India: Adani Wilmar, PVR Ltd, Phillips Carbon Black, Kajaria Ceramics, SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd and more

• Adani Wilmar (6596700Z IN) is a leading FMCG food company in India. It is set to launch an IPO to raise Rs36,000 million ($483 million) at a price of Rs218-230.
• The business is navigating the high commodity prices by delivering high growth (price increases) and creditable margin performance in face of higher raw material costs. 
• Overall, this IPO is worth a closer look. The offer period is from 27 to 31 January. The shares will be listed on 8 February.   

• PVR Ltd (PVRL IN) ‘s December performance on ATP and SHP was very encouraging. If the trend sustains we believe the earnings recovery would be much faster than anticipated. 
• New trends in content consumption, strong content pipeline and truce with OTT players make a case for a solid recovery for the Industry.
• PVR has historically traded at an average of 11.4x EV/EBITDA. Based on our current estimates and conservative 10.5x multiple, there is a return potential of >20% from these levels.

• Maintain FY22-23 estimates and BUY
• 3Q22 sales supported by exports
• Speciality black to continue to drive ASP increase
• Valuation undemandingMention this in the para and mention what’s it trading at versus peers; Low emissions

It has doubled its Capex run-rate FY22 onwards to expand capacities, all through internal accruals. It expects its margin to rebound on full benefit of the price hikes taken in Q3 and if gas prices stabilise around current levels. We reiterate our BUY rating on Kajaria Ceramics (KJC), with an unchanged target price of INR1,450/sh (21x its Dec-23E consolidated EBITDA). KJC reported robust growth across tiles, bathware, and ply segments, riding on both healthy demand and market share gains, which drove its revenue by 27% YoY.

Mphasis: With continued momentum in the direct business (+9% QoQ CC) and healthy deal wins (eight consecutive quarter of TCV> USD 200mn), we reiterate Mphasis (MPHL) as our preferred pick in the mid-tier IT space. MPHL’s growth is expected to be driven by (1) expansion in the direct business (organic +6.3% QoQ); (2) strong traction in BFSI vertical (increase in tech spend by global banks); (3) continued growth in the top-10 accounts (+9.5% QoQ); (4) increasing share/size of large deal wins (signed four large deal wins in Q3 with one at USD 92mn in healthcare); (5) Blink acquisition, which is aiding new deal wins (two synergy deal wins); and (6) better growth alignment with hyperscalers.