APM Industries - Rs.36.00

Established in 1974, APM Industries Ltd. (APM) belongs to the Rajgarhia Group with diverse interests in textiles, refractories, papers, finance, alumina products etc. The company is led by Mr. R K Rajgarhia, chairman & managing director and the promoters have proved their mettle by making Orient Abrasives, a group company, as India’s largest manufacturer of Calcined and Fused Alumina products. APM, too, grown constantly since inception and is today a well-known name in the textile yarn industry. It is mainly engaged in manufacturing and marketing of synthetic and blended yarn like polyester/viscose, acrylic yarn etc. It sells its yarn under the brand ‘Orient Syntex’. APM’s manufacturing facility is located at Bhiwadi in Alwar district of Rajasthan with its head office in Kolkata and corporate office in Delhi. Thus it has presence in North, West and the East.

From a modest beginning with few spindles and limited capacity, APM today has an installed capacity of over 40,000 spindles. Due to its constant modernisation and increased productivity, its capacity was raised from 37952 to 41984 spindles in FY04, to 43136 spindles in FY05. Currently, APM is implementing a capex plan under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), wherein the spindlage will stand enhanced to 48320 spindles within this fiscal. The company also has a captive power plant of around 5 MW but due to the rise in fuel oil price it alternatively buys power from Rajasthan State Electricity Board. Recently, the company entered the export market in a small way but intends to increase its presence in coming years. For the domestic market, it has been regularly developing new products for exporters of fabrics, furnishings and fancy yarn.

Fundamentally, the company is quite strong and has not diluted equity since more than a decade. On a tiny equity of Rs.4.32 cr., it has huge reserves of Rs.28 cr. leading to a whopping book value of Rs.75. Its gross block stands at Rs.92 cr. against which it provides depreciation of Rs.5.50 cr. As on 31st March’06, its total debt was Rs.45 cr. whereas it had an inventory of Rs.20 cr. For so many years, the promoters have maintained their stake above 66%, which is a good indication. For the six months ending 30th September’06, sales grew marginally by 6% to Rs.76 cr. but net profit zoomed 90% to Rs.2.90 cr. on the back of lower interest cost. This means it already clocked an EPS of Rs.7 for the first half. However on a conservative note, APM may end FY07 with a turnover of Rs.155 cr. and net profit of Rs.4.25 cr. Hence with an expected EPS of Rs.10 and CEPS of Rs.23, the scrip is trading extremely cheap even in this all time high market. Although the dividend payout is low, the company has been paying uninterrupted dividend since the last 12 years. A pure bargain hunt, this scrip is bound to double in a 12-15 months.

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Zenith Fibres Ltd. (Code:514266) (Rs.27.05) is the only company in India manufacturing the entire range of polypropylene staple fibre which is extensively used in filter grade fabrics, flooring and automobile carpets, geotextiles, knitted materials, thermal- bonded fabrics, hygiene products, construction industry etc. It is also into spinning and marketing of 100% polypropylene yarn. Last week, it came out with decent set of numbers for Sept’06 quarter registering 25% increase in sales at Rs.9 cr. and net profit grew by 30% to Rs.0.75 cr. Interestingly, the company is doling out hefty dividend at a payout ratio of more than 35% since the last four years. For FY06, it gave 15% dividend, which works to a whopping yield 6% at CMP. For FY07, it is expected to clock a turnover of Rs.32 cr. and net profit of Rs.2.20 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.4 on its equity of Rs.5.10 cr. With a current market cap of Rs.13 cr. and huge dividend yield, it’s a pure value buy.

In the current overheated market, Ador Fontech (Code:530431) (Rs.84.10) is among the safest and risk-free engineering scrip with a great dividend yield as well. Its 52-week high/low is Rs.151/Rs.75 and is currently trading around Rs.85. With Rs.4 as dividend, the yield works out to around 5% and the downside is almost negligible. Its user industry segments such as steel, metallurgical complexes, mining, cement, power etc. have ambitious expansion plans, which augur well for the company. For the Sept’06 quarter, both its turnover and net profit grew by 15% to Rs.19.50 cr. and Rs.1.20 cr. respectively reporting a quarterly EPS of Rs.3.40. To maintain growth, the company is constantly adding new customers and new products and services needed by them. Hence for FY07, it can clock a turnover of around Rs.80 cr. and profit of Rs.4 cr., which leads to an EPS of Rs.12 on its tiny equity of Rs.3.50 cr. The scrip can easily appreciate by 50% in a year’s time.

