Larsen & Toubro Infotech


Parent’s stature, company’s own track record, relatively small equity base, attractive dividend prospects, etc., make it a sure short term bet though poor ESOP policy casts shadow for a long run.

 

OFFER AT A GLANCE

Name

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd

Public Offer

Offer for sale of 1.75 cr shares of Rs 10 each by parent company, Larsen & Toubro

Offer % on Total Equity

10.3%

Offer Price

Between Rs 705 and Rs 710

Offer Amount

Rs 1234 cr to Rs 1243 cr    

Application Quantity

20 & Multiples of 20

Listing at

NSE and BSE

Book Running Lead Managers

Citigroup Global, Kotak Mahindra &

ICICI Securities

Registrar

Link Intime

IPO SCHEDULE

Bid/Offer Opens

Monday, July 11, 2016

Bid/Offer Closes

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Finalisation of Basis of Allotment

Monday, July 18, 2016

Refunds/Unblocking ASBA Fund

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Credit into Depository account

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Trading to commence on or before

Thursday, July 21, 2016

 

The IPO

The present IPO is an `offer for sale’ of 175 lakh equity shares from the promoter company Larsen & Toubro Ltd through the book-building route.  The IPO price band has been fixed at Rs 705-710 a share (Re 1 paid-up) which puts the value of the offer at Rs 1234-1243 cr. Investors should apply for a minimum of 20 shares and multiples of 20 thereafter. The IPO would constitute 10.3% of the post-issue paid up capital of the company. The promoter-company, which holds 94.94% of the present equity of Rs 16.98 cr, would hold 84.65% post-offer unchanged equity. Citigroup Global Markets, Kotak Mahindra Capital and ICICI Securities are acting as book running lead managers to the offer. The offer opens on July 11, 2016 and the company hopes to list its share on or before July 21, 2016.   

 

IPO Object

The objects of the present offer are to achieve the benefits of listing the shares on the Stock Exchanges and to carry out the sale by the selling shareholder. The listing of the shares is expected to boost the company’s brand name and provide liquidity to the existing shareholders.

 

Lineage

The Mumbai-based Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd (LTIL) is the second listed subsidiary of the seven decade-old Larsen & Toubro Ltd – one of the current market high-fliers whose market cap (about Rs 1,43,000 cr) is among the top 15 listed companies in the country. Originally incorporated as L&T Information Technology Ltd in December 1996, the name of the company was changed to the present one in June 2001 reportedly to convey the company’s vision for its global brand and to draw strength from the promoter.

The “L&T” brand is one of the most well-respected brands in India which provides LTIL  a competitive advantage, particularly in attracting talent and new clients; benefiting from its promoter’s global network; exploring potential business opportunities; best corporate governance practices; accessing capital; and establishing itself  as a thought partner with the top management of many global corporations. LTIL has already capitalized considerably on the ability to engage with and obtain work from strategic global clients, vendors and partners of the L&T group. This has indeed differentiated the company from its competitors that are standalone companies. In other words, LTIL’s parentage, which has immensely contributed towards the company’s growth in the IT services industry, will continue to help LTIL achieve its strategic objectives.

 

Business Profile

LTIL is one of India’s leading global IT services and solutions companies. In 2015, NASSCOM ranked LTIL as the sixth largest Indian IT services company in terms of export revenues. Its clients comprise some of the world’s largest and well-known organizations, including 49 of the Fortune Global 500 companies. LTIL offers an extensive range of IT services to our clients in diverse industries such as banking and financial services, insurance, energy and process, consumer packaged goods, retail and pharmaceuticals, media and entertainment, hi-tech and consumer electronics and automotive and aerospace. Its range of services includes application development, maintenance and outsourcing, enterprise solutions, infrastructure management services, testing, digital solutions and platform-based solutions.

As part of a business restructuring exercise conducted by the promoter L&T, all engineering services businesses of the parent company have been consolidated under a separate subsidiary viz L&T Technolgy Services Ltd (LTTSL). As part of this restructuring, on January 1, 2014, LTIL sold and transferred the assets and liabilities of its Product Engineering Services Business (PESB) to LTTSL. PESB was responsible for the operations of LTIL’s telecom cluster, providing IT services and solutions to clients in the telecommunication sector. Interestingly, the promoter (L&T) is also contemplating to float public LTTSL after listing LTIL. 

