【SUPERMX 7106 交流专区】速伯玛

Mr.Business

可怜的APLI大跌，罪魁祸首Supermax却没有大影响。老实说如果我是Supermax的股东我会考虑卖出，太危险了，不知道还有什么坏消息还没暴发出来。。。

APLI

(5479)  22:39:07

Last Done	0.310
Change	-0.070
Day High	0.360
Day Low	0.310
Best Buy	0.310
Best Sell	0.315
Volume(Lot)	385610

SUPERMX

(7106)  22:39:53

Last Done	2.260
Change	-0.010
Day High	2.270
Day Low	2.210
Best Buy	2.260
Best Sell	2.270
Volume(Lot)	2353

8years

卖出也是好的选择，手套也的风暴看来就要开始了，topglove也会被影响的，小心了

Mr.Business

等分析员出报告将Supermax的评价降级时才卖就太迟了。。。

Mr.Business

是有点担心Topglove。。。

8years

你越来越聪明了。。。。。。。。。。。

Mr.Business

这是称赞？？？

8years

肯定是，不是吗？？
这就是我时常讲的，市场出好价帮你买有问题的股，还不卖等几时？？难道要等市场出坏价是才卖？？

这句话在bjtoto,trnsmile时有讲过，也是基本因素投资者的重要。那就是不要被市场价格迷惑，市场有便宜就买，有贵货就卖，不要等起时买，等跌时卖。

投资的精华不就在贵卖便宜买吗？？可是很多投机者通常最喜欢起买跌卖。。。

财散人聚

原帖由 8years 于 1-11-2007 11:03 PM 发表
肯定是，不是吗？？
这就是我时常讲的，市场出好价帮你买有问题的股，还不卖等几时？？难道要等市场出坏价是才卖？？

这句话在bjtoto,trnsmile时有讲过，也是基本因素投资者的重要。那就是不要被市场价格迷惑，市场有便宜就买，有贵货就卖，不要等起时买，等跌时卖。

投资的精华不就在贵卖便宜买吗？？可是很多投机者通常最喜欢起买跌卖。。。

嗯。。。。市场里有时候的确有些数据很美，但是在投资人短视的情况下，而导致股价下滑的股票。可是，有时候我们认为别人的短视就是我们的机会，却更容易陷入更深的陷阱。。。。
或许，我们应该找出别人短视的理由。。。。。再看看至今的基本素，而对此公司作出未来的预测，才决定买下或舍弃这间公司。。。。。
有一点我有必要阐明，不要为了公司创下的历史底价或作出buyback的时候同步买进（这里说的是你认为有基本面的公司，但目前不是那么perform的公司）。。。。在我的想法来说，最主要买进的原因，应该是-----你认为别人的短视，是对的短视。。。。。而你持有理由相信过了一段时间后，公司的确会回到他的轨道，有能力控制市场，并在市场里赚钱。。。。那就是“有利可图”的股票，那就是买进那间低迷公司的最原始，最重要的理由。。。。
话多了。。。。各位好友莫要介意我的胡言乱语。。。。

[ 本帖最后由 财散人聚 于 1-11-2007 11:21 PM 编辑 ]

8years

这讲法也很对

Mr.Business

Supermax只拥有APLI的12.9％股份，却得到她的管理权，我一直为此觉得不妥。我不认为Supermax能客观的为APLI着想，谁能保护APLI其余87.1％的股东的利益呢？我不是很喜欢这样的管理层。


8条罪，假账的可能性很大很大。。。
Net Profit Variance in Audited and Unaudited Accounts:
1. Accounting treatment for land lease rental fees payable in respect of the unoccupied plot.
2. Classification of certain machineries and equipment installed at Vietnam plant resulting in depreciation not charged.
3. Damaged machinery parts not written-off.
4. Computation of deferred tax asset and deferred tax liability.
5. Accounting treatment on settlement of corporate tax underpaid.
6. Downward revaluation of finished goods
7. Billing of finished goods sent to specific plant of an affiliated company for QC and packing and onward shipment to external customers.
8. Purchases of raw materials not taken up due to timing differences

