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Securities & Investment

Category: HC News

HC expects the CBE to cut interest rates 50bps

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

  • HC Securities & Investment shared their expectations on the likely outcome of the MPC meeting scheduled November 12th and based on Egypt’s current situation, they expect the CBE to cut interest rates 50bps.

Head of macro and financials at HC, Monette Doss commented: “We believe October inflation figures could accelerate further to 4.2% y-o-y and 1.5% m-o-m mainly impacted by the back-to-school season, however, it would still remain well below the CBE’s target of 9% (+/- 3%) for 4Q20. We believe high unemployment levels and suppressed consumer spending are the main factors underlying low inflation levels, while monetary easing started to bear fruit in October as indicated by Egypt’s Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) coming in at 51.4 signaling economic expansion for the second consecutive month. Based on our October inflation forecast, we estimate Egypt’s real interest rates on short-term deposits and loans at 4.4% and 5.9%, respectively, significantly above their 12-year average of -3.3% and 0.8%. Also, foreign portfolio investments in Egyptian treasuries recovered sooner than we expected reaching USD21.1bn in mid-October from USD10.4bn in May, according to official announcements, resulting in the Egyptian banking sector increasing its net foreign assets position to USD2.06bn in September, excluding the CBE, reversing a net foreign liability position of USD1.09bn in August. Compared to other emerging markets, Egypt offers attractive real after-tax yields of 3.56% (based on 1-year T-bill rate of 13.6%, our 2021e inflation estimate of 8.0% and a tax rate of 15% applied on US and European investors). This is, for example, significantly higher than Turkey’s real yield of -1.60% (based on 1-year T-bill rate of 9.6%, Bloomberg 2021 inflation estimate of 11.2% and 0% taxes), given that Egypt tends to show a better risk profile with its 5-year foreign currency CDS at 408 currently, compared to 528 for Turkey. That said, we expect the CBE to cut interest rates 50bps in its upcoming meeting in order to stimulate private investment and consumption and drive GDP growth, especially in light of a potential second COVID-19 wave. We expect this to have almost no effect on foreign portfolio inflows in Egyptian treasuries, with its yields declining by only 100 bps since March, despite a total of 350 bps rate cuts by the CBE over the same period of time.”

It is worth mentioning that, in its last meeting on 24 September, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to cut rates by 50 bps after keeping them unchanged for 4 consecutive meetings since April.  Egypt’s annual headline inflation accelerated to 3.7% in September from 3.4% in the previous month, with monthly inflation increasing 0.3% reversing a decline of 0.2% in August, according to data published by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

HC: Egypt financials – Outperform on sturdy NBFS growth

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

HC Brokerage recently updated the market on Egypt financials and their NBFS resilient performance. HC stated that EFG Hermes is their top pick on regional exposure and higher potential return.

  • Private sector rebound witnessed in 1Q20 relapsed due to low visibility on the future development of the pandemic in our view, while we expect interest rate stability over the rest of 2020

  • Despite our 2020e earnings downward revision, NBFS are showing high resilience with companies under our coverage seeking profitable investments and synergies with commercial banks

  • We decrease our 12-month TP for EFG Hermes by c10% to EGP21.1/share and for CI Capital by c23% to EGP4.59/share on downward earnings’ revision, while maintain Overweight for both. EFG Hermes is our top pick on regional exposure and higher potential return

Monette Doss, head of macro and financials commented: “Low visibility on the future development of the pandemic dilutes 1Q20 private sector rebound, in our view, while we expect interest rate stability over the rest of 2020: Private consumption grew 5.3% y-o-y in 3Q19/20, the highest level since FY12/13. Another significant development during 9M19/20 was private investment growing 14.1% y-o-y, outpacing government investments which declined by 4.5% y-o-y. Both developments confirm our earlier expectation that the private sector’s contribution to economic growth should gain traction following the materialization of the easing cycle and the completion of Egypt’s economic reform program. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the government demonstrated efforts to support the private sector through giving a monthly allowance to daily workers, in addition to decreasing natural gas prices to USD4.5/mmbtu for industrial users from USD5.5/mmbtu previously and reducing electricity prices by EGP0.1/KWh for medium, high and ultra-high voltage users, and fixing electricity tariffs for other industrial users for a period of 3–5 years and directing financial support to the healthcare and tourism sectors. Moreover, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) undertook rate cuts of 300 bps in March and another 50 bps in September, decreased interest on its EGP100bn subsidized loan initiative to the industrial sector to a declining interest rate of 8% from 10% previously and extended the initiative to include the agricultural and contracting sectors, delayed loan repayment for all credit clients for 6 months and canceled fees on electronic transactions for 6 months. Going forward, the government is currently looking into methods to support industrial growth through further reduction of natural gas prices to possibly USD3.0/mmbtu and revamping the export rebate program. The CBE is also looking into doubling its industrial initiative to EGP200bn and following the expiry of the 6-month loan repayment grace period in September, the CBE requested banks to restructure loans for all credit clients according to their expected future cash flows without imposing additional financial strain on them. Despite low consumption spending, lagging investment growth and high real interest rate environment, we expect policy rates to remain stable around current levels due to relatively low interbank liquidity and also in order to support the domestic currency.”