Over the years, LTIL’s growth has been marked by significant expansion of business verticals and geographies. The company provides services globally and the percentage of its revenue from North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the rest of the world amounted to 69%, 17%, 2% and 6% for FY16. At the end of May 31, 2016 the company had 22 delivery centres and 41 sales offices globally. The company’s clients include 49 of the Fortune Global 500 companies.

LTIL claims to have a history of high client retention and has reportedly derived a significant proportion of its revenues from `repeat business’ built on its successful execution of prior engagements. In FY 2016, 2015 and 2014, the company generated 97-98% of its revenue from continuing operations from existing clients across a range of business verticals. Further, as of March 31, 2016, the company had been engaged with over 100 clients for more than three years and with two of its largest clients for over ten years.

 

Financials

LTIL has consistently grown in last five years despite transferring its PES Business in 2014. Though the company’s consolidated operating margin has fluctuated between 17% and 23%, its top line has steadily increased from Rs 3192 cr in FY12 to Rs 6143 cr in FY16 at a CAGR of 17.8%. Net profit has more than doubled, from Rs 419 cr in 2012 to Rs 922 cr in 2016, at a CAGR of 21.8%. Against a relatively small equity base of less than Rs 17 cr, the company has whopping reserves of Rs 2006 cr, that too after liberally distributing Rs 2517 cr as dividend in last five years!   

 

L&T INFOTECH CONSOLDATED FINANCIALS

(in Cr)

Mar-16

Mar-15

Mar-14

Mar-13

Mar-12

Operating Revenue

5847

4978

4920

3851

3182

Other Income

296

92

-83

22

10

Gross Income

6143

5070

4837

3874

3192

Operating Profit

1342

1105

1045

843

734

Oper. Margin (%)

17.9

20.4

22.7

16.7

18.8

Interest

10

10

31

21

34

Deprecn/Amortization

184

168

161

144

139

Tax

225

167

194

168

141

Net Profit

922

760

660

510

419

Net oper. cash flow

863

642

628

608

336

Net Worth

2023

2026

1610

1339

1105

Equity Capital

16.98

16.13

16.13

16.13

16.13

Reserves

2006

2010

1594

1323

1089

Share Premium

139

118

118

118

118

Earned Surplus

1640

1419

1222

1030

870

Dividend %

3265

2980

3420

1880

1580

Dividend Amt

652

571

645

353

296

Div Pay-out %

70.7

75.2

97.8

69.2

70.6

Net Block

657

709

705

841

740

Borrowings

40

204

97

222

263

 

Valuation

The IPO price band of Rs 705-710 for a Re 1 paid up share puts a market-cap of about Rs 12000 cr for LTIL which discounts the company’s latest earnings 13 times. This compares well with other IT heavy weights as well as industry composite.  Further, the company has consistently paid highly attractive dividends at a relatively high pay-out ratio of more than 70%. Should the company maintain the same dividend policy post-IPO, the dividend yield alone could work out to more than 4%! Thus, considering the company’s track record and its financials, the offer price looks justified.

 

HOW L&T INFOTECH COMPARES WITH MAJOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

COMPANY NAME

MCAP

EQ

RES

REVEN

P/E

P/BV

OPM

YLD

PRICE

 

(Rs Cr)

(x)

(%)

 

TCS

477,921

197

65,164

108,646

19.7

7.3

28.2

1.8

2,426

Infosys

266,158

1,148

60,635

62,441

19.7

4.3

25.0

2.1

1,159

Wipro

138,842

494

46,114

51,691

15.6

3.0

21.7

1.1

562

HCL Tech

101,796

282

27,012

36,737

14.0

3.7

23.1

4.2

722

Oracle

30,035

42

3,633

4,093

25.8

8.2

41.1

2.8

3,539

MPhasis

11,934

210

6,083

6,092

17.8

1.9

14.6

2.8

568

Mindtree

10,981

168

2,228

4,690

18.2

4.6

17.7

2.4

654

IT-SOFTWARE COMPOSITE (51 nos)

18.7

4.6

24.1

2.0

 

MARKET COMPO (2837 nos)

 

 

 

 

29.6

2.6

14.5

1.4

 

L&T Infotech

12059

17

2006

6143

13.1

6.0

17.9

4.6

710

 

11974

17

2006

6143

13.0

5.9

17.9

4.6

705

  

LTIL’s parent L&T is commanding a respectable P/E of over 28x while the Sensex P/E is only around 23x. Nevertheless, as compared to multinational Capital Goods players like ABB, Siemens and Alstom, L&T’s current discounting is relatively low. In fact, relatively a smaller player like Thermax seems to enjoy a higher discounting than L&T in the stock market which reflects poorly on the `professional management’ of L&T.      

