Brokerages remain split on the stock outlook as Morgan Stanley has an ‘Overweight’ stance on the counter while Nuvama recommends ‘Reduce’. Kotak on the other hand has a ‘Sell’ rating on the stock.
On Thursday, Page Industries reported a net profit of Rs 78 crore for the January-March quarter which was down 59% from Rs 190 crore posted in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, net profit declined 37% from Rs 124 crore reported in the December quarter.
Revenue from operations, meanwhile, came in at Rs 969 crore during the March quarter, down 13%, compared with Rs 1,111 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.
The company’s board has also declared a fourth interim dividend of Rs 60 per equity share for the year 2022-2023.
At 9.45 am, the stock was trading at Rs 36,127.95, down 12.18% on BSE. It hit the day’s low of Rs 34,968.60.
Here’s what top brokerages recommend on the stock:
Morgan Stanley: Overweight | Target: Rs 43,068
Morgan Stanley maintained an ‘Overweight’ stance on the stock and put a price target of Rs 43,068. Q4FY23 performance was weaker and missed Morgan Stanley’s estimates. Revenue growth will likely be weak for the next two quarters. Margin recovery should lead to revenue growth.
Kotak Institutional Equities: Sell | Target: 33,000
We revise down our FY2024-25 EPS estimates by 20-24%, as we bake in a weak 4QFY23 performance and continued subdued demand. Retain SELL with revised FV of Rs 33,000 (Rs 35,000 earlier); roll-forward notwithstanding. Page Industries is backed by a strong team and will eventually bounce back; we believe our FV adequately captures this optimism.
Nuvama: Reduce | Target: Rs 36,800
We downgrade Page Industries (Page) from ‘HOLD’ to ‘REDUCE’ as the recent stock run-up is not commensurate with its feeble Q4FY23 performance (revenue/EBITDA down 13%/50%; 35% consensus EBITDA miss). This stems from a combination of a weak market environment and ARS implementation. Factoring in the same, we trim our FY24E PAT by 23%; FY25E PAT cut is much lower at 6% as we expect the implementation to be transient with growth likely improving H2FY24 onwards and continuing into FY25. Our revised DCF-based TP is Rs 36,800 (49x FY25E PE).
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)