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HQ Kaohsiung · Taiwan Founded 1971 · listed 1999 Reporting TWD Control Chen family ~31% Balance sheet net debt ~NT$3.75bn · D/E ~1.0 Listed TWSE · 0 analysts Valuation 2026-06-05 Damodaran FCFF · 1000-iter MC FCFF · Dark v3

Cheap on a peak PE, fair on normalized cash · +1.6% margin of safety at the base blend

WATCH — a real 10% yield wrapped around a fair-value DCF, with no floor

The screener flagged a +48% BUY; the normalized FCFF DCF says NT$32.81/share (pre-governance NT$36.45) against a NT$32.30 price — essentially fair value, and the Monte Carlo is a coin-flip at P(intrinsic < market) = 43.7% across 1,000 correlated draws. The +48% screen number was a FY2025 peak operating margin (24.6%), a floored suppressed β, and an un-modelled net-debt drag talking. Strip those out and the cheapness is gone: fair at the base blend (NT$32.81), −40% in the stress regime (NT$19.24), flattering only at the low-rate bookend (NT$43.47). Unlike net-cash Te Chang, LongDa is levered — ~NT$17/share of net debt and no balance-sheet floor to catch a margin miss. The one genuine attraction is a growing ~10% dividend: a yield play, not a value play. WATCH.

stress NT$19.24 low-rate NT$43.47 p5 24.84 p95 43.79 INTRINSIC NT$32.81 MARKET NT$32.30
SectorHomebuilding (developer)Country mixTaiwan 100%β / MC σ1.46 levered · ±NT$5.65/sh (1000 runs)GovernanceChen-family control · 10% haircutQuality~11% ROIC ≈ WACC · net debt ~NT$3.75bn · no floorIncomeNT$3.3 cash + 0.5 stock · ~10% yield · 7y growth
Intrinsic / share
NT$32.81
post 10% gov · pre NT$36.45 · ≈ fair value
Market / share
NT$32.30
4 Jun 2026 close · TWSE
Margin of safety
+1.6%
vs intrinsic
Enterprise value
NT$11.74B
62.7% terminal
Cost of equity / debt
9.60% / 2.56%
β 1.46 · CRP 0.78%
Terminal ROIC / g
6.60% / 2.00%
spread ~45bp (ROIC 6.60% vs WACC 6.15%)

What it sells, where it sells

Operating segments

NT$5.45B FY25 revenue
Property development & building salesResidential, Greater Kaohsiung — buy land, build, pre-sell, hand over. The lumpy, recognition-driven core~85%
Civil engineering & contractingTunnels, roads, bridges, public works — private + public-tender contracting~12%
Leasing + Japan hotel/restaurantRecurring-income tail (Motosu hotel near Mt Fuji, Kyoto restaurants) — immaterial to value~3%

LongDa reports largely consolidated, so the split is approximate, but FY2025 revenue is overwhelmingly the residential development core — the lumpy, completion-recognized line where the 24.6% operating-margin peak sits. Civil-engineering contracting and the small Japan hospitality tail add diversification but not value. The development margin is a handover peak on cheaply-acquired Kaohsiung land that anti-speculation policy and rising build costs will compress — explicitly not a run-rate to extrapolate.

Country mix (revenue-weighted CRP input)

🇹🇼Taiwan100%

Effectively a 100% Taiwan domestic property story, concentrated in Greater Kaohsiung. That pins the thesis to the Taiwan pre-sale cycle — now under the central bank's credit controls (luxury-loan caps, second-home tightening, hoarding tax 2.0) that the chairman has publicly blamed for unsold inventory — with no geographic diversification to cushion a slowdown.

Background — five things to know before the case

Context the share price doesn't carry on its face. Skim this once and the bull / bear bullets below stop reading as inside baseball.

Where we diverge from the sector

Each row asks: if we'd used the sector median for this one assumption instead of our override, how much would the share price change? Negative = our override is more conservative (worth less); positive = more aggressive (worth more). Skim down the rightmost column to see which bets are doing the work.

