Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

Sona Blw Precision Forgings Lt / Equity Capital Markets

Sona Comstar (Sona) aims to raise around US$761m in its Indian IPO. The company is backed by Blackstone, which held a 66.2% stake prior to listing.Sona is an automotive technology company, designing, manufacturing and supplying highly engineered, mission critical automotive systems and components to automotive OEMs across US, Europe, India and China, for both electrified and non-electrified powertrain segments.Sona delivered a steady performance in 2019 with revenue up 16.6% and PAT up 24.1%. However, its revenue fell by 14.5% in FY20, although it still managed to grow its PAT by 4%. It registered a strong bounce bank in FY21 with 28.4% revenue growth but PAT was flat.While the company enjoys a long customer relationship, its largest customers haven’t consistently grown their contribution to revenue over the past few years.We have covered the deal background in our earlier note, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/sona-comstar-pre-ipo-inconsistent-growth-patchy-disclosures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sona Comstar Pre-IPO - Inconsistent growth, patchy disclosures. </a>In this note, we will talk about the recent updates and run the deal through our ECM framework.

Sona Comstar (Sona) aims to raise around US$761m in its Indian IPO. The company is backed by Blackstone, which held a 66.2% stake prior to listing.Sona is an automotive technology company, designing, manufacturing and supplying highly engineered, mission critical automotive systems and components to automotive OEMs across US, Europe, India and China, for both electrified and non-electrified powertrain segments.Sona delivered a steady performance in 2019 with revenue up 16.6% and PAT up 24.1%. However, its revenue fell by 14.5% in FY20, although it still managed to grow its PAT by 4%. It registered a strong bounce bank in FY21 with 28.4% revenue growth but PAT was flat.While the company enjoys a long customer relationship, its largest customers haven’t consistently grown their contribution to revenue over the past few years.We have covered the deal background in our earlier note, Sona Comstar Pre-IPO - Inconsistent growth, patchy disclosures. In this note, we will talk about the recent updates and run the deal through our ECM framework.

Sona Comstar - Has Its Positives, but We Remain Unconvinced

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), HDFC Securities

HDFC Securities

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Equity Bottom-Up

Based on our assessment, replacement sales will account for ~50% (half) of total sales as penetration has already risen to quite an extent, particularly in north India. After having witnessed 10% CAGR in the past 15+ years, we believe that tractors growth will moderate to 5-6% over the next decade. Additionally, during this period, tractor penetration in the country increased to 45-50 tractors per 000 hectares, which is higher than the world average (~30). Meanwhile, Indias landholding remains highly fragmented, with 86% (majority) of the farmers owning under 2 hectares of land.<div class="content-highlight">Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.</div>

Based on our assessment, replacement sales will account for ~50% (half) of total sales as penetration has already risen to quite an extent, particularly in north India. After having witnessed 10% CAGR in the past 15+ years, we believe that tractors growth will moderate to 5-6% over the next decade. Additionally, during this period, tractor penetration in the country increased to 45-50 tractors per 000 hectares, which is higher than the world average (~30). Meanwhile, Indias landholding remains highly fragmented, with 86% (majority) of the farmers owning under 2 hectares of land.Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Autos: Into the twilight zone; single digit growth ahead

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

EM Autos are the 10th largest industry group weight among active EM managers, with average weights of 1.55%.  The more interesting metric however, is the extent to which Autos have become one of the largest industry level underweights across global EM.  The increased underweight has almost exclusively been driven by two stocks, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nio-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27399:1" rel="noopener">NIO Inc (NIO US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK</a>, with both seeing benchmark weights rise on the back of strong price increases.Such outright volatility has created a challenge for active managers who are benchmarked to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.   Namely, how do you position yourself in a prominent index component that rises 900% in the space of 12 months?  The temptation might be to add <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nio-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27399:1" rel="noopener">NIO Inc (NIO US)</a> to a portfolio to dampen some of that benchmark risk, and indeed we have seen that happening among managers with low active shares.However, so far, high active managers have remained on the sidelines, sticking instead with more established autos stocks of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kia-motors-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:156:1" rel="noopener">Kia Motors Corp (000270 KS)</a> , <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/geely-automobile-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:127:1" rel="noopener">Geely Auto (175 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hero-motocorp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2391:1" rel="noopener">Hero Motocorp (HMCL IN)</a>.  Therefore, there is very little peer group risk in avoiding either <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nio-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27399:1" rel="noopener">NIO Inc (NIO US)</a> or <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK)</a> .  In fact, if a high active manager decides to invest in either stock, it will represent an out-of-consensus long compared to the majority of your active peers.

EM Autos are the 10th largest industry group weight among active EM managers, with average weights of 1.55%.  The more interesting metric however, is the extent to which Autos have become one of the largest industry level underweights across global EM.  The increased underweight has almost exclusively been driven by two stocks, NIO Inc (NIO US) and BYD (1211 HK, with both seeing benchmark weights rise on the back of strong price increases.Such outright volatility has created a challenge for active managers who are benchmarked to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.   Namely, how do you position yourself in a prominent index component that rises 900% in the space of 12 months?  The temptation might be to add NIO Inc (NIO US) to a portfolio to dampen some of that benchmark risk, and indeed we have seen that happening among managers with low active shares.However, so far, high active managers have remained on the sidelines, sticking instead with more established autos stocks of Kia Motors Corp (000270 KS) , Geely Auto (175 HK) and Hero Motocorp (HMCL IN).  Therefore, there is very little peer group risk in avoiding either NIO Inc (NIO US) or BYD (1211 HK) .  In fact, if a high active manager decides to invest in either stock, it will represent an out-of-consensus long compared to the majority of your active peers.

