CAE expands operations in Asia

Article Excerpt

CAE INC. $20 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 268.3 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is the world’s largest maker of flight simulators. It also trains pilots. The company recently purchased the 50% of its joint venture with AirAsia that it did not already own. As a result, it now owns 100% of airline pilot-training facilities in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as well as 50% of a facility in the Philippines. The company paid $100 million for AirAsia’s stake in those operations. To put that amount in context, CAE earned $65.4 million, or $0.24 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2017. The purchase will help the company profit from rising air travel volumes in Asia. Moreover, AirAsia will continue to use these facilities to train its pilots until 2036. CAE is a buy. buy…