The Asian Innovation Awards, presented by the Wall Street Journal Asia in a three-year sole partnership with Credit Suisse, recognize innovations that break with conventional processes in creative ways to improve quality of life or productivity.

About Vecor Group
Each year coal power plants around the world produce nearly 1 billion metric tons of fly ash waste. This waste is dumped in landfill sites and fly ash lagoons. Vecor Group, an Australia based company, has licensed and developed a suite of innovative technologies for recycling industrial fly ash waste. The core technology, invented at the University of New South Wales, enables the production of high-quality sintered building materials such as ceramic tiles, pavers and aggregates that are made of 60-90% recycled material. Vecor building materials are of excellent strength and durability, very cost-competitive and require significantly less energy and water inputs to manufacture compared with traditional building materials. The preparation and sintering processes utilized by Vecor clean up the fly ash and render constituent components inert.

Vecor is currently engaging partners to expand their business in Europe, China, India and Australia. For more information, please visit http://www.vecor.com.au

About the Asian Innovation Awards
The Asian Innovation Awards is committed to finding the next big ideas in Asia, from entirely new inventions to the advancement of a classic. Entries to the awards come from individuals, small businesses, large corporations and academia in Asia Pacific.

This year, the Wall Street Journal Asia received more than 300 entries. An independent panel of judges selected by The Wall Street Journal Asia will judge this year’s entries. The three criteria for judging are: level of creativity or degree of innovation; quality of execution; and the potential impact on quality of life or productivity.

For more information please contact:

Ms. Anita Zhang, Admin. Manager
Tel: +86-1371-370-5812
Email: a.cheung@vecor.com.au

SOURCE FirstFinancialPR

On the back of increasing demand and supply shortages in other ginger producing regions, prices for ginger continue to rise – coming out of a 2008 low and still far below historical highs. Man Shing recently increased it’s agricultural lease-holdings in China by 45%, an increase that will allow the company to further exploit its position as the leading ginger producer. The increase falls under a 2009 Chinese Government tax exemption incentive that encourages agricultural development, providing further support for Man Shing’s continuing high margins. 

The company’s net income for the quarter remained strong and in line with expectations. The company, which is believed to be the world’s largest ginger producer, also holds the largest inventory of the product in the world. This stock allows Man Shing to mitigate any crop yield risks and optimize returns in line with the upward price trend. Market demand is expected to continue to rise, with net profit margins being sustained at over 20 percent. 

Man Shing CEO Eddie Cheung commented on the company’s excellent start: “This is only our second quarterly report. We have solid expectations that the third and fourth quarters will also show satifactory margins and growth. We are an energetic company and our performance this year is establishing an impressive track record that will generate more investor interest and confidence as we move into 2011/2012.”

When we first started watching the stock on Jan 1st, the price was around $0.34 a share. It has since climbed up to as much as $0.48 and then leveled of at around $0.40. We have decided to add this stock to our stock watch as it fits in with our model of looking for companies with strong fundamentals. The company is appealing as it is a growth company but it’s balance sheet is not dogged down by the usual debts that many growth companies have. They also have above industry-average growth margins of around 15%.

The price of ginger has risen over the last year to an average price of 1300 USD per MT. Ginger prices are expected to continue to rise due to limited global supplies and an increase in demand related to its health benefits, particularly during flu season. “Everything is moving ahead according to our plan,” commented Eddie Cheung, Man Shing CEO. “With the capital raised from China Angel, we will continue to expand our operation and capture market share. Our revenues and net profits will see a proportional gain. We look forward to a very strong quarterly report next month, and an excellent 2010/11 year.”

Man Shing Agricultural Plans Expansion

HONG KONG, December 15th 2009: Man Shing Agricultural (MSAH.OB) plans to expand their total plantation area by 45% during the first half of 2010. The company, a leading ginger producer in China, plans to lease an additional 2,500 acres of prime agricultural land in Shandong Province, China. The expansion will result in Man Shing’s total land area for ginger production increasing from the present 5,500 acres to a total of 8,000 acres, equal to a 45% increase and making Man Shing the largest ginger producer in China.

In addition to adding scale economies for planting, harvesting, storage and packaging operations, Man Shing expects revenues to increase by expansion of plantation. Net profits and net profit margin are expected to have higher proportionate increases due to economies of scale.

These figures could be substantially higher given the forecasts on the price of ginger over the next 12-18 months. Experts expect the price of ginger to rise by a further 30% to 50% by the end of 2010.

With Man Shing currently yielding around 5 tons of ginger per acre, the upcoming expansion, scheduled for the first half of 2010, will make Man Shing one of the largest high-quality ginger in the world.

The timing of this ginger demand increase coincides with supply shortages, effecting upward price pressures in a way that has speculators wondering about a potential repeat of the current demand hysteria over garlic. Garlic, also believed to have flu-fighting properties, has seen wholesale prices increase by as much as 1500% since March.

By comparison, retail ginger prices have increased just 85% in China in under a year. But a similar price spike may be seen in ginger as Chinese consumers and speculators begin to hoard the spice, commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat colds and other ailments. The health benefits of honey and ginger in treating respiratory problems is well known.

