MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD : On the path of Rise !!!

 Scrip Code: 500520 / M&M

CMP:  Rs. 697.80; Buy at Rs.680-690 levels.
Medium to Long term Target – Rs. 763; STOP LOSS – Rs. 635.00; Market Cap: Rs. 42,843.16 Cr; 52 Week High/Low: Rs. 877.30 / Rs. 616.70

Total Shares: 61,39,74,839 shares; Promoters : 15,51,05,939 shares –25.26 %; Total Public holding : 45,88,68,900 shares – 74.74 %; Book Value: Rs. 167.46; Face Value: Rs. 5.00; EPS: Rs. 46.89; Div: 230 % ; P/E: 14.88 times; Ind. P/E: 15.81; EV/EBITDA: 11.26.

Total Debt: Rs. 2405.29 Cr; Enterprise Value: Rs. 47,699.09 Cr.

MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD: The Company was formed in 1945 as Mahindra & Mahindra and renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd in 1948, and is based in India. Mahindra & Mahindra Limited operates in the Motor vehicles and car bodies sector. The Company operates in nine segments: Automotive segment comprising of sales of automobiles, spare parts and related services; Farm equipment segment comprising of sales of tractors, spare parts and related services; Information technology (IT) services comprising of services rendered for IT and telecom; Financial services comprising of services relating to financing, leasing and hire purchase of automobiles and tractors; Steel trading and processing comprising of trading and processing of steel; Infrastructure comprising of operating of commercial complexes, project management and development; Hospitality segment comprising of sale of timeshare and Systech segment comprising of automotive components and other related products and services, and its others segment comprise of logistics, after-market, two wheelers and investment. In November 2009, BAE Systems entered into a joint venture agreement with Mahindra & Mahindra Limited to create a land systems focused joint venture Defense Company, based in India. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, the Company acquired a 70 % stake in Ssangyong Motor Company Limited - a manufacturer of sports utility vehicles in Korea. The company has a distribution network of over 130 dealers in Korea and exports to over 90 countries through 1,200 dealers. With the support of M&M, SMC is working on a revitalization plan with strong focus on cost reduction along with new product development and market expansion. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd is compared with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in India and globally with Beiqi Foton Motor Company Ltd and Guangzhou Automobile Group Company Limited.

Investment Rationale:

Mahindra & Mahindra announced a merger of MADPL (Mahindra Automobile Distributors Pvt Ltd) a 100 % subsidiary which manufactures Verito (erstwhile Mahindra-Renault Logan) recently with only the auto business is merged with the M&M while its Spare parts business continues to be a part of MADPL. Management expects passenger vehicle to grow by 10 % to 12 %,  it expects UVs to grow higher than the passenger vehicles. LCV’s is expected to grow by 10 % to 11 %, M&HCV at 5 % to 6 %, two wheelers at 12 % and expects flat growth in 3 wheelers segments. Due to state specific factors like continued rain deficit in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra leads to strong decline in demand but expectation of good monsoons in other parts of the country this season should help to recover volumes. Also, M&M’s exposure of tractors for non – farm purpose is considerably higher versus industry. Hence, weak demand in this segment, particularly in states like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh impacted its volumes. Management estimates that industry volumes will increase by 5 % to 6 % in FY13. New tractor capacity plant is on track, which has initial capacity of 50,000 units (with scope for 100,000 units later). Also, M&M has resumed normal production post partial plant shutdown taken in Q4FY12. M&M is expected to introduce 6 to 7 models (new and refreshes) in the automotive segment (including sub 4 m Verito/compact SUV) and 1 new launch in the tractor segment (with 3 to 4 refreshes). Management says that its subsidiary Ssangyong was able to break even at EBIDTA level in Q4FY12. Management targets 1,60,000 volumes in 2013 and which will ramp up to 3,00,000 units by 2016. On Construction equipment segment, M&M has only 1 product – Backhoe loader and is currently maintaining a run rate of 100 units per month with an industry size of 25,000 units. M&M maintains its target of focusing on UVs only and has contract with Renault for technological support for Verito to ensure that there are adequate refreshes/variants. Outlook for tractor sales appears to be challenging given that the industry has witnessed just 3 % to 3.5 % growth in the past three months and management has guided for moderate growth of 5 % to 7 % in FY2013E. However, MM’s automotive volume growth continues to surprise positively, with 28.2 YoY growth witnessed in FY2012. 

