Stobart Group continues to evolve from a holding company to an operating group, targeting £100m of underlying EBITDA by 2022 (from £35m in 2017), driven by material growth in the Energy and Aviation segments. Once mature, these segments should generate strong, dependable cash flows, and attract higher multiples and strong long-term value. Until then, the company is committed to paying a dividend of 18p/share (partly funded by asset sales), implying a current dividend yield of nearly 7%. We have adjusted our FY18 estimated earnings following slight delays in some projects and some higher than expected one-off costs. Modelling changes and a move to an exclusively DCF approach lowers our valuation to 285p/share, but we note that longer-term upside remains if the company can deliver on its targets.
Written by
Stobart Group |
Targets on track, near-term volumes affected |
Company update |
General industrials |
26 January 2018 |
Share price performance
Business description
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Stobart Group continues to evolve from a holding company to an operating group, targeting £100m of underlying EBITDA by 2022 (from £35m in 2017), driven by material growth in the Energy and Aviation segments. Once mature, these segments should generate strong, dependable cash flows, and attract higher multiples and strong long-term value. Until then, the company is committed to paying a dividend of 18p/share (partly funded by asset sales), implying a current dividend yield of nearly 7%. We have adjusted our FY18 estimated earnings following slight delays in some projects and some higher than expected one-off costs. Modelling changes and a move to an exclusively DCF approach lowers our valuation to 285p/share, but we note that longer-term upside remains if the company can deliver on its targets.
Year |
Revenue |
Underlying |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
02/16 |
126.7 |
30.0 |
2.7 |
6.0 |
95.3 |
2.3 |
02/17 |
129.4 |
35.0 |
(2.7) |
13.5 |
N/A |
5.2 |
02/18e |
251.4 |
134.0 |
29.6 |
18.0 |
8.7 |
6.9 |
02/19e |
321.7 |
39.0 |
3.9 |
18.0 |
66.0 |
6.9 |
Note: *EPS and EBITDA are company-defined underlying metrics, which include profits from asset sales (which include £123.5m in H118).
Timing affects H218 estimates
Start-up delays in Energy caused by commissioning issues at third-party biomass plants (out of the company’s control) and reduced passenger numbers at London Southend Airport in FY18 and FY19 result in us lowering our FY18 underlying EBITDA estimates by 6% to £134m. However, the case for Southend’s growth as London’s sixth airport remains strong and we retain our 2022 estimate of passenger numbers at more than five million pa. Four energy plants are being commissioned in 2018, which should lead to strong volume and earnings growth. Equally, delays in plant start-ups do not affect the value of the contracts or cash flows derived from them in the long term.
Carillion collapse could be an opportunity
Rail is a limited contributor to overall growth, but the collapse of Carillion should present some opportunities for the division to capture additional contract revenues.
Valuation: Revised to 285p/share
Third-party plant delays and slightly lower passenger numbers are understandable. However, they should not distract from the long-term value proposition, in which both divisions should produce strong, reliable cash flows for long periods, attracting yield investors and relatively high multiples. We have adjusted our valuation to account for modelling and estimate changes, and it moves to 285p/share (based on DCF). We note that the strong dividend payout of 18p/share (and 7% yield) needs to be partly funded by asset sales over the next four years before growth in operating cash flows can fully take over – this should be achievable given considerable non-operating/investment assets. Our valuation suggests 10% upside. This valuation would imply an EV/EBITDA multiple of just 10.9x in 2022.
Carillion opportunity
The recent collapse of Carillion should give Stobart’s rail division some opportunities. Although Carillion was a tier one supplier and Stobart is a tier two, we expect the fallout of the liquidation to result in some broadening out of the contracts over time. Stobart Group’s H117 external revenues were £6.3m (adding to £13.9m internal revenues), so additional contracts could make a material impact on the segments results.
Estimate changes
We have adjusted our estimates for FY18, which move from £143m to £134m on a company-reported EBITDA basis (£19.7m to £10.5m excluding the sales seen in H118). Reported EBITDA estimates move more due to one off costs incurred by the delayed commissioning of biomass plants in Energy and marketing costs in Aviation (though the majority of these costs were seen in H118).
We see reduced energy earnings as temporary, as overall biomass requirements at the plants have not declined (indeed, the contracts have not yet started). However, we adjust aviation estimates in FY18 and FY19 as it is taking more time to grow the airline base. The group is investing a further £30-40m (of which £5-10m is in FY18) in awareness, branding, route development and marketing at London Southend airport over the next four years to 2021 to accelerate value creation. The accounting treatment of these costs is to be confirmed. The case for Southend’s growth remains strong in our opinion.
