The Positive
+ Rock-solid balance sheet. Despite a need to raise inventories by S$103mn to S$766mn, net cash rose to S$922mn as at June 2021. This was an improvement over the S$833mn net cash a year ago. Cash generated from operations in 1H21 was S$137mn (1H20: S$252mn).
The Negative
– Revenue run rate still weak. After the huge 26% YoY drop in 1H20 revenue, the rebound this year has been weak. 1H21 revenue of S$1.4bn is 22% below pre-COVID 1H19 levels. Life-science and genomics products have yet to reach sufficient scale to drive growth.
Outlook
Venture guided that customer orders remain strong. However, component supplies and operations in Malaysia remain disrupted by lockdowns, creating bottlenecks for the fulfilment of orders.
Maintain NEUTRAL with unchanged TP of S$19.20
Our forecasts are unchanged as we expect stronger revenue momentum in 2H21.
Paul has 20 years of experience as a fund manager and sell-side analyst. During his time as fund manager, he has managed multiple funds and mandates including capital guaranteed, dividend income, renewable energy, single country and regionally focused funds.
He graduated from Monash University and had completed both his Chartered Financial Analyst and Australian CPA programme.