(Reuters) – India’s Bajaj Electricals, whose home appliances range from kitchen appliances to LED lights, on Tuesday reported third-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates, helped by decent demand during a period that included many festivals.
The company’s revenue from operations increased 5% to 12.90 billion rupees ($148.20 million), marginally above analysts’ average estimate of 12.86 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.
Its consolidated net profit of 333.6 million rupees fell 10.7% from a year ago as expenses rose, but was above analysts’ estimate of 323.9 million rupees.
Shares of the company rose 2.09% in Mumbai.
KEY CONTEXT
The October-to-December quarter, which includes festivals such as Diwali, typically sees Indians splurge, with many buying or upgrading household appliances.
Bajaj, in particular, has said that its topline growth may be aided by a rebound in demand in rural markets, which make up about 30% of its sales, according to analysts.
Its net profit moderated year-on-year as a result of higher expenses at a time when the company is attempting to catalyze growth by shifting to premium products and ramping up investments into improving brand perception.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBIT Price Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div yield
DA /Sale growth(% growth(% rating* analy price (%)
s ) ) sts target**
Bajaj 37.71 19.71 11.25 76.49 Hold 9 0.75 0.43
Electricals
Whirlpool of 30.50 17.65 1.94 12.95 36.27 Buy 11 0.58 0.44
India
Havells India 58.07 39.13 4.00 14.91 23.17 Buy 24 0.90 0.64
Voltas 40.71 31.80 2.23 15.92 32.79 Hold 33 0.86 0.44
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
OCTOBER TO DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG — $1 = 87.0650 Indian rupees
($1 = 87.0430 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
