Bonus move powers BHEL’s rise

With renewed buying in BHEL, the stock has pulled up from Rs 2429.55 on 11 May 2007, to Rs 2644

Around Rs 3200 crore of investment is planned by Bhel during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period to increase manufacturing capacity from the current 6,000 Mega Watt (MW) to 15,000 MW per annum. The state-owned company would be spending about Rs 1,200 crore to augment its capacity to 10,000 MW by the end of 2007.

Bhel would also replace ageing facilities for improving product quality, reducing cost and cycle time and enhancing productivity, besides modernising and upgrading equipment at various power plant sites for meeting enhanced erection load and shorter commissioning schedules.

Bhel has set a target of increasing revenues to $10 billion from $4 billion as part of its `Strategic Plan 2012.’ The company has identified overseas business as one of its thrust areas in the plan, which is expected to be a key driver for turnover growth.

The order book is a healthy Rs 55,000 crore.

The current price of Rs 2644 discounts its FY 2007 EPS of Rs 97.40 (based on its provisional financial performance) by a PE multiple of 27.

Sun Pharma to buy Israel’s Taro Pharma

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has signed definitive agreements to acquire Israel’s Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, for an all-cash deal of $454 million. The acquisition will be funded through internal accruals and proceeds from its earlier $350 million FCCB.

Taro Pharmaceutical is a multinational generic manufacturer with established subsidiaries, manufacturing and products across the U.S., Israel, Canada. North America represents more than 90% of Taro’s sates.

NSE Nifty strikes all-time high

At 10:08 IST, the Nifty was up 43.85 points, or 1%, to 4,258.35. It hit a high of 4,259.65 in early trades today, 21 May 2007, surpassing its previous all-time high of 4,245.30, which it had stuck on 8 February 2007.

The 30-share BSE 30-share Sensex was up 134 points to 1,4437. The Sensex is till about 287 points away from its all-time high of 14,723.88 that it had struck on 9 February 2007.

Bank shares extended last week’s gains due to easing of inflation worries. State Bank of India (SBI) moved up 1.5% to Rs 1346, ICICI Bank nearly 1% to Rs 960 and HDFC Bank 1.3% to Rs 1086.50.

India’s wholesale price index rose 5.44% in the 12 months to 5 May 2007, lower than the previous week’s increase of 5.66% due to a high base the year before, data showed on Friday, 18 May 2007. The annual inflation rate was 4.37% in the corresponding week of the previous year.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged up 1% to Rs 1717.90. The stock hit a new all-time peak of Rs 1720. The scrip shrugged off media reports it is likely to miss the June 2008 deadline for commercial production of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin. The delay is mainly due to late deliveries of deepwater drilling rigs by Transocean Inc. RIL is relying on these oil rigs to the start the commercial production of gas from the basin.

The market had surged last week ended 18 May 2007 on firm global markets and on reports that there will be early onset of monsoon. Rally in two bank shares SBI, ICICI Bank and in index heavyweight RIL aided the rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex 507.25 points, or 3.67%, to settle at 14303.41 in the week ended Friday, 18 May 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 137.85 points, or 3.3%, to 4214.50 in the week.

Nitin Fire Protection Oversubscribes 48 times

The IPO of Nitin Fire Protection Industries for which we had a subscribe recommendation was oversubscribed 48.48 times. Here is the breakup of subscription that we have obtained from the National Stock Exchange.

Institutional Quota was oversubscribed by 49.9106 times
High Networth Individual Quota was subscribed by 101.32 times
Retail Individual Investors Quota was subscribed by 30.297 times

All retail applications for 1 Lakh will be allotted in the ratio of 1:2. Grey Market Premium is Rs 45 as of Saturday. Good Luck!

ICICI Bullish on Tamilnadu Newsprint and Paper

Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Paper Ltd (TNPL) is one of the major players in the domestic paper industry. The company has embarked upon a massive capex to ride the demand-driven upswing in the sector. The first phase of capex will get completed by June 2007, making TNPL the first to bring its capex on-stream amongst peers undergoing technological upgrade. We believe these initiatives will place its key business matrices on a higher-thanindustry growth tragectory in the form of revenue and profit growth, aided by an expansion in margins. TNPL also plans to set up a mini cement plant and an IT park on its unused land to the west of Chennai.

At the current price of Rs 87, the stock discounts its FY08E EPS of Rs 16.87 by 5.16x. This is below its historical average of 8x. On a P/BV basis, it is available at 0.9x FY08E and on an EV/EBIDTA basis, at 4.89x FY08E earnings. ICICI rates the stock an Outperformer with a target price of Rs 135 at its historical average of 8x earnings. This is conservative considering the improving business fundamentals, rising efficiencies and better return ratios.