Falling ginger prices over the last 3 years have contributed to current supply shortages, with many farmers switching to more profitable crops. With fundamentals firmly pointing to a sustained price increase, ginger producers and consumers are looking at a potential price surge. Eddie Cheung, CEO of Man Shing Agricultural (MSAH.OB), one of the largest ginger producers in China, is well-positioned with one of the largest stockpiles of ginger in the world. “We have been positioning for an upswing in the price of ginger for some time, based on the low levels of planting over the last two years and the long-term market trend. The health benefits of ginger and the current concerns over swine-flu were not considered in our plan, but they will very likely contribute to further the expected price increases.”

Garlic has seen a similar pattern of shortage and price increases, but prices for garlic have risen astronomically. David Anderson, a director with consulting and research firm GMC Group China, follows the agricultural market in China closely. “It’s quite incredible, with parallels to “tulip mania” from the 1630’s in the Netherlands. We’ve seen large numbers of speculators shifting money from mainstream assets, piling it into garlic in the hope of turning a quick profit.”

Ginger, along with garlic, is one of the most important ingredients in the cuisines of India, China, Thailand and Japan.

Email: info@globalmarketschina.com

SOURCE Global Markets China Research

At the time the share price was HKD1.02, so the current increase to HKD1.99 plus the HKD0.12 dividend puts the return on investment at HKD1.09 or approximately 106%.  One million Hong Kong dollars invested in Allan would have grown to over two million in just six months.

At this point I suggest selling half of the shares you have in Allan International Holdings, essentially returning to cash your initial investment funds.  I am confident the fundamentals of Allan are excellent though with the present uncertainty in the markets 106% profit over a six month period needs to be realized.  The other half of the funds you have remaining in Allan I would keep as a long term investment with the dividends keeping you warm at night during turbulent times.

Marcus Maher

Chief Business Analyst – China

Disclosure: Marcus Maher currently owns shares in Allan International Holdings Ltd.

Remarks : Due to reporting and updating time-lag, readers and users should exercise caution when using the data presented in this analysis.

Products include biscuits, candies, chocolate, condiments, margarine, milk power products, healthy food, noodles, snacks, rice, and nourishing and exclusively licensed branded products; beers, wines, and soft drinks; batteries and toiletries; make-up, perfumes, fragrance, and skin and sun care products; and frozen meat, seafood, and diary products.

The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.

MARKET CAP 249.6M

TOTAL REVENUE 1.9B

EBITDA 193.3M

DILUTED EPS TTM 0.06

P/E 11.7x

P/S 0.8x

RETURN ON ASSET 2.93

RETURN ON EQUITY 5.39

K = Thousands        M = Millions        B = Billions

Man Shing 10Q, Nov. 2009

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About Man Shing Man Shing Agricultural Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:MSAH) is headquartered in Hong Kong. Man Shing Inc is a high growth agricultural products company based in Shandong Province, China. The main product is ginger. Man Shing exports to high margin, high-quality markets where its products are sold in leading supermarkets and restaurants in Europe, Japan and North America. Man Shing expects to sustain gross profit margins of over 25% and net profit margins of around 20% on low production costs, efficient land management and a high-quality, high-margin strategy. Having acquired long-term rights to extensive tracts of farm land in Shandong, the Company is positioned to become the largest ginger producer in the country by the end of 2010.  For more information visit the Man Shing website at www.msaginger.com

Business Review – Expectation for increase in half-year dividend payment for period to 31st September 2009

After an incredible performance by management, end of year results for the year ending 31 March 2009 profit was up 65% (HK$64,872,000 to HK$106,938,000), cash on-hand doubled (HK$163,221,000 to HK$335,164,000) and debt almost halved ($33,194,000 to HK$19,755,000).

The annual dividend increased from 10 cents to 14 cents per share, up 40%. Historically management has been very generous in its sharing of company profits with shareholders. In 2007/8 the interim dividend was 4 cents with final dividend 6 cents while 2008/9 interim was 2 cents and final 12 cents.

Management has a tendency to adjust dividend payment according to cash flow requirements and profitability.  With cash on hand doubling to HK$335,164,000 and profit up 65% to HK$106,938,000 the company has a cash hoard that makes it the envy of all listed companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The expected dividend will be influenced by a combination of the historical ratio of interim to final dividend, cash on hand, net profit and future investment requirements. We expect the interim dividend will be 6 or 8 cents, when added to the most recent final dividend of 12 cents it will total either 18 or 20 cents. With a share price of 1.72 that is a return of 10.46% or 11.62% on the current share price of 1.72.

In these uncertain times we suggest that Allan International Holdings Ltd is a safe port in a storm with its affordability evidenced by a P/E ratio of 5.4, world-class management and consistently large dividend payments.

Marcus Maher

Chief Business Analyst – China

Note: Marcus Maher currently owns shares in Allan International Holdings Ltd

Remarks : Due to reporting and updating time-lag, readers and users should exercise caution when using the data presented in this analysis. Please see the Disclaimer and the Terms of Service.