ASTRAL

BENGALURU, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Diary of India economic, corporate events on Jan.30

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

NTS - 'No time scheduled'

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

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Jan 20 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• STARTS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AT GHILOTH PLANT REGARDING SWR FITTINGS

Source text: ID:nBSE7gY2yL

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** Shares of Astral ASTL.NS fall 2.5% to 1745 rupees, their biggest one-day fall since Oct. 22

** Pipe maker's Q2 consol profit drops 16%, hurt by lower demand for products due to heavy monsoon

** Analysts' average rating on stock is "hold," same as peer Cera Sanitaryware CERA.NS

** Analysts' median PT on ASTL is 2025 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock last fell 1%, down 7% YTD

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru)

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Nov 7 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• DIVIDEND OF 1.50 RUPEES PER SHARE

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.10 BILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 13.7 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE42gWht

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Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indian tile maker Kajaria Ceramics KAJR.NS reported a bigger-than-expected fall in its second-quarter profit on Tuesday amid sluggish domestic demand as monsoon rains slowed construction activity.

Consolidated net profit fell 22% to 842.7 million rupees ($10 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 1.08 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 1.07 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Revenue from operations increased about 5%, marking the eight straight quarter of single-digit growth, according to LSEG data.

For further earnings highlights, click: (FWN3LX1FR)

KEY CONTEXT

Tiles demand has been sluggish in the world's most populous country, with strong construction activity in western, eastern, and central India countering weakness in northern and southern parts.

Construction, which was hit by an election-linked slowdown in the first quarter, did not pick up as above-average monsoon rains kept infrastructure activity subdued.

PEER COMPARISON

* Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JULY-SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

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-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 84.0530 rupees

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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Aug 8 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.2 BILLION RUPEES

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 13.84 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Shares of Astral ASTL.NS drop 3% to 1819.05 rupees as analysts flag valuation concerns

** Pipes maker posts sequential decline in Q3 operating profit due to moderation in pipe volume growth, says Kotak Institutional Equities

** Reiterates "sell", citing rich valuation that "leaves no room for disappointment"

** Antique Stock Broking Systematix Institutional Equities also flags rich valuations despite expecting sustained earnings growth

** ASTL's trailing 12-months PE is 91.65, much higher than peers Finolex FINX.NS and Prince Pipes PRCE.NS - LSEG data

** The mean recommendation of 21 analysts tracking ASTL is equivalent of "hold"

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Astral Ltd ASTL.NS up as much as 2.6% to 1,957 rupees

** About 4.68 mln shares changed hands at 1,889.80 rupees per share, amounting to 1.74% of all ASTL shares, as per NSE data

** Promoters are looking to sell about 2-3% stake, as per a CNBC-TV18 report

** Stock posts biggest intraday pct gain since Nov. 21

** Stock trading above its 200-day simple moving average since May 5

** Average rating of 20 analysts tracking the stock is "Hold", median PT is 1,956.5 rupees- LSEG data

** Including sessions gains, stock up 31.3% YTD

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Astral Ltd ASTL.NS rise 3% to 1,835 rupees

** The construction supplies and fixtures co said its adhesives division at Dahej plant has started commercial production

** Stock snaps six straight session of falls

** ASTL trading above its 200-day simple moving average since May, 2023

** Analysts covering the stock on average have "hold" rating; median PT is 1,927 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock up 24% YTD, against a 21% YTD rise in Nifty Midcap index .NIFMDCP100

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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Oct 26 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• STARTED COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF ADHESIVES DIVISION AT DAHEJ PLANT

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE3JWbwj

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Oct 18 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• DIVIDEND 1.50 RUPEES PER SHARE

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.31 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 691 MILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 13.63 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 11.72 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE2Vhbq7

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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Oct 11 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• STARTED COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF PLASTIC WATER STORAGE TANK AND PVC PIPES AT GUWAHATI PLANT

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSEbSt9Vz

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Aug 1 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• WILL ACQUIRE 51% SHARES OF GEM PAINTS AGAINST REDEMPTION OF OPTIONALLY CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES AMOUNTING TO 1.94 BILLION RUPEES

• BALANCE 49% EQUITY STAKE WILL BE ACQUIRED BY ASTRAL OVER A PERIOD OF 5 YEARS IN TRANCHES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE9wrfFp

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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By Tannur Anders and Anait Miridzhanian

JOHANNESBURG, July 5 (Reuters) - South African food producers, among the biggest on the continent, are spending hundreds of millions of rand mitigating prolonged rolling power blackouts, water supply issues and crumbling infrastructure.

