2012年5月27日

Lex专栏:安东尼・波顿中国遇挫 Lex_Bolton in China

当一位性情温和的基金行业超级英雄与发了疯、横冲直撞的中国股市"怪兽"遭遇时,会出现什么结果?别看了,孩子们:安东尼•波顿(Anthony Bolton)一点机会也没有。富达(Fidelity)旗下的"中国特殊情况基金"(Fidelity China Special Situations)管理着5亿英镑资产。本周,该基金持有的股票中又有一只折戟沉沙。因卷入一桩公司治理丑闻,宝姿(Ports Design)股价下挫三分之一。此前,波顿最近持有的另一只股票中国电器集团国美(Gome)股价在过去一年累计下跌54%。

只是运气不好吗?宝姿本是恒生指数成分股,今年3月,由于推迟发布全年业绩,该股被停牌并被逐出恒指。本周发布业绩时,该公司首席执行官辞职,并对向关联方(包括他自己)发放的巨额贷款承担全部责任。而国美的困境也不会因为前管理层与身陷囹圄的创始人之间的纷争而得到缓解。

波顿希望从相关研究极为匮乏的中国消费类股身上追逐价值,这策略存在一定的合理性。毕竟,这个行业往往有着高速的营收增长、强大的净现金创造能力以及不俗的利润率。这些特征使得大型消费品公司对于投资者显得较为昂贵。香港消费类股的市盈率较大盘高50%。确实,宝姿的市盈率是美特斯邦威(Metersbonwe)等规模更大且更知名的竞争对手的一半。与更为成功的同业苏宁(Suning)相比,国美的市盈率低了很多。或许它们的廉价是有原因的。

要实在地发掘价值,就得付出不菲的代价。中国行业研究的缺乏意味着,在尽职调查方面必须下苦功夫。波顿的基金现在聘用着5家企业情报公司,但过去一年仍折损了29%,以相同货币计算,这个比例是全球股市的5倍,恒生指数的两倍。高风险可能意味着高回报。但有一些"怪兽",最好离它们远点。

Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评,对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析

译者/梁艳裳


http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001044733


What happens when a mild fund manager superhero takes on the rampaging, maniacal Chinese equity market monster? Look away, kids: Anthony Bolton never stood a chance. This week another holding in Fidelity's £500m China Special Situations Fund was squashed. Ports Design plunged by one-third as it became embroiled in a corporate governance scandal. That follows a 54 per cent fall during the past year in another of Mr Bolton's recent holdings – Gome, the Chinese electronics group.

Just bad luck? Ports Design was a Hang Seng constituent until it was suspended in March after delaying full-year results. When the numbers were published this week, Ports' chief executive resigned after taking full responsibility for hefty loans to related parties, including himself. Gome's troubles have not been helped by disputes between former management and its jailed founder.

There is some logic in Mr Bolton's strategy of chasing value in under-researched Chinese consumer stocks. After all, the sector tends to have good top-line growth, strong net cash generation, and reasonable margins. These attributes have made the biggest consumer goods companies relatively expensive for investors. Hong Kong's consumer index trades at a 50 per cent premium to the broader index. True, Ports Design was trading at half the multiple of larger and better-known rivals such as Metersbonwe. And Gome trades at a big discount to its more successful peer Suning. Perhaps they were cheap for a reason.

Genuine value is expensive to find. A lack of Chinese sector research means that painstaking due diligence must be done. Mr Bolton's fund now employs five corporate intelligence companies yet has still lost 29 per cent during the past year, five times more than global stocks and twice the Hang Seng in equal currency terms. High risk can mean big rewards. But some monsters are best left alone.


http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001044733/en

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