Emerging Market Links + The Week Ahead (November 6, 2023)
China’s age of malaise + more ministry-level leadership shakeups, visualizing Latin America's ideological landscape as of Q4 2023, Panama protests, EM stock picks & the week ahead for emerging markets
Latin America Risk Report has done another good map visualizing Latin America's ideological landscape as of Q4 2023. As discussed in a podcast mentioned in out October 3rd post, investors always hope a moderate centralist right candidate will emerge from Latin American elections as ultimately what matters are fiscally responsible policies and the central bank being free to do its job.
However, business friendly Panama is now experiencing protests over a mining contract with a Canadian listed firm. In other words, Panama might be about to swing back in the other direction.
🔬 Emerging Market Stock Pick Tear Sheets
$ = behind a paywall
Note: I am still in Kyoto until this coming Monday. The Tuesday post will likely belater in the week…
📰🔬 Emerging Market Stock Picks / Stock Research
$ = behind a paywall / 🗃️ = Archived article
🇨🇳 JingDong-JD (InvestingWithWes Newsletter)
The second bull case is valuation. Even if JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) does not grow at all or show a low growth rate over the next 5 years the company will earn its entire enterprise value($26 billion) in free cash flow over that period. This company is being priced with very low expectations so it would not take a lot for the stock price to move upwards.
The Second bear case is growth. JD has always been a company that has managed to grow its revenue at an astronomical pace but that has changed in recent years.
The Third bear care is competition. The Chinese E-commerce industry is getting very competitive with the likes of PDD Holdings (NASDAQ: PDD) or Pinduoduo, JD and Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) competing for market share. Alibaba dominates in terms of market share followed by JD.
🇨🇳 China Tower (788 HK) (Asian Century Stocks)
China Tower (HKG: 0788 / OTCMKTS: CHWRF)
State monopoly at a forward P/E of 11x and rapidly falling depreciation charges
The company is a state-owned enterprise that owns virtually all telecommunication tower infrastructure in China. It was formed in 2014 when China’s three large telecom operators injected their assets into this entity. They’re also the company’s three largest customers.
The government wanted to reduce the duplication of resources and increase efficiency in the sector. In my view, it also wanted to level the playing field between leading telecom operator China Mobile (HKG: 0941 / 80941 / FRA: CTM) and its weaker competitors China Telecom Corp Ltd (HKG: 0728 / SHA: 601728) and China Unicom (HKG: 0762 / FRA: XCI).
🇨🇳 Transsion closes in on Xiaomi, Oppo with developing-market focus (Bamboo Works)
The Shanghai-listed company’s stock has jumped 73% this year as it consolidates its position as the leading smartphone seller in Africa
Shenzhen Transsion Holdings’ (SHA: 688036) smartphone shipments rose 35% in the second quarter, making it one of the world’s top five smartphone makers for a second consecutive quarter
The company’s Shanghai-listed shares have quadrupled since its 2019 IPO, and are available to international investors via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program
🇨🇳 Hong Kong’s Kingboard sucked Into China’s river of property defaults (Bamboo Works)
The laminates maker’s failure to collect a massive debt owed by Country Garden is raising concerns that many more listed companies may have similar exposure
Kingboard (HKG: 0148) said it has yet to collect 1.6 billion yuan it is owed by struggling developer Country Garden
The Hong Kong-based laminates maker said it sees little chance of collecting the debt, and expects to make a provision for it
🇨🇳 Midea Group (000333 CH): Not That Correlated To China Property (SmartKarma) $
Midea (SHE: 000333) has officially filed for Hong Kong listing last week.
A common pushback against owning the stock is the perception of strong correlation to China property, which is not true in terms of business fundamentals.
The stock is currently trading at 10x 2024E PE compared to an average of 13x over the last 10 years.
🇨🇳 Linklogis deconstructed by China’s slumping property market (Bamboo Works)
Supply chain financing assets processed over the company’s key platforms fell in the nine months to September as real estate companies’ troubles deepened
The total volume of supply chain assets processed by Linklogis (HKG: 9959 / FRA: 0NY / OTCMKTS: LNKLF) two key platforms decreased in the first nine months of 2023, as its customer retention rate dropped
The provider of supply chain financing services has reduced its reliance on real estate companies, but the sector still remains a major customer group
🇨🇳 Golden Heaven Group coasts on major amusement park expansion (Bamboo Works)
The company’s stock has tripled since its April IPO, much of that after it announced plans to build three new regional amusement parks last month
Golden Heaven Group (NASDAQ: GDHG) will build three new amusement parks costing nearly 600 million yuan combined, boosting its portfolio by more than 50%
The company’s status as a regional amusement park operator helped it to remain profitable during the pandemic, even as its larger rivals lost money
🇨🇳 Yum China ‘rediscovers’ its fast-food roots in budget-conscious times (Bamboo Works)
The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in China has been expanding its price range to tap underserved consumers
YUM China (NYSE: YUMC) reported record third-quarter revenue and adjusted operating profit, which rose 15% and 10% year-on-year, respectively, in constant currency
The company is widening its food prices to capture an underserved segment at the value end of China’s pizza market and expand the lower range of its KFC offerings
🇨🇳 China’s mRNA pioneer Stemirna faces post-Covid reinvention test (Bamboo Works)
The biopharma company that led the way in Chinese mRNA research is battling a wave of lawsuits and financial woes, including court limits on its founder’s spending
Flush with funds from its backers, Stemirna built manufacturing plants that were able to produce up to 400 million vaccine doses a year and put together a sales force for an anticipated surge in Covid demand
But after the pandemic opportunities have faded, Stemirna is rebranding itself as a research and manufacturing partner for the drug industry
🇹🇼 Silergy (6415.TT): The Revenue Could Be Upside Around 17% in 4Q23F. (SmartKarma) $
Revenue was up 14.5% QoQ and down 31% YoY in 3Q23, but it could see an increase of about 17% QoQ and 3% YoY in 4Q23F.
