COMMENTS ON CAREPLUS GROUP BERHAD (0136) – UPDATE FEB 2021

FIGURE 1: CAREPLUS GROUP BERHAD LAST 5 YEARS SHARE PRICE TREND

 

**analysis based on 2019 annual report.

1.       GENERAL INTRO: CAREPLUS is one of the major latex and nitrile gloves manufacturers in Malaysia.

 

2.       NOTABLE POINTS:

a.       Currently, Malaysia successfully kept her position as the market leader in medical gloves export with a commanding 63% of the total global demand, followed by Thailand, China and Indonesia at 18%, 10% and 3% respectively. The global glove demand rose from 268 billion in 2018 to 300 billion in 2019. In 2020 this demand is expected to reach 330 billion on the back of a surge caused by the outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

b.      Overall, the glove industry continues to face challenges from labour shortages, both foreign and local. Regulations and trade barriers over the sales of gloves continue to challenge Malaysian manufacturers to upgrade and improve on their processes and systems to comply with the latest requirements. In 2018, the Group installed vision cameras to its existing automation system for auto stripping and stacking machine. In 2019, it enhanced the efficiency by installing new auto packing machine to reduce manpower requirements. The industry continues to deal with ongoing issues of energy costs, currency fluctuations, seasonal latex shortages and water rationing during the drought season.

c.       The Group produced more nitrile gloves in 2019 compared to the previous years. Out of the total capacity of 4.1 billion pieces, a total of 3.5 billion pieces were produced in 2019 generating a capacity utilization efficiency of 85%. Of these 2.4 billion pieces (69%) were latex glove, 0.9 billion pieces (26%) nitrile gloves and 0.2 billion pieces (5%) surgical gloves. In the coming years the Group project more nitrile and surgical gloves to be produced to meet rising demands.

d.      In FY 2019, performance wise the Group sustained a loss after tax of RM7.8 million compared to a profit after tax of RM3.7 million for 2018. Contributing factors are sales price erosion and high overheads from one of its subsidiaries. The losses were reversed to profitability in 2020 due to surging gloves demand brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

3.       IS THIS COUNTER A STRONG GROWTH STOCK?        

a.       REVENUE RANGE (RM million): 365.1 million as reported in 2019 annual report, this is a medium revenue company.

b.      SHARE PRICE: from 2016-2021, share price surged from around RM0.10 to a peak of RM4.00 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and then subsequently dropped back to current level of around RM2.20.

c.       EARNING PER SHARE (EPS): earning per share in last 5 years was overall poor, which ranged from -1.55 to 0.16 sen, except for FY2020, the increased gloves demand brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic enabled CAREPLUS to realise an earning per share of up to 15.06 sen.

d.      PRICE TO EARNINGS (P/E) RATIO: current P/E ratio is at 15.08, which is not too high.

e.      FUTURE POTENTIAL/PROSPECTS: share price expect to be stable in the next few years

f.        CAPITAL EXPENDITURE (CAPEX): spending on purchase of new fixed assets and other investments amount to about RM 20.3 million, which is around 7% of total assets.

 

4.       IS THIS A STRONG DIVIDEND STOCK?             

a.       DIVIDEND YIELD: in 2019 financial year, CAREPLUS did not declare a dividend payout to shareholders.

b.      DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO: N/A.

c.       CONSISTENCY: the dividend payout was not consistent, the dividend paid to shareholders in the last five years ranged from 0 to 0.3 sen.

 

5.       IS THE MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GOOD?

a.       RETURN ON EQUITY (ROE): in 2019 financial year, CAREPLUS reported a poor return of shareholders’ equity, at -8.07%. This was significantly reversed to 42.56% in FY2020 due to the increase in earnings.

b.      COST-TO-INCOME RATIO: N/A.

 

6.       OTHER INDICATORS:

a.       CASH FLOW: cash flow is positive but quite low, around RM 6.11 million, equivalent to RM 0.01 per share.

b.      SUPPORT BY INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS: this counter is not well supported by institutional investors, there are only 4 institutional investors at top 30 major shareholders list, not including insurance companies/investment funds. Its major shareholders are Thinking Cap Sdn. Bhd. (10.73%), Lim Kwee Shyan (19.66%) and Ng Shu Si (5.5%).

 

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