At the FY10 EPS of Rs. 17.28, share is presently being issued at PE multiple of 23.7 times based on historical earnings, at the upper end of the price band of 410, while the PBV multiple, at upper end, is 5.5x, based on BVPS of Rs. 75, as of 31st July 2010. One can compare the company to other listed EPC players, as about 90% of its current revenues are contributed by this segment alone. KEC International which reported FY10 sales of Rs. 3,900 crore and EPS of Rs. 38.3 is presently quoting at PE of 11.75 and PBV of 2.9 times, with market cap of Rs. 2,274 crore. On the other hand, Kalpataru Power, with FY10 consolidated sales of about Rs. 4,000 crore, reported EPS of Rs. 13.50 on a low equity base of just Rs. 26.5 crore, is ruling at PE of 12.5x and PBV of 2.5x with market cap of Rs. 2,500 crore.
On the other hand, post-listing market cap of A2Z Maintenance, at Rs. 410, works out to Rs. 3,000 crore, while enterprise value works out to Rs. 3,460 crore. This is definitely a very aggressive asking price, given the concern on sustained profit margins in the future. No doubt the company has a definite edge over other renewable energy companies like recently listed Orient Green Power or I.T. solutions for power utilities companies like KLG Systel, but may keep away investors, who are not keen on taking exposure in the hybrid business models, that too with lower margins in the new business, coupled with the management issues of tiny power projects located at diverse locations.
Since Rakesh Jhunjhunwala continues to remain invested, his midas touch may keep the stock in ‘premium list’, getting an added advantage (read higher valuation) over peers, as seen in his other portfolio stocks such as Titan and Crisil, to name a few.
Purely on fundamentals, the issue is aggressively priced.