Wilmar International

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It seems to me that Wilmar has some resemblance to Amazon and Alibaba, in that it had over many years, built a sprawling network of inter-supporting businesses and assets, which would be difficult to replicate. 

Even though Wilmar's network would not have the kind of powerful virtuous cycle effect that Amazon and Alibaba enjoy, nonetheless a large, well-oiled, vertically-integrated business, complemented with a trading operation, should be valuable.  

While ROE is not exciting (just below 10%), there could be substantial value hiding within. How can or what would lead to this value manifesting -- that is something I have to study further.

What baffles me is Wilmar's current focus on building central kitchens in China - described as Wilmar's most important project. How big can the market for ready-to-eat / ready-to-cook meals be when hot food is easily available at lower prices? From what I see in SG, supermarkets and 7-11s are not selling huge volumes of RTE/RTC meals.

At PE of 12X, Wilmar looks attractive.

Wilmar and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have established a new joint research laboratory to conduct cutting-edge clinical nutrition and synthetic biology research to create healthier food products as well as to devise green production technologies for industrial enzymes and biochemicals.

Wilmar’s research and development (R&D) activities support our business operations by improving manufacturing processes, ensuring the consistency and enhancing the quality of existing products as well as developing new innovative products. Our R&D work is carried out by around 600 scientists and researchers in various locations worldwide, including Singapore, China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. In line with the Group’s integrated approach, our R&D teams engage in cross-border collaborations as well as with external organisations to share knowledge and resources to enhance the collective R&D effort.

Wilmar and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have established a joint research laboratory in 2018 to conduct cutting-edge clinical nutrition and synthetic biology research to create healthier food products as well as to devise green production technologies for industrial enzymes and biochemicals.

https://www.wilmar-international.com/our...evelopment
https://wil-nus.sg/

According to UOB Kay Hian, the high rental cost, labour cost and difficulty in retaining chefs have driven the demand for central kitchens. Wilmar is in good position as it has land to construct integrated complexes. Wilmar will open up its central kitchen to rent to other players. Partners can also leverage on Wilmar’s central buying of raw materials to reduce cost, and also to leverage on Wilmar’s strength in culinary school.