A tale of two Keppels: Win, lose or draw?

Keppel Corporation is going to try to take Keppel Land private. This news came shortly after Keppel Corporation declared a generous dividend per share of 36c.

If I were a shareholder of Keppel Corporation's, I would have been elated and, then, worried by the recent string of events.

The following is taken from the comments section of my blog:

When I was asked in the last few months why did I choose to invest in SembCorp Industries instead of Keppel Corporation since both of them are blue chips in the O&M category, I said that I felt better about the former's utilities business in the current environment than the latter's real estate business. Although this latest development involves Keppel Corporation's real estate arm, quite honestly, I could never have seen this form of corporate action coming. I am just a frog in a well, after all.

Paying $4.60 a share (eventually), Keppel Corporation is not getting Keppel Land at a discount to NAV since Keppel Land's NAV/share is about there. In fact, it is going to be at a slight premium. So, there is nothing for Keppel Corporation's shareholders to rejoice about. At least, if the purchase was going to be at a discount, it might make Keppel Corporation's resulting weaker balance sheet easier to swallow.

For Keppel Corporation's action to make sense, it has to be because the management feel that Keppel Land will add value either in terms of income generation or capital appreciation in the years to come. However, near term prospects are challenging as Keppel Land is still mostly dependent on income from real estate development (property trading) although they have increased the size of their recurring income stream in recent times.

Could we see Keppel Corporation's stock price weakening next week? With a 36c dividend dangling, Mr. Market might close an eye to the eventual weaker balance sheet, for now.

Related post:
SembCorp Industries and SembCorp Marine.

STI in retreat: Sound Global, Golden Agriculture, Keppel Corporation and REITs.

STI 2,789.35

- Down 66.42 pts.

STI 2,789.35

- Down 66.42 pts.

Not a pretty sight, is it? Scream in panic? Run around in circles? Sell everything and jump off a cliff like lemmings? There is plenty of fear. What should I do? Stay calm and look out for opportunities. I have spent time looking at various counters and I will talk about a few here.

More than two years ago, I went in big on E-pure, the current Sound Global, believing that the water industry is the logical beneficiary from constant efforts by governments around the world to improve water quality for their people. China is still underinvested in this area and Sound Global is a natural beneficiary.

Sound Global's share price touched a low of 40.5c in the recent sell down. As I got in at 20c more than two years ago, I was wondering if the price could go lower. After all, we can't tell if a bottom has been formed until after the fact. Could we see a retest of 40.5c now that sentiments have soured? We could, of course.

However, seeing how volume was not very high as black candles were formed, the bears seem to be lacking in conviction. I will probably start buying in at 48.5c. Why 48.5c? 48.5c could be a significant near term support as that is also where we find the trendline support and the rising 20dMA.

I also subscribe to the idea that there will be increasing demand for food and oil as the middle class in Asia expands. Golden Agriculture is a likely beneficiary of this long term trend.

The counter's price weakness in the last two sessions was on the back of decreasing volumes. This is again a sign that the bears lack conviction. I would like to get back in at supports. I see immediate support at 62c. In very bearish conditions, we could see gap filling at 58c.

I also want to re-initiate a long position in Keppel Corporation. This is a company I held rather short term long positions in both in the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 90s as well as in the Subprime Crisis a couple of years back.

I would like to re-initiate a long position in the conglomerate, believing that it will continue to be a beneficiary of the global race for oil which is a theme I firmly believe in although there could be short term setbacks.

Further weakness could see a retest of $8.40, a natural candlestick support which broke on 23 Sep after being tested multiple times. I would buy in slowly as there are quite a few gaps which could be filled at lower prices if $8.40 should give way. That volume expanded as a long black candle was formed today does not inspire confidence.

I also have my eyes on a few REITs which are seeing weakening unit prices and rising distribution yields. Prices could weaken further if sentiments continue to sour. I will judiciously add to my long positions to benefit from the sell down. Panic? Not me.


Related posts:
1. Why do I not panic?
2. Sleep well at night with a plan.

K-REIT: Swap agreement.

"Keppel Land, the Singapore- based developer controlled by Keppel Corp., agreed to sell its stake in the first phase of Marina Bay Financial Center (MBFC) to K- REIT Asia for $1.43 billion, as part of a swap agreement...


"Keppel Land will buy two properties, Keppel Towers and GE Tower (KTGE), from K-REIT for $573 million for redevelopment into about 620 premium residences."

Keppel Land sells Marina Bay property stake to K-REIT: Update
Monday, 11 October 2010

© 2010 - The Edge Singapore

What does this mean for K-REIT?

