Courts Asia

[felixleong]

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...9003E649F/$file/CAL_AnalystbriefingFY2013.pdf?openelement

results out, earnings came lower

[felixleong]

CourtsAsia Down 5% On Results Below Expectation



Investors were expecting a lot of growth from Court's aggressive plans, however earnings per share for mar FY 13 is only 7.83 cents, a 0.05 cents drop from 7.88 cents last year.

Its stock price had a great run up since IPO and initial investors were rewarded very well with over 40% gain.

However at 13+ times earnings along with weak earnings growth, CourtsAsia looks a bit overvalued to me. I think this counter should be valued more towards 10-12 times earnings instead and it may take a longer time for the market to adjust.

Relatively if we compared CourtsAsia to Challenger which is net cash and trading at 10 times earnings, CourtsAsia definitely seems expensive.

Two major risk on this counter would be its high gearing as borrowing increased from 135mil to 218 mil and secondly whether they will be able to succeed in capturing the Indonesia market.

However on the positive note, I do think both CourtsAsia and Challenger did a great job as compared to Pertama (Harvey Norman) whose earnings dropped over 50% year to date. I strongly believe CourtsAsia and Challenger will be able to continue dominating the market as Pertama (Harvey Norman) is slowly getting out of touch and may face extinction within the decade.

[CityFarmer]

I visited Harvey Norman recently, and noticed a stock clearance sale on selected items, base on cost price (base on the poster info presented). Wow... Harvey Norman is offering a FOC service ...

[byfaith]

On a sidenote, does anyone knows if Gain City is listed ? Each weekend, I saw very long queues at expo (foreign workers) grabbing their electronic stuff.............Lots of sales each week.........good sign ?

[felixleong]

hm.. from my knowledge gain city is not listed
so far only got 3 players listed, courts, challenger, harvey norman

I think that in the next decade, only the top 3 players will have enough economies of scale to survive

the scene should be quite similar to the supermarket industry in singapore, which is dominated by ntuc, Sheng siong and dairy farm

[shanrui_91]

I don't like their press release statement:

"COURTS ASIA’S EBITDA FOR FYMAR2013 UP 11.1% TO S$75.0 MILLION ON HIGHER SALES"

Compare this to their Q2 and Q3 press release where I don't find a single EBITDA word in it and that's because profit growth is strong.
Q2 - http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...4003BE6B4/$file/PressRelease_Second_Quarter_2012.pdf?openelement
Q3 - http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...2003D2852/$file/CAL_pressrelease.pdf?openelement

If a management can think of manipulating words in press release statement, what about the financial statement? Inspired from "Investing Between the Lines"

[Musicwhiz]

I don't like their press release statement:

"COURTS ASIA’S EBITDA FOR FYMAR2013 UP 11.1% TO S$75.0 MILLION ON HIGHER SALES"

Compare this to their Q2 and Q3 press release where I don't find a single EBITDA word in it and that's because profit growth is strong.
Q2 - http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...4003BE6B4/$file/PressRelease_Second_Quarter_2012.pdf?openelement
Q3 - http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...2003D2852/$file/CAL_pressrelease.pdf?openelement

If a management can think of manipulating words in press release statement, what about the financial statement? Inspired from "Investing Between the Lines"

A bit OT, but this reminds me of EuNetworks (former "Global Voice"), where they talk about "EBITDA" almost every quarter. But they've been making losses and burning cash since 2005!

[felixleong]

ya lor, strongly agreed
CEO seems only focused on pushing stock price higher...

[CityFarmer]

An article to know more of the company's CEO...

The Courts CEO who's a little bit of a maverick

At 17, he dropped out of school to work. At 20, he got married and became a father four years later. And by 32, he was Managing Director of electronics and furniture retailer Courts Singapore.

Mr Terry O’Connor, the Chief Executive of Courts Asia today, has not achieved the milestones in his life in the most conventional timeline or order. So it is rather appropriate that the latest feather in his cap, a pacey and engaging book that chronicles his adventures and that of the company, is titled: Why Not? The Story of a Retail Maverick and Courts. Launched this month, the first print run of 2,500 has already sold out.

http://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/p...t-maverick

[felixleong]

very good read thanks