>UNITY INFRAPROJECTS

Recommendation: Buy
Price target: Rs95
Current market price: Rs45

Price target revised to Rs95

Result highlights

• Muted revenue growth; margins maintained though: In Q1FY2013 the net sales of Unity Infraprojects (Unity) grew by just 5% year on year (YoY) and dropped by 45% quarter on quarter (QoQ) to Rs395 crore, which is below our expectation. The sales were affected by the delays in obtaining approvals/clearances for certain government projects (government projects form 85% of Unity's order book) which led to the slow execution of these projects. However, on the operational front the operating profit margin (OPM) was in line with our expectation at 13.6%, which shows an expansion of 60 basis points on a yearly basis. The OPM is also better than the Q4FY2012 margin of 12.5% mainly because raw material prices were stable during Q1FY2013. The operating profit thus rose by 9.5% YoY.
• Higher interest charge resulted in a decline in PAT: However, the moderate top line performance and the margin expansion were nullified by the escalating interest charge, which rose by 33% YoY, resulting in an 8% drop in the profit after growth (PAT) to Rs18 crore (which is below our expectation). The depreciation charge, however, reduced sequentially as the capital expenditure done in the machinery lying idle has not been accounted for.
• However, healthy order book provides revenue visibility: Unity has bagged fresh orders worth Rs470 crore in FY2013 so far. This along with the orders worth Rs2,850 crore secured in FY2012 takes the total order book to a respectable position of Rs4,180 crore, which is 2.1x its FY2012 revenues. Thus, there is good revenue visibility for the company over the next two years. Of the present order book, 48% is from buildings, 23% is from the water segment and the remaining is from the transportation segment.
• One of three road BOT projects starts execution; while real estate portfolio still moving slow: Unity currently has three road build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects in its portfolio. Out of these, financial closure has been achieved for the two-laning of the Chomu-to-Mahla project in Rajasthan (after a delay) and work has started on the project. In addition, the concession agreement has been signed for one project out of the two recently won road BOT projects; the agreement for the other one will be signed soon. The two projects will achieve financial closure four to six months after the signing of the concession agreement. On the other hand, the real estate project in Nagpur has finally signed the management agreement with Hyatt and will start execution work post-monsoon. All the necessary approvals for the project are in place. However, the project in Bangalore maintains the status quo and expects the final approval in one to two months, as the new government settles down. 
• Estimates revised downwards: We have revised our revenue estimates downwards by 4% each for FY2013 and FY2014 to factor in the slower project approval, which will hamper the execution of the order book. Further, in light of this we expect the working capital need to rise which would result in higher borrowings. Thus, we have also increased our interest expense estimates. As a result, the earnings estimates stand revised by 10% and 13% for FY2013 and FY2014 respectively. 
• Maintain Buy with a revised price target of Rs95: We continue to like the company due to its strong order inflow momentum and healthy order book position in an adverse macro-environment. We also like its diversification into the road BOT space with prudent caution. The successful mobilisation of funds from a private equity would remove some overhang on account of the real estate projects. We have not given any value to Unity's road BOT and real estate projects which would add to the valuation whenever they gain some momentum. We maintain our Buy recommendation on the stock with a revised price target of Rs95. At the current market price the stock is trading at a price/earnings multiple of 2.8x FY2013E and 2.3x FY2014E earnings respectively.

RISH TRADER