Assumption
Our input
Sector / peak reference
Value impact
01Revenue growth10-year path vs Homebuilding default
3% Y1-5Below the 5% screener default — peak/lumpy base into a cooling pre-sale market; the NT$26bn pipeline is visibility, not a higher run-rate; fades to 2.0% terminal
~5%Generic developer growth default
−NT$2
02Operating marginYear-10 target vs the FY25 peak
15.0%FY25 peak 24.6% (handover mix on cheap land) faded DOWN toward the through-cycle norm — above global Homebuilding 10.7% (Taiwan land economics), well below the peak
24.6% FY25The cyclical peak we refuse to extrapolate
−NT$8
03Sales-to-capitalReinvestment efficiency
0.55×Land/WIP-heavy developer (inventory 1.9× equity) — large capital per dollar of sales, so growth consumes land/WIP and creates little value (correctly)
1.27×Global Homebuilding median — LongDa is far more capital-intensive
−NT$3
04Terminal ROCYear 10+ return vs cost of capital
6.6%Engine-resolved ≈ terminal WACC — a moat-less developer's ROIC ≈ WACC, so terminal growth is value-NEUTRAL, not value-creative
≈ WACCNo durable excess returns
NT$0
05Cost of capital10y WACC vs the suppressed-β WACC
6.15%β 1.46 (global Homebuilding β_u 0.822 re-levered at D/E 0.96) · rf 2.31% blend · CRP 0.78%
~5%Suppressed 5Y regression β −0.08 floored to 0.80 → an artificially LOW WACC (the trap we rejected)
−NT$4
Why this ladder lands at fair value
Every honest override cuts the value the screener inflated. Fading the 24.6% peak margin to 15%, imposing the real capital intensity (0.55×), pinning terminal ROC at WACC, and rejecting the suppressed-β WACC together pull the FCFF to NT$32.81/share post-governance — within ~2% of the NT$32.30 price. There is no balance-sheet floor beneath it (net debt ~NT$3.75bn), so the only cushion is the ~10% dividend. WATCH, not BUY.
intrinsic NT$33
Our override Sector / peak reference Override adds value Override subtracts value

The story & the five claims

The 10-year story this DCF is built on, plus the five anchor claims that translate the story into engine inputs.

The 10-year story

LongDa is a 55-year-old Kaohsiung residential developer on a build-then-sell model: it buys land, builds, pre-sells, and recognizes the revenue in a lump when each project hands over. That makes earnings violently lumpy — FY2025 revenue fell 13% (because FY2024 carried a one-off land-sale gain) even as profit rose, and Q1 2026 revenue was down again. FY2025's 24.6% operating margin (33% gross, 20% net) is a peak: a high-margin handover mix on land bought cheaply years ago, into a market the chairman himself says is now choked by anti-speculation policy, credit controls, and rising build costs (the "soil-disposal" cost inflation he flagged twice on the earnings call). So we fade that margin to a through-cycle 15% — still above the global Homebuilding median because Taiwan land economics are favorable, but far below the peak — grow revenue a modest 3% off the base, and impose the heavy land-and-build capital intensity that is the real model. Pinning terminal returns at the cost of capital (growth that creates no value, because a moat-less developer earns roughly its WACC), the normalized cash is worth about NT$32.81 a share against a NT$32.30 price: fair value, not a bargain. The crucial difference from net-cash Te Chang — the other developer in this batch that screened cheap and converged to WATCH — is that LongDa is levered, ~NT$17 a share of net debt, with no balance-sheet floor if the margin reverts. What you are really buying is a genuine, seven-years-growing ~10% dividend; that is an income case, not a margin-of-safety case, and the stress regime (−40% at a 4.3% risk-free) shows how little protection the price leaves if rates normalize.

