Fans of Warren Buffet or Benjamin Graham will not be unfamiliar with the concepts of value investing, which essentially involves the purchasing of stocks that appear to be “undervalued” and making a profit when the values of these stocks are eventually realised or unlocked.
Recently, I chanced upon Haw Par Corporation, the manufacturer of the Tiger Balm ointment and was surprised to find the company having a net book value per share of more than $10. Furthermore, at $8.60/share, Haw Par’s shares appear to be undervalued and it seems that this has been the trend for a long time.
The wide range of products Tiger Balm brand has to offer.
The Underlying Value
The businesses of Haw Par fall under four major segments healthcare, leisure, property and investments.
Many would probably guess that the healthcare segment, which entails the manufacturing of the Tiger Balm range of products to be the largest contributor to profits. However, Haw Par’s investment segment is actually the greatest contributor to its profits, accounting for 60.2 percent of profit in FY13.
Under the investment segment, the company holds equities in United Overseas Bank (UOB), UOL Group and United Industrial Corporation (UIC).
Here is a dissection on the current value of the securities held by Haw Par:
Source: Annual Report. * Based on the closing share price on 15/7/14
Based only on the value of marketable securities that Haw Par own, each Haw Par share should be worth $9.71, but currently it is trading at $8.60, an 11.4 percent discount. Not to forget, the value of properties held by the company, its cash holdings and its other operations have yet to be factored in.
Essentially, this implies that investors are buying Haw Par shares at a discount and getting the rest “free”! In fact, after factoring the value of the properties held and net cash of the company, net asset value per share is approximately $11.03 which translates to a 22 percent discount at the current trading price.
It appears that purchasing Haw Par shares is an indirect way to owning blue-chips, and at a discount. Does it not seem like a good deal?
Possible Pitfalls
However, experienced investors should know the pitfalls of investing solely based on the fact that a stock is at discount to book value, even as tempting as it might be. Thus, before anyone jumps into buying the stock, first take a closer look at the risks that it might possess.
Common Weakness
Haw Par’s investment profit is mainly generated by the dividends it gets from the holding of equities in UOB, UIC and UOL. Since the investment segment is actually the biggest contributor to profit, it would necessarily mean Haw Par’s performance is closely related to how well these three companies perform and it makes sense to dig deeper in this direction.
While the three companies have produced decent results in the past three years, I cannot help but notice a similarity in their business cycles.
It seems that the main industries (banking, property and hotel operations) the three companies are dealing with are particularly susceptible to economic fluctuations, as reflected in poorer earnings in all three companies during 2008 and 2009, after the subprime mortgage crisis and in 2011 during the Eurozone crisis.
Source: Company
Notice that in those years, Haw Par saw a fall in net profit as well. This could certainly be a cause for concern as it appears that Haw Par’s earnings are heavily compromised in an economy downturn as alongside the other three.
Risk In The Underlying Valuation and Liquidity
Furthermore, based on our calculations, 88 percent of Haw Par’s valuation is derived from the value of the equities held. As compared to a company, who has majority of its valuation arising from physical assets like investment and development properties, Haw Par’s valuation could be more susceptible to wide fluctuations.
It should not be a surprise that Haw Par’s valuation could drop rather significantly as the share price of the three companies fall during periods of slump since equities prices are more volatile than asset prices. This additional risk could be a reason why investors are not pouncing on this share right away.
Another point to note, Haw Par shares does not seem to have as much liquidity as that of UOB and UOL shares. With a low trading volume, there is a serious possibility that investors holding the shares might find it hard to sell at a good price at the appropriate time.
SI Research Takeaway
So, is there much potential lying within Haw Par?
Judging merely on current market value, Haw Par certainly seems like a classic example of a deep value play and may seem really hard to resist for investors on first look.
However, the possible pitfalls are obvious.
Taking it a step further, stripping away the values of the equities the net asset value per share stands at only $1.32.
In addition, the growth prospect for Haw Par seems quite limited at the moment as there is no sign that the management plans to expand or diversify the business and perhaps investors might want to wait for further developments before acting.
Another caution to investors, there is no reason to believe that the hidden value of an undervalued stock will ever be unlocked. I have read about people who held Haw Par shares for more than ten years and even as the share price did increase, it still remains undervalued.
In my opinion, holding “undervalued” shares could certainly be a test on one’s patience and investors should consider the inherent risks before jumping on the wagon.