Bintan yard, the next growth driver
BUY Maintain
Target: S$0.56
10 Sep 2008
Recap – record earnings for FY08. Turnover was S$157.8m, up 58% YoY, on the back of an increase in revenue from its Heavy Lift and Haulage and Fabrication & Engineering segments. In line with the record turnover achieved, PATMI was up 24% YoY, reaching S$28.0m from S$22.5m previously. Gross profit margin, on the other hand, dipped slightly from 39.8% a year ago to 35.4%, due to the lower margins of its Fabrication & Engineering segment. EPS increased from 6.67 S¢ to 8.28 S¢.
Focus on Bintan fabrication yard. For its next growth driver, TWC would be focusing on providing ship repair services for tug boats and barges at their yard. The 64 ha fabrication yard has a wharf of 372m and a natural water depth of 12m. This enables it to accommodate vessels up to 120,000 DWT. Management’s decision to take on more ship repair jobs versus ship building contracts is due to the relatively higher margins, quicker turnaround time as well as lower working capital required. Each ship repair assignment for tugboats and barges has an average duration of approximately one month.
Constructing a new slipway to optimize efficiency. TWC plans to construct another slipway, costing S$0.6m in the yard for ship repair. This additional slipway would facilitate TWC to maximise the inland area for repair works and enhance operational efficiency by reducing congestion and improving the speed of vessels moving in and out of the yard. Traditionally, companies would repair the vessels on the slipway and hence only one repair job can be carried out per slipway, at any point in time. By building another slipway, TWC can utilise their multi-axle transporters to move the vessels further inland for repair works from one slipway and to transport the vessel out from the other slipway when repairs are completed.
Gearing expected to reduce post vessel delivery. The S$64.8m pipe lay barge (PLB) contract awarded in Sept 07 was about 40% completed as at end Jun 08. There was some delay by Norce Offshore Pte Ltd, which falls under permissible delays in the terms of the contract. As such, TWC is not liable for the postponement of vessel delivery date. After the PLB is delivered in Mar 09, we expect TWC’s gross gearing to ease off from its current 90% in FY08 to approximately 66% in FY09, as borrowings had increased due to the PLB contract.
With approximately 1300 workers stationed at the yard and TWC’s aggressive marketing, management is confident of their ability to grow the yard’s operations to the next level.
Maintain BUY, fair value of S$0.56. We remain positive on TWC’s prospects from their exposure to the still buoyant oil and gas and petrochemical sectors as well as their niche position as one of the few specialised contractors that support these industries. With TWC trading below its book value of S$0.39, we maintain our buy rating and fair value of S$0.56, based on industry average of 6x prospective P/E.
