SINGAPORE (April 21): After sliding for most of the last six years, shares in Midas are now trading at 0.46 times its book value.
Paul Yong, an analyst at DBS Vickers, says in a recent report that at current levels, the stock is trading at “bombed out” valuations. He is recommending a “buy” with a price target of 36 cents.
Midas no longer just makes aluminium parts for train carriages but also for aeroplanes, cars and ships. Last year, more than a fifth of its sales came from outside China, and the company managed to secure contracts everywhere from the US and the Middle East to Singapore and Malaysia.
In December alone, Midas announced new contracts worth RMB232.1 million (S$47.2 million), which included two contracts from Europe worth RMB137.7 million, one from the Middle East worth RMB14.6 million and two from China worth RMB79.8 million.
(See also: Midas awarded S$11 mil in new contracts)
One key platform of the company’s diversification is a company called Dalian Huicheng, which makes aluminium alloy stretched plates and coils, and serves customers in a wide range of sectors.
Midas completed the acquisition of Dalian Huicheng in July 2016 for some $264 million. The company was 37%-owned by Chen Wei Ping, who is chairman of Midas and now owns more than 7.8% of the group.
Midas is aiming to further diversify its revenue across industries and grow its non-China sales to 30% of its total revenue.
“We don’t want to be so single-sector focused, single-market focused. If the sun isn’t shining here, it has to be shining there,” says Patrick Chew, CEO of Midas, during an interview with The Edge Singapore.
How does Midas continue to capture big margins, and could it eventually benefit from China’s One Belt One Road master plan that was launched in 2013? Find out more in our full interview with Patrick Chew in this week’s edition of The Edge Singapore, (Issue 776, week of April 24), available at newsstands today.