Silergy (TPE: 6415 / OTCMKTS: SLEGF) needs to increase another place to its Foundry source out of China and Taiwan.
The Automotive segment is expected to show significant growth and is likely to reach double digits by the end of 2024F.
🇯🇵 Saizeriya (7581 JP): Best Pick For Asia/China Restaurant Space (SmartKarma) $
I continue to believe that Saizeriya (TYO: 7581) is the best pick for gaining exposure to Asia/China restaurant space.
Saizeriya has a very clear business strategy and focus: price. The founder Yasuhiko Shogaki made it clear that price always comes first, and everything else second.
Looking ahead, the runway for growth in China is huge. The company is currently only in 3 cities for a total of 373 stores as of end-FY23 year ending August.
🇰🇷 Concerns About A Major Accounting Fraud at Kakao Mobility (SmartKarma) $
It was reported in numerous local media in Korea that FSS is investigating Kakao (KRX: 035720) for a potential accounting fraud.
There are suspicions that Kakao Mobility may have artificially inflated its sales from 2020 to 2023 to enhance the value of the company prior to its IPO listing.
Given that the regulators are unlikely to make a final decision on this matter until next year, this is likely to be negative on both Kakao Mobility and Kakao Corp.
🇰🇷 SK Hynix. DRAM To The Rescue (SmartKarma) $
SK Hynix (KRX: 000660) reported Q323 revenues of 9.066 trillion won, up 24% QoQ but still down 17% YoY
Net income was -2.185 trillion won, a 27% improvement on the losses in the prior quarter.
While DRAM has turned profitable, NAND remains stubbornly loss making and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future
🇰🇷 Korea Small Cap Gem #26: LF Corp - A Deep Value Play and the Lee Hyori Effect (SmartKarma) $
Lf Corp (KRX: 093050) is the 26th company in our Korea Small Cap Gems series.
LF Corp is one of the leading apparel companies in Korea which has a market cap of 411 billion won. LF Corp is trading at 0.3x P/B and 4x P/E.
A key near-term catalyst is better than expected sales of the Reebok branded apparel that are promoted by the pop icon Lee Hyori.
🇰🇷 LS Materials IPO Valuation Analysis (SmartKarma) $
Our base case valuation of LS Materials IPO is target price of 6,628 won per share, which is 21% higher than the high end of the IPO price range.
We estimate LS Materials to generate sales of 155.5 billion won (down 4% YoY) and 197.2 billion won (up 26.8% YoY) in 2024.
LS Materials is one of the largest players globally in the large-size ultracapacitors, which stabilize power supply and are used to replace and supplement primary batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
🇸🇬 3-in-1: GRAB + Uber + Ride-Hailing Industry Primer (Value Investing Substack) $
“Think of Mobility & Deliveries businesses as breakeven Group CAPEX — Advertising could be where the actual profit is made, and it hasn’t even gotten started yet.”
Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE: UBER) shares have gained +75% YTD - is GRAB’s turn next?
In This Report: The comprehensive Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GRAB) equity research primer that you’ve been waiting for — with all the necessary numbers for valuation
🇸🇬 Maxeon Solar: A Speculative Buy With A Bright Spot In The Global Solar Landscape (Seeking Alpha) $
Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ: MAXN)'s diversified product range and global market presence have positioned it well in the expanding solar photovoltaic market, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
Despite a 9% QoQ and 46% YoY revenue increase in Q2 2023, contractual issues with SunPower led to a Bank of America rating downgrade from Buy to Neutral.
Expansion of the Albuquerque facility and strategic shift toward Commercial and Industrial sectors aim to bolster Maxeon's market position amid changing demand dynamics.
The acquisition of Solaria's sales channel assets plus the Department of Energy loan application underscores the company's strategic moves to mitigate operating and financial challenges.
My valuation model suggests a "Buy" rating with a $7.90 price target for MAXN, although I acknowledge it as a speculative buy due to numerous market uncertainties.
🇸🇬 Maxeon: Strong Technology But Challenging Financials (Seeking Alpha) $
Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ: MAXN) has leading solar technology but faces near-term headwinds that warrant caution.
The company operates on thin margins and a heavy debt burden, making profitability elusive.
Recent slowdown in financial results and disputes with major customer SunPower add to the uncertainty.
