Financial Analysis of IOI Group Finance Essay

IOI Group's formation years were associated with real estate when it forayed into property development in 1982 followed by Oil Palm plantations in 1985.

Today, IOI Group is internationally known as a leading global integrated palm oil player with operations stretching the entire palm value chain from seedlings to plantations to crop oil extraction to diverse value-added manufacturing across major continents - serving global markets in more than 65 countries. Close to its home-base in Malaysia, the Group is also prominently known as one of the leading property developer with significant investment holdings of prime real-estates.

IOI Group employs more than 30,000 personnel of more than 23 different nationalities in 15 countries. IOI's business activities can be broadly categorized in 3 linked segments is plantation, resource-based manufacturing and property, where products and services are offered externally or consumed along the value chain for further value-add activities before reaching consumers. Each activity in the value-chain complements the next, creating a logical progression in which we transform basic resources to a wide range of high value-added products.

IOI's approach on Corporate Responsibility is to strike a Sustainable Balance between the conflicting demands of internal and external stakeholders in our pursuit of profits and growth. Our operating principles on "sustainability" are reflected in our vision statement and Code of Business Conduct since 1995 - "way before "social-environment" and "global warming" concerns took global centre-stage".

IOI Group vision is that they shall strive to achieve responsible commercial success by satisfying our customers' needs, giving superior performance to our shareholders, providing rewarding careers to our people, cultivating mutually beneficial relationship with our business associates, caring for the society and the environment in which we operate, and contributing towards the progress of our nation.

Ratio Analysis

Liquidity Ratio

Current Ratio

Liquidity ratio of IOI corporation drop dramatically in year 2008. This is not very favorable as it may not be able to meet short term obligations.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio of IOI corporation is not very favorable. It drop in year 2008 which shows low liquidity of inventory.

Activity Ratios

Inventory Trunover

According to the analysis, the inventory turnovers of IOI Corporation worsen as it drop in year 2008.

Average Collection Period (Days)

Average collection payment period has improved as it takes lesser time to receive payment from customers. This shows a good sign as they would have more cash in hand.

Average Payment Period (Days)

IOI corporation also improve in their payment period as it takes lesser time to pay their debtors. This may increase the image of their company.

Total Asset Turnover

In the earlier years, IOI Corporation was very efficient in using its assets to generate sales but the situation worsen in year 2008. The average time it took to turn over its assets change from 0.56 times per year to 0.85 per year.

Debt Ratios

Debt Ratio (Percentage)

IOI Corporation has a high degree of indebtness and financial leverage with average ratio of 40%. The company uses a great amount of other people's money to gemerate profits.

Profitability Ratios

Gross Profit Margin(Percentage)

The higher the gross prodit margin, the better it is. The graph above shows that the company's gross profit margin drop dramatically from year 2006 to 2008. It is not favourable.

Operating Profit Margin(Percentage)

Operating profit are pure profit, a higher operating profit margin is preferred. IOI corporation's operating profit margin deterioriate in year 2008.

Net Profit Margin(Percentage)

The higher the net profit, the better the company's performance. This is the percentage profit that is avaialable after deducting all cost and expenses. The net profit margin for IOI corporation is improving year by year which is a very good scene for the company.

Earnings Per Share (Cents)

Earnings per share are closely watched by the investing public and are considered an important indicator of corporate success. IOI Corporation's EPS drop in year 2007 but it improved in year 2008.

Return on Total Asset (ROA) (Percentage)

ROA of IOI corporation increase year by year which is a very good sign for the company.

Return on Equity (ROE) (Percentage)

The higher the return of ROE, the better it is to the firm's owner. ROE of IOI Corporation deteriorate in year 2008. In year 2007, it earned 21.33% on each ringgit of common stock equity and it dropped to 12.36% earning on each ringgit of common stock equity in year 2008.

Evaluation of internal areas

In general terms, the liquidity is the solvency of the firm's overall financial position.

