Thursday 23 August 2018

Indian Indices Trade Marginally Higher; Healthcare Stocks Witness Buying

Share markets in India are presently trading marginally higher. Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks in the capital goods sector and healthcare sector witnessing maximum buying interest.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 53 points (up 0.1%), while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 4 points (up 0.04%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.2%.
The rupee is trading at 70.10 to the US$.
In the news from finance space, HDFC Asset Management Company share price is witnessing buying interest today as the mutual fund house reported a 25% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profits for the quarter ended June 2018.
The company had recently concluded its IPO and had received stellar response for the same.
HDFC AMC is the asset management arm of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd). Promoted by HDFC in 1999, Standard Life Investments (SLI) acquired 26% stake in HDFC AMC in 2001, and now the company operates as a joint venture between HDFC and SLI.
Through organic growth and acquisitions, such as Zurich India and Morgan Stanley MF, the firm has grown to one of the top two AMCs in India. It has around Rs 2.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM), commanding a significant 13.7% market share in the industry. It is also ranked the most profitable AMC in the country since FY13.
Senior management of the firm has been broadly stable with Mr Milind Barve serving as the Managing Director since 2000 and Mr Prashant Jain as Chief Investment Officer since 2004.
To know more about the company, you can read our IPO analysis of HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) Ltd(requires subscription).
At the time of writing, HDFC AMC share price was trading up by 3.4% on the BSE.
L&T share price is also in focus today as the board of directors today approved the company's first ever proposal of buyback of equity shares.
Speaking of buybacks, the number of buyback offers in 2017-18 were at an all-time high. Never, in the last two decades, had Indian markets seen fifty-nine companies announcing buyback plans.
But what is truly surprising is that unlike in the past, the buybacks this time seem skewed in favour of short term investors rather than long term ones.
At Equitymaster, we believe, as a shareholder in cash rich companies, you should not only be wary of expensive buybacks. But if possible use it to your advantage to rake in some cash.
As per Rahul Shah, co-head of Research, investors should not assume buybacks are always good. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in one of the editions of The 5 Minute Wrapup:
  • The reason behind the buyback must be investigated. At the end of the day, an increase in earnings should be more a function of the inherent robustness of the business, as that's what will help it continue to grow at a healthy pace.
The topic also brings us to ask: Do buy-backs offer an arbitrage opportunity for retail investors? Ankit Shah has answered this question in one of the editions of Equitymaster Insider. You can access the issue here (requires subscription).
In the news from initial public offering (IPO) space... Shares of CreditAccess Grameen, which concluded its IPO recently, made a tepid debut on bourses today as the scrip of the company got listed at Rs 385. This represents 8.7% discount to its issue price of Rs 422.
The Rs 11 billion IPO by the microfinance institution ran from August 8 to August 10 and was subscribed over 2 times.
The issue size of this IPO was about 26.8 million shares, which included 11.8 million shares issued by the promoter CreditAccess Asia N.V. and a fresh offer of shares of up to Rs 6.3 billion.
CreditAccess Grameen, a leading microfinance institution in India, is focused on providing micro-loans, especially to the women customers in rural India. The lending products of the company address the financial needs of the customers throughout their lifecycle. This includes income generation, family welfare, home improvements, and loans for emergencies.
The customer segment they mainly focus on is women with an annual household income of Rs 160,000 or less in urban areas and Rs 100,000 or less in rural areas. The company provides loans primarily under the joint liability group (JLG) model.
To know more about the company, you can read our IPO analysis of CreditAccess Grameen Ltd (requires subscription).
Speaking of IPOs, the stock market is gearing up for a burst of IPO activity over the next two months.
Also, according to EY India IPO Readiness Survey Report, globally, Indian exchanges recorded the highest IPO activity as the country saw 90 IPO launches that raised US$ 3.9 billion in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, the amount raised by SME IPOs in 2017 stood at Rs 17.9 bn. This is more than three times the amount raised in 2016. The number of SME IPOs launched also doubled from 66 to 132. This is evident from the chart below:

SME IPO Boom in 2017


So how should one approach to IPOs? We believe a merit-based selection, primarily including valuation, business, and management quality, is the logical way to go about investing in IPOs. If it means going against the herd, so be it. And going by recent past, this strategy has been proven to be successful more often.
Also, to know how to safely profit from the ongoing IPO rush, download this FREE report now and discover How to Get Rich with IPOs.
This article was originally published in English at www.equitymaster.com
Read the complete Indian stock market update. For the terms of use, go here.

No comments:

Post a Comment