Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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Comfort Delgro closed at $1.03, lowest last seen on 18 Mar 2004! (9 Jun 23)

el15

Dear all Comfort Delgro (“CD”) closed at $1.03 today. Based on Bloomberg, this was the lowest close last seen on 18 Mar 2004. The main reason cited for this recent drop was that Citi has reduced its target price for CD from $1.63 (26 Feb 2023) to $1.32 (2 Jun 2023). Nevertheless, they maintained their buy call. Is it all doom and gloom? Should we throw in the towel and just give up on CD? Personally, I find CD interesting at current levels. Before I delve into it, just for record purpose, I have a previous article on CD published […]

S&P500 hits the highest last seen in Aug 2022! Should we buy, hold or sell? (3 Jun 23)

el15

Dear all First of all, apologies for the hiatus in posting new market outlook on my blog. I have been extremely busy for the past three months. My clients can attest to how busy I have been. I have been sending out my market views and news even on weekends and on public holidays. 😊 With reference to my previous writeup published on 26 Feb 2023 (click HERE), I mentioned that I planned to pare positions so that I can accumulate on weakness. In retrospect, it was a timely call. I was fortunate that I have pared my positions so […]

U.S & European stocks logged their largest weekly falls for 2023. What’s next for the equity markets? (26 Feb 23)

el15

Dear all With reference to my writeup published on 30 Jan 2023 (click HERE), where I mentioned I would be cautious in the overall markets, especially after a sharp run up, US stocks have dropped consecutively for the in the past three weeks. Dow has fallen consecutively for the past three weeks and logged its sharpest 1,010 points or 3.0% last week.   So, what is next for our markets? Do we buy, hold or sell? Just to highlight, the below is a sample of a brief stock alert or / and observation which I typically send to my clients […]

Raffles Medical – Potential trading play as its results are just around the corner (20 Feb 23)

el15

Dear all, Raffles Medical caught my attention recently as CLSA raised its target price from $1.70 to $1.92 on 8 Feb 23. $1.92 is a street high target with most analysts’ target price ranging between $1.58 – 1.65. Raffles Medical closed down 1 cent to $1.45 last Fri. Based on my personal view and observation, generally speaking, analysts seldom issue updated call so near to the company’s results release date. I mean there is usually no such urgency to do so, unless they have a significant change in view on the company. For those analysts who do, their calls are […]

Keppel Corp slumps 7% post results to $7.11 – Any trading opportunity ahead? (8 Feb 23)

el15

Dear all, Kep Corp has fallen $0.54 or 7% from $7.65 on 2 Feb to close $7.11 yesterday. In this write-up, I will elaborate on my take on what has happened and whether there is any trading opportunity.   Why did Kep Corp plummet 7%? Kep Corp announced 4QFY22 results on 2 Feb after market. Based on CGS-CIMB report, Kep Corp’s FY22 net profit of S$927m slightly beat estimates, at 102% consensus estimates. So what has caused the sharp drop in share price post results? My guess is that Kep Corp probably drops because a) Kep Corp has appreciated 7.6% […]

Comfort Delgro sinks to 14-year low! Will it go lower? (19 Jan 2023)

el15

Dear all On 11 Jan, Comfort (CD) closed at $1.21, the lowest close since 31 Oct 2008. The next day, to the horror of CD’s shareholders, it broke $1.21 with volume expansion and closed at $1.18. At the time of this write-up, CD closed today at $1.14, the lowest close last seen 29 Oct 2008. Will CD fall more? Or will this be a comfortable trade at current level? Let’s read on for more.   Possible reasons to be bullish A) Still a recovery play CD with its operations in Australia, China, Singapore, UK etc. should gradually benefit as economies […]

Tianjin Pharma – A potential undervalued company, net cash; rides on favourable tailwinds (24 Dec 22)

el15

Dear all Last Friday, personal protection equipment (“PPE”) and glovemakers rallied as much as 3% – 36% in a single day (See Table 1 below). This outperformance may be attributed to concerns that the Covid situation in China may worsen with more infections, or may cause the appearance of new variants, which may spur demand for gloves and personal protection equipment. Table 1: SG glovemakers and PPE share price performance on Friday Source: Ernest’s manual compilations 23 Dec 22 Personally, besides PPE and glovemakers which may benefit, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group (“T14”) may be another potential and perhaps […]

3 stocks, Comfort Delgro, Thai Bev and Wilmar trade at attractive valuations (11 Oct 22)

el15

Dear all Yesterday, Comfort Delgro, Thai Bev and Wilmar closed at $1.25; $0.565 and $3.64 respectively. Personally, they look interesting on several aspects. At $1.25, Comfort Delgro trades at levels last seen in 2011 and 2009! At $0.565, Thai Bev sits on a long term uptrend line established since 2009! At $3.64, Wilmar trades at approximately 2.2x and 3.0x standard deviations below its 10Y average PE and P/BV of around 13.8x and 1.1x respectively! Read on for more.   *Comfort Delgro* I have previously published a write-up on Comfort Delgro. Readers can refer to my write-up HERE for more information […]

Comfort Delgro drops back to pandemic lows! What gives? (30 Sep 22)

el15

On 1 Sep, it was announced that Comfort Delgro (“CD”) will drop out of STI after being first included in the STI on 28 Jul 2010. Subsequently, there was turmoil in United Kingdom (“UK”) gilts and currency as UK government led by Prime Minister Liz Truss unveiled a (surprisingly) GBP45b plan to reduce taxes (click HERE for more information). Although CD may see some near-term price weakness, at Friday’s close of $1.32 (CD touched an intraday low $1.29 at the point of writing this), I personally believe most of the negatives may have already been priced in. Why am I […]

Sep – Historically a weak month for equities. Buy, hold or sell? (6 Sep 2022)

el15

Dear all, After touching an intraday high 4,325 on 16 Aug 22, S&P500 has slid 401 points, or -9.3% to 3,924 on 2 Sep. Hang Seng has slid to around 19,144 at the time of writing. Given the market pullback, there are several interesting stocks worthy of research. Coupled with various macro events happening this month (e.g. ECB & Fed Chair Powell Speaks 8 Sep; U.S CPI 13 Sep and FOMC 22 Sep etc.), I have to plan my trading strategy. Give the above, time is tight and this will be just be a brief article to update readers. (As […]