Tag - Festive season

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05 May

Q1 festive sales indicating a bumper quarter  – Titan

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

The Indian indices closed flat. NIFTY ended at 16,683 led by TECHM (4.2%), HEROMOTOCO (4.1%), and INFY (3.3%). INDUSINDBK (-4.1%), BRITANNIA (-3.4%), and SUNPHARMA (-3.1%) were top losers.

Among the sectoral indices, IT (+2.1%), METAL (+0.6%), and AUTO (+0.4%) were the top gainers. REALTY (-1.6%), HEALTHCARE (-0.8%), and PHARMA (-0.8%) led the sectoral laggards.

Excerpts of an interview with Mr. CV Venkatraman, MD, Titan with ETNow on 04th May 2022: 

  • 4QFY22 was a challenging quarter because of Covid 3.0, because of the global crisis in March which put the price of gold in a spin, rising a lot and also being very volatile. Naturally, consumer sentiment in the jewelry market was dampened and thus Company was not surprised by a decline in sales in Q4.
  • The management looks at annual performance as opposed to every quarter. For FY22 as a whole, the management was exceedingly satisfied despite Q4 pressures FY22 ended well.
  • The company’s sales growth for FY22 is upwards of 35% on a pretty normal base. The jewelry business in FY21 itself had recovered to the FY20 level. The profit grew almost 100% over FY21, indicating sustained momentum and growth.
  • The management gives a lot more weightage to the company’s competitive position in the industry which is tracked in real-time. The management is very confident that it is rising demonstrating one more step towards its ability to continue to compete much better in the future.
  • Titan has begun April on a very good note. Management is very confident about how April and early May are showing signs that the issues which clouded Q4, particularly Covid on one hand and the intense global crisis which was in its early stages in March. Both the threats look watered down and therefore the environment is very conducive to growth and it expects Bumper Akshay Tritiya sales.
  • The Bharat story is very strong for Titan across all formats and it’s seeing that playing out month after month and particularly in the April-June quarter, there will be a lot of semi-urban, and rural weddings which will certainly benefit through. The company has been penetrating deeper and deeper into small towns with around 50% tier-3 cities where large format Tanishq stores are being opened.
  • The Watch segment is a 30-year plus business and in the WFH situation, the demand for new watches and different kinds of watches is low. So it is the most challenged category out of all the categories.
  • The Titan EyePlus brand is well positioned and therefore the management is unmoved about one quarter’s EBIT margin dilution as it is looking at a two-three-year window for the category and a similar two-three-year window for a category like Analog Watches which are intrinsically an accessory that has been under some kind of pressure.
  • The jewelry category is a Rs 300,000 crore plus category; Titan accounts for less than Rs 30,000 crore. There is no brand like Tanshiq in this country that has multiple dimensions and therefore the management believes the runway of growth for Tanishq is very long as the majority of the market is unorganised.

Asset Multiplier Comments:

  • Titan Company has suffered over the last 2 years due to Covid-19 waves washing out traditionally bumper quarters for the company. The under penetration of organised players, strong brand image, and an inherent uptick in jewelry demand make it one of the best-placed players in the segment and has significant tailwinds for growth.
  • Titan’s other segments such as Eyewear, and Apparel (Taniera) are also dominated by local small-scale players. The Titan brand, increasing consumer preference towards branded goods, and rising per capita income are key levers for the company’s growth in these segments.

 

Consensus Estimate: (Source: Marketscreener website)

 

  • The closing price of Titan was ₹ 2,262/- as of 05-May-2022.  It traded at 69x/ 54x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 33/42 for FY23E/FY24E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 2,720/- implies a P/E Multiple of 65x on the FY24E EPS estimate of ₹ 42/-

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.”

