HapSeng ... Jun11

Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd has allocated RM460 million for capital expenditure for this year, to grow its six core divisions, namely car distribution, plantation, building materials, financing services, property development and fertiliser.

On top of that, the diversified group has also set aside RM800 million to RM900 million for capital expenditure for the next three years. However, the sizable capital expenditure would not be spent on acquiring any gaming business.

Hap Seng was “not keen for the moment” to buy into Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd, a numbers forecast operator (NFO). Hap Seng is aware of the sale (of Pan Malaysian Pools)…but gaming is not a business that they are interested in. There could be some interested parties looking for them for funding purposes because Hap Seng is in the financing business…certainly it is not for investment purposes. Earlier market talk that the company is in partnership with Genting group to take over number forecast operator (NFO) Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd from Tanjong plc.

On the group’s operations, Hap Seng was looking for merger and acquisition opportunities all the time but was in no hurry to conduct any transactions.
Hap Seng has delivered a good set of results for FY10 ended Dec 31. Its net profit surged 174% to RM409.1 million from a year ago. Revenue grew 13% to RM2.8 billion from RM2.5 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped to 57.34 sen from 17.79 sen for FY09.

The earnings growth momentum continued in 1QFY11. Hap Seng, a Mercedes-Benz dealer, recorded an unaudited net profit of RM109.2 million, up 90% from RM57.4 million for the previous corresponding period.

As at end-March, Hap Seng had cash and bank balances amounting to RM254.07 million, and receivables of almost RM928 million. On the other side of the balance sheet, the company had short-term debt of RM1.37 billion, while its long-term borrowings stood at RM790.9 million and shareholders’ funds stood in excess of RM3 billion.

It is also noteworthy that Hap Seng will be undertaking a rights issue to raise more capital after its recent share placement, which raised RM229.9 million.

The company also planned to reduce its dependence on the plantation division as it continued to grow other core businesses. The plantation division was currently contributing 50% to the group’s earnings.

On property development, the group is building Menara Hap Seng 2, which is adjacent to Menara Hap Seng. It is a 30-storey building, with a net lettable area of about 320,000 sq ft, expected to be completed in 2012. Meanwhile, the group also plans to develop an office tower on a parcel of land, also adjacent to Menara Hap Seng, near the junction of Jalan P Ramlee and Jalan Sultan Ismail.

Its property division has about 2,350 acres of undeveloped landbank. In addition to this, there are on-going projects on 191 acres of land, with another 739 acres still at planning stage.

After plantation, the auto division was the second best performer in the group for FY10, registering a 67% growth in revenue to RM592.3 million from a year ago.

For its auto business, the group is focusing on expanding in Vietnam.

Hap Seng is controlled by the family of the late Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun @ Lau Yu Chak. The low profile Lau family owns about 71.73% of the company via its vehicles Gek Poh (Holdings) Sdn Bhd and Pembangunan Melati Sdn Bhd. The Lau family, which comes from Sabah, is among the wealthiest in the country, and its patriarch Tan Sri Lau Gek Poh died a few years ago.