“Despite declining 2020e revenue, NBFS are showing high resilience with companies under our coverage seeking profitable investments and synergies with commercial banks: At the sector level, new leasing contracts were slashed by c43% y-o-y in 2Q20, however it grew c13% y-o-y in 1H20 to EGP25.7bn with net leasing portfolios for EFG Leasing and CI Capital’s Corplease growing c25% y-t-d and c22% y-t-d, respectively, to EGP3.8bn and EGP8.4bn, as of June. Hence we estimate 2020–24e net leasing portfolio CAGR of c22% and c18%, respectively, for the 2 companies. Corridor rate cuts accompanied with the CBE initiatives to provide different businesses with subsidized loans resulted in compressed NIMs for both companies under our coverage to an average 4.3% in 2Q20 down from 5.5% in 2019. The compressed NIMs happened sooner than we initially expected as we were expecting a more gradual decline over our 2020-24e forecast period. We downward revise our 2020–24e net profit estimates for both EFG Leasing and Corplease by an average of 23% and 27%, respectively, due to higher than previously expected provisioning, on possibly higher NPLs and lower NIMs. For the microfinance business, sector-wide loans grew c25% y-o-y to EGP17.2bn in 2Q20, down only c4% q-o-q due to lockdowns during most of 2Q20 with a penetration rate of c7%, on our calculations. For EFG Hermes’ Tanmeyah, its loan book remained flat y-o-y in 1H20 at EGP3.3bn (before securitizing EGP540m of its loan book in 2Q20), while CI Capital’s Reefy saw its loan portfolio grow c25% y-o-y to EGP783m in 1H20, mainly due to a favorable base effect. Accordingly, we downward revise our 2020e loan book estimates for Tanmeyah by c11% implying flat y-o-y growth and for Reefy by c5% implying a growth of c44% y-o-y. Over our 2020–24e forecast period we expect NIMs for both companies to gradually decline by an average of 530 bps due to higher competition. We downward revise our 2020–24e net profit estimates by an average c16%–c21%, for Reefy and Tanmeyah, respectively, on higher than previously expected provisioning and lower fees and commissions. Despite the economic downturn taking its toll on brokerage, advisory and asset management revenue, the firms under our coverage sought expansions in the high potential educational sector through EFG Hermes’ GEMS Egypt for Education Services (a JV between GEMS Education and Egypt Education Fund managed by EFG Hermes), and CI Capital’s 16.5% stake in Taaleem Services Management Company, owner of the Nahda University. Both firms are also seeking synergies with commercial banks, with EFG Hermes and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) currently conducting a due diligence to acquire 51% and 25% stakes, respectively, in Arab Investment Bank (AIB) through a EGP5.0bn capital increase. The acquisition will help EFG Hermes secure a stable revenue stream smoothing out the high volatility in its IB business, acquire funding for its NBFS platform at favorable terms and deploy a part of its excess cash to a profitable investment and, on the other hand, support AIB capitalization. This will allow for future growth and the compliance of AIB to the CBE’s minimum capital requirements. The deal could occur at 2020e P/B of 1.0x–1.2x, in our view, leading to a deal value of EGP2.6–2.7bn for EFG Hermes, representing c42% of its excess cash, based on our calculations. For CI Capital, Banque Misr acquired 24.7% stake in the company which will also help the firm get favorable funding for its NBFS activities in addition to giving the commercial bank exposure to the highly profitable NBFS market. As a manifestation of the high-growth potential of NBFS, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is expected to see some 4 NBFS initial public offerings (IPOs) slated for 2021, namely: (1) Raya Holding’s (RAYA EY) subsidiary Aman for Financial Services, (2) Ebtikar, a JV between MM Group for Industry and International Trade (MTIE EY) and B Investments (BINV EY) or one of its subsidiaries, (3) one of the subsidiaries of Sarwa Capital (SRWA EY), and (4) one of the financial subsidiaries of Orascom Financial Holding (OFH) that will emerge from the demerger of Orascom Investment Holding (OIH EY).” Monette Doss added.

