GauravBlog Logo

A Lion’s eye on the Bulls and Bears

“In India, companies may fall sick, but promoters rarely do!”

Gaurav's Blog

Categories

Telecom

Subex @ Rs 11 ~ Five Questions that come to Mind

Subex @ Rs 11  & thus available around par of FV Rs 10~ Five Questions that come to mind?

First a bit of background of Subex that got grounded bad from a high of Rs 887 in 2005 to a low of Rs 4 in 2013 before sputtering to show some life crossing Rs 18 in 2015 & again correcting sharply to below Rs 10….It’s showing some life again with Market Cap moving up to @ Rs 550 crs & huge Volumes .It’s in the Telecom Software Products space providing Business and Operations Support Systems (B/OSS) to Communication Service Providers (CSPs) across the Globe.

If you’re training with me you’d know how to look at it now….just listing in brief the five points I’m looking at :

  1. Management ~ Its now 48 year old Surjeet Singh ,ex CFO of Patni Computers managing Subex.He’s the CEO & MD & has a Cost to Subex Group Package of over Rs 5 crs.Till September 2012 it was the 1992 Founder Subhash Menon