Tag - BS-VI

13 Jan

Expect reasonable revenue growth for the industry in FY21– M&M

Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Wednesday, Nifty ended flat at 14,565 while PSU banks outperformed. The top gainers for Nifty 50 were M&M (+5.7%), SBI (+4.6%), and Adani Ports (+4.4%) while the losing stocks for the day were Bajaj Finance (-2.9%), Shree Cement (-2.8%), and HDFC (-2.8%). Top gaining sectors were PSU bank (+3.3%), Auto (+0.9%), and Bank (+0.7%) while Pharma (-0.9%), Financial Service (-0.6%), and Realty (-0.3%) were the losing sectors.

Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr Pawan Goenka, MD & CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M); dated 12th January 2021 from Economic times:

The demand is now no longer a pent-up demand, it is a structural demand that is coming back.

With the new product launches, all companies have plans for 2021. Many of the companies had held back on product launches and that is certainly going to spur demand now. On top of that, if the government comes in with some kind of stimulus to grow the auto demand, then the demand will really take off and will lead to a great year.
The Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) industry which was lagging for the last several months has started showing signs of revival. There was good growth in November and December. Once HCV is also on the growth path, the auto industry overall should look pretty good in FY22E.

Mr Goenka said GST rate cuts may not be possible because of the need for tax revenues in these difficult times, but GST rates should be simplified. There are eight or nine different GST rates. He hopes that the government will just keep two rates – 28% and 43% and not have all of these different rates. Right now, a rate reduction is not expected. When the economy is fully back on track, the government could reconsider rate reduction.
The massive cost cuts in 1Q & 2Q for the Company is not cost cutting but removing the fat. That is where a lot of the cost reduction has happened in terms of travel. Use of digital media for meetings has resulted in a significant reduction in cost in 1Q & 2Q FY21 and this will never come back. Maybe travel will go up somewhat but probably 75-80% will continue. The reductions have happened in events, inventory costs and communication costs. These will not come back to earlier levels, according to Mr Goenka. He said that more than half of the reduction is for good and continue to aid in the Company’s bottom line.

In the auto industry, this year there has not been any significant price cut or increased incentives given to propel demand.

Compliance with BS-VI emission norms has led to prices going up, therefore per unit revenue has gone up which will lead to a top-line increase for the Company. Given that volumes are also going up and the Company does not expect 2021 to be any worse than 2020 there will be a revenue growth for most companies. There are some companies that will do better, some will not and competition will continue. But overall for the industry, he sees reasonable revenue growth in 2021E.

Many companies have not passed on the full BS-VI cost increase yet and as the companies become more comfortable with the continued volume or continued demand, the gap in the BS-VI cost increase will get passed on during this year.

The big thing looming ahead of the industry is the commodity price increase, which will also lead to a price increase. That is not desirable if the auto industry were to pass on all the cost increases, then there could be a significant increase in prices. So commodity price increases are a matter of concern right now for the auto industry.

Most companies are coming back to their core where they have a right to win and have strength in India and globally and this is automatically leading to capital allocation which is going more towards the core.
The Company is going to be working on multiple platforms for personal mobility.

The overall positive sentiment in the rural area, in the agriculture area, somewhat tempered because of the farm agitation right now but that will be soon resolved. Mr Goenka remains very bullish on the Agri sector and on the overall rural demand coming from the income of the Agri sector for durables that are sold in rural areas.
M&M is one of those who had very robust demand this year. As a result, a marginal increase in prices is possible and usually in January every year, prices have increased. So M&M has announced a 2% price increase. It should not be a dampener on demand.

A partial increase is very much doable for most companies. Companies will have to do it because nobody can absorb the kind of commodity price increases that we are seeing and one will have to simply get used to it. Not only auto but the effect of commodity price rise will also be felt by users of almost all sort of durable goods.

The auto industry overall has gone through some very difficult times because of the investments in BS-VI which led to increasing in costs, most of which could not be passed on. The cost reduction that happened during Covid outbreak has come to the rescue and therefore most companies have managed to maintain their profit margin.

