air crashes and economic challenges.

Strikers

For the offensive play, I am looking for some excitement, in particular, growth players that may not be as yet high yielding but have the potential to go far. No change to my strikers with (10) Global Logistic Properties (GLP) and (11) Yangzijiang, giving me exposure to China, Japan and Brazil.

The poor outlook of the shipping industry could well affect Yangzijiang. Likewise, the slowdown in China could well see impacts to both. I'm normally averse to holding China plays. But I'm making an exception for Yangzijiang. It however requires some close watching.

Reserves

Nothing has therefore changed after a year to the team composition. But it looks like there could be some challenges in the performance of my first 11 in the year ahead. To mitigate, I've expanded my team by beefing up the bench strength and recruited (12) GK Goh, and (13) Keppel.

GK Goh holds a portfolio of interesting investments (more) with significant insider buying in recent months. Keppel on the other hand is my contrarian play. There is much fear in the market given its lack of new contracts and poor segment outlook in oil and gas. But with a Price-Earning ratio so low, it's too good to ignore given my long term outlook towards my investments.

Play ball! Oh wait, wrong game.

[Disclaimer: I hold all the above stocks. But this is not a recommendation to buy any of these. Do make your own assessment before investing, always. I acquired them at different times over the past five years (post Global Financial Crisis) and have benefited from their growth and reinvestment of dividend payouts since.]

Buyout interest in euNetworks (a GKGoh associate)

There is quite a bit of coverage in this week's The Edge on GKGoh, especially over the possibility of a buy out of euNetworks, an associate company.

Strange that there is so much interest in euNetworks considering that it has been loss making thus far. The potential probably lies in its role as an incumbent of fibre networks in major European cities. It is likely difficult for any new entrant to be able to lay new networks in such mature cities.

Meanwhile, GKGoh continues to trade at a discount to its book value (P/B is 0.72). So that remains attractive to me personally. I always find it strange when a company is valued below its book value when there is no apparent reason. Unrecognised value, or simply the norm for an investment holding company to suffer a discount?

I particularly like its holding of Boardroom, another stock on the SGX, and its Australian aged care holding. Boardroom has shown steady business and dividend payout. The Australian holding will likely provide a regular income stream as well.

I like that the founders/insiders have been buying their own stocks regularly in recent months.

A key risk lies in that the original founder is already 70 years of age and is looking at his succession. He has two sons in the company. Will the next generation be able to run the investment holding company as prudently and successfully?

See previous assessment:
G K Goh - who is this guy?

G K Goh - More Insider Buying

I examined this company back in Jun 14 and made a small investment into this company.

I liked what I saw, particularly its holding in Boardroom, another SGX company that I had been tracking in view of its consistent high yield dividend.

Its small holding in euNetwork isn't doing as well though. The later is on the Catalist board.

Back then, I had highlighted the insider buying that was going on. Looks like GKG Investment Holdings Pte Ltd has continued with the insider buying spree, adding another 81,000 shares on 15 Jul 2014.

A positive sign? Evaluate and assess.

Related:
G K Goh

G K Goh - who is this guy?

Came across this company recently and the financials sure look interesting.  The company is an investment holding company.

Financial strength
Current Ratio	1.76
Quick Ratio	-
Long Term Debt to Equity (%)	20.52
Total Debt to Equity (%)	25.91
Interest Coverage Ratio (TTM)	-
Free Cash Flow to Firm (TTM) (SGD 'mln)	-69.93

Margin
Gross Margin (TTM) (%)	75.43
Operating Profit Margin (TTM) (%)	31.58
Net Profit Margin (TTM) (%)	53.73

Dividend §
Annual Dividend per share (SGD)	0.0400
Dividend Yield (TTM) (%)	4.73
Dividend Yield (Annual) (%)	4.73
Payout Ratio (TTM) (%)	-
3-Year Growth Rate (%)	10.06

Valuation
Historical P/E Ratio	12.34
P/E Ratio (TTM)	12.34
P/BV (latest interim)	0.71
BVPS (latest interim) (SGD)	1.1827
EPS TTM (SGD)	0.0685

DPS (SGD)	0.0150	0.0300	0.0400	0.0400	0.0400
EPS (SGD)	0.0172	0.0916	0.1778	0.0609	0.0685

[Source: POEMS.]

Debt level below 40%.  Not over-leveraged.

High gross and net profit margins above 40%.  Looks like a business that doesn't suffer from competitive pressures. Possible moat?

Dividends above 3%.   Its 5-year trend shows that the dividends payout (DPS) have been steadily increasing from 0.015 (FY09) to 0.04 (FY13) while consistently maintaining its DPS below earnings (EPS).  

P/E ratio below 15.  P/B below 1.0.  Which means it is valued below its current worth.

From the information at its website (http://www.gkgoh.com/), the company owns brokerage businesses in Singapore, invests in various retirement services in Australia, with smaller stakes in networks in European cities, property and hotel businesses in Malaysia. 

• G. K. Goh Financial Services (S) Pte Ltd (100%), a futures and foreign exchange brokerage in Singapore;
• G. K. Goh Strategic Holdings Pte Ltd (100%), which invests in liquid markets;
• Habitat Assets Pte Ltd (100%), which invests in retirement living assets primarily in Australia;
• Boardroom Ltd (81%), an SGX-listed company, one of Asia’s leading providers of corporate and advisory services, providing clients with an integrated suite of Smart Business Solutions, namely Accounting & Finance, Corporate Secretarial, HR & Payroll, Internal Audit & Risk Management, Shareholder Services, and Taxation services in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Australia;
• Domain Principal Group (48%), an Australian aged care provider with 56 facilities totalling more than 4,800 bed-spaces in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia;
• Eastern & Oriental Bhd (6%), a KLSE-listed property and lifestyle group;
• euNetworks Limited (9%), an SGX-listed company which owns and operates fibre networks in 14 European cities.

Interestingly, it expanded its ownership of Boardroom and now owns 81% of it.  Boardroom itself is a SGX-listed company that provides support services for many publicly-listed companies and gives out regular stream of dividends. Looks like a very stable line of business.  Many letters that I received from SGX companies carry the Boardroom letterhead on their envelopes.  

There was a negative cash flow for FY13 and that was likely due to an investment in a 47.6% stake in Domain Principal Group, an Australian aged care services company, as indicated in its 2013 Annual Report. This investment was funded by a combination of cash and loans. Despite which, its gearing has maintained below 40%.  Seems sound and not a red flag.

Its Malaysian hotel and property investments are centered in Penang and Iskander Region. A touristy place and a growth region. Holds potential.

A bunch of very different businesses. But each with an interesting story which suggest prudent and stable income streams. Owners pay themselves handsomely, but also collectively own a large chunk of its own stocks.

In recent weeks, GKG Investment Holdings appear to be buying quite a bit of this stock. On 3 occasions in Jun 14, they have bought 23000, 121000 and 29000 shares. Insider buying is always an interesting indicator for me.

[Disclaimer: This is not a call to buy this stock. I am only recording this as a reminder to myself why I bought this stock.]