>KEC International Ltd. (RELIANCE MONEY)

Encouraging domestic order inflow during Q4FY09
During the 4th quarter of FY09, KEC International Ltd (KEC) has seen addition of seven significant orders largely from domestic markets. The management earlier in post Q3FY09 results conference call had indicated the company intended to increase focus in domestic market. In Q4FY09 KEC received domestic orders to the tune of ~Rs.12.5bn as against Rs.11bn in Q3FY09 (out of which Rs.8.8bn were export order). We remain impressed with the order inflow and remain confident about earnings for FY09E and FY10E. But the major risk we foresee is possibility of lower order inflow during Loksabha election period.

Easing of input material cost and interest rates
The key input raw materials like steel, copper, aluminum etc have corrected significantly from the highs during 1st Quarter of FY09. Steel Billets prices have fallen by 24.5% from the high of Rs.40025/Tonne during April’08 to Rs.30200/ Tonne in Feb’09. Similarly RBI has cut repo and reverse repo rates for three times during last 6 months which has resulted in reduction in interest rates by most of the banks. We expect the company will able to improve its profitability with these positive developments.

Order inflow uncertainty foreseen during 1st Half of FY10E
As 15th general elections are near the corner, the first half of FY10E is expected to be muted in terms of new order inflow both from state and central utilities due to funding arrangement and other regulatory issues.

Well equipped to compete in current scenario
Domestic market is likely to witness high competition and due to which the margins are likely to come under pressure, which is expected to intensify further as bigger players like BHEL are also expected to enter the market. We believe KEC is better equipped with its planned tower capacity of 200,000 MT and established execution skills for this competitive scenario.

Business Outlook and Valuation
KEC currently has a healthy estimated outstanding order book position of ~Rs.54.5 bn. We continue to remain cautious in terms of new order inflow from international market as well as domestic market during the 1st half of FY10E. At current market price of Rs.144, the stock is currently trading at P/E of 4.2x and EV/EBITDA of 3.9x of its FY10E earnings. We maintain our HOLD recommendation on the stock with target price of Rs.147.

To see full report: KEC INTERNATIONAL