Mr.Business

我什么都不担心，只担心Top Glove也出现假账，所以我要知道为何Top Glove最近几年都赚大钱APLI却亏钱。

我看了APLI的2006年年报的CEO's Statement。APLI的CEO说APLI亏钱是因为：
1. The aging production facilities in the Malaysian plants, thus resulting in inefficiency and low productivity.
2. The non conformance of technical specification of the Biomass Boiler at the Vietnam plant resulting in low productivity and inconsistency in quality of the products.
3. With the historical high latex raw material costs, inefficient and unproductive plants suffered the hardest hit to the bottom lines of the APLI Group.

看来都是APLI自身的问题，还好。。。

Mr.Business

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S STATEMENT

It is my duty to present and to report the results of APL Industries Bhd for the financial year ended June 30, 2006. This financial year marks the first financial year that Supermax’s team has taken over the management of the loss making APLI Group.

Review of Financial Performance
The financial year ended June 30, 2006 was a challenging year for the APLI Group. The Group has achieved Sales Turnover of RM179 million for the financial year ended June 30, 2006. This is a slight increase in sales turnover as compared to FY2005.
The APLI Group suffered losses due to the following main reasons amongst others, the aging production facilities in the Malaysian plants, thus resulting in inefficiency and low productivity. The non conformance of technical specification of the Biomass Boiler at the Vietnam plant resulting in low productivity and inconsistency in quality of the products. With the historical high latex raw material costs, inefficient and unproductive plants suffered the hardest hit to the bottom lines of the APLI Group.

Management Change
On February 18, 2005, Supermax Corporation Bhd (“Supermax”) acquired 12.9% Stake in APL Industries  Bhd (“APLI”). In any acquisition, staffs change, rationalization and streamlining of the operations are inevitable. There was a massive change in personnel at all levels. There was a complete change of management and technical staffs & replaced with new staffs including technical personnel. These are some of the drastic steps that the new management has taken, besides changing the work culture and the mind set of the entire APLI Group.
A completely new Sales & Marketing team was set up in July, 2005 and to date we are pleased to share with you that we have managed to eliminate poor quality customers and have replaced with credible & better quality customers including the MNCs.
To date, we have also put in place a strengthened technical team and also a stronger & more effective
Internal Audit team at APLI and at Group level too. A Chief Operating Officer has been recruited to spear head & to oversee the running of day to day operation of the APLI Group.
The entire Finance & Accounting team has been relocated to Supermax’s Headquarter effective from November 15, 2006.

Action Plans
With the aging production facilities in the Malaysia plants and with the non conformance specification of the Biomass Boiler at the Vietnam plant, following corrective actions has been carried out and currently is at various stages of implementation:

a) Senawang Plant (APL Healthcare Sdn Bhd)
The plant has been converted to produce Food Grade latex gloves focusing in the Food Services Industry and for the General Purposes usage.

b) Ayer Tawar Plant (APL Products Sdn Bhd)
Modifications and upgrading work at the plant has since commenced in July ,2005 and as at to date, 80% of the production lines has been upgraded to produce value added , high quality powder free gloves, catering to the Home Healthcare, Hospitals and Medical Industry. A number of new businesses including from the MNCs has been secured to fill the capacity of the upgraded lines. To date, we are glad to share with you that the plant is experiencing an oversold position.

c) Tasek, Ipoh Plant (Asia Pacific Latex Sdn Bhd)
This is a processing plant providing support services to the 2 main manufacturing plants.
Efforts are being made to consolidate and integrate the processing activities with the Ayer Tawar plant. Consolidation and integration will be completed in March, 2007.

d) Vietnam Plant (APL Vietnam)
The plant suffered inefficiency, inconsistency in quality and low productivity. Thus with
high manufacturing costs as a result of the non conformance of technical specification of the Biomass Boiler. The company has filed a claim against the supplier amounting to RM14 million and currently the company is pursuing this claim via legal means against the supplier. Corrective action has been made by ordering 2 new Boiler and put aside the existing Boiler. The Production is expected to resume in July, 2007 once the new Boilers are installed and commissioned.