HC’s head of macro and financials concluded: “We decrease our 12-month TP for EFG Hermes by c10% to EGP21.1/share and for CI Capital by c23% to EGP4.59/share on downward earnings’ revision, while maintain Overweight for both. EFG Hermes is our top pick on regional exposure and higher potential return: We value both companies using a SOTP methodology with an excess return model for their core operations and, for EFG Hermes, we add the company’s excess cash and non-operating assets while completely writing off its 8.813% stake in Credit Libanais. For CI Capital, we value Taaleem using a DCF methodology applying a beta of 1, up from our previous education sector average beta of 0.6, to account for the current risky market conditions. For both firms we use a cost of equity applying our forecast for 12-month T-bill yields leading to an average cost of equity of 17.5%. For EFG Hermes investment bank, our base assumption for the cost of equity is a weighted average of Egypt and the MENA region based on geographical revenue contribution leading to an average cost of equity of 11.9%. Individually, we value EFG Leasing at EGP0.84/share (c15% lower than our previous estimate) and CI Capital’s Corplease at EGP2.06/ share (c25% lower than our previous estimate) putting the businesses at a 2020e P/E multiple of 16.2x and 10.1x, respectively. For the microfinance, we value EFG’s Tanmeyah at EGP2.83/share (c8% lower than our previous estimate) and CI Capital’s Reefy at EGP0.90/share (c13% lower than our previous estimate), putting the businesses at a 2020e P/E multiples of 16.8x and 9.17x, respectively. For the investment banks, we value EFG Hermes at EGP8.72/share (almost the same as our previous estimate) and CI Capital at EGP0.92/share (c30% lower than our previous estimate on lower expected earnings). For EFG Hermes, we then add the company’s excess cash position, 2020e dividends (net of tax), and investment property valued at around EGP6.71bn, or EGP8.73/share (c17% lower than our previous estimate as we exclude Credit Libanais from our valuation). We calculate it as the company’s total cash position, add available net receivables and remove seed capital. Finally, we add the company’s 2020e revenue from treasury capital market operations. For CI Capital, we value Taaleem at EGP0.71/share (c14% lower than our previous estimate on a higher beta) putting the business at 2020e EV/EBITDA of 15.1x, 2.06x its acquisition value. For EFG Hermes, the NBFS platform makes up c17% of the stock’s total value, the investment bank c41%, with cash and non-operating assets (NOA) accounting for the remaining c42%. These sum up to a 12-month target price of EGP21.1/share, which yields a potential return of c62% on the 27 September closing price of EGP13.0/share. We therefore maintain our Overweight rating on EFG Hermes Holding. For CI Capital, the NBFS platform makes up c65% of the stock’s total equity value, the investment bank c20%, with Taaleem accounting for the remaining c15%. These sum up to a 12-month target price of EGP4.59/share, which yields a potential return of c35% on the 27 September closing price of EGP3.39/share. We therefore maintain our Overweight rating on CI Capital. For EFG Hermes, our 12-month TP of EGP21.1/share puts the stock at a 2020e P/E multiple of 20.1x and a P/B multiple of 1.22x, while it is trading at 2020e P/E and P/B of 12.4x and 0.75x, respectively. For CI Capital, our 12-month TP of EGP4.59/share puts the stock at a 2020e P/E multiple of 11.8x and a P/B multiple of 1.54x, while it is trading at 2020e P/E and P/B multiples of 8.73x and 1.14x, respectively.”

HC comments on the MPC’s 50 bps interest rates cut

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

  • The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has decided to cut the benchmark overnight deposit and lending rates by 50 bps to 8.75% and 9.75%, respectively, at its meeting on Thursday, according to a press release. The CBE has also cut the rate of its main operation and the discount rate to 9.25%, it announced.

HC’s comment

The MPC’s decision came in against our, as well as consensus, expectation of keeping rates unchanged. We believe the MPC’s decision, together with the recent announcements by commercial banks to reduce interest rates on their CDs by 2.0%–3.5%, and canceling the 1-year 15% CDs aims at encouraging consumer spending as a significant driver for GDP growth. This also coincides with the government’s efforts to promote the role of the private sector as the main player in the economy, building on pre-COVID-19 growth trends where private consumption grew by 5.3% y-o-y in 1Q20, the highest rate since FY12/13 where it averaged 2.9% over FY12/13–FY18/19. Also, private investments grew at c14% y-o-y in 9M19/20 (in real terms) outpacing government investment which declined by c5% y-o-y. Having said that, we however believe that the decline in policy rates could have a limited short-term effect on consumption, as already much liquidity is allocated to the 1-year 15% CDs together with high unemployment rates. Moreover, we believe the rate cut will not necessarily correspond to a similar decline in T-bill rates. Yields on 12-month T-bills declined by only 100 bps since March despite the previous 300 bps rate cut undertaken by the CBE.

Inflation levels remain subdued and HC expects the CBE to keep interest rates unchanged

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

  • In its latest report about their expectations on the likely outcome of the MPC meeting scheduled on 24 September and based on Egypt’s current situation and the inflation levels, HC expects the CBE to keep interest rates unchanged. 

