We are all about Made in India, Made for India– Nestle India

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Monday, Nifty closed higher (+2.1%) at 9,067. Within NIFTY50, DRREDDY (+5.9%), HDFC (+5.9%), and M&M (+5.7%) were the top gainers, while INFRATEL (-7.0%), INDUSINDBK (-2.6%) and HEROMOTOCO (-2.3%) were the top losers. All the sectoral indices gained in the session led by PHARMA (+4.1%), FIN SERVICE (+3.1%) and MEDIA (+2.4%).

We are all about Made in India, Made for India– Nestle India

Excerpts of an interview with Mr.Suresh Narayanan, Chairman, & MD –Nestle India published in Business Standard dated 20^th May 2020:

• Nestle has not been able to establish contact with all retail partners yet and does not have the exact count of stock in trade channel. As a result, it is difficult to quantify the business impact caused by the lockdown.
• Nestle’s manufacturing had come to a halt and is gradually being ramped up to 70% of capacity.
• On being asked whether the loss in business since April 1 could be at least 30%, Mr. Narayanan said that the impact could be higher than that.
• Narayanan expressed that PM Modi’s call for swadeshi was misinterpreted by some. Nestle India is all about Made in India, Made for India, and serving India and Indian customers. Nestle is operating in India for the last 108 years, employees 7,200 Indians, works with over 100,000 Indian farmers and contributes ~ Rs 36,000 mn in taxes each year.
• Narayanan observes that consumer preferences are changing. Many consumers may scale down due to poor consumer sentiment- leading to growth in popular products in essential categories. Some consumers may scale up towards safer/ more hygienic products. The shifting dynamics may lead to some product redundancy.
• The ongoing reverse migration from urban to rural may boost rural market growth.
• Nestle is working on its product portfolio to identify brands and products with better prospects. This exercise is also leading to a rescheduling of the innovation pipeline, wherein some projects may no longer be relevant. However, the pace of innovation will not slow down. Nestle has launched 50 products in last 3 years and will continue the trend.
• Some operational issues still persist. Initial challenges like arranging trucks have become less severe. Obtaining permits (e-passes) for interstate transport is still an issue for Nestle. In terms of retail outlets, only 40%-50% have been activated so far.
• Distribution in smaller towns and markets is better than large centers.
• This crisis has accelerated e-commerce as a growth engine. Nestle has seen 90% jump in business through e-commerce (from 1.5% share of revenue a year ago to 3% now).
• Narayanan expressed that he plans to be very conservative in terms of reopening of offices. The branch offices will remain shut for a few more weeks. Only the head office is functioning with a dozen employees vs. the capacity of 600. Even field executives have been allowed to operate only in green zones.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screenerand investing.com websites)

• The closing price of NESTLEIND was ₹ 16,303/- as of 20-May-2020. It traded at 70.8x/ 59.5x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 230/ 274 for CY20E/ CY21E respectively.
• Consensus target price of ₹ 16,464/- implies a PE multiple of 60.1x on CY21E EPS of ₹ 274

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