Venture Corporation Limited
The report concludes and recommends a ‘hold’ rating for Venture Corporation Ltd. (Venture Corporation) based on its strong financial performance. The company’s strategy is based on its core values including diversity, innovation, and integration of ideas. It has developed strong ties with blue-chip companies in the US and Europe that resulted in new designing, testing, and manufacturing contracts for Venture Corporation Ltd.
Revenue
Venture Corporation reported a more than 39% increase in its revenue in 2017 (Refer to Fig. 1). The strong financial credentials of the company were the main reason for more than 88% increase in its stock price.
Earnings
Venture Corporation’s earnings jumped up by 106.18% in 2017 (See Fig. 2). It implied that it generated more funds attributable to ordinary shareholders.
Dividend
The management announced a dividend of SGD 0.60 per share. It was a decision highly welcomed by its shareholders.
Promotion to Blue-Chip Status
The company’s shares were promoted to blue-chip status.
Business Description
Venture Corporation is a leading electronics manufacturing company located in Singapore. It was established in 1984, and over the years it has become “a global electronics manufacturing services provider” (“Venture Corporation Ltd. – About us: Profile,” 2018d). The company operates as a group of 40 subsidiaries that are located in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Europe, and the US. It employs more than 12,000 individuals. Its operations are ISO-certified, and it holds many certifications. The company focuses on meeting the international standards of work, quality, and safety.
The management fully understands the changing needs of the technological world, and it regularly invests in integrating new methods and processes in its business. Venture Corporation’s success is based on its innovative solutions for electronic companies, data store device makers, and retail stores, etc. It has become a reliable partner of companies by providing its Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) along with complex designing and development solutions (Ng, 2017). The company’s USP is “it is technical expertise in process re-engineering and materials sourcing” (“Venture Corporation Ltd. – About us: Profile,” 2018d). The company’s core values are “diversity, embracing diversity, synergy and creativity, driving ingenuity and innovation, and envisioning a better tomorrow” (See Figure 11) (“Venture Corporation Ltd. – Annual report 2016,” 2017).
Key Performance Indicators
The company’s key performance indicators are given below in Table 1. The complete consolidated financial statements are given in Appendices H and I.
Table 1. Key Performance Indicators (“Venture Corp Ltd V03,” 2018).
Key Financial Ratios
The values of key financial ratios provided in Table 2 show great improvement over the last three years. The strong financial indicators suggested that Venture Corporation’s strategy to work with blue-chip clients for developing innovative, technology products was effective.
Table 2. Key Financial Ratios (“Investor Relations: Financial Ratios,” 2018a).
Industry Overview
In 2017, Venture Corporation and other Singaporean companies achieved tremendous growth and the major contributor was the semiconductor segment. Moreover, the electronics segment also surpassed market expectations. Therefore, it could be indicated that all major firms played their role in the growth of the industry (Ng, 2017). The electronics industry has grown significantly in recent years as the demand for technologically innovative products has increased. Consumers expect new ideas and products from big electronic companies. Therefore, they need to keep up with the pace and work with companies like Venture Corporation to fulfill the market requirements. It could be stated that the survival of companies now depends on their ability to develop better technologies and also to have strong alliances in different parts of the global market.
Competitive Positioning
There are three major competitors of Venture Corporation including Flextronics International Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., and Excelpoint Technology Ltd. These companies are located in South-Asia and provide their services globally. They are also working with clients similar to Venture Corporation and providing comparable technology services to them. Therefore, it could be stated that the competition between these firms is intense. They seek newer models and technologies to be adopted to attract global companies.
Porter’s Five Forces Model
The Threat of New Market Entrants
There is a moderate level of threat of new market entrants. New technology companies are developing new models and applications that could affect businesses of the existing firms. However, there is a requirement of high investment in manufacturing, which makes entry difficult for new companies.
The Threat of Substitutes
The threat of substitutes is low because of the nature of business and products developed by technology companies. However, there is a threat of substitutes for products that the firm develops for other companies.
Rivalry Among Existing Companies
Many companies have similar services to their customers worldwide. The nature of the rivalry between these companies is technology-driven and also based on the relationships and alliances they have established in different markets. Therefore, the rivalry among existing companies is moderate.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
The bargaining power of buyers is high because they expect their requirements to be met at all times. If a company fails to deliver products according to the requirements, then the buyer will shift to another service provider. Moreover, the ODM business depends on relationships with clients like HP and Broadcom. Therefore, any problem can lead to major business disruption and contractual negotiation. Furthermore, mergers and acquisitions among clients can also affect the company’s business as it did in 2011 and 2012 (Ng, 2017).
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
The bargaining power of suppliers is also high because the company’s business depends upon supplies that are used as inputs in its manufacturing process. Although the company mostly manufactures its supplies, it still relies on other companies to ensure that its operations are uninterrupted.
Stock Fundamentals
Venture Corporation’s stock fundamentals are given below in Table 3.
Table 3. Stock Fundamentals (“Investor Relations: Stock Fundamentals,” 2018c).
It could be noted from Fig. 3 that the stock price increased sharply in the last one year with a change of almost 144%.
Enture Corporation’s shares were recently promoted to the Straits Times Index after the removal of Global Logistic Properties Ltd. When compared with the changes in the value of the Straits Times Index (STI), it could be noted in Fig. 4 that the stock price of Venture Corporation followed a similar upward trend.
The stock price fell to its lowest level in February 2016. It recovered significantly to reach its highest value of SGD 27.4 on 26 February 2018. Furthermore, it is noted that the changes in its stock price were more than those observed for STI. The recent beta value of 0.33 means that the movements in the stock price are now less consistent with the increase in the value of STI. Sudhan (2018a) reported that the increase in Venture Corporation’s stock price was due to its high revenue that surpassed all expectations. Moreover, the company announced a dividend of SGD 0.60 in 2017 as compared to SGD 0.50 in 2016, which also attracted investors.