The overall liquidity of the IOI Corporation does not seem to exhibit a stable trend. It did not maintain at a level that is consistence. A firm is considered to be more liquid when the current ratio is high. The ratio calculated earlier indicates that IOI liquidity is not very stable as it dropped in 2008 which have some problem in meeting short term obligation

Inventory of IOI Corporation is also not very stable. It does not face any receivable and payment problem as the receiving and payment period drop. Reputation of the company is quite stable as it does not extend the payment period. IOI Corporation's asset turnover is increasing that shows that the firm is quite efficient at using its assets to generate sales. IOI Corporation indebtness increased all the way from 2006-2008. This indicates that the company's ability in meeting fixed-payment obligations is poor.

The profitability for IOI Corporation did not match with the firm's performance for 2006-2008 as the gross profit declined. In other words, level of relative cost of merchandise sold affect the level of gross profit margin. Profit margin tends to fall when operating expenses increases. Operating profit margin for IOI Corporation is not quite favorable as it is not stable and decline in year 2008. Net profit margin of IOI Corporation improves all the way from 2006-2008. This is a very good sign for the company as the risk free rate of interest is improving.

Evaluation of external areas

IOI Group revenue has increased steadily by increasing sales over the years. Their main core businesses are Palm oil which consists of plantation and down streaming manufacturing and property. We are pleased that IOI Group continues to deliver strong earnings growth following the successful completion of the reverse takeover and equity placement exercise in August 2006. The improved performance in 2006, 2007 and 2008 consequently was driven by volume expansion across major business.

With high inflationary pressure continuing in the new financial year and consequently affecting market demand and sentiment, growth in the Malaysian economy is projected to slow down during 2009. On the plantation front, after more than two years of continuous record-breaking hikes in the palm oil prices, there has been a problem of this upward trend and palm oil prices and market outlook have softened considerably during this period. The Group has always been aware of the cyclical nature of palm oil prices. Nevertheless, the Group believes that there are positive fundamentals such as strong palm oil consumption growth in several regions such as China, Africa and USA, relatively low world vegetable oil stock to usage ratio and biofuel price buffer that will prevent any sharp drop in palm oil prices.

As for our downstream manufacturing business, there is a general expectation that if the upstream palm oil prices soften; the margins for the downstream business should improve. That is generally true but in this 2009; there is a widespread cost increase in utilities and other materials due to the withdrawal of Malaysian government's assistance on natural gas and fuel. This cost increase may offset the gains that are expected from lower palm oil input prices but given the Group's good market reputation, we will be able to pass on some of this utilities cost increase to our customers. All in, the Group still expects reasonably good performance from our manufacturing business in 2009.

Despite the bearish property market, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to perform better than many of our peers in the industry due to the good location of our townships, our ability to manage our product mix to suit the prevailing market demand and the value-adding opportunities arising from our mature townships namely in the commercial property segment.

As we look at the current financial year, we must be prepared to face the rapidly changing landscape in the palm oil industry where both new opportunities as well as new challenges surface. On our part, we have continued to invest heavily in future growth. More importantly, we have been able to do this in a focused and disciplined manner that allows us to ride along with positive trends shaping the industry without taking on excessive risks. We have also been fortunate to have the opportunity to add on parts that will create substantial value to the whole business. Last but certainly not the least; we have a team of experienced and committed people who still aspire to reach greater heights. All of these give us the confidence that we are well positioned for the future.

Competition and Economic Performance

IOI rely fundamentally on competition in product markets to organize production. Indeed, the advantage of competitive markets over command-and-control systems is generally recognized. Even so, it is often difficult to provide observed evidence of the effect of incremental changes in the intensity of competition for aggregate economic performance. This is partly because product market competition is only one among many factors influencing key aggregate performance indicators, such as productivity and employment. However, has identified an empirical connection between strong competition in markets for goods and services and better productivity and employment outcomes.

