Daily Brief India: Bajaj Finance Ltd, Cello World Limited, Tata Motors Ltd, Honasa Consumer , Vedanta Resources, Agile Property Holdings and more

• Bajaj Finance Ltd (BAF IN) , one of India’s largest NBFCs, aims to raise around US$1bn via a QIP.
• Bajaj Finance is an NBFC offering auto, consumer and home loans, along with other products as well.
• In this note, we run the deal through our ECM framework and talk about the deal dynamics.

• Cello World raised around US$230m in its India IPO and will begin trading soon.
• Cello World (CW) is an Indian consumer products company. The firm is a leading company in the consumerware market in India.
• In our previous notes, we looked at the company’s past performance and valuations. In this note, we will talk about the demand and trading dynamics

Tata Motors has released Q2/23-24 results that significantly outperformed expectations. Revenue grew 32% y-o-y to INR 105 k cr. Reported EBITDA surged 86% to INR 14.4 k cr, with the margin expanding 430 bps to 14.9%. Automotive FCF was INR 3.9 k cr, up INR 2.9 k cr. Jaguar Land Rover and the Commercial Vehicle segment in India recorded robust growth and profits, while Q2 was a transition quarter for the Passenger Vehicle segment.

• Honasa Consumer (Honasa IN) raised about US$200m in its India IPO.
• HC’s product portfolio includes products in the baby care, face care, body care, hair care, color cosmetics and fragrances segments.
• In our previous note, we looked at the company’s past performance and valuations. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.

Vedanta Ltd (VEDL) has released puzzling Q2/23-24 results. The oil & gas segment recorded a huge y-o-y jump in earnings during the quarter, for no apparent reason. In our view, the lack of explanation and attribution for the unexpectedly large earnings jump is very strange, compounded by the timing of the call (on a weekend, when fewer analysts would have attended). It is unclear if VEDL has made an accounting error, or if this was an attempt to put itself in a more positive light to gain better access to capital. This is a crucial period for the group, with parent Vedanta Resources (VRL) facing significant debt maturities in the next two years (USD 3 bn, with the nearest being the USD 1 bn maturing in January 2024). The results have increased our scepticism of the group’s financial reporting.

We move our recommendation on the VEDLN notes to “Not Recommended” from “Hold”.

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.

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