🇸🇬 Karooooo Ltd. Increases Focus On Cartrack Division In Asia (Seeking Alpha) $
Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ: KARO) reported top-line revenue and operating income growth in its FQ2 2024 financial results.
The company offers telematics services and a used car trading platform.
Management's focus on Southeast Asia may take time to generate results due to the slow recovery in China, potentially negatively affecting the region.
I remain on Hold for Karooooo Ltd. but with an eye to improved revenue growth prospects ahead.
🇨🇱 Enel Chile: Inexpensive Choice With Reliable Dividends (Seeking Alpha) $
Enel Chile (NYSE: ENIC) a subsidiary of Enel SpA (BIT: ENEL), has been executing its energy transition plan, with a significant shift towards renewable energy sources, making up around 76% of its energy generation.
The company's strategy focuses on sustainable growth in renewables, strengthening its balance sheet, and delivering value to shareholders through dividends, even in the face of recent macroeconomic challenges.
Enel Chile's stock shows attractive valuation multiples compared to peers, and it has the potential to provide consistent and appealing dividends with a minimum payout of 50%.
🇧🇷 Petrobras preferred stock: Still cheap (AlmostMongolian)
Petrobas (NYSE: PBR / PBR-A / BVMF: PETR4)
Gradually re-rating while paying big dividends
The administration is not a big worry for me. I thought the discount would start to narrow as the market sees it’s not that bad and it has. We have the Lula administration and this was the stock price last time Lula was in power.
🇨🇴 Almacenes Éxito: Low Earnings Let Down An Otherwise Strong Company (Seeking Alpha) $
ADRs of Colombian grocer Almacenes Exito Sa (NYSE: EXTO) have seen a 26% increase in price since August, with a big jump seen two weeks ago.
A stake sale at elevated valuations has encouraged investors. The retailer, with a strong presence in Colombia and Uruguay, has good sales growth as well, supporting the valuations.
However, its net income is wanting. And even considering optimistic earnings estimates for 2023, it's forward P/E is high.
🇧🇷 BHP aims to settle over Brazil dam disaster (FT) $ 🗃️
🇲🇽 Qualitas after Q3 (searching 4 value)
See: Quálitas Controladora (BMV: Q): A Potential NAFTA and Mexico Nearshoring Play
strong growth, pressured UW profit, CR peaking?
Quálitas Controladora (BMV: Q) is currently a 7.7% position for me (not low for EM), and I feel comfortable holding the stock, though at 2.9x P/B they are not screamingly cheap. Since it is always easier to list and see the positives if a stock is trading higher everything is to be taken with a grain of salt!
🇲🇽 Volaris Stock Beaten Down As It Navigates Through GTF Challenges (Seeking Alpha) $
🇲🇽 FEMSA Undervalued Despite Ongoing Excellence Of Execution (Seeking Alpha) $
Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB de CV (NYSE: FMX) performed well in the third quarter, including double-digit volume growth from Coca-Cola FEMSA and mid-teens same-store sales growth in its core OXXO operations.
The company's capital return plans and potential entry into the U.S. convenience store market are areas of interest for investors, but details have been slow to arrive.
FEMSA's retail operations, particularly Oxxo, have significant growth opportunities in Mexico, Brazil, and other Latin American countries, as well as the U.S.
Today's price gives too little credit to the quality and growth potential of this leading Mexican consumer business.
🇵🇪 Cementos Pacasmayo: Decent Q3 Results As Cement Demand In Peru Remains High (Seeking Alpha) $
The company’s revenues went down by 6.7% in Q3 2023 while its EBITDA rose by 3.2% thanks to the completion of a new kiln at the Pacasmayo plant.
In my view, the EBITDA margin could surpass 26% in 2023 as clinker production from the new facility ramps up.
Cement demand in Peru remains above pre-pandemic levels and it seems low GDP growth is having a muted effect at the moment.
With cement demand remaining resilient, I continue to think Cementos Pacasmayo (NYSE: CPAC) should be trading at above 8x EV/EBITDA.
📰🔬 Further Suggested Reading
$ = behind a paywall / 🗃️ = Archived article
🇨🇳 China’s Age of Malaise (The New Yorker)
Party officials are vanishing, young workers are “lying flat,” and entrepreneurs are fleeing the country. What does China’s inner turmoil mean for the world?
🇨🇳 China’s wave of ministry-level leadership shakeups rolls on in October (Caixin) $
Seven out of the 26 ministry-level departments of China’s State Council have experienced a reshuffle of top officials since March, when the country elected a new slate of cabinet members, with four of the adjustments taking place in October alone.
On Tuesday, deputy party secretary of Shandong province Lu Zhiyuan was shown as the top party official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on the ministry’s website, replacing Tang Dengjie, who was recently appointed party secretary of Shanxi province.
