BBR Holdings

[namralk]

Agree with you, GFG. No point in having a Swiss partner & shareholder if the supposedly-superior technology cannot be translated into margins.

Just the other day I witnessed a trailer carrying pre-cast walls. That trailer could only carry 2 pre-cast walls. The walls were placed in an inverted V position so it was for 1 room unit only. If a building is 30 storeys high one can imagine how many trips the transport company must make. Is it truly productive given our already narrow and congested road?

Pre-cast is not necessary a plus for construction company. In fact, the savings from less on-site workers may simply shift to paying the transport companies. On the other hand, companies that owns trailers for transporting would likely enjoy boom time. Anyone knows if there is any SGX listed companies that supply such trailers?

[GFG]

Agree with you, GFG. No point in having a Swiss partner & shareholder if the supposedly-superior technology cannot be translated into margins.

Just the other day I witnessed a trailer carrying pre-cast walls. That trailer could only carry 2 pre-cast walls. The walls were placed in an inverted V position so it was for 1 room unit only. If a building is 30 storeys high one can imagine how many trips the transport company must make. Is it truly productive given our already narrow and congested road?

Pre-cast is not necessary a plus for construction company. In fact, the savings from less on-site workers may simply shift to paying the transport companies. On the other hand, companies that owns trailers for transporting would likely enjoy boom time. Anyone knows if there is any SGX listed companies that supply such trailers?

It's not a plus for the construction companies but it's a necessity. For several gov tenders, they require precast and prefab to be used. And these requirements are increasing. The gov wants more of such elements as more civil engineering projects will increasingly be done in built up areas.
So it's not a plus in terms of profit for these companies.

[GFG]

Yes, the $200m notes probably is to fund the solar business.

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10296p.nsf/...enDocument

The First HDB Solar Leasing Project in Singapore was a 2 MW system which cost $10.9 million was awarded to Sunseap Enterprises Pte Ltd of which $3.28m was paid upfront by the HDB. A highly capex intensive business indeed.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/...z3J0GltoLM

maybe the $200m notes is to fund the solar business? That is a highly capex intensive business as BBR needs to install, maintain and own the solar panels. They get revenue from the power sold (but the rates are capped).

More info needs to be provided if this is a good deal from ROE perspective.

(divested after the dismayed Q3. Learn a lesson regarding unpredictably of project-based businesses)

Thanks for the link. It's actually slightly more reassuring...
HDB is paying up to 30% of the initial costs, followed by purchasing the electricity generated at the prevailing rates or at a slight discount

In BBRs press release, they only mentioned about the clients committing to purchase the electricity at prevailing rates. I was thinking that's not very favorable to BBR. High initial setup costs and there's no premium to the prices after that. Afterall, electricity is a commodity. How about the other client in the other project?
(Besides HDB)
Are they going to cover a portion of the setup fees?
In any case, this green tech segment is likely to be a very very small contributor to the results for FY14 and even 15

[GFG]

The PPVC project is indeed interesting. They engaged Swee Hong as PPVC contractor for NTU project, won on 1 July. But until 2nd Oct, the contract with Swee Hong still being negotiated. 3 months gone by without work in progress?? Can meet the deadline or delay (cost)?
OTOH, on 10 Sep, they acquired the other PPVC contractor, Moderna Homes. What is going on with the past BBR's good & clear communication?

Just realised Moderna Homes is actually based in the States, California.
But it is 1 of 5 suppliers of PPVC in singapore, so there is a natural moat in its business; government mandate construction companies to use PPVC and there are only 5 players to supply it currently:
(Swee Hong/Unitised Building Australia)
Moderna Homes
Sembcorp ESOM
(Unitised Building Australia/EB Rush)
Teambuild

I really find it weird that after acquiring a PPVC player (75%) stake, BBR still needs to subcontract the PPVC to a competitor. Moderna Homes is unable to support the units for the NTU project?
I can only hope its because Moderna Homes has too much orders.

<vested>

[sykn]

I picked up some more at 27 cents today! My belief is that they've had a rough quarter, but the backlog of orders is still huge, so no worries about business here; only have to watch the margins for each project and minimise delays and shoddy workmanship that leads to rework.

[BestPrice]

Same here. Me pick up some at 26.5 cents.

I picked up some more at 27 cents today! My belief is that they've had a rough quarter, but the backlog of orders is still huge, so no worries about business here; only have to watch the margins for each project and minimise delays and shoddy workmanship that leads to rework.