This investment, sometimes at the cost of essential capital expenditure, will eventually be passed onto consumers, making food prices higher for longer, food companies, economists and lobby groups told Reuters.

It comes at a time when South Africa is already struggling with acute unemployment, 14-year high interest rates and ballooning inflation and complicates efforts of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to ease interest rate hikes.

"We are very aware of the struggles that consumers are going through ... but inevitably some of it will be passed onto our consumers unfortunately," Chief Manufacturing Officer Derek McKernan of Tiger Brands TBSJ.J, said.

The group, one of the biggest food producers in Africa, has allocated 120 million rand ($6.4 million) in capital expenditure for the second half of its financial year to mitigate the impact of power cuts, he said.

This includes additional back-up generators, fuel and water storage facilities, rooftop solar, mobile generators and water tanks to be operational from July.

It has even supplied a generator to one of the local municipalities, he added.

South Africa is facing daily power cuts - its worst in history - as creaking, old power plants breakdown, plunging Africa's most industrialised economy into prolonged blackouts.

This has impacted sectors across the board from telecoms to insurance.

For most part of this year the country was in the throes of "stage 6 loadshedding" with almost 10 hours of daily power cuts, forcing companies to scramble for alternative power and water sources.

South Africa implements power cuts in stages from one to eight with eight being the highest and translating to 16 hours of outages in a 32-hour cycle.

Premier Group PMRJ.J, amongst the top five food producers, has invested in diesel generators and boreholes to isolate any impact of power cuts up to 16 hours a day, Kobus Gertenbach, its CEO, said.

It said last month it would take all necessary steps to protect margins.

Rival Libstar LBRJ.J told Reuters it has built storage capacity to ensure up to three days of production at most sites.

Poultry producer Astral ARLJ.J, diversified food producers AVI AVIJ.J and RCL Foods RCLJ.J have indicated in their recent earnings statements the mitigating measures would eventually translate into higher food prices.

The listed food producers have collectively lost almost 15% in their market value since the beginning of the year.

Blackouts have eased in the past few weeks sparking hopes of better times ahead, but there is a palpable fear that as the southern hemisphere winter takes a deeper hold in July, power demand will far exceed generation.

NIGHTMARE TO BE A FARMER

It is not only companies which are on the receiving end.

Their suppliers - farmers - are also being battered by power and water problems and general infrastructure bottlenecks.

"It's a nightmare to be an irrigation farmer today," the CEO of the lobby group Grain SA, Pieter Taljaard, said, adding, he expected local wheat production to fall by 15% this year.

The South African Cane Growers' Association estimates that continued power cuts between stages 4 and 6 would translate to a loss of 724 million rand in irrigated areas, its CEO Thomas Funke, said.

While a stage 8 could mean a loss of 2.4 billion rand and an almost 65 tonnes per hectare drop in yield, besides hitting the entire value chain, he said.

"To pack your sugar, refine your sugar and manage it in your warehouse and eventually transport it somewhere ... a lot of those processes also require electricity."

Amid falling yields, farmers are also forced to plant less to accommodate erratic supply schedules.

"This is actually (the) same situation (as) when you have a very severe drought ... we can't irrigate enough, so you plant less," Charles Rossouw, managing director of Rosle Boerdery, a citrus farming group, said.

And as supplies fall, prices will increase, he added.

South Africa's food price inflation in May eased to 11.8% from 13.9% in April but remained high, hovering in double-digits.

The central bank predicted in May food inflation would average above 10% for the year.

The mitigating measures are coming at a cost two to three times more than the price of electricity, Kandas Cloete, senior analyst at Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), said.

And some people are worrying there could eventually be a threat to food security if power and water woes worsen.

"In my view, level eight would start to impact our ability to continue to produce enough product to service our market," Gertenbach from Premier said.