🇨🇳 China signals tighter Communist party control of financial sector (FT) $ 🗃️
Closely watched conference in Beijing says risk prevention must be ‘eternal theme’ of financial work
🇮🇳 Foreign investors sell Indian stocks at fastest daily pace in a year (FT) $ 🗃️
Mixed earnings, rising oil prices and ‘higher for longer’ rates are hitting Indian stocks
🌍 Gaza conflict shakes Middle East economies (FT) $ 🗃️
Rising death toll and fears of wider war deter tourists and investors
🌎 Mapping Latin America's ideological landscape - Q4 2023 (Latin America Risk Report)
A year ago, I published a map about the left vs right ideological narrative around the region. It went viral. This is a good week to update that map, understanding that the basic critique remains: categorizing countries as simply “left” or “right” is an oversimplification that loses a lot of interesting context and nuance.
🇵🇦 Copper, the Canal, and Chaos. Panama is Proving Its Global Relevance. (Calvin's thoughts) $
At the time of writing, I am back at my home in Chiriqui province, where we have had no fuel deliveries due to the ongoing protests for that entire time. Until today, even food shipments from the main agricultural regions of the country (the mountains that surround me) were largely blocked. Only due to the brave actions of local mayors and farmers have district level roads been cleared. The Panamerican highway that links the city to the food producing regions near Costa Rica remains blocked in several key choke points where there is only a single bridge over a river. The situation remains quite tense. Just last night, Panama’s largest union said that they would not back down until the Supreme Court of the country invalidates First Quantum’s mining contract.
From a financial perspective, I hope some of you were able to benefit from my call out to get out of (or short) First Quantum (TSE: FM / FRA: IZ1 / OTCMKTS: FQVLF) stock.
🇬🇾 A Record Oil Gusher Infuses Tiny Guyana With Wealth and Worries (WSJ) $ 🗃️
See: CGX Energy (CVE: OYL / FRA: GXCN / OTCMKTS: CGXEF): A Speculative Guyana Oil Small Cap Stock
The South American country has become the next energy powerhouse, bringing jobs, rib-eye steaks—and a jarring new reality
📅 Earnings Calendar
Note: Investing.com has a full calendar for most global stock exchanges BUT you may need an Investing.com account, then hit “Filter,” and select the countries you wish to see company earnings from. Otherwise, purple (below) are upcoming earnings for US listed international stocks (Finviz.com):
📅 Economic Calendar
Click here for the full weekly calendar from Investing.com containing frontier and emerging market economic events or releases (my filter excludes USA, Canada, EU, Australia & NZ).
🗳️ Election Calendar
Frontier and emerging market highlights (from IFES’s Election Guide calendar):
Argentina Argentinian Presidency Nov 19, 2023 (d) Confirmed Oct 22, 2023
Egypt Egyptian Presidency Dec 10, 2023 (d) Confirmed Mar 26, 2018
Chile Referendum Dec 17, 2023 (t) Confirmed Sep 4, 2022
Taiwan Taiwanese Legislative Yuan Jan 13, 2024 (d) Confirmed Jan 11, 2020
Taiwan Taiwanese Presidency Jan 13, 2024 (d) Confirmed Jan 11, 2020
Pakistan Pakistani National Assembly Feb 8, 2024 (d) Confirmed Jul 25, 2018
Indonesia Indonesian Regional Representative Council Feb 14, 2024 (t) Confirmed Apr 17, 2019
Indonesia Indonesian Presidency Feb 14, 2024 (t) Confirmed Apr 17, 2019
Indonesia Indonesian House of Representatives Feb 14, 2024 (t) Confirmed Apr 17, 2019
Russian Federation Russian Presidency Mar 17, 2024 (t) Tentative Mar 18, 2018
Panama Panamanian National Assembly May 5, 2024 (t) Confirmed May 5, 2019
Panama Panamanian Presidency May 5, 2024 (t) Confirmed May 5, 2019
📅 Emerging Market IPO Calendar/Pipeline
Frontier and emerging market highlights from IPOScoop.com and Investing.com (NOTE: For the latter, you need to go to Filter and “Select All” countries to see IPOs on non-USA exchanges):
Ryde Group Ltd. RYDE, Maxim Group, 2.3M Shares, $4.00-5.00, $10.1 mil, 11/6/2023 Week of
We are a Singapore-based ride-hailing app. (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands)
Our vision is to become a “Super mobility app” where multiple mobility tools can be accessed and function seamlessly out of a single app, offering ultimate convenience and reliability for our customers. We currently operate in Singapore, with our core businesses in the following segments: (i) mobility, where we provide on-demand and scheduled carpooling and ride-hailing services, matching riders to our driver partners; and (ii) quick commerce, where we provide on-demand, scheduled, and multi-stop parcel delivery services.
Our mobility business segment includes carpooling and ride-hailing.
Carpooling refers to services that connect riders with driver partners who provide rides in a variety of vehicles, such as cars of different seating capacities. Carpooling is about sharing rides and is provided via our RydePOOL service in our mobile app. We launched carpooling through our RydePOOL service in Singapore. RydePOOL allows real-time, on-demand bookings as well as advance bookings via our Schedule Pickup function, and only allows seating capacity for one rider per request, while riders may have to share their ride with other riders.