Moving Forward
There is hope in APLI Group. We are confident that the new management team that we have put in place is able to turn around of the APLI Group. We are in the final stage of restructuring of the group operationally.
The years ahead continue to be an exciting one for APLI and the Group in general. While we recognize that APLI is the weakest link among the group, we are determined that this weaker link would continue to be strengthened while we continue to face challenges such as stiff competition by virtue of being an OEM manufacturer and the fluctuation of foreign exchange.
Natural rubber latex prices have recently declined by more than 40% from the highest level since June, 2006. This is good news for the latex glove manufacturers so long as the intensity of price undercutting amongst glove manufacturers is minimized I would like to share with you that with the continuous improvement & strengthening of the operation of APLI group, improve in production efficiency, the on going training, re-training of the employees, we are ready to face any new challenges in the positive direction as we move forward.

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 1-11-2007 11:39 PM 编辑 ]

Mr.Business

Management Change:
1. There was a complete change of management and technical staffs & replaced with new staffs including technical personnel. These are some of the drastic steps that the new management has taken, besides changing the work culture and the mind set of the entire APLI Group.

2. A completely new Sales & Marketing team was set up in July, 2005 and to date we are pleased to share with you that we have managed to eliminate poor quality customers and have replaced with credible & better quality customers including the MNCs.

3. To date, we have also put in place a strengthened technical team and also a stronger & more effective Internal Audit team at APLI and at Group level too.

4. A Chief Operating Officer has been recruited to spear head & to oversee the running of day to day operation of the APLI Group.

5. The entire Finance & Accounting team has been relocated to Supermax’s Headquarter effective from November 15, 2006.


全部换成Supermax的人了，帐目还会出如此大的问题，越想越严重。。。Supermax不妙。。。

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 1-11-2007 11:45 PM 编辑 ]

Mr.Business

卡。。。帖。。。

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 1-11-2007 11:48 PM 编辑 ]

财散人聚

原帖由 Mr.Business 于 1-11-2007 11:36 PM 发表
我什么都不担心，只担心Top Glove也出现假账，所以我要知道为何Top Glove最近几年都赚大钱APLI却亏钱。

我看了APLI的2006年年报的CEO's Statement。APLI的CEO说APLI亏钱是因为：
1. The aging production f ...

嘻嘻。。。。允许我这么说，top glove会出现假账的疑点，我不是很相信。。。。你买进的其中一个理由是林老板。。。。用人不疑，用人不疑呀。。。。你看我，又乱说话了。。。
APLI。。。。到了现在，我还是厘不清是什么理由要做假账。。。。照说，supermax的老板可不是笨蛋一个。。。。在收购这间表现不好的公司之前，应该知道如果不搞好里头的管理层，或者无法转apli的亏为盈，那只会是一个失败的作品。。。。分分钟还会拖累总管理层的表现。。。在这么恶劣的竞争环境下，还让自己的子公司面临这么大的问题。。。。实在不值。。。。实在不智
或许supermax的老板有别的理由。。。。。不过，我还是不明白。。。。。 。。。。真的不明白。。。。。

Mr.Business

Supermax在入股APLI和Seal Polymer的之前和之后，都没有做"Due diligence"。。。收购之后出现的问题一大堆。。。2005年到现在，Supermax整整用了两年时间来整顿APLI，可是还是有问题出现，不知道Supermax的老板可有后悔过入股APLI？附上几则有趣的旧闻。。。


Top Glove and Supermax jostle for dominance

Updated : 19-02-2005
Media : The Star
Story By : ERROL OH

FOR those brimming with the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, the idea of two local companies vying for the No.1 position in a global industry must be thrilling. That was why Supermax Corp Bhd made the business headlines when it recently gained control of another Malaysian glovemaker, APL Industries Bhd (APLI).

