Daily Brief India: Trent Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Concord Biotech Ltd, Astral Ltd, India Shelter Finance, Lenovo and more

• NSE Indices has continued to use the current index methodology to come up with the 5 adds/deletes. The proposed methodology seems to be put on ice for reasons unknown.
• Punjab National Bank, Shriram Transport Finance, Trent, TVS Motor and Zydus Lifesciences will replace ACC, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, HDFC Asset Management, Indus Towers and Page Industries.
• The adds, deletes, capping and funding changes will result in one-way turnover of 13% and in a one-way trade of INR 20.77bn. The impact on the adds/deletes is big.

• Bajaj Finance (BAF) reported a strong Q1FY24 earnings, led by an all-time-high quarterly AUM growth of INR 22718cr. With this, BAF has upgraded its FY24 AUM growth guidance to 29-31%.
• AUM growth was aided by the highest ever new loans in a quarter. New loans booked at 9.94mm in Q1FY24 were up 34% YoY and 31%+ QoQ.
• Opex-To-NII has come down to 34.0% vs 35%+ earlier, led by operational leverage and deceleration in investments. This has helped the ROE to jump to 24.0% vs 23.1% YoY.

• Concord Biotech Ltd (658823Z IN) raised US$188m in its India IPO.
• Concord Biotech (Concord) is an India-based biopharma firm, which develops and manufactures fermentation-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
• In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.

• Astral Ltd (ASTRA IN) is a manufacturer of Chlorinated Poly Vinyl Chloride (CPVC) and Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) plumbing systems, catering to both residential and industrial applications. 
• The company offers a compelling narrative, propelled by the larger market trends of agriculture, housing, and market share expansion.
• Despite the confident growth outlook, the current valuation at 75x NTM appears relatively high. It might be prudent to await a more appealing entry opportunity.

• India Shelter Finance (0570670D IN) is looking to raise up to US$217m in its upcoming India IPO. The deal will be run by Ambit, Citigroup, ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra.
• India Shelter Finance (ISF) is a retail focused affordable housing finance company. Between FY21-23, the firm registered a two-year CAGR growth of 40.8% in terms of AUM, according to CRISIL. 
• Its target segment comprises self-employed customers, focusing on first time home loan takers in the low and middle income group in Tier II and Tier III cities in India. 

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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• Lenovo