Micro-Mechanics (Holdings)

MICRO-MECHANICS RANKED TOP FOR FAIR TREATMENT AND PROTECTION OF SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHTS IN ASIAMONEY POLL

Micro-Mechanics has been voted "Best for Shareholders' Rights and Equitable Treatment in Singapore" for the second year running in Asiamoney's latest annual Corporate Governance Poll. The Group is honoured to share top spot for the award this year with Singapore Telecommunications Limited.

The results of Asiamoney's 8th annual corporate governance poll were published in the December/January issue. Winners were chosen based on responses from 146 senior executives and research analysts from 113 firms in the Asia Pacific region. These professionals nominated more than 288 companies across the
region. Asiamoney is a leading financial publication owned by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, an international media group.

The category for "Shareholders' Rights and Equitable Treatment" rates companies for their protection of shareholders' rights, fairness in treatment of all shareholders, and shareholders' meetings among other criteria.

Full story can be downloaded from http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...E0009B57D/$file/MMH-AsiamoneyCG-award2010-4Jan2011.pdf?openelement

(vested)

This is a very well run company, with exceptionally open management.

You can count on the board and the mgt to take good care of shareholders.

However, it is a tough business.

this is extracted from the latest ocbc research report on the semi equipment industry:

Capital equipment market showing signs of correction.
However, the outlook for the semiconductor capital equipment
segment is not as rosy as the chip market. Based on statistics
by SEMI, the North American chip equipment industry has
continued to show signs of weakness, with worldwide bookings
down 5.3% MoM (fourth consecutive sequential decline since
Aug) and book-to-bill ratio down from 0.98 in Oct to 0.96 in
Nov (second straight month below parity). On a similar chord,
Gartner had also recently trimmed its 2011 global
semiconductor equipment spending forecast to reflect a 1%
decline (reversing the 4.9% increase as projected in Sep), as
it anticipates the equipment industry to soften after a strong
rebound in 2010. This muted outlook suggests that companies
with exposure to the segment may possibly face slower growth
in the year.

Micro-Mechanics releases 2Q11 results on Saturday, 29 Jan 11. (link)

Last time same period, they gave an interim dividend of 1 cent. Looking forward to their results.

(Vested)

[Added the following at 13:07, 27 Jan 11]

Extracted the following from last quarters statement release.

Semiconductor Tooling
"While the beginning of 2Q11 is typically a busy period, we expect growth to slow during the later part of the quarter as chip production for the year-end holiday season winds down."

"we believe chip manufacturing will continue to expand in China over the long term. To ensure we have sufficient floor space to smoothly expand our operations in China over the next several years, we have commenced plans to outfit a larger factory building in Suzhou."

Let's see if gross profits and accounts receivables keep up for the quarter. Also expect the ~$2.6 mil worth of expenses for outfitting the factory.

Custom Machining and Assembly (CMA)
"In September, our plant in the USA recorded its first monthly profit since our CMA operations there began two years ago (after acquiring the assets of AMP3 LLC). With sales of nearly S$1 million and a profit of about S$50k in September, we are starting to realise the results of our hard work and are optimistic of the possibilities for building a successful CMA division."

Let's see if the CMA division continues to pay off.

There are tons of other interesting bits in the last quarter report. Looking at past ARs also reveal a company that is in a pretty niche segment of the industry. Management is also competent and been in the business for a long time.

I'm guessing many investors don't like this company because of its illiquidity and the fact that it is in the semi-con industry which is cyclical.

I used to own quite a fair bit of this one. Cut half and ploughed to ARA.
They have a very sensible and responsible management, unfortunately
it is not a fast growth area and always pump $ into capex. Tough biz...


Since starting our CMA operations in the USA, our focus has been on building a foundation for growth with only
minimal capex spending. With this business on a more stable footing now, the next phase is to upgrade and
improve our manufacturing capability. As such, we have placed an order for a new automated line of equipment
in December 2010. At a cost of nearly S$3 million, this is the largest single investment on equpment in theGroup’s history.

While there is always the possibility that unforseen problems may occur, we have worked hard to
understand the engineering issues and minimize those risks. In addition to extensive studies and reviews, our
agreement with the key equipment supplier clearly defines mutual performance expectations. The
agreement also includes, with much appreciation to our supplier, a schedule of staggered, interest-free payments which we
believe should allow us to finance the investment without borrowing. With this state-of-the-art manufacturing
system to be installed at the end of FY2011, we intend to develope a completely new way of manufacturing
complex parts in a fully-automated, 24/7 environment. Besides the USA, we intend to expand this platform to one
of the Group’s facilities in Asia eventually. Ultimately, our aim is to offer our customers access to world-class
machining facilities in the USA and Asia – “a global machining solution”.

Micro-Mechanics releases 3Q results on 30 Apr 11 (link here)

(Vested)

FY2013 results are out. Link to Investor Relations page here.

Seems like not many people and Buddies following this company, which is a pity imo. Not a company that will give you outsized returns overnight but management is honest and seems to be doing good work.

Will post in detail as soon as I've poured through the results in detail.

Kind of like the tortoise from 'Tortoise and the Hare'.

(31-08-2013, 10:45 PM)kazukirai Wrote: FY2013 results are out. Link to Investor Relations page here.

Seems like not many people and Buddies following this company, which is a pity imo. Not a company that will give you outsized returns overnight but management is honest and seems to be doing good work.

Will post in detail as soon as I've poured through the results in detail.

Kind of like the tortoise from 'Tortoise and the Hare'.

A quick look at Historical Price data. Rather low volume and most days, not a single lot done. This can be considered as a risk for some and may be the main reason why it's not as well followed? But, for those with the patience and holding power (like you), I suppose it can be very rewarding?

How liquidity risk affects global stock returns
CBS Money Watch August 28, 2012

Sometime ago, I did compare between this company with UMS. At the end, I choose UMS due to their higher capitalisation and dividend yield.

(31-08-2013, 10:45 PM)kazukirai Wrote: FY2013 results are out. Link to Investor Relations page here.

Seems like not many people and Buddies following this company, which is a pity imo. Not a company that will give you outsized returns overnight but management is honest and seems to be doing good work.

Will post in detail as soon as I've poured through the results in detail.

Kind of like the tortoise from 'Tortoise and the Hare'.

i am looking through the results. may do a post on it. it looks good but i think its fcf looks better because of lower than average capex.