Sector Update | 15 December 2020
Consumer Durables
Copper prices up 25% YoY in
3QFY21 till date
Commodity price inflation warrants price hikes
The recent price increases in various commodities have emerged as a key input price risk
to the sector. While we are witnessing price actions across categories to offset such risks,
the impact may vary across categories/companies as summarized below:
Source: MOFSL, Bloomberg; *till date
Steel prices up 25% in 3QFY21
till date
Source: MOFSL, Bloomberg; *till date
Ranking various categories with
the ability to undertake price
hikes
Category
Relative
ability to
take
prices hikes
Easy
Impact
on
companies
Cables
Electricals
(Fans/
Lighting)
Moderate
White Goods Difficult
Positive for
HAVL, KEII,
POLYCAB,
FNXC
Neutral
impact for
HAVL and
CROMPTON
Negative for
VOLT, BLSTR,
and HAVL
Source: MOFSL
*KEII, POLYCAB, FNXC (Not rated)
All eyes on commodity price inflation:
Various commodities are witnessing a
15-25% YoY surge in prices, thereby raising concerns on input costs. For
instance, copper is up 25%, steel (over 25%), and aluminum (over 14%). Even
plastic prices are seeing a strong upsurge. Contrary to normal wisdom,
commodity price inflation is not necessarily a negative catalyst as its impact
varies across segments, and thereby various companies, depending on their
product portfolio as well as their ability to undertake price increases.
Cables segment can actually be a beneficiary:
Cables and Wires segment tends
to benefit from rising copper prices. Note that a cable is not a discretionary
product. We are entering into a peak construction phase in India: November to
May/June till the monsoon. Cables demand is price inelastic and the input cost
inflation gets passed on to the consumer within a month. Analysis of HAVL’s
Cables segment as well as KEII (unrated) suggests a surge in the profits of the
Cables segment in a rising copper price scenario. Additionally, companies can
experience inventory gains as well.
Consumer Electricals like Fans also tend to defend margins:
Electrical Goods
like Fans and Lighting are also able to pass on input cost pressures. These
categories are small ticket size items and higher replacement demand products.
At times, there may be a delay in price hikes by a month or so, but overall they
tend to tide over the commodity price inflation risks. In current scenario,
companies have already started undertaking price hikes – thanks to the supply-
side disruption impacting normalization of the unorganized sector. Thus, we
don’t see much risk to Consumer Electrical products unless commodity price
escalates materially. However, certain supply-side disruptions, especially in the
import of key components (for instance: LED chip for bulbs), may hinder the
capture of entire industry demand. The leading brands should be better off
compared to the unorganized sector – quite similar to the trend in 2QFY21.
White Goods may see margin headwinds in FY22:
The risks to margins are
relatively higher in White Goods on a relative basis. The White Goods space is
quite competitive. Even prior to COVID-19, brands resisted price increases
despite import duty hikes as well as a rupee depreciation to the dollar. This
rightly reflected in a decline in margins from peak levels for various companies
in the past. Also, White Goods have an element of discretion, which allows for
the postponement of purchases, although not as discretionary as say high ticket
size item like a 4W. Thus, we do see risks to FY22E margins for White Goods
players, especially ACs (risks to VOLT and BLSTR margins). However, a stronger
summer season can very well offset these risks.
Nilesh Bhaiya – Research Analyst
(Nilesh.Bhaiya@MotilalOswal.com)
Pratik Singh – Research Analyst
(Pratik.Singh@MotilalOswal.com)
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on
www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities,
Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.