| EUPIC | PFHO | SEC | KCLI | Soundwill | KARE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (April 1) | € 1.49 | 10.15 | CAD$ 125.70 | 9.20 | HK$ 9.20 | € 240.00 |
| Marketcap M | € 40.98 ($ 46.71) | 8.12 | CAD$ 354.47
($ 270.59) | 384 | HK$ 2616.20 ($ 337.57) | € 662.40 ($755.14) |
| PE | 3.66 | 4.84 | loss | 13.15 | loss | 12.40 |
| ROE | 0.14 | 0.33 | - | 0.04 | - | 0.15 |
| PTBV | 0.51 | 1.58 | 0.53 | 0.58 | 0.16 | 1.89 |
| Div Yield % | 0.00 | 12.32 (one time) | 0.00 | 2.70 | 2.17 | 3.54 |
| Vol (basis) | 0.51 | 6.89 | 1.06 | 5.52 | 2.41 | 4.13 |
The table summarizes the key metrics. I mostly focus on PE and PTBV. And for each company, one or the other shows the company is cheap. The last row gives the average daily volume divided by the total shares. The fraction is showed in basis points units. So PFHO daily volume, which is 6.89 basis points, is actually 0.0689% of total volume. I have found most companies with healthy volumes should trade at about 20 to 30 basis points (0.2% to 0.3%). The table shows that all the six companies trade at extremely low volumes. None are at 20 or 30 basis points. This may explain why the stocks trade so cheap, they have extremely small interest.
European Reliance Insurance (ATH:EUPIC) continued its growth streak by increasing pre-tax profits by 6.6%. Even better is equity growth at 13.3%. The stock is still super cheap. I presume the reason is the ongoing crisis situation in Greece. Warren Buffett used to say he could find stocks that trade at 2 or 3 or 4 times earnings. They exist now and you just have to look. Well, I found one here trading at less than 4x earnings! On top of that it is trading at half of book. Now if only the market can cooperate.
Pacific Health Care Organization (PFHO) had a rough third and fourth quarter. The stock went from the high twenties to as low as $6.50 after announcing that they will lose their biggest customer Amtrust in Q4. But after their official annual report, the stock managed to recover to $10.15. Q4 results show that subtracting Amtrust's waning revenues in the quarter, the company still did $1.2M in business. So at that conservative trend, the company can do $4.8M for 2016. At their current profit margin of 20%, that is still more than $1 a share. The company said in the report that they employed 36 people in mid-March. That is still more employees than they've ever had except for their record year in 2014. And the company is continuing its IT expansion. I am cautiously bullish on PFHO.
Senvest Capital (SEC:TSX) reported FY15 EPS CAD$(35.39), which is pretty much expected. However, the book value per share increased because of a 19% rise in the Canadian dollar relative to the USD throughout the year. That would give per share book value of CAD$271 at year end. And also with estimated hedge fund losses from the company's 13F and its website, we can expect expect book value after Q1 to be about $237. Today it trades at $127. So the stock trades at 53% of book. That is too low even by Senvest standards. And one big reason for the huge discount is the market's view that the company charges excessive fees. This year has been kind of flat, and so there is little if any incentive bonus. The salary drawn should be all the employee expense on the books which is $12.5M. Other operating expenses, which may include costs for expanding their New York office is $16.8M. I am not thrilled about the expense. But for a company that manages about $1.4B in net money for common shareholders, minority interests and hedge fund holders. One can argue the cost is reasonable.
Kansas City Life Insurance (KCLI) reported for the first time after delisting from NASDAQ. The company revealed it bought back 1.1M shares for an average price of $51.13. The shares included normal buybacks and the odd-lot tender offer of 906,500 shares at $52.50. There are now 9.6M outstanding shares. The company earned $29.2M for the year, which is flat compared to the previous two years. However comprehensive income was $(9.0)M due to unrealized losses in fair value of securities. The comprehensive loss along with the 1.1M reduction in shares, minus the dividend, meant that the book value per share was flat from 2014 to 2015 at $68.55. I anticipate that unrealized gains will be much higher in 2016 because interest rates will be lower than expectations at late 2015. Lower interest rates mean a higher valuation on the company's stock portfolio, with the drawback that the company may receive less revenue as people avoid the company's products due to their low yield.
Soundwill Holdings (HK:878) is a real estate company that renovates and develops buildings as well as lease properties, primarily in Hong Kong. It is dirt cheap on a price to book basis. But last year it turned a small loss mainly due to fair value adjustments on its investment properties and almost no property sales.
Soundwill owns some of the best retail properties in Hong Kong. But rents were ridiculously high. I heard some of their properties were the highest retail properties in the world! But now that less tourists are coming from China, rent prices have fallen. Along with rents the fair value of Soundwill's properties have also fallen.
In 2014, the company sold HK$2.5B worth of properties for a $1B gross profit. But last year they had virtually none. But that could be a simply a quirk of timing. The following table shows the company's yearly property sales as well as the total money held as deposit on properties under development. The sales seem to oscillate every two years, with a high amount on year followed by a low. But the amount under deposit on the low years does seem to foreshadow good sales the following year. So, I expect 2016 to have significant property sales as in 2014.
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property Sales (HK$ M) | 10.40 | 2466.00 | 199.00 | 1310.60 | 483.20 | 591.20 |
| Deposits | 735.00 | 421.00 | 1277.00 | 482.00 | 529.00 | 422.00 |
Karelia Tobacco (ATH:KARE) reported year end earnings of € 19.35 versus € 22.44 a year earlier. Revenues were up 15% and gross margins, net of excise taxes, were up to 14% from 12.7% a year ago. The difference in the bottom line is from a previously mentioned € (14M) adverse tariff decision. The appeal is ongoing which, if successful, would return € 14M to income.
