Category: HLFin

Sell @ $2.72

That was my last lots… after aro' 4.5 years. Lessons learnt,

• NAV Valuations – Altho' there's a hefty 27% discount to NAV, it's only meaningful if there's a G.O. Two possibilities are,
  • Takeover – Rather remote as the Queks holds a major stake. Further, with Banking being rather liberalised locally, there's not a lot of incentive for a foreign bank to want to do a takeover. There were previous talks of HLBank (controlled by the Quek's Malaysian cousins) possibly doing a takeover but so far, no action there.
  • Privatisation – IMO, the Queks is likely benefitting more by keeping it listed. They get their Salary + Bonus + Stocks Options, on top of the dividends.
• Yield Valuations – Recent prices seems to reflect a market valuation based on Yield ie. 4.5% to 5%.
• Core Competency – It'd appear that they're not strong in any area. The big 3 local banks and even foreign banks had been riding the boom for the past few years whereas HLFin had seen poorer EPS for the past years. At the very minimum, their ties thro' the Queks (CDL) ought to have seen some benefits from the Property boom. Even their stated focus on SME don't seem to be reaping in good earnings…

So, time for me to move on… At the right price, it's still a Trading stock for me.. 😀

 

Sell @ $2.69, $2.70

Sold most of my recent buys. Hit just below my min. target of $2.70 to $2.75. Although there's a very high chance it'll move up higher as it approaches xd date, due to the Quas-Bond like behaviour of Yield Stocks, time also means opportunity cost. Any drop back to $2.67 may trigger a buy… 😀

 

NRA Report which my broker sent to me after I sold…

Buy @ $2.67

Added back some more… just for the results and expected Div = 8ct… Seller is still around! 😀

 

Results Released after mkt close,

Extracts fm the above,

• Income before operating expenses = $165,013 vs $167,810 ie -1.7%
• Staff Costs = $62,169 vs $56,959 ie +9.1%
• Profit from operations before allowance / provision = $82,072 vs $87,814 ie -6.5%
• Div maintained at 8ct

It looks like the drop in Profits is mainly coming from an increase in Staff Costs… No change in plan, will be selling off my stake on price rises… and before it goes xd.. 😀

Buy @ $2.67

Didn't managed to get any other stocks, despite having many in Q. Instead, decided to add some HLFin back since I have the free cash and 2H results will be out tomorrow (27th). If no surprises, share price ought to slowly move towards $2.70 – $2.75 if they declare the same 8ct div.

Someone is putting 10 lots to sell Q each time.. 😀

Buy @ $2.67

Itchy fingers… Their FY13 results will also be out on 27th (same as STEng). 2H Div = 8ct for the past 3 years and most likely will be maintained as 9M Annualised EPS = 18ct is sufficient for this payout.

At the same time, I can also treat it as "Short Covering" as I'd sold a substantial amount of my holdings at $2.74 to $2.77 (at huge realised losses) last month when someone appeared to be trying to push the price up. 😀

Sell @ $2.75

With STI -40+, good to be able to quickly sell to buyer. Free up cash to switch to others. 😀

Sell @ $2.74

Continue with my "Spring Cleaning"…. With STI -24.25 @ 3075.99 due to a new found market fear of China's lower PMI, HLFin looks steady when compared to other stocks. Good timing for me to switch to other "horses", which'll hopefully be able to "run" faster… 😀

Sell @ $2.77, $2.75

Continue to divest my stake… Buyer wasn't so active today… 😀

Sell @ $2.76, $2.77

Need to free up more cash to buy other stocks. I have reached my objective to cut down to 5% of my portfolio. Since I seem to feel quite good, despite making realised losses, I plan to continue selling…

It's been 4 years 4months since I first bought for my longest held lots and the price is ~ -15% for my expensive ones. I suppose, with the Dividends collected to date, I probably still have a Nett Gain of 0.x% annualised. Not good at all… considering the recent high inflation..

Although HLFin continues to be highly undervalued when compared to their NAV = $3.68 ie. 25% Discount @ $2.76, my current thoughts are this is not meaningful unless there's a G.O. Without such an Offer, the markets appears to be valuing it based on a Yield of 4%+. If that's the case, we'd require EPS to improve such that they can increase the DPS. Perhaps 2014 will be the year? They'd previously stated that theie EPS is suffering due to the super low bank interest environment. So, when Tapering starts, interest rate is expected to go up and HLFin EPS will go up? But, perhaps a 4%+ Yield will drop in attractiveness when compared to the higher interest rate?? I won't be hanging around to find out… At this point, I see other stocks of better potential which I want to switch over to..

Well, as Warren Buffett said, "Price is what you pay, Value is what you get." At the prices I'd paid, I'm definitely not getting any Value… Perhaps those who'd gotten it at < $2.50 would find good Value (Good Yield + Capital Gains)… 😀

Sell @ $2.76

No choice but to sell to raise free cash for switching to other stocks. My current target is to reduce to ~5% of my portfolio. 😀