[ksir]

The PPVC project is indeed interesting. They engaged Swee Hong as PPVC contractor for NTU project, won on 1 July. But until 2nd Oct, the contract with Swee Hong still being negotiated. 3 months gone by without work in progress?? Can meet the deadline or delay (cost)?
OTOH, on 10 Sep, they acquired the other PPVC contractor, Moderna Homes. What is going on with the past BBR's good & clear communication?

Just realised Moderna Homes is actually based in the States, California.
But it is 1 of 5 suppliers of PPVC in singapore, so there is a natural moat in its business; government mandate construction companies to use PPVC and there are only 5 players to supply it currently:
(Swee Hong/Unitised Building Australia)
Moderna Homes
Sembcorp ESOM
(Unitised Building Australia/EB Rush)
Teambuild

I really find it weird that after acquiring a PPVC player (75%) stake, BBR still needs to subcontract the PPVC to a competitor. Moderna Homes is unable to support the units for the NTU project?
I can only hope its because Moderna Homes has too much orders.

<vested>

The acquisition of moderna was after the announcement of NTU project. That probably explains the difficulty in switching vendor.

CMIIW, i think the one in US does not have any link to this Moderna Homes:
http://www.homesmoderna.com

[GFG]

The PPVC project is indeed interesting. They engaged Swee Hong as PPVC contractor for NTU project, won on 1 July. But until 2nd Oct, the contract with Swee Hong still being negotiated. 3 months gone by without work in progress?? Can meet the deadline or delay (cost)?
OTOH, on 10 Sep, they acquired the other PPVC contractor, Moderna Homes. What is going on with the past BBR's good & clear communication?

Just realised Moderna Homes is actually based in the States, California.
But it is 1 of 5 suppliers of PPVC in singapore, so there is a natural moat in its business; government mandate construction companies to use PPVC and there are only 5 players to supply it currently:
(Swee Hong/Unitised Building Australia)
Moderna Homes
Sembcorp ESOM
(Unitised Building Australia/EB Rush)
Teambuild

I really find it weird that after acquiring a PPVC player (75%) stake, BBR still needs to subcontract the PPVC to a competitor. Moderna Homes is unable to support the units for the NTU project?
I can only hope its because Moderna Homes has too much orders.

<vested>

The acquisition of moderna was after the announcement of NTU project. That probably explains the difficulty in switching vendor.

CMIIW, i think the one in US does not have any link to this Moderna Homes:
http://www.homesmoderna.com

Oh yes, just realised it's a separate company, although it's also involved in PPVC
I added to my stake at 0.265 too
Valuations are still compelling
Final yr EPS should come in at a minimum of 4cents (assuming no more surprises)
(Vested)

[GFG]

The PPVC project is indeed interesting. They engaged Swee Hong as PPVC contractor for NTU project, won on 1 July. But until 2nd Oct, the contract with Swee Hong still being negotiated. 3 months gone by without work in progress?? Can meet the deadline or delay (cost)?
OTOH, on 10 Sep, they acquired the other PPVC contractor, Moderna Homes. What is going on with the past BBR's good & clear communication?

Just realised Moderna Homes is actually based in the States, California.
But it is 1 of 5 suppliers of PPVC in singapore, so there is a natural moat in its business; government mandate construction companies to use PPVC and there are only 5 players to supply it currently:
(Swee Hong/Unitised Building Australia)
Moderna Homes
Sembcorp ESOM
(Unitised Building Australia/EB Rush)
Teambuild

I really find it weird that after acquiring a PPVC player (75%) stake, BBR still needs to subcontract the PPVC to a competitor. Moderna Homes is unable to support the units for the NTU project?
I can only hope its because Moderna Homes has too much orders.

<vested>

The acquisition of moderna was after the announcement of NTU project. That probably explains the difficulty in switching vendor.

CMIIW, i think the one in US does not have any link to this Moderna Homes:
http://www.homesmoderna.com

I don't think it's a problem of difficulty in switching vendor cos BBR and even SweeHong have both said that there's no contract or agreement so far. Nobody has committed as yet.

[BestPrice]

政府日前宣布，一些地段将须使用工厂预制体积建设（Pre-fabricated Pre-finished Volumetric Construction，简称PPVC）技术，义顺的地段将是首两个使用该技术的地段之一。

See more at: http://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/singap...Di20U.dpuf