 

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24 Jan

Inflationary headwinds reducing, topline growth outperforms – Asian Paints



Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Monday, NIFTY closed in the red at 17,149 (-2.7%). Among the sectoral indices REALTY (-5.9%), METAL (-5.2%), and MEDIA (-4.6%) were top losers, and there were no sectoral gainers. CIPLA (+2.9%), and ONGC (+0.9%) were the only gainers. BAJFINANCE (-6.4%), JSWSTEEL (-6.9%), and TATASTEEL (-5.9%) were among the top losers.

Excerpts from an interview of Mr. Amit Syngle, MD & CEO, Asian Paints with Economic Times dated 21st January 2022:

  • In 1HFY22 the company had taken a 7% hike and in Q3FY22, they had already taken two hikes in November and in December totaling about 15%. Quarter on quarter, the company had a very strong volume growth at 18% and value growth of 26%.
  • With a healthy topline growth quarter on quarter, the margins have gone up because of the price hike which has been taken and so has the EBITDA margins being impacted in a very strong way.
  • The company is on a very good footing now because they have taken the pressure of inflation head-on and raised prices to the tune of about 22% for the year so far. The next quarter looks good from the point of view of addressing the inflation by the company.
  • The price increases have been unprecedented. Notwithstanding that, the company has seen quite a strong volume growth as well as value growth because October and November were very good for the company given the festive period.
  • The COVID-19 pressure was off to that extent, the consumer sentiment was quite good even in December. The company got a little bit hit in the second fortnight of December because of the third wave emerging but overall the company saw very healthy volumes, very good value growth. The company has gained a good quantum of market share in the third quarter as seen forward.
  • People have been experiencing COVID for the last year and nine months and the experience has been that there is an impact on consumer sentiment, which happens immediately when such a wave starts. But overall, there is only a little bit of a deferment of sales because people do not put off their painting or the renovation cycles.
  • The company’s outlook is that while in January there might see some impact of price hike and COVID-19, going forward, in February and March, it expects to see recovery with sales coming back strongly.
  • Going forward, it sees the environment as still inflationary. Despite taking price hikes or the crude hitting high prices and as prices of some of the crude derivatives go higher, some prices of select raw materials might come down. So overall, it expects the impact of Q4 over Q3 to be mild but the environment would remain inflationary.

Asset Multiplier comments:

  • Asian Paints has been an undisputed market leader in the paints category, despite inflationary near-term headwinds. We believe the company is likely to outperform based on its strong brand image and execution capabilities.
  • The expected boom in real estate augurs well for the company as we are entering a multi-year cycle of developmental activity that’ll help the top line of the company.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: Market screener website)

  • The closing price of Asian Paints was ₹ 3,155/- as of 24-January-2022.  It traded at 93x/67x/55x the consensus Earnings per share estimate of ₹ 34/47/57/- for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively.
  • The consensus average target price is ₹ 3,380/- which implies a PE multiple of 59x on FY24E EPS of ₹ 57/-.

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.”

 

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02 Sep

Expect a substantial price hike due to spike in input costs – Maruti Suzuki

Update on Indian Equity Market:

On Thursday, NIFTY ended at 17,234 (+0.9%) as it closed near its high at 17,243. Among the sectoral indices, OIL & GAS (+0.8%), CONSUMER DURABLES (+0.6%), and FMCG (+0.6%) ended higher, whereas PSU BANK (-0.5%) and AUTO (-0.2%) ended lower. Among the stocks SHREECEM (+6.0%), HDFCLIFE (+5.8%), and CIPLA (+3.5%) led the gainers while M&M (-1.9%), ONGC (-0.9%), and BAJAJ-AUTO (-0.9%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Shashank Shrivastava, Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki (MARUTI) with CNBC TV18 on 31st August 2021:

