Short note on Colex

It has been a busy week for me. Some of my colleagues have resigned and new-comers are not on board yet.

Sad to know that one of the greatest (and oldest) investor Irving Khan has passed away. And I wonder why he bought BlackBerry stocks not too long back. I reckon only a few can see what Khan saw in the beleaguered device maker.

I am also curious about Airbnb which Warren Buffett has been advocating. (read here) Coincidentally I read an article (in the Sunday Times) describingabout an old couple using Airbnb services to travel around the world. Don’t think it is listed on the stock exchange yet. (read here and here and here) Wonder how is its financial fundamentals.

Super Group Ltd stock price has rocketed up recently. My Super Group holdings in my portfolio no longer shows a red paper loss. All of sudden almost every analyst is making buy recommendations on it (read here, here, here, here). geezzz… Won’t be touching that stock soon. Riverstone is another company which is grabbing everyone’s attention. (read here and here) With less reds in my portfolio, I feel less urge to add to any of my current stock holdings.

I have added Colex shares to my portfolio recently. I think the price(0.2650) is less than the intrinsic value(0.32). It also has a low trailing PEG (0.36), and good narrative (Defensive & boring industry; company with long track record; Jurong is developing eg. Lake District; higher labour cost factored in). And yes of course, I have yet to encounter any analyst’s report on it.

“When even the analysts are bored, it’s time to start buying.” Peter Lynch

It has long-term earnings growth, low debt, strong operating efficiency, high cash generation and consistently high rates of return on shareholders’ equity.

Colex (extract from latest earning results):

1. Group revenue for FY2014 increased by S$6.076 million or 11.5% to S$58.707 million from S$52.631 million for FY2013. Revenue from the contract cleaning segment increased.
2. Group operating profit before tax in FY2014 was S$4.813 million, an increase of S$1.679 million or 53.6% from S$3.134 million in FY2013. This was attributable mainly to the higher revenue and an increase in other income.
3. Non-current assets (comprising property, plant and equipment) were S$21.087 million as at 31 December 2014, representing an increase of S$3.459 million from S$17.628 million as at 31 December 2013 mainly due to the erection of the single-storey detached factory and material recovery facility at 8 Tuas South Street 13.
4. Current assets (comprising inventories, trade and other receivables, deposits, prepayments and cash and cash equivalents) were S$16.411 million as at 31 December 2014, representing a decrease of S$0.347 million from S$16.758 million as at 31 December 2013. This was mainly due to a decrease in (i) cash and cash equivalents of S$0.784 million as a result of the cash utilised for the aforesaid factory and material recovery facility and payment of dividend; and (ii) deposits and prepayments of S$0.133 million; partially offset by the increase in trade and other receivables of S$0.549 million which was in line with the higher revenue achieved.
5. The Group had cash and cash equivalents amounting to S$6.645 million as at 31 December 2014, as compared to S$7.429 million as at 31 December 2013. Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents of S$0.784 million for FY2014 was mainly as a result of S$5.074 million for the payment of aforesaid factory and material recovery facility, dividend payment of S$0.663 million and repayment of finance leases liabilities of S$3.211 million; partly offset by the net cash generated from operating activities of S$7.890 million.