The empirical evidence suggests that differences in competitive pressures have played an important role in explaining the variation in economic performance across palm oil business and property segments. It also indicates that core business (palm oil and property) market reforms that enhance competition will have positive effects on employment performance.

Increased competition can lead to both one-time and ongoing gains in multi-factor productivity (MFP). One-off efficiency improvements arise both from better resource allocation and the use of inputs in response to greater pressures to perform. Ongoing gains relate to enhanced efforts to innovate and faster diffusion of innovations. While there is general consensus that stronger competition leads to static efficiency gains, there has been some controversy about the link between competition and dynamic gains.

Economic Risk

Our participation in our core businesses, namely palm oil and properties, entails risks that arise in the ordinary course of business. Palm oil prices can be very volatile and can result in wide fluctuation in revenue and cash flow. IOI group takes on only those risks that are necessarily associated with creating added economic value and ensuring always a worthwhile risk-reward ratio. Risks that could not otherwise be managed to a satisfactory level on a proactive basis are strategically mitigated.

In the case of palm oil, for instance, normal price fluctuations are manageable risks whilst improperly sharp fluctuations and cyclical trends are strategically mitigated by the Group's positioning in different segments of the palm oil value chain, namely plantation, refinery, oleo chemicals and specialty oils and fats. The Group's exposure to different segments of the palm oil chain also provides better visibility and enables better risk management execution that enhances value beyond mere balancing out the effects of price fluctuation.

For the property segment the judicious selection of locations when acquiring land bank and the choice of product mix when making property sales launches during different phases of the property market cycles are the most crucial factors in managing market and operation risks.

The Group's operations which have expanded substantially in recent years expose it to a variety of financial risks, including foreign currency risk, interest rate risk, market risk (including commodity price risk), credit risk, liquidity and cash flow risk. The Group's overall financial risk management objective is to ensure that the Group creates value for its shareholders whilst minimizing potential adverse effects on its financial performance and positions. Main consideration is on potential impact on risks to cash flows.

Besides, the Group also enters into interest rate derivative instruments with the objective of minimizing overall cost of borrowings over the tenure of the underlying borrowings. An appropriate mix of fixed and floating rates are taken after giving due consideration to current fixed rates level, forward scenario analysis and potential net cash flow fluctuation.

Whenever appropriate, we also enter into forward foreign currency contracts to limit the Group's exposure to fluctuation in foreign exchange rates with respect to our foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities as well as committed sales and purchases of commodity and other products. Credit risks and counter party risks are evaluated and managed at the level of the respective business units within the Group's prescribed framework.

Advice and Recommendation

The world is fast realizing the need to address the issues of environmental sustainability. There are plenty of established plantation companies in Malaysia. The dominant plantation product is Oil Palm.The first commercial oil palm estate in Malaysia was set up in 1917. Since then the industry in Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds and the country is now the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world, accounting for 52 percent of world production and 64 percent of world exports in 1997.

As in all industries, research and development (R&D) is critical, particularly since palm oil competes with 16 other oils and fats on the world market. There is a need to generate information, increase production and processing efficiency and expand uses of palm oil through R&D. The palm oil industry has been able to do this through the establishment of the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM).

Oil palm plantation meets global challenges. First, the oil palm industry faces with fluctuations. They try to manage it by keep cost well monitored and adopt flexible mechanism adjusting forward and spot sale percentages to meet price sale trend. Next will be the fear of another world recession. Price of CPO (crude palm oil) followed crude oil trend which cause the cost of fertilizers to increase tremendously.

The run-up in the price of palm oil since early 2005 has been linked to rising demand for crude oil, which has effectively driven up the price of all other vegetable oils. This has somehow improved the company's liquidity level for that current year. Most palm oil is currently used in food products, cosmetics, and for industrial purposes - less than one percent of Malaysia's 2007 production was used for biodiesel. Such use has helped deflect some of the criticism levied by environmentalists against the industry, which maintains that palm oil is helping "feed the world" and has a favorable energy balance relative to biofuel feedstock grown in Europe and the United States. However now that more palm oil will be going into biofuel production, it may make the industry an easier target for green groups who say that oil palm expansion is destroying large tracts of rainforests and peatlands, releasing greenhouse gases and putting endangered species like the orangutan at risk.