  • MARUTI is looking to cut production in September due to a shortage of semiconductors. The auto manufacturer is also getting ready for a substantial price hike in the upcoming month and this will be the fourth one since January due to a sharp rise in commodity costs.
  • Commodity prices started going up from April-20 and they impacted MARUTI’s material cost, which is 75 percent of the total cost of manufacturing. The increase in prices of commodities like steel and copper was close to 50% and precious metals like Rhodium had a price hike of 257%.
  • Since they were already coming out of a bad year (FY20) which was 18% less than FY19 and Covid-19 had badly affected 1QFY21, they did not wish to compromise demand and hence there was no price hike.
  • However, they did increase prices in January by 1.4% in the hopes of some softening in commodity prices which did not pan out as expected. This made them deploy an additional price hike of 3.4% in April and another hike of 0.3% in CNG vehicles in August.
  • Shrivastava confirmed that the upcoming price rise would be substantial and it would be deployed across all models produced by MARUTI.
  • He did not reveal any production numbers for September since that depends on how the shortage situation pans out for their semi-conductor vendors.
  • The number of electronic components varies from product to product and model to model within MARUTI’s large portfolio and for the past few months, they have been trying to adjust production to maintain high levels of production.

 

Asset Multiplier Comments

  • Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions. The shortage of such a crucial component has been impacting the automotive industry globally along with other industries, forcing them to cut down on production.
  • MARUTI reported a decline of 20% in sales in August, as compared to July 2021.
  • Owing to a supply constraint of electronic components due to the semiconductor shortage situation, MARUTI expects a decline of 60% in vehicle production in the month of September in Haryana and Gujarat. As certain fixed costs are to be incurred, margins could be affected in the short term.
  • With the festivities coming up, there could be a rise in demand for vehicles and how MARUTI is able to match this festive buying with its supply remains to be seen.
  • MARUTI is in no rush to join the electric vehicle bandwagon until they make it feasible for customers in terms of affordability.

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

  • The closing price of MARUTI was ₹ 6,780/- as of 02-Sept-2021. It traded at 40x/27x/21x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 188/280/354 for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 7,560/- implies a PE multiple of 21x on FY24E EPS of ₹354/-

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.”

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29 Oct

Operations back to pre-Covid levels – JSW Steel

Update on the Indian Equity market:
Amid weak global cues from spiking Covid-19 cases worldwide and uncertainty over the US presidential election, Nifty 50 ended 1.3% lower at 11,730 on Wednesday. Among the stocks, BHARTIARTL (3.4%), UPL (+2.8%), and M&M (+1.2%) led the gainers while HDFC (-3.5%), INDUSINDBK (-3.2%), ICICIBANK (-3.2%) led the losers. None of the sectoral indices ended the day in the green. FINANCIAL SERVICES (-2.3%), PRIVATE BANK (-2.2%), FINANCIAL SERVICES 25/50 (-2.1%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview of Mr. Seshagiri Rao, Joint MD, and CFO, JSW Steel with Financial Express on 27th October 2020:
• JSW Steel reported strong numbers for the September quarter with improvement in revenues and margins. Volumes were significantly better, both on a YoY and MoM basis. There has been a strong recovery in business activity as compared to 1QFY21. Although there are certain seasonal factors that impact demand in 2Q the overall environment is upbeat and expects the second half to see strong growth momentum.
• There is a very good improvement with regards to offtake by the auto sector. The revival in the auto sector was unexpected and sales to the auto industry went up 33% YoY.
• Although the commercial sector is still lagging, tractors, two-wheelers, and passenger vehicles are doing reasonably well. The demand is not expected to weaken in 2HFY21, on account of the festive season and the government’s attention to give fiscal stimulus. Demand will definitely see an MoM improvement, though YoY improvement will still take some time.
• There is good traction in the coated steel products, appliances, packaging, solar and government-aided projects. Rural demand is resilient and good monsoon and government initiatives will improve demand further.
• Long product demand was impacted by the monsoon and remained low. Construction activity has gained pace now and both 3Q and 4Q are expected to see good demand. Packaging and color-coated areas saw good offtake, which is expected to continue the rest of the year.
• Operations are back to pre-Covid levels and achieved average capacity utilization of around 86% in the quarter, versus 85% in 2QFY20. There were some disruptions due to the unavailability of iron ore and due to the increase in exports, evacuation of iron ore from other mines remained a challenge. The company is hopeful of the situation normalizing in the next quarter.
• In the second quarter, the steel prices have gone up by 11% and international prices have gone up by 16%. There has been an improvement in sales realizations, though realizations in India are increasing at a slower pace compared to that globally.
• The costs during the quarter were lower on account of the natural gas price which has come down. The power cost is lower because thermal coal prices have come down. Iron ore prices have gone up due to supply constraints. They will be able to reduce the cost of transporting iron ore from the mine to the railway siding, to an extent. They are also working on reducing the mining costs and want to set up a slurry pipeline to bring iron ore from the mine to the port. Though that will take time, once construction is completed, logistics costs will reduce drastically.
• The share of value-added and special products has now increased substantially to 51% of sales volume. There is substantial demand for color-coated products is on the rise from steel-using industries. There are plans to expand capacities at the Vasind, Tarapur, and Kalmeshwar plants by the end of this financial year.
• Once the high margin business like Asian color coated started coming in, margins will also get a lift.
• The NCLT has given approval for the plan to acquire the Asian Colour Coated Company. They are awaiting the final order to see if there are any modifications.
• They expect the Bhushan Power and Steel resolution to be settled by December 2021.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
• The closing price of JSW Steel was ₹ 306/- as of 28-October-2020. It traded at 18x/ 12x/ 10x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 17.3/ 26.3/ 30.4 per share for FY21E/FY22E/FY23E respectively.
• The consensus target price of ₹ 303 implies a PE multiple of 10x on FY23E EPS of ₹ 30.4/-.

