Masan Group Corporation – Outperform (MSN : HSX – Food & Beverage)

Masan Group Corporation – Outperform (MSN : HSX – Food & Beverage)

• Masan Group posted decent FY2018 results which were in line with our expectations.

• FY2018 net sales grew modestly by 1.5% y/y to VND 38,187.6 billion, due to a sharp decline in Masan Nutri Science sales, while both Masan Consumer Holdings (MCH) and Masan Resources (MSR) net sales were up more than 20.0% y/y.

• Gross profit was up slightly by 2.1% y/y, hence GPM improved a little from 30.9% in FY2017 to 31.1% in FY2018.

• SG&A fell sharply by 12.1% y/y mostly because of a strong decline of 43.3% in SG&A expenses at MNS and a lesser decline of 11.1% y/y at MSR. As a result, the SG&A /sales ratio narrowed from 19.1% in FY2017 to 16.6% in FY2018.

• Net financial losses narrowed by 48.1% y/y to VND 2,290.9 billion thanks to a one-off gain of VND 1,472.0 billion relating to the deemed disposal of MSN’s equity interest in TCB.

• Total debt dropped significantly, as in Q4 MSN repaid more than VND 12,500 billion in debt.

• Net operating profit (after excluding one-off gain) grew strongly by 57.1% y/y to VND 3,478 billion, giving a net profit margin of 9.4% versus 5.9% in FY2017.

• For FY2019 we forecast FY2019 net sales of VND 44,799.6 billion, up 17.3% y/y, and NPATMI of VND 5,034.7 billion, up 2.4% y/y. Excluding the one-off profit of VND 1,472.0 billion in FY2018, net operating profit in FY2019 is expected to grow by 44.9% y/y.

• Reiterate Outperform. We see fair value for MSN at VND 101,667, valuing the company at a forward P/E FY2019 of 23.5x.

We thank you for being our client,