Anand Rathi Broker Research reports

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%.

Greenply’s Q3 revenue/gross profit/EBITDA grew 5.6/5.8/7.2% y/y to Rs6.2bn/2.5bn/540m. Adj. PAT was up 26.5% y/y to Rs244m. Despite higher revenue, input cost pressures restricted the gross margin to 40.1%.

Broadly in line with consensus and our estimates, Dhanuka Agritech reported a decent set of Q3 figures. Revenue/EBITDA/PAT grew 10%/22%/21% y/y.

As market leader, Star Cement’s Q3 volume growth outstripped northeastern demand growth, but its operational performance was hit by the delayed Meghalaya clinker stabilisation, higher maintenance shutdown cost, higher freight on a highway being constructed, etc.

Continually good offline margins, lower Limeroad losses and efficiency measures pushed up V-Mart’s Q3 EBITDA margin to 16.7%, considerably above ARe.