On 24 Sep, in "FCOT, CCT and K-REIT", I mentioned that "K-REIT closed at $1.31 today. NAV as of Jun 10 at $1.47. K-REIT is trading at an 11% discount to NAV. Gearing ratio is at 15.2%.  This is very attractive to me as it gives the REIT plenty of room to leverage up for potential yield accretive purchases. 1Q 2010 DPU at 1.33c.  Annualised DPU should be 5.32c which means a yield of only 4% based on the current price of $1.31.  K-REIT has, arguably, the strongest balance sheet amongst the three office property REITs discussed here.  The low yield might put off investors but its low gearing paves the way for future acquisitions which could bump up its DPU." Well, it has happened.

Some effects of the swap agreement:

1. The aggregate leverage of K-REIT after completion of the MBFC Acquisition and the KTGE Divestment is approximately 39.1%.

2. K-REIT’s weighted average debt maturity profile will be extended to approximately 4 years. In addition, the portfolio’s average borrowing cost will also be reduced from 3.54% to approximately 3.05%.

3. Weighted Average Lease to Expiry (WALE) from 5.7 years as at 30 June 2010 to 7.8 years.

Read announcement here.

The actual DPU forecast following the completion of the transactions will be disclosed in the Unitholder Circular which is not available yet. Will this swap agreement be DPU accretive?  It should be since we are seeing a more than doubling of gearing ratio from 15.2% to 39.1% and a boost to K-REIT’s assets to about $3.4 billion from $2.5 billion.

K-Green Trust: A stable source of passive income.

I spent some time recently looking into the latest trust to list in the stock market here: K-Green Trust (KGT). This is an infrastructure business trust listed by Keppel Corporation recently. Initially, it only has three assets:

1. Senoko Waste-to-Energy Plant

(Concession period: 15 years from 1 Sep 09)

2. Keppel Seghers Tuas Waste-to-Energy Plant

(Concession period: 25 years from 30 Oct 09)

3. Keppel Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant

(Concession period: 20 years from 28 March 07)

The Waste-to-Energy plants treat close to half of Singapore's incinerable waste while the NEWater plant is one of Singapore's largest.

The main attraction of this trust is the stability of its non-cyclical cash flows and a lack of counter-party risks as its customers are NEA and PUB.

Using the usual metrics for analysing trusts, we find that KGT has zero gearing, has an estimated dpu of 7.82c (which translates into a yield of 7.38% based on the last traded price of $1.06) and is currently trading at a 5.5% discount to its NAV of $1.12. Although the small discount to NAV is unattractive, the zero gearing is.  There is room for KGT to gear up to, say, 40% and improve its dpu in time.

Stable cash flow, low risk and room to grow.  This sounds like a good addition to my passive income portfolio. It diversifies my income stream and injects a higher level of stability at the same time. The lower yield is acceptable because of its debt free balance sheet.  When a balance sheet is heavy in debt, the risk is higher and, consequently, I would demand a higher yield.

I would like to buy some units of KGT but how much would I pay? On its first day of trading, KGT started off at $1.17 and hit a high of $1.33 and closed at $1.11. Usually, I would depend on TA here but being so new in its listing, four days old, to be exact, TA is impossible. However, we can see that it reached a low of $1.00 on 1 Jul and formed a white candle with a long upper wick on 2 Jul as it closed at $1.06.  This suggests some selling pressure.

Why the selling pressure? If we remember that KGT units were actually given to existing shareholders of Keppel Corporation as a special dividend, the reason becomes apparent. Some shareholders are monetising their "dividends".  If this continues to play out and if the buying interest does not strengthen to counter balance the selling pressure, KGT unit price could go lower.

I would be quite happy to collect some units at $1.00 which would give a yield of 7.82% to begin with.

K-Green Trust rated hold
Monday, 28 June 2010

© 2010 - The Edge Singapore

3 bue chips and 1 REIT

Saizen REIT: Still trading sideways.  MFI has moved into oversold territory.  The quarterly report will be released tomorrow in the morning before trading starts.  Volume is very thin today as if everyone is waiting for the report before deciding on what to do next.

F&N:  Uptick in the MFI pushed the index out of oversold territory as the terribly oversold counter seems to have attracted some buyers.  Price action formed an inverted black hammer on respectable volume and has moved away from the lower limits of the Bollinger bands.  If this continues, the correction is over and we might see some consolidation.  Initial resistance is provided by a rising 200dMA at $3.83 followed by the 100dMA at $3.92.