Head of macro and financials at HC, Monette Doss commented: “Inflation levels remain subdued coming in well below the CBE target of 9% (+/- 3%) for 4Q20 and also less than our earlier expectation of 4.2% y-o-y for August, on declining food prices in addition to low consumer spending on other non-food items, in our view. We now expect inflation to average c5% in 4Q20 down from our earlier estimate of c6%. Real interest rates in Egypt reached a high of 4.7% and 7.0% on short-term deposits and loans, respectively, significantly above their 12-year average of -3.3% and 0.8%. We, however, believe that the high real interest rate environment is justified by relatively low liquidity in the banking sector as well as the net foreign liability position held by banks currently. The CBE open market operations, as an indicator for interbank liquidity, declined to c10% of total local currency deposits in August well below its 12-year average (excluding 2011-2013) of c21%. On another front, the banking sector has been holding a net foreign liability position since the massive foreign portfolios outflows that took place in March, however, partially narrowing to USD1.8bn in July. We accordingly expect interest rates, including the 1-year 15% CDs offered by public banks, to remain at elevated levels in order to preserve the banking sector liquidity. A larger scale rebound of foreign portfolio inflows would enhance interbank liquidity and result in cooling off T-bill yields from current levels, in our view. That said, we expect the MPC to keep interest rates unchanged in its upcoming meeting.”

It is worth mentioning that, in its last meeting on 13 August, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep rates unchanged for the fourth time after undertaking a 300bps rate cut on 16 March in an unscheduled meeting.  Egypt’s annual headline inflation decelerated to 3.4% in August from 4.2% in the previous month, with monthly inflation declining 0.2% m-o-m compared to an increase of 0.4% m-o-m in July, according to data published by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

HC: Madinet Nasr Housing is further challenged. However, we maintain our OW rating

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

HC Brokerage issued their update about Egypt’s real estate sector assuring that sector conditions continuing to be difficult due to Coronavirus outbreak and they maintain the OW rating on Madinet Nasr Housing.

  • Sector conditions continuing to be difficult have pushed Madinet Nasr Housing to resort to one-off sales and cash sale discounts to overcome liquidity shortage

  • This has also impacted deliveries which are expected to pick up in 2021e. We forecast revenue to grow at 3-year CAGR of c21% and pre-sales to grow modestly at c3%

  • We maintain our OW rating on Madinet Nasr Housing, while lower our TP c44% to EGP7.05/share; implying a 2020e TP/NAV of 0.35x, while it is trading at half of that

Mariam Elsaadany, real estate analyst at HC Brokerage commented that: “Coronavirus worsens already difficult sector conditions impacting deliveries and pre-sales: Weak affordability has impacted the real estate sector pre-sales in 2019 leading to a muted c7% y-o-y growth, while the coronavirus has further worsened pre-sales and deliveries. Madinet Nasr Housing was no exception especially that it was facing fierce East Cairo competition, in addition to delivery delays. Despite its relatively strong balance sheet (net debt to equity stood at 0.39x in 2Q20), we believe the company has been facing some liquidity shortfall, triggered by the infrastructure spending needs mainly in Sarai, as well as the relaxed payment plans it introduced to the market during the launch of Sarai in late 2016. To resolve this, the company opted to: (1) offer more of its inventory on cash basis after slashing unit prices by up to c50% on some EGP500m worth of inventory, prioritizing cash flows over profitability, (2) resorting to bank debt by signing a EGP2.19bn syndicated loan with a consortium of banks (although management expects to only withdraw some EGP1.40–EGP1.50bn of the facility in 2020), (3) engaging in one-off commercial land plot sales, and (4) launching some EGP1bn of Sarai Mansions, selling residential land to individuals, which offers a different product to the company’s portfolio. It is worth mentioning that the company has delayed its delivery time for new sales currently to 4 years from 3 years previously to accommodate the delays in delivery. The company has been steadily growing its backlog, which grew at a 3-year CAGR of c28%, standing at EGP8.53bn in 2Q20 with 2020 expected to be a strong year for its deliveries as it had targeted to handover some 2,500 units, implying 14.1x y-o-y growth. With the economic implications of the coronavirus affecting all sectors indiscriminately, we believe the company may not be able to meet this target, further affecting the pace of its execution cycle.”

“We expect total pre-sales of EGP14.6bn over 2020–22e implying a 3-year CAGR of c3%: We expect collections of EGP21.8bn over 2020–30e and CAPEX of EGP9.22bn over 2020–25e. Our estimates take into account the launched phases of Taj City (including Tag Sultan, T-Zone, Shalya, Lake Park Studios, and Cobalt) and Sarai (including Taval, Croons Condos, S2, Cavana Lakes, while we exclude future sales from MNHD’s 36% stake in its JV with Palm Hills Developments (PHDC EY, Overweight, TP EGP3.75) Capital Gardens and only accounting for the project’s existing backlog). We expect the company’s backlog to be maintained at current levels as it delivers S1 in Sarai that it launched in 4Q16. Our collection period across the company’s project portfolio is also extended to capture the company’s relaxed payment plans approach in sales as the 7-year and 8-year plan are currently the most prevalent. We exclude the company’s Nasr Gardens from our forecasts and value the project’s inventory at book value. Despite our expectation for delays in deliveries, we expect 2020–25e revenue of EGP19.7bn, with an average gross profit of EGP10.1bn, implying a margin of c51% as the company delivers its backlog. We expect the company’s cash offers to have little impact on its receivables portfolio average collection period and margins, as units sold on cash basis were only around EGP500m, c5% of its receivables portfolio’s balance.” Mariam El Saadany added

