Singapore High RoE/PtB stocks reviewed

In a recent article in the Business Times Singapore (article removed) Teh Hooi Ling reports her study on using RoE ( return on equity) and PtB ( Price to Book) and the RoE/PtB ratio to select outperforming stocks on the Singapore Exchange. There was an update to the article on July 21(get it before it is archived).

By investing in only the top 10% of RoE/Ptb stocks she claims that from 1990 to 2006 you would have got a 41% annualized return excluding trasaction costs.

I am aware of the errors that can creep into such a study, I will not discuss them here, still I feel she is on to something good. The data on RoE and PTB in the article may be inaccurate. There are a lot of REITS and holding companies so not sure if ROE is relevant to them.


She also published a list of top ranked stocks. Let me analyze these here.

• Jardine Strategic . Let me quote Neil McNamara from jardine who replied to my questions on this. "ROE is not a ratio that we would normally calculate for Jardin Strategic due to the significant property interests through its investment in Hongkong Land. However, based on the shareholders funds at 31.12.06, the ROE calculated using the underlying profit for the year is 6.9%. If the net profit is used, which includes the movement in valuesof investment properties, the ratio is 18.5%. The latter calculation will fluctuate greatly from year to year due to the movements in property values. The price to book, based on the net asset value per share at 31.12.06 of US$19.38 (calculated using the market values of the underlying investments) and a share price of US$13.80, is 0.71." . Thanks to Cougar3 who said .."The two Jardines are jointed at the hip and have significant cross-ownership interests in each other.
  My guess is that ultimately Jardine Matheson will make a tender offer for the shares of Jardine Strategic they don't own (about 20%) . Of the two at current prices, Jardine Strategic is selling at a significant discount to NAV and imho is. by far, the more attractive
  of the two for current purchase. And, if I am right about the possibility of a tender offer by Jardine Matheson for Jardine Strategic this would likely be at a price around NAV in order to be successful. Thus, buying Jardine Strategic might be an attractive way to ultimately own Jardine Matheson at a significant discount to it's current price.Both Jardines are well diversified into core industries with extensive interest in not only Singapore and Hong Kong but mainland China, and all of SE Asia. They, along with Cheung Kong might be considered the equivalent of GE in the US. Hard to find companies that have been in
  business for 175 years like Jardine. Despite the big move both Jardine stocks has had over the past 5 years they remain attractively priced and "value" plays imho." A quick check at Shares Investement no 302 shows both companies Jardine strategic and Jardine Matheson have been profitable and paying dividends since record begins in 2002. Am placing a buy order for Jardine strategic.
• Noel Gifts. .
• New Wave. .
• HengXin Tech. .
• KSH Holdings. .
• TexChem Pack. .
• ContelCorp. ..
  
• Transpac Industrial. ROE 27 , PTB 0.95. Investment Company. See SGX announcements. Messageboard. Annual report. According to the annual report the Company has no staff costs as its operations are fully managed by its Investment Manager.See annual report pg 33 note 7, very roughly put investment manager is paid 20% of money made after tax. Income statement not important. Balance sheet shows it has grown book value from 1.55 SGD yr end 2002 to present 4.04 (calculated reported bv, ex latest 0.54 div and previous $0.36 div) and paid nearly 1S$ +latest s$0.54 in dividends. That very approximately means a greater than 20% CAGR book value + dividend returns. Very illiquid. No mention in Shares investment in recent issues so cannot look it up. Did badly a decade ago. Illiquidity and memories of bad years during the asian financial crisis may mean that it may trade at a larger discount of 20% or more. May buy this if it falls more around a PTB of 0.8.
  
• K1 Ventures. .
• Nera Telecom. .
• China Print Power. ROE 37, PTB 1.7, price 0.255 SGD,see messageboard,sgx. New IPO. According to Shares Investment issue 309 company has been profitable since reports begin from year end 12/2003. Div yield is around 5, p/e around 6, Long term d/e is around 22%. See recent report. Company is in a highly competitive business but I feel it is cheap and has limited downside due to dividend yield. Am placing an order. Update- Aug 14, am shareholder now. Read annual report, Change in auditor explained as due to people leaving old auditor. New auditors may have the same old people. Not significant.
  
