Homeplus Co., Ltd. Corporate
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Homeplus Co., Ltd. Corporate Corporate Analysis Rating Date: Homeplus Co., Ltd. 24 February 2017 Analysts Rating Overview Rating History Bae In Hae (기업어음) +822 368 5388 [email protected] CP A2+ A1 A2+ Rating Type Periodic Rating Choi Joo Wook A2 Team Head, Rating Team 4 Unsecured Bond NR +822 368 5303 Short-Term Bond A2+ 14.01 15.01 16.01 17.01 [email protected] Financial Highlights (Unit: KRW100mn,x, %) 2013(02) 2014(02) 2015(02) 2016(02) 2016(11) Revenue 70,863 73,255 70,526 67,468 49,037 EBIT(Op. income) 3,292 2,510 1,944 -1,490 1,955 EBITDA 6,739 5,937 5,557 1,691 3,510 Total assets 63,338 65,339 56,095 49,361 75,784 Total borrowings 24,509 19,008 16,178 14,105 11,772 Net borrowings 24,371 17,042 16,008 13,725 6,700 EBIT/Revenue(Operati ng margin) 4.6 3.4 2.8 -2.2 4.0 EBITDA margin 9.5 8.1 7.9 2.5 7.2 EBITDA/Financial expense 5.4 6.8 8.6 2.8 6.8 Net borrowings /EBITDA 3.6 2.9 2.9 8.1 1.4 Debt ratio 197.2 151.8 144.3 146.1 69.3 Total borrowings/ Total assets 38.7 29.1 28.8 28.6 15.5 Applied F/S Separate Separate Separate Individual Individual Note 1: Figures have been adjusted and reclassified in accordance with K-IFRS. 2. EBITDA = EBIT(operating income)+depreciation cost+amortization of intangible assets 3. Major financial indicators as of end-November 2016 are unaudited figures. Rating Rationale Korea Ratings Corporation(KR) has assigned a rating of ‘A2+’ to the commercial paper issued by Homeplus Co., Ltd.(the Company). The rating reflects as follows: Excellent competitiveness of business based on brand power and huge distribution network Gradually weakening performance resulting from increase in the fixed cost burden Expectation for continual generation of FCF driven by elimination of temporary cost and decrease in investment Financial burden associated with affiliated companies offsetting the positive impact from improvement of financial stability Liquidity buffer maintained based on maturity profile concentrated on long- term borrowings and strong access to financial institutions 1 Homeplus Co., Ltd. Corporate Company Profile The Company is a retail chain established in 1999, and is the second largest retailer in Korea measured by the number of stores. Using ‘Homeplus’ as the brand, it operates 142 hypermarkets(including associated companies), 275 company-owned super supermarket(SSM)s, franchise supermarkets and convenience stores as of end-December 2016. In October 2015, MBK Partners(‘MBK’), a private equity fund, became the majority shareholder after the previous majority shareholder Tesco sold its stake. Key Rating Rationale The Company has secured superb competitiveness of business based on the brand power and distribution network. Supported by the long-established business competencies and nationwide distribution network (142 hypermarkets as of end-December 2016), the Company has established excellent brand power and barriers to entry in the market, and is enjoying economies of scale. Diversification of business portfolio into SSMs and convenience stores offsets the earnings volatility. However, with the downturn of the hypermarket business, hypermarket business moving deeper into the maturity stage, and decrease in the number of store openings, the Company’s revenue has decreased in the last few years. The Company’s performance deteriorated gradually due to increase in the fixed cost burden. Due to the revenue decline that is driven by low growth of the domestic economy, the Company’s fixed cost burden such as staff costs has increased. And the increase of rents following two rounds of sale and lease- back(S&LB) that were made between 2012 and 2013 were additional burdens. As a result, the Company’s operating profitability is decreasing. Hit by such structural decrease in the profitability and affected by temporary costs related to discounts offered on fresh food and the change of shareholder, the Company posted an operating loss in FY2015/2016. KR expects that the Company will likely continue generating FCF by eliminating temporary cost and reducing investment. The fact that low growth of domestic consumption is mainly due to structural reasons is limiting the revenue improvement. However, the cost related to M&A, which was the main reason for underperformance in FY2015/2016, will not occur additionally and the Company stopped paying royalty after the change of the majority shareholder. In addition, it reduced costs through termination of events offering discounts on fresh food and efforts to improve the operational efficiency. As a result, KR expects that the Company’s EBITDA/total revenue will stand at around 6.5%~7.0%. KR expects that the Company will be able to continue generating FCF as the working capital burden is not high given the nature of the business and it is also likely to maintain passive investment stance. Yet, considering that the profit base of Homeplus Stores which borrowed a considerable portion of the funds for the acquisition financing is poor, KR views that a significant proportion of the Company’s FCF will likely be used for financial support for affiliated companies. 