Despite being less than six months old on the exchange, YZJ Maritime is attracting more analyst attention. In his April 6 initiation report, PhillipCapital’s Glenn Thum rates the counter a “buy” at a target price of 69 cents. Similarly, Ho Pei Hwa from DBS initiated a “buy” rating on April 8 with an even higher target price of 88 cents.
YZJ Maritime operates across three segments: maritime business (investments, financing and services), cash management and other non-maritime investments. In FY2025 ended Dec 31, 2025, the company reported net profit attributable to shareholders of US$129.7 million ($165.6 million) and total income of US$142.4 million. It held approximately US$1.6 billion in net assets, with no borrowings and US$400 million in cash, which represented 27% of its market capitalisation.
Unique business model
Delving into YZJ Maritime’s business, Thum notes that the company is a “one-stop” platform for maritime financial solutions, acting as a “strategic hub” that connects all participants in the maritime ecosystem — shipyards, shipowners, charterers and capital markets — to create and capture value at every stage. Ho shares similar views, describing the firm as an “integrated” maritime investment platform, backed by the YZJ ecosystem and veteran Chinese shipbuilder Ren Yuanlin’s stewardship.
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From Thum’s perspective, YZJ Maritime “captures value” at every stage of the vessel lifecycle (Figure 1). This includes newbuilding procurement margins of up to 20% below first-tier shipyard prices, charter income from operations, interest on finance leases and capital gains on vessel sale. As at end-2025, the firm has a portfolio of more than 80 vessels with up to 50 newbuilds in the pipeline.
With YZJ Maritime not owning or operating shipyards, both Thum and Ho describe the business as “asset light”, with the firm leveraging strategic partnerships to optimise construction costs, maintain flexibility, and scale while managing balance-sheet risk.
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The way Thum sees it, the advantages of the model include: diversified income streams which reduces dependence on any single revenue source; asset-backed nature of financing which protects against downside risks; a proprietary deal pipeline that standalone shipowners or pure financiers cannot replicate; and targeted unleveraged project internal rate of returns of 10%–15%, with the potential to reach 20%–30% through leverage.
From Ho’s perspective, YZJ Maritime provides stable income and resilience across cycles as shipping and shipbuilding tend to be counter-cyclical due to lag effects. She is confident in the business’s growth optionality from newbuilds and defensive nature, with predictable income from charters and finance leases supporting a defensive yet high-growth profile of 15%–20% CAGR with an attractive dividend yield of 3%–4% within the shipping sector.
Strengthening shipping cycle
With data showing vessel prices at 15-year highs, indicating an upswing in the shipping cycle, this is another factor fueling Thum’s confidence in YZJ Maritime. Pointing out that FY2025 revenue mix changed significantly with cash management decreasing 56% to US$33.5 million and the maritime business segment increasing by 61% to US$69.9 million, Thum believes the pivot to the maritime business provides the company with “significant runway”.
Meanwhile, Ho believes the firm is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the shipbuilding upcycle, citing the proprietary deal pipeline, the company’s ability to underwrite complex, asset-backed maritime transactions, and its diversified investment approach as underlying factors for her positive outlook.
On the back of a strengthening shipping cycle, YZJ Maritime’s strong balance sheet and business model unlikely to be replicated, Thum believes the company’s shares are worth a “buy”. Based on the one-time FY2026 estimated P/B, he values the company at 69 cents per share.
Ho believes YZJ Maritime’s current valuation of 0.9 times of FY2026 forecasted P/B and 11 times of forecasted P/E is “undemanding” relative to the growth outlook. She values the counter at 1.4 times the P/B multiple, representing a valuation of 88 cents per share, in line with global peers, which are valued at 17 times forecast P/E.
