ITC Corp (0372)

[soros]

A company to watch is - ITC ( 372.HK), a listed company managed by Mr Charles Chan who is known in HK as the "Shell (company) King".

The recent company report showed ITC, at 25 Nov 2011 , has several subsidiaries including:

Rosedale Hotel ( 1189.HK) - 29% stake
PYI Corp (498.HK) - 26% stake
ITC Properties ( 199.HK) - 24% stake
Burcon Nutrascience - 21% stake ( listed in Canada )

Recent press announcements -

Rosedale Hotels has sold its new Kowloon hotel building for HK$1.317 Billion to a Singapore based company ( Ascendas Hospitality Holdings Pte Ltd ) and will recognise a gain of $474 Mil.
ITC Properties has sold a 45% stake in Guizhou JV Resort Project for HK$280 Million and sold a 65% interest in Paragon Winner ( Sanya golf and Hotel Venture) for approx HK$755 Million.
PYI has sold 50% interest in Yankou Port Co for about RMB1.5 Billion.

ITC has increased its stake in Rosedale Hotels by 28 Mil shares
ITC has increased its stake in ITC Properties from 24% to 37.93%.

ITC has total assets of $2.478 Billion
ITC has total issued shares of 777,028,676

Clearly ITC is a company in transformation and the current price of only HK$0.36 must look interesting.

[soros]

The company declared a good profit result last month with a final dividend of 3 cents ( ex-div 23 Aug ).

Current market price now standing higher at 51 cents .

[pacyfiq]

The company declared a good profit result last month with a final dividend of 3 cents ( ex-div 23 Aug ).

Current market price now standing higher at 51 cents .

Thank you so much, i didn t know this company before, look interesting. Do you know what' the NAV and debts? Why it's so cheap, any reason?

[soros]

1. NAV shown on some HK broker websites at $3.30 but there are some convertible loan stock due to be repaid in about 16 months.
So after converted , I expect real NAV may be $2.10

2. The debt/equity ratio is about 6.5%

3. Its cheap due to poor dividend record - cos 2 years ago , it paid Nil dividend . last year 2 cents dividend and this year 4 cents dividend .

[soros]

The interim report for 1H2012 ( dated 28 Nov 12) has reported higher profit and eps 20.79 cents ( diluted 10.04 cents)
and Int Div at 1 cent declared.

The shareprice now stands at HK$0.52

[soros]

ITC Properties ( 00199.HK ) now 39% owned by ITC Corp (0372.HK)
has reported interim profit at $400 Mil compared to loss of $89 Mil for corres.period last year. Eps = $1.06 and dividend at 5 cents ( Nil) .

[soros]

Here are some recents announcements relating to member companies of ITC Corp .

22 Nov 2012 - Yau Lee ( 00406.HK) granted studio City Project at Cotai Macau
YAU LEE HOLD (00406.HK) announced that the contract for the construction of a project known as Studio City at Cotai, Macau, a cinematically-themed integrated entertainment, retail and gaming resort for Studio City Developments Limited, a 60% owned indirect subsidiary of MELCO CROWN (06883.HK), a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused on the Macau market, has been awarded to the PAUL Y. ENG (00577.HK) and Yau Lee Construction (Macau) Company Limited as joint venture.

3 Jan 2013 – PYI Corp (00498.HK ) announcement
PYI CORP (00498.HK) received early the payment of nearly RMB660 million for the 50.1% interest in Yangkou Port Co. The stock gained 8% to $0.189 today, with trading volume surging to 63.07 million shares.

ITC CORPORATION (00372.HK), a substantial shareholder of PYI CORP, rose 8% to $0.54, with trading volume soaring to 6.41 million shares.

25 Jan 2013 - Paul Y Eng (00577.HK) completes placing 2.94 B shares
PAUL Y. ENG (00577.HK) and PYI CORP (00498.HK) jointly announced that PAUL Y. ENG is placing a total of 2.938 billion shares at $0.68, representing 82.88% of the enlarged share capital, raising $1.998 billion; and convertible bonds of $1.202 billion in par value.

[soros]

I found this report on Paul Y Engg (00577.HK) dated 7 Feb 2012 posted on the Macau Business Daily website :

Developer says it is ready to start building five-star hotel on the Cotai-Coloane border but gaming still ‘subject to approval’
Paul Y. Engineering Group Ltd (PYE) has bought a company that holds a Macau plot that the company wants to turn into a US$800 million (6.4 billion patacas) hotel and boutique casino.
The acquisition of Falloncroft Investments Ltd, the entity holding a piece of land next to the One Oasis residential project, was completed on Tuesday, the company told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The amount paid by Paul Y. Engineering for the 65,000 square feet (6,038 sq. metres) plot located on the Cotai-Coloane border was not disclosed but an earlier filing mentioned a cost of US$250 million.
Falloncroft “has been granted the POA [power of attorney] … to construct and operate a five-star hotel with ancillary retail and entertainment facilities,” said the filing.
The project currently known as ‘Casino Louis XIII’ could include gaming, “subject to the approval of the Macau Government,” it added.
Paul Y. Engineering is investing in Falloncroft “as a service provider to a [Macau gaming] concessionaire/sub-concessionaire, taking account of the risks on whether gaming approval is granted to that concessionaire/sub-concessionaire or not,” deputy chairman Tom Lau Ko Yuen told Business Daily last month.
A person with knowledge of the process told Business Daily also last month that the government is yet to give out any permission for gaming facilities on the plot.
Falloncroft, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated private firm, is chaired by Stephen Hung, who has now become executive director and joint chairman of Paul Y. Engineering.
A company indirectly owned by Mr Hung’s son bought 19.91 percent of the company’s shares as part of a placement of shares worth almost HK$2 billion completed on Tuesday.
The operation, which also included the issuing of HK$1.2 billion in convertible bonds, allowed Paul Y. Engineering to raise HK$3.2 billion.
But only HK$778 million will be used to “commence construction of the hotel and other aspects of the project,” the company said.
As a result of the placement of shares, port and infrastructure group PYI Corporation Ltd, which was PYE’s parent company, has seen its stake fall from 61.92 percent to just 10.6 percent.
But even that stake is “available-for-sale,” the company told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

[soros]

Howard Winn wrote this in South China Morning Post ( 22 Feb 2013 )

Former employees of Paul Y Engineering, one of the most respected names in Hong Kong construction, have reacted with disbelief to plans to change the name of the firm to Louis XIII Holdings. The move has been prompted by the decision to build a five star 236-room hotel and casino complex, called Louis XIII, on the Cotai Strip in Macau. Paul Y Engineering, which "traces its origins to Shanghai in 1946" according to the firm's website, has been involved in building the North Lantau Expressway, the Cheung Kong Center, Polytechnic University and the Ting Kau Bridge among other projects. Danny Chung, a former Paul Y surveyor, said the name change was "unbelievable. Our predecessors will be rolling in their graves (or niches)". He added: "I can't think of a more embarrassing name for a company. To see Paul Y and other brother companies reduced to being a subsidiary of a French monarch …"

[soros]

Some recent news on ITC Properties (00199.HK) copied from a stockbrokers website

7 Feb 2013
ITC PROPERTIES (00199.HK) announced that it acquired nearly 153 million shares, or 4.32% of the share capital, of PAUL Y. ENG (00577.HK) for a total cash consideration of $99.6 million during the period from January 25 to February 6.

1 March 2013
ITC PROPERTIES (00199.HK) announced that ITC CORPORATION (00372.HK) intends to exercise its options attached to the $350 million convertible bonds held. Afterwards, ITC CORPORATION's stake in the company would be boosted to around 59.89% from 42.74%.