On an average, before Covid, in the passenger vehicle segment, a 30-35 days’ inventory was considered to be good. Now, most companies are saying 30-35 days is too high and they need to learn to work with 20-25 days of inventories.

If all companies bring down the inventory level to 20-25 days and also do very good inventory control in their plants and to the suppliers, the auto industry could take out as much as Rs 50,000 crore from the working capital. This is a learning from Covid that will help the industry reduce working capital and improve the balance sheet of almost all the companies.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
The closing price of M&M was Rs 838/- as of 13-January-2021. It traded at 31x/ 22x/ 20x the consensus EPS estimate of Rs 27.3/37.4/42.0 for FY21E/ FY22E/ FY23E respectively.

The consensus target price of Rs 762/- implies a PE multiple of 18x on FY23E EPS of Rs 42.0/-.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

By Mahindra & Mahindra , , , , , 0 Comments Read more...
13 Mar

Covid-19 impact on demand is yet to be felt in India – Mr. Sharma, Bajaj Auto

Excerpts from an interview of Mr Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto with CNBC -TV18 dated 12th March 2020

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Thursday, NIFTY continued its losing streak, closing at 9,590 (-8.3%). The top losers in NIFTY50 were Yes Bank (-13.0%), UPL (-13.0%) and Vedanta (-12.6%). None of the Nifty stocks ended on a positive note. All the sectors ended on a negative note and the top sectoral losers were PSU Banks (-13.2%), Media (-10.3%) and Realty (-9.8%).

  • Speaking on demand Mr. Sharma said that the impact of Covid-19 in India is yet to be felt.
  • The supply chain is improving for Bajaj Auto and the imports from China have resumed.
  • The attendance of the tier-II, tier-III suppliers in China who supply to vendors of Bajaj Auto had dropped to 10% but now the attendance is steadily rising. Now attendance is about 75%.
  • There could be new linkages emerging between Italy, Germany, and China and if that happens the company will have to watch out but at this point, the supply chain situation is improving and the demand situation within the country is not yet seeing much of an impact.
  • Some congestion at ports is causing 6-7 days delay, but it is an insignificant issue for Bajaj Auto.
  • Speaking about the next quarter, he said, the recovery process will be slow as underlying demand was impacted because of the BS-VI shift and the sentiment is now affected because of the coronavirus.
  • Q1FY21 will be a difficult quarter, the virus will act as a negative force and adjustment of people to new cost which requires positive sentiment is difficult in this scenario.
  • Speaking about the current market scenario, he said the cost of money will not be an issue but due to the economic backdrop the logic on lending is becoming severe.
  • About the autos, he said 30-40 percent of sales in March have shifted to BS-VI.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener and investing.com websites)

  • The closing price of Bajaj Auto was ₹ 2,350/- as of 12-March-2020.  It traded at 13.5x/12.8x/ 11.4x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 173/ 183 /205 for FY20E/21E/22E respectively.
  • The consensus target price for Bajaj Auto is ₹ 3,280/- which implies a PE multiple of 16x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 205/-.
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03 Mar

No effect of coronavirus on supply production – Shashank Srivastava, Maruti Suzuki

Excerpts from an interview of Mr Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director – International Operations, Maruti Suzuki with CNBC-TV18 dated – 2nd March 2020:

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

NIFTY continued its losing streak on Monday, it closed at 11,133 (-0.6%). The top gainers in NIFTY50 were HCL Tech (+2.5%), Eicher Motor (+2.5%) and Nestle (+2.2%). Whereas Yes Bank (-6.7%), SBI (-5.1%) and Tata Steel (-4.7%) were the top losers. All the sectors ended losers except NIFTY IT (+1.4%). The top sectoral losers were Media (-4.6%), PSU (-4.5%) and Metal (-2.2%)

