EVERGEEN STOCKS

(A) Reliance Industries
Recommendation: Hold
Price target: Rs1, 215
Current market price: Rs1, 070

Key points

• Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)? S Q4FY2010 adjusted net income grew by 29.9% year on year (yoy) to Rs4, 710 crore, which is significantly below our and the street? S estimates. This is due to a lower-than-anticipated margin in the oil & gas business (on account of a higher-than-expected depletion rate for KG D-6 block) and a lower-than-expected gross refining margin (GRM) of USD7.5 per barrel for the refining business. However, at the operating level, the performance was much better and only marginally below the expectations. A large part of the swing in the net profit is due to a sudden jump in the depreciation charge, which went up to Rs3, 392 crore in Q4FY2010 as compared to Rs2, 795 crore in Q3FY2010.
• We have revised our earnings per share (EPS) estimate for FY2011 and FY2012 to incorporate: (1) the revision in our exchange rate assumption to Rs45 for FY2011 and Rs44 for FY2012, 2) a higher depreciation expenses, and 3) a slightly lower KG D-6 gas volume in FY2011. The negative impact of the above assumption is partially offset by higher petrochemical production volume and an increase in our GRM assumption for FY2012 to USD10.9 (we maintain our FY2011 GRM assumption at USD9.5 per barrel). Consequently, our revised EPS estimates now stand at Rs70.9 for FY2011 and Rs81.1 for FY2012.
• With strong demand for petroleum products, we expect the crack spreads for the middle distillates (especially gasoline and gas oil) to improve in the near to medium term. This coupled with a likely increase in the light heavy crude oil price differential at the level of USD2-3 per barrel, will help RIL to enhance its spread over the Singapore GRM. Further, RIL has signed up with Cairn for the supply of 55-60 barrel per day of cheaper Mangala crude and is also consuming KG D-6 gas for its refineries. Hence, we expect the GRM of the refining segment to improve strongly to USD9.5 per barrel in FY2011 and USD10.9 per barrel in FY2012 from USD6.6 per barrel in FY2010. We highlight that the additional supply of petroleum products on account of addition of new capacities would also remain under check due to closure of 1.43 million barrels per day (mbpd) of refining capacity.
• As per our expectation, the petrochemical segment reported a strong earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in Q4FY2010 with the EBIT margin increasing by 45 basis points on a sequential basis to14.4%. Although the petrochem margin has been strong (supported by delay in new capacity additions), we expect the same to narrow down slightly in the next few quarters due to significant capacity addition in the Middle East. In terms of the domestic market, we see strong demand coming in from agriculture, packaging, infrastructure and automobile sectors.
• The gas production from KG D-6 field averaged 60mmscmd in Q4FY2010 (which is close to the exit rate of Q3FY2010). The company has said that the design capacity of KG D-6 gas production facilities has achieved a flow rate of 80mmscmd. With the production volumes being tested by RIL, the production ramp is largely dependent upon the HVJ pipeline capacity expansion by GAIL (which is expected by October 2010). We have factored in a gas price of USD4.2 per mmbtu and a seven-year income tax holiday in our valuations and estimates.
• Although the company? S Q4FY2010 earnings were significantly below our estimate, we are more focused on the company? S strategy to utilise the huge cash flow (USD10-12 billion over FY2011-12E) that it is expected to generate over the next couple of years. The company? S recent acquisition of a 40% stake in Atlas Energy? S Marcellus Shale gas acreage is a small-ticket acquisition. Hence, we expect strong acquisition related news flow to continue in the near term, which would indicate towards the deployment of cash flow and the long-term growth prospects of the company.
• We maintain our price target of Rs1, 215 and Hold recommendation on the stock, as the company still faces uncertainties on: 1) the tax benefits on the natural gas business under section 80-IB (clarity still awaited), and (2) the gas pricing including the court case with Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL). At the current market price, the stock trades at a price / earnings ratio of 13.2x FY2012 earnings and an enterprise value (EV) / earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA) of 7.3x FY2012.

(B) Pantaloon Retail

Result highlights

• Pantaloon Retail? S Q3FY2010 top line grew by 25% year on year (yoy) to Rs2, 057 crore, which is in line with our expectation of Rs2, 050 crore. 71% (Rs1, 440 crore) of the turnover came from the value segment, whereas 29% (Rs628 crore) was chipped in by the lifestyle segment.
• As expected, discount offerings during the quarter (Sabse Saste 4 din) led the gross margin dilute by 90 basis points and 120 basis points on a quarter-on-quarter (qoq) and year-on-year (yoy) basis respectively to 29.1%? which is in line with our projection of 29.3%. The gross margin for the value retail segment stood at 25%, while that for the lifestyle segment came in at 38.9%
• The operating profit went up by 25% yoy to Rs216 crore, close to our projection of Rs215 crore. The value retail and the lifestyle segment registered an operating profit margin of 7.4% and 17.8% respectively.
• The profit after tax (PAT) registering a robust 63% yoy and 10% qoq growth to Rs56 crore came in slightly higher than our expectation of Rs54 crore. The bottom line growth was aided by strong operating performance coupled with lower finance cost during the quarter. The Future value subsidiary reported a profit of Rs23 crore (PAT at 1.6%), while the lifestyle segment earned Rs30 crore as profit during the quarter.
• During the quarter, the company dropped down its value retail business and transferred the same into a wholly-owned subsidiary? Future Value Retail. Hence it has reported results for the stand-alone Pantaloon Retail without incorporating the earnings of Future Value Retail segment. Further, the company proposes to evolve to a consolidated reporting from FY2011 to provide a holistic view of the performance.