Look at better yield alternatives

• 2Q13 underlying profit of S$32.7m (-0.3% y-o-y, -10% q-o-q) and interim DPS of 1.25 Scts were in line

• Overseas business contribution rose to 18% in 2Q13 versus 15% in 1Q13 and 13% in 2Q12, driven by acquisitions where viability has not been proven yet

• HOLD as ~5.4% yield is comparable to the yields offered by Singapore telcos who also offer superior growth

Highlights

Costs continue to outpace revenue growth. Operating expenses grew 13% y-o-y outpacing 9% rise in revenues. This was due to inflationary cost pressures and investments in capabilities and resources to expand overseas revenue. We highlight that most of the top line growth can be attributed to acquisitions worth over S$75m done over the last two years. More acquisitions cannot be ruled out. In March 2012, SingPost had issued S$350m of perpetual bonds at 4.25% coupon. This could be in anticipation of acquisition plans and the expiry of S$300m worth of bonds in April 2013. These perpetual bonds are accounted for as equity in our model.

Our View

6.25 Scts DPS is safe in our view. Dividend payout ratio translates to ~90% while future acquisitions can be funded by S$350m of perpetual bonds. However, we don’t think Singpost will hike its payout ratio till it emerges out of its acquisition mode.

The big questions is how viable are these acquisitions? The good part is that Singpost has not put all its eggs in one basket and has bought stakes in about eight small companies in various geographies. However, one key issue, in our view, is that Singpost does not have a controlling stake in some of these companies and the mix may be too widespread. This may leave Singpost at the mercy of local managements of these companies.

Recommendation

HOLD for 5.4% yield. Overall, we think that acquisitions will start to contribute positively to earnings in another 12 months or so. But that could be offset by decline in the domestic mail business. The stock is not cheap at ~17x PE and ~5.4% yield is not too attractive either unless the company can demonstrate some growth potential.

Wait For A Better Entry Point

Decent results as expected. Singapore Post announced its 2QFY3/13 results yesterday morning. The results were in line with consensus and our estimates. 1HFY3/13 revenue increased by 7.8% yoy to SGD305m, representing 50.6% of our full-year forecast and net profit excluding one-off items was slightly down by 0.6% to SGD69m. We maintain our HOLD rating and target price of SGD1.10 unchanged as we think the upside is very limited after recent strong share price performance.

Transformation only improves the top line. We appreciate Singapore Post’s transformation effort as we saw positive revenue growth momentum in recent quarters. In the first half of FY3/13, SingPost recognized revenue growth in all business segments (Mail sector up 8.0% yoy; Logistics sector up 7.8% yoy and Retail sector up 8.7% yoy) despite the continuous decline in letter volumes. The growth was mainly driven by consolidation of new acquired subsidiary Novation Solutions as well as the revenue growth in Quantium Solutions and Speedpost.

Still too early to see significant bottom line improvement. Despite respectable top line growth, net profit failed to make any growth (down by 0.6% yoy) in 1HFY3/13 compared with a year ago. In our view, we are not likely to see significant bottom line growth in short to medium term because of inflationary cost pressure and gradual shift to lower margin Logistics business.

Property assets divestment? SingPost’s post offices island-wide are precious assets to shareholders. Although the management is open to listening to any offer, we don’t think it will sell their property assets given SingPost’s big net cash position unless the price is too good to say no. However we will appreciate such divestment practice to unlock the hidden value to shareholders.

Wait for a better entry point. SingPost is more of a yield play. However its current dividends yield of 5.4% is no longer attractive relative to its historical average of 6.0%. We recommend that investors take profit and wait for a better entry point.

STILL A STALWART AMIDST GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY

• Steady results
  
• Softening margins expected
  
• Bulwark amidst global uncertainty
  

No surprises from results

Singapore Post (SingPost) reported a set of in-line results with revenue rising 9.1% YoY to S$153.7m and net profit increasing 7.3% to S$32.9m in 2QFY13, such that 1HFY13 net profit accounted for 49.3% and 52.5% of ours and the street’s full year estimates,

respectively. Revenue grew in all three business segments of mail, logistics and retail. Rental and property-related income, however, declined by 7.0%.

