Hong Leong Industries - what is the plan?

 

Looking at the latest quarterly results of HLI and an interim dividend of 17cents (similar to last financial year), as a shareholder of HLI I am happy and at the same time disappointed. Happy the company is doing reasonably well this quarter, seems recovering well from the pandemic as compared to last quarter and with 17 cents dividend, no complain. 

However, when I look closely at the financials, I am disappointed why this big fat cash cow not distributing more dividend to shareholders as the cash reserve is almost Rm4.15 per share (half of market cap). If it maintain the same dividend as last year which was at 42 cents, yield based on share price of Rm8.2 is around 5%. Though its not too bad but the huge cash reserve has brought down the ROE as company has not been investing the last few years hence no profit growth the last 3 years. 

From what I heard about Hong Leong Group, the expectation from the big boss is high and one needs to perform and deliver in order to stay in the position. So, what is the plan for HLI?

I have been telling my myself be patient in investing and stay with good companies, but more often than not, controlling shareholders show no sympathy when they see its time to harvest - privatize it at a low price when market is bad. HLI is likely a candidate for such action as it is 76% controlled by him.

So what can we, the tiny shareholders do to ask for better return or ensure a fair deal if it is privatized? Literally not much we could do. What happened in HLCapital's failed privatization is an exception rather than the norm. There is a influential shareholder with a sizeable holding and managed to pull other shareholders to make up more than 10% of shareholding in total to fail it. When I look at HLI's top 30 shareholders, the 2nd largest shareholder ( a mutual fund) only has less than 2%. Not likely to have a champion if there is a poor privatization offer for HLI.

What my frustration is - being loyal and patient not necessarily be rewarded by controlling shareholder, and the opportunity cost could be very high. Finding a good company , buying at good price and selling at good price not only required patient but also luck. That luck is sometimes in the hand of the controlling shareholder. Well, looks like I could only pray if still decide to cruise along with HLI.   

Eat - Sleep - Invest - Exercise

Due to the pandemic, I got the chance, unwillingly, to experience the 14-day quarantine in a hotel. There are still differences in terms of freedom and space as compared to staying at home with constraints to move around freely.

Hotels are badly hit by the pandemic, hence I can understand when they are used as quarantine centre, it is not national service, they are very cautious on cost control with the hope to make small profit from it. For example, no tooth brush and tooth paste provided until you request for it. There are 4 bottle water provided upon check in and any additional bottle will be charged. Reason being tap water is safe to consume.

The meals provided are all right though I expect something more from a 5-star hotel. A friend commented the meals look pathetic and I responded with "that is the price to freedom". It is perfectly ok for me as I am eagerly waiting to be united with my family, after separated by more than 11 months.

So what can I do with the 14-day uninterrupted life in a hotel? ESIE : Eat-Sleep-Invest-Exercise.

As there is zero interruption in a quarantine place, I have the peace of mind to reflect on the past 11 months when I was arranging the funeral for my dad and mum, sold the house that me and parent had been staying, found some precious stuff while clearing the house, learnt more about what my parents had gone through, etc. I have never been so convinced that nothing else matter when a person lost his mobility/health.   

 I have been allocating more to ETFs lately, especially overseas market. Based on my reading about this instrument, it attracts lots of inflow from actively managed Mutual Fund and will become the main stream of stock investment for many investors or public who do not wish to pick stock on their own. the obvious reason is actively managed fund with higher fees do not necessarily beat the return from  passive ETFs. Furthermore, it provides sufficient diversification to my portfolio. Also, the risk of picking a look like sure winner that fall badly (eg Alibaba) is also mitigated through ETF diversification. Investment is made easier with ETF and we need not to study too much of individual stock, hence more time for other activities (well, I still enjoy doing analysis on individual company).  

The more I read about ETFs, the more I am convinced it is a very good instrument for working family to invest via ETF as they may not have the time to study individual stock. Just be careful that not all ETFs are created equal and there are different type of ETFs eg inverse, leveraged which we need to be aware what it means if we choose these ETFs. There are lots of write up or youtube on pros and cons of ETF investing. For me, 2 of the most compelling reasons - need not worry about cash call and individual company not performing. So, not much action required.

Investing is so interesting as there is continuous learning about investment options, market etc, most important of all, about our own character/style/risk appetite/greed and fear tolerance. Another 12 days to go before I get to breathe in fresh air - yes, freedom to do what you enjoy is very precious in life.