Two debates worth pressure-testing

A 6.5× PE with a 10% dividend yield — isn't that obviously cheap?
Our view: The 6.5× is on peak EPS. FY2025's 24.6% operating margin is a handover-mix peak on cheap land; normalize it to a through-cycle 15%, re-lever the suppressed β to 1.46, and subtract the ~NT$3.75bn net debt, and the intrinsic is NT$32.81 — basically the price. The 10% yield is real and the best reason to own it, but it is income, not a discount: there is no asset floor under a levered developer, and the dividend itself leans partly on the balance sheet in lean years.
The screener said +48%. Why is the answer WATCH?
Our view: The +48% was a triple artifact — peak margin, a floored suppressed β, and no net-debt drag. Fix all three and intrinsic falls to NT$32.81 (+1.6%), with the Monte Carlo a coin-flip at P(intrinsic < market) 43.7%. It also fails the robustness gate: −40% in the stress regime. Re-arm to BUY only if the through-cycle margin proves durably above 15%, or the property-policy regime clearly loosens.
CLAIM 01Revenue is lumpy and through-cycle, not a higher run-rate.rev growth 3% Y1-5 → 2.0% terminalBelow the 5% default: completion-recognized revenue swings hard (FY24 6.25bn on a land-sale gain, FY25 5.45bn, Q1-26 down again). The ~NT$26bn pipeline (NT$6bn inventory + NT$14.9bn 2027–30 + NT$5.57bn urban renewal) gives visibility, not a permanently higher base.
CLAIM 02Fade the 24.6% peak operating margin to ~15% through-cycle.target OPM 15% (from 24.6% FY25 peak)FY25's 24.6% OPM (33% gross) is a handover peak on cheaply-bought land; prior years ran 14–20% net. Anti-speculation policy, credit controls, and soil-disposal/aluminium-formwork cost inflation compress it. 15% sits above global Homebuilding 10.7% but well below the peak — normalization in the flows, not a caveat.
CLAIM 03Low sales-to-capital makes growth expensive — correctly.sales/capital 0.55× (Homebuilding 1.27×)A land-hungry developer ties up enormous capital per dollar of sales (inventory NT$10.1bn, 1.9× equity; asset turnover 0.37). Growth consumes land/WIP and creates little value — the reinvestment drag the screener omitted.
CLAIM 04Terminal ROC ≈ WACC — growth creates no value.stable ROC ≈ 6.6% ≈ terminal WACCA moat-less developer's ROIC tracks its cost of capital, so the terminal perpetuity manufactures no excess returns. With 62.7% of EV in that terminal block, pinning ROC at WACC is what keeps the low-rate-TWD perpetuity honest.
CLAIM 05Controlled and levered — but a real, growing ~10% dividend.gov haircut 10% · net debt ~NT$3.75bn · div NT$3.3+0.5Chen family ~31%, 0 analysts, chronic stock-dividend dilution, ~12% pledge on the largest vehicle — offset by a genuine 7-years-growing dividend (~10% yield, ~60% payout) that reaches minorities. Condition A (cash return) passes cleanly; the leverage means there is no NAV floor, so it's a yield case, not a value case.
Where we diverge from sell-side
  • We reject the screener's own +48% headline. It was a peak-margin × suppressed-β × no-net-debt artifact — the same shape as the Te Chang rebuild. Normalized intrinsic is NT$32.81 (+1.6%), not a +48% bargain.
  • No balance-sheet floor — the break from Te Chang. LongDa carries ~NT$3.75bn net debt (~NT$17/share), where Te Chang's WATCH at least rested on +NT$17/share of net cash. A margin miss here has nothing beneath it but the dividend.
  • Overvalued the moment rates normalize. Low-rate bookend NT$43.47 (+35%), base NT$32.81 (+2%), stress NT$19.24 (−40%). The price is justified only in the suppressed-rate regime — it fails the robustness gate.
  • The dividend is the thesis, not the DCF. A genuine, 7-years-growing ~10% yield (≈8% after Taiwan withholding) is the real reason to own it — an income play. But it partly leans on the balance sheet in lean years, so it is a yield to monitor, not a self-funding compounder.
  • Governance haircut 10%, matching Te Chang. Family control + chronic stock-dividend dilution + a ~12% pledge, balanced against a dividend that actually reaches minorities. Not higher (the cash is real); not lower (the dilution and leverage stack).
Two-sided case — bear anchors
  • Earnings revert from a peak. FY2025 op margin 24.6% / net 20% sits well above the 14–20% net the prior years ran. As the handover mix and cheap-land vintage roll off, reported EPS falls toward the through-cycle mid — the 6.5× PE does not discount that.
  • Policy is actively hostile. The chairman publicly blames anti-speculation policy, second-home credit controls and hoarding tax 2.0 for unsold inventory (房屋賣不出去); construction-cost inflation (soil disposal, aluminium formwork) squeezes margins. 100% domestic — no offset if the Taiwan cycle turns.
  • Levered into the downturn, with refinancing needs. Net debt ~NT$3.75bn, D/E ~1.0–1.15, Altman-Z 2.28; recurrent NT$2bn secured-bond programs roll bank debt. A property correction hits a levered developer's equity first, and there is no net-cash cushion.
  • Chronic dilution erodes per-share value. Annual stock dividends (~5% share growth) plus a long convertible-bond history quietly expand the count — the headline EPS and dividend per share are paid on a slowly growing base.
  • No catalyst to re-rate. No buyback-and-cancel, no asset-monetization plan, no analyst coverage to close the gap. Absent a margin surprise or a policy loosening, it stays a fairly-priced yield stock — dead money on price, paid to wait.

Risks to thesis (tail, not bear case)

Peak-margin reversionHigh

FY25's 24.6% OPM / 20% net is a handover peak on cheaply-acquired land; prior years ran 14–20% net. As the vintage and mix normalize, EPS falls toward the through-cycle mid — and the price has not discounted it. This is the dominant swing factor in the Monte Carlo.

