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Been a tough year obviously. I think most of us underestimated the impact to yields that the lower oil price/competition would bring. It's a global phenomenon. Certainly my FY17 earnings estimates have fallen from 40-45c down to 30-35c. That said the share price move down has been dramatic, leaving the company (imho) significantly undervalued, as has been the case for about the last 5 years (has it been that long...).
I certainly knew that FY16 was peak, and perhaps naively thought the dividend / cash-flow story would support the stock. Clearly the negative momentum and uncertainty on yields has mean't a tough devaluation, and risk being priced into the stock.
Where to from here then?
For the ST investor: Yield comparisons get easier in January, so should the operating stats firm up I would expect a re-rating towards 2.50, which values the stock on a reasonable 8x PE.
For the LT investor: Personally i'm not too concerned whether AIR make 28 or 32c in FY17 EPS. The question is sustainability and ideally growth in profit from there. If sustained (along with cash flow) there is a bonanza in FY19-20. I did a few figures and have spoken to the CFO, basically over the next 4 years (if things stay stable), AIR could pay $1.80 in dividends. That's based on a 50c special in FY19, and a 60c special in 2020 plus recurring twenty something ordinary. Over 5 years, you basically get your entire capital back, so if the stock is still at $2, you double your money (15% p.a). Any growth is cream on top.
Pleased with the recent result and expecting the yield improvement to roll in from here. What is clear is that sentiment has switched from cautious to neutral and happily seen the stock advance. The cost performance and fleet simplification benefits are starting to show up, and I expect analysts to continue to be surprised positively by these over the coming 18m.
Still see the capital return bonanza in a few years time, this is now being recognised in analyst models, though most see this as outside the 'investment horizon', and therefore it gets little credit in the valuations (which cluster at 2.30 - funny that..).
The short term question for us now is what would you pay for 20c p.a dividend, I think it could settle at 2.60 pre div, 2.50 after - providing 8% forward yield.
For the longer term investor a return to yield growth in FY18 will bring EPS upgrades, which should support the stock towards $3.00. In FY19 we will need to watch out for announcements about capex, but as management have explained pre-payments for deliveries 2023-on (777-200 replacement) are likely to begin in 2021.
I maintain that the improvements this company has made through the last few years (fleet, IT, lounges, processes, new routes, network alliances) set it up for a sustainably higher level of returns than in the past, and that short term earnings focused analysts don't properly account for this in either their estimates or the multiples they use to value AIR. With the NZX50 trading at a high multiple, and the outlook for NZ better than ever, AIR should gradually re-rate upwards from here.
Best, Mod
Fair enough Couta1 but from a long term perspective here's mod's most recent thoughts of special dividends over the next five years and as I am not a trader as I mentioned to you when I was down in Wellington I am increasingly taking at least a five year view of stocks. I'm forecasting 2 x 25 cps special divvies in the FY20-FY22 years when there's a major gap in their capex but as you can see above Mod is modeling a lot more. A key factor in understanding this company is understanding their enormous cash flow when not expending it on capex which can be around ~ 80 cps per annum.