2 Homeplus Co., Ltd. Corporate Positive impact from improvement of the financial stability is offset by the financial burden of affiliated companies. As the Company reduced investment from FY2008/2009, and repaid the borrowings with the funds raised through S&LB, indicators of the financial stability improved. However, considering high level of integration between affiliated companies and the Company’s actual position as a cash cow, KR judges that the consolidated entity including the Company is covering the borrowings of Homeplus Stores(KRW 3.1 trillion, balance as of end-December 2016 was KRW 2.5755 trillion) which were incurred over the course of changing the majority shareholder. Thus, the financial burden of affiliated companies is adversely affecting the Company’s creditworthiness. Key Rating Factors Business Factors Strong competitiveness of business backed by brand power and distribution network With the operation of total 142 stores (33 Homeplus Stores included) as of end- December 2016, the Company is the second largest retailer in Korea measured by the number of stores. And such huge distribution network helps the Company to strengthen the brand awareness, build an entry barrier and also achieve economies of scale and thereby maintain excellent competitiveness of the business. In addition, the Company maintains its position based on qualitative change such as the development of PB products, launch of small-format stores and boosting of the online mall despite the fact that quantitative competition that is based on the number of stores reached its limits. To supplement the earnings volatility that is driven by the change of external environment, the Company maintains a retail business portfolio that is diversified into SSM(brand name is ‘Homeplus Express’), convenience store(brand name ‘365 Plus’), etc. The Company launched SSM at a relatively initial stage of business expansion and thus is No.2 in the industry in terms of the number of stores (482 stores as of end-November 2016). And it also gained the competitiveness of business based on the brand awareness of Homeplus and sharing of the purchase/logistics/delivery system. On the other hand, the Company’s market share for convenience stores is in the middle and lower ranks due to less number of stores than major competitors (400 stores as of end-November 2016). Revenue is declining due to the downturn of the hypermarket business and decrease in the number of store openings Despite no loss of business days due to the strike with regard to M&A and the base effect of the outbreak of SARS, until Q3 FY2016/2017, the Company’s total revenue of Homeplus(individual basis) dropped 4.8% year-over-year to KRW 5.5052 trillion and that of Homeplus(individual basis) and Homeplus Stores(individual basis) combined fell 4.9% year-over-year to KRW 6.6784 trillion. And as the discount coupon and points used which were previously recorded as marketing expense are now directly deducted from revenue following the change of accounting standard, other revenue decreased, and this also had some impact. 3 Homeplus Co., Ltd. Corporate Hypermarkets are experiencing a decrease in revenue per store due to the regulation on business days and operating hours, sluggish consumption market, widespread purchases made in small quantities following the increase of households composed of one or two members and increase of alternative retail channels such as social commerce and open market. In the case of the Company, even if the different fiscal year between the Company and its competitors is taken into account, revenue of the Company’s existing stores dropped more sharply than key competitors. This is because the Company’s diversification of store type (warehouse-type discount stores, etc.) and development of private brand(PB) occurred slower than major competitors while the leakage of personal information and lawsuit related to the giveaway event which occurred in 2015 had negative impact on the brand image. Supermarkets(convenience stores included) posted revenue growth of approximately 10% every year as a result of increase in the number of convenience store franchises and SSM volume chains. However, according to the recommendation of Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, contract with the volume chains whose term expired was not renewed and thus the number of volume chains dropped (171 stores at end-February 2016→ 114 at end-November 2016). Consequently, the Company’s cumulative total revenue until end-November 2016 decreased 1.3% compared to the same period of the previous year.