Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Sharekhan Investor's Eye dated December 24, 2007


 
Investor's Eye
[December 24, 2007] Please see the attachment for details
Summary of Contents

STOCK UPDATE

Madras Cement                
Cluster: Cannonball
Recommendation: Buy
Price target: Rs4,800
Current market price: Rs4,508

Expansion plan on track

Key Points

  • Madras Cement Ltd's (MCL) capital expenditure plan is on track. The 2MTPA cement expansion work at Jayanthipuram kicked in September 2007 and the 2MTPA plant at Ariyalur is expected to be commissioned by June 2008. Going ahead, this expansion exercise will drive the much needed volume growth of the company.
  • On account of the series of price hikes in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the first half of FY2008, MCL was able to enhance its profitability with its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) per tonne standing the highest in the industry at Rs1,500 in the second quarter of FY2008.
  • Cement prices were hiked by Rs3-4 per bag in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in early December and we expect a price hike of Rs3-4 per bag in Karnataka in the coming week. This will drive the earnings of the company going ahead and will be a positive trigger for the stock.
  • In the first half of FY2008 MCL recorded a 30% increase year on year (yoy) in its net sales to Rs969.4 crore on account of higher volumes and better price realisation which in turn caused the operating profit to grow by 35% yoy. On the back of the robust operating level performance, the profit after tax (PAT) grew by 31% yoy to Rs221 crore.
  • As mentioned in one of our earlier updates, the company could reward its shareholders either with a bonus or with a stock split either of which will be a positive trigger for the stock. 
  • MCL's expansion plans will drive its volume growth going ahead. It plans to increase its capacity by 4MTPA by the end of FY2009. It is also investing in renewable energy and captive power plants (CPPs), which will keep a check on its variable costs and enable it to maintain its operating profit margin (OPM). At the current market price of Rs4,508 the stock is trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 11.6x discounting our FY2008 earnings estimate and at 9..1x discounting our FY2009 earnings estimate. It also trades at an enterprise value (EV)/tonne of USD152 on increased capacity. We maintain our Buy recommendation on MCL with a price target of Rs4,800 per share. 

Maruti Suzuki India                
Cluster: Apple Green
Recommendation: Buy
Price target: Rs1,230
Current market price:
Rs990

To play a greater role in Suzuki's operations 

Key Points

  • Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSL) has outperformed the passenger vehicle segment in the current year due to the success of its new products. The new managing director (MD), Shinzo Nakanishi, aims to stay focused on the goal of achieving one million sales by 2010. This translates into a compounded annual growth of 14-14.5% in sales which is achievable. 
  • MSL is ready to play a greater role in Suzuki Motor Corporation's (SMC) global operations with increasing focus and investments in new product development.
  • The new MD has reiterated that the current profit margins are not sustainable. We have already factored this guidance in our estimates.
Regards,
The Sharekhan Research Team
myaccount@sharekhan..com 
 



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