  • Speaking about the coronavirus impact on disrupting the supply chain, Mr. Srivastava says, there is no effect on the international operation as far as supply production is concerned.
  • On the domestic front, he says, as the first half (H1) figures were negative for the industry and also for Maruti Suzuki, somewhere in the range of like 16-17 per cent. The thirds quarter figures were positive for Maruti though the industry was negative.
  • February seems to be negative across the space, except for a couple of manufacturers like Ford and Renault.
  • Speaking about the BS-IV to BS-VI transition he says, the had some transition issue in February which would continue in March as well.
  • About the rural-urban split he says, Rural like last year was around 36 per cent of total sales. This year so far 38.5 -39 per cent is coming from rural areas. There has been an uptick in the second half.
  • The monsoon ending up with a positive 4% has led to the expectation of bumper rabi crop and therefore the sentiments in the rural areas are much better and that is reflected in the sales of the past few months.
  • Speaking about growth expectations, he says, the company is positive for the next year as rural demand sentimentally has been better. However, the consensus growth expectations seem to be in the range of 3-5 per cent for the industry.
  • The company has stopped BS-IV production altogether in January and now they are only producing BS-VI vehicles. The company started this transition almost a year ago.
  • The inventory of BS-IV stock is around 2500 units, which seems to be a half-day stock for the company.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Maruti Suzuki was ₹ 6,300/- as of 02-March-2020.  It traded at 31x/24.6x/ 20x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 202 / 256 / 314 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
  • The consensus target price for Maruti is ₹ 7,227/- which implies a PE multiple of 23x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 314/-.

 

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26 Feb

Ashok Leyland bets big on modular platform, says it will reduce the cost of ownership for customers

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, NIFTY closed marginally lower at 11,813. The top sectoral gainers were Realty (+1.0%), IT (+0.8%) and Metal (+0.2%). The worst sectoral performers were Pharma (-2.2%), Auto (-0.7%) and Media (-0.6%). The top gaining stocks for Nifty50 were TCS (+2.3%), JSW Steel (+1.6%) and Tata Steel (1.5%) while the losers were Dr Reddy (-2.7%), Sun Pharma (-2.6%) and Hindalco (-2.6%).

Excerpts from an interview with Mr Anuj Kathuria, Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Ashok Leyland aired on CNBC18 TV on 22nd February 2020:

  • After unveiling tractor-trailer in 46-tonne category range, Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland COO said modular platform range will reduce the cost of ownership for customers and the company is offering few vehicles to select customers.
  • Mr Kathuria said that the modular platform is going to have an entire range of vehicles starting from the 16-tonne right up to the 55-tonne. The platform allows the customers to configure the vehicles as per their applications and business requirements. It naturally would help them get a superior total cost of ownership and total cost of operations. It reduces the number of parts that are required to build vehicles. It inherently ensures better aftermarket support.
  • He added that the modular platform vehicles are BS-VI compliant. The technology used on BS-VI is mid-NOx technology that ensures the operating cost or the fuel efficiency or the fluid efficiency is best-in-class.
  • About the transition from BS-IV to BS-VI, he said that the offerings that Ashok Leyland can make to the customer are many more. They increase multi-fold but definitely there will be certain sweet spots in the configurations. However, if tomorrow a customer comes up with a new application and new requirement, it can be configured very quickly, most of the configurations are being homologated, so the time to market would be significantly different on this platform.
  • According to him, the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) growth is linked to the economic growth of the country.
  • The decline in demand for M&HCVs has been up to 45%. From his point of view, this decline is a combination of the cyclicality as well as certain structural changes that happened. Thus, the CV (Commercial Vehicle) industry will have to wait and watch the axle load norms that brought in excess capacity overnight of almost 20-25%. This would take some more time to be absorbed by the industry.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

The closing price of Ashok Leyland Ltd. was ₹ 81/- as of 25-February-2020.  It traded at 43x/27x/17x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 2.0/ 3.2/ 5.0 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.

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10 Feb

Reducing non-core debt to pare debt: Tata Motors

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

After a week-long rally, investors booked profits which led to a fall of 52 points in Nifty to close at 12,087. This follows the weak Asian markets following the rising death toll from a virus spreading from China. Apart from result season, there was no major catalyst to move the markets on Friday. Within the sectoral indices, Media (1.7%), Pharma (0.6%) and IT (0.5%) closed the day higher while REALTY (-1.8%), AUTO (-1.0%) and PVT BANKS (-0.5%) were the highest losers. Among the index stocks, ZEEL (5.5%), NTPC (3.2%) and COALINDIA (2.8%) led the gainers whereas EICHERMOT (-3.1%), TATAMOTORS (-3.0%) and INDUSINDBK (-2.7%) brought the index lower.