A summary of changes to EBITDA are summarised below:
Exhibit 1: Changes in underlying EBITDA
£m |
2018e |
2019e |
||||
Old |
New |
Change |
Old |
New |
Change |
|
Energy |
12.6 |
12.0 |
(5%) |
24.6 |
24.0 |
(3%) |
Aviation |
11.4 |
(1.0) |
N/A |
27.9 |
14.0 |
(49%) |
Rail |
4.0 |
4.0 |
1% |
4.7 |
4.7 |
1% |
Investments |
2.3 |
1.5 |
(36%) |
2.5 |
2.5 |
2% |
Infrastructure |
2.0 |
5.0 |
150% |
2.1 |
2.1 |
2% |
Central costs and eliminations |
(12.6) |
(11.0) |
(13%) |
(18.8) |
(8.5) |
(55%) |
Total Underlying EBITDA (excluding sale proceeds) |
19.7 |
10.5 |
(47%) |
43.0 |
39.0 |
(9%) |
Total Underlying EBITDA (including sales proceeds) |
143.2 |
134.0 |
(6%) |
43.0 |
39.0 |
(9%) |
Source: Edison Investment Research. Note: For this analysis we exclude the profits of £123.5m reported on sale of assets in the investments segment in H118.
Valuation
We move to a DCF approach (from a mix of EV/EBITDA and DCF) as we feel this properly captures the value of the growth in coming years. In this approach we discount the cash flows from the operating assets and dividends from sales of non-operating assets (at book value), adding these to the value of the ESL stake (at current market prices) and intangible brand value. We exclude any value for the Stobart Capital element given low invested capital and the uncertain returns profile for the moment, although we believe this should contribute in time.
These factors are discounted using a WACC of 8.4% (lower than previously given a lower beta), which could fall over time as the aviation and energy businesses mature and the company gears up from a currently low base. We assume a terminal growth rate of 1% on terminal cash flows (which we assume is 10% higher than 2022 free cash flows).
Exhibit 2: Stobart Group DCF breakdown
£m unless noted |
2019e |
2020e |
2021e |
2022e |
Terminal value |
Underlying EBITDA (support services only) |
34 |
64 |
79 |
97 |
|
Underlying EBIT (support services only) |
23 |
53 |
68 |
86 |
|
Less cash taxes |
(2) |
(7) |
(11) |
(15) |
|
Tax rate (%) |
10 |
14 |
15 |
17 |
|
NOPAT |
20.9 |
46.0 |
57.7 |
71.4 |
|
Working capital |
(5) |
(5) |
(5) |
(5) |
|
Add back depreciation |
11 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
|
Less capex |
(15) |
(15) |
(15) |
(15) |
|
Free cash flow |
12 |
37 |
49 |
62 |
1,067 |
Discounted cash flow |
11 |
31 |
38 |
45 |
705 |
Value of operating assets |
842 |
901 |
940 |
970 |
989 |
NPV of dividends (from non-operating businesses) |
106 |
68 |
35 |
12 |
|
ESL stake |
69 |
69 |
69 |
69 |
69 |
Brands |
39 |
39 |
39 |
39 |
39 |
Total business value + ESL shares + brands |
1,056 |
1,077 |
1,082 |
1,090 |
1,097 |
Adjustments (net debt) |
34 |
66 |
74 |
69 |
47 |
Market cap implied |
1,022 |
1,010 |
1,008 |
1,021 |
1,049 |
Pence/share |
285 |
||||
Implied EV/EBITDA (x) |
30.7 |
16.7 |
13.7 |
11.2 |
11.3 |
Implied P/E (x) |
73.8 |
26.0 |
19.6 |
15.1 |
15.5 |
Source: Edison Investment Research
Financials
In August 2017, the company reported £2.9m of net cash following asset sales, which brought in £227m, offset by £51m of capex additions (mostly on aircraft acquisitions) and £10m loss on operating cash flows. Much of this free cash flow went on paying down debt (£114m including capital on financial leases), but £26m of dividends was also paid out and £10.7m was spent on treasury shares (to pay for employee share benefits in current and future years). This left the group with £39m of cash in August 2017 vs £36.2m of gross debt.
In the second half of the year (ending February 2018), we expect cash to be drawn down further as no major asset sales have yet taken place in the period to offset the quarterly dividend payouts. Forecast net debt at end February2018 is £33.5m.
At an average dividend of 18p/share per year, the company will be paying out nearly £260m from 2019-22, with the bulk of this cash needing to come from asset sales as the business segments grow. The company has a record of selling assets for more than the book value, although we assume that future sales are achieved at book. We note that the company’s 12.5% holding of Eddie Stobart Logistics would bring in £69m at current market prices, while the book value of the brand was £39m in FY17.
