Tuesday, March 17, 2009

>Aban Offshore (GOLDMAN SACHS)

What's changed: We are terminating coverage of Aban Offshore (Aban) to better focus our resources. Our estimates and target price are unchanged and our final rating on Aban is Neutral.

Aban needs to re-finance about US$169mn of existing debt in FY10E, and US$148mn out of that before December 2009 in order to honour the bullet payments of Norwegian Kroner bonds (from Sinvest) due December 22, 2009. This has become the key issue for Aban since it has limited options to raise finance by any other means in the current environment, in our view. Moreover, four of Aban’s assets are currently lying idle owing to major cutbacks in E&P capex globally. Contracts to another four of Aban’s assets will conclude over the next six months, increasing the risk of even lower asset utilization and pushing up the amount of re-financing needed.

Our final earnings estimates for FY09E/FY10E/FY11E are Rs180.6/Rs267.2/Rs221.4. We have observed compression of EBITDA margins in 3QFY09 primarily due to a rise in costs and lower utilization.

Implications: We believe Aban’s stock is now effectively a binary option, with part of the street believing Aban’s cash flows will weaken to a point where refinancing will look difficult. We, however, believe it is possible for Aban to secure refinancing, although this could be expensive given the current environment. News-flow on this remains critical for a re-rating of the stock, in our view.

Valuation: Our final rating on the stock is Neutral with a P/B-based 12-month target price of Rs475, implying upside potential of 100%.

To see full report: ABAN

>ICSA India Limited (HEM SECURITIES)

Recommendation: ICSA India Limited has registered a robust growth rate over past few years. The company has a strong order book position of more than INR 700 Crores which provides a strong visibility to the revenues. The company is trading at a very low PE of around 1.5X. We expect the company to outperform in the future and we reiterate “BUY” on the stock with a Target of INR 348.00.

Highlights/Recent Updates

ICSA to acquire US power company
ICSA India Limited is keen on acquiring a power firm in the US with an investment of $20-30 million. The company is planning to acquire a power sector player with front-end marketing capabilities to tap the $16 billion power transmission and distribution infrastructure spends being planned by the US government in the coming years.

ICSA India Limited got approval to set up Wind Project
ICSA India Limited has been permitted by the Board of Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (NEDCAP) to set up a 20 MW Capacity Wind power project in Andhra Pradesh.

ICRA assigns LA+, A1 to fund based, non-fund based limits

ICRA assigns the ratings of LA+ and A1 for INR 2,300 million funds based and non fund based limits of ICSA India Limited. ICRA has also assigned rating of A1 to the short term non fund based limits indicating lowest credit risk in the short term.

To see full report: ICSA

>UTV Software Communications (CITI)

● Revising earnings — We pare our EBIT estimates by ~15-66% over FY09-11E, driven by cuts in TV content and movie verticals. We reduce our EPS estimates by ~12-15% over FY10/11E, but increase FY09E EPS by ~41% due to the increase in other income and interest income from the last quarter. Our SOTP based TP comes to Rs190 (Rs250 earlier), with the revised earnings and EV/EBIT multiples. Post a disappointing FY09 YTD, we maintain Sell/High Risk (3H) as subdued return ratios should prevent re-rating in the near term.

Movies segment key to profitability — Filmed entertainment is inherently volatile; but remains key driver of earnings. FY09 has been below expectations – release of some movies (including 2 large budget films) slated this year were delayed. We take a more conservative stance for FY10E from management guidance, factoring release of 4 big films and take 14 movies overall. Upside potential from The Happening would be captured in next year's estimate.

● TV to remain lackluster — TV margins declined drastically, from ~18% in FY08 to 3-5.5% this year. Management cautioned that EBIT margins would remain in the sub 6% range. We expect muted revenue and profit growth from this segment, going forward - trim TV segment EBIT by ~50-60% over FY09-11E.

● Gaming has a high return potential; but only from FY11E — We view gaming vertical as a 'High Risk - High Return' segment. The three Ignition IPs - Reich, Wardevil, and Angelic - are expected to be released in Jul/Aug 2010, Dec 2010 and Jan 2011 respectively, and thus any uptick in margins from these would only be visible from FY11E. There is an exposure of US$15-20m on each game and break even would occur with 0.8-1m units, according to management.

To see full report: UTV

>Sintex (CENTRUM)

Company Background: Incorporated in 1931, Sintex Industries Limited is a dominant player in the plastic and textile segments. The company manufactures a wide range of building materials and composites across India. Sintex is expanding its capabilities in the composite market, (composite market in India worth $1 billion) through M&A activities. This provides the company access to technologies and large OEMs that are crucial for technology adoption. Subsequent to several strategic acquisitions, the company possesses a global footprint, spread across the USA and Europe. In the textile segment, the company is focused on niche offerings, specialization in men’s shirting, catering to premium fashion brands like Burberry, Armani, Hugo Boss and Arrow, among others.

Revenue visibility: The monolithic business has an order book of Rs.1,200 cr (approximately), to be executed by the end of FY’10E. Taking into consideration India’s housing shortage at 24.7 mn units and the Government’s focus on the housing sector in the 11th Five year plan, there exists a huge opportunity of growth for the company, going forward.

Monolithic segment – Key growth driver: Monolithic construction has emerged as a preferred substitute for traditional concrete construction, on account of its superiority on various parameters like construction time, cost, etc. A monolithic project can be completed within a timeframe of six months as compared to 18 to 24 months, taken by a concrete structure. Sintex has bagged orders for its monolithics segment from various Governments, including Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, among others. The present order position is to the tune of Rs.1200 cr (approximately), to be executed by FY’10E.

Entry barriers in the pre-fabricated segment: A key entry barrier in the pre-fabricated segment is getting approval, for every product, from the designated authority of the respective State Government. Even a variant of the existing product requires approval from the authority. Sintex has received approvals from 16 states for all its key products in the prefabricated segment. On an average, an experienced five member team can set up a classroom weighing 1000 kilograms within a span of three days, in addition to the traveling time of two days, from the manufacturing facility to the site.

Financials: In 9MFY’09, the net sales increased by 65.94% to Rs.2,233.26 cr and PAT increased 55.50% to Rs.211.1 cr, compared to 9MFY’08. For FY’09E, the company is expected to achieve a net sales of Rs.2,953 cr and PAT of Rs.281 cr. On an equity of Rs.27.3 cr, the EPS for FY’09E works out to around Rs.20.59. Net Sales and PAT for FY’10E could be around Rs.2,510 cr and Rs.220 cr respectively. This translates into an EPS of 15.02 for FY’10E.

Valuations: At the present market price of Rs.72, the stock is trading at 3.50x its FY’09E earnings and 4.79x its FY’10E earnings. Sintex has a strong balance sheet with cash in hand of about Rs.1,600 cr. On account of the global slowdown, two of the company’s subsidiaries, Wausaukee Composites and Bright Auto would be negatively impacted. However, at the present price of Rs.72, we feel that all the negatives have been factored into the price. Consequent to today’s announcement by General Motors that they do not require the $2 billion loan, the overall sentiments of the auto sector, a key customer to which subsidiaries of Sintex cater to, has improved. Taking all this into consideration, we recommend a “BUY” on the stock with a target price of Rs.97 over a span of nine months.

To see full report: SINTEX