Under the changing circumstance of both economic and rival from time to time, it is necessary to find ways to improve the performance of their company. The firm should find ways to increase more of its sales. Chin Teck Berhad should have further analysis about the firm's level of liquidity as it may have difficulty to meet short term obligations if the ratio keeps falling. Further analysis on the activity ratio for Chin Teck is also needed. Collection and payment period should be adjusted as it may affect the level of cash in the firm and may ruin the reputation of the firm. The management should tighten the credit policy to improve the receivable ratios and not to lengthen the payment period in order to keep the reputation or the firm. Management of Chin Teck should increase the production or may cooperate with other stable firms in order to increase the confidence level of investors towards the firm's future performance.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

IOI places a very high value on education and human capital development for the nation, especially their employees and children. For example, IOI continues to support important works conducted by the Borneo Child Aid Society, Sabah (HUMANA) and their creation of 51 schools for the children of plantation workers in Sabah. IOI Corporation is the main contributor which sponsors 22 of these HUMANA schools and is very proud of our association with this worthy organization. Under the Yayasan Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng ("Yayasan"), a charitable foundation fully sponsored by IOI Group of Companies,various scholarships and bursaries have been provided to outstanding students pursuing degree courses.

The Group has four refineries with total refining capacity of 3,350,000 MT, i.e. one in Sabah with a refining capacity of 1.2 million MT and kernel crushing capacity of 300,000 MT per annum, two refineries in Johor, with a combined annual refining capacity of 1.3 million

The principal products of the IOI Oleo chemical Division ("Oleo Division") include fatty acids, glycerin, soap noodles and fatty esters. These versatile products are used in a wide variety of applications, including manufacturing of detergents, surfactants, shampoo, soaps, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, food additives and plastics. Our products are exported to more than 60 countries worldwide,

IOI Corporation also has one of the most developed specialty oils and fats technology base in the industry. Having research through meticulous R&D for zero burning policy that help land clearing by using the method of felling, shredding and allowing decomposition in. Furthermore, it allows the complete return of organic matter to the soil and helps to preserve, restore and improve soil fertility.

The last but not least of the strength of IOI Corporation is its strong position in the country. It is ranked 9th in the Malaysia's Top 10 Most Valuable Brand. It is a recognized and popular Corporation which many investors would choose to invest in.

Weaknesses

A weakness describes any aspect of the organization that may hinder the achievement of specific objectives. Believed to be unhealthy to the heart due to the presence of saturated fats, new scientific data suggest that saturates are not as bad as once believed

IOI Corporation is too relying on internal resources and overlooks the importance of external resources. As time pass by, IOI Corporation will not only rely on the internal resources, and will have to outsource more and employ specialists in these areas that new to IOI Corporation. For management, IOI Corporation believes that there is a lot of misinformation out there about it, however, whatever lobbying that will be done will be fact-based and well-researched, using various channels effectively.

Besides that, IOI corporation that continuous improvement in productivity and produce an increasing amount of palm oil required huge land and large amount of fertilizers and pesticides is actually bring harm to both the company and environment. In order to solve the problem, the company should think of a strategy that efficiency produce palm oil using less land, which correspondingly reduces the amount of fertilizers and pesticides needed.

Furthermore, another weakness of IOI Corporation is they face problem of uncertainty of palm oil prices that out of their control. During the financial year under review, the average selling price of crude palm oil had declined. This was mainly due to bearish fundamentals locally. Domestic ending stocks were high. However, demand from consuming countries remained strong. The possibility of crude palm oil (CPO) prices falling further in the future, investors will dump their holdings on concerns that weaker CPO price and rising cost would hurt the planter's earnings outlook. However, the analysts are still upbeat on IOI Corporation.