Reducing non-core debt to pare debt: Tata Motors

Excerpts from an interview with Mr Guenter Butschek, MD & CEO – Tata Motors published in Livemint on 7th February 2020.

  • Mr Butschek said that the company has invested sufficiently in its product library that includes common vehicle architectures, powertrains, transmissions, and other shared technologies to reduce overall product development cost.
  • He is confident that in the coming two years, the company will see strong growth as far as modularity is concerned across commercial and passenger vehicles. He said that the company has done homework on its turnaround plans, investing in new technology platforms such as CESS (connected, electric, shared and safe mobility) and tapping into the Tata Group companies’ strengths to build an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.
  • Referring to the company’s efforts to strengthen its financials, he said Tata Motors has turned cash accretive despite the collapse of the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) segment, which contributes 47% of total commercial vehicle revenue that accounts for 65% of total domestic revenue.
  • The product portfolio of company is much better than what it was when the economic slowdown began two years ago. He is confident that once the economy revives, the significantly upgraded products would do much better in terms of cost-based contribution to company’s margin base.
  • Butschek said that customers would take a while to absorb the higher cost of purchases under BS-VI emission norms, which would entail a product price increase of 10-15%.
  • The company had ₹ 233,365 mn worth of debt in its India business as of 30th September 2019. The consolidated debt including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) stood at ₹954,650 mn. He said that the company is planning to reduce non-core assets to reduce the debt.
  • The company is focusing on reducing costs, including material costs and working to enhance productivity.
  • As part of its turnaround plan, Tata Motors plans to launch 12-14 passenger vehicles over the next three to five years, besides at least four new electric vehicles over the next 18-24 months.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Tata Motors was ₹5/- as of 07-February-2020. It traded at 109x/ 11x/ 7x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹1.6/ 15.4/ 24.7 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
  • Consensus target price of ₹ 201 /- implies a PE multiple of 8x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 24.7 /-
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13 Jan

Tata Motors shifts focus to cars on weak demand for CVs

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Friday, NIFTY closed at 12,257 (+0.3% higher than the previous close). Among the stocks, Coal India (+3.3%), Infosys (+1.7%) and Ultratech Cement (+1.6%) were the gainers. Yes Bank (-5.0%), Zee Entertainment (-3.5%), and Indusind Bank (-1.2%) were the top losing stocks. Nifty Realty (+1.8%), Nifty Metal (+1.2%) and Nifty Auto (+0.8%) were the top sectoral gainers while Nifty Pvt Bank (-0.1%) was the only sectoral loser.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr Guenter Butschek, MD & CEO, Tata Motors Ltd published in Livemint on 10th January 2020:

  • Tata Motors Ltd (TML) is betting big on passenger vehicles (PVs) to lead its turnaround plans as it transitions to Bharat Stage-VI emission norms. The move to BS-VI will give the company ‘a much more powerful play’ in the domestic market during the next fiscal.
  • With the new range of products, including upgrades for BS-VI, Mr Butschek is confident that March 2020 would be the turning point. If this gets support from the tailwinds, TML will get back to the previous growth path.
  • Referring to TML’s new product pipeline, including the company’s ambitious electric vehicle plans, Mr Butschek said the company plans to unveil 26 products at next month’s Delhi Auto Expo in February, including the 14 new commercial and 12 new passenger vehicles. This would be the biggest display of new vehicles. TML also plan global unveils of four new vehicles.
  • Mr Butschek termed the transition to BS-VI as ‘the single biggest engineering and investment effort ever’ put in by TML. He said a team of 3,500 engineers worked on BS-VI projects, upgrading over 20 engine platforms, 100 lead vehicle models and 1,000 variants. TML invested more than ₹ 1,200 crore in FY19 and hired 500 additional engineers for the process.
  • According to him, TML’s turnaround story in PVs and CVs is inspiring in terms of cost reduction. The Company has been able to reduce their breakeven point during tough times which is clear proof that they have done their homework. They are done with their investments and now they need is the volumes.
  • One key step was to bring down product development costs in its common vehicle architecture, which would form the base for several upcoming models.
  • In PVs, it has developed flexible vehicle platforms, code-named Alpha and Omega, which would power up to 12-14 new nameplates in the near- to mid-term. The new premium hatchback Altroz is going to be the first model from its Alpha architecture. The two modular platforms will also power the range of electric cars planned by the Company.
  • Mr Butschek said that TML would remain cautiously optimistic while estimating that the market would recover by 2HFY21, once the BS-VI transition is behind.
  • TML is seeing marginal improvement in retails. While the market sales volumes were flat YoY in December, TML’s sees improvement in its performance comparing the previous months.
  • For CVs, revenue from which was over four times the revenue of PVs, Mr Butschek said absorption of excess freight-carrying capacity could take up to five years, thereby hampering demand from the truck fleet owners across the country. Introduced in July-August 2018, the new axle load norms raised the permissible gross vehicle weight (GVW) of over 16-ton heavy trucks by about 12-25%, thereby creating excess carrying capacity for fleet operators.
  • A good vehicle scrappage policy could help reviving the demand for CVs in the near term, said Butschek.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Tata Motors was ₹ 196/- as on 10-January-20. It traded at 25x/ 12x/ 8x the consensus EPS of ₹ 7.5 / 15.6 / 22.9 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
  • Consensus target price is ₹ 187.5/- which implies a PE multiple of 8x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 23/-
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27 Dec

Focus on vertical strengthening of product portfolio, market momentum expected in Q4: Sunil Bothra, Minda Industries

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Thursday, Nifty closed 0.7% lower at 12,126. Among the stocks, ONGC(+2.5%), Vedanta (+1.9%) and JSW Steel (+1.0%) were the gainers. Yes Bank (-4.4%), Bharti Airtel (-2.0%), and Reliance (-1.9%) ended in the red. Nifty Media (+0.1%) and Nifty Metal (+0.6%) were the only sectors which ended in the positive. Nifty PSU Bank (-1.5%), Nifty Pharma (-0.9%) and Nifty Bank (-0.9%) were the worst-performing sectors.

Focus on vertical strengthening of product portfolio, market momentum expected in Q4: Sunil Bothra, Minda Industries

Excerpts from an interview with Mr Sunil Bothra, Executive Director and Group Chief Financial Officer, Minda Industries:

  • The existing sensor business is more than 5 years old and as part of their strategy, they are in a long-term partnership with Sensata Technologies.
  • Sensata, which was previously Texas Instruments have many businesses which are into defence and other technologies.
  • Minda Industries has entered into an agreement with Sensata to acquire the wheel speed sensor business. The agreement will help to acquire the customer base in India and South Korea and will also make global opportunities available.
  • Although the acquisition cost only ₹ 45 crore, it is expected to generate an additional revenue of ₹100-120 crore in the next four years. With this acquisition, the fresh investment in the sensor business will reach ₹ 145 crore and it is expected to generate revenue of ₹ 500-600 crore in the next 4-5 years.
  • The company has been focussing on vertically strengthening the product portfolio, which they have done by undertaking small acquisitions. Now that they have more than 30 businesses or products, the focus is on strengthening their technological capability and offering to the OEs.
  • The recently concluded acquisition of Delvis will help strengthen their technology position in 4-wheeler lamps, thereby strengthening the sensor business.
  • Talking about the demand, he said the company has seen some green shoots in October, which led to a little increase in volume in a few original equipment manufacturers in November.
  • Since December is generally a lean period, Q3 is not very bullish as compared to Q2.
  • Some market momentum is expected in Q4. But they will have to wait and see how the market pans out post the BS-VI launch from April 1, since there will be price impact of 10-12%.
  • If they are able to increase their kit value per car or 2-wheeler or OE in Q4, they are hopeful of continuing the overperformance in the near future.      

