Towards Financial Freedom

BIG C Supercenter - Growth Hampered by Margins

kiasutrader
Publish date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013, 10:00 AM

In  BIGC's FY12 announcement of its operating numbers, its revenue  of  THB112bn came  within  our  and  consensus'  estimates  of  THB110bn  and  THB116bn respectively.  We  remain  concerned  over  costs,  which  previously  resulted  in disappointing earnings in 3Q12, and expect 4Q12's reported earnings to contract by 32%  y-o-y  to  THB1.6bn  (vs  consensus' THB2.0bn) due to an absence of insurance income  that  was  recognized  in  the  prior  year.  The  company  is  expected  to  release its  final  quarter  results  in  mid-February.  We  are  now  reviewing  our recommendations.

Commendable  sales  numbers  for  FY12.  BIGC announced  its  FY12  operating  statistics
yesterday evening, with the following highlights:
  • FY12 sales grew by 9.3% y-o-y to THB112bn
  • FY12 same-store-sales growth (SSSG) was at 5.3%
  • 4Q12 sales grew by 17.0% y-o-y to THB30bn
  • 4Q12 SSSG was at 12.1%
  • It  added  five  hypermarkets,  seven  Big  C  Markets,  76  Mini  Big  Cs  and  41  Pure Drugstores during the year, bringing the total number of stores to 113, 18, 126 and 91 respectively as of Dec12.
  • 4Q12 results are expected to be released in mid-February.  

Margins still a concern.  The company attributed the strong 12% SSSG in 4Q12 to a low base  effect  due  to  floods  from  a  year  ago  and  several  successful  marketing  campaigns tailored to attract customers e.g. its Golden Saturday Festival. As of Dec 2012, BIGC had 113  Hypermarkets,  18  Big  C  Markets,  126  Mini  Big  Cs,  and  91  Pure  Drugstores,  which was slightly ahead of our assumptions of 112, 18, 126 and 90 respectively.  

In line with our observation in 3Q12, which saw an earnings shortfall from rising costs from insurance, utilities and wages, we expect 4Q12's reported earnings to fall by 32% y-o-y to THB1.6bn,  bringing  the  full-year  number  to  THB5.8bn  (below consensus' THB2.0bn  and THB6.2bn respectively). We are now reviewing our recommendations.  
Source: OSK
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