The real estate analyst at HC concluded her update on MNHD stating that: “We lower our TP c44% to EGP7.05/share but maintain our OW rating: We use a DCF valuation to value MNHD’s launched real estate phases in its 2 projects, Taj City and Sarai and value the company’s undeveloped land bank by accounting for the present value of the potential cash flows from developing this land in the future, using the master plan for each plot. We exclude future sales from Capital Gardens from our valuation due to lack of visibility on future launches and on the slow sales pace, while only account for the project’s existing backlog. Our 5-year average moving WACC stands at 16.6%. Of our TP, c27% is from DCF and c73% is from land valuation, with the DCF value of launched real estate project at EGP2.90/share, undeveloped land value at EGP5.14/share, while a net debt position of EGP1.42bn shaves off a total of EGP0.99/share and yields a DCF value of EGP7.05/share. Our TP puts the company at a P/NAV of 0.35x, and implies a potential return of c107% over the 25 August closing price of EGP3.41/share, leading us to maintain our Overweight rating. We estimate the stock is trading at a 2020e P/NAV of 0.17x, lower than the peer average of 0.28x. On our numbers, the market is assigning a value of EGP406/sqm to the company’s undeveloped land compared to our valuation of EGP1,395/sqm (c33% lower than our previous value of EGP2,076/sqm), and representing a c71% discount to market prices.”

 

HC: Ex-factory price hike is key for rerating Eastern Company

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

In its recent report, HC Brokerage presented their updated evaluation of Eastern Company assuring that: “Ex-factory price hike is key for rerating Eastern Company and maintaining our Overweight rating”.

  • Despite resilient product nature, further pricing power limitation lowers our FY20/21–FY23/24e top line estimates by c11%, on average

  • High margins are unlikely to be sustained without outright price increases, in our view

  • We cut our TP c27% to EGP16.2/share on lower estimates, but maintain our Overweight rating on further share price weakness

Noha Baraka, the Head of Consumers at HC commented that: “Limited pricing power, along with a lower USD denominated toll fee, suggest an c11% downward revision to our FY20/21–FY23/24e top line estimates: We are becoming more skeptical about Eastern Company’s margin expansion given its limited pricing power over its products. This was clearly evident following last February’s sales tax hike which was not accompanied with any price benefits for the company. While the new tax brackets mean the cigarettes price could go up by as much as EGP7.50/pack without being subject to a higher lump‐sum tax, we opt to exclude any direct price increases based on the company’s recent pricing strategy. We only account for sales-mix improvement and conservatively assume an annual c1% increase in blended local ex-factory price over our forecast period. This translates to a c13% downward revision to our FY20/21e–FY23/24e blended local ex-factory price estimates. Also, we expect the 2021e renewal of the company’s toll manufacturing agreement with Philip Morris International (PMI), and British American Tobacco (BAT) to kick in at a lower FX rate in light of the EGP appreciation compared to the time of the contract. Our estimates point out to an average rate of EGP16.8/USD down from EGP18.0/USD previously. While several industries got hit during the pandemic, we still assume demand for cigarettes to continue to be fairly resilient thanks to the product’s nature, as the lock-up period, and the working from home environment during the pandemic could cause a further spike in demand. However, we still estimate Eastern Company’s top line growth to be largely muted, growing at a 5-year CAGR c6% over our forecast period, however c11% lower than our previous estimates. We see higher blended ex-factory price as a key catalyst for rerating.”

“High margins are unlikely to be sustained over our forecast period: Over the past couple of quarters, Eastern Company’s gross profit margins have proved quite resilient despite the lack of price increases, mainly on the retailers’ margin cut along with a stronger EGP/USD rate. Despite the limited likelihood of price increases during the next year, and its cost-cutting initiative not kicking in yet, along with the EGP1.5/kg newly imposed development fee on raw tobacco, we still expect high margins to be largely sustained in FY20/21 given that the company is carrying 15 months of inventory procured at a lower EGP/USD rate. We expect Eastern Company’s gross profit margin to stand at 39.4% in FY20/21e, only 0.6 pp lower than our expected FY19/20e estimate and some 2.4 pp lower than our previous estimate. Post FY20/21e, we see margins to contract by some 3.6 pp over our forecast period to 35.8% in FY23/24e. Our SG&A expenses are now c10% lower over our forecast period, but still representing c6% of sales, in line with what management is guiding. This filters through to a c22% downward revision to our FY21/22–FY23/24e EBITDA estimates, leaving our terminal margin at 34.3%. Our new estimates filter through to a c24% downward revision to our EPS estimates on c2% lower net interest income, assuming the company maintains its current raw tobacco inventory level, with any potential interest rate cuts by the Central Bank of Egypt posing a downside risk to our numbers.” Added Noha Baraka.

