Apollo Tourism & Leisure Ltd (ASX: ATL) is one of the ASX's newest listings, IPO'ing On November 3 without much fanfare.
Shareholders have done well, with shares issued at an offer price of $1.00 now trading at $1.37.
So what does Apollo do?
The tourism company began life in 1985 renting out recreational vehicles (RVs), but has now evolved into the manufacture, rental, sale and distribution of a range of RVs, campervans and caravans. That includes the exclusive rights to import Adria and Winnebago products in Australia and New Zealand.
Cashed-up middle-aged and retirement aged Australians are the company's primary source of customers. As the number of retirees increases (with higher levels of savings), this is expected to provide a tailwind for the company's products.
However, there are an estimated 200 companies involved in the manufacture of import of towable RVs (caravans) in Australia, including Jayco, Avan, JB Camper and Fleetwood Corporation Ltd (ASX: FWD).
It should be noted that despite the tailwind of an ageing population, Fleetwood's caravan business has struggled for many years and is not profitable. However, Apollo's primary campervan business may mean that only a small percentage of its customers would view Fleetwood's caravans as competition.
The good news is that Apollo is profitable and is expanding into the giant US market. It currently has two rental brands, and an RV fleet of 601 at the end of June 2016.
At the current price, Apollo's shares are trading on a P/E of ~16x FY2017 earnings of 8.53 cents, with an annualised forecast yield of 2.7%.
That appears reasonable with fellow travel and tourism operators Skydive the Beach Group Ltd (ASX: SKB) on a P/E of 25x, and Sealink Travel Group Ltd (ASX: SLK) on a P/E of 18x.
Foolish takeaway
Investors might want to have a read of the prospectus, add this company to their watchlist and keep an eye on news announcements. One of the key factors to watch will be to see how capital intensive Apollo's business is. Another major risk is that the founding shareholder will hold 65% of the company and therefore has a substantial say in what the company can and will do.
