StockAxis

Gravita India Ltd

Metal - Non Ferrous

Little Masters

CMP
Rs. 434.35
Rating:
Buy
December 28, 2022

Stock Info

BSE
533282
NSE
GRAVITA
Bloomberg
GRAV:IN
Reuters
GRAI. NS
Sector
Metal - Non Ferrous
Face Value (Rs)
2
Equity Capital (Rs cr)
14
Mkt Cap (Rs cr)
3,059.42
52w H/L (Rs)
473.40 - 231.00
Avg Daily Vol (BSE+NSE)
95,315

Shareholding Pattern

(as on 30-Sep)
%
Promoter
73
FIIs
0.79
DIIs
0.19
Public & Others
26.02
Source: Ace equity, StockAxis Research

Price performance

Return (%)
1m
3m
12m
Absolute
23.88
45.30
47.19
Sensex
-2.52
6.69
6.11
Source: Ace equity, StockAxis Research

Indexed Stock Performance

Gravita India Ltd Sensex
Gravita India Ltd
Source: Ace equity, StockAxis Research

Regulatory nudge to scale up domestic recycling

Company Profile

Gravita India Limited (GIL) was incorporated in 1992. The company is among India’s leading nonferrous metal recyclers and India’s largest secondary lead metal producing company. The company is engaged in the business of recycling lead acid batteries, lead scrap, aluminium scrap, and plastic scrap at various locations across the world. The company is present in India as well as in overseas markets. Gravita’s state-of-the-art recycling facilities are located in Asia, Africa, and Central America. The company’s products are active in more than 59 countries.

 Additionally, GIL also provides turnkey solutions to the recycling industry. The company has successfully completed more than 60 recycling projects all over the world. GIL has an aggregate production capacity of 160,000 plus Metric Tonne (MT). In FY22 the company incorporated a rubber recycling service. The company's customer base as of H1 FY23 stood at 200 plus domestic customers in 22 states in India and 75 plus overseas customers in 31 countries

The company has five business verticals~ Lead, Aluminium, Plastic, Rubber, and Turnkey solutions. It has 12 recycling plants with 1400 plus global touchpoints. The capacity utilization of the company in FY22 stood at 67%, with an overseas capacity of 30% and a production capacity of 2.05 lakh MT plus. Value-added products contributed 42% to the business, scrap collection was at 1.8 lakh MT plus, and recycled resources supply stood at 1.3 Lakh MT plus.

Investment Rationale

·        Healthy revenue growth and improved margins

At a consolidated level, the company has witnessed astounding growth in FY22. The company's revenue stood at Rs 2224 crores in FY22 as compared to Rs 1417 crores in FY21, an increase of 57% on a YoY basis on account of healthy sales volume of its overseas units coupled with additional supply arrangements with one of its customers i.e. Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. EBITDA margins increased by 170 bps in FY22, on account of operational leverage. It has increased its procurement of scrap from the domestic market, which helped it to save logistics costs and decrease the working capital requirements. The company's stringent hedging measures resulted in acquiring raw materials at a lower cost, which added well to the profitability of the company. Also, the net working capital cycle of the company has reduced from 95 days on March 22 to 80 days on September 22.

·        Growth in capacity utilization across all product segments & Capacity expansion plan

The total installed capacity of the company has increased from 167,419 MTPA to 190,319 MTPA, an increase of 14% during FY23. The utilization levels of the units on a consolidated basis are increasing on a y-o-y basis across all its product segments. During FY21, the utilization levels (across all the units of the company increased from 58.12% to 64.78%. As per management the expected capacity by FY26 is to be at 4,25,000 MTPA.

 

·        Well-built hedging mechanism earning operational benefits

The Company follows a formal hedging mechanism to hedge the entire commodity price exposure along with foreign currency exposure. Nearly, 50% of the company's revenues are generated through exports, which portrays foreign currency exposure risks to the company as the revenue collection is in USD. The company has also implemented a hedging policy for inventory positions by taking forward contracts on the LME exchange from FY20 onwards. These measures on account of the strong vigilance of the company resulted in generating stable margins over the past few years. 

 

·        Strategic location of manufacturing units

The Company has four manufacturing units in India where Units 1st & 3rd are strategically located at Jaipur, Rajasthan, unit 2nd at Gandhidham, Gujrat, and unit 4th at Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. Units 2nd and 4th are located nearby the custom port and are used for most of the Company's overseas business. The Company also established a new plant at Mundra, Gujarat in FY22. Other units of the company are located in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nicaragua, Senegal, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka, which have the advantage of being located close to the lead scrap as well as customers in the nearby region.

·        Regulatory tailwinds

Govt of India (GoI) notified the Battery Waste Management Rules 2022 (BWMR) in August, to include all types of batteries (incl. EV & portable), further organize process flows (centralized registration & filings) and deepen implementation. The rules are based on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) where the producers of batteries are responsible for the collection and recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries and the use of recovered materials from wastes into new batteries. To meet the EPR obligations, producers may engage themselves or authorize any other entity for the collection, recycling, or refurbishment of waste batteries. BWMR sets the recycling target for FY23 at 30% of the units sold in FY20, but quickly raises it to 50%/70%/90% for FY24/25/26. We believe Gravita is the major beneficiary of these Regulatory changes.

 

Financial analysis

The company has performed progressively with stable margins in past years. The company's revenue CAGR & PAT CAGR for the past 5 years is 26% & 34% respectively. Its EBITDA margins are consistently in line with 8-9%. The EPS of the company has grown consistently from Rs 4.8 per share in FY17 to Rs 20 per share in FY22, an increase of 316%.

Risk & Concerns

·        Volatility in volumes/margins led by commodity prices: The company’s profitability is vulnerable to volatility in the price of lead & Aluminium which has exhibited high volatility in the past. In order to mitigate the raw material price volatility risk, the company uses different hedging policies depending on the type of its customer.

·        Regulatory risk: Lead is hazardous in nature and can cause serious damage to the environment. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has framed Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001. These rules specify that only those who possess environmentally sound management systems and are registered with the MoEF / Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) are allowed to carry out battery recycling. Although GIL being a CPCB certified company has an advantage over the unorganized sector, any violations of stringent pollution control norms can adversely affect the operations of the company.  

Outlook & Valuation

The company has given strong financial performance consecutively from the past 5 years on account of increased revenue and net profit, with stable EBITDA margins. During H1 FY23 the company made a CAPEX of Rs 44 crores. Going forward the company is gearing up for vision FY26, with a focus on new recycling verticals such as E-waste, Lithium, Rubber, copper & paper, achieving 25%+ revenue CAGR, 35%+ profitability growth, and 25%+ ROCE; garnering 25%+ non-lead business share; and attain a portfolio mix of 50%+ value-added products. We believe Gravita India’s sales volume will increase in the coming years.

At a CMP of Rs 433 stock is trading at 11x its FY25E earnings. We recommend a 'BUY' rating for the stock.

Consolidated Financial Statements