Supermax claims that the acquisition has made it the largest manufacturer of latex examination gloves in Malaysia and the world (Malaysia being the leading rubber glove exporter). If that was true, Supermax had knocked off Top Glove Corp Bhd from the top spot.

However, Top Glove has something to say about that. It insists that it is still ahead of Supermax and APLI put together, in terms of revenue and production capacity.

For the casual observer here, it may not matter much which company is indeed the industry leader. After all, both the No.1 and the No.2 are Malaysian companies. However, there is another facet to this development. It is the latest chapter in the story of one of corporate Malaysia's fiercest business rivalries.

Jostling for market dominance is common everywhere, but the competition between these two companies is particularly intriguing because they are similar in many ways and yet have striking differences. Both are headed by men with strong personalities and abilities.

In addition, the companies make no attempt to hide the fact that they are locked in a fast-paced, head-to-head contest. Neither is about to blink. At times, the moves of one company appear to be in response to those of the other.

For example, when Supermax announced its acquisition of a 12.9% stake in APLI on Feb 3, Top Glove sent out a statement four days later, complete with figures compiled from the latest quarterly results, to argue that Top Glove ¡§still maintains its position as Malaysia's and the world's largest glove manufacturer¡¨.

(Supermax says it and APLI will have a total capacity of 17.78 billion pieces of gloves when all their new production lines are fully commissioned next year. This is the basis of its assertion that it is the No.1 manufacturer. Top Glove points out that based on current figures, its capacity of 11.7 billion pieces remains the highest by far, and the company has plans for additional operating lines.)

Top Glove executive chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Lim Wee-Chai tells BizWeek that his company was merely setting the record straight.

When asked why it is important to lay claim to the top manufacturer spot, he says, ¡§It's not just about making a claim. For us, performance is the No.1 priority, and that means showing that you have continuous growth. You must have the facts and figures, and the track record to back it up.¡¨

That may be so, but others feel that ownership of the top position in the industry translates into a bigger bottom line.

Says an analyst, ¡§It's a volume game. In this industry, sales figures are crucial because the margins are not that good. Being No.1 translates into having a larger market share and thus, a higher turnover.¡¨

Supermax shifts gear

¡§The race to the market leader position has intensified!¡¨ declares TA Securities in a research report earlier this month. Few industry observers would dispute that.

Some analysts feel that the Top Glove-Supermax rivalry had been overhyped in the past. The argument back then was that they had distinct business models and were going after different market segments. If at all they were in direct competition, it was chiefly a fight for the attention of the investors.

Prior to the APLI acquisition, Supermax was largely an OBM (original brand manufacturing) player. About 70% of its business revolved around producing gloves under its own brands such as Aurelia and Maxter. It was up against multinationals such as Ansell and Kimberly Clark.

On the other hand, Top Glove is very much in the OEM (original equipment manufacturing) segment. In fact, companies like Kimberly Clark outsource their manufacturing function to Top Glove.

With Supermax now able to lean on APLI's capacity and predominantly OEM business (90% of its output), the line separating Supermax and Top Glove is fading.

¡§Now, thing are really starting to heat up. By taking control of APLI, Supermax is signalling that it is ready to invade Top Glove's territory,¡¨ says an analyst who covers all three companies.

Supermax group managing director Stanley Thai took over as APLI CEO last Tuesday. He is expected to drive APLI's expansion programme even faster that as planned by APLI's previous management.

Most analysts who track Supermax are positive about the APLI buy because it will lead to a huge jump in capacity without significantly stretching Supermax's balance sheet. At the end of 2004, Supermax was producing about 7.1 billion pieces of gloves.

