The pandemic has led to a behavioral change toward Health and Wellbeing – Tata Chemicals
Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Wednesday, the consolidation in the equity markets continued with the Nifty ending marginally higher at 11,227 (0.2%). Among the stocks, GRASIM (+3.0%), TECHM (+2.8%), and TITAN (+2.6%) led the gainers while BPCL (-9.0%), BHARTIARTL (-3.7%), and TATASTEEL (-3.1%) led the laggards. FMCG (+1.3%), PHARMA (+0.5%), and IT (+0.4%), the three sectors considered defensive led the index gainers. METAL (-2.1%), PSU BANK (-1.1%), and REALTY (-0.8%) led the sectoral losers.
Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr. Rahul Gupta, Business Head, Nutritional Sciences, Tata Chemicals with ETHealthworld on 29th September 2020:
• One of the consequences of the pandemic has been a paradigm shift in the health consciousness and food preferences of consumers.
• Following a healthy lifestyle has increased the significance to increase gut health and immunity by following a healthier diet which includes consuming more fortified products. This increased inclination towards nutritional products and supplements coupled with the increasing disposable income is now changing the consumer’s purchasing pattern which has provided an impetus to the wellness sector.
• The F&B, pharma, and nutrition companies are forced to present well-researched and innovative products to suit the changing needs of the customers. The desire to build a stronger immunity and lead a healthier lifestyle will only evolve consumer behavior patterns towards the nutraceuticals industry.
• Tata Chemicals is witnessing 100% growth driven by a focus on health and immunity. The virus outbreak will reset the baseline for health and nutrition companies which will help reshape the market by offering products backed by strong science.
• Tata NQ, the nutritional solutions arm of Tata Chemicals has invested in researching new age products with the help of machine learning and big data at the R&D centers over the past years.
• The work on building one of the biggest global knowledge bases on the gut microbiome, mapping subjects across geographies, age groups, genders, sedentary habits, and other parameters is underway.
• The new trend in consumers’ food patterns is the inclusion of more immunity building nutrients in the daily diet to strengthen health and protect from the virus. There is a huge demand for preventive nutraceutical products and natural products in the market, across all age groups.
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
• The closing price of Tata Chemicals was ₹ 300/- as of 30-September-2020. It traded at 13x/ 8x/ 7x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 23.5/ 35.9/ 41.3 per share for FY21E/FY22E/FY23E respectively.
• The consensus target price of ₹ 327 implies a PE multiple of 8x on FY23E EPS of ₹ 41.3/-.
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