Nobel Design Holdings

From the way a certain Mr Patrick Kho Chuan Thye has added to his shareholding - through 4 purchases since 13Sep10, leading to his latest total direct/deemed shareholding of 8.8% as at 1Oct10.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
, and the rise in Nobel Design's share price since and hitting a high $0.14 this morning, I guess the fortune of this small but apparently quite well-managed furniture distributor/retailer cum boutique residential property developer may well be turning for the better.

Nobel Design's positive 1H (ended 30Jun10)-FY10 results announcement certainly gives a very encouraging sign.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...B003D1A6C/$file/Nobel-Half_Year_2010_Financial_Statements.pdf?openelement

I was particularly impressed by the big increase in rental income - to $2.235m in 1H-FY10, from only $0.728m in 1H-FY09. My further investigation revealed that this is mainly attributed to Nobel Design's new industrial building at 16 Tai Seng Street (where their high-end furniture showroom Marquis Qsquare occupies the ground floor).....
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_trav..._144369/5/
, which has the other 4 upper-floors fully leased out to Starhub and a Taiwanese MNC distributing electronic components.

More info on Nobel Design.....
http://www.nobel.com.sg/aboutus.php
http://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/marketplac...al_reports [FY09 AR]

Today's announcement says Mr Patrick Kho Chuan Thye added another 247 lots on 11Oct10 (yesterday), and his total direct/deemed shareholdings now stand at 8.95%.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

I googled and got some background info on the man.....
http://www.lianhuatgroup.com/our_management_frame.htm
Patrick Kho is Group MD of privately held Lian Huat Group. He was a SAF (RSAF) scholar and has a CFA. Of course, this may not mean much in investment!

By way of an announcement (dated 13Oct10), controlling shareholder JBT Investments Pte Ltd has informed that it has transferred its entire 40.45% interest (66.75m shares) in Nobel Design to its 3 individual shareholders - 24.27% (44.22m shares) to Bert Choong (Group Executive Chairman); 8.09% (13.35m shares) to Terence Goon (Group CEO); and 8.09% (13.35m shares) to Jean Wee (Executive Director).....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
Inclusive of their respective previous personal shareholdings, Bert Choong's shareholding is now 26.8%; Terence Goon's 9.36%; and Jean Wee's 9.91%.

Is it possible that any or all of the 3 could be contemplating to sell or reduce their shareholdings, which may lead to a change of control of the company?

Meanwhile, I am quite pleased to note that backed by selective buying interests, Nobel Design's share price has hit a high of $0.165 today.

Based on the 165.0m issued shares and the last done share price of $0.16, Nobel Design now has a market cap of only $26.4m, which is still lower than its latest 30Jun10 Equity position of $31.61m (equivalent to $0.1916/share) - itself still very conservative, as it has not accounted for the enhanced CMV of 16 Tai Seng Street, and the more of less secure profits of those sold residential property units/projects currently under construction or development.

This afternoon, Nobel's price has hit a high of $0.18 in a lazy Friday session. Nobel has so far advanced $0.06 - or 50%! - from the closing price of $0.12 on 30Sep10, without the support of any announcement, corporate action, or any fanfare. Indeed, this is another value investor's dream!

This value investor's dream has turned out to be a real wild one for me. Nobel's price has hit a new recent high of $0.275 this afternoon!

Wow. Excellent.

I wonder how long do I have to learn to achieve your level of skill and above ?

(12-11-2010, 04:36 PM)cyborg Wrote: I wonder how long do I have to learn to achieve your level of skill and above ?

My advice is that you can focus on looking for grossly under-priced stocks - against their fair or instrinsic values - where the business is simple-to-understand and safe enough, and the people in-charge are decent and proven in their management competence; the profits are real and verifiable; and/or the business (property) assets in the B/S are high-quality, valuable (in terms of income generation or marketability), and desirable to own. I encourage you to keep learning and looking for new investment ideas, just like what many of us in the forum are doing everyday.

When you have found a real good and safe investment idea, do make sure you invest enough into it, as this is key to having big absolute gains.

On Nobel Design, there is a high element of good luck for me in this case. The size of the gain and the speed that it has happened, are beyond my wildest dream.

(12-11-2010, 04:36 PM)cyborg Wrote: Wow. Excellent.

I wonder how long do I have to learn to achieve your level of skill and above ?

Hi cyborg,

To be fair, there is an element of luck in every investment; and the skill part is where we mitigate our risks with respect to losing a substantial portion of our investment. When I use the word "luck", I am referring to some catalyst or event which may spur a sudden and unexpected upward re-rating of a stock to its intrinsic or fair value.

In order to achieve the required skill and experience of a seasoned investor, I'd say a ballpark number of years may be around 8 to 10, and those years should be almost solely focused on learning, growing and developing as an investor. It's not easy but it's possible! I am currently in my 4th year, and still feel I have tons to learn!

Hi dydx and Musicwhiz. Thank you very much.

(13-11-2010, 10:50 PM)cyborg Wrote: Hi dydx and Musicwhiz. Thank you very much.

To be honest it's just a very small bunch of mavericks gathered here in Value Buddies, and if you narrow it down further there are just probably a handful of really excellent value investors here (I am excluded, of course). So the proportion of such exemplary investors is, in actuality, very low amongst the general populace. In fact, even among my own circle of friends and peers, not a single one has shown any inclination towards value investing. Most, if not all, employ various combinations of fundamentals, technical and "tikam" analysis!

I think the hardest aspect of value investing is staying true to your values through all kinds of market cycles. Being steadfast during raging bull markets requires the greatest fortitude and mental control in order to resist following the lemmings to their "doom".