Right now, capacity building is a cornerstone of the Malaysian glove manufacturing industry. After going through a consolidation phase several years ago that saw the exit of many weaker players, the industry has been experiencing steady growth.

Global demand for disposable gloves is expected to swell by 8% to 10% over the next three years ¡V some people say it has already exceeded this rate ¡V and manufacturers are scrambling to meet orders.

With APLI in its stable, Supermax instantly gets a larger presence in the OEM market. At the same time, it can continue to focus on pushing its brands forward. APLI has three plants in Malaysia and another in Vietnam. Supermax has six plants, all in Malaysia.

Top Glove's Lim does not view the Supermax-APLI tie-up as a great threat. He explains, ¡§We are more familiar with the OEM business. When you're in the OBM segment, you're competing with the other brands, some of whom are also your OEM customers. And they may not like that.¡¨

Clash of personalities?

Interestingly, Lim says Top Glove was offered a stake in APLI just before the Chinese New Year. ¡§We studied the proposal for two weeks before deciding that it's better for us to invest in new factories and machinery in Malaysia, where we can have better control,¡¨ he adds.

However, Thai of Supermax was quoted as saying the APLI shares had been offered for sale in December and the parties had negotiated discreetly. BizWeek could not reach Thai for comments.

There may well be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this apparent contradiction, but it does underscore the fact that Top Glove and Supermax will again and again come up against each other because of their heft in the Malaysian glove making industry.

And because both companies are very much entrepreneur-driven, some observers believe that there is a personal dimension to the rivalry between Supermax and Top Glove.

Says an analyst, ¡§Both men have done a great job with their companies. They are aggressive and visionary, and have strong marketing skills. Thai is perhaps outspoken, while Lim tends to be more quiet, but both are equally driven. And both started in the industry around the same time.¡¨

Supermax was the first to be listed on the second board. It made its stock exchange debut in August 2000 and Top Glove followed seven months later. However, Top Glove made an earlier move to the main board in May 2002. Supermax's transfer was in October 2003.

The Top Glove-Supermax rivalry extends to the courtroom. The companies' quarterly reports contain several paragraphs detailing litigation between them.

This stems from an action by a Supermax subsidiary against a Top Glove subsidiary in relation to an allegation that the latter passed off gloves manufactured by the former, under a different brand.

People who know both Lim and Thai say they are definitely not bosom buddies. Lim, however, says the competition between the companies is all about business. ¡§It's based on healthy competition. We do our best, and in the long run, that's all that matters. It's not our style to get personal.¡¨

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 2-11-2007 12:33 AM 编辑 ]

Mr.Business

旧闻。

Bid to beef up APLI

Updated : 17-09-2005
Media : The Star
Story By : ERROL OH

IT is obvious that Supermax Corp Bhd has been champing at the bit to buy more shares in fellow rubber glove manufacturer Seal Polymer Industries Bhd. The day after obtaining its shareholders' mandate to raise its stake from 17.66% to a maximum of 32.9%, Supermax forked out RM9.3mil for another 7.56 million Seal Polymer shares.

The Sept 6 acquisition boosted Supermax's shareholding in Seal Polymer to 23.02%, a level that allows the former to equity account its portion of Seal Polymer's earnings.

Supermax group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai says the company has allocated RM50mil to pick up additional Seal Polymer shares. He acknowledges that this amount may not be enough to reach the 32.9% target, but adds that the first thing to do is to push the stake past 20%.

That way, Supermax's numbers can incorporate Seal Polymer's results. It did not take long for Supermax to achieve that. 'With a good, profitable company, you should just get in as quickly as you can,” Thai explains.

So what does that say about APL Industries Bhd (APLI), yet another listed glove maker in the Supermax family? After all, Supermax had invested in APLI first – it had bought a 12.9% stake last Feb 3 for 60 sen per share – before acquiring 17.02% of Seal Polymer's share capital in May.