On the back of robust demand, paper prices are ruling high and another price hike is around the corner with BILT having already raised paper prices by Rs.300-1000 per tonne. Rama Paper (Code:500357) (Rs.30.15) has recently increased its capacity to 44500 TPA by adding some balancing equipment and has plans to augment it further to 79500 TPA. For the September’06 quarter, sales improved by 20% to Rs.22 cr. whereas PBT increased by 80% to Rs.2.90 cr. It is also in the process of installing a 6 MW power plant for captive consumption, which will reduce its power cost substantially. For the full year FY07, it may report sales of Rs.90 cr. with net profit of Rs.8 cr., which means an EPS of Rs.11 on its equity of Rs.7.60 cr. It is also expected to return to the dividend paying list from FY07. With 52-week high/low as Rs.44/Rs.20 and a market cap of merely Rs.21 cr., it is available extremely cheap and can double in 9-12 months. A screaming buy!

Gujarat Apollo Equipment (Code:522217) (Rs.167.65) is a leading manufacturer of Asphalt based road construction & maintenance equipment and produces the entire range like Asphalt plants, soil stabilization plants, indirect heating equipment, paver finisher, bitumen sprayer, rollers, kerb paver and road maintenance equipments like milling machines and recycling machines. It has reported encouraging numbers for September’06 quarter. Sales jumped by 35% to Rs.29 cr. and net profit has spurted by 50% to Rs.3.60 cr. On half-yearly basis, the picture is much rosier with Sales improving by 60% to Rs.63 cr. and net profit zooming by 80% to Rs.6.80 cr. The company, in technical collaboration with Wheelaborator Clean Water Systems of USA, controls 60% of the market segment in which it operates. With a healthy order book position, it may end FY07 with top-line of Rs.140 cr. and bottom-line of Rs.14 cr. i.e. an EPS of Rs.20 on its equity of Rs.7 cr. Assuming a reasonable discounting by 14, its share price can shoot upto Rs.280. If finalized, its 1:2 right issue at Rs.100 will be icing on the cake.

Recently, Syncom Formulation (Code:524470) (Rs.48.95) came out with satisfactory set of numbers. Sales grew by 17% to Rs.17 cr. but net profit dipped by 9% to Rs.1.85 cr. due to lower margin. The expansion cum modernisation being carried out at its Pithampur plant is almost complete. Meanwhile, the company is now focusing more on the domestic market and has set up a new sales division in the name of ‘Cratus Life Care’. For the full year FY07, it can register sales of Rs.65 cr. with net profit of Rs.5.50 cr. This works to an EPS of Rs.9 on its fully-diluted equity of Rs.5.92 cr. It has an interrupted track record of dividend for the last 10 years and has paid 15% for FY06. Earlier, the company had raised capital through preferential allotment of shares at Rs.90 and Rs.102 and recently at Rs.54. The scrip has bottomed out at current levels and the risk of further downfall is negligible.

Coral Laboratories Ltd.- Rs.129.00

Incorporated as a private limited company in 1981 and converted into public limited company in 1993 Coral Laboratories Ltd. (CLL), is today one of the well-known pharmaceutical companies engaged in manufacturing of various formulations in capsules, dry syrup, tablets, liquid orals, special diagnostic kits, ointments, cream, injections, eye/ear drops etc. catering to inflammatory, bacterial, biotic, protein deficiencies & skin conditions. Its medicines are marketed as ‘Zest’ and ‘Moxbro’ brands. CLL eventually intends to become a global player and has already registered its products in Srilanka, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Combodia, Vietnam Lesotho and is in the process of registering its the products in 30 other countries including Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Philippines, Myanmar, Ukraine, South Africa etc to increase its international presence.

