Markets have a way of testing the patience of people and this week was a great example of that. We crossed the level of 25,150 points on NIFTY for each of the first four days of the week but failed to close on any day above 25,150 points. Finally they succumbed to pressure which came from the Israel-Iran skirmish as of now, but has the potential to become something much bigger if not contained. USA bombed Yemen and the Middle East is boiling. Crude which was hovering around 60-62$ has again risen quite sharply to around 74-75$ and could be another surprise as the war in its fourth day gets nastier and ugly. On a side note, Ukraine -Russia war is like the never-ending soap opera which continues on and on.
What has all of this done to our markets? They seemed to be on the verge of a breakout and faltered badly. While like I mentioned earlier four consecutive intraday moves past 25,150 points on NIFTY and one touching 25,222 points, not one close above 25,150 points. Friday, the last day of the week saw NIFTY fall intraday to as low as 24,473 points before recovering smartly to close at 24,718 points. In all this turmoil we saw the week end with BSESENSEX losing 1,070.39 points or 1.30% to close at 81,118.60 points while NIFTY lost 284.45 points or 1.14% to close at 24,718.60 points. BANKNIFTY lost 1,051.05 points or 1.86% to close at 55,527.35 points. The broader markets saw BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 lose 1.14%, 1.14% and 1.08% respectively. BSEMIDCAP lost 0.84% while BSESMALLCAP lost 0.13%. The bright spot was BSEIT which gained 2.72%. Call it index balancing or a sign of things to unravel with June quarter results due in a fortnight’s time, not sure. Markets lost on three of the five trading sessions and gained on two.
The Indian Rupee was under pressure and lost 44 paisa or 0.51% to close at Rs 86.08 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones lost on one trading session and gained on two. On the remaining two sessions it was flat with net change of a single point. Dow lost 565.08 points or 1.32% to close at 42,197.79 points.
The primary markets seem to be getting active again. The issue from Oswal Pumps Limited has tapped the capital markets with the same having opened on Friday the 13th of June. The issue would close on Tuesday the 17th of June. The issue consists of a fresh issue of Rs 890 crores and an offer for sale of 81 lakh shares in a price band of Rs 584-614. The PE band for the company is 59.47-62.53 times its earnings of Rs 9.82 for the year ended March 24.
The company manufactures solar-powered and grid connected submersible and monoblock pumps, electric motors comprising induction and submersible motors as well as solar modules which are sold under the ‘Oswal’ brand. They are actively engaged under the PM KUSUM YOJANA, under which turnkey solar pumping systems are installed at the farmers fields. Bulk of the revenue of the company has come under this scheme and it is over 75% in FY24 and 85% in nine months December 24. The company has emerged as one of the largest suppliers under the scheme.
Revenues in year ended March 24 were at Rs 758 crores which have risen to Rs 1,065 crores in the nine months period. Profits for the whole year were at Rs 97.66 crores which have risen to Rs 216.70 crores in the nine months. EPS has risen from Rs 9.82 to Rs 21.77. The company would be increasing its capacity for pumps from 2 lakhs to 5 lakhs.
The increase in sales in the short period is primarily from the fact that they have started supplying under the government scheme the full package which includes the pump, controls and the solar panel and infrastructure which increases the cost of the whole package, compared to just the pump earlier. Margins of the company are substantially higher than its competitors as they have done backward integration to almost manufacturing everything other than basic raw materials. The advent of solar has made a sea-change in the lives of farmers and one can expect these welfare schemes to continue and help the company achieve faster and sustainable growth. Investment in the company is warranted with a medium-term perspective.
There is likely to be a flurry of activity in the primary market with half a dozen IPOs planned in the next 10 days. These would be companies who want to tap the markets with December 24 numbers, for whom the deadline would expire on 30th June.
Coming to the markets in the coming week, expect markets to keep global cues in mind and react accordingly. The G-7 would be holding its annual event in Canada this time where the agenda is trade talks but would certainly discuss geo-political tensions in different parts of the world. Key resistances for the markets continue to remain the taking out of 25,150 and closing above it for NIFTY. Key support becomes Friday’s low of 24,473 on NIFTY and 80,354 on BSESENSEX. If these were to break, next levels would be at 24,000 around on NIFTY and at 79,000 points on BSESENSEX.
The strategy would be to refrain from doing trade unnecessarily. Understand that many of us are compulsive and need to do something. You may trade in shares that you own and do intraday trades where you may sell and buy or buy and sell. The next few days are crucial as Iran is nuclear powered and has oil fields as well. Both of these are targets of Israel and anything could happen.
Trade cautiously.
Arun Kejriwal (Market Veteran Investor & Opinion Maker)
Leave a Reply