Company profile
KSB Ltd (formerly KSB Pumps Ltd) founded in the year 1960, is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra. KSB Ltd is the Indian subsidiary of Klein Schanzlin & Becker (KSB) Germany, is one of the largest manufacturers and sellers of pumps and valves in India. It is a 40.5% subsidiary of the German firm, KSB SE and Co. KG&A. It is one of the largest manufacturers and sellers of pumps and valves in India. A comprehensive range of KSB power driven pumps and industrial valves are manufactured from the facilities of KSB spread over seven locations in India.
KSB Ltd manufactures a range of standard industrial end suction and high pressure multistage pumps, submersible motor pumps and monoblock pumps and other value-added parts. The Valves segment consists of industrial valves and services. The company’s products cater to various industries such as Oil & Gas, irrigation, water treatment, energy, capital goods as well as nuclear power. Its client portfolio includes BHEL, Thermax, ISGEC Heavy Engg, Patil Engineering, RK Engineering, L&T, Pooja Engineering, NTPC and ThyssenKrupp.
Investment Arguments
Established presence in industry with diversified product portfolio
KSB is a leading player in the domestic pumps and valves industry with an approximate market share of ~5%. It offers a wide array of products in the standard and engineered segments. Its engineered pumps find application in the power (conventional and nuclear power), oil and gas and fertilizer industries, while its standard pump business caters to general engineering (sugar, chemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals and food processing industries), water and wastewater treatment, building construction and the domestic household sectors. The company also supplies submersible pumps to the agricultural sector. KSB is focusing on exports and the standard pumps business by increasing its product offerings and providing after-sales services, which are expected to support future growth.
Impressive order intake and plenty of opportunities in emerging sectors
KSB had strong order intake in Q4 of Rs 2,046 crore. The company during the year has received Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) order for 8 Reactor Coolant Pumps worth ~Rs. 501 crore for Kaiga 5 & 6 reactors. The company had earlier stated that the remaining opportunity from NPCIL’s bulk tender for pumps & motors stands at ~Rs 2,000 crore. The company expects orders of auxiliary and boiler feed pumps too. Further, FGD orders are also likely to be awarded for the next 2-3 years. Additionally, industries such as petrochemicals and distillery also have high growth potential. In standard pumps, the company is growing its business through new launches in solar pumps and domestic pumps. Further, it plans to scale up its aftermarket and exports business. We believe KSB has multiple growth opportunities across industries and can leverage its wide product basket to tap them. The company also experienced healthy growth in mechanical seal business as it has localized manufacturing of mechanical seal with license from KSB Germany.
Technological support from parent, KSB SE & Co. KGaA, Germany
KSB SE & Co. KGaA, Germany is a leading global company in the pump manufacturing sector. The parent is focused on research and development (R&D) and has developed technologically advanced designs for both standard and engineered pumps. KSB benefits from this technology transfer, which has aided its foray into the domestic manufacturing of pumps for supercritical power plants and FGD units for power plants and more recently primary coolant pumps and electric motors for nuclear power plants. It also enables it to command a slight price premium, in return of royalty to the parent.
Q4CY22 Financial Performance
KSB Ltd reported better than expected numbers in Q4CY22. Consolidated Revenues grew by 18% yoy to Rs.525 cr led by 16.7% YoY (+25.1% QoQ) growth in pumps revenues and 25.4% YoY (+6.7% QoQ) growth in valves revenues. Valves contributed ~16% to total sales. Operating profit increased by 36% y-o-y to Rs 77 cr due to decline in raw material cost and employee cost, while Operating Profit Margin jumped to 14.6% (vs 12.7% in Q4CY21). EBIT margin for pumps expanded by 170 bps/190 bps on y-o-y/q-o-q basis, while valves margin expanded by 390 bps/150 bps on y-o-y/q-o-q basis. Net profit grew by ~42% y-o-y to Rs 56 cr led by higher revenues and strong operating performance. The company has a cash & bank balance of Rs 261 cr and remained debt free during CY22.
Management maintained CY23 revenue guidance at Rs.2200 cr with some improvement in margins. Domestic business is doing better with better demand of standard pumps (in Industrial segment) and engineered pumps (for projects).
Key Risks & Concerns
Outlook & Valuation
KSB’s Ltd Q4 and CY22 performance was impressive despite challenges like high commodity prices and supply chain issues. We believe that KSB is on a strong growth trajectory as it is deploying multiple levers to drive its performance in the coming years. It is concentrating on building its competitiveness by diversifying its offerings in oil & gas, solar power, defence and other sunrise sectors. It is also focused on expanding its exports business and tapping the potential of large spares & services market for its products internationally. Further, the bulk NPCIL tender would provide boost to the revenues and earnings in the next 1-2 years. Also, capacity expansion and outsourcing would help the company grow its valves segment.
KSB continues to be a proxy play on water/energy/industrial capex recovery. New product introduction, focus on export and service business are growth drivers for the KSB. At CMP of Rs.2010, the stock is trading at 25x FY24E (EPS – Rs.79.7) which appears reasonable. Hence, we have a BUY rating on the stock.