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Minda Industries was ₹ 348 /- as of 26-December-19. It traded at 32.8 x/ 23.4x / 18.5x the consensus EPS estimate for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E of ₹ 10.6/14.9 /18.8 respectively.
  • Consensus target price of ₹ 383/- implies a PE multiple of 20.4x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 18.8/-.
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09 Dec

Ready for the transition to BS-VI; aim to be a global company at every level – Hero MotoCorp’s Dr Pawan Munjal

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Friday, NIFTY50 closed -0.8% lower at 11,921. NIFTY50 gainers include Infratel (+5.3%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (+1.6%) and JSW Steel (+0.7%). NIFTY50 losers include Yes Bank (-10.5%), SBI (-5.3%) and Zee Entertainment (-4.6%). PSU Bank (-4.4), Media (-3.4%), and Auto (-1.7%) were the top losing sectors. There were no sectoral gainers in the Friday trade.

Excerpts from an interview with Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman, MD & CEO, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. The interview was published in CNBCtv18 dated 05th December 2019

·        They are set for a quick transition to BS-VI. The company has already discontinued over 50 BS-IV products.

·       Hero is leading a charge on the BS-VI front, according to Dr Munjal. The first BS-VI motorcycle introduced in India is from Hero and currently, they are working on all the other range of products. They have already started production of various other models. Over the next 1 or 2 months, Hero will be probably transitioning into BS-VI with the entire range.

·        Dr Munjal said there seems to be a slowdown across the globe, especially in oil markets and thus, many of their global markets are oil-dependent markets. Hero has seen market shrinking, they have seen Columbia & Nigeria market shrinking, and Argentina going through hell and similarly, many other markets facing a lot of headwinds.

·        Hero has gone back and looked at their strategies. They had planned to go to 50 markets. However, right now Hero will focus on the big markets and try and increase their market share in these markets.

Recently Hero introduced the X-Pulse and some of the other new bikes in the 200 CC range. They received an excellent response, from the customers. Hero has more such stuff in the pipeline coming in the premium segment. It is not just the products, it is the brand, the marketing and the 360 around the brand that the Company is doing.

·        Hero is working with the global consultants on the visual identity and the insides of their dealership. Hero will be changing a lot of stuff in their outlets soon.

·        Hero is a global company not just in terms of selling the products into global markets but they have gone into other markets with manufacturing in Columbia and Bangladesh. Thus, the Company is trying to become a global company at every level.

In terms of diversity, there is gender, cultural diversity and there is a diversity of different nations, which are becoming part of Hero.

·        Hero is well on its way to the electrification of its products. A team is working on the engineering and research part of the electric product. Hero will be bringing its electric products but no timeframe promised as of now.

·        Tiger Woods is captaining the US team for the President Cup in Melbourne for Hero MotoCorp. The relationship between Tiger Woods and Hero MotoCorp has been of great benefit. Hero is a huge brand in India. Hero was mostly a domestic brand but when they started going out of India into various other markets whether it was Africa, Latin America, Central America, the brand was almost unknown in other markets, other countries. Hero’s association with Tiger gave them that immediate recognition in these markets.

·        When asked about the biggest lesson learnt by the Company from what has happened over the last year from this slowdown, Dr Pawan Munjal said “Life is not always about going north. There will be challenges in life, there will be difficult times in life, sales will go up sometimes, sales will come down sometimes, the economy will go up and the economy will come down sometimes. So, we need to be prepared to face these challenges. When required, we need to buckle up our shoes and tighten our belts and do whatever best we can do for our consumers and customers to be able to give them the right product and the right quality.”

Consensus Estimate (Source: market screener website)

·        The closing price of Hero MotoCorp Ltd was ₹ 2,362/- as of 06-December-19. It traded at 14x/ 13x/ 12x the consensus EPS estimate for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E of ₹ 174/ 177/ 196 respectively.

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04 Dec

Bajaj Auto- Exports saved the day for Bajaj Auto in November.

