3 July 2013
C
orner
O
ffice
Interaction with the CEO
the
Building scalability
Emerging businesses
Internationalization
Second Gen Ethanol
We met the senior management of Praj Industries Ltd (PRJ), including Mr Pramod
Chaudhari, Executive Chairman and Mr Gajanan Nabar, CEO and Managing Director.
Following are the key takeaways:
Focus areas are building scalability and improving operational cash flows.
In FY14, emerging business segments are likely to contribute 30% of revenue (v/s
8% in FY13). Attempt will be to reach company-wide average margins, supported
by increasing project size and scale economics.
Successful commercialization of the second generation plant to be an important
game changer. Construction should commence in FY14 (Capex INR1.4b).
Praj Industries
Mr Pramod Chaudhari
Executive Chairman
Mr Chaudhari did his engineering
from Indian Institute of Technology,
Bombay (IIT). He has attended the
Advanced Management Programme
at Harvard Business School in 1995.
Mr Chaudhari has been profiled in a
recently published book called
'Thought Leaders' by a leading Indian
author, which focuses on visionary
entrepreneurs.
Improved contribution of emerging businesses on an increased revenue base:
During FY13, ethanol business contributed 82% of revenue and is expected to
decline to 70% in FY14 (with emerging businesses contributing 30%). Emerging
businesses comprise of 1) water and waste water treatment systems, 2) critical/
hygienic process equipments, 3) distillery bio consumables/bio chemicals/
industrial bio based products & processes/livestock, health & nutrients. The
key focus areas are mainly industrial projects and not government tenders,
where project awards are largely on L1 basis.
Internationalization of Brewery business:
PRJ is scaling up the brewery
business to an international level, from the concentration in India (contributed
11% of PRJ's revenue). In FY13, company signed a contract with Myanmar
(INR650m) and also is in negotiations for an African order. This can again be an
important growth driver. Contribution from overseas business in FY14 is
expected to increase to 55% of revenues as against 45% in FY13.
Second generation ethanol plant - an important game changer:
PRJ's demo
plant for second generation technology, for which pilot testing was done in
2008-11 would commence construction in FY14 at the cost of INR1.35b.
Management believes that post the initial capex, there will be no capital drain;
also based on the expectations of commercialization, the payback period is
likely to be attractive. With this product, PRJ also expects to get a strong
foothold in key ethanol market, where its presence in first generation products
has been restricted. Eventually, the target is a 50:50 business mix from first &
second generation plants in growing pie of ethanol business.
Praj Industries: Financial and valuation summary
Bloomberg
PRJ IN
CMP (INR)
39
Equity Shares (m)
177
52-Week Range (INR)
65/34
1,6,12 Rel. Perf. (%) -19/-46/-51
M.Cap. (INR b)
7
M.Cap. (USD b)
0.1
Year
End
3/10A
3/11A
3/12A
3/13A
Net Sales PAT*
(INR m) (INR m)
6,023
5,529
8,804
7,265
1,139
535
658
662
EPS*
(INR)
6.2
2.9
3.6
3.7
EPS*
Gr. (%)
(12.7)
(53.2)
23.9
4.2
P/E
(X)
6.4
13.6
11.0
10.5
P/BV
(X)
1.4
1.3
1.3
1.2
Mr Gajanan Nabar
CEO and Managing Director
Mr Gajanan Nabar has over 24 years
of multi-functional management
experience. Prior to joining Praj, he
was the Managing Director of Praxair
India Private Ltd. He holds a Masters
Degree in Organic Chemistry and
Master in Management from
Bombay University. He was conferred
a diploma by the Plastic and Rubber
Institute, London and has successfully
completed
the
Executive
Development Program of Wharton
Management School in 2000.
RoE
(%)
23.0
10.0
12.0
12.0
RoCE
(%)
24.0
11.0
20.0
14.0
EV/
Sales
1.0
1.0
0.5
0.7
EV/
EBITDA
6.3
12.1
5.1
7.3
Satyam Agarwal
(AgarwalS@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 3982 5410
Deepak Narnolia
(Deepak.Narnolia@MotilalOswal.com)/Nirav
Vasa
(Nirav.Vasa@MotilalOswal.com)
Investors are advised to refer through disclosures made at the end of the Research Report.
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