Exhibit 3: Financial summary
£m |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018e |
2019e |
||
Year-end February |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
|||||||
Revenue |
|
|
116.6 |
126.7 |
129.4 |
251.4 |
321.7 |
EBITDA (underlying) |
|
|
10.0 |
30.0 |
35.0 |
134.0 |
39.0 |
Operating Profit (before except.) |
|
10.9 |
21.5 |
25.6 |
122.0 |
28.0 |
|
Exceptionals |
(10.5) |
(10.6) |
(34.0) |
(14.0) |
(10.0) |
||
Other |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Operating Profit |
0.4 |
11.0 |
(8.4) |
108.0 |
18.0 |
||
Net Interest |
(9.8) |
(1.0) |
0.4 |
(2.4) |
(1.7) |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
9.3 |
18.4 |
27.4 |
117.8 |
26.3 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
(9.4) |
10.0 |
(8.0) |
105.6 |
16.3 |
Tax |
1.4 |
(1.2) |
(1.2) |
0.8 |
(2.4) |
||
Discontinued businesses profit/(loss) underlying, post-tax |
(3.7) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Discontinued businesses profit/(loss) non underlying, post-tax |
10.6 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
|
|
8.6 |
16.2 |
27.6 |
118.3 |
21.8 |
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
(1.2) |
8.8 |
(9.2) |
106.4 |
13.8 |
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
329.9 |
328.1 |
343.5 |
359.1 |
359.1 |
||
EPS - normalised (p) |
|
|
(0.3) |
2.7 |
(2.7) |
29.6 |
3.9 |
EPS - normalised and fully diluted (p) |
|
(0.3) |
2.7 |
(2.7) |
29.6 |
3.9 |
|
EPS - (IFRS) (p) |
|
|
(2.8) |
2.7 |
(2.7) |
29.6 |
3.9 |
Dividend per share (p) |
6.0 |
6.0 |
13.5 |
18.0 |
18.0 |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
8.6 |
23.6 |
27.0 |
53.5 |
12.1 |
||
Operating Margin (before GW and except.) (%) |
9.3 |
17.0 |
19.8 |
48.5 |
8.7 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
427.7 |
453.3 |
510.4 |
462.9 |
442.0 |
Intangible Assets |
116.2 |
112.3 |
108.4 |
106.4 |
106.4 |
||
Tangible Assets |
221.9 |
218.0 |
326.3 |
267.8 |
246.8 |
||
Investments |
78.8 |
109.7 |
62.3 |
4.3 |
5.3 |
||
Other |
10.8 |
13.4 |
13.4 |
84.4 |
83.5 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
101.7 |
109.2 |
155.6 |
156.1 |
182.6 |
Stocks |
46.2 |
45.1 |
63.7 |
70.0 |
75.0 |
||
Debtors |
42.4 |
49.0 |
48.1 |
60.0 |
60.0 |
||
Cash |
5.7 |
9.9 |
30.7 |
12.6 |
34.1 |
||
Other |
7.4 |
5.4 |
13.1 |
13.5 |
13.5 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(52.3) |
(54.5) |
(88.8) |
(83.1) |
(83.1) |
Creditors |
(43.9) |
(38.2) |
(61.5) |
(65.0) |
(65.0) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(7.3) |
(9.0) |
(18.3) |
(10.0) |
(10.0) |
||
Other |
(1.2) |
(7.3) |
(9.0) |
(8.0) |
(8.0) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(70.8) |
(94.4) |
(189.6) |
(107.3) |
(161.8) |
Long term borrowings |
(17.5) |
(48.9) |
(133.1) |
(36.1) |
(90.5) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(53.3) |
(45.5) |
(56.6) |
(71.3) |
(71.3) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
406.2 |
413.7 |
387.5 |
428.6 |
379.8 |
CASH FLOW |
|||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
5.7 |
0.2 |
(1.7) |
(12.7) |
25 |
Net Interest |
(1.6) |
(1.7) |
(1.7) |
(2.9) |
(1.7) |
||
Tax |
(0.0) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
(2.4) |
||
Capex |
(10.1) |
(45.3) |
(14.5) |
(55.5) |
(15.0) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
204.4 |
14.7 |
54.4 |
121.0 |
25.0 |
||
Financing |
(34.8) |
17.4 |
15.0 |
(10.7) |
0.0 |
||
Dividends |
(19.8) |
(19.7) |
(34.7) |
(58.8) |
(64.6) |
||
Other |
4.4 |
17.0 |
(0.2) |
105.1 |
0.9 |
||
Net Cash Flow |
148.3 |
(17.5) |
16.5 |
86.3 |
(32.9) |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
127.9 |
19.1 |
48.0 |
120.7 |
33.5 |
HP finance leases initiated |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
||
Other |
(39.5) |
(11.4) |
(89.3) |
0.9 |
0.0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
19.1 |
48.0 |
120.7 |
33.5 |
66.4 |
Source: Edison Investment Research, company accounts
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Research: Real Estate
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