Monday, 25 July 2011 12:20
PETALING JAYA: Fashion stocks are becoming fashionable again in Asia. Just as wealthy consumers line their wardrobes with expensive branded bags and apparel, investors are adding fashion stocks to their portfolios in the hopes of riding on Asia’s burgeoning affluence.
Several major IPOs in the past two months have brought brands like Salvatore Ferragamo and Prada from the catwalks of Milan to the stock market, along with familiar luggage brand Samsonite and a Hong Kong retailer of second-hand bags, Milan Station Holdings Ltd.
Private equity funds have also joined in the game, snapping up renowned shoe label Jimmy Choo and a stake in Singaporean shoes and bags retailer Charles & Keith.
And just like their products, the shares of these branded companies do not come cheap.
Prada, for instance, is currently trading at around 28 times forward earnings and has set a new industry benchmark for fashion stocks.
Their high valuations could also throw the spotlight on Malaysia’s three listed fashion stocks — Bonia Corp Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd and Voir Holdings Bhd — which are mostly trading at single-digit valuations — less than half their Hong Kong-listed peers and one-third of Prada’s.
Padini is the largest and most profitable of Malaysia’s homegrown fashion companies. Between 2006 and 2010, its revenue rose from RM286.11 million to RM520.88 million while net profit surged from RM27.69 million to RM60.97 million, representing a 21.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). With a market capitalisation of RM717.12 million, the stock trades at 10.58 times earnings for its current year ending June 30, according to Bloomberg data.
Bonia is today Malaysia’s leading brand for leather handbags, with a growing line of shoes, menswear and other accessories. Over the past four years, the company’s revenue grew at a CAGR rate of 13% a year from RM221.37 million in 2006 to RM360.1 million in 2010, while net profit grew a robust 24.8% per year — from RM13.83 million to RM33.55 million. With a market capitalisation of RM338.64 million, the stock is trading at eight times current year earnings, according to Bloomberg data.
Unlike its two peers, however, Voir, which focuses on ladies’ apparel, has seen fairly stagnant earnings despite rising revenues over the last four years. Between 2006 and 2010, net profit declined from RM8.12 million to RM7.7 million although revenue increased at an average of about 9% a year from RM117.15 million to RM165.19 million. Still, Voir has been profitable since its listing in 2007 and is the only fashion stock trading below its book value, which suggests no premium for its long-established brand names. The stock is trading some 30% below book value and at a historical price-to-earnings ratio of eight times.
All three stocks have underperformed the FBM KLCI this year. Year-to-date, Bonia has fallen 4.6%, Padini is unchanged while Voir has lost 12.7%.
In contrast, the three fashion-related stocks in Hong Kong listed in the last two months have rallied strongly, despite coming to the market at already lofty valuations.
Prada’s shares have rallied 19% since the company’s IPO raised US$2.46 billion (RM7.3 billion) in Hong Kong just over a month ago. The stock now trades at a valuation of about 28 times this year’s earnings. Milan Station has seen its stock surge 28% since its debut. Samsonite’s IPO was priced at 18.3 times projected 2011 earnings. With the stock now up 9% since then, it would be trading at close to 20 times.
Expanding markets to grow the brand
South of the border, Charles & Keith earlier this year sold a 20% stake in the company to L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH).
With 229 stores located mainly across Asia and the Middle East, this acquisition allows the brand to explore markets in the West, as well as gain expertise from LVMH. L Capital Asia has also bought stakes in other Asian-born luxury names like India’s Gitanjali Gems and China’s jeweller Emperor.
LVMH has recently been targeting Asian fashion labels that can offer the same luxurious designs and products, but at a more affordable price than the Western high-end labels. Asian labels have also become prominent in Middle Eastern countries, where Western brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton used to be the more dominant.
Indeed, the Malaysian fashion players are also targeting overseas markets as the key to growing their revenues and their brand. And they are linking up with international players to widen their distribution network. In going overseas, Bonia is the most successful of the lot , with 25% of its revenues contributed by overseas sales. Padini’s sales abroad contribute 10% to its revenue while Voir’s stands at just 2%.
