Stock Valuation: China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd (762)

Name of Company Country of Origin/ Exchange Traded Sector Stock Price
CHINA UNICOM (HONG KONG) LTD Hong Kong/
HKSE
Communication Services – Communication Services – Telecom Services HKD9.22
@ 01 Oct 2018
COMPANY PROFILE China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd provides cellular and fixed-line voice and related value-added services, broadband and other Internet-related services, and business and data communications services in the People’s Republic of China.

China Unicom is the incumbent fixed-line operator in 10 northern Chinese provinces, as well as the second-largest wireless operator nationwide. It is the only operator whose networks are based on the global GSM/WCDMA standard. At December 2017, it had 284 million billing wireless customers, of which 175 million were 4G customers. The firm also had 77 million broadband subscribers.

Stock Code 762
Stock Valuation Below

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Price to Cash Flow

Price to Cash Flow is an alternative method to value shares. This is because accounting profits can be subject to manipulation. Therefore, some investors prefer to value a company based on cash flows generated by the operating activities of the company. It also acts as a reality check to valuation measures such as Price to Earnings and Price to Sales. If a company generates high profits and sales but not operating cash flows, it could be heading for trouble because it is cash that pays the operating expenses. However, the Price to Cash Flow ratio of most firms are volatile and should not be used in isolation to determine the valuation of the stock.
At the price of HKD9.22 as at 01 Oct 2018, China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd is trading at a Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 2.4 times last 12 months cash flow.  This is a 12.6% discount to current fair Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 2.7 times.
Is the stock undervalued? One should not just look at one indicator to determine the fair value of a stock.
ProThinker believes in using a combination of valuation methods to decide whether a stock is over or undervalued? The five ratios we use are Price to Earnings, Price to Sales, Price to Cash Flow, Price to Book and Dividend Yield. We use multiple methods to value a stock because each has its benefits as well as shortcomings. Price to Earnings and Price to Cash Flow Ratios relate stock price to profitability but are meaningless when the comany has negative earnings or cash flows. Price to Sales Ratio is more stable because sales are never negative. However, this does not tell us whether the company is able to sell profitably. Price to Book Ratio gives us an indication as to how much we are paying for the company’s assets but it is not directly related to the company’s profitability. Dividend Yield cannot be used for companies that are paying little to no dividends.
While it is important to value stocks based on multiple valuation methods, this often leads to differing views on valuation. One indicator may suggest that a stock is overvalued while another suggest that it is undervalued. This does not help an investor who needs to make a definite decision whether to buy, hold or sell the stock. That is why we advocate the use of a Composite Valuation Indicator, which is derived from the best combination of the five indicators above. A Composite Valuation Indicator will give you ONE conclusion on whether a stock is under or over valued.
To find out more about our valuation methodology, click here. 
Source of Data: Company description, historical financial statements data and price data are from gurufocus.com or moneycontrol.com. Estimates are from marketscreener.com – Thomson Reuters.
Disclaimer: This report is for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Neither ProThinker nor any other party guarantees its accuracy or makes warranties regarding results from its usage. Redistribution is prohibited without the express written consent of ProThinker. Copyright(c) 2018. All rights reserved.