MBM RESOURCES BHD (Feb 26, RM3.30)
Maintain add at RM3.31 with a target price of RM3.45: The group grew core net profit for the fourth quarter of financial year 2012 ended Dec 31 (4QFY12) by 11.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM29.5 million (-17% quarter-on-quarter [q-o-q]) as higher vehicle sales by Federal Auto (+11.5% y-o-y) and consolidation of Hirotako drove earnings growth.
This brings FY12 core net profit (excluding a RM4.8 million gain on disposal of property by Oriental Metal Industries) to RM130.6 million (+7.7% y-o-y). The results are, however, 6% below Affin and 16% below street estimates. The discrepancy on our end stemmed from lower than expected manufacturing revenue. The group declared a three sen interim net dividend per share (DPS) and we continue to hold out for 7.5 sen FY12 net DPS (FY11: six sen net DPS).
Group revenue for 4Q jumped 16.6% y-o-y thanks to:
(i) robust Federal Auto (Volvo, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi) sales growth of 11.5% y-o-y; and
(ii) contribution from Hirotako. This helped offset lower sales from the distribution of Daihatsu and Hino trucks (-29.3% y-o-y). Coupled with a robust associate earnings growth of 14.2% y-o-y (thanks to favourable yen exchange rates), 4Q core net profit rose 11.6% y-o-y to RM29.5 million. Sequentially, group revenue fell 1.9% reflecting a 4.3% y-o-y drop in Federal AutoĆ¢ā¬ā¢s overall sales for the quarter. Higher distribution of Perodua vehicles (+10.2% q-o-q) helped partly offset the drop in Federal Auto vehicle sales. The lower sales volume, higher advertising and promotions in 4Q (to encourage year-end sales) and higher effective tax rate saw 4Q core net profit contracting 17% q-o-q to RM29.5 million.
We maintain our FY13/FY14 earnings forecasts. We estimate FY13 core net profit will continue to grow (+31.4% y-o-y) against a low base, continued sales growth trajectory by Federal Auto and favourable yen exchange rate. Maintain Ć¢ā¬ÅaddĆ¢ā¬Ā and target price of RM3.45, based on unchanged eight times 2013 earnings per share. We expect the group to reap the fruit of its labour (tie-up with Hino to manufacture commercial vehicles in Malaysia) from FY14 onwards. Ć¢ā¬ā Affin IB Research, Feb 26