The company recently made a deal to purchase a freehold property in California, US that would help it to expand its manufacturing and development facilities in that market. Furthermore, it aimed to improve its brand image by increasing its equity investment in the US market (Sudhan, 2018b). The value of its price-earnings ratio is 26.9 (“Venture Corp Ltd V03,” 2018), which means that the stock market participants are expecting its stock price to increase further. The current price-to-book value ratio is 3.8 (“Venture Corp Ltd V03,” 2018), which also reflects that the company’s stocks are trading at a high multiple of the book value. Although this could be problematic in deteriorating market conditions, investors can benefit from the increase in Venture Corporation’s stock price in the coming months (Nga, 2018).
Fifth Consecutive Year of Revenue Growth
The company reported revenue growth for the fifth consecutive year. It faced a slowdown in its business in 2011 and 2012 due to the economic slowdown in the US economy. Moreover, its clients underwent mergers and acquisitions that caused a delay in orders. However, Venture Corporation has performed significantly well since 2014. The company took advantage of the economic recovery of the US and secured strong business relationships with companies based in that market (Ng, 2017). It was reported that the company’s revenue increased by 8.2% in 2016, whereas in 2017, it grew by 39.33% as the number of orders for machinery and equipment increased substantially. The company’s strategy proved successful as it generated more sales from high value-added segments that helped it to generate a high profit margin as indicated in Table 4. The breakdown of revenue by product given in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 indicates that Venture Corporation generated 43% and 57% of its revenue from sales related to Test & Measurement/Medical & Life Science/Others in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The management also focused on operational efficiency and other cost controls to improve the profit margin. Furthermore, the company’s innovative approach and human resource capabilities were the main factors that resulted in a competitive advantage.
Table 4. Revenue by Segment (Venture Corporation Ltd. – Financial Statements,” 2018e).
Risk Assessment
There are a few concerns regarding the company’s business and its concentration on specific clients. It is reported by Jing (2018) that Venture Corporation has a moderately high level of risk as more than 10% of its revenue is generated from sales to a particular client. Although the company’s business is diversified, the concentration of business in Southeast Asian markets could create some risks for it. Moreover, the difference in the stock price and its book value could be too much to recover for investors if the market conditions deteriorate. However, the company has a strong cash position in 2017 which means that it is unlikely to face any major liquidity issues. Jing (2017) reported that Venture Corporation’s P/E was high as compared to its industry counterparts (See Figure 8). Moreover, there was a high percentage of institutional ownership that could affect its decision-making capability (See Table 7). The organizational structure provided in Figure 9 indicates that there are short communication lines and high dependence on the company’s leadership, which means less independence is given to managers at lower levels of the organization.
Table 7. Institutional Ownership (“Venture Corp Ltd V03,” 2018).
Company Valuation
Discounted Cash Flow Model
The company’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is 4.33% (See Table 5). The WACC includes the cost of debt, i.e., 0.54%, and the cost of equity, i.e., 4.39%. It could be noted from the balance sheet provided in Figure 10 that its capital structure is mainly comprised of equity. The terminal growth rate is 0.80%, which is based on the 10-year revenue growth rate. The reason for choosing this rate is the moderate level of risks associated with the company’s business due to a high level of concentration and institutional ownership. The company experienced similar growth in 2004, and it failed to sustain its position. The growth rate for forecasting free cash flows is 3.40% that is the 5-year revenue growth rate as given in Figure 7. In Table 6, the value per share is determined to be SGD 34.39 that is above the current price of SGD 26.84. It means that the shares of Venture Corporation are undervalued. The relative price-earnings valuation provided in Appendix E indicates that the value per share is SGD 23.99 that is very close to the current stock price. Therefore, it could be stated that the later method of valuation is more appropriate than DCF.
Table 5. Weighted Average Cost of Capital (“Implied marker-risk-premia Singapore,” 2018; “Venture Corporation Ltd (VENM.SI),” 2018; Venture Corporation Ltd. – Financial Statements,” 2018e).
Expected growth rate = 3.4%
Terminal growth rate = -0.8%
Table 6. DCF (“Implied marker-risk-premia Singapore,” 2018; “Venture Corporation Ltd (VENM.SI),” 2018; Venture Corporation Ltd. – Financial Statements,” 2018e).
References
Equity: Venture Corporation.(2018). Web.
Implied marker-risk-premia Singapore. (2018). Web.
Investor relations: Financial ratios. (2018a). Web.
Investor relations: Historical price. (2018b). Web.
Investor Relations: Stock Fundamentals. (2018c). Web.
Jing, C. S. (2017). After climbing by 119% in a year, is there more room to run for Venture Corporation Ltd? Web.
Jing, C. S. (2018). Is the new blue chip stock Venture Corporation Ltd risky? Web.
Ng, J. (2017). SI research: Venture Corporation – Further growth on strengthening momentum. Web.
Nga, L. (2018). Why has Venture Corporation Ltd’s stock price increased by 84% in the last 6 months?. Web.
Sudhan, P. (2018a). It’s a wrap: The top 3 and bottom 3 blue-chip stocks for February. Web.
Sudhan, P. (2018b). The Singapore market this week: Venture Corporation Ltd leads the pack higher. Web.
Venture Corp Ltd V03. (2018). Web.
Venture Corporation Ltd (VENM.SI). (2018). Web.
Venture Corporation Ltd. – about us: Profile. (2018d). Web.
Venture Corporation Ltd. – Annual report 2016. (2017). Web.
Venture Corporation Ltd. – Financial statements. (2018e). Web.