Mahindra & Mahindra received strong response to its recently launched XUV500 which continued its momentum in the pick-up segment and the likely launch of the new Xylo should sustain automotive sales going ahead and somewhat offsets the weaker tractor demand. M & M’s new ventures in the CV space are firming up well. The new product launches such as GIO and Maxximo have received good response. Further, launch of new products in the M&HCV space has positioned the company in-line with other major domestic CV players such as Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors. This is expected to substantially augment the company’s overall volume growth, supported by its well-known brand equity and extensive sales network. Company has majority stakes in various listed companies in other sectors, including technology, property and finance, its Investments constitutes to 65 % of the balance sheet. The high growth potential of M & M's subsidiaries is expected to unlock the actual value of the stock over the years to come. Listing of its subsidiaries has been supporting the company’s valuation in the recent past and may continue to do so in the long term as well. So holding on to M & M for Value unlocking would be advisable for the long term players.

Outlook and Valuation:

M&M continued its subdued performance in Q4 FY12, underperforming SENSEX  by 10 % in H2 FY12, impacted by sluggish growth rate in tractor volumes and impending diesel price hikes and diesel engine tax rates. It is estimated that a strong demand outlook on automotive segment can be led by launch of XUV 5OO, new MPV, new Xylo. M&M has indicated that it will fully concentrate on UV segment and has no interest in cars beyond Verito. The company is also planning to launch a fresh version of Verito (Sub 4-meter). M& M targets sales volumes for FY13 by 4.1 % to 8,20,500 units, tractor sales for FY13 by 8.9 % to 2,46,000 units factoring weak rural demand, high interest rates and high base effect. FY13 EBITDA margin could be lower factoring in high raw material cost, higher promotional expenses for tractor segment and also due to merger of MADPL. Higher contribution from Chakan plant (Contribution from Chakan plant has gone up to 25 % from earlier 11 % - 12 %) would have a negative impact on standalone EBITDA margin. M&M will spend around Rs. 5,000 Cr on Capex over next three years. Moreover it plans to spend Rs. 2,500 Cr on investments. Recently, after raising the production capacity of its SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) XUV 500 to 5,000 units per month by March, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd will hit the brakes on the ramp up and will instead watch out for factors such as consumer-sentiments, market demand & macroeconomics environment. On SOTP (sum-of-the-parts) basis, the valuation of M & M on standalone business comes at Rs. 605 per share and rest of its subsidiary investment at Rs. 158/share for FY13E. Recent correction in M&M stock has factored in lower outlook for tractor sales. Key upsides to the estimations are more on normal monsoon, higher tractor sales in H1 FY13, lower interest rates and no price hikes in diesel and diesel engine vehicles. In my view M&M could report EPS in FY13E & FY14E of Rs. 39.70 / sh and Rs. 43.00 / sh, respectively. I would buy M & M LTD for the medium to long term period with a price target of Rs. 763.00

Business Subsidiary FY13E	Value Per Share (in Rs.)
M&M Standalone	605.00
M&M Financial Services	46.00
Mahindra Forgings	3.00
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts Ltd	23.00
Mahindra Lifespace Developers	8.00
Mahindra Ugine Steel Co	1.00
Tech Mahindra	52.00
Ssangyong Motor Company	24.00
Other Investment (at BV)	1.00
TOTAL	763.00

KEY FINANCIALS	FY11	FY12	FY13E	FY14E
SALES (Rs. Crs)	23,311.90	31,853.60	36,024.40	40,442.30
NET PROFIT (Rs. Crs)	2,509.90	2,712.90	2,437.80	2,638.90
EPS (Rs.)	40.90	44.20	39.70	43.00
PE (x)	16.00	14.80	16.50	15.20
P/BV (x)	3.90	3.30	2.90	2.60
EV/EBITDA (x)	9.90	8.50	8.60	7.50
ROE (%)	27.70	24.10	18.70	17.80
ROCE (%)	26.60	24.10	19.50	19.20

I would buy Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd with a price target of Rs. 763 for Medium to Long term. As I always say, I am a long term believer in markets & I do respect the markets and will keep a strict stop loss of 8 % or Rs. 635.00 on every purchases.

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