Tag - CV

Truck demand coming back; not enough buyers for buses – Ashok Leyland

Update on Indian equity market:
Markets continued the upward journey to end the truncated week as Nifty closed the day 140 points higher at 13,274. Within the index, ADANIPORTS (4.6%), HINDALCO (4.4%), and ICICIBANK (4.4%) led the index higher while RELIANCE (-0.8%), BAJAJFINSV (-0.6%), and HDFCLIFE (-0.6%) were three out of 11 losers. All the sectoral indices ended in the green with BANK (2.4%), PVT BANK (2.3%), and PSU BANK (1.5%) leading the pack.
Excerpts of an interview with Mr Anuj Kathuria, Chief Operating Officer, Ashok Leyland (AshokLey) published on CNBC-TV18 dated 3rd December 2020:
The monthly sales data for the month of November reported the seventh straight monthly improvement in sales, though the demand for buses was tepid.
He said that initial signs of demand coming back in the long-haul segment. The truck demand is coming back due to the movement of cement and steel whereas travel restrictions in the country have led to muted demand for buses.
The industry is witnessing growth in intermediate commercial vehicles. The tippers segment is holding strong and the company is expecting further improvement in MHCV (Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles) segment in December as well.
He said that the industry may see some replacement demand as the ownership cost of BS-VI (Bharat Stage-VI) is comparably lower. He also highlighted that state transport undertaking activity has intensified and the company is seeing more orders coming through.
The company is expected to show QoQ improvement in margins, but higher commodity prices could limit the gains.
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
The closing price of AshokLey was ₹ 95/- as of 04-Dec-2020. It traded at 36x/ 20x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 2.6/ 4.8 for FY22E/ FY23E respectively.
The consensus target price of ₹ 90/- implies a P/E multiple of 19x on FY23E EPS of ₹ 4.8.
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.”

Corporate rejig plan will take care of long-term requirements – Motherson Sumi

Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Friday, Nifty ended -0.4% lower at 10,768. The top gainers for Nifty 50 were Reliance (+3.1%),
HUL (+2.5%), and Sun Pharma (+2.3%) while the losing stocks were Axis Bank (-3.2%), GAIL (-2.8%)
and ICICI Bank (-2.8%). Sectoral gainers for the day were Pharma (+0.9%), Realty (+0.7%) and FMCG
(+0.5%) while the losers were PSU Bank (-2.7%), Pvt Bank (-2.4%) and Bank (-2.2%).

Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr GN Guaba, CFO, Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd (MSSL); dated 07th July 2020 from Economic Times:

  • The Motherson Group last week announced a major rejig in its corporate structure, deciding to demerge its domestic wiring business into a separate listed entity.
  • As per the scheme, MSSL will first demerge the domestic wiring harness business and will get it listed separately. The second stage of the restructuring involves merging the principal holding company Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd (SAMIL) into the MSSL.
  • From the shareholders perspective, for every one share held by them of the MSSL pre-demerger, they will be allotted one new share of the demerged entity.
  • The proposed reorganisation will simplify the Group structure and protect the interest of all shareholders. It will give a fillip to the company’s M&A strategy.
  • MSSL’s partner Sumitomo had been for long keen to have a shareholding in the business which is purely focussed on Indian customers. MSSL was also looking to simplify the structure for the last eight years. They had looked at various alternatives, but could not pursue it on account of changing laws and regulations. 
  • On January 30 2020, the Company decided to have two separate listed companies as they thought this was the best way to protect the interest of all stakeholders including the minority shareholders.  
  • The contribution from the wiring harness business was at Rs 39 billion in FY20 and Rs 44.8 billion in FY19. The business constitutes 5-6 % of the total turnover.
  • MSSL is a leading manufacturer, supplying wiring harness to almost every OEM, including in all categories, CVs, bikes, trucks, passenger cars, etc. They are not chasing market share, since that proposition may compromise the bottom line. Sumitomo’s technical assistance and strategic guidance auger well for the wiring harness business in future. The idea is to clearly focus on the growing trends in the domestic market.
  • MSSL sees this restructuring to be EPS accretive in the first year of the merger’s scheme itself which is FY22E. From the semi-merger point of view, the substantial part of valuation is derived from MSSL itself; this ensures that they have protected the interests of the minority shareholders. This would be as a win-win situation for all.
  • The rejig process is likely to take 12 months or so. Based on the feedback from the Company’s bankers, restructuring will be completed by June 2021; the listing and trading of both the demerged entity as well as the SAMIL are likely to take place from July 2021.
  • The proposed restructuring scheme is a big step taken by MSSL Group. Thus, it will take care of their future long-term requirements.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of Motherson Sumi System Ltd was ₹ 96/- as of 10-July-2020. It is trading at 41x/17x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 2.4/5.7 for FY21E/FY22E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 111/- implies a PE multiple of 19.5x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 5.7/-.

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.”

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.