Breaking News:
The management of Tata Motors have indicated that they will unlock the value of its subsidiaries – HV Transmissions Ltd and HV Axles Ltd through an IPO or sale to outside party.
After the London Investors Conference, Citi still maintains a BUY – Low Risk with a target price of Rs 1029 on the stock.
Management guided to a modest revival in truck sales into 2HFY08E, implying that overall sales for the fiscal should be flat, or register modest growth. Truck operators’ profitability remains healthy, despite the rise in interest rates. Freight rates also continue to remain stable.
Rs80bn will be deployed over the next 3 years to launch new platforms in passenger cars and trucks. The small car remains on schedule and will be launched in mid-CY08 (1HFY09E). Management stated that TAMO will start the process of demerging its subsidiaries by end FY08E – with HV Transmissions and HV Axles being the businesses to be initially listed.
12-month target price of Rs1,029 is based on a sum-of-parts valuation methodology. Tata Motors’ core business at Rs 827 / share, which is based on 9.2x FY08E EBITDA. The subsidiaries are valued at Rs201 / share.