Anand Rathi Broker Research reports

Surpassing our Rs11.3bn estimate on more-than-expected revenue and less-than-anticipated other expenses, Ashok Leyland’s Q3 EBITDA grew 9% y/y to Rs12.1bn.

Kewal Kiran’s Q3 revenue grew 27.5% y/y on Kraus’ acquisition. Standalone sales growth was muted at 0.8% y/y. Some of the revenue loss was on Lawman brand’s discontinuation from MBO channel.

Kajaria Ceramics’ Q3 revenue rose only 1% y/y to Rs 11.6bn. EBITDA/PAT fell 16.8%/25.4% y/y to Rs1.5bn/Rs777m, below ARe’s Rs1.9bn/Rs 1.2bn.

Broadly in line with our estimate, Sansera’s Q3 consolidated EBITDA grew 5% y/y to Rs1.27bn. We expect its outperformance to continue, thanks to greater focus on xEV (drivetrain), tech-agnostic (aluminium forgings) and non-auto (aerospace, Defence, semiconductor) components.

Telangana (15% of UB’s revenue) announced a 15% price hike for beer, marking the first hike since FY20. This and strong seasonal demand (on a lower base), cost-saving steps and consistent capability building efforts augur well for the future.

Escorts’ Q3 PBT (incl. discontinued operations) grew 7% y/y to Rs4.2bn, below ARe of Rs4.4bn mainly due to less-than-expected agri machinery margins.

Broadly in line with the consensus and ARe, Rainbow Children’s Medicare reported reasonable Q3 figures with revenue/EBITDA/PAT up 19%/14%/11% y/y.

Aided by higher offtake overall (up 8.2% y/y to 3.04m sheets) and better blended realisations (up 9.6% y/y to Rs822/sheet), Stylam’s Q3 revenue stepped up 18.6% y/y to Rs2.5bn.

In line with our estimates and the consensus, Jupiter Lifeline Hospital reported healthy Q3 figures, with revenue/EBITDA/PAT up 18%/21%/20% y/y.

Nilkamal’s Q3 revenue grew 6.3% y/y to Rs8.5bn. Input-cost tailwinds helped the gross margin expand 126bps y/y to 43.3%. Higher employee expenses and other operating expenses pulled EBITDA down 12.9% y/y to Rs634m. PAT was down a significant 26.4%.