Think Loan Against Gold…Think MFL….Two Rating Agencies,CRISIL and ICRA have given MFL a 4/5 IPO Rating indicating above average fundamentals with good growth
Promoter Pedigree
This is the third generation of Muthoots that are running MFL….and they too are either past retirment age or approaching it !
The First Generation, Ninan Nathai Muthoot set up a Trading Business in 1887…the Second Generation,M George Muthoot set up the Gold Business in 1939…and the Third Generation of Four Muthoots have scaled up fast in the last three years and are taking MFL Public….The Four Muthoots are the Wholetime Directors and constitute 50% of the Board which also has four Independent Directors
The Group has a host of companies across a host of businesses…from FM Radio Broadcating to Real Estate and Resorts
A Harder look at Promoter Intent & Mindset
Abetting in Private Equity Placement at Differential Pricing in the same month too !
But MFL is literally and figuratively the GOLD mine.Owned 100% by the Muthoots,the dilution to 93 % took place in the last year to Private Equity Players at Share Prices ranging from Rs 123 to Rs 173.50….including to Kotak Private Equity Fund and Kotak Investment Advisors….Kotak Bank too is a major financier of MFL receivables and Kotak Mahindra Capital is lead managing the issue.
Let’s not start a debate here on Conflict of Interest and Investor Protection on Pricing and on who’s really steering the Ship here…the Promoters or the Private Equity Players and the Lead Manager !
But it’s amusing how Pricing can change significantly in the same month of preferential allotment…On September 8,2010 two Kotak entities invested at Rs 133…a fortnight later the same month on September 23,2010 Matrix Partners India Investment LLC comes in again at Rs 173.50 (earlier was at Rs 123 two months earlier on July 23,2010) this time with Wellcome Trust Ltd too at the same price….Clearly Opportunistic and Vested Interests at play here………
Reward Self damn well but not the key employees
What catches the eye is this….Every one of the Four Muthoot Directors are currently getting this from the company,while the Top Employees are paid a pittance…top Finance Guy got just Rs 10 lakhs for the whole year !…while MFL remained private it was nobody’s concern really but now with it going public there are a few eyebrows surely that will be raised
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Basic Salary of Rs 20 lakhs every month with increments upto 25% in a year at the discretion of the Board
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Special Allowance of Rs 20 lakhs a month
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All Expenses paid for Housing,Travel,Telephones etc
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Incentive of Rs 1.8 crs or 1% of the Net Profit before taxes and before applying this incentive whichever is higher to be paid at quarterly intervals….FY 11 should close with EBT of close to Rs 600 crs…so that’s Rs 6 crores for each Director as incentive….November 30,2010 results for eight months already shows Rs 12.8 crs debited to Directors Remuneration…. FY 12 should see an EBT of over Rs 800 crs…so that’s Rs 8 crs that will be paid out as Incentive to each
In addition they shall get a royalty from MFL for using the Muthoot Brand Name…more of this below
Top Key Employees of a 15500 + strong workforce get Salary packages ranging from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs for the full year !…something is terribly skewed here…you do not build an Empire simply by rewarding yourselves alone !…If this issue is not addressed,you might soon see a Labour Union in MFL and a high attrition rate…this is a huge risk
Muthoot Trademark is owned by MFL but is intented to be reassigned to the Promoters by a rectification process that has already commenced
Muthoot Trademark and Logo is owned by MFL…it’s an Intangible Asset…a Brand that has great Value…as rectiification process for reassigning it to Muthoots is the method adopted,no valuation has been done…when this process is completed the Muthoots would grant MFL a non exclusive license to use this Brand for a royalty fee of 1% of gross income but not more than 3% of profit before tax (after charging the royalty) and managerial remuneration payable…this brand should have a value of several hundred crores atleast if not over a thousand crores at this time…Promoters would own this and no longer MFL…MFL would have to pay for using it though !