Margins likely to continue to weigh

As expected, margins are slightly lower; operating margin decreased from 28.5% in 2QFY12 to 28.1% in 2QFY13 while profit margin before tax slipped from 27.3% to 26.5%. Looking ahead, we expect margins to be weighed down by cost pressures and higher revenue contribution from the lower-margin logistics business. However, the group also recognises this and has been managing inflationary cost pressures with cost management and optimisation measures. For instance, it is seeking to increase productivity by investing in new sorting machines and new technology. Non-strategic costs are also cut by outsourcing certain operations such as customer service hotlines to India and the Philippines.

Stock to hold amidst uncertain environment

We like SingPost for its stable operating cash flows and consistent dividends. At the same time, the group has launched new initiatives over the years and diversified into other business areas as well. However, the next leg of growth is heavily dependent on

management’s astute use of the group’s cash (net cash position of S$125.1m in 2FY13), including M&A opportunities. In line with its usual practice, the group has declared an interim dividend of 1.25 S cents per share for the quarter. At current price levels, we expect a dividend yield of 5.4% in FY13F. Rolling forward our valuations, our fair value estimate rises slightly to S$1.23 from S$1.20 previously. Maintain BUY.

NOT JUST A “DIVIDEND” STOCK

• Steady climb since Jan
  
• Stock to hold in current environment
  
• Focus on management’s use of cash
  

Continues its upward march

The steady climb of Singapore Post’s (SingPost) stock has continued since the start of the year when we upgraded the stock to BUY. Cautiously improving market sentiment and the flood of liquidity searching for safe havens with respectable yields has supported performance, along with greater expectations of further growth opportunities in SingPost after the issuance of S$350m perpetual capital securities in Feb this year.

Total returns since 2010 attractive for a “dividend” stock

As we noted in our initiation report in Jan 2009, spectacular gains are unlikely to be enjoyed by investors in the stock. This is evident by the STI’s significant outperformance against SingPost in 2009 when global equities rebounded from beaten-down valuations in Mar 2009. However, we note that SingPost’s performance in 2010, 2011 and 2012 YTD has been commendable – it outperformed the STI in 2010, slightly lagged the STI in 2011 and is now ahead of the market so far this year (Exhibit 1). This has allowed investors to ride on the upturn in the last few years while collecting dividends (Exhibit 2). Looking at 2012, this year is likely to be a good one for SingPost’s investors too.

Upside still available; maintain BUY

We like SingPost for its stable operating cash flows and consistent dividends. At the same time, the group has launched new initiatives over the years and diversified into other business areas as well. However, the next leg of growth is heavily dependent on management’s astute use of the group’s cash pile (S$668.6m as of Jun 2012). With changing market dynamics (lower risk free rate and market return), we update our valuation assumptions (lower cost of equity: 6.49%, terminal growth unchanged: 1.5%). Based on our dividend discount model, our fair value estimate rises from S$1.14 to S$1.20. Maintain BUY.

Look for higher yield elsewhere

Downgrade to HOLD. SingPost’s share price has increased by 8% in the past three months and is now close to our target price. Dividends yield has been compressed to 5.8%, below its 5-year average of 6%. We continue to believe that SingPost’s transformation efforts will benefit the company in the long term, but fail to see any short-term catalyst to boost its current price further. We maintain our target price of SGD1.10 but downgrade the stock to HOLD due to its limited upside.

Transformation impacts only the top line. We appreciate Singapore Post’s transformation effort. In recent quarters, we have started to see some positive momentum in revenue thanks to the investments that SingPost has made during the past few years. However, cost pressure is keeping bottom-line growth subdued. We expect the company’s net profit to remain on a downward trend for at least the rest of FY13.

Asset divestment is unlikely. The post offices island-wide are precious assets. However, our understanding is that SingPost does not have an incentive to monetise those assets anytime soon given its substantial net cash balance of SGD161.4m.

Wait for a better entry point. SingPost is trading at FY3/13 dividend yield of 5.8%, which is no longer attractive relative to its historical band. We recommend that investors take profit and wait for a better entry point. The near-term catalyst for this stock would be to use its cash pile to make some sizeable investments in order to speed up its transformation process.

Downside protected by dividends. SingPost has committed to paying a minimum dividend of 5 cents/share p.a.. However, we believe the group’s operating cash flow generation and recent fund raising can help maintain its dividend track record of 6.25 cents/share, which would support the share price at current level.