002290- Samil Enterprise

[JBird]

Samil is a small Korean civil engineering and construction works company.

 

It has 48 billion KRW of current assets. It has 8 billion KRW of total liabilites. I look at it as a 40 billion KRW cigar-butt, and it sells for a lot less than that.

 

http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Financials?s=A002290:KOE

 

Their website is http://www.samilenter.com. The website has language-toggle function for English, but I found that to be of little help.

[Saidal]

I've seen a couple of these net-net Korean E&C type of companies around, pretty interesting and a few well known value investors have stakes. My only concern with E&C's is that often a decent chunk of the cash isn't a current asset, given bidding and other aspects of the business. Argan (AGX) is a good example of this.

 

Lots of opportunities still in Korea, have you looked into the preferreds?

[matjone]

JBird, did you find a way to get reports in english?  Or are you just buying small positions based on the financial statements alone?

 

If I could buy this for a reasonable commission I probably would, but an $80 commission is too high for a small fry like me.

[JBird]

I've looked at various preferreds, and I'm interested in those as well, yes.

 

I ran the 10-K through Google translator. That helped moderately. I'm considering hiring a Korean language tutor for a couple hours to translate the site and 10-K.

[Green King]

I've looked at various preferreds, and I'm interested in those as well, yes.

 

I ran the 10-K through Google translator. That helped moderately. I'm considering hiring a Korean language tutor for a couple hours to translate the site and 10-K.

 

do you mind giving us a cost quote when your done ? I think there are many online websites that offer these things for low prices.

[JBird]

I haven't had any luck yet getting a tutor to become a translator. I've received price quotes from a few online translation services. The latest one quoted me $7,300 and said it would take 3 weeks. I will move to Seoul and learn Korean myself before I pay something like that.

 

If you're interested in the Korean-version annual report you can PM me.

 

 

[siddharth18]

Hey! For stocks like these, does the currency volatility bother you? Within the last 2 years, the currency has jumped 12% and fell back and equal amount.

 

[JBird]

Hey! For stocks like these, does the currency volatility bother you? Within the last 2 years, the currency has jumped 12% and fell back and equal amount.

 

For better or worse it does not.