2 September 2013
Update | Sector: Consumer
Britannia Industries
BSE Sensex
18,620
S&P CNX
5,472
CMP: INR703
TP: INR865
Buy
Profitability focus reiterated in a slowing category
Stock Info
Bloomberg
Equity Shares (m)
52-Week Range (INR)
1, 6, 12 Rel. Per (%)
M.Cap. (INR b)
M.Cap. (USD b)
Margin uptick not just commodity led; reiterate Buy
BRIT IN
119.8
775/400
4/42/33
84.4
1.3
Financial Snapshot (INR Billion)
Y/E March
2013 2014E 2015E
Sales
EBITDA
Adj. PAT
Adj. EPS (INR)
EPS Gr. (%)
BV/Sh.(INR)
RoE (%)
RoCE (%)
P/E (x)
P/BV (x)
55.6
3.2
2.3
19.6
39.3
52.2
37.5
60.4
35.9
13.5
64.7
4.7
3.3
27.2
39.1
63.6
42.8
62.8
25.8
11.0
75.5
5.5
3.8
31.9
17.1
77.0
41.4
57.4
22.0
9.1
Shareholding pattern % (Jun-13)
Jun-13 Mar-13 Jun-12
Promoter
Domestic Inst
Foreign
Others
50.9
9.9
19.5
19.8
50.9
11.3
17.9
19.9
51.0
14.9
15.1
19.1
We attended Britannia Industries’ (BRIT) analyst meet. Our key takeaways:
Indexed growth in the Biscuits category has come off from 100 in 1QFY13 to 35 in
1QFY14. BRIT has, however, delivered ~5% volume growth during the quarter,
which is similar to its FY13 performance.
Raw material costs have remained largely stable for BRIT, helping it to deliver
substantial margin expansion in FY13 and 1QFY14. Stable commodity prices aside,
its steps to control overhead costs and enhance manufacturing efficiencies have
helped. Its operating margin expanded 260bp in 4QFY13 and 300bp in 1QFY14.
The management enunciated its strategy to rationalize some of the less relevant
SKUs in a phased manner. The impact will be minimal, if any, as these SKUs are
not critical and mostly have regional presence. As BRIT has already begun
implementing the strategy on the ground, margins should expand further.
BRIT is scaling up its rural presence by augmenting its distribution network, with
6-7% growth in outlet coverage per annum. We like this strategy; companies that
have expanded their rural distribution have remained relatively insulated from
the slowdown, as rural markets have outperformed urban markets by 400-500bp.
The company’s multiple initiatives on cost and revenue management are yielding
benefits now, and it intends to sharpen focus on these, going ahead. Its
investments in technology and energy saving initiatives at plants are helping to
expand margins.
BRIT intends to build its Foods and Snacks business gradually, as it believes there
is ample scope for these categories. However, it will not compromise margins to
achieve revenue growth. We note that BRIT’s Dairy profits more than doubled in
FY13 to INR350m.
There is status quo on its land sale at Chennai (8.6 acres) and Bengaluru (5 acres);
BRIT is looking to monetize its land assets.
Stock Performance (1-year)
Valuation and view
We like BRIT’s focus on profitable growth and see scope for structural margin
expansion ahead. Margins had collapsed from 12.3% in FY05 to 5.3% in FY12
before improving to 5.8% in FY13. Premiumization coupled with improved
traction in Dairy and International businesses should support medium-term
profitability. Commodity price volatility has impacted margins in the past and a
repeat cannot be ruled out. However, we believe BRIT’s efforts at cost
containment in the back-end and overheads would cushion the volatility.
In the short term, we note that the base for 2QFY14 and 3QFY14 is low,
providing a platform for strong earnings growth. We expect gross margin to
expand 220bp over FY13-15, led by favorable base and premiumization
benefits. We build in 160bp operating margin expansion over FY13-15 to 7.4%
and estimate 27.4% EPS CAGR over FY13-15. The stock trades at 25.8x FY14E
and 22x FY15E EPS. We reiterate
Buy,
with a target price of INR865 (SOTP: 26x
FY15E standalone EPS + 13x FY15E subsidiary EPS).
Gautam Duggad
(Gautam.Duggad@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 3982 5404
Gautam Duggad
(Gautam.Duggad@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 3982 5404
Investors are advised to refer through disclosures made at the end of the Research Report.