1Q14 core EPS was 7% above our expectation and 30% above consensus due to investment income from high-yield assets. Shipbuilding gross margins slid to 15.6% from 43%, dragged down by higher contributions from its material-trading business. Order book grew 13% to US$5.2bn with US$1.07bn of orders won. This should keep its yards busy till 2016 and allow YZJ to cherry-pick projects (read: slower order momentum). We see limited stock catalysts although 2Q14 reported profit could be boosted by tax write-backs.
We cut our FY15-16 EPS by 4-10% for lower margins. We maintain our Hold rating with a lower target price, now based on 1.2x P/BV (previously 1.4x) or -1s.d. of its 5-year mean, in view of its lower earnings visibility.
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