• GP Industries. .
• China Paper. .
• Adroit Innovat..
• Plastoform. .
• Sunray. PTB around 1 at S$ 0.22, ROE 8.29. According to shares investment no 310 this Obs. &Gyn. medical apparatus maker has been profitable since records begin from year end 2003. 2007 was bad year with revenue declining around 20% and profit declining 50%. No dividends in 2007. Paid 0.007 S$ a year ago,payout ratio then was around 20%. Shares Investment article has phrases like "disruption due to fire in Gatong Industrial park.","restruct in medical industry". Also placed new shares at S$0.46 to Kim Eng in 2006. See messageboard, announcements,report. .Maybe this is just a small company facing a temporary problem. Selling by large holders. Last time an insider bought was here
  at S$0.29.Not sure about this one, will pass.
• Jardine Matheson. .
• NatSteel. .
• PCA Technology. .
• Jurong Tech Indus. At price 0.93.ptb 1.6, NAV S$.559, pe 5.8 yeild 5.4,d/e >1 See messageboard,report. High d/e will pass for now.
• HongKong Land.p/b >1 .See report. Not enough discount to book , will wait for more discount to book.
  
• Tuan Sing. at 0.35 sgd p/b 1.58 ,roe 22% p/sales 1.1, Long term D/E 0.71. See messageboard, announcements , According to Shares Investmnet isseu 210 There have been no dividends or growth in shareholders funds since 2002. Not to my liking.
  
• Allco Commercial Reit. p/b 1.05 at price 1.11 SGD, yeild 4.4 %. See messageboard, sgx announcements, report. Nice Reit promising stable returns, but not interesting to me.
  
• Fortune Reit. HK$6.25, yeild 5.48,p/b 0.73. See, outdated report, Sgx announcements, messageboard,website,factsheet. According to shares investment 307 has grown book value and paid dividends since 2004. Temasek holdings as shareholder gives some confidence to me. Need to investigate more.
  
• Broadway Indus. price 0.81SGD, p/b 1.7,yield .75%,ROE 32, LT d/e 0.15. See messageboard, announcements .Strange quick buying and selling by large shareholders on the SGX announcements page. According to Shares Investment no 307 has grown sales and profits since records start from 2002. Its in highly competitive business of manufacturing small machined parts. Not convinced, would ask for more div yield..
  
• China Printing.price 0.30, p/b 1.5, roe 28,yeild 3.4%, LTd/e 0.05, .See messageboard,SGX announcements. New listing profitable since records available -2005Worth more research.
  
• Bright Orient. SGD 0.17 , p/b 1.1.4,yield 2.48%, p/e 12.9, ROE 9.39,Lt d/e 0. Apparel manufacturing and retail co .See messageboard, SGX announcements. Annual report. Margins low. Will wait and monitor more before investing.
  
• AEM. ROE 18, P/B 1. see messageboard. Legal problems. Senior management, CEO under investigation by CPIB- sent on leave replaced by acting CEO.SGX announcements. Atlantis Investments increasing stake in open market. If you like special situations this is for you.
  
• Valuetronics. SGD 0.26, PE 9, yield 3.4,ROE 33, NAV 0.123, P/b 2.1, Zero Long term debt. Electronics contract manufaturer.See messageboard, announcements, IPO prospectus. According to shares investments 310 has been profitable since records begin from 04, listed on SGX in 07 at 0.26. Looks good to me. Need to compare vs Electrotech.
  
• Singapore Windsor. Price 0.30 SGD,NAV 0.35,p/e 6,p/b .86,yeild 6.18%,ROE 26. PCB related manufacturer ( why so many on this page?). See messageboards,announcements, annual report. According to Shares junction 304 profitable since records begin in 2003. Listed in 2006. Looks cheap.