Upgrades

We attended Hindalco Industries’ (HNDL) Investor Day. Long-term capacity growth aspirations in India, focus on value-added products dovetailing with domestic requirements.

We maintain our BUY rating on the stock

HNDL and its subsidiary, Novelis, are investing ~USD10b in growth projects to significantly boost capacities. In India, HNDL is expanding its aluminum upstream (Aditya smelter 180 KT, alumina refinery 850 KT), downstream (FRP-170 KT, battery enclosures etc), and copper capacities (smelter 300 KT and recycling 50KT), with a total of USD5.2b currently under execution.

We recently met Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)’s top brass, including business heads, at Karur. Our confidence in the quality/longevity of growth and earnings is emboldened. KVB has been furnishing steady loan growth and will likely have at its disposal healthy optionality, as and when liquidity eases/lending to unsecured turns conducive.

We recently hosted Westlife Foodworld’s (WESTLIFE) management at our Ideation Conference to gain insights into the company's current business environment and future plans.

GAIL’s Q3FY25 result disappointed the street, with multiple one-offs dragging trading segment earnings and reigniting the long-held apprehension on the unpredictability of trading segment.

The bank is reasonably confident to deliver loan growth of 1.5-2.0x the nominal GDP growth and sustain RoA over ~2% in the near to medium term.

Suven’s rapid ascendance in the CDMO space has been remarkable. It has journeyed from being a small molecule-focused CDMO to achieving eminence as one of the few CDMOs in India that offers contract manufacturing of oligonucleotides and ADCs.

Despite relatively stable profitability, Jindal Stainless (JSL) has underperformed its carbon steel players over the past 12 months, primarily due to the concerns on earnings growth.

DLF recently held an Analyst meet. Management reiterated focus on achieving DLF’s medium-term goal of execution of its INR 1,145bn GDV across its residential ongoing and upcoming/pipeline projects over the next 4–5 years.

We recommend a BUY on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,390/share, implying an upside of 10% from the CMP

JSWINFRA has reaffirmed that port capacity expansion remains a key priority, with a goal to achieve 400mtpa by FY30. With expansions at JNPA, Tuticorin, Mangalore, and TNT ports, its port capacity has increased to 174mtpa now from 170mtpa in Sep’24.

Bajaj Finance’s board has promoted Mr. Rajeev Jain (MD & CEO) to as vice chairman, in the capacity of an executive director for three years with effect from 1 April 2025. Besides, Mr Anup Saha (deputy MD) has been promoted as MD.