HOW LARSEN & TOUBRO COMPARES WITH PEERS

COMPANY NAME

MCAP

EQ

P/E

P/BV

P/R

P/NB

PRICE

 

(Rs cr)

(x)

 

Larsen & Toubro

144,760

186

28.4

3.3

1.4

2.4

1,554

Siemens

45,484

71

67.0

8.9

4.1

32.9

1,277

BHEL

34,279

490

1.0

1.3

4.7

140

ABB India

25,867

42

81.7

8.6

3.1

19.3

1,221

Thermax

10,639

24

38.4

4.5

1.9

7.2

893

Alstom T&D

9,191

51

118.5

6.9

2.5

12.8

359

Cap Goods Compo(67)

 

 

82.3

3.3

1.6

3.7

 

MKT COMPO (2869)

 

 

29.7

2.6

1.9

3.7

 

 

Coming to performance of the group’s last public float, L&T Finance Holdings, which went public in July 2011, has fetched only a modest 54% capital gain in five long years. This scrip is currently discounted about 16 times its earnings while peers like Bajaj Finserv is commanding a P/E of 20. In other words, though the so called professionally managed L&T group enjoys adequate market sentiment, it does not command the discounting that some of the business family-controlled peers do.   

HOW L&T FINANCE COMPARES WITH ITS PEERS

COMPANY NAME

MCAP

EQ

P/E

P/BV

P/R

Price

 

(Rs Cr)

(x)

(Rs)

Bajaj Finserv

36,784

80

19.7

2.8

3.9

2,311

L&T Finance Holdings

13,755

1,753

16.1

1.9

1.9

78

Godrej Industries

13,566

34

61.9

3.9

1.2

404

Adani Enterprises

9,304

110

8.5

0.7

0.2

85

HOLDING VENTURES (13)

 

 

41.6

1.6

1.1

 

MARKET COMPO (2861)

 

 

28.6

2.6

1.8

 

 

Concerns

Even while terming itself as a professionally managed conglomerate the L&T group has a lack luster record  in grooming professionals from within the organization.  For instance, the two-decade old LTIL’s top three executives have been with the company for less than a year.  While the Chief Executive Officer-cum-Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer joined the company in August 2015, the Chief Operating Officer has been with the company only since February this year.  What’s more, as of the date of the Red Herring Prospectus, none of the Key Management Personnel holds any share in the Company.

It’s ironical that while family-owned companies offer liberal ESOPS to its employees in these days, a professionally run 100% publicly-held company does not have its senior employees as equity stakeholders. Still worse, some employees have already raised queries about the company’s ESOP policy and couple of them have reportedly gone to court for addressing this issue. It is indeed pathetic that in a professionally run company, a non-executive chairman could be allotted shares worth more than Rs 60 cr (at the IPO value) while no working senior executive of the company has any equity stake. Perhaps this explains how the L&T group is being run.

 

Lead Manager’s Track

The Rs 1200-odd cr IPO of LTIL is handled by three investment bankers who have a mixed track record. In last 16 years Citigroup Global associated with 13 IPOs of which six are currently trading above the offer price. Overall, Citigroup-associated IPOs raised Rs 48140 cr whose current market value is only Rs 43603 cr, capital loss being Rs 4537 cr (9.4%). While LTIL’s stable-mate L&T Finance Holdings has fetched the maximum return of 54% in 5 long years, NMDC, which brought its IPO in March 2010, has handed out the worst performance.

 

CITIGROUP GLOBAL ASSOCIATED IPOS SINCE 2010

ISSUER NAME

IPO

IPO

CURNT

IPO

CURNT

GAIN/

%

(AMT IN CR)

DATE

PRICE

PRICE

VALUE

VALUE

LOSS

 

