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.
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.
RPG Group company KEC International on Tuesday said that it would acquire US-based SAE Towers Holdings for $95 million.
Post-election capital expenditure (capex) has been weak at 2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in M9FY25. The FY25 revised estimates (RE) indicate 7 per cent growth in FY25 against FY24, implying 21 per cent Y-o-Y growth in Q4FY25 government capex.
Haryana has done well in terms of economic growth over the last couple of decades. For it to continue to lead the growth ladder, the new government has to work hard on multiple dimensions, recommend Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
'Why has Maharashtra slipped up over the past couple of decades?' 'Not only is this question critical for residents of the state, but given that it accounts for 14% of India's GDP, a faster-growing Maharashtra implies a faster-growing India as well, point out Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was surging ahead in two southern states -- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka -- while the respective blocs led by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu and Congress in Kerala were on their way for another excellent show, going by the latest trends emerging from the counting of voted polled in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
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.
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.
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.
India's leading capital goods and engineering firms are in the midst of one of their busiest seasons, with the combined orderbook surging past Rs 8 trillion in value. As on September 30, 2023, 13 of India's top 15 listed capital goods and engineering firms, for which data for the September 2023 quarter was available, had a total orderbook worth Rs 8.45 trillion - a number unseen at least since 2018-19. "This intuitively looks like an all-time high factoring in inflation," said Anupama Arora, a senior independent analyst who tracks the capital goods sector.
'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.'
Earnings growth trajectory for India's capital goods firms is likely to stay buoyant for the December 2023-ended quarter (Q3 FY24), said analysts. Guidance on margins, ordering activity in an election year and export-related demand would be key monitorables. Brokerages - Motilal Oswal, Nuvama, Kotak Institutional Equities and Prabhudas Lilladher - estimated revenue growth for their capital goods universe to be 11-16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
The incident happened in Bagh-e-Shamal village of the provincial capital Pul-e-Khomre, TOLOnews reported, citing local officials.
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.
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
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.
Amid slowdown, the company is buying quality land parcels at marquee locations across the country.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
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.
Employment exchanges will not remain mere places where people register their names and begin an endless wait for a call for an interview for a job which, most often, may never happen.
In the capital goods space, Punj Lloyd and KEC International could be in limelight for the expected turnround
'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.'
Three telecom companies - Spanco Telesystems and Solutions, TVS Interconnect Systems (a TVS group firm) and Acme Tele Power - have emerged as the front-runners for state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's (BSNL) Rs 30,000-crore infrastructure contract.
Mutual funds bought metal, media, telecom, engineering, and pharma stocks in December
The investments were a mix of issuance of guarantees ($2.53 billion), loan ($257.60 million) and of equity ($232.59 million).
Mutual funds bought FMCG, construction, auto, and IT stocks in November.
Mutual funds pared exposure to auto, cement, metal, FMCG, telecom, sugar, and power stocks in January.
Mutual funds bought pharma, manufacturing, auto, and FMCG stocks in June.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The officials said the freed Taliban leaders include Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group's governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
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