An Intrinsic Calculation For Tenaga Nasional Berhad (KLSE:TENAGA) Suggests It's 34% Undervalued

Simply Wall St · 10/16 00:42

Key Insights

  • Tenaga Nasional Berhad's estimated fair value is RM22.15 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
  • Current share price of RM14.52 suggests Tenaga Nasional Berhad is potentially 34% undervalued
  • Analyst price target for TENAGA is RM15.78 which is 29% below our fair value estimate

Does the October share price for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (KLSE:TENAGA) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Tenaga Nasional Berhad

The Calculation

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034
Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM6.94b RM6.92b RM5.44b RM7.04b RM7.02b RM7.09b RM7.21b RM7.37b RM7.57b RM7.79b
Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -0.19% Est @ 0.93% Est @ 1.72% Est @ 2.27% Est @ 2.65% Est @ 2.92%
Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 8.1% RM6.4k RM5.9k RM4.3k RM5.2k RM4.8k RM4.5k RM4.2k RM4.0k RM3.8k RM3.6k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM47b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.1%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2034 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = RM7.8b× (1 + 3.6%) ÷ (8.1%– 3.6%) = RM179b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM179b÷ ( 1 + 8.1%)10= RM82b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is RM129b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM14.5, the company appears quite undervalued at a 34% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf
KLSE:TENAGA Discounted Cash Flow October 16th 2024

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Tenaga Nasional Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.809. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Strength
  • Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.
  • Debt is well covered by cash flow.
  • Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.
Weakness
  • Interest payments on debt are not well covered.
  • Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Electric Utilities market.
Opportunity
  • Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market.
  • Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.
Threat
  • Annual revenue is expected to decline over the next 3 years.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Tenaga Nasional Berhad, we've put together three essential factors you should assess:

  1. Risks: We feel that you should assess the 2 warning signs for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) we've flagged before making an investment in the company.
  2. Future Earnings: How does TENAGA's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.
  3. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the KLSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.