Paramount Communication - Rs.142.00

Established in 1978, Paramount Communication Ltd. (PCL) is among the top manufacturers of cables in the country having developed a huge variety of specialised cables and wires required in virtually all the sectors of the economy viz. telecommunication, space research, thermal & nuclear power plants, railways, petrochemicals, fertilizers, steel, electronics and various other industries. It produces the entire range of telecommunication cables including optical fibre cables, foam skin/ solid PE insulated multi-pair/ multi-quad jelly filled cables, aerial cables, telecom installation cables, coaxial cables, drop wires etc. It also manufactures cables for the power and industrial sector including control cables, signal (instrumentation) cables, thermocouple compensating cables, LT (low tension) power cables, railway signalling cables, railway axle counter cables, fire resistant low smoke cables, fire survival cables etc. It also offers a wide range of optical fibre cables (single mode and multi mode) including armoured aerial, unarmoured, all dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) cable and has recently started manufacturing optical fibre direct to home (DTH) cables. PCL is the single largest supplier of cables to Indian Railways.

PCL currently has three cable manufacturing facilities, two in Rajasthan and one in Haryana. Its Haryana unit has a capacity of 3.85 million conductor km of polythene insulated jelly filled telephone cables per annum, which is among the largest manufacturing capacities at a single location in India. Its optical fibre cable plant at Khushkhera in Rajasthan has the capacity to produce more than 16000 cable km per annum of OFC in assorted sizes/types. Its third plant, which also produces power and railways cables is its main plant and has been the foundation for its success. Currently, it has the capacity to produce 25000 km of low tension and 1500 km of high-tension power cables. All its manufacturing facilities conform to the most demanding national and international specifications like: ITD, TEC, IRS, JSS, DGMS, BS, IEC, ASTM, DIN etc. In view of the massive investments in infrastructure, power, railways and the industrial sector, the company is undergoing aggressive expansion. It has recently completed the first phase of expansion by setting up additional capacity of 5,000 km of LT power/railway cables and 1,500 km HT power cables with at an investment of Rs.15 cr. It is further expanding its LT power cable facility to 55,000 kms and HT power cable capacity to 3,500 kms in the second phase to be completed by end of this year.

The cable industry in India is witnessing good growth in demand from infrastructure investments in the power sector, modernization and upgradation of the railway network, revived requirement of telecom cables and large investments in new projects/ capacity expansion by the industrial sector all of which augurs well for PCL. For FY06, its sales increased by 100% to Rs.196 cr. whereas net profit stood at Rs.22 cr. compare to Rs.1.30 cr. last year. To fund its expansion, PCL recently raised around US $15 million through a GDR issue priced at Rs.198 per share. Considering its healthy order book position, PCL may end FY07 with a top-line of Rs.325 cr. and net profit of Rs.35 cr. This works out to an EPS of Rs.32 on its current equity of Rs.10.87 cr. or diluted EPS of Rs.21 on its fully diluted equity of 16.87 cr. With a 52 week high above Rs.300, the scrip has the potential to easily rise by 50% in next 9-12 months. Buy on declines.

Easun Reyrolle - Rs.475.00

Established in 1980, Easun Reyrolle Ltd (ERL) is a joint venture of Easun group-India and Va Tech Reyrolle-U.K. a part of Va Tech group-Austria, the world's third largest T & D company. Easun group has been in the field of power engineering for over six decades offering virtually all vital components for a substation. Starting as a producer of electro-mechanical discrete relays, ERL has today emerged as a strong and independent solution provider in the areas of power system protection, control, automation, metering and switching segments and offers its customers in India and abroad, the state-of-the-art technology and efficient customer support. Whether it be in power generation, transmission, distribution or utility, ERL offers products, system, solutions and services to manage these segments with reliability, efficiency and safety.

The company has three manufacturing plants in India located at Hosur, Bangalore and Chennai, which incorporate modern production facilities and the latest test equipment. Presently its traditional business, which consists of power systems and power protections solutions contribute about 80% of the total revenues while power automation, metering and switchgears contribute the rest. Interestingly, the company is a strong competitor for MNCs like ABB, Siemens and Areva (Alstom) etc. In line with the market trend and moving up the value chain, ERL has recently ventured into a new business area i.e. construction of projects on turnkey basis under which it will mainly concentrate on substation projects and power system automation project which has high potential in coming years. Moreover, it is setting up a 45,000 sq ft world class manufacturing facility at Hosur for medium voltage switchgear with an investment of Rs.12 cr. This will be further expanded to 75,000 sq ft later on.