Keppel Corp: MFI continues to rise and seems determined to form a higher high.  This is a positive as it signals the return of some buying momentum.  That the black candle day is accompanied by reduced volume today is also a positive.  As of now, the counter's uptrend is stil intact.

SPH:  A low volume day as price almost formed a white hammer.  MFI has turned up.  Let us see if the symmetrical triangle I talked about yesterday will deliver good news in time.

V2EDNMFSHXH3

Small, mid and large caps

The STI gained 51.4 points to close at 2,745.02 on relatively low volume.  This might have been the rebound that stale bulls were waiting for in order to reduce exposure in some index linked counters.

Healthway Medical closed at 14c today and it remains to be seen if this support would hold or would 13c, the next support, be tested.  The declining volume continues to confirm a lack of selling conviction and as the price declines, the chances of supports holding become higher in this light.  With the MACD declining and positioned just above zero, there is almost no doubt that the upward momentum is over.  MFI confirms this as it did not rebound off the trendline support today, confirming a lack of buying momentum.  Now, we have to pay attention to the Bollinger bands.  See how the price action has been hugging the lower limits of the Bollinger bands?  We want to see the price action detaching and moving inwards towards the 20dMA.  That would be the first sign that the correction might be at an end.  This would likely be followed by a consolidation phase.  Strategy: I'm holding on to my Healthway Medical shares and will add to my position again once I see signs that the correction has ended.

Price of crude palm oil (CPO) closed at RM 2,561 as it continues its upward climb after reaching a recent low of almost RM 2,400.  It looks likely that it will continue to rise and test the trendline resistance.  Given the current weak sentiments, a lower high would seem to be more probable.  Golden Agriculture seems to echo the relatively positive performance in CPO and closed at 51.5c, forming a white candle in the process.  However, this is on relatively low volume which makes the upward move in price less convincing.  This is echoed by the MFI as it stays flat, signalling a lack of buying momentum.  A flat 50dMA at 52c provides immediate resistance.  If this is taken out, a declining 20dMA provides a stronger resistance at 54c.  Strategy: Look to the MACD (blue line) for signs.  Once it closes in on the signal line (red line), that is a sign of a possible reversal.  Of course, to be safe, wait for confirmation as the MACD crosses above the signal line.

Saizen REIT ends at 16c on another low volume day.  There is not doubt that the counter is stuck in sideways trading but the uptrend is intact.  Let us see if the report due to be delivered in the morning of 11 Feb 10 will provide some stimulus here.  Strategy: Accumulate.

Keppel Corporation closed at $8.34 on a white candle day as it's resisted by the 50dMA.  It did manage to safely stay within its uptrend although the diminished volume does not make this convincing.  The overall picture is quite pleasing as the upmove today means that the low of $8.12 formed in the last session is a higher low.  Will the price break resistance tomorrow to test the recent high?  MFI shows that the buying momentum has an upward bias and bulls might breathe a sigh of relieve yet.

F&N today confirmed that it is indeed the weakest of the three blue chips I have been looking at in recent days.  The black candle formed today is accompanied by very much higher volume as price closed at $3.78.  MFI plunges deeper into the oversold territory and the MACD continues its descend and is pulling away from the signal line.  All these means that F&N is terribly oversold but such strong selldowns usually have some momentum.  It would be wise to wait a bit for some signs that the correction is over before going long.

SPH is, technically, the strongest blue chip here.  Today, I made an interesting observation.  Dare I hope?  It looks like a symmetrical triangle is forming in SPH's price action of late.  Look out for the MACD (blue line) closing in on the signal line (red line) as it might mean that it is ready to form a bullish crossover.  This would mean that price would probably break out higher .  With MFI forming a higher low, the buying momentum has an upward bias.  I guess a bit of hope doesn't hurt.

Are the blue chips singing the Blues?

No morning star formation for F&N.  In fact, price opened lower at the 200dMA, $3.80, made a half hearted attempt to rise only to close lower at $3.76.  Breaking the 200dMA is very bearish since it signals the end of a longer term uptrend.  The consolation?  The volume is much lower and MFI has entered the oversold region.  Is there no respite?  It certainly looks like there would be more downside.  Looking at the weekly chart, we see the 50wMA rising and looks set to forming a golden cross with the 100wMA at $3.60.  I might be tempted to buy some at that level then.

Keppel Corp shows relative strength compared to F&N even as the morning star formation failed to materialise.  Price did open and close higher compared to the previous session, almost forming a black hammer in the process.  Closing at $8.24, however, is under the 100dMA which is at $8.27.  This confirms that the 100dMA is now the immediate resistance.  20dMA and 50dMA have both completed their downward turns and seem determined to decline.  Dead crosses up ahead?  A look at the weekly chart shows that the price has been hugging the 20wMA for support in the past three months.  The MACD continues to decline and the jury is out on whether the 20wMA will continue to be a support.  If the 20wMA breaks, there is some way to fall.

