Is There An Opportunity With Golden Eagle Retail Group Limited's (HKG:3308) 23% Undervaluation?

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Golden Eagle Retail Group Limited (HKG:3308) as an investment opportunity by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. This is done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Golden Eagle Retail Group

The method

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥1.25b	CN¥1.07b	CN¥968.6m	CN¥908.2m	CN¥872.8m	CN¥853.1m	CN¥843.5m	CN¥840.8m	CN¥842.9m	CN¥848.2m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Est @ -21.14%	Est @ -14.33%	Est @ -9.57%	Est @ -6.23%	Est @ -3.9%	Est @ -2.26%	Est @ -1.12%	Est @ -0.32%	Est @ 0.24%	Est @ 0.63%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 7.0%	CN¥1.2k	CN¥936	CN¥791	CN¥693	CN¥623	CN¥569	CN¥526	CN¥490	CN¥459	CN¥432

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥6.7b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 10-year government bond rate (1.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.0%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₂₉ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥848m× (1 + 1.6%) ÷ 7.0%– 1.6%) = CN¥16b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥16b÷ ( 1 + 7.0%)¹⁰= CN¥8.1b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CN¥15b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of HK$7.4, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 23% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

Important assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Golden Eagle Retail Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.0%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.860. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn’t be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price to differ from the intrinsic value? For Golden Eagle Retail Group, We've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine:

1. Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Golden Eagle Retail Group that you should be aware of before investing here.
2. Future Earnings: How does 3308's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.
3. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the SEHK every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.