Cory Diary : Dividends Shortfall

For those who miss my Aug Performance Report. Here you are.

Cory Portfolio Resilience


With the recent sales of Singtel and Mapletree NAC Tr, estimated dividends by year end will be reduced (updated for privacy) . This means potentially Cory Equity Portfolio may collect slightly lesser than Year 2018 despite bull year for Cory portfolio. Alamak ! Without saying it will be some distance from expected (updated for privacy)  target..... sigh !

Portfolio yield is at 4.6%. This is mainly due to STI ETF and Bonds/ Preference shares holding the values down which has seen significant expansion as I try to lock my happy returns to safer harbor. Another possible reason is that there are additional stakes in some counters which do not have dividends for the remainder of the year. One for yield, the other speculation.

Will gather some bullets and re-balancing. Hopefully I can do some magics to fix the issue.


Cheers

Cory
2019-0901

Cory Diary : Trades - 2019-0829

Early morning today, dear wife lined me .... "Armoured cars rolling into Hong Kong" which kind of shocked me as I find this possibility remote. But after reading in detail, it was a "Routine" so to speak. We both agree .... is more of trying to intimidate. However, this is enough. 

Decided to clear my Mapletree NAC Tr which registered two years of dividends. Could have been three years have it not the riots. We can't win it all can we ? This sale is quite painful because it has hit 6% yield. Decided SPH Reit despite 5% yield is the one I am comfortable to replace with. Obviously larger capital needed if I am to lock in similar dividends size.

The other key trade is I decided to sell my remaining Singtel shares. I took the opportunity when it hit a local spike to offload. One counter less as I decided to try iReit Global. Jio still on the hunt for market shares. Despite Airtel good defense, the battle will be prolonged hence my decision. Frankly, I feel some relief from the sale as I found later there is some mental stress hidden in the background. As I can sleep better, is a Good Choice !

A minor trade on some of my earlier Ascendas Reit shares failed. So I managed to bought back some shares in recent dip therefore boosting my dividends in the counter. I would consider this average up. I do average down on DBS.... which was my plan to align more towards STI for 2nd half of the year to benefit from it rise or rebound.... . Fortunately, the plan aren't so match and so much less impacted by STI Index recent banking segment poor performance.

Other than those key investment decision, I also remember attempting a speculative punt. Wish me luck on this one. Non-bank, non-reits and non-property. Is dangerous feeling rich .... All I could say.


Cory
2019-0829

Cory Diary : Trades - 2019-0809

I have been looking further into banks but find it not easy to buy more considering the interests rates are being talked down. Getting more Reits are a bit tricky. CMT and FCOT do have some lows past few weeks period but I do not have a chance to investigate further with my recent hospitalization. CMT yield is quite low so my keenness is limited and happy with what I have currently. Buying high yield with weak fundamental is risky. I rather leave my cash alone. They aren't the same league as Ascendas, Frasers, Mapletree or Capitaland breeds ...

STI Index

STI Index has seen rather dynamic swings whereas Cory portfolio has been rather mute. Other than Reits stability, I found could be the bonds which I have expanded to lock in some of my gains. A detail checks on my record I did do a smallish cash injection via my the other trading account. I did another cash injection  when STI went low again recently. This move up my STI Index allocation to more than 12% of my portfolio. This will also align to my interests if STI decides to move back up.

VICOM

As you may know, I have been ranting how small my exposure is in this counter. So I do some buying which boost my Portfolio Yield despite the price has run up this year. I feel there is sufficient positive to have a large stake in. I am more interested in their other businesses. So a bet there will be some growth while able to continue to support the dividend yield (excluding special dividends). This is quite an illiquid counter. You can't buy much and I suspect you can't do much shorts as the counter can spikes and you will be caught with pants down for a long time.

SIngtel

I have been holding from averaging down on Singtel till i see sufficient signs. The last one is the quarterly report which is kind of below expectation. This mean I need to wait for another quarter to review. Meantime, I reduce my stake further to lock in some gains YTD to buy more into Vicom. I almost decide to sell the remainder of Singtel to manage my counter numbers but decides otherwise as there could be rebound that I will hate to miss.

Netlink BNB Tr

As you may be aware . I am back on securing some from this counter. Frankly, the feeling is good as the price goes back up quicker than I expected. So is just a small moon in my bubble chart. Nevertheless, I am glad to be able to get some.

My family and I are very well vested in Singapore. We hope Singapore continues to prosper. So our wishes may this continues !

Happy National Day, Singapore !

Cory

2019-0809

Cory Diary : Recent Trade Actions 20180507

This year is flat. Hovering around 1% gain currently which is still below STI Index. Strategy wise I am not changing much. Our Banks valuation are rich so is tough for me to enter to close the gap. Few trades I did worth thinking more.

Singtel

Reduced further with the poor results of associates as I need to manage the risk of over-exposure. And with the coming of TPG, the battle could be tougher. Regional wide telco margin pressure will be a new shift. The main impact is my 2018 dividend. So I hope to come up something to compensate.

