Buy Ashok Leyland, target price Rs 180: JM Financial

JM Financial has buy call on Ashok Leyland with a target price of Rs 180. The current market price of Ashok Leyland is Rs 166.75.

Ashok Leyland, incorporated in the year 1948, is a Large Cap company (having a market cap of Rs 47888.24 Crore) operating in Auto sector.

Ashok Leyland key Products/Revenue Segments include Commercial Vehicles, Spare Parts & Others, Sale of services, Engine & Gensets, Ferrous Castings, Scrap, Export Incentives, Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2022.


Financials
For the quarter ended 31-03-2023, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 13233.16 Crore, up 26.87 % from last quarter Total Income of Rs 10430.39 Crore and up 32.89 % from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 9957.95 Crore. Company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 794.59 Crore in latest quarter.

The company’s top management includes Mr.Dheeraj G Hinduja, Mr.Saugata Gupta, Mr.Jose Maria Alapont, Dr.Andrew C Palmer, Mr.Manisha Girotra, Mr.Sanjay K Asher, Mr.Jean Brunol, Dr.Andreas H Biagosch, Mr.Shom Ashok Hinduja, Mr.Gopal Mahadevan, Dr.C Bhaktavatsala Rao. Company has Price Waterhouse & Co Chartered Accountants LLP as its auditors. As on 31-03-2023, the company has a total of 294 Crore shares outstanding.

Investment Rationale Pricing environment has improved in the CV industry. And, the company is focusing on cost reduction initiatives to drive double-digit margins in FY24. CV upcycle is expected to continue during FY24 with an expected MHCV growth of 10%.

Further it maintains its estimates and BUY rating with unchanged Mar’24 TP of INR 180 (20x FY25e EPS). Increase in competitive intensity is the key risk.

Promoter/FII Holdings
Promoters held 51.53 per cent stake in the company as of 31-Mar-2023, while FIIs owned 14.85 per cent, DIIs 22.06 per cent.