Hock Lian Seng: 2c dividend per share.

On 17 October 2011, I looked at Hock Lian Seng's numbers after observing how insiders were buying up its shares at 23.5c a piece. I decided that its numbers were decent enough and that it would probably be able to pay a dividend of 1.5c a share.





I bought more shares at 24c a piece while waiting to see if price would fall closer to its NAV per share. Prices did go lower and touched a low of 21c in one later session but my buy order was not filled.

Today, it announced a dividend of 2.0c a share on the back of rather encouraging numbers. Mr. Market has reacted in the usual fashion and Hock Lian Seng's share price touched a high of 27c before closing at 26.5c today, up 1.5c from the preceding session.

I really like how its gross profit margin improved to 24.9% and its nett profit margin improved to 19.0%. Construction firms having thin margins is common knowledge amongst seasoned investors and being able to improve on their profit margins says something about the strength of Hock Lian Seng in the sector.





Of course, as investors, we own shares and we want to see if we are now in better shape on a per share basis. Well, EPS improved 15.1% to 6.1c. No doubt, this is one reason why a much higher dividend has been announced. 2c per share represents a payout ratio of 32.8%.

Hock Lian Seng will gun for more infrastructure projects in Singapore amidst greater spending by the government in this area. If they are successful in their endeavours, the company would be able to ride out the mild slowdown in the economy which is being forecast for the coming years.





See press release: here.

Related post:
Hock Lian Seng: Insider buying.

Yongnam: Smart money is accumulating.

OBV is used to detect distribution and accumulation activities. This, in itself, might not be very useful apart from providing material for a chit chat over tea. Looking at OBV together with price movement, however, could be rewarding.

A simple technical analysis suggests that smart money is accumulating shares of Yongnam.

Look at how the OBV has been gradually rising although its share price has been forming lower highs since early October 2010. An upward sloping OBV coupled with a weakening share price suggests that smart money is accumulating. Mind you, accumulation could go on for a long time as seen in this case.

However, there is support and buying on weakness could be rewarding as we could see prices going higher in time.

I have done some FA on Yongnam and its numbers have been improving over the years. Margins have been improving while gearing has been reducing.

Yongnam has carved a niche for itself in the construction industry and concentrates its efforts mainly in the infrastructure sector which continues to see major expenditure by regional governments.

What Yongnam does has a high barrier to entry and it is also probably the biggest in the game it plays. Yongnam seems to have an advantage and consistently gaining new contracts gives this claim credibility.

Visit Yongnam's website: here.