Singtel:
As of April 12th, Bharti Airtel boasted a market capitalization of INR7.24 trillion ($118.13 billion), marking a remarkable surge of over 50% in its share price over the past year. This translates Singtel’s 29% stake to a value of $34 billion, overshadowing Singtel’s own market capitalization of $39.14 billion.
With the discount on holding companies widening, Singtel’s current stock price seems to reflect solely the worth of its investments in India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Saifee notes that, at present, the market price of Singtel essentially offers Singapore (inclusive of assets like data centers, GxS, Netlink NBN Trust), Australia, and the Philippines for free. This observation led Saifee to label Singtel as a “rarity.” The brokerage, reinstating coverage of the stock, has issued a “buy” recommendation and set a target price of $3.05 based on a sum-of-the-parts analysis.
Assuming a payout ratio of 85%, analysts estimate Singtel’s dividend for the current fiscal year 2024 to be 12 cents per share, yielding 5%.
F&N:
On April 12th, F&N Holdings Bhd commanded a market capitalization of RM11.47 billion ($3.27 billion), positioning F&N’s 55.48% stake at $1.81 billion, surpassing F&N’s market capitalization of $1.49 billion on the SGX.
F&N Holdings garners substantial analyst attention, with seven active coverages. Among them, five analysts rate the stock as a “buy” or its equivalent, while the remaining two rate it as a “hold.” Huan Wei Gan of Macquarie holds the most bullish outlook, with a target price of RM37.80. Interestingly, there’s no coverage of F&N in Singapore.
Wilmar:
Wilmar International, a major player in the agri-food industry, commands a market capitalization of $22.67 billion on the SGX as of April 12th. In contrast, its 89.99%-owned China subsidiary, Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings, boasts a market capitalization of RMB166.23 billion ($31.35 billion) on the same day, valuing Wilmar’s stake in the company at $28.62 billion.
Investors found Wilmar to offer a more affordable entry point and greater liquidity into Yihai Kerry Arawana. At the time, Yihai Kerry Arawana had a free float of 7%, compared to Wilmar’s 30%.
Analyzing Wilmar’s stake in Yihai Kerry Arawana, analysts noted that investors essentially paid only US$1.6 billion for Wilmar’s remaining assets (excluding Yihai Kerry Arawana), which generated a net profit of US$593 million in 2019, based on their estimates (2019 P/E of three times). This implies an implied P/E for Yihai Kerry Arawana at Wilmar’s current share price to be 17.8 times, a 43% discount to the IPO price, valuing the ex-Yihai Kerry Arawana business at 14 times P/E.
Thank you.