Opportunity

There are many opportunities available in the market in this 21st century. First of all, the opportunity available for IOI Corporation would be buying more land to expand the plantation productions. A detailed research would be needed in order to purchase the most suitable and fertile land. The initial investment would be quite a huge amount but a great amount of profit would be earned in the long run.

Next opportunity would be getting more contracts with other companies in property developing. This can be done through promotion activities. As more companies buy over our property, we would be able to use that revenue to build more new properties. This would generate a huge amount of revenue. The reputation of IOI Corporation would also increase as more consumers purchase properties from us. What is most important is to keep the quality of the properties we build in order to attract more consumers.

The following opportunity that is available in this modern world would be merging. One of the most suitable way to find a company to merge with is a company that has a negatively correlated business with our own company. This is a very good way to diversify the risk of the company. When the market for our business is not that smooth, we are able to gain profit from the other business of the merging company to cover losses or the decreased profit of our company.

SWOT Analysis can now influence the Opportunities for the business. These can be seen as targets to achieve and exploit in the future. Good financial position creating a good reputation for future bank loans and borrowings would be the first example. Next would be skilled workforce that means that we can be moved and trained into other areas of the business. We also have the opportunity to increase spending power in the National economy. Last but not least will be the opportunity of moving a product into a new market sector.

Threats

Internal controls & risk management, economic situation against core products, competitive or technological threats are highlighted. Our integrated systems of internal controls, and how these are continuously shaped through our Enterprise Risk Management ("ERM") Framework that interweaves the Group's Vision and business objectives of our global operation. To explain the Group's oversight structure that ensures the integrity of adopted frameworks in engaging every business unit and hierarchical level to proactively embrace uncertainties and manage associated risks.

Group's expanded view on "uncertainties" that it gives rise to only risks and controls. Hence, the Group's top-down risk management program drives a continuous cycle of control activities plus timely strategic respond to opportunities and threats. IOI Corporation Berhad palm oil production is looking strong, but the stagnant oil-extraction rate (OER) of palm oil, especially in Peninsular Malaysia that is below 20% for the past 20 years, has been a major concern.

Property prices have not escalated in a frenzied manner over the last few years, the threat of an oversupply is somewhat kept in check. The 2009 Sarawak property market is generally expected to slow down further. The continued inflationary pressures put by world economic imbalances and uncertainties will continue to stall demand for housing. The property take up rates are expected to be slower in 2009 compared to 2008.The fear and threat of further increases in petrol prices and inflation rates, the global slow down in economic growth and the global trend of rising interest rates are expected to dampen the buying sentiment in the property market.

On the other side competitors and technology are great threats for IOI Group Berhad because competitors applies new innovation and method to rise market share as well as technology is now modern weapon for business to increase company's value and its growth.

New Project

The company will be launching a new property development project. What the company stress on is the development at potential half-rural areas in short period time (3 to 5 years). This project will be a cooperative business with the government as the government has the same objective towards the development.

Objective of this project is to develop the potential remote areas. For example, Tangkak and Mersing in Johor and Langkap in Perak. These towns are only made up by streets and villages. The people do not enjoy the facilities which are in the big cities like Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. So, this project will be building up those potential areas to let the people can fully utilized what we used in the big cities.

Besides building houses, IOI group will be building other facilities or infrastructures which should be in a city such as shopping complexes, Police Station, Fire Station, hospitals, schools (primary, secondary, colleges, and universities), roads, public transportation and so on. IOI group will be co-operating with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to achieve the objective of this project. IOI group will act as the local government (town council) with the assistance of our Government.

After the area is developed, the developer the IOI group will be issuing a card which called privilege cards to the residents. The card will be functioning as membership card and it's a proven document for the residents. Then, the residents can use the card to spend in the shopping complexes, for the other infrastructures or even mamak stalls.

