Long-term investors should invest in Supreme Petrochem

28 Dec 2009, 0041 hrs IST, Ramkrishna Kashelkar, ET Bureau

Supreme Petrochemicals is India’s largest producer and exporter of polystyrene (PS) polymer with an installed capacity of 272,000 tonne per annum (TPA). The company acquired Shin Ho Petrochemicals in 2006 with a manufacturing capacity of 6,000 TPA of expandable polystyrene (EPS) at Chennai. The name of the company was later changed to SPL Polymers, before merging it with Supreme Petrochemicals.
In 2006, the company had entered into an MoU with the Maharashtra government to set up a world class styrenics complex and a minor port in the Raigad district at an estimated investment of Rs 1,115 crore. However, the land acquisition for the project is still continuing through MIDC while the company has obtained environmental clearances. The company has implemented a share buyback last year to acquire and extinguish 15.4 lakh shares. The company’s equity capital now stands reduced to Rs 96.8 crore.
GROWTH DRIVERS: The polystyrene industry globally had been suffering from overcapacity and stagnating demand due to competition from polypropylene. However, the scenario has improved with nearly 1.5 million tonne or 10% of the world’s PS capacity closing down in last three years. At the same time, the demand prospects are improving. The lightweight sheets made from extruded PS are increasingly being used for insulation in construction buildings to reduce energy consumption. In fact several developed countries have made this kind of insulation mandatory, and even in India the concept is gaining currency as part of ‘Green Building’ initiatives. In fact the first half of 2009 witnessed the domestic demand for PS spurt 22% against a year ago.

Supreme Petrochemicals is also shifting its focus from commodity polymer to value added varieties such as coloured, compounded, specialty, expandable, extruded and cup grade polystyrene. It has lined up investments of over Rs 200 crore to expand its capacities in all these value added products within next 18 months. The company has also entered in a tie-up with Italy’s Ultrabatch to manufacture and market high-end additive masterbatches, which are concentrated mixture of pigments and additives. Similarly, it has joined hands with the US based Nova Chemicals to set up 20,400 TPA cup-grade EPS plant in India, which has recently commenced operations.

FINANCIALS: The company has been stagnating over last 5 years - both in case of topline as well as bottom line - due to difficult situations in the global polystyrene markets. During these five years, the company improved its debt-equity ratio gradually to 0.7 as on June 30, ’09 as against 1.48 five years ago. For the year ended in June ’09, the company recorded a net profit of Rs 19.2 crore despite a net loss of Rs 46.7 crore in the December ’08 quarter due to inventory losses. A strong rebound in demand in the first half of 2009 enabled the company to wipe out these losses and end the year in profit.

VALUATIONS: At the current market price of Rs 26 the company is valued at eight times its profits for the trailing 12 months. The current price is just 1.3 times the book value of the company’s stock price. Going forward, we expect the company to report net profit after tax of Rs 55 crore during the year ending June 2010, which translates in a forward P/E of 4.6. The dividend yield of 3.8% can add to the margin of safety for an investor. Considering the growth prospects as a result of the industry turnaround Supreme Petrochemicals appears attractively priced.

VIA: E.T