Ride-hailing refers to services that connect riders with private-hire or taxi drivers, with the rider having the option to choose the type of ride from a variety of vehicles, such as cars of different seating capacities and make. We started off with only carpooling services, but ride-hailing services was a natural adjacency for us as we have the technology and the platform to enable it. Our ride-hailing services allow riders to determine the number of seats they require for the trip, and offers real-time, on-demand bookings as well as advance bookings and multi-stop options. We started to grow our offerings in this space and currently have the following different service offerings: RydeX, RydeXL, RydeLUXE, RydeFLASH, RydePET, RydeHIRE, and RydeTAXI services.
Quick Commerce is a package delivery booking service, which enables driver partners to accept bookings for package delivery services through our driver partner app. Our partners that fulfill deliveries range from driver partners, to motorcyclists and walkers as well. Consumers can arrange for instant deliveries and cater for different package sizes. E-commerce businesses, Food and Beverage businesses and social sellers can utilise our last mile delivery services to their customers as an option as well. We provide our quick commerce service through our RydeSEND offering, which comprises of real-time on-demand, scheduled, and multi-stop parcel delivery services.
Acquisition of Meili
On February 20, 2023, we completed the purchase of Meili Technologies Pte. Ltd. (“Meili”), a last-mile on-demand logistics service provider in Singapore, where we purchased the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Meili for a purchase consideration of S$450,000 which shall be satisfied through the issuance of exchangeable notes to the shareholders of Meili in an amount equal to the proportion of the purchase consideration (“Meili Acquisition”). The Meili Acquisition enables us to expand our business into the quick commerce industry, thereby increasing our revenue streams, acquire a new consumer and driver partner’s base as well as improve our operational efficiency. By leveraging on the existing technology and operational infrastructure of Meili, our operational costs have reduced. We believe that the Meili Acquisition helps us to stay competitive in the quick commerce market and potentially grow our business.
*Note: Revenue and net loss are in U.S. dollars for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022.
(Ryde Group Ltd. disclosed terms for its IPO in an F-1/A filing dated Oct. 2, 2023: 2.25 million Class A ordinary shares at a price range of $4.00 to $5.00 to raise $10.13 million. Background: Ryde Group Ltd. filed its F-1 on Aug. 31, 2023, without disclosing terms for its IPO. The company submitted confidential IPO documents to the SEC in May 2023.)
Wetouch Technology WETH, WestPark Capital/Craft Capital/Orientert/R.F. Lafferty & Co., 4.0M Shares, $11.20-11.20, $44.8 mil, 11/6/2023 Week of
(Note: This is NOT an IPO. This is a NASDAQ uplisting from the OTCQB market. WeTouch Technology resurrected its plans for a public offering/NASDAQ uplisting in an S-1 filing dated March 21, 2023. In a letter dated March 8, 2023, the SEC deemed that Wetouch Technology’s previous IPO was abandoned; that previous IPO filing originated with an S-1 filed in September 2021.)
WeTouch Technology makes and sells large-format touchscreens used in the financial, automotive, POS (point-of-sale), gaming, lottery, medical and other specialized industries. The company sells its touchscreens in the People’s Republic of China and internationally. (Incorporated in Nevada)
**Note: Revenue and net income figures are in U.S. dollars for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2022.
(WeTouch Technology disclosed terms for its NASDAQ uplisting/public offering in an S-1/A filing dated Sept. 22, 2023: 4.0 million ordinary shares at an assumed public offering price of US$11.20 to raise $44.8 million. A 1-for-20 reverse stock split became effective on Sept. 12, 2023, according to the prospectus.)
Globavend Holdings Ltd. GVH, R.F. Lafferty & Co., 1.9M Shares, $4.00-5.00, $8.4 mil, 11/8/2023 Wednesday
We are a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with operations conducted by our Hong Kong subsidiary, Globavend HK. Since June 2023, we have established our principal executive office in Perth, Australia. (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands)
Founded in 2016, we are an emerging e-commerce logistics provider providing end-to-end logistics solutions in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Our business spans Hong Kong, 4 cities in Australia and in New Zealand through our own business presence and the presence of our service providers. Our customers are primarily enterprise customers, being e-commerce merchants, or operators of e-commerce platforms, in providing business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.
As an e-commerce logistics provider, we provide integrated cross-border logistics services from Hong Kong to Australia and New Zealand, where we provide customers with a one-stop solution, from pre-carriage parcel drop off to parcel consolidation, air-freight forwarding, customs clearance, on-carriage parcel transportation and delivery. We rely our own proprietary all-in-one shipping solution, which has been or can be connected to the customer’s own IT systems (such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, booking management systems or point of sale (POS) systems) on one end and the transportation management systems (TMS) of our ground transportation service providers on the other end, to facilitate effective logistics management.
(Globavend Holdings Ltd. filed its F-1 and disclosed terms for its IPO on Aug. 23, 2023.)
