Tuesday, 19 February 2013

TEE International

OCBC on 14 Feb 2013

Since our last report on TEE International (10 Jan), its share price has stayed firm, retaining most of the gains made since the start of the year, despite its disappointing 2QFY13 results. We believe that TEE’s share price has been supported by recent strong interest in Singapore construction stocks generally, boosted by the government’s latest projections for construction demand and population growth, both of which should benefit the construction sector. We raise our valuation of TEE’s main engineering business to 5.5x FY13 forecast earnings from 5x previously, to reflect the improved long-term outlook for its engineering segment. This raises our overall fair value estimate for TEE to S$0.30, from S$0.28. Given its weak 2QFY13 showing, however, we prefer to remain cautious on TEE until we see stronger contributions from its real estate business. We maintain our HOLD rating on TEE.

Investors shrug off disappointing earnings
TEE International’s share price has remained firm since its weak 2QFY13 earnings report on 8 Jan, trading in a range of S$0.365-S$0.425 (compared to S$0.380 just before the results were published and S$0.31 on 31 Dec 2012). We believe that TEE’s share price has been supported by recent strong interest in Singapore construction stocks generally, boosted by the government’s latest projections for construction demand and population growth, both of which should benefit the construction sector. To recap, TEE announced a 32.9% YoY drop in net profit to S$2.5m for the three months to 30 Nov, due mainly to a sharp drop in associates’ contributions and higher tax expenses.

Singapore construction demand expected to remain strong
The latest government projections for construction demand in Singapore (S$26b-S$32b in 2013 and S$20b-S$28b a year in 2014-15, according to the Building and Construction Authority on 16 Jan) offer reassurance of a steady pipeline of potential projects for TEE’s main engineering business (~90% of its revenue). Meanwhile, the government’s promises to step up spending on infrastructure to prepare for a population of as many as 6.9m people by 2030 suggests that construction demand here will remain strong well beyond the next three years. TEE is also trying to secure more regional projects for its engineering business, in markets such as Brunei, the Philippines, Macau and Myanmar, to diversify its sources of revenue.

Fair value raised to S$0.30 per share, maintain HOLD
We raise our valuation of TEE’s main engineering business to 5.5x FY13 forecast earnings from 5x previously, to reflect the improved long-term outlook for its engineering segment. This raises our overall fair value estimate for TEE to S$0.30, from S$0.28. We have not factored in any potential gains from its planned spin off of its real estate business (TEE is targeting an IPO by May) and given its weak 2QFY13 showing, we prefer to remain cautious on the stock until we see stronger contributions from its real estate business. We maintain our HOLD rating on TEE.

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