Mahanagar Gas

21-Jun-16

421

519.90

1040

1284

244

23.5

Dr. Lal Pathlabs

8-Dec-15

550

841.35

638

976

338

53

Interglobe Aviation

27-Oct-15

765

1009.60

3025

3993

967

32

Coffee Day

14-Oct-15

328

259.35

1150

909

-241

-20.9

UFO Moviez

28-Apr-15

625

569.75

600

547

-53

-8.8

Just Dial

20-May-13

530

615.10

927

1076

149

16.1

Multi Commodity

22-Feb-12

1032

1009.50

663

649

-14

-2.2

L&T Finance

27-Jul-11

52

80.25

1236

1908

672

54.3

Tata Steel

19-Jan-11

610

327.35

3477

1866

-1611

-46.3

Coal India

18-Oct-10

245

310.10

15475

19587

4112

26.6

SKS Microfin

28-Jul-10

985

734.80

1654

1234

-420

-25.4

NMDC

10-Mar-10

300

94.35

9967

3135

-6833

-68.6

NTPC

3-Feb-10

201

156.20

8287

6440

-1847

-22.3

13

CITIGROUP COMPOSITE

48140

43603

-4537

-9.4

 

Kotak Mahindra Capital has handled 35 IPOs between 2010 and 2016 of which 19 are currently trading above their offer prices. However, in terms of appreciation, Kotak-associated IPOs could collectively fetch only less than 2%. In other words, the investment banker helped to raise Rs 66,927 cr whose current market value is Rs 67980 cr, capital gain being Rs 1,053 cr (1.6%). 

While Jubilant Foodworks , Gujarat Pipavav Port, Bajaj Corp and Ujjivan Financial have fared commendably well, Tecpro Systems (-99%), Jaypee Infra (-91%), Vascon Engineers(-80%), Nitesh Estates (-70%), NMDC (-69%) and Adlabs Entertainment (-55%) have inflicted huge capital losses. Nevertheless, of the four 4 IPOs of 2016, three are currently trading above the offer price.

 

KOTAK MAHINDRA ASSOCIATED IPOS SINCE 2010

ISSUER NAME

IPO

IPO

CURNT

IPO

CURNT

GAIN/

%

(AMT IN CR)

DATE

PRICE

PRICE

VALUE

VALUE

LOSS

 

Mahanagar Gas

21-Jun-16

421

519.90

1040

1284

244

23.5

Parag Milk Foods

4-May-16

215

276.50

1179

1516

337

28.6

Ujjivan Financial

28-Apr-16

210

398.00

883

1673

790

89.5

Healthcare Global

16-Mar-16

218

182.30

650

543

-106

-16.4

Dr. Lal Pathlabs

8-Dec-15

550

841.35

638

976

338

53

S.H. Kellkar

28-Oct-15

180

212.10

508

599

91

17.8

Interglobe Aviation

27-Oct-15

765

1009.60

3025

3993

967

32

Coffee Day

14-Oct-15

328

259.35

1150

909

-241

-20.9

Sadbhav Infra

31-Aug-15

103

98.50

492

470

-21

-4.4

Power Mech Proj

7-Aug-15

640

547.25

273

234

-40

-14.5

Manpasand Bever

24-Jun-15

320

566.20

400

708

308

76.9

Adlabs Entertain

10-Mar-15

180

81.15

366

165

-201

-54.9

Ortel Comm

3-Mar-15

181

183.00

175

177

2

1.1

Bharti Infratel

11-Dec-12

220

349.80

4156

6608

2452

59

Speciality Restaur

16-May-12

150

98.85

176

116

-60

-34.1

Future Consumer

25-Apr-11

10

22.85

750

1714

964

128.5

Muthoot Finance

18-Apr-11

175

288.50

901

1486

585

64.9

Tata Steel

19-Jan-11

610

327.35

3477

1866

-1611

-46.3

Coal India

18-Oct-10

245

310.10

15475

19587

4112

26.6

Prestige Estates

12-Oct-10

183

183.65

1200

1204

4

0.4

Oberoi Realty

6-Oct-10

260

279.10

1029

1104

76

7.3

Tecpro Systems

23-Sep-10

355

4.53

268

3

-265

-98.7

Eros International

17-Sep-10

175

210.00

350

420

70

20

Gujarat Pipavav Port

23-Aug-10

46

162.20

554

1953

1399

252.6

Bajaj Corp

2-Aug-10

132

390.25

297

878

581

195.6

SKS Microfinance

28-Jul-10

985

734.80

1654

1234

-420

-25.4

Hindustan Media

5-Jul-10

166

271.50

270

442

172

63.6

Jaypee Infra

29-Apr-10

102

8.93

2274

199

-2075

-91.2

Nitesh Estates

23-Apr-10

54

13.49

405

101

-304

-75

NMDC

10-Mar-10

300

94.35

9967

3135

-6833

-68.5

Rural Electrificat

19-Feb-10

203

179.55

3486

3083

-403

-11.6

Hathway Cable

9-Feb-10

48

33.45

666

464

-202

-30.3

NTPC

3-Feb-10

201

156.20

8287

6440

-1847

-22.3

Vascon Engineers

27-Jan-10

165

33.30

178

36

-142

-79.8

Jubilant Foodworks

18-Jan-10

145

1173.80

329

2661

2332

709.5

35

KOTAK MAHIND COMPOSITE

66927

67980

1053

1.6

 