Trident Digital Tech Holdings TDTH, US Tiger Brokers, 1.9M Shares, $8.00-10.00, $16.9 mil, 11/8/2023 Wednesday
We are a leading digital transformation enabler in the small and medium enterprise, or the SME segment of the e-commerce enablement and digital optimizing services market in Singapore. We offer business and technology solutions which are designed to optimize our clients’ experiences with their customers by driving digital adoption and self-service. (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands)
We started our journey in 2014 as a full-service information technology company headquartered in Singapore. Since then, we recognized and captured the opportunities arising from the global fast-growing digital adoption trend in various industries and rapidly developed as a leading digital transformation enabler in the SME segment of e-commerce enablement and digital optimizing services market in Singapore. According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, among the Singapore-based companies who have been approved to participate in the SMEs Go Digital program led by Infocomm Media Development Authority, a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic of Singapore, we ranked fourth, contributing to 1.5% of the SME segment of the e-commerce enablement and digital optimizing services market in Singapore in 2022.
The SMEs Go Digital program is to provide SMEs in Singapore with a variety of digital solutions and services, such as e-commerce platforms, digital marketing tools, and data analytics software. The program also offers government grants to eligible SMEs to subsidize the costs, driving digital adoptions.
Our clients and prospective clients are faced with transformative business opportunities due to advances in software and computing technology. These organizations are dealing with the challenge of having to reinvent their core products, services, processes and systems rapidly and position themselves as “digitally enabled.” The journey to the digital future requires not just an understanding of new technologies and new ways of working, but a deep appreciation of existing technology landscapes, business processes and practices. We have been a navigator for our clients as they ideate, plan and execute on their journey to a digital future through our solutions and services, comprising:
• Business consulting: We support clients to define and deliver technology-enabled transformations of their business. Equipped with the complete value chain approach, our suite of offerings ranges from brand proposition, multi-channel commerce and digital marketing to improve customer experience and increase customer acquisition, to insights and real-time predictive analysis for efficient decision-making and optimizing processes.
• IT customization: We offer solutions and services to plan, design, operate, optimize and transform business processes. We support clients to get the best value from technology by developing an IT strategy, optimizing applications and infrastructure, implementing IT operating models, and governing their technical architecture for reliability and security.
We provide customized solutions and services that address the specific needs of clients in our strategic vertical markets. Our primary vertical industries include e-commerce, food and beverage, fintech, healthcare and service, wholesale and retail that are fast-growing and have increasing level of digitalization potentials. Our configurable technology integrates seamlessly into our clients’ systems, empowering our clients to manage, improve their businesses and to win. As of June 30, 2023, we served over 200 clients across our core verticals such as food and beverage, wholesale and retail.
Digital technology continues to impact our world through its transformative capability and pervasive impact. Our management believes we have a successful track record of applying our proprietary technologies to respond to changing business needs and evolving client demands. Leveraging such experiences, we plan to launch a Web 3.0 e-commerce platform whereby customers and merchants can transact in a transparent and secure way, or Tridentity, in the fourth quarter of 2023.
**Note: Net loss and revenue figures are for the 12 months that ended June 30, 2023.
(Trident Digital Tech Holdings filed an F-1/A on Oct. 19, 2023, in which it disclosed the terms for its IPO: 1.875 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at a price range of $8.00 to $10.00 to raise $16.88 million. Each ADS represents 10 ordinary shares, the prospectus says. Background: Trident Digital Tech Holdings filed its F-1 on Oct. 4, 2023.)
Fenbo Holdings Ltd. FEBO, EF Hutton, 1.0M Shares, $4.00-6.00, $5.0 mil11/13/2023 Week of
We are a holding company, incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We conduct business through our operating subsidiaries – two in Hong Kong and one in mainland China. We represent over 30 years of experience producing personal care electric appliances (principally electrical hair styling products) and toy products for overseas markets. (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands)
Our principal products are curling wands and irons; flat irons and hair straighteners, and other small personal care electrical appliances, including trimmers, nail polishers, pet shampoo brushes and eyebrow tweezers, etc.
We currently act as both an “OEM” (original equipment manufacturer) and and “ODM” (original design manufacturer). Since 2006, we have served as an OEM for Spectrum Brands, a global home essential company, and its sole customer, producing electrical hair styling products under the “Remington” brand. These products are sold in Europe, North America and Latin America.
Our operating history began in 1993 when FIL was founded in Hong Kong by Mr. Li Kin Shing as a toy manufacturer and distributor. As the toy market deteriorated, he founded AIL in 2005 in Hong Kong, and shifted our operations to the manufacturing and sales of personal care electric appliances. Our manufacturing subsidiary, FPPF, located in Guangdong, PRC, was formed in the PRC on Oct. 19, 2010, and is capable of producing over 3 million units per year.
*Note: Net income and revenue are in U.S. dollars (converted from Hong Kong dollars) for the 12 months that ended June 30, 2023.
(Fenbo Holdings Ltd. filed its F-1/A and disclosed the terms for its IPO on Sept. 11, 2023: 1.0 million shares at $4.00 to $6.00 to raise $5.0 million. Fenbo Holdings ltd. submitted confidential IPO documents to the SEC on Dec. 16, 2022.)