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.”

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13 Oct

Demand to bounce back as festive season approaches – Dalmia Bharat

Update on the Indian Equity market:
On Monday, Nifty50 ended marginally higher at 11,931 as the Finance Minister announced fiscal stimulus measures. Among the sectoral indices, IT (+1.7%), PHARMA (+0.9%), and FMCG (+0.3%) were the only gainers while MEDIA (-2.4%), PSU BANK (-1.7%) and REALTY (-1.1%) led the losers. Among the stocks, INFY (+2.9%), ITC (+2.7%), and UPL (+2.0) led the gainers while BHARTIARTL (-2.8%), JSWSTEEL (-2.7%), and GAIL (-2.6%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Mahendra Singhi, MD and CEO of Dalmia Bharat with CNBC TV-18 which aired on 12th October 2020:
• The cement sector is on the path of revival. September demand vs the previous months of July and August is much better.
• The rural areas are showing good progress due to better economy or better policies from the government. The demand is increasing on a month-on-month basis.
• Both the urban and rural areas have shown good demand in the month of September as labor issues are being sorted. Sufficient steps to ensure the safety of the people have been taken. Now, the fear is reducing and people are assuming this to the new normal and working.
• Festival season is around the corner and demand is expected to bounce back.
• There was a 10% decline YoY in the months of July and August. September was 3-5% lower than a year ago.
• The cement sector is a localized business. Demand has been good in certain regions such as the North and Eastern parts of India due to a higher percentage of rural markets in those areas. Part of Southern states are still facing challenges.
• He expects the month of October 20 to be better than October 19.
• The company has completed the acquisition of Murali Industries. The revival activities for Murali industries has started and is expected to take nine months as the company was closed for a long time.
• The acquisition of Murali Industries and capacity addition at two plants is expected to increase the total capacity to 33,000 mn tonne by March 21.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
• The closing price of Dalmia Bharat was ₹ 790/- as of 12-October-2020. It traded at 36x/ 25x/ 13x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 22/ 31.4/ 60.2 per share for FY21E/FY22E/FY23E respectively.
• The consensus target price of ₹ 959 implies a PE multiple of 16x on FY23E EPS of ₹ 60.2/-.

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.”