Special Task (Merging)

After doing our research, we have found out that IOI Corporation is a very big and stable company. Its yearly profit is quite stable. After some discussion, we have decided to merge with Air Asia. This merger would benefit both parties. The benefit that both companies would get is the increasing profit and diversifying the risk of company.

By merging with Air Asia, IOI Corporation can arrange for specialized plane. The usage for this plane is only for IOI Corporation which would be used for sending their plantation goods out of the country. This will give a faster and more efficient transportation of goods compared to using ships for transportation. Goods will be delivered on time and it can be transported to many countries around the world.

After the merger, we would help in opening cargo for Air Asia as it does not have one currently. This would benefit both parties. IOI Corporation could use this cargo to transport goods out of the country and Air Asia can do new business through accepting goods transportation using cargo to boost its profit.

During MATTA fair, IOI Corporation can have promotions. Some of the strategies are giving free flights to customers when they purchase property of IOI Corporation. IOI Corporation can build own hotels. Customers can purchase a package flight ticket with IOI hotels accommodation included which would be much cheaper.

Advertisement about IOI Corporation properties can be shown during flight time in the airplane. This will help increase sales of IOI as there may be potential customers in the flights. It may also attract interested foreign investors which are in that particular flight. Foreign investment in our country not only helps to boost the corporation profit but also benefits the country's economy.

As we merge, IOI Corporation would build a hostel for Air Asia staff's. This can help the staff's save a lot every month. IOI would give overseas trip to staff's every year as worker's welfare. They can choose any country that they would like to visit as it would be provided by Air Asia. By having this benefit, it may increase the commitment of staff's towards the corporation.

New proposals would be prepared on building airports after the merging. IOI Corporation would take one of its plantation lands for building an airport just for Air Asia. By looking in short term, one land may be lost but it benefits both parties in the long run. Profits would be much more when the airport is build compared to using it for plantation as IOI would choose the most unfertile land for this purpose. After the airport is build, more planes would be open to other countries around the world. They would have direct flights to countries that most airlines do not have in KLIA and Singapore Changi Airport.

Research and development department would work on research on palm oil for replacing petrol. This idea is already starting in other countries so we would work harder on this. If we succeed, it will benefit both companies. Air Asia would not need to purchase any petrol for its airplane. It would help save a lot and on the other hand, IOI's palm oil can be produced into petrol and sold to other companies. This would increase IOI Corporation's profit dramatically as petrol would be used up and become extinct one day in the future. Palm oil can be planted and it can be produced again and again which would not become extinct.

We have made a calculation on the extra profit that we would earn with this merging. First of all it would be our operating profit margin, we would be more efficient after the merging that increase our operating profit margin by around 20% which would be 18.26% which is much more better off. Next would be the increase of the Earnings Per Share (EPS). This increase would be deriving from the increase of net income. We made a calculation on the cost and came out with a conclusion that our cost would be cut down at least 15% if the merging is successful. Cost would be lesser as two companies operation will be merge that diversify the cost.

Conclusion

We can see that IOI Corporation also has its own strength that would benefits the company, weakness which may be the target of competitors, opportunities that company can expand the business, threats that company should be alert of. The company will be very successful if all of these components are managed properly. New projects should be implemented to increase the revenue and expand the business. From the research that we have done, it shows that merging with Air Asia would be a very great idea as it benefits both parties. Three most important advantages of the merger would be portfolio diversifier, increasing revenue and expansion of business.

As a conclusion, we hope that the plan and opinion that we have given in this project will illustrate the current situation in IOI group. Then, we also hope that the ways taken in solving or improve the current situation will be useful and applicable in reality. Besides that we also hope the objective we have given can be achieved in future for the goodness of the company overall financial management. As for IOI group, as an organization that serves the community, they must operate towards the public interest so that the world would be a better place to live in. They must also interact in each other to improve the quality of the organization. By provided with the ascendancy, we only have the competencies to compete with our competitor and more further to the global market.

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