China Sunsine Chemical Holdings - UOB Kay Hian 2020-10-19: Aniline Prices Showing Recovery; Upgrade To BUY

CHINA SUNSINE CHEM HLDGS LTD (SGX:QES)

China Sunsine Chemical Holdings - Aniline Prices Showing Recovery

Supported by growth in vehicle sales in China for the fifth consecutive month, ASPs of rubber accelerators are seeing a recovery. We believe growth in China vehicle sales should continue in the foreseeable future given the country’s low vehicle penetration and an expanding middle class.
Upgrade China Sunsine Chemical to BUY after raising the valuation peg to 2.5x EV/EBITDA. The new target price of S$0.48 implies a 2021F PE of 8.0x and ex-cash of 3.5x.

The selling prices of rubber accelerators, the main earnings driver for China Sunsine Chemical (SGX:QES), are showing signs of a recovery, backed by the uptick in automobile sales in China.
On a monthly sequential basis, average price of aniline improved 1.4% and 7.9% in Aug 20 and Sep 20, to Rmb4,330/tonne and Rmb4,673/tonne respectively. This compares with an ASP of Rmb7,937/ tonne in Oct 19. Previously, we erred on conservatism given that the rubber chemicals industry remains in consolidation and we were not optimistic on a recovery in ASPs, but data has shown otherwise.

China’s vehicle sales have risen for the fifth consecutive month in Aug 20 (+11.6% y-o-y; +3.5% m-o-m). This proves that the domestic economy has fully recovered, largely helped by government stimulus measures to provide a jolt to domestic consumption as the country recovers from the pandemic.
We believe the measures to encourage vehicle purchases, such as more vehicle permits in major cities, will continue in the mid-term, driving recovery towards a more normalised level. Furthermore, growth in vehicle sales is anticipated to continue in the foreseeable future given China’s relatively low penetration and expanding middle class.

China Sunsine Chemical is a proxy to the ongoing “auto-recovery theme”, following expectations for the global economy to restart after being severely impacted by COVID-19 lockdown measures early in 2020. The uptick in vehicle sales in China, which China Sunsine Chemical sells primarily to (61% of FY19 sales), will benefit the group given the higher demand for tyres.
China Sunsine Chemical is the world’s largest producer of rubber accelerators and the second largest producer of insoluble sulphur in China, with both chemicals being essential additives for the production of tyres.

The estimated net profit of Rmb198.5m for 2021 (+48%) will be driven by a jump in revenue to Rmb2,668m (+43%), largely attributable to higher sales volume of 221,750 tonnes (+30%) arising from China Sunsine Chemical’s expanded production capacity.
Furthermore, higher vehicle sales is expected to drive increased demand for tyres, hence leading to a potential 10% rise in the ASP of rubbers chemicals from a low base in 9M20.

We have raised our assumptions for ASPs by 12%/23%/21% for 2020/21/22F respectively, on the basis that the growing vehicle population in China will lead to higher demand for new and replacement tyres, thereby driving up ASPs of rubber chemicals.

The driving factor for the change in earnings is due to higher ASPs and estimated factory utilisation rates. We now expect overall utilisation rate to come in at 94% and 100% for 2020F and 2021F respectively, compared with 83% and 98% previously.

We have raised the valuation peg to China Sunsine Chemical’s 5-year average EV/EBITDA of 2.5x. Previously marked at -1SD of 1.5x, we believe the upgrade is justified given that the industry has bottomed out and ASPs are on the recovery trend.
The target price implies a 2021F PE of 8.0x and ex-cash of 3.5x.
See China Sunsine Share Price; China Sunsine Target Price; China Sunsine Analyst Reports; China Sunsine Dividend History; China Sunsine Announcements; China Sunsine Latest News.

Clement Ho UOB Kay Hian Research | https://research.uobkayhian.com/ 2020-10-19

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