Apollo ... May11

Apollo Food is the Johor-based manufacturer of the Apollo brand of chocolate confectionery sold in most primary and secondary schools.
It enjoys a strong household brand name among schoolchildren who eat Apollo’s products during their recess time.

Apollo has a small market capitalisation of RM244 million and is tightly held, with 71.4% of the company owned by two major shareholders, making it a relatively easy potential privatisation candidate. Its largest shareholder is Keynote Capital Sdn Bhd with 51.31% equity interest, followed by Amanahraya Trustees Bhd with 20.09%.

Despite the challenging operating environment posed by rising commodity prices, especially cocoa, the company managed to increase its revenue by 11% to RM131.62 million while its net profit declined slightly to RM15.84 million for its nine months ended Jan 31, 2011.

Apollo is trading at a trailing price-earnings ratio (PER) of 11.77 times with a 12-month dividend yield of 7.5. The company was trading at 1.18 times its book value of RM2.58 as at Jan 31, 2011.