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04 Sep

Plants running at 100% capacity- M&M

Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Thursday Nifty closed -0.1% lower at 11,527. Among the sectoral indices Bank (-1.4%), PVT Bank (-1.4%), FIN Services (-1.0%) closed lower. IT (+1.50%), Pharma (+0.9%) and FMCG (+0.8%) closed higher. ICICI Bank (-2.1%), Bharti Airtel (-1.9%) and Axis Bank (-1.9%) closed on a Negative note. Infratel (+10.9%), GRASIM (+7.2%) and Titan (+5.9%) were among the top gainers.
Excerpts from an interview of Mr. Hemant Sikka, President Farm Equipment Sector, M&M with CNBC-TV18 dated 2nd September 2020:
• Tractor sales were up 65% YoY, M&M remains positive because of good harvest and bountiful monsoon.
• The production started from mid-May and now plants are running at 100% capacity.
• The demand is robust throughout the country. The kharif sowing is going well which gives a confidence to farmers.
• The domestic market grew by 69% in August 20.
• On Finance, the availability is better compare to 3-4 months back. Initially finance was an issue as offices were not open, it was difficult for people to reach offices.
• The improvement in financing is seen from middle of June. The collection is also good as farmers have a better cash flow.
• Mr. Sikka said that for the next 3 months the company is expecting a full blast of production.
• The stock is at historic low levels.
• The challenges on supply side had eased out. All suppliers have ramped up their production.
• A good festive season is expected as supply chains are coming back on track and all factories running.
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener and Investing.com websites)
• The closing price of M&M was ₹ 642/- as of 03-September-2020. It traded at 25x/ 18x/ 16x the consensus Earnings per share estimate of ₹ 26.1/35.7/41.1 for FY21E/ FY22E/ FY23E respectively.
• The consensus average target price for M&M is ₹ 585/- which implies a PE multiple of 14x on FY23E EPS of ₹41.1/-.
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.”

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04 Oct

Bajaj Auto – Is the demand recovery around the corner?

Update on the Indian Equity market:

On Thursday, NIFTY closed 0.4% lower. Among sectoral indices NIFTY Metal (-3.0%), NIFTY Financial services (-1.2%), NIFTY BANK (-1.1%) closed lower while NIFTY Media (+2.5%), NIFTY PSU Banks (+0.2%) NIFTY Auto (+0.2%) ended on a positive note. The biggest gainers were Yes Bank (+33.6%), Bharat Petroleum (+7.5%), Zeel (+6.5%) whereas Vedanta (-4.7%), Hindalco (-4.0%), Coal India (-3.5%) ended with high losses.

Bajaj Auto – Is the demand recovery around the corner?

Excerpts from an interview with Rakesh Sharma – Executive Director, Bajaj Auto

  • Mr Sharma says that in the current situation retail numbers are the most important ones to look at. It was very difficult to manage the supply chain and putting it in line with demand fluctuations in the past few months.   
  • He says retail demand is showing signs of a pickup.
  • Speaking about the September month specifically, he says, retails in the second half of September have started to look up.
  • Though the company volumes are marginally lower as compared to last year, it is a good improvement in the prevailing scenario.
  • Speaking about exports he says that the global picture is pretty much stable. Africa is doing very well. The company gets 40%-45% of its business from Africa. Latin America continues to show muted growth caused mainly by the slowdown in Argentina and Mexico.
  • The Philippines is a market which the company is looking for.
  • Mr Sharma says, after a bit of a decline in 1Q FY20 the current quarter is looking much better.
  • He says the uptrend is visible in 125cc segment, mainly because of the anti-lock braking system (ABS) which increased the prices of 150cc plus segments.
  • Before the launch of Pulsar125, Bajaj Auto had a 1% market share. After its launch, it is in the range of 10%-12%.
  • Speaking about further discounts he says, they are not going to add much because the company had already announced festive schemes.

Consensus Estimate (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Bajaj Auto was ₹ 2910 /- as of 03-October-19. It traded at 16.3x /15.0x the consensus EPS for FY20E/ FY21E of ₹ 178/193 respectively.
  • Consensus target price of ₹ 2832/- implies a PE multiple of 14.6x on FY21 EPS of ₹193/-
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