Auric Pacific Group

[dydx]

I have noticed Auric Pacific shot up $0.08 - a whopping 10.4%! - to close at $0.85 yesterday (22Apr16, Friday). Notwithstanding the huge accounting loss recorded in FY15 and the cancellation of the usual final dividend, the counter has since 30Mar16 advanced a total of $0.145 - or a solid 20.6%! - from the recent low of $0.705. Something positive in the making? Do fellow valuebuddies have anything from the grapevine to share?

[dydx]

Auric Pacific's subsidiary Sunshine Bakeries has recently introduced yet another new bread product - Smart-Carb Low G.I. Bread - which is available islandwide.....
http://www.sunshine.com.sg/make-a-smart-...g-i-bread/

I have tried it, and it is great-tasting and supposed to be healthier!

[dydx]

1Q (ended 31Mar16) result just out and makes interesting reading.....
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/SGXNet%2...eID=401921

The revamped group operations finally produced a profit turnaround and recorded a NP of $3.52m in 1Q, translating to an EPS of $0.028/share (based on the 125.667m outstanding issued shares). The group operations also produced a positive aftertax FCF of approx. $6.4m, before accounting for changes in working capital items, and capex of $1.52m. This is a positive development and if sustained, would point to Auric Pacific Group having an annual EPS of minimum $0.10/share and a FCF of minimum $0.20/share for this FY16.

I suppose the above explains why the ED and senior management have been buying shares from the open-market lately.

If Auric Pacific is able to produce sustainable and decent profits from its well-established businesses, it is conceivable that Mr Market will sooner or later re-rate this counter towards its justified fair value, which rationally speaking should be at a premium above its latest NAV/share of $1.32.

[dydx]

Following last night's 1Q result announcement, Mr Market today chirpily chased up Auric Pacific's share price to an intra-day high of $0.92, before closing at $0.90 - up $0.075 or 9.1%! As only 120,800 shares were transacted today, it appears that the buyers could be those early birds who read and reacted to the announcement.

[dydx]

Interesting and informative AGM presentation slides.....
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/AGM%20Pr...eID=402374

[dydx]

Interesting and informative AGM presentation slides.....
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/AGM%20Pr...eID=402374

From the slides, I was rather surprised that based on Nielsen retail audit, Auric Pacific's Sunshine Bakeries has a 29.9% (+2.5% YoY) market share in SG for Apr-Mar16; for the period Apr-Feb16, SCS Butter has a 38% (unchanged) market share in SG and 40% (+9% YoY!) in MY, and Buttercup butterblend has a dominant 78% (+5% YoY!) in MY. That led me to explore the respective subsidiaries/brands' websites and Facebook pages, which are very informative and interesting to visit.....

http://www.sunshine.com.sg
https://www.facebook.com/SunshineBakeries/timeline

http://www.scsdairy.com
https://www.facebook.com/SCSdairySG
https://www.facebook.com/scsdairymalaysia/?fref=ts

http://www.buttercup.com.my
http://www.buttercup.com.my/products
https://www.facebook.com/kelab.cinta.ketuhar/timeline

Without doubt, these in-house brands are very well-established and are being actively marketed, including with the use of social media. Welcome to the internet age and the increasingly powerful internet social media marketing!

Additional info on Auric Pacific's less spectacular Food Junction and Delifrance Singapore/Hong Kong operations.....

http://www.foodjunction.com

http://www.delifrance.com.sg
https://www.facebook.com/DelifranceSingapore

http://www.delifrance.com.hk/en/home/index.asp

[dydx]

2Q result out last evening.....
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/SGXNet%2...eID=416310

and Auric Pacific's share price has been chased up by $0.095 - a cool 10.6%! - this morning to reach the last last of $0.995. It appears there are quite a few people out there who have taken notice of and understood the sharp increase in underlying operating earnings (as measured by PBT adjusted for one-off provisions items) to $7.73m (after adding back $5,561k in allowance for impairment on unquoted investment funds, and $600k in allowance for impairment on property, plant and equipment) in 2Q-FY16, from $3.349m in 2Q-FY15. This very positive increasing trend is even more pronounced when compared with the underlying operating earnings of 1Q-FY16 at $4.858m.

[kyle]

It shows a clear turnaround trend after the management's strategic move towards focusing on its core strength while shutting down those under-performing restaurant. Soon, people will realize the great cash generating ability from these well-established core business.


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[dydx]

Auric Pacific's share price - last done at $1.05 - has gone up by $0.15 (or a cool 16.7%!) since 10Aug16. Based on the company's latest 125.667m outstanding issued shares, market cap now stands at $132.0m. Is this good enough?

Well, IMHO, just the Manufacturing segment (comprising the well-established "Sunshine" bread, "SCS" and "Buttercup" range of butter/margarine) - which in last FY15 recorded a revenue of $51.0m (+8% YoY) and a profit of $10.6m (+43% YoY) - itself should fetch a conservative value of minimum $100.0m if sold. This means the value of Auric Pacific's well-established businesses - Wholesale/Distribution, Food Retail (DeliFrance), and Food Court (Food Junction) - remains very much unrecognised by Mr Market yet.

[dydx]

In the latest disclosures of ED Dr Andy Adhiwana's open-market purchases on 11Aug16 and 12Aug16.....
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/_eFORM1V...eID=417592
he actually paid as high as $1.03/share, and has now raised his personal beneficial interest held under his private investment company Goldstream Capital Limited (itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bravado International Ltd), to 26.5% (33,306,511 shares).

Based on Auric Pacific's last done share price of $1.06, Dr Andy's stake is now worth a cool $35.3m! I wonder where does he get his money to buy the shares?