Leverage / no floorHigh

Net debt ~NT$3.75bn (~NT$17/share), D/E ~1.0–1.15, Altman-Z 2.28. Unlike net-cash Te Chang there is no balance-sheet floor; a margin miss or property correction hits the equity directly, and recurrent bond programs must roll.

Taiwan property policyHigh

100% domestic. Central-bank credit controls (luxury-loan caps, second-home tightening, hoarding tax 2.0) have cooled the pre-sale market; the chairman blames them for unsold inventory. Construction-cost inflation pressures margins. No geographic offset.

Dividend sustainabilityMed

The ~10% yield is the core attraction, but in lean years it leans partly on reserves/debt rather than free cash, and ~21% non-resident withholding cuts the net. A cycle turn could force a cut — the income thesis is not bulletproof.

Rate-regime sensitivityMed

The 6.15% base WACC rests on a 2.31% TWD risk-free blend. Fair at base, the name is −40% in the stress regime (4.3% rf) — it fails the robustness gate, so a rate normalization removes what little margin exists.

Control & dilutionLow

Chen family ~31% via a web of vehicles (Da Jin ~12% pledged); chronic ~5%/yr stock-dividend dilution and a long convertible history. No disclosed abuse, but minorities have no lever and the per-share base quietly grows. Captured in the 10% governance haircut.

10-year forecast

Revenue NT$5.45B → NT$7.19B over 10y (3% Y1-5 fading to 2.0% terminal); operating margin faded from the FY25 24.6% peak to a through-cycle 15%. This is the normalized path behind the NT$32.81 intrinsic — the peak is a handover-mix high on cheap land, not a run-rate to extrapolate.

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 0 7.2B rev (TWD) 0% 25% op margin revenue FCFF op margin

Monte Carlo distribution

The Monte Carlo spans NT$24.84 (p5) to NT$43.79 (p95) and lands a coin-flip across the NT$32.30 price — P(intrinsic < market) = 43.7%, median NT$33.16. The question is not whether it is cheap but whether the through-cycle margin holds: the upside draws are the ones where 15%+ margins persist, the downside draws are where policy and costs compress them. There is no asset value above the band to fall back on.

p5 p25 p50 p75 p95 market 32.30 20.3 33.2 53.6 freq equity / share (TWD)

Mean NT$33.61 ± NT$5.65/sh, 1000 iterations (0 failed). P(intrinsic < market NT$32.30) = 43.7%.

Cost of capital build
Risk-free rate 2.31%
Mature-market ERP 4.47%
Levered β 1.46
Weighted CRP 0.78%
Cost of equity 9.60%
Pre-tax cost of debt (synth Aaa/AAA) 3.20%
D / V ~49%
WACC 6.15%
Full year-by-year DCF
Year Revenue Op mgn EBIT EBIT(1−t) Reinvest FCFF PV
1 NT$5.62B 23.24% NT$1.31B NT$1.04B NT$297M NT$744M NT$701M
2 NT$5.78B 21.87% NT$1.26B NT$1.01B NT$306M NT$703M NT$624M
3 NT$5.96B 20.49% NT$1.22B NT$974M NT$315M NT$658M NT$551M
4 NT$6.14B 19.12% NT$1.17B NT$936M NT$325M NT$611M NT$481M
5 NT$6.32B 17.75% NT$1.12B NT$895M NT$335M NT$560M NT$416M
6 NT$6.51B 16.37% NT$1.07B NT$851M NT$345M NT$506M NT$354M
7 NT$6.71B 15.00% NT$1.01B NT$803M NT$355M NT$448M NT$295M
8 NT$6.88B 15.00% NT$1.03B NT$825M NT$325M NT$500M NT$310M
9 NT$7.04B 15.00% NT$1.06B NT$845M NT$292M NT$553M NT$322M
10 NT$7.19B 15.00% NT$1.08B NT$862M NT$256M NT$606M NT$331M
Methodology & flags

Damodaran FCFF DCF, 10y explicit + perpetuity, in TWD. Risk-free 2.31% (local-currency government bond). Synthetic credit Aaa/AAA. CRP 0.78% from revenue-weighted country mix × Damodaran 2026 CRPs. Terminal ROIC faded to 6.60%; 10% governance haircut applied post-DCF. Monte Carlo: 1000 iterations. Engine v1.0.0 · result: /Users/valentin/Documents/notes_jiliac_labs/Finance/Damodaran/valuations/longda/output/2026-06-05-result.json

  • R&D cap: OFF · Lease cap: OFF · Failure: OFF · ESO: OFF
  • Governance haircut: 10% applied post-DCF (NT$36.45 > NT$32.81)
  • Sensitivity tornado: not run