Liquidating some part of the Promoter Holding to Private Investors
On September 21,2010 Promoters have offoaded 3202128 shares at Rs 173.50 to The Wellcome Trust Ltd of UK to cash in Rs 55.55 crs…MFL also issued 1761206 Fresh shares at the same price to The Wellcome Trust Ltd ,UK on September 23,2010
The IPO & Pre IPO Placements
MFL is offering 5.15 cr Equity shares of Face Value Rs 10 in the Bookbuilding Price band of Rs 160 to Rs 175
Equity is currently Rs 320 crs and will move to Rs 372 crs Post IPO of which the Muthoots will hold 80.12 % .Networth which is estimated to be Rs 1251 crs at March 31,2011 will move to Rs 2142 crs with this Rs 901 crs Issue at top end price of Rs 175
It has just announced that it has successfully placed,the maximum allowed, 15 % of Shares on Offer to Eleven cornerstone Anchor Investors at Rs 170.These include Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Goldman Sachs India Fund and Baring India Private Equity Fund
The Issue will be heavily subscribed…The Qualified Institutional Body Portion is 50% or 25750000 Shares,the Non Institution or High Networth Investors Portion is 15% or 7725000 shares while Retail Investors can apply for 35% of the Issue or 18025000 shares
The Retail Portion needs Rs 315 crs for subscription at Rs 175…Minimum Application is for 40 shares and then in multiples thereof.It is likely to attract over Rs 6000 crs…so even if you put in the maximum application for Rs 196000 (1120 * Rs 175),you’ll probably be allotted just 50 shares or thereabouts…If it lists at Rs 225 as expected in May 2011,the gains of Rs 50+ may look super at 30% absolute but it translates to just Rs 2500 !…on an application of Rs 196000 !…Annualised gains would be between 18% to 24%….some ponderables though !….may get a lower allotment than even 50 shares if retail portion is oversubscribed even more heavily than 20 times….may get a lower or higher price than Rs 225 on listing
This is the Problem that Retail Investors face in a relatively Good Issue…Poor Allotments and insignificant Gains….this IPO will make you money…but not as much as it does the Promoters and the Private Equity Players….the Old Game being played out by a crafty Lead Manager !
Nevertheless,do go ahead and apply…monies otherwise are sitting earning far less in your Bank Accounts
Oh ! and don’t grudge the Private Equity Players who have cornered shares in preferential allotments …they carry a 14 month lock in as per Shareholders Agreements or longer as per SEBI IPO Rules…Anchor Investors who have just received firm allotments at discretion of Promoters as advised and ‘controlled’ by Lead Managers have only a 30 days lock in…None of them get any Bonus Issue benefit…that was cleaned up by the Promoters,and they had the right to do so too, in two liberal issues of 7:1 on October 21,2008 and 36:7 on August 29,2009 after they had invested fresh Equity in 2006 and 2008 at Rs 250 per share
MFL : Peer Valuations
Two Leading ‘Financing against Gold’ Companies
|
Company
|
Price
in Rs
|
Book Value in Rs
|
P/BV
|
Estimated
Total Income
March 31,2011
Rs Crs
|
Estimated
Net Profit
March 31,2011
Rs Crs
|
EPS
|
Muthoot Finance
|
175
|
58 *
|
3
|
1950
|
400
|
10.8
|
Manappuram General Finance
|
127
|
49
|
2.6
|
1100
|
250
|
6
|
Book Value and EPS adjusted for FY 11 Profit Estimates * Post IPO
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MFL is the Market Leader
There is simply no doubt MFL is the Market Leader in LAG Segment…Impressive…Have a Look
Market Leaders in ‘Loan Against Gold’ Financing Segment
Source : IMaCS Report updated 2010
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Ranking
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Lender
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FY 10 Loan Book
( Rs Crs)
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% of Market Share
|
1
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Muthoot Finance Ltd
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7342
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19.5
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2
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Indian Overseas Bank
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5220
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13.9
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3
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Indian Bank
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3920
|
10.4
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4
|
Manappuram Finance
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2560
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6.8
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5
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South Indian Bank
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2350
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6.3
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6
