Is Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (HKG:175) Trading At A 48% Discount?

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Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (HKG:175) as an investment opportunity by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. I will be 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Geely Automobile Holdings

Is Geely Automobile Holdings fairly valued?

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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)

CN¥3.49b

CN¥9.51b

CN¥9.76b

CN¥9.98b

CN¥10.2b

CN¥10.4b

CN¥10.5b

CN¥10.7b

CN¥10.9b

CN¥11.1b

Growth Rate Estimate Source

Analyst x9

Analyst x9

Analyst x5

Est @ 2.17%

Est @ 1.98%

Est @ 1.85%

Est @ 1.76%

Est @ 1.7%

Est @ 1.65%

Est @ 1.62%

Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 6.5%

CN¥3.3k

CN¥8.4k

CN¥8.1k

CN¥7.8k

CN¥7.4k

CN¥7.1k

CN¥6.8k

CN¥6.5k

CN¥6.2k

CN¥5.9k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥67b

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 10-year government bond rate of 1.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.5%.