Richtech Robotics RR, R.F. Lafferty & Co./ Revere Securities, 2.0M Shares, $5.00-5.00, $10.0 mil, 11/13/2023 Week of
We are a developer of advanced robotic technologies focused on transforming labor-intensive services in hospitality and other sectors currently experiencing unprecedented labor shortages. (Incorporated in Nevada)
With a global R&D team based out of China and the United States, we design, manufacture and sell robots to restaurants, hotels, senior living centers, casinos, factories, movie theaters and other businesses. Our robots perform a variety of services, including restaurant running and bussing, hotel room service delivery, floor scrubbing and vacuuming, and beverage and food preparation. We design our robots to be friendly, customizable to client environments, and extremely reliable. For example, our food service delivery robots typically make over 1,000 deliveries every month in busy environments. Our current customer base includes major hotel brands, national chain restaurants, leading senior care facilities, and top casino management companies.
Our mission is to integrate robotics and automation into our everyday lives. We envision ourselves becoming the first robotics “Super-operator,” where thousands of our robots are deployed out in the field and managed by Richtech’s AI Cloud Platform (ACP). As a Super-operator, our robotic fleet will be performing a wide variety of tasks within a business, from completing deliveries and scrubbing floors to cooking noodles and preparing drinks. Our ACP platform will allow businesses to plug in their robots and immediately leverage an immense amount of data to optimize workflows, lower management complexity, and minimize labor dependency.
Our products are categorized into three kinds of service automation: indoor transport and delivery, sanitation, and food and beverage automation. Our target market is the hospitality sector, which includes restaurants, hotels, casinos, resorts, senior care, hospitals, and movie theaters. We also plan to leverage our expertise in food automation to bring services directly to the consumer with the ADAM system which is described below.
The majority of our robots can be characterized as Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), meaning that our robots can understand and move through its environment independently. AMRs differ from their predecessors, Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs), which rely on tracks or predefined paths and often require operator oversight. Our AMRs understand their environment through an array of advanced sensors, with the primary sensor being a LiDAR which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. The LiDAR is able to create a 2D map of the environment by sending out laser pulses and measuring the time it takes to bounce back, similar to sonar but far more accurate. Secondary sensors such as RGBD cameras that detect color and depth of images, ultrasonic proximity sensors, and standard AI machine vision that can recognize objects are used in sync to create an in-depth understanding of the robot’s environment. These sensors, combined with a robust navigation software stack based on AI algorithms, provides our robots the ability to perform dynamic path planning through their environments.
Our ACP service is a business optimization tool that allows customers to benefit from the rich operational data generated by the robots. Each AMR can operate independently in the real world and report data up to the ACP. The ACP can then utilize the data to optimize workflows, enhance guest experiences, and minimize waste. The ACP will store robot utilization metrics for analyses and reporting, providing clients with detailed operational data.
Note: Revenue and net loss figures are for the year that ended March 31, 2023.
(Richtech Robotics Inc. cut the size of its micro-cap IPO by 33 percent to 2.0 million shares – down from 3.0 million shares originally – and changed the price to $5.00 – the mid-point of its previous range of $4.00 tp $6.00 – to raise $10.0 million, according to an S-1/A filing dated Oct. 31, 2023. In that Oct. 31, 2023, filing with the SEC, Richtech Robotics also named Revere Securities as a joint book-runner to replace Pacific Century Securities. Background: Richtech Robotics Inc. filed a Free Writing Prospectus (FWP) dated Oct. 10, 2023, naming R.F. Lafferty & Co. as the book-runner. The deal’s original book-runner was Pacific Century Securities. Background: Richtech Robotics Inc. filed an S-1/A on Sept. 1, 2023, disclosing terms for its micro-cap IPO: 3.0 million shares at $4.00 to $6.00 to raise $15.0 million. Richtech Robotics Inc. filed its S-1 on Aug. 3, 2023, without disclosing terms for its IPO. The company submitted confidential IPO documents to the SEC on Feb. 10, 2023.))