CLL has state-of-the-art manufacturing plants at Baroda, Daman & Vasai for strategic convenience. All its facilities are WHO-GMP certified and carry ISO 9001:2000 certification. It has already completed the expansion of its Daman plant and has recently started marketing on its own with 200 trained field force, to make its presence stronger in western and eastern parts of India. For future growth, the company is implementing a huge expansion of Rs.28 cr. in a phased manner. Under Project I, it has acquired 80,000 sq. ft. of plot in Dehradun and has set up a UK MHRA and US FDA compliant formulations plant, which will enable the company to enter into the regulatory export markets of developed countries. Its project II for manufacture of 'Betalactum' will be completed by December’06 and Project III for 'Injectables' will commence production by June’07. Moreover, CLL is looking for joint ventures, contract manufacturing, manufacturing under neutral labels, acquisitions and mergers. Notably, it has already done contract manufacturing for ACI Pharma - USA and Medicale Pharmaceutique- France for their exports.

The company has once again come out with outstanding results for September’06 quarter. Sales increased by 60% to Rs.9.50 cr. and net profit shot up by 70% to Rs.2.35 cr. On a half-yearly basis, it reported a net profit of Rs.4.15 cr., which is equal to its full year FY06 profit. Interestingly, its OPM has improved to 30% this fiscal compared to 26% last year. Assuming the same performance for the second half, the company can clock a turnover of Rs.35 cr. and profit of Rs.8.50 cr. This works out to an EPS of Rs.24 on its small equity of Rs.3.60 cr. Hence, the scrip is trading a P/E ratio of merely 5. However, to finance its future expansion, the company is planning to raise capital via equity route, which will dilute its equity going forward. Its share price is hitting non stop upper circuits since last the few days. So investors are advised to but a declines or sharp dips only with a price target of Rs.180 in 15-18 months.

Tulsyan NEC Ltd. - Rs.47.00

Established in 1947, Tuslyan NEC Ltd. (TNL) is engaged in the production of TMT bars, billets and synthetic products such as polywoven sacks/bags and fabrics. TMT bars meet the demand of construction for housing/infrastructure sectors and polywoven sacks/bags meet the demand for packing of cement/sugar/fertilizers and other bulk packing requirements. The raw material for making bars is scrap, sponge iron and alloys whereas for woven sacks it is HDPE/PP granules, which are available in abundance within the country and can also be freely imported. With almost six decades of presence in the industry, TNL has earned a good name for its commitment to quality and timely supply. At one time, it was the largest manufacturer of HDPE Woven Sacks in South India and among the top 5 in the country.

TNL’s manufacturing facility is spread across Karnataka and Tamilnadu having an installed capacity of 72,000 MTPA of steel rods and 12,000 TPA of woven sacks/bags. Last fiscal, the company took a Rolling Mill on lease having a production capacity of 36000 MTPA in Coimbatore, which has enabled the billet plant to operate at its full capacity. And to meet the increasing demand, installing a new Rolling Mill with a having capacity of 1,50,000 MTPA at Gummudipoondi, Tamil Nadu. Incidentally, the company’s Jumbo bag i.e. 2 tonnes capacity bag is witnessing massive demand from international markets. And due to the strong growth in the industrial & infrastructure sectors in India, the demand for its HDPE/PP woven sacks & FIBC are also very encouraging. TNL has already expanded the capacity of its woven sack to 17,000 tonnes and is further taking it to 22,500 tonnes per year. It is also looking at entering into food packaging, conductive bags and lumber packing segments. In future, it has plans to become an integrated player by setting up a 200 tonnes per day sponge iron plant along with a captive 6 MW power plant. To increase its market share, the company is constantly enhancing its customer base and is now catering to the markets in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala and Karnataka.

Fundamentally, the company is quite strong having a good dividend track record and reserves of more than Rs.25 cr. leading to a book value of around Rs.60. For FY06, its performance was more or less flat with sales and net profit of Rs.328 cr. and Rs.4 cr. respectively. But it reported stellar performance for the first half of FY07. For the 6 months ending 30th September’06, both its sales and PBT increased by whopping 50% to Rs.195 cr. and Rs.4.25 cr. respectively. For the full year FY07, it is expected to report sales of Rs.400 cr. and PAT of Rs.6 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.12 on its small equity of Rs.5 cr. At a reasonable discounting by of times, the scrip has the potential to touch Rs.75 (50% appreciation) in 12-15 months.