Frasers Cpt Tr

Decided to come back on this counter after making the mistake of selling it earlier. One thing I learned is what a strong sponsor can do to support the dpu. Anyway, kick-start with a small position as is my believe that Malls are here to stay and the stability of their earning power is reasonable.

Frasers L&I Tr

Reduced further as the main reason to invest is no longer there. Sizable gearing increase without sufficient DPU compensation in the Euro Acquisition seems not so good a deal. We could argue is good for currency diversification but that itself is a weakness of the reit inability to overcome through internal earning.


Cory

20180507

Cory Diary : Disappointing Singtel Results - Feb 2018

DJIA has been shaken twice within a short space of time after I blogged days before it on my concern of the correction coming and my fear of Crypto Currency. What I am more surprise is the weaker result than I anticipated of Singtel. Bad news like to come in a string.


Singtel

Did a quick glance on Singtel Results. Weaker associates result pull down overall performance but there are strong area and direction which management has been making proactively. Holding to most of the cash from Net-link sale is right move. FCF still look ok. Nevertheless, associates make up a good portion of Singtel earning and I am disappointed. While I think they can continue to maintain dividend without problem, I am not 100% sure that they want till they do.

For long term I still find Singtel is a much better and safer bet. And their investments are well positioned. For short term, DJIA volatility is a concern and I like to understand how this play out first. For Mid term it may takes more time for Singtel to transform. Therefore I decide to adjust my position size accordingly. Yes, peace of mind is important. And will re-balance the cash raised to be invested prudently at the right time.


Cory
20180209

Cory Diary : Portfolio Updates 20171121

With all of my counters result out, is time to do a quick peek of my Portfolio.

For the start, STI index went up crazy today and for the matter this year. If we include dividends, that 20% up at least ytd whereas Singtel lingers on despite higher dividend due to 3 cents special. A reason of my widening gap with STI Index. Having say that I still feel this Telco is undervalued. Hopefully the market will price it right soon.

Another disappointment I have is AGT. I always been wondering why there was a large unknown figure flickering in the quarterly report. Is probably the deposits redemption at play now. This is the unpredictable nature of equity investment even when we have confidence, to maintain diversification strategy. Prior to the result, I reduced my holding by 60% just to mitigate my risk or you can say "Take Profit" as it was additional purchase due to Jul/Aug lower level. Nevertheless 40% leftover do cause a drag in my portfolio.

Finally, my last pain is QAF. I did not reduce my exposure when it rebounded before the IPO cancellation. Need to remind myself again that Market do not care about what price I buy. It fluctuates to market sentiment and fundamental. Just not me.

Despite all this negativity, XIRR = 13.5% ytd ( excl. fixed investment ). (updated for privacy)

I have initiated small positions in SPH Reit and Singapore O&G.


Cory
20171121

Cory Diary : Singtel 2017-0714

Let's start with some data background of Singtel. I do this fast. Apologize for any error and DYODD.

Since 2013, Singtel has been fluctuating within a big band of $3.3 to $4.5 range. During this time, annual distribution is about 17 cents ( not exact but growing ) which easily totaled roughly 90 cents. Right now the stock price is 60 cent below the top range. And current yield is about 4.4%. Revenue kind of flat.

About S$3B FCF annually. Last year we see a little dip to about dividend support level despite no noticeable increase in capex. As for Netlink Trust, never mind about the regulatory requirement. Netlink Trust IPO comes as a right time for Singtel. At 81 cents, they raised more than $2B which not only cover years of dividend support but also the increase of spectrum cost. On top of this,  $50 M recurring income from it.

I thought this is master stroke on realizing the value of Singtel asset. Considering Singtel retained 24.99%, Netlink still rest securely under Temasek hands. How long can the music last, let's evaluate again later with more quarterly reports.


Cory
20170714

Cory : Singtel

Realistically speaking I agree with Singtel that there is no need for 4th Telco in SG. The reason is pretty straight forward. Neither M1 nor Starhub are credible competitors to Singtel. So what makes us think an addition of 4th or even 5th will helps bring competition to the table ?

If Singtel want to gobble up the whole SG market, they actually can if we truly believe in free market logic. Singtel wouldn't unless they prepare to face the wreath of the regulator and residence. Their strategy will be such as to secure just enough market share while the rest fight among themselves for the remainder. And that's what will happen when the 4th comes in. Which is why the scenario is so bad for M1 and Starhub.

The market will then reach a new equilibrium, and rates will then slowly returns to norm. They can do a 5th or 6th ... it doesn't really matter to Singtel being a regional wide telco.

The above Logic make sense till TPG comes in later into the game. Having a strong FCF in the Australia Market, this pose a serious challenge to Singtel domination in Singapore. I can sense the Singtel CEO no longer smiling as she may have to battle TPG in both fronts. Nevertheless Singtel is still a huge force to reckon with considering TPG FCF could also be significantly dented if Optus do something.

One thing for sure, the journey is not going to be fun for M1 and Starhub.


Cory
20161219