($1 = 18.8263 rand)

(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Anait Miridzhanian
Editing by Promit Mukherjee and David Evans)

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By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, June 21 (Reuters) - A roaring rally in mid- and small-cap stocks listed on Indian bourses could see abrupt corrections, as many of them trade at near or record highs even though overall consumption demand remains sluggish, at least six analysts said.

The Nifty mid-cap 100 index .NIFMDCP100 has hit fresh all-time highs in each of the previous seven sessions, gaining 19% so far in fiscal year 2024, while the small-cap index .NIFSMCP100 touched new 52-week highs over the last seven sessions and added 20% year to date.

In contrast, the benchmark BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty have gained 7.7% and 8.6% in the same period, respectively.

"The sharp rally in mid and small caps seem to be bordering on euphoria as consumption demand remains sluggish and valuations have reached unrealistic levels in most cases," analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities wrote on Monday.

Growth in the Indian economy is seen slowing to 6.5% in the current financial year compared to 7.2% last year. In the Jan-March quarter - the latest data available - private consumption grew just 2.8% even as government spending boosted the broader economy. Weaker demand could weigh on company earnings.

Others warned of erratic monsoons, which can impact India's largely agriculture-based economy.

"Nothing is cheap right now, so investors have to be very, very selective on midcaps," said Avinash Gorakshakar, head - research at Profitmart Securities. "If monsoon is not as per expectations, we could witness a temporary halt in the rally."

The 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio - a metric that measures valuation of an index or security - of the mid-cap index .NIFMDCP100 stood at 24.1 on June 20, while the Nifty 50's .NSEI P/E ratio was 21.9. The P/E ratio for the small-cap index .NIFSMCP100 was just below at 19.6.

The P/E ratio of midcap index has risen from 23.5 at the start of the year to 24.02 in June while the P/E ratio of smallcap index rose from 16.39 in January to 19.6, amid the rally in markets.

Most mid-cap stocks are also trading well above their pre-Covid multiples.

DOMESTIC DEMAND

A strong inflow of funds from domestic investors has been instrumental in pushing up valuations.

Since January 2022, mid-cap equity-oriented schemes and small-cap schemes saw inflows of 286 billion rupees ($3.49 billion) and 318.91 billion rupees respectively, twice as much as the 143.45 billion rupees invested into large-cap schemes, data from the Association for Mutual Funds in India showed.

The interest in this set of stocks has prompted fund house Motilal Oswal to launch India's first-ever micro-cap index fund for investors looking beyond the Nifty 500 firms for hidden opportunities.

"Large caps can absorb that much of liquidity, but when midcaps start attracting that kind of flow, then it becomes difficult to absorb liquidity and valuations will get re-rated," said Hemant Kanawala, head - equity investments, Kotak Life Insurance.

One 97 Communications PAYT.NS, Aurobindo Pharma ARBN.NS, PB Fintech PBFI.NS have been among the top mid-cap performers in 2023, adding over 40%.

To be sure, not everyone is skeptical about the recent rally.

"Post the correction in global equities in 2022, the rally in Indian markets has been more broad-based and has trickled down to midcaps," said Atul Suri, chief executive officer at Marathon Trends Advisory.

Suri expects the rally in broader markets to continue, led by the revival in the industrial cycle. He identified inflation as the major lingering risk to the Indian market rally.

($1 = 81.9878 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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** Shares of Astral Ltd ASTL.NS rise as much as 9.02% to 1,739.65 rupees, highest in nearly eight months

** Pipes maker reports 46% Y/Y rise in net profit to 2.06 bln rupees for March qtr, rev from ops grew 8%

** Co approves dividend of 2.25 rupees per share

** Stock most active in nearly four years, with a trading volume of 4.29 mln shares as of 11:36 a.m. IST, more than 11x the 30-day avg - Refinitiv data

** On track for fourth straight session of gains, if trend holds

** The relative strength index of the stock is 87, suggesting it may be overbought

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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May 15 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• INDIA'S ASTRAL MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 2.06 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 1.41 BILLION RUPEES

• ASTRAL MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 15.06 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 13.91 BILLION RUPEES

• DIVIDEND 2.25 RUPEES PER SHARE

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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