With large numbers of Middle East tourists in Malaysia, it is little wonder that the Middle East is a destination favoured for overseas expansion as they are familiar with Malaysian brands. Products of the Bonia and Padini, and to a smaller extent Voir, are already being sold in the Middle East. Voir recently announced an expansion to Ghana and Pakistan while Bonia is now trying to tackle arguably the most discerning market in the world — Italy and Europe.
Coping with cost pressures
To be sure, it is not all rosy in the fashion industry. All players have been subjected to rising raw material costs, in particular cotton, leather and labour. The price of cotton had surged three-fold between early 2010 and March 2011. They have since eased about 30% from their March peaks, but are still nearly twice their levels of a year ago.
Most of Bonia’s mens shirts are made from 100% cotton. Its business development general manager Geoffroy de Drouas said although both the textile manufacturers and Bonia shouldered some of the burden, the prices of cotton-made apparel had to ultimately be increased.
Padini also had to take the same path, although its creative director, CY Cheong said the company could not adjust the prices to cost increases too closely as it would cause too much of a fluctuation.
Voir’s managing director Ham Hon Kit, meanwhile, said the long relationship between his company and the buying houses helped in negotiations to keep price changes in cotton to a minimal.
“To apparel retailers, while the cost goes up, the pricing can’t really be moved up in the same manner,” said Ham. “We do have good suppliers, or factories in that sense, through the buying houses. Due to the long-term good relationship with them, we managed to contain the increase,” adding that there are products which needed to be priced according to market demand. Among the three, Voir appears to have been hot most by cost increases in the first quarter of 2011.
Keeping up with trends
Besides cost pressures, the fashion labels also have to deal with the fast moving world of fashion, where seasons can feature very different trends and stock obsolescence is a major risk. “Fashion is always changing and you have to be able to adapt quickly,” said Padini’s Cheong.
The three labels have taken different methods to stay current to consumers. Both Voir and Bonia have hired renowned fashion consultants. Voir has recently hired president of Malaysian Official Designers’ Association (MODA), Gillian Hung and Australian-born fashion consultant Daniel Beltsos, who both have international experience. Both will work on revamping Voir’s in-house label SODA.
Bonia on the other hand has set up a research studio in Milan, Italy, to gauge the European fashion scene and add elements to its designs. It will also serve as a base for future expansion of Bonia to Italy and Europe. Padini sticks to local talents with plenty of designers coming from local colleges.
Besides expanding into clothing and accessories, all three brands have also tried diversifying their label.
Bonia, for instance, launched a perfume for men and for women in February this year. The scents have done well and de Drouas knew from the get-go that this particular diversification was one that could add value to Bonia’s image.
Padini and Voir, on the other hand, ventured into the food and beverage (F&B) business.
Voir recently announced a sixth Garden Lifestyle store and cafe to add to its F&B line, but will not be adding more, according to its COO Daniel Looi.
He said the restaurants are profitable if not for depreciation charges and should contribute at least 10% growth to revenue. Most of Garden outlets performed to expectations but “there’s still a lot of work to be done”, said Looi.
Padini’s Cheong also admitted that the group’s SEED cafes are not the group’s strong point or focus, but that they are meant to complement its clothing label. The two existing cafes are in MidValley and its headquarters in Shah Alam and there are no plans to open more.
“Cafe is not our core. We’re not working on it so seriously. So, for that we are still focusing more on what we can do best. This is one place that we keep trying,” said Cheong.
The home-grown Malaysian fashion companies are continuing to build on their brands, focusing on improving their products, marketing strategies and customer reach.
With mega companies like LVMH realising the potential of Asian clothing labels, it remains to be seen if the local players will one day catch their eyes.
And with the flurry of fashion stocks taking Asian investors by storm, will Malaysia’s fashion stocks continue to stay under the radar?
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, July 25, 2011.
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