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Muthoot Fincorp
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2220
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5.9
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7
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State Bank of Travancore
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1930
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5.1
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8
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Andhra Bank
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1440
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3.7
|
9
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Federal Bank
|
860
|
2.3
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As of November 30,2010,The Loan Book of MFL has climbed to Rs 13004 crs…It’s got a bigger share than even the big Southern Banks…and No ,Muthoot Fincorp is not a related company…so a potential and clear confusion and clash of Brand recall exists
Interest Dynamics of MFL for the Eight Months at November 30,2011
Interest Income =>
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Rs 1289 crs
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Charged to Customer
Average 19.94 %
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Interest Expense=>
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Rs 583 crs
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Cost of Funds
9%
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Now that’s a fabulous mark up of 120% on Cost of Funds !…MFL simply plays the Numbers game with such a great Net Interest Margin…It had 4.1 million accounts across 20 states (predominantly in the South),Delhi and Four Union Territories being serviced by 2263 Branches…it held 97.6 Tonnes of Gold as collateral…that’s worth over Rs 20000 crs against a Retail Loan Book of Rs 13004 crs.The Average Loan was Rs 31553 and Interest earned was an average of 1.67% every month….the Loan Book was funded by Muthoot Gold Bonds outstanding at Rs 3364 crs + Loans from Banks and Financial Institutions of Rs 4709 crs + Selling Receivables under bilateral assignments to banks of Rs 3246 crs….
Network of Branches
As of February 28,2011 the branches were 2611,the accounts had swelled past4.5 million,the Employees were 15664 that served an average of 67953 customers every day in February 2011…there is no Labour Union…yet
Except 14 Branches which are owned by MFL,all Branches are rented or leased.It takes an average of Four to Six Weeks and Rs Five lakhs to Rs Ten Lakhs to set up a branch…each requires a Strong Room to hold the Gold Collateral plus a Burglar Alarm and Security Personnel Arrangements at high risk branches…Eight Months figures at November 30,2010 show the average cost of setting up a branch was Rs 6.5 lakhs read more
Hip Hip Hip Hurrah ! Winner of the gauravblog hamper announced past midnight on Thursday April 21,2011 ….we have entered Good Friday…..thanks Swaroop,Tushar,Manoj,Raghavendra Ramachandra and Ramurthy for responding to this TAP GAP Equity Poser 4/11…..Tushar you ran close but the gauravblog hamper for this Equity Poser is won by RR that stands for Raghavendra Ramachandra…I know this as he send me the response by email too with his name…RR please email me your postal address and telephone nos…strong conviction comes through with some points that one cannot find in the RHP….well done
TAP GAP….. Equity Poser 4/11…Respond by Thursday ,April 21,2011
Winning Response wins the gauravblog hamper
Does Muthoot Finance IPO look attractive to apply for in the Price band of Rs 160 to Rs 175 ?
Two Leading ‘Financing against Gold’ Companies
|
Company
|
Price
in Rs
|
Book Value in Rs
|
P/BV
|
Estimated
Total Income
March 31,2011
Rs Crs
|
Estimated
Net Profit
March 31,2011
Rs Crs
|
EPS
|
Muthoot Finance
|
175
|
58 *
|
3
|
1950
|
400
|
10.8
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Manappuram General Finance
|
130
|
49
|
2.7
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1100
|
250
|
6
|
Book Value and EPS adjusted for FY 11 Profit Estimates * Post IPO
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Some guidance to respond to increase the probability of your’s being the winning response
Briefly support your views to explain why you think what you think…I’ve given a comparative table above to help you along…if you feel the brevity sought in the response box will not do justice to your views,you could first simply mention your Views in brief as a response to this blog and then detail out why you think so in a seperate email to [email protected] …Both will be considered
…so get your mind gums working….responses inside five days will be appreciated to help me select the winner from them by the time the IPO closes on April 21,2011.It opens Monday April 18,2011
Cheers !…and all the Best
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