Fundamentally, the company is quite strong and with the government stressing on National Rural Electricity Infrastructure and Household Electrification Programmes to provide access to electricity to all rural households in five years the future looks very promising for the company. For FY06, its turnover grew by 100% to Rs.106 cr. whereas the NP increased 270% to Rs.13 cr. resulting an EPS of Rs.39 on its tiny equity of Rs.3.33 cr. It has reported healthy numbers for the June’06 quarter as well. For FY07, it may register a topline of Rs.120 cr. and bottom-line of Rs.15 cr. i.e. an EPS of Rs.48. Hence at a single digit PE, scrip is trading grossly cheap compare to its peers. Importantly, Siemens is interested in acquiring this company and has probably bought the 23.54% stake held by Va Tech Hydo GMBH. Siemens was to make an open offer for 20% but the ERL board opposed the open offer, as it did not wanting Seimens to takeover. The fact that Siemens is eyeing the company gives a clue to its value in the electrical power space. Investors are strongly recommended to buy it at current levels or at declines and hold it for 2-3 yrs at least to reap a windfall profit.

STOCK WATCH

Thirumalai Chemicals (Code: 500412) (Rs.137.50) has world scale plants for manufacturing diverse products including Pthalic Anhydride (PAN), Maleic Anhydride (MAN), Fumaric Acid, Food Acids etc. From this fiscal, the company has changed its marketing strategy and now enters contract for regular supply on a pre-determined formula basis to its customers. This has improved its capacity utilization and led to higher sales volume leading to economies of scale. For June’06 quarter, it reported stunning numbers whereby net sales increased 110% to Rs.143 cr. and it posted a net profit of Rs.9.80 cr. compared to a net loss of Rs.2.25 cr. last year. This is in spite of higher tax provisioning of Rs.5 cr. For the current full year, it may report sales of Rs.450 cr. with net profit of Rs.25 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.24 on an equity of Rs.10.25 cr. However, fluctuating raw material cost is a concern, which may dent its profit if it rises significantly going forward.

Under license from Bauer-Germany, International Combustion (Code: 505737) (Rs.235) offers a comprehensive range of geared motors, gearboxes and electric motors manufactured on specially designed interlinked CNC production lines. It also manufactures and markets a wide range of mechanical and electro-magnetic vibrating screens, feeders & conveyors to handle all types of bulk material. Due to strong demand from the user industry, it sales grew by 50% to Rs.21 cr. whereas its net profit jumped 120% to Rs.1.85 cr. for the June’06 quarter. Considering the same growth rate, for FY07, it may register a turnover of Rs.90 cr. and PAT of Rs.7.50 cr. i.e. EPS of Rs.30. Moreover, it has huge reserves of around Rs.25 cr. on its very tiny equity of Rs.2.27 cr. i.e. book value of Rs.124 making it a strong bonus candidate.

Cubex Tubings Ltd. (Code: 526027) (Rs.35) is a leading manufacturer of copper and copper alloy seamless condenser tubes, rods, strips, profiles and wires. Recently, it has developed large diameter cross-section copper-nickel tubes to meet the requirements of defence and shipyards. Further, it is entering the manufacture of oxygen-free, high conducting grade copper extrusions mainly used in the electronics industry. Besides, it reported excellent numbers for June’06 quarter with sales increasing by 130% to Rs.22.50 cr. whereas net profit doubled to Rs.2.04 cr. Couple of months back, it bagged some big orders from NTPC for seamless solid drawn condenser tubes under global competitive bidding and has also participated in other tenders aggregating Rs.50 cr. Hence for FY07, it may clock a turnover of Rs.85 cr. and profit of Rs.8 cr. This works out to an EPS of Rs.10 on its fully diluted equity of Rs.7.70 cr. A good bet at CMP.

Paradyne Infotech (Code: 532672) (Rs.56) is among the very few recently listed companies whose scrip is trading above its IPO price. In October’05, it came out with an IPO at Rs.42 per share and hit a high/ low of Rs.93/ Rs.42 respectively. Recently it declared very encouraging results for the June’06 quarter with sales of Rs.27 cr. and net profit of Rs.2.84 cr. i.e. quarterly EPS of Rs.2.60 on equity of Rs.10.88 cr. Incidentally with every passing quarter, its top-line and bottom-line is increasing and more importantly, its OPM is improving. From 9% in December’05 its OPM has increased to 15% for June’06 on account of better product mix. For FY07, it can register a top-line of Rs.120 cr. and bottom-line of Rs.12 cr., which means an EPS of Rs.11. Though it may not get enjoy higher discounting like other IT scrips, a reasonable P/E of 8 times, it may again test its high in the current calendar year itself.

On the back of constant selling and drastic fall in the share price of Mirco Technologies Ltd. (Code: 532494) (Rs.152.30) just before the Q1 result, few marketmen expected poor numbers from this company. Bu to their surprise, it came out with flying colours. For the June’06 quarter, its total revenue increased by 90% to Rs.22 cr. while the net profit almost tripled to Rs.6.52 cr. Moreover, it received the approval for installation of Micro VBB (Vehicle Black Box) Classic Series in Ford Ikon Vehicles, which is a good breakthrough for the company. Considering the company’s aggressive marketing plan, it is estimated to end FY07 with a top-line of Rs.100 cr. and bottom-line of Rs.26 cr., which means an EPS of Rs.25 on its diluted equity of Rs.10.50 cr. After touching a bottom of Rs.123, the scrip has made a sharp technical pull-back and may continue its upward journey if the sentiment remains positive.