Noha Baraka concluded that: “Maintain Overweight on share price weakness: In light of our lower estimates, we cut our TP c27% to EGP16.2/share. Our new target price puts the company at a FY20/21e P/E multiple of 8.1x (trading at 6.8x) and EV/EBITDA multiple of 4.5x (trading at 3.6x), and implies a potential return of c28% over the 26 August closing price of EGP12.6/share. We therefore maintain our Overweight rating for the stock. In our view, valuation is compelling, with the stock underperforming the market by c7% since the coronavirus outbreak. Also, dividend yields are becoming more attractive on recent share price drop and we also expect a higher DPO ratio starting FY19/20e on limited CAPEX needs and improved profitability compared to its historical level. In our numbers, we expect the FY19/20e and FY20/21e DPS to stand at EGP1.25/share, implying a dividend yield, net of tax, of 9.4%, and, which is 2.5 pp higher than its 2-year historical average of 6.9%. Based on our FY20/21e DPS estimate and average dividend yield, we arrive to a valuation of EGP17.2/share, which is only c6% higher than our DCF-based valuation, and c36% higher than the current market price, further solidifying our Overweight rating.”

 

HC maintains Overweight for Arabian Cement on a still compelling valuation

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

No alternative for government intervention, HC maintains Overweight for Arabian Cement on a still compelling valuation

In its latest report, HC Brokerage shed the light on the cement industry in Egypt, specifically on Arabian Cement Company (ACC) asserting that: “prices unlikely to find a bottom without direct government intervention, which is now in the cards”

  • Capacity shutdowns outpaced by demand destruction; prices unlikely to find a bottom without direct government intervention, which is now in the cards

  • Lower coal/petcoke/electricity prices, a stronger EGP and lower SG&A expenses offset weak selling prices, giving a breather to Arabian Cement Company’s operating margins, but earnings remain in the red until the end of the year, on our estimates

  • We cut our 2020–23e EBITDA estimates c11% and TP c21% to EGP5.50/share, and maintain Overweight for Arabian Cement on a still compelling valuation

Mariam Ramadan, Head of Industrials at HC commented that: “Demand recovery to take longer than current players can sustain, all else constant: A series of setbacks (from the hit to export markets, to the crackdown on informal housing, to the coronavirus situation, to halting building permits in capitals) has left the industry in dire shape, with 2020 likely marking the fourth year of consecutive decline in sales. The bad news is that we have not bottomed out yet. Prices are still falling today when it is supposedly the good season, before 4Q comes with severe price competition and end-of-year discounts to achieve sales targets and clear inventory. Prospects of a pent-up demand materializing post the lift of the construction ban have been downplayed by sector players, and mega projects, whose contribution had helped keep sales afloat, have peaked. Long-term estimates have also become significantly worse as purchasing power suffers, private investments falter and government investments shift further away from cement-intensive structures. On the supply side, permanent exits have been slow to happen, but at least 10 players have idled production lines, and that was still insufficient to balance the market. Adjusting for idled capacity, utilization rates are effectively c20 pp tighter at least, suggesting prices (1) are far from reasonable, and (2) can no longer be rectified by demand recovery alone, no matter how fast that comes by. Sector economics have reached a level where prices need to rise enough to do away with the current operating losses, bring back idle production lines (we calculate some 25m tpa of “dormant” capacity), generate enough cash to recoup losses incurred over the past years, and pay down debts/shareholder loans.

“Small government support won’t cut it; direct intervention is the only way out: Government efforts have so far been fixated on fuel prices (which are no longer relevant), and the more generic interest rate cuts, electricity price cuts, or market-specific export support incentives. However, the government is now said to be in talks, more seriously than usual, over local sales quotas to try and match supply and demand forces, which in our view will be accompanied by a price floor. At the last reported annual utilization rate of 65%, we calculate a minimum price of EGP820/ton ex-factory, excluding VAT. This is based on the highest production cash cost among current players, not counting for SG&A, interest or depreciation. While Arabian Cement’s volumes would be affected by this arrangement, given its market share is significantly above capacity share (operating at 88% in 1H20, compared to sector average of 57%), such price floor would still be a game changer for the company, taking it back to pre-devaluation profitability, and does not take away its edge as the most cost efficient player (EGP25/ton lower than the second best) and having the biggest export share (unaffected by the quota). The assumption here is that the government will push only as high as to prevent exits (in order to preserve foreign investor sentiment and assuage investors who had yet to recoup capital outlays ahead of the establishment of the new Beni Suef plant, avert layoffs, credit defaults, etc.) and low enough not to entice public dissent. We do not account for this in our numbers, until we have more clarity, likely in September.” Mariam Ramadan added.

