• Singapore’s 5 most traded Consumer Cyclical stocks include Genting Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Sri Trang Agro-Industry and Accordia Golf Trust. Together the 5 stocks, have businesses that span multiple industries, as well as Singapore, ASEAN, Japan in addition to China.

• Sri Trang Agro-Industry has been the strongest performer of the 5 stocks – lodging a 179% total return in the 2020 year to 23 Sep. For its 2QFY20, the company reported revenue of 15,256.1 million baht and net profit of 1,093.7 million baht, increasing 305.0% y-o-y and 28.0% q-o-q.

• Genting Singapore was the most traded of the 5 Consumer Cyclical stocks, and declined 21% in the 2020 year to 23 Sep. Coinciding with a comparative low debt-to-asset ratio of 3%, the stock has seen net institutional inflows of S$89 million in the 2020 year to 23 Sep, making it a top 5 STI stock by YTD net institutional inflows.

Singapore’s 5 most traded Consumer Cyclical stocks include Genting Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Sri Trang Agro-Industry and Accordia Golf Trust with the combined average daily turnover of the 5 stocks at S$58 in the 2020 year to 23 September.

Source: SGX StockFacts, Refinitv, Bloomberg (Data as of 23 September 2020)

Following the recent season of financial reporting, a number of observations on these diverse businesses were made, as follows:

Genting Singapore (SGX:G13)

• The Group suffered a net loss of S$163.3 million for 2Q 2020, the worst quarter since the opening of our Singapore Integrated Resorts, as a result of the devastating effect of COVID-19 for this reporting period.
• With air travel reduced to a near standstill and international borders severely restricted, its commercial proposition has become non-viable in this period. Since March 2020, RWS has swiftly embarked on a cost control exercise including payroll savings across the board with management taking the most reduction.
• With the Government’s implementation of the Circuit Breaker and the continued rigorous entry restraints to foreign visitors, the medium term outlook for the entire travel environment remains significantly challenged.
• Notwithstanding the strong headwinds and the severe impact on the Group’s financial results for the first half of 2020, the Group remains steadfast and pragmatic in navigating through this period of disruption. To weather through and ride out this crisis, the Group will necessitate preservation of its resources.
• As Singapore moves carefully towards the recovery phase from the COVID-19, the Group is are working closely with the authorities on its S$4.5 billion mega expansion plan (RWS 2.0) to transform its IR to be a centrepiece of Singapore’s tourism. The timeline of the project will however be impacted due to design changes required by safety management measures and disruption to the construction industry and global supply chain caused by COVID-19. It is also envisioned that new design changes will be necessary to adapt to the post-COVID-19 environment.
• In relation to its Japan IR investment opportunity, the Group has participated in the Request-for-Concept (RFC) by Yokohama City and will continue to monitor the developments in anticipation of the launch of Request-for-Proposal (RFP) in 2H 2020.
• Moving forward, the Group believe its customer-centric offerings and commitment to provide unique and differentiated experiences are key to its progress and an enabler to traverse through this crisis.

 For the full results release, click here.

Singapore Press Holdings (SGX:T39)

Media

• On 18 August, SPH announced that it is restructuring its media sales and magazines operations as part of its media transformation roadmap and to address the impact of COVID-19 on its advertising revenue.
  • The exercise will impact about 140 staff from the Media Solutions Division (MSD) and SPH Magazines, about 5% of the overall Media Group’s headcount.
  • It will incur retrenchment costs of approximately S$8 million.
• Despite ad revenue decline, overall YTD total circulation rose 9.8% y-o-y with digital circulation growth of 52.6% y-o-y.
• Since the crisis, the company has reviewed its costs, cut back on discretionary spending and instituted pay cuts for senior management.
• In March this year, SPH announced that its directors (including the CEO) and senior management would take voluntary pay cuts of 10% and 5% respectively.

Retail

• Retail operations in Singapore and Australia focused on COVID-19 recovery.
• Sales and construction progress of Woodleigh Residences and The Woodleigh Mall affected.

Purpose-Built Student Accommodation

• COVID-19 in UK continues to affect domestic and international students’ enrolment.
• Achieved 83% of target revenue for AY20/21 as at 14 Aug 2020, up from 75% on 10 July, with booking season extended to Jan 2021.
• Disruptions to construction of Student Castle Oxford and Student Castle Brighton being addressed.

Aged Care

• Operations stable for Orange Valley assets with no new COVID-19 case.
• Business as usual for Japan assets.
• Completed the acquisition of the remaining two assets in Hokkaido on 12 Aug.

Capital Management

• Financial profile remains healthy.
• COVID-19 expected to negatively impact the revaluation of investment properties as at 31 Aug.

For the full corporate update, click here.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage (SGX:C07)

• The Group’s underlying profit attributable to shareholders was 66% lower than the same period last year at US$138 million, due to the significant impact of COVID-19 and its economic consequences.
  • Excluding the impact of foreign exchange from the translation of foreign currency loans in JC&C parent company, underlying profit would be 55% lower than last year.
• Astra saw significantly weaker performances from its automotive, financial services and heavy equipment and mining operations as COVID-19 containment measures implemented across most of Indonesia caused severe disruption to Astra’s operations.
• The contribution from the Group’s Direct Motor Interests and Thaco was substantially lower as automotive operations were suspended during 2Q due to lockdown restrictions.
• The Group also saw a lower contribution from its investment in Vinamilk due to the timing of the declaration of its interim dividend, which will be recognised by JC&C in 2H 2020, whereas last year it was declared and recognised in 1H.
• COVID-19 is expected to continue to adversely affect the Group’s performance for at least the rest of 2020.
• The Group has been focused on reducing operational and capital expenditure, managing working capital and ensuring liquidity.
• The Board remains confident that the Group’s strong financial position and clear strategic priorities will position it well to deliver long-term growth.