At the time when Supermax purchased the APLI shares, it also entered into two option agreements to buy another 7.2% for 70 sen per share. At an extraordinary general meeting on Aug 8, Supermax shareholders okayed the company's plan to acquire the APLI shares pursuant to the option agreements. At the same time, they also gave the mandate for Supermax to up its stake in APLI until a ceiling of 32.9%.

Yet, Supermax has yet to buy a single APLI share since the initial acquisition in February. The options were to be exercised by May 3 originally, but the option period has been extended twice. The deadline is now Feb 3 next year.

Considering that APLI incurred a net loss of RM23.2mil for the year ended June 2005, according to its last quarterly report, it is easy to see why there is no urgency to exercise the options. Also, APLI shares are trading at about 40 sen; a 30 sen premium per share would be extravagant.

Besides, Supermax already has management control of APLI and is outsourcing some of its orders to the latter.

Still, the poor results – in the previous year, APLI made a net profit of RM14.3mil on the back of slightly lower revenue – have done nothing to change the minds of some industry observers who question the wisdom of Supermax investing in APLI.

APLI's financial year (FY) 2005 earnings were hurt mainly by exceptional items amounting to RM25.5mil, which included provisions for doubtful debts and a contingent loss.

It did not help that APLI's new plant in Vietnam suffered some painful teething problems. In addition, the new management had to tighten the controls and improve operational efficiency at the company. On Sept 1, a new team of technical executives joined APLI.

These developments suggest that a lot of work has to be done at APLI before Supermax can start to expect robust returns on its investment.

Says an analyst who covers Supermax, 'The APLI investment is a good move over the longer term. But the progress in turning it around has been slower than anticipated.”

Another analyst is less convinced and labels the acquisition as a mistake. He adds, 'I won't be surprised it there's a clash of work cultures. It will probably take some time and effort before the people at APLI can get used to the hard-driving pace and style of Supermax.

'It may have well been costly to fix the problems at the Vietnam plant. It probably would have been cheaper for Supermax to directly set up a plant in Vietnam.”

Maybe so, but going through APLI is certainly a quicker way to have a manufacturing base in Vietnam. In fact, that is the factor that got Supermax interested in APLI in the first place.

Says Thai, “Everybody agrees that 5 to 10 years from now, as the country develops, Malaysian-made products will have to move up the value chain so as to remain competitive globally. APLI's Vietnam plant – the 45 acres of land, the infrastructure put in place and the first factory – is the foundation of our future growth. Bear in mind that the world is our market. Certain countries and regions are price-sensitive, and gloves made in Vietnam will be the answer to that.”

He insists that the worst is over for APLI, now that the new management has cleaned up its books. He adds that APLI will be profitable in the current financial year.

'There's no reason we can't raise APLI's performance to be at par with that of Seal Polymer and Supermax. That's our objective. It's not a difficult task, unlike if somebody from outside the industry were to come in and try to turn APLI around.

“I'm giving myself 1½ to 2 years to return APLI to its best. I'm not a superman who can bring it up overnight. We'll do it step by step.”

It is a smart move to delay investing further in APLI, whose net loss for FY05 would have put a dent in Supermax's earnings if APLI had been as associated company. But it does appear that the Supermax management had not expected that APLI would have to swallow such large provisions.

Thai says Supermax had not conducted an intensive due diligence prior to investing in APLI because it had relied on the information disclosed in APLI's annual and quarterly reports. Nevertheless, he defends the decision to buy into APLI. 'We may bite the bullet today, it's a worthwhile investment. There's no turning back. Had I known about the provisions, I would have probably used that as a tool in negotiating for the shares,” he explains.

“But that's all. I would still have gone ahead because the Vietnam infrastructure provides future growth.” On the market expectation that the three companies will eventually merge, Thai says there are no plans now to take APLI or Seal Polymer private. However, he does not rule out such a thing happening further down the road.

