Estimating The Fair Value Of Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings Co., Ltd. (HKG:520)

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings Co., Ltd. (HKG:520) as an investment opportunity by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

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. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

See our latest analysis for Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings

Step by step through the calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or 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.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥860.3m	CN¥1.15b	CN¥1.37b	CN¥1.56b	CN¥1.72b	CN¥1.85b	CN¥1.95b	CN¥2.04b	CN¥2.11b	CN¥2.18b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Est @ 19.1%	Est @ 13.82%	Est @ 10.13%	Est @ 7.54%	Est @ 5.73%	Est @ 4.47%	Est @ 3.58%	Est @ 2.96%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 9.3%	CN¥787	CN¥964	CN¥1.1k	CN¥1.1k	CN¥1.1k	CN¥1.1k	CN¥1.0k	CN¥1.0k	CN¥950	CN¥895

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥10.0b

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.5%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 9.3%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₀ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥2.2b× (1 + 1.5%) ÷ (9.3%– 1.5%) = CN¥28b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥28b÷ ( 1 + 9.3%)¹⁰= CN¥12b

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¥22b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of HK$19.6, the company appears about fair value at a 19% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

The assumptions

Now 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 Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings 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 9.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.243. 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.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings, we've put together three important factors you should explore:

1. Risks: For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Xiabuxiabu Catering Management (China) Holdings that you should be aware of.
2. Future Earnings: How does 520'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Hong Kong stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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