After two years of strong gains, smallcap stocks fell sharply in 2025, but the correction may be setting up opportunities for long-term investors.
KEC International's restructuring and a healthy order book in India and abroad augur well for its shareholders.
RPG Group company KEC International on Tuesday said that it would acquire US-based SAE Towers Holdings for $95 million.
The last time these two indexes recorded a negative performance on a calendar year basis was in CY19.
As regards mid-caps and small-caps, analysts suggest investors buy only those stocks of those companies where there is earnings visibility for at least a few quarters and where the valuations have become reasonable.
Truck movements across the India-Bangladesh border are on the rise, with increasing rentals signalling a trade recovery between the two South Asian nations. Yet, geopolitical tension looms large, with Bangladesh now under an interim government for nearly two months.
As order books gain from India's increased capital outlay, some large capital goods and engineering companies are together spending over Rs 11,500 crore in creating new facilities, data shows. Nine engineering and capital goods companies, where data was available, including Siemens, Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) and KEC International, have a combined capital expenditure (capex) of about Rs 11,500 crore or more. Others such as ABB India and Thermax Global are also adding capacities.
Fresh order wins for capital goods and industrial companies may have seen a major slump due to Lok Sabha polls in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25). At the same time, revenue and profit growth trajectory is expected to have stayed the course, according to brokerage firms. Elara Capital, Motilal Oswal, and InCred Equities expect this sector universe to report a 12- 21 per cent growth in revenue, 21 -36 per cent growth in Ebitda and 24-38 per cent growth in profit on a year-on-year (Y-oY) basis.
Chief executive officers (CEOs) across sectors have expressed intentions to expand capacities, expecting the government's target to invest a record Rs 11.11 trillion on infrastructure development will act as a catalyst for a jump in consumer demand. "With the government planning a capex of Rs 11.11 trillion, private sector investment will come in a big way. Companies will be preparing for it right from today," H M Bangur, chairman of Shree Cement, told Business Standard. For the past few years, the investment scene in India has been dominated by government capital expenditures; private investments in the manufacturing sector have remained muted.
'The second generation of migrant labourers is not enthusiastic about continuing in this field.' 'The parents of the next generation do not wish their children to be part of this trade.'
Operating margins for some companies dipped in Q3, 2021-22 but this sector could be nearing the bottom of the cycle in terms of profits.
The combined net sales of 42 listed construction and capital goods companies that have declared their third-quarter results so far were down 2.3 per cent year-on-year in Q3FY21 while core operating profit was up just 4.9 per cent YoY during the quarter.
Amid slowdown, the company is buying quality land parcels at marquee locations across the country.
As the Indian currency hovers around its lowest versus the US greenback, several smaller and mid-sized companies are expected to face rough weather as almost 44 per cent of the foreign loans taken by Indian companies remained unhedged. According to the data sourced from the Reserve Bank of India, Indian companies raised around $38.2 billion in the financial year ended in March. Of this, only 56 per cent of the loans are hedged while the rest of the foreign loans remain unhedged, thus risking the companies to forex volatility.
These include Adani Enterprises, BEML, TVS Motor, KEC International, Sintex Industries, Ceat and Suzlon Energy.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
KEC International Limited, a part of the Rs 9,500-crore (Rs 95 billion) RPG Enterprises has floated a joint venture company with the Power Engineers Inc of the US in a bid to tap the North American market.
The investments were a mix of issuance of guarantees ($2.53 billion), loan ($257.60 million) and of equity ($232.59 million).
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
'In the short term, we may see some disruptions due to Covid, but in the medium-to-long term, we should keep an eye on US inflation and 10-year bond yields.'
L&T is the preferred pick, but given the opportunities in the power T&D space analysts are also positive on KEC, ABB and Kalpataru
From a jute company to a paper mill to a pharma company, these companies seem to have turned around with their superb quarterly numbers, says Mudar Pathreya
Over 93% of the orders in the year came from the central and state governments, PSUs, and NHAI.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Consultants say at Rs 1,442 a sq ft, the developer has got a good bargain.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia answers readers' stock market queries.
Saudi Arabia is insisting on 'In Kingdom' total value-addition requirements
The redevelopment of stations is good news for construction companies.
Although now free, Mangal's ordeal may be far from over.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 32 points at 28,851 and the 50-share Nifty closed 12 points lower at 8,712.
In the capital goods space, Punj Lloyd and KEC International could be in limelight for the expected turnround
Markets climb higher tracking global cues.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' stock market queries. Ajit will offer his unbiased views on a weekly basis
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