“Cut EBITDA estimates c11% but maintain Overweight on compelling valuation: Our new estimates filter through to a downward revision of c11% to each of our 2020–23e EBITDA and 2021–23e EPS forecasts, which leaves our TP c21% lower at EGP5.50/share, implying a c57% potential return on the 12 August closing price of EGP3.51/share. We therefore maintain our Overweight rating for Arabian Cement. With the share price holding its ground over the past year against bad EGX performance, paying out a dividend, and recording losses for the first time in its history, it seems the market is finally starting to see past the current point in the cycle and into long-term value, which remains strong, in our view, despite the worsened short-term fundamentals.” Mariam Ramadan concluded.

HC finds the IMF external account estimates for FY20/21 conservative

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

HC: “We believe the IMF external account estimates for FY20/21 are more on the conservative side as they reflect c73% y-o-y decline in tourism receipts to USD2.7bn as well as foreign portfolio inflows of USD3.5bn.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Egypt’s external funding gap FY20/21 will widen by about a third to USD12.2bn, compared with USD9.2bn a year earlier, as the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic cut into its main sources of foreign currency, it said in its Egypt 12-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) report. It anticipates Egypt will cover its funding needs through several sources including the IMF expected to provide USD3.2bn under the SBA and other international financial institutions expected to provide USD2.5bn, in addition to Eurobond sales of USD6.5bn. The IMF said the financing gap has grown on “expectation of weaker FX inflows driven by lower remittances, portfolio flows, and FDI” with the global economic recovery weaker than previously expected. (Bloomberg)

HC’s comment:

“We find the IMF external account estimates for FY20/21 more on the conservative side as they reflect c73% y-o-y decline in tourism receipts to USD2.7bn as well as foreign portfolio inflows of USD3.5bn. Given that direct outbound flights from Eastern Europe and Britain to Egypt’s Red Sea resorts are resuming soon, we believe that FY20/21 tourism receipts could exceed the IMF estimates. Likewise, there is circulating news that foreign portfolio inflows into Egyptian treasuries during the first 2 weeks of July amounted to USD3bn, a trend that we expect to continue during the year given the attractive Egyptian T-bills yields coupled with a stable currency. However, as mentioned in the report, the global economic scene remains uncertain which explains the IMF resorting to conservative assumptions, in our view. The IMF praises Egypt’s commitment to the economic reform that started in 2016 which it believes helped the country acquire the trust of different funding institutions and hence expects the government to successfully secure its funding needs in the international market.”

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Despite subdued inflation rates, HC expects the CBE to keep interest rates unchanged

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

Despite subdued inflation rates, HC expects the CBE to keep interest rates unchanged

  • In its latest report about their expectations on the likely outcome of the MPC meeting scheduled on 13 August and based on Egypt’s current situation, HC Securities & Investment expects the CBE to maintain rates unchanged despite subdued inflation rates. 

Head of macro and financials at HC, Monette Doss commented: “Inflation levels remains subdued coming in well below the CBE target of 9% (+/- 3%) for 4Q20 and also less than expected 4.6% y-o-y for July, which we attribute to low consumer demand arising from increasing unemployment and plunging consumer confidence. This together with a delay in expected tourism recovery prompt us to downward revise our 2H20e average inflation expectation to c6% y-o-y from c8% y-o-y, previously. In our new estimates, we remain cautious accounting for possible supply shocks. We hence, expect monthly inflation to average 0.8% m-o-m in 2H20e up from an average of 0.4% in 1H20. As of June, real interest rate on deposits and loans came in at 3.4% and 5.6%, respectively, significantly higher than their 12-year average of -3.5% and 0.7%. The high real interest rate environment, however, is justified by the low interbank liquidity, global economic uncertainty and the domestic funding gap, in our view. We take the CBE open market operations as a proxy for interbank liquidity. The figure came in at EGP420bn in June representing 13% of total banking sector local-currency deposits, below its 2008-2020 average of 22% (excluding 2011-2014 which witnessed post-revolution liquidity dry-up).”