Excerpts from an interview of Mr Rakesh Sharma- ED- Bajaj Auto with CNBC- TV18

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, NIFTY closed 0.5% lower. Among sectoral indices NIFTY PSU Bank (-2.9%), NIFTY Metal (-2.6%), and NIFTY Media (-2.4%) closed lower. While NIFTY Realty (+1.3%) and NIFTY IT (+0.5%) closed on a positive note. The biggest losers were Yes Bank (-7.6%), Bharti Infratel (-5.8%), Tata steel (-5.2%), whereas Bajaj Auto (+3.1%), Bajaj FinServ (+1.7%) and TCS (+1.6%) ended with gains.

  • They do not expect the sales in the month of December to hit      4 lakhs because it is a seasonally weak month.
  • Exports will continue to grow. But 3 wheelers and the domestic market will see a pullback when the model year changes.
  • The company is holding steady margins and there is no sacrifice of margins.
  • There is no need to shore up the sales in an unnatural way as November and December follow a high season period.
  •  The mix is holding steady for the company, 3-wheeler are improving and there is a gentle tailwind on the exchange rate side. So, the margins are not going to see any shift
  •  Speaking about international markets and exports, the international performance is steady and solid and the key driver for this has been the African continent where the economies are doing well.
  • Bajaj has a competitive position in the African continent, with every 3 bikes sold one is of Bajaj.
  •  Bangladesh and the Philippines are acting as bright stars and are an important market for Bajaj.
  • These markets are doing better than industry and are in top-10 markets for the company.
  •  Speaking about price hikes post BS-VI transition, Bajaj will have to look internally and externally but certainly, the prices will increase.
  • Given the situation of the economy any kind of price increase will have a dampening effect on the demand.

Consensus Estimate (Source: market screener)

·        The closing price of Bajaj Auto Ltd was ₹ 3261/- as of 03-December-2019. It traded at 18.5x/ 17.3x/ 16.8x the consensus EPS for FY 20E/ FY 21E/ FY 22E of ₹ 176/ 188/ 194 respectively.

·        Consensus target price of ₹ 3,069/- implies a PE multiple of 15.8x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 194/-.

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06 Nov

“The worst is behind us” says Ashok Leyland Chairman.

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, NIFTY closed 0.2% lower. Bajaj Finance (+3.3%), Bharti Infratel (+3.3%) and Yes Bank (+3.2%) were the top NIFTY50 gainers. Zee (-3.7%), Indusind Bank (-2.3%) and Ultratech Cement (-2.2%) were the top NIFTY50 losers. Among the sectors, NIFTY FMCG (+0.3%) was the only sectoral index that closed positive. NIFTY MEDIA (-1.4%), NIFTY PHARMA (-1.1%), NIFTY METAL (-0.9%) were the worst-performing sectors.

 “The worst is behind us” says Ashok Leyland Chairman.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland broadcasted on CNBC on 5th November 2019.

  • Demand slowdown has been caused by multiple issues including issues faced by financing companies and the availability of liquidity in the market.
  • Last financial quarter is traditionally a strong quarter for Commercial Vehicle (CV) OEMs. 4QFY20 will be a strong quarter followed by a slow 1QFY21 due to the technology transition from BS-IV to BS-VI.
  • Management is looking forward to FY21. Historically, the year of transition is a strong year.
  • The transition from BS-IV directly to BS-VI in a 3 year period is one of the shortest transition times globally. Other countries have taken 7-10 years in which period the cost absorption has been done in a phased manner. There will be a significant cost-push on account of the transition.
  • Even post the cost-push due to BS-VI, management says Ashok Leyland will be cost-competitive as ever. The customers will see real value in products launched.
  • Looking forward, there are some good signs such as many initiatives that the government is taking and the revival of financing. Most of the OEMs have now corrected the state of their inventories that had built up. The next few months look to be quite positive.
  • The market is not going to recover overnight, but the worst is behind for Ashok Leyland.
  •  It’s been a year since the previous CEO, Mr. Vinod Dasari quit.  Search for the CEO is on. FY20 is a year of important changes with respect to BS-VI, their new modular platform and the introduction of a whole line up of LCV products. The Board had taken a decision that they did not want a major disruption in the Management at this important juncture.  But a new CEO is required and the Board will be announcing a successor in the next few months.
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