 ICICI Securities has handled twenty nine IPOs since 2010. These issuers collectively mopped up Rs 43,947 cr whose current market value is about Rs 50,334 cr – a gain of Rs 6,387 cr, yielding a modest return of 14.5%. While Power Grid (Rs 6,322 cr), Bharti Infratel (Rs 2,452 cr),Equitas Holdings and  Future Consumer (Rs 964 cr) have gained significantly in terms of amount, Wonderla Holidays (223%), Ujjivan Financial (90%) and Manpasand  Beverages (77%) have appreciated handsomely in terms of percentage.

On the other hand Jaypee Infra (-2075 cr) and NTPC (-1847 cr) lost the most in terms of amount of loss.  Shree Ganesh Jewel (97%), Parabolic Drugs (95%), Jaypee Infra (91%) A2Z Infra (90%), Commercial Engineer (88%) and Nitesh Estate (75%) have been big losers in terms of percentage.

 

ICICI SECURITIES ASSOCIATED IPOS SINCE 2010

ISSUER NAME

IPO

IPO

CURNT

IPO

CURNT

GAIN/

%

(AMT IN CR)

DATE

PRICE

PRICE

VALUE

VALUE

LOSS

 

Ujjivan Financial

28-Apr-16

210

398.00

883

1673

790.04

89.5

Thyrocare Tech

27-Apr-16

446

563.95

479

606

126.73

26.4

Equitas Holdings

5-Apr-16

110

183.95

2177

3640

1463.33

67.2

Quick Heal Tech

8-Feb-16

321

268.30

451

377

-74.08

-16.4

Teamlease Services

2-Feb-16

850

1076.80

424

537

113.05

26.7

Sadbhav Infrastructure

31-Aug-15

103

98.50

492

470

-21.48

-4.4

Manpasand Beverage

24-Jun-15

320

566.20

400

708

307.75

76.9

PNC Infratech

8-May-15

378

566.70

488

732

243.83

49.9

VRL Logistics

15-Apr-15

205

313.55

468

716

247.75

53.0

Shemaroo Entertain

16-Sep-14

170

313.00

120

221

100.94

84.1

Wonderla Holidays

21-Apr-14

125

403.15

181

585

403.32

222.5

Bharti Infratel

11-Dec-12

220

349.80

4156

6608

2451.92

59.0

Power Finance Corp

10-May-11

203

177.40

4660

4072

-587.66

-12.6

Future Consumer Ent

25-Apr-11

10

22.85

750

1714

963.75

128.5

Muthoot Finance

18-Apr-11

175

288.50

901

1486

584.53

64.9

PTC India Financial

16-Mar-11

28

38.75

439

607

168.45

38.4

Punjab & Sind Bank

13-Dec-10

120

47.70

480

191

-289.2

-60.3

A2Z Infra Engineering

8-Dec-10

400

41.50

776

81

-695.77

-89.6

Shipping Corporation

30-Nov-10

140

67.60

1186

573

-613.16

-51.7

Claris Lifesciences

24-Nov-10

228

213.90

288

270

-17.81

-6.2

Power Grid Corporat

9-Nov-10

90

165.10

7576

13898

6321.68

83.4

Commercial Engineer

30-Sep-10

127

15.85

172

22

-150.9

-87.5

Engineers India

27-Jul-10

290

209.45

977

706

-271.4

-27.8

Parabolic Drugs

14-Jun-10

75

4.00

200

11

-189.33

-94.7

Jaypee Infra

29-Apr-10

102

8.93

2274

199

-2074.84

-91.2

Nitesh Estates

23-Apr-10

54

13.49

405

101

-303.83

-75.0

Shree Ganesh Jewel

19-Mar-10

260

7.05

371

10

-360.96

-97.3

Rural Electrificat

19-Feb-10

203

179.55

3486

3083

-402.71

-11.6

NTPC

3-Feb-10

201

156.20

8287

6440

-1846.98

-22.3

29

ICICI SEC COMPOSITE

43947

50334

6387

14.5


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