For the full results release, click here.

Sri Trang Agro Industry (SGX:NC2)

• Revenue in 2Q20 came in at 15,256.1 million baht and net profit at 1,093.7 million baht, increasing 305.0% y-o-y and 28.0% q-o-q.
• The natural rubber (NR) industry felt the full impact of COVID-19 in 2Q20, with both demand and prices dropping.
  • The IRSG has revised down its forecast of global NR demand in 2020 to 12.12 million tons, 13.4% lower than the previous estimate of 14.04 million tons.
  • NR prices were also impacted by the global economic slowdown and the drop in demand.
• In downstream operations of glove production, the worldwide spread of COVID-19 led to a substantial increase in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves from the medical and other sectors, as well as demand from new consumers.
  • Its sales volume for gloves in 2Q20 was 7,414 million pieces, growing 63.1% y-o-y and 18.1% q-o-q, with higher average selling prices (ASP) and gross profit margins.

Upstream business

• As of 30 June 2020, the company had approximately 7,200 hectares of rubber plantations in 19 provinces of Thailand, with the majority located in the north and northeast.
• Some of the rubber trees on its plantations have been providing yields since 2015, facilitating the raw material sourcing in its core midstream operation.
  • The company estimate that in 2020, the rubber trees that can be tapped will make up around 25% of total rubber trees, up from 11% in 2019.
• The company received Forest Management Certification and Chain-of-Custody Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), making us the world’s first fully integrated NR producer to be recognized by the FSC throughout the supply chain.

Midstream business

• As of 30 June 2020, the company had 2.86 million tons per annum in installed production capacity from 36 production facilities (32 Thailand, 3 in Indonesia, and 1 in Myanmar).
• The company have introduced more automation to its production process in order to improve efficiency, reduce energy consumption and become more environmentally friendly.
• The company have launched the application “SriTrang Friends” to facilitate raw material procurement.
• The company intend to eventually achieve “STA 20”, or to capture a market share of 20% of “global NR consumption” – in 2019, its market share was 8% of global NR consumption.

Downstream business

• Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Public Company Limited (STGT), one of Sri Trang Group’s flagship companies, engages in the production and distribution of latex and nitrile examination and industrial gloves to customers in over 140 countries around the world.
• With an annual installed production capacity of 33 billion pieces as of 30 June 2020, STGT is Thailand’s biggest glove producer and is ranked among the  world’s leading producers – in 2019, STGT had a market share of 7% of global glove consumption.
• STGT completed an initial public offering (IPO) and its shares started trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 2 July 2020.
  • STGT received Baht 14.6 billion in IPO proceeds (net of expenses), which will be used toward the planned capacity expansion to serve the global demand for gloves.
  • STGT intends to achieve an annual production capacity of 50 billion pieces by 2023, and 70 billion pieces by 2026, with new capacity first coming from the new Surat Thani plant (SR2) in 1Q21.
  • The remainder of the IPO proceeds will be used for the SAP installation to improve efficiency and loan repayment as well as working capital.
  • After the IPO from 3Q20 onwards, STA still remains a major shareholder of STGT with 56.1% in direct and indirect shareholding.

For the full results release, click here.

Accordia Golf Trust (SGX:ADQU)

• At Accordia Golf Trust’s (AGT) 14 September extraordinary general meeting, 97.55%, or unitholders of some 388 million units, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed divestment of AGT's interests in all its golf courses to its sponsor, Accordia Golf.
• Another 99.4%, or unitholders of about 710 million units, voted for the proposed winding up of the trust.
• In August, Accordia Golf announced that it was willing to fork out 65.2 billion yen to buy over AGT's 88 golf courses in Japan, an increase of 3.4 billion yen from the original purchase price offered in June.
• The board of directors of Accordia Golf, as trustee-manager of AGT, said it expects to proceed with completion of the proposed divestment on 29 September.
• For 1Q FY20/21 ended 30 June 2020, AGT said the performance of the portfolio golf courses has shown a significant decline due to the state of emergency declared in Japan.
• In line with Japan government’s effort to boost local domestic travel and tourism, Accordia has in recent months rolled out discounts and outreach programs to attract golfers from the local community.
• Signs have been encouraging as the number of golfers has gradually recovered to pre-COVID-19 level although play fee is expected to remain lower than last year.
• Although Japan’s state of emergency has been lifted, the implementation of social distancing and safety measures are still in effect today.
• Accordia Group continues to streamline its cost structure to align with new norm while ensuring stringent health and safety protocols.
• With the high degree of uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 and the halting of international travel to Japan, management forecast that the performance of the golf industry will continue to remain muted in the coming months, as the unemployment level in Japan continues to increase and the economy contracts.

For the full results update, click here.