'We have a master plan but it will take time to accomplish it all. Yes, at the end the day, you will see everything fall into one large entity. How long it'll take? That depends on the resources we have and various other factors.”

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 2-11-2007 12:35 AM 编辑 ]

风起云涌

原帖由 财散人聚 于 1-11-2007 11:19 PM 发表


嗯。。。。市场里有时候的确有些数据很美，但是在投资人短视的情况下，而导致股价下滑的股票。可是，有时候我们认为别人的短视就是我们的机会，却更容易陷入更深的陷阱。。。。
或许，我们应该找出别人短视 ...

TANCO不懂符合以上叙述吗

Mr.Business

旧闻。

Integration pains

Updated : 05-08-2006
Media : The Star
Story By : ERROL OH

SUPERMAX Corp Bhd is in danger of becoming a case study for the pitfalls of mergers and acquisitions. Its management takeover of fellow listed rubber glove manufacturers APL Industries Bhd (APLI) and Seal Polymer Industries Bhd was among last year's biggest business stories, but people are beginning to wonder if the pains of integration will outweigh the benefits.

APLI is bleeding and its Vietnam plant ¨the key reason for Supermax's entry¨ has yet to go into full swing because of operational difficulties.

In comparison, it was widely thought that Seal Polymer would settle in smoothly at the Supermax stable. Yet, last Monday, the former announced that its net profit for the financial year ended February 2006 (FY06) had been slashed by almost half after its accounts had been audited.

Instead of the RM21.8mil as per the unaudited fourth-quarter results released last April, Seal Polymer's FY06 net profit has been restated to RM11.7mil, which is a 40% drop from the previous year's figure. The bulk of the variance was traced to raw materials, utilities and depreciation that had not been taken up previously.

In its announcement through Bursa Malaysia, the company says the deviation between the audited and the unaudited figures was mainly due to disruptive changes in the accounts personnel and the accounting system. It adds that its finance department was relocated to the corporate office in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, in June.

Even before last Monday's announcement, there had been signs that Seal Polymer's FY06 accounts would not be a glowing report card. The company missed the June 30 deadline for the submission of its audited accounts. Its application to the stock exchange for an extension of time was turned down, as was the subsequent appeal.

The accounts were finally filed with Bursa Malaysia last Monday. And as provided under the exchange's listing requirements, Seal Polymer had to explain the significant difference between the audited and unaudited net profit.

The last shocker?

In a research note issued last Wednesday, TA Securities says, ¡°We are rather disappointed with the latest development as we believe that this incident was within the purview of management. It is our hope that this will prove to be a one-off event, as any other disappointing news could severely affect sentiment towards the share price of the stock.¡±

Indeed, Seal Polymer board of directors have a lot of explaining to do when they meet shareholders at the annual general meeting on Aug 28.

For starters, there will be questions as to why it took so long for the new management team to uncover the accounting discrepancies at Seal Polymer when it had come on board in May, immediately after Supermax had bought a 17% stake.

Seal Polymer managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai, who also heads Supermax and APLI, says the issues over accounting treatment and practices surfaced after the external auditors, Deloitte KassimChan, had been called in subsequent to the financial year-end.

Thai explains that the priority when Supermax assumed management control of Seal Polymer was to grow Seal Polymer's business by increasing capacity and strengthening the customer base.

That meant spending a lot of time on accelerating the expansion of Seal Polymer's factory in Taiping. At the same time, the management had been looking at operational areas such as integrating the work culture and the people.

¡°By the time we were ready to look into the bookkeeping and accounting matters, it was already the last leg of the streamlining exercise at Seal Polymer. It was also time for the year-end audit and we decided to do these together. It was the first audit under the new management,¡± he adds.

Thai says the deviation is a one-off thing and maintains that the integration of Seal Polymer is on track. For example, he points out, Seal Polymer no longer undertakes trading activities which offered low margins.