🏁 Emerging Market ETF Launches
Climate change and ESG are some recent flavours of the month for most new ETFs. Nevertheless, here are some new frontier and emerging market focused ETFs:
08/25/2023 - KraneShares Dynamic Emerging Markets Strategy ETF KEM - Active, equity, emerging markets
08/18/2023 - Global X India Active ETF NDIA - Active, equity, India
08/18/2023 - Global X Brazil Active ETF BRAZ - Active, equity, Brazil
07/17/2023 - Matthews Korea Active ETF MKOR - Active, equity, South Korea
05/18/2023 - Putnam Emerging Markets ex-China ETF PEMX - Value + growth stocks
05/11/2023 - JPMorgan BetaBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF BBEM - Large + midcap stocks
03/16/2023 - JPMorgan Active China ETF JCHI - Active, equity, China
03/03/2023 - First Trust Bloomberg Emerging Market Democracies ETF EMDM - Principles-based
1/31/2023 - Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF STX - Passive, equity, emerging markets
1/20/2023 - Putnam PanAgora ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF PPEM - Active, equity, ESG, emerging markets
1/12/2023 - KraneShares China Internet and Covered Call Strategy ETF KLIP - Active, equity, China, options overlay, thematic
1/11/2023 - Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Active ETF MEMX - Active, equity, emerging markets
12/13/2022 - GraniteShares 1.75x Long BABA Daily ETF BABX - Active, equity, leveraged, single stock
12/13/2022 - Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF VEMY - Active, fixed income, junk bond, emerging markets
9/22/2022 - WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-China Fund XC - Passive, equity, emerging markets
9/15/2022 - KraneShares S&P Pan Asia Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF KDIV - Passive, equity, Asia, dividend strategy
9/15/2022 - OneAscent Emerging Markets ETF OAEM - Active, Equity, emerging markets, ESG
9/9/2022 - Emerge EMPWR Sustainable Select Growth Equity ETF EMGC - Active, equity, emerging markets
9/9/2022 - Emerge EMPWR Unified Sustainable Equity ETF EMPW - Active, equity, emerging markets
9/8/2022 - Emerge EMPWR Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity ETF EMCH - Active, equity, emerging markets, ESG
7/14/2022 - Matthews China Active ETF MCH - Active, equity, China
7/14/2022 - Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF MEM - Active, equity, emerging markets
7/14/2022 - Matthews Asia Innovators Active ETF MINV - Active, equity, Asia
6/30/2022 - BondBloxx JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets 1-10 Year Bond ETF XEMD - Passive, fixed income, emerging markets
5/2/2022 - AXS Short CSI China Internet ETF SWEB - Active, inverse, thematic
4/27/2022 - Dimensional Emerging Markets High Profitability ETF DEHP - Active, equity, emerging markets
4/27/2022 - Dimensional Emerging Markets Core Equity 2 ETF DFEM - Active, equity, emerging markets
4/27/2022 - Dimensional Emerging Markets Value ETF DFEV - Active, equity, emerging markets
4/27/2022 - iShares Emergent Food and AgTech Multisector ETF IVEG - Passive, equity, thematic [Mostly developed markets]
4/21/2022 - FlexShares ESG & Climate Emerging Markets Core Index Fund FEEM - Passive, equity, ESG
4/6/2022 - India Internet & Ecommerce ETF INQQ - Passive, equity, thematic
2/17/2022 - VanEck Digital India ETF DGIN - Passive, India market, thematic
2/17/2022 - Goldman Sachs Access Emerging Markets USD Bond ETF GEMD - Passive, fixed income, emerging markets
1/27/2022 - iShares MSCI China Multisector Tech ETF TCHI - Passive, China, technology
1/11/2022 - Simplify Emerging Markets PLUS Downside Convexity ETF EMGD - Active, equity, options strategy
1/11/2022 - SPDR Bloomberg SASB Emerging Markets ESG Select ETF REMG - Passive, equity, ESG
🚽 Emerging Market ETF Closures/Liquidations
Frontier and emerging market highlights:
09/20/2023 - VanEck China Growth Leaders ETF - GLCN
08/28/2023 - Asian Growth Cubs ETF - CUBS
08/01/2023 - VanEck Russia ETF - RSX
07/07/2023 - Emerge EMPWR Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity ETF - EMCH
06/23/2023 - Invesco PureBeta FTSE Emerging Markets ETF - PBEE
06/16/2023 - AXS Short China Internet ETF - SWEB
04/11/2023 - SPDR Bloomberg SASB Emerging Markets ESG Select ETF - REMG
3/30/2023 - Invesco BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund - ADRE
3/30/2023 - Invesco BulletShares 2023 USD Emerging Markets Debt ETF - BSCE
3/30/2023 - Invesco BulletShares 2024 USD Emerging Markets Debt ETF - BSDE
3/30/2023 - Invesco RAFI Strategic Emerging Markets ETF - ISEM
2/17/2023 - Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bear 1X Shares - CHAD
1/13/2023 - First Trust Chindia ETF - FNI
12/28/2022 - Franklin FTSE Russia ETF - FLRU
12/22/2022 - VictoryShares Emerging Market High Div Volatility Wtd ETF CEY
8/22/2022 - iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF AGT
8/22/2022 - iShares MSCI Colombia ETFI COL
6/10/2022 - Infusive Compounding Global Equities ETF JOYY
5/3/2022 - ProShares Short Term USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF EMSH
4/7/2022 - DeltaShares S&P EM 100 & Managed Risk ETF DMRE
3/11/2022 - Direxion Daily Russia Bull 2X Shares RUSL
1/27/2022 - Legg Mason Global Infrastructure ETF INFR
1/14/2022 - Direxion Daily Latin America Bull 2X Shares LBJ
Check out our emerging market ETF lists, ADR lists (updated) and closed-end fund (updated) lists (also see our site map + list update status as most ETF lists are updated).
I have changed the front page of www.emergingmarketskeptic.com to mainly consist of links to other emerging market newspapers, investment firms, newsletters, blogs, podcasts and other helpful emerging market investing resources. The top menu includes links to other resources as well as a link to a general EM investing tips / advice feed e.g. links to specific and useful articles for EM investors.
Disclaimer. The information and views contained on this website and newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and/or a recommendation. Your use of any content is entirely at your own risk and it is your sole responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of the content. Seek a duly licensed professional for any investment advice. I may have positions in the investments covered. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any investment mentioned.
Emerging Market Links + The Week Ahead (November 6, 2023) was also published on our website under the Newsletter category.