“Moreover, following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Egypt in March, foreign portfolio outflows from Egyptian treasuries amounted to USD17bn increasing Egypt’s FY19/20e domestic funding gap to USD21bn, representing c6% of GDP, and taking Egypt’s foreign debt to an estimate of USD125bn in June from USD109bn last year. Using the Sharpe ratio for yields on Egyptian treasuries as well as other emerging markets, we believe that at current levels Egypt provides the highest risk-adjusted return coupled with low currency volatility, second only to Argentina whose currency display significantly high volatility. We believe this permits the government to remain on current interest rate levels, despite the increase in funding gap. We believe that this is behind the recent rebound in foreign portfolio inflows into Egyptian treasuries said to amount to USD3bn during the first 2 weeks of July, according to unnamed banking sources. That said and despite subdued inflation rates, we expect the MPC to maintain rates unchanged in its upcoming meeting maintaining the attractiveness of treasury yields to foreign investors and also reflecting relatively tighter liquidity in the Egyptian banking sector.” Monette Doss added

It is worth mentioning that, in its last meeting on 25 June, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep rates unchanged for the third time after undertaking a 300bps rate cut on 16 March in an unscheduled meeting.  Egypt’s annual headline inflation accelerated to 5.7% in June from 4.7% in the previous month, with monthly inflation remaining subdued at 0.1% m-o-m up from showing no increase in May, according to data published by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Investing After Covid-19: Why Invest Now

Posted on by Marwa Nakhla

  • Investing After Covid-19: Why Invest Now: Covid-19 has left the world reeling, and has led to countless infrastructural changes in societies around the globe. Consumers are becoming used to a new reality, and even as the world begins to open up again, things still aren’t back where they were six months ago. In the wake of the global change brought about by covid-19, however, it’s important to band together and support each other so that we can effectively reopen society and begin working together to move into a new future. Now more than ever, we need to help each other heal. That can look like healing through putting your investments into new and emerging industries, through supporting education and health companies that are working to rebuild society, or through supporting other economic activities. No matter what, the importance is that we band together and support each other in healing after the global pandemic. Let’s dive into what that looks like in the investment sector as we rebuild from COVID-19.

  • The Importance of Investing After Covid-19

While investing after Covid-19 may seem counterintuitive, this time is actually even more important for people looking to invest. Covid-19 has left the world reeling and in need of economic stimulation in order to get things up and running again, which is why putting your money in society is ever more important. Many businesses have continuity plans in place for opening their operations back up and for beginning to help society return to normal. These plans are taking into account widespread quarantines, travel restrictions, and school closures all while doing their best to continue operations and assist with the reopening. Investing in reopenings helps society to return to normalcy at a quicker rate and allows for you to start seeing a return on your investment much faster.

  • Investing in the Educational Sector

In the wake of a global crisis, there are several industries that can both provide better support for the economy as well as provide you with a more secure return on your finances. For one, educational institutions are a great choice for investment. As schools begin to reopen, the need for financial support is huge. Egypt is seeing huge profitability in the education sector with higher enrollment numbers in higher education institutions and new online learning platforms. Plus, as more people are stuck indoors with social distancing restrictions, the likelihood of enrolling in online classes and online learning is growing, making your investment more profitable.

  • Investing in the Healthcare Sector

One industry that certainly won’t be declining any time soon is the healthcare industry. Health care facilities are overloaded with patients suffering from covid-19, which is also putting a slow down in treating other ailments and diseases. By investing in healthcare facilities, you help these businesses to expand and support the healing of more people. Egypt’s healthcare industry has been booming in recent years, with modern technology allowing the country to offer more advanced treatments and care for patients. Egypt has also managed to keep covid-19 cases relatively low, thanks to investments in healthcare technology and infrastructure.

  • Investing In Technology

It’s not just education and health care which need strong financial backing in order to help society return to normal. Technological advancements are what make cures, treatments, and vaccines for covid-19 possible. The more support we’re able to give to the technology sector, the quicker we can begin to return to normal. Egypt is at the forefront of the hunt for a vaccine for covid-19, and researchers at Egypt’s National Research Center plan to begin human trials in the next five months. With extensive experience fighting MERS, Egypt is a country that’s already poised for success in creating a workable, lasting solution to prevent the spread of covid-19.

  • Investing in Worker Training

The last major industry where we’re seeing prolific growth and an opportunity for successful investing is in the training industry. Covid-19 has left businesses with the aforementioned contingency plans to carry out, requiring new worker training programs and different workplace protocols. Egypt has seen great success in implementing a covid-19 reopening program and is currently even beginning to allow tourists back into the nation. However, as the country leads the world in reopening travel and business operations, the need for support in creating lasting and careful training programs is also expanding.

  • Investing in Creating Strong Partnerships

Another part of the investing puzzle is partnering with investment companies that understand how to respond to global issues and economic downfall. HC is one of those teams, and with experience in not only helping to rebuild society after the decline of Covid-19 but also after many other issues that the world has faced. After both the international financial crisis of 2008 and the Egyptian revolution of 2011, HC helped investors to make informed and practical decisions that helped them rebuild their finances and achieve success through smart investments. Moving forward from Covid-19 is no different, and again requires the guidance and expertise of a team who understands financial difficulties in the wake of large-scale problems. Using the guidance and knowledge from experts who have tackled these situations before can help you to make smart financial choices that not only benefit you but which benefit society as well.

Are you ready to put your money where it matters? Reach out to the team at HC and start making investments that add value.