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Why Coliwoo Is Singapore’s Hidden Co-Living Powerhouse · Investor Exchange

• 0:02
  Welcome to The Debate. Today, we're diving into the investment case for Kohli
• 0:07
  Wu Holdings Limited, trading on the SGX under W8W.
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  As the dominant pure play co-living operator in Singapore, Kohli Wu is currently
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  priced at about S$55 after its initial public offering.
• 0:20
  The central question is this, does its current low valuation,
• 0:25
  around 11.6 times core price-to-earnings, reflect a mispriced high-growth opportunity?
• 0:32
  I'm arguing that the stock is an immediate buy because the market is fundamentally
• 0:36
  misreading its operational strength.
• 0:38
  And I'm coming at this from, well, a different angle.
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  While I agree the co-living sector has some structural tailwinds,
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  the market's skepticism after what you'd call a broken IPO is often justified.
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  I believe prudence is absolutely necessary here.
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  Investors should be cautious until we see real confirmation that this growth
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  can stabilize what are, frankly, some very complex reported earnings and overcome
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  significant operational risks.
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  The true strength of this company is really only evident when you look past
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  the, ah, accounting noise.
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  If we strip out the volatile non-cash items, specifically the fair value adjustments
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  on their investment properties, we get to core PATMI.
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  That's Core Profit After Tax and minority interests.
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  And that figure surged an incredible 62.6% year-on-year in FY 2025 to S$22.9 million.
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  On top of that, the recurring high-margin rental income from their owned assets
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  grew a very robust 23.9%.
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  The market is pricing this like a stagnant property trust, but underneath,
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  it's performing like a high-growth hospitality platform. That's a compelling
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  case for the core business. I'll give you that.
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  But investors can't just ignore volatility, especially when that volatility
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  is what's defining the market's perception.
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  The headline total revenue actually dipped 10.4% in FY 2025.
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  Mainly because of the absence of some non-recurring retrofitting income that
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  inflated the prior year's numbers.
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  More critically, the reported net profit was only SS 15.0 million.
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  That's significantly lower than your core figure because it was weighed down
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  by those exact non-cash fair value losses.
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  I mean, when the official reported profit gets cut by a third due to these factors,
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  it's understandable why the market is demanding a bit of prudence.
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  But the valuation gap is just undeniable when you factor in the pipeline.
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  Koliwu is planning a massive 36% capacity expansion.
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  They're aiming for 4,000 rooms by the end of 2026.
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  And this isn't just theoretical. It's backed by secured projects like Koliwu
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  Midtown and the large-scale Pasir Riz Resort.
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  So they're offering genuine yield plus growth, committing to a dividend of at
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  least 40% of core earnings.
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  That forecasts a yield over 4.5% for this fiscal year. the growth is pretty
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  much locked in and the market hasn't priced it.
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  I'm not so sure I'm convinced by that line of reasoning because that growth
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  visibility is severely threatened by operational risks.
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  Chief among them is the master lease expiry risk.
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  A huge portion of their current revenue relies on these master leases that can
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  just be reclaimed by landlords or get hit with steep rent hikes on renewal.
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  If just one of those major leases
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  doesn't get renewed, how much of a drag would that be on core pat me?
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  That's a material vulnerability. And then you add the 46% net debt to equity
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  ratio, which, while it's moderate, it does expose them to lingering interest rate sensitivity.
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  The hybrid model owning 11 of their own properties is their precise structural
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  defense against that lease expiry risk.
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  It gives them a stable earnings floor that these pure asset light operators just don't have.
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  But the true competitive advantage here, the real moat, is regulatory.
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  Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority, the URA, mandates a strict three-month
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  minimum stay for private residential homes.
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  Koliwu, with its specialized licenses, is uniquely positioned to legally exploit
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  the huge demand for these intermediate-term stays that platforms like Airbnb simply cannot touch.
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  That moat justifies a clear premium. That's a compelling point about the URA
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  protection, and I do acknowledge its strength.
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  But we have to come back to the valuation ceiling and execution.
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  A target valuation of S$0.70, based on that 15 times core PE you mentioned,
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  it already implies a price-to-book ratio of about 2.8 times.
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  That's an ambitious price for a property company.
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  Any delay, even a small one, in the execution of those key pipeline projects
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  will make that valuation look
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  excessive and very quickly. The risk of disappointment is just too high.
• 4:59
  Look, at the end of the day, the market is misjudging the structure of the business.
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  It's missing the inherent growth story, the powerful tailwinds in co-living,
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  and management's proven ability to execute what they call space optimization to drive margins.
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  At S$55, this is a clear asymmetric opportunity for investors who can look past
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  that short-term fair value volatility.
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  And while I agree the core business shows promise, The volatility and the very
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  significant execution risks demand continued prudence.
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  I think investors should really focus on seeing sustained, reliable delivery
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  of that core PATMI and, critically, the on-schedule opening of those pipeline
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  assets before they adopt a definitive buy position.