The company now focuses on manufacturing, whose revenue in FY06 had grown by 28%, mainly driven by the commissioning of new production lines since the management takeover.

He adds that the lower profit was largely due to higher raw material costs, an increase in the Taiping plant's pre-operating expenses and higher depreciation.

Still the right thing to do

The fretting over whether the acquisitions of the two associates will work out has been blamed for the pummelling that Supermax shares have taken in past six months. After hitting this year's high of RM3.88 on Feb 15, the stock has slid by 28%. In the same period, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index inched up 0.9%.

Last Thursday, the counter closed at RM2.78, the lowest it has gone this year. Most of the analysts covering Supermax reckon that there is little downside to its share price right now (unless, of course, the shocks keep coming).

It is also fortunate that Seal Polymer and APLI do not yet have much of an impact on Supermax's bottom line. According to a CIMB Securities report last week, the two associates account for only 8% to 12% of their parent company's earnings per share. In addition, Supermax itself has no major problems to report.

Given these factors, at least three investment outfits have maintained buy calls on Supermax following the Seal Polymer announcement. But that does not mean they are untroubled by the bad news from Seal Polymer and APLI. Furthermore, there is the perception that Supermax had been hasty in investing in the two companies.

Says CIMB: ¡°We are disappointed with these latest developments at APLI and Seal Polymer. In hindsight, some of these problems could have been anticipated or even avoided if Supermax had performed a full due diligence before acquiring stakes in both companies.

¡°We have in the past expressed our reservations on this issue. Unfortunately, Supermax¡¯s oversight in conducting a full diligence on both acquisitions has come back to haunt it.¡±

Thai denies that Supermax had not done its homework before doing the APLI and Seal Polymer deals. He says: ¡°We have invested in the two public companies just like any other investor. We have conducted due diligence exercises through whatever public information the companies had released. We have done it.

¡°With APLI , we knew it had problems, but we didn't anticipate the magnitude of those problems.¡±

He maintains that the acquisitions are good moves that are meant to establish a group with the size, capacity and product range that can make it the strongest player in the industry.

He says: ¡°I know people perceive that we have made the wrong investments, but business-wise, we have grown the companies. Supermax alone does not have the capacity to do a lot more business than that of our own brands. By combining the capacities of the three companies, we can accept orders from large, quality clients.

¡°We have been able to move to the forefront of the industry by entering market segments that we had not been strong in.¡±

That may be so, but observers are also concerned that Supermax may pay too much to increase its holdings in APLI and Seal Polymer. Supermax has a 12.9% stake in APLI (acquired in February last year) and 23.9% in Seal Polymer. Previously, Supermax had options to buy another 7.2% in APLI. However, the price was way above the current market price and the options have since lapsed.

At one time, Supermax was ready to announce its plan, codenamed Project Panther, to merge with Seal Polymer. However, this was called off, and on June 8, Seal Polymer announced that an ad-hoc merger committee has been formed to ¡°explore all available options and the viability of the proposals to maximise shareholders' value¡±.

Thai explains: ¡°We want to look at other options that we might have overlooked. There is no timeframe for us to come up with a decision. Much of it is subject to market conditions. Supermax and Seal Polymer are still operating as separate companies.¡±

Whether these three companies operate independently or not, the market already views them as interlinked. Any more jolts from either one will be felt throughout the group, and that is the last thing Thai and his team need while they continue to reshape the enlarged group.

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 2-11-2007 12:37 AM 编辑 ]

Yewlili

原帖由 8years 于 1-11-2007 11:03 PM 发表
肯定是，不是吗？？
这就是我时常讲的，市场出好价帮你买有问题的股，还不卖等几时？？难道要等市场出坏价是才卖？？

这句话在bjtoto,trnsmile时有讲过，也是基本因素投资者的重要。那就是不要被市场价格迷 ...

bjtoto假账???