EM Autos Underweight:  Ignore Benchmark Risk and Focus on Peers

Indian Accounting Research Analyst, Trudence Capital Advisors

Nitin Mangal

Indian Accounting Research Analyst

Trudence Capital Advisors

Trudence Capital Advisors Private Limited is a SEBI-registered Research Analyst, holding SEBI registration number INH000015747. Our firm is dedicated to providing independent and unbiased research on Indian mid to large-cap companies. Trudence Capital is known for its counter-consensus views, with a focus on forensic research and on-ground primary investigations. Our research approach is thorough, involving detailed analysis of accounting practices and governance, alongside extensive channel checks.

Independent & Unbiased Research

Shares of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mahindra-mahindra-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16441:1" rel="noopener">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra (MM IN)</a> rallied cloud-high in last few months. The scrip may have gone gaga recently, but the rational is probably mundane and lacking any sanity. While we had highlighted in our last insight, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/mahindra-and-mahindra-refurbished-but-still-fragile" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:45475" rel="noopener">Mahindra and Mahindra: Refurbished but Still Fragile</a> that still several loopholes exist, even when the new management had decided to bring a structural change to the company.
This insight is rather a brief update to the previous one where we touch upon capital allocation in general and why the 18% ROE dream is still far fetched.

Shares of Mahindra &amp; Mahindra (MM IN) rallied cloud-high in last few months. The scrip may have gone gaga recently, but the rational is probably mundane and lacking any sanity. While we had highlighted in our last insight, Mahindra and Mahindra: Refurbished but Still Fragile that still several loopholes exist, even when the new management had decided to bring a structural change to the company.
This insight is rather a brief update to the previous one where we touch upon capital allocation in general and why the 18% ROE dream is still far fetched.

Equity L/S Analyst | Forensic Accounting | India, Yellowstone Equity

Ankit Agrawal, CFA

Equity L/S Analyst | Forensic Accounting | India

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mahindra-mahindra-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16441:1" rel="noopener">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra (MM IN)</a> reported its Q3FY21 earnings yesterday. It reported strong results in its core farm equipment and automotive segments. M&amp;M also announced progress around its capital allocation assessment, with most of the restructuring and reorganizing coming to an end. It has been also able to turnaround its international auto and farm equipment businesses and by FY22, these businesses are projected to curtail their losses significantly. With investment in Ssangyong written down and its operations discontinued going forward, it will no longer be consolidated and further losses from it are unlikely.
Rural demand remains upbeat suggesting that M&amp;M's earnings has potential to remain on an upward trajectory, led by growth levers across its core segments - Tractors, Farm Machinery and SUVs.

Mahindra &amp; Mahindra (MM IN) reported its Q3FY21 earnings yesterday. It reported strong results in its core farm equipment and automotive segments. M&amp;M also announced progress around its capital allocation assessment, with most of the restructuring and reorganizing coming to an end. It has been also able to turnaround its international auto and farm equipment businesses and by FY22, these businesses are projected to curtail their losses significantly. With investment in Ssangyong written down and its operations discontinued going forward, it will no longer be consolidated and further losses from it are unlikely.
Rural demand remains upbeat suggesting that M&amp;M's earnings has potential to remain on an upward trajectory, led by growth levers across its core segments - Tractors, Farm Machinery and SUVs.

M&M: Q3FY21 Earnings Update - Capital Allocation Assessment and Restructuring Almost Complete

India

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. manufactures automobiles, farm equipment and automotive components. The Company's automobile products include light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, jeep type vehicles and passenger cars. Mahindra & Mahindra also manufactures agricultural tractors, agricultural implements, internal combustion engines, industrial petrol engines, spare parts and machine tools.

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Mahindra & Mahindra (MM IN)

Sona Comstar - Has Its Positives, but We Remain Unconvinced

Sona Comstar aims to raise around US$761m in its Indian IPO. The company is backed by Blackstone, which held a 66.2% stake prior to listing.

Sumeet Singh

Autos: Into the twilight zone; single digit growth ahead

Based on our assessment, replacement sales will account for ~50% (half) of total sales as penetration has already risen to quite an extent,...

HDFC Securities

EM Autos Underweight: Ignore Benchmark Risk and Focus on Peers

EM Autos have become one of the largest industry level underweights across global EM. The increased underweight has almost exclusively been driven...

Steven Holden

Mahindra and Mahindra: Fizzing Up

M&M capital allocation dream is farfetched given its current business operations. All other business portfolios except FES and Thar, seem weak....

Nitin Mangal

M&M: Q3FY21 Earnings Update - Capital Allocation Assessment and Restructuring Almost Complete

With capital allocation rejig and restructuring completed for the most part, M&M has bootstrapped itself to become more agile and leaner to support...

Ankit Agrawal, CFA

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