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Ahlcon Parenterals Ltd. (Code: 524448) (Rs.60) is engaged in the manufacturer of life saving intravenous fluids and medical disposals including Dextrose, Saline, Electrolytes, Amino Acids, Fat Emulsion, Blood Substitutes, Small Volume Injectables, Eye Drops etc. For September’06 quarter, its sales improved by 20% to Rs.18.50 cr. and net profit spurted by 45% to Rs.2.80 cr. posting an EPS of Rs.3.80 for the quarter. The company is in the process for setting up a new project to double its production capacities by 2007-08. Its state-of-the-art testing facility and formulation development lab has become operational and many new formulations are likely to be added in the near future. Exports are expected to shoot up as registrations of products in more than 15 countries are in progress in both regulated and unregulated markets. For FY07, it can report top-line of Rs.55 cr. and net profit of Rs.9 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.12 on its equity of Rs.7.20 cr. A good bet for the medium to long-term.

In the last few years, Micro Technologies (Code: 532494) (Rs.209.45) has developed a wide range of security and IT products leveraging over various technology platforms such as embedded software, web-based and client server applications. Some of its focus areas comprise Security, E-commerce, Telecommunications, Wireless Technology, GIS, disaster management etc. For the September quarter, it reported very encouraging numbers with sales increasing by 70% to Rs.26 cr. while the whereas net profit doubled to Rs.7.40 cr. Recently, it flagged off its first consignment of Home Security System ‘Micro HSS’ to UAE and also won the got approval of the from Chief Controller of Explosives for its Vehicle Security Product which will boost its top-line in coming quarters. For the full year 2007, it may report total revenue of Rs.100 cr. and PAT of Rs.25 cr. This works out to an EPS of Rs.24 on its current equity of Rs.10.50 cr. A company operating in a niche segment surely deserves much better valuation and its share price can easily appreciate 50% from the current level. Patience is the key.

Most engineering and capital goods companies are discounted at rich valuations of over 20 times. But International Combustion (Code: 505737) (Rs.347.15) is available at a single digit P/E ratio. It reported encouraging numbers for the September’06 quarter. Sales grew by 30% to Rs.20 cr. and net profit increased by 65% to Rs.2.20 cr. To meet the growing demand, an expansion programme for augmenting the manufacturing capacity of the Gear Box/Geared Motor Division has been initiated. It is also upgrading the manufacturing capacity of the Heavy Engineering Division. Under licence from Ecutec, Spain, it has started manufacturing Microfine Classifiers, which has a strong market potential and is expected to make a major contribution in the future years. For FY07, it may clock a turnover of Rs.90 cr. with and net profit of Rs.8.50¬9.00 cr., which will result in an EPS of Rs.35 on its tiny equity of Rs.2.50 cr. With huge reserves of Rs.28 cr. on such a small equity, the scrip is ripe for a bonus as well.

In the textile sector, Winsome Textiles (Code: 514470) (Rs.48.25) has declared mind-blowing numbers for the September’06 quarter. Its sales grew by 25% to Rs.37 cr. but net profit skyrocketed by 250% to Rs.3.20 cr. reporting an EPS of Rs.5.40 for the quarter. For the first half, it has already clocked sales of Rs.71 cr. and the net profit of Rs.6 cr. is a substantially more than full year FY06 profit. This works out to an EPS of Rs.10 for 6 months. For future growth, the company has undertaken a modernisation cum expansion project to add 13000 spindles, 10 tonnes/day dyeing, 2.50 MW Hydro Power Plant along with complete replacement of old ring frames at a capex of Rs.117 cr. Hence, it may end FY07 with sales of Rs.150 cr. and net profit of Rs.8 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.14 on its small equity of Rs.5.87 cr. With cash EPS of Rs.24 and book value of Rs.55, this scrip is available damn cheap and has the potential to rise 50% even from the current level. Just buy and hold.

Peptides are aggressively emerging as a chemical compound potential area around which biotechnological and pharmaceutical research will be centered and the number of peptide drugs in advanced clinical trials has increased quite substantially with application ranging from analgesics to anti-cancer drugs. Jupiter Bioscience (Code: 524826) (Rs.111.90) being an integrated manufacturer of peptides is in a unique position to capitalize the demand for peptide raw materials as well as finished products. For September’06 quarter, the company has announced satisfactory results with single digit growth in sales and net profit to Rs.20 cr. and Rs.5 cr. respectively. To fund the company’s growth plans, the promoters are infusing their own money to the tune of Rs.40 cr. by subscribing to 27.50 lakh warrants to be converted into equity shares at Rs.146 per share, which establishes the promoters confidence in the company’s future prospects. This scrip is a pure multi-bagger if held for 3 years at least.