Company Profile
Elecon Engineering Company Limited manufactures and sells power transmission and material handling equipment in India and internationally. The company operates in two segments: Material Handling Equipment and Transmission Equipment. It offers helical and bevel helical, planetary, worm, high speed, wind turbine, marine, and custom-built gearboxes; customized gearboxes; vertical roller mill drives; and align geared, el flex flexible couplings, fluid, scoop controlled variable speed-controlled fluid, and torsion shaft couplings.
The company also provides material handling equipment, such as raw material handling systems, stackers, reclaimers, bagging and weighing machines, wagon and truck loaders, crushers, wagon tipplers, feeders, idlers and pulleys, magnates/weighers/detectors, port equipment, and cable reeling drums, and alternate energy products. In addition, it engages in the steel and non-ferrous foundry business. Furthermore, the company offers gearbox repair and refurbishment services, and material handling equipment support services. It serves cement, sugar, steel, power, plastic, material handling, chemical, palm oil, crane, elevator, paper, rubber, marine, mining, and fertilizers industries, as well as ports. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Anand, Gujarat.
Investment Arguments
Leading player in the transmission products segment
EECL is a market leader in the transmission products segment, specifically gears, with a 39% market share in India. In the past, the company had a strong presence in the material handling equipment segment for both products and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) services. However, in recent years, it has limited its exposure to the products and after-sales segment, even as it completes some legacy EPC projects with a 13% revenue contribution in Q2FY24.
The company benefits from strong design and engineering capabilities, technical collaborations as well as backward-integrated facilities with an in-house foundry that has allowed it to enhance its product offerings over the years with increased complexity, reflected in its ability to bag orders for marine gears from the Indian Navy.
Strong geographic presence across the globe
Over the years, the company has widened its product offerings and geographic presence in transmission products through in-house development and acquisitions globally. The company expects to increase the share of revenue from exports to 50% in the long term (exports account for 20% as of Q2FY24).
Additionally, the company has developed a reasonable global footprint in recent years and its revenue mix is diversified across geographies with international sales accounting for 20% of the consolidated revenues in FY23. The company is also focused on increasing its presence in the US, South America, and Europe whose revenue contribution is expected to increase going forward.
Established and Reputed Customer Base
The company has established long-standingrelationships with its marquee customers namely, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC Ltd, Adani Group, Damia Group, Tata Steel, BHEL, SAIL, Arcelor Mittal, and Shree Cement. Over the years of operation, the company has been able to develop healthy business relations with its customers, leading to repeat orders.
Strong order intake provides revenue visibility.
The order intake remains healthy at Rs.913 cr as of H1FY24 including both divisions For the Gear division - The order intake for H1FY24 stood at Rs 821 Crs., up by 10% on a Y-o-Y basis. Orders in Hand is Rs 615 Crs as of 30th September 2023 and for MHE division - The order intake for H1FY24 stood at Rs 92 Crs as compared to Rs 94 Crs in H1FY23. Order in Hand is Rs 123 Crs as of 30th September 2023. The product offerings encompass the standard/catalog products as well as engineered products in the gears division. The order inflow is expected to remain strong going forward with increased demand from end-users such as steel, cement, sugar, and power (flue gas desulphurization or FGD projects) sectors. With increasing enquiries across various product categories and industries, coupled with a robust executable order book, the company remains optimistic about sustaining its growth momentum in the future.
Q2FY24 Financial Performance
Elecon Engineering posted robust earnings growth for the quarter ended Q2FY24. Consolidated net sales rose 25% YoY to Rs.485 cr as compared to Rs.389 cr clocked in the same quarter of corresponding fiscal driven by healthy growth across both its key segments. The domestic market accounted for 80% of the revenue with the remaining portion coming from the overseas market. EBITDA for Q2 FY24 stood at Rs. 119 crores growing 28% from Q2 FY23. The EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 24.5% owing to better product mix and improved supply chain. The PAT margin for Q2 FY24 stood at 18.3% as compared to 16.6% in Q2 FY23, registering a significant improvement of 170 basis points.
Segment wise performance
The Gear division accounted for 87% of the revenue, while 13% was contributed by MHE division during both Q2FY24.
Gear segment - consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs. 423 crores as compared to Rs. 333 crores, a growth of 27%. The EBIT for the quarter stood at Rs. 110 crores, a solid growth of 38% on a Y-o-Y basis. The EBIT margin for Q2 FY24 stood at 26% as compared to 23.9%, reflecting a substantial improvement of 210 basis points. The order intake for H1 FY24 stood at Rs. 821 crores, up by 10% on a Y-o-Y basis. Orders in hand are Rs. 615 crores as on 30th September 2023; highlighting the robust demand across sectors.
MHE Division - Revenue for the quarter stood at Rs. 62 crores as compared to Rs. 55 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, growing 12% Y-o-Y. EBIT for Q2 FY24 stood at Rs. 13 crores, registering a growth of 68% Y-o-Y. The EBIT margin stood at 21% as against 14% in Q2 FY23, a substantial improvement of ~700 basis points on a year-on-year basis. The order inflow during the six months ended stood at Rs. 92 crores as compared to Rs. 94 crores in H1 FY23. The open order as on 30th September 2023 stood at Rs. 123 crores. Furthermore, our total consolidated order book including both divisions experienced order inflows of Rs. 913 crores during H1 FY24 and the total open orders as on 30th September 2023 stood at Rs. 738 crores.
Key Risks & Concerns
Outlook & Valuation
Elecon is a manufacturer of industrial gears (~97% mix) & material handling equipment (MHE) (~13% mix). It is a play on industrial capex across various sectors, especially in cement, steel, power, sugar, and other sectors. Elecon is the leader in industrial gears with a market share of 39% in India. Strong industrial capex is likely to drive higher utilisation in the industrial gear segment. Elecon offers strong growth visibility with an improved balance sheet. Healthy order intake provides strong revenue visibility in the coming years.At the current market price of Rs 1050, the stock trades at 30x its FY25E EPS (Rs.35), and hence we recommend a BUY rating on the stock.