Vinay Cements - Rs.29.00

Incorporated in 1986, Vinay Cements Ltd. (VCL) is the flagship company of the BK Bowri group, which is a leading cement manufacturer in North East India. In fact, it is among the top three players in the region since inception. Its brand name ‘Vinay’ is the largest local cement brand with a market-share of 8% in the region. Importantly, VCL has its own captive mines for cement grade limestones. Since, the company has an installed capacity of only 2,40,000 TPA, it enjoys the status of mini-cement plant with exemption from payment of excise duty. Interestingly, the north eastern market doesn’t have many cement plants and most of the demand is met by importing cement from other nearby states like U.P., MP, Bihar or Orissa.

VCL’s manufacturing facility is the first Fuller Technology based plant incorporating state-of-the-art process control systems for manufacturing both Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Pozzolana Portland Cement (PPC). In FY06, it produced little more than 1 lakh tonnes against an installed capacity of 2.40 lakh tonnes translating into capacity utlization of less than 50%. This means that it has the potential to double its sales without any major capital expenditure. Secondly, the company along with others has promoted a new company called Calcom Cement India Ltd to set up a greenfield cement project of 1.5 million TPA at Chachar in Assam at an investment of about Rs.414 cr. And VCL being a promoter company holds around 59 lakh equity shares of Calcom at an investment of Rs.6 cr. and has also provided corporate guarantee to some extent. This project in itself will be a state-of-the-art cement plant and the biggest cement plant in the North-East and is expected to commence operation by mid-2007.

Due to higher price realisation and better capacity utilisation, VCL is performing extremely well and has reported stunning numbers for H1FY07. However, the major part of the PAT is contributed by other income which it earns as incentives, royalties etc. Notably, the company has paid off all its loans and is currently a 100% debt-free company although it has cash-credit facility with UTI Bank. With huge reserves of Rs.23 cr., the book value of its share stands at Rs.33. For FY07, it is estimated to report a turnover of Rs.55 cr. with net profit of Rs.5.50 cr. leading to an EPS of Rs.6 on its equity of Rs.10 cr. Its long-term prospects are very encouraging along with the hidden value in Calcom Cement. However the other income aspect, huge debtor outstanding of Rs.16 cr. and contingent liability to the tune of Rs.25 cr. is a cause of concern. Investors can buy it at dips with a price target of Rs.45-50 in 12-15 months