independent tip4 Apr 2017 13:51
Dowgate Capital – April Stock Picks
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NEW SMALL CAP IDEAS DekelOil
Price: 11.9p
Market Cap: £35.5m
Ticker: DKL.L
Market: AIM
Sector: Food Producers
We anticipate DekelOil will shortly issue a quarterly production and sales update from its expanding and profit generating palm oil operations in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. With current Crude Palm Oil (CPO) sales prices being much stronger than at this stage last year we would expect to see material sales revenue growth compared to Q1 2016. The FY results to 31 December are also expected to be announced in the next 6-8 weeks. This will hopefully provide confirmation of DekelOil joining that small and exclusive AIM club of yielding shares with the payment of a maiden dividend. Management highlighted recently (Feb ’17) that FY16 results are “anticipated to increase materially compared to FY15 revenue of €23m and EBITDA of €3.1m.”
DekelOil is a vertically integrated palm oil producer, owning a production mill that enables independent smallholders to process their harvested produce (Fresh Fruit Bunches) into crude palm oil, along with plantation land developed by the Group itself that is now reaching maturity.
House Broker Cantor Fitzgerald estimate a dividend of 0.17p (0.2c) per share for ’16 FY, which equates to a 1.4% yield at the current mid-market price, which would be covered by x5, based upon an eps forecast of 0.85p (1.0c) for ’16. Ahead a progressive dividend policy is envisaged, with the Group benefiting from an extremely favourable 13-year corporate tax holiday in Côte d’Ivoire. The PE ratings looks very undemanding for a Group still in a growth phase, at an estimated x14.0 for ’16, dropping to x6.3 for ’17 using Cantor Fitzgerald’s projections.
The market background remains strong, with CPO prices up by around 20% over the last 12-months and near 3-year highs. Further out in the mid to long term, there is the prospect of DekelOil attracting takeover interest and thereby going a similar route to that taken by MP Evans and New Britain Palm Oil in recent years. We recommend DekelOil as our dual AIM growth and yield play.