No morning star either for SPH but it remains the strongest of the three blue chips here.  Price closed lower at $3.68 and formed a black hammer but not before touching a low of $3.65 to test the 100dMA.  So, is SPH a safe haven?  Nothing is safe if the bear comes back.  Looking at the candlestick supports and resistance, if SPH breaks its trendline support, it could sink rapidly to $3.40 which coincides with the rising 200dMA.  If that happens, I'm bringing out my warchest.

Related posts:
A tale of two blue chips: F&N and Keppel Corp
Is SPH the bluest of them all?

A tale of two blue chips: F&N and Keppel Corp

A late night chat with La Papillion in his cbox led to a comparison between F&N and Keppel Corp.  I decided to do a TA on both counters to see which one has relative strength.

F&N's close at $3.83 is supported by the rising 200dMA and the trendline support which I have drawn in orange color.  Further decline in price would mean that the uptrend is over and it's a double whammy for F&N as the 200dMA which is an indication of long term trend would be violated at the same time. A quick look at the weekly chart indicates the next support to be provided by the 100wMA which is at $3.65.

Using two sets of Fibo lines, we see that the $4.00 mark has two Fibo lines which are very close to each other which indicate that it is an important support.  This is further confirmed when we realise that it is a many times tested candlestick resistance turned support as well.  Breaking this critical support on 2 Feb was a very bearish sign.

The MFI continues to decline and has formed a new low.  It is nearing the oversold region.  That the volume has been diminishing as the price weakened in the last two weeks is a positive for the bulls.  There is a chance we might have a candlestick formation known as the morning star if the price opens higher than $3.89 in the next session and closes higher.  For those who have bought some in the last session or two, good luck.

Keppel Corp's chart, relative to F&N's, shows some strength.  Overall, Keppel Corp's price is being held down by a gently rising 200wMA. Everytime its price approaches the 200wMA, it would pull back. The 200wMA is currently at $8.87.

The buying momentum has not weakened as much as F&N's as could be seen in the MFI.  The index has been forming higher lows and recently formed a lower high.  However, breaking the 100dMA support on high volume to form a doji at $8.18 isn't exactly comforting. 

Of course, it is possible that the price action is setting up for a morning star formation as well.  This will transpire if next session sees the price opening above $8.20 and closing higher.  In the next session, we will also have confirmation if the 100dMA is now a support turned resistance at $8.26 thereabouts. 

I have drawn the trendline support in orange color and just like F&N, Keppel Corp is resting on the trendline and if price weakens further in the next session, the fast rising 200dMA is at $7.75 and should provide support. 

Both blue chips, in my opinion, have a strong thrill factor at the moment. To those who are vested, sit tight for the ride and good luck.

Related post:
Revisiting Keppel Corporation.

Revisiting Keppel Corporation

Keppel Corp is one counter which I bought at under $4 in early 2009 but offloaded too early. I like this counter. The world cannot do without crude oil. Other counters in the same theme which I offloaded too early as well were Ezra and Swiber. With crude oil strengthening in price, it might be time for me to revisit Keppel Corp.

In terms of fundamentals, if one were to seek exposure to offshore counters, Keppel Corp is a better choice as it has a stronger balance sheet. The economy might be recovering but I'm not sure that taking on too much debt is a good idea as is the case with Ezra and Swiber. Keppel Corp also pays out generous dividends which is very attractive to me.

Looking at its weekly charts, the negative divergence between price and volume from May 09 to Dec 09 is quite clear. Buying momentum has been weak as MFI continues its decline, forming lower highs. However, OBV has a gradual slope upwards which indicates longer term accumulation. Price has been hugging support provided by the 20wMA so far. Without any buying momentum, this counter is doing a rather precarious correction using time. Resistance is being provided by the very gradually rising 200wMA at $8.85. The falling 100wMA is unlikely to provide much support in the event the 20wMA breaks. A stronger support would be one provided by the rising 50wMA.

I would wait for a correction before accumulating. I would buy some at the 50% fibo retracement(S$7.55) as a hedge and would buy more if it goes to the 38.2% fibo retracement (S$7.28). If one is already vested, selling some if the price hits the 200wMA would be a nice hedge. Having said this, I am sure that the longer term trend of Keppel Corp is up as the rising 50wMA is on course to form a golden cross with the declining 100wMA in the coming months.