Country View Bhd
Relatively unknown among investors, Country View (CView) is a Johor-based property developer best known for its vast 1,080.2 -acre township development, Taman Universiti in Johor Bahru.

The company is currently developing properties in Taman Nusa Sentral at Bandar Nusajaya, Johor. Unlike Iskandar Johor’s luxury condominium market which is facing a glut, CView’s projects are more insulated as they are mainly landed projects catering for the local middle-income population.

CView has a market capitalisation of only RM284 million and holds assets which are carried in its books at very low prices. The stock is trading at 1.01 times book.

Its landbank includes 295.8 acres in Bandar Nusajaya carried at RM156.0 million or just RM1.21 psf; 364.8 acres in Daerah Hulu Selangor carried at RM54.2 million or RM3.41 psf and 550.7 acres in Kulim, Kedah carried at RM27.4 million or RM1.14 psf.

In FY Nov 2013, CView had launched its first serviced apartment project at Nusa Sentral called One Sentral Service Residences, comprising 426 apartments and 21 shops. The company also launched Phase 5 of Taman Nusa Sentral, offering double storey terrace houses.

Its balance sheet has shown significant improvement over the years. As of 3Q2014, net gearing stood at 13.0%, down from 81.4% in FY2010. From FY2010 to FY2013, total assets increased by a CAGR of 14.2% to RM372.1 million, while shareholders’ equity rose by a CAGR of 22.9% to RM234.7 million.

For 9M2014, revenue fell 22.7% y-o-y to RM149.8 million due to lower number of units sold but pre-tax profit increased 10.4% to RM81.8 million as prices and margins improved. The stock is trading at a trailing 12-month P/E ratio of just 3.4 times, although future earnings will depend on the timing and sales of new launches. Dividend per share was 27 sen in FY2013, translating into a yield of 9.5%.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 17, 2014.