Price
The share price of YTL Cement has performed incredibly well over the last 6 years with almost 28% return a year (cumulative 6 years return of 428%) while the rest of the cement industry players have more or less remained stagnant for the same period.
While share price increases often indicate that the valuation of the company has been pushed upwards by investors, the PE ratio of YTL Cement actually dropped to 8.6 times in June 2006 (industry average 17.1 times) from a high of 14.1 times in June 2005. YTL Cement's earnings essentially have outstripped the upward share price movements.
Ability to Cement Businesses
The abovementioned figures are clear for investors to see. But what is not clearly seen is the hard work, precise planning, long term vision and strategy that YTL Cement's top management implemented for the company over the long-term, which has always been the hallmark of the YTL group, specifically the leadership style and management philosophy of YTL Managing Director Tan Sri Dato' Francis Yeoh.
A testament of YTL Cement management's true capability perhaps is when the company emerged unscathed out of turbulent periods such as the Asian financial crisis (1997-2000) and the cement price war (2005) and went on to gain market share, becoming more efficient and profitable. YTL Cement is now the third jewel in the YTL crown, rising to become the third largest market capitalized (RM1.3 billion) company in the group after YTL Corp (RM8 billion) and YTL Power (RM11 billion).
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