Friday 15 March 2013

Midas Holdings

OCBC on 15 Mar 2013

We view China’s latest railway reforms as a mid-to-long term positive for the sector, which would likely benefit industry suppliers such as Midas Holdings (Midas). While we are cognisant that there may be some near-term uncertainties over the timeline of new high-speed railway (HSR) contract tenders, we note that the Chinese government has reaffirmed its railway investment targets for 2013. Its 12th Five-Year Plan for the sector also remains unchanged. Meanwhile, Midas recently won CNY109.6m worth of metro contracts in China. We expect management to continue its drive to secure more orders from the metro/subway, international rail transport, power and industrial machinery industries to act as a near-term buffer for the lack of clarity on when the resumption of HSR contract tenders would materialise. Reiterate BUY and S$0.595 fair value estimate on Midas, still pegged to 1.2x FY13F P/B.

China railway reforms augur well for mid-to-long term prospects
We view news of China’s Ministry of Railways’ (MOR) dissolution and subsequent restructuring as a mid-to-long term positive for the railway sector, as it is targeted at rooting out corruption, improving safety aspects of railway projects and cutting down on bureaucracy which may result in improved efficiencies. This would likely benefit industry suppliers such as Midas Holdings (Midas). However this reform may result in some near-term uncertainties over the timeline of new high-speed railway (HSR) contract tenders. China’s Minister of Railways Mr. Sheng Guangzu also recently said that there were sufficient high-speed train cars currently. Nevertheless, we believe that as rail passenger traffic continues to grow and more railway tracks are added in 2013 and beyond, there is a good likelihood that more high-speed train cars would be required. The Chinese government also reaffirmed its railway investment targets for this year, while its 12th Five-Year Plan for the sector remains unchanged.

CNY109.6m of contract wins, more to come? 
Midas recently secured a total of CNY109.6m worth of contracts to supply aluminium alloy extrusion and fabricated parts to five metro projects in China. The value of each contract ranges from CNY10.6-31.7m, with four of these awarded by Midas’ 32.5%-owned JV company Nanjing SR Puzhen Rail Transport (NPRT). As NPRT previously had seven projects which it had yet to award contracts to aluminium alloy extrusion suppliers, we see potential for more order wins by Midas from NPRT in the near future for the remaining three projects. We estimate that total contract value for these projects could amount to ~CNY75m.

Maintain BUY
While there is still a lack of clarity on when the resumption of HSR contract tenders would materialise, we expect management to continue its negotiation process for more contracts from the metro/subway, international rail transport, power and industrial machinery industries to act as a near-term buffer. Reiterate BUY and S$0.595 fair value estimate on Midas (1.2x FY13F P/B), which implies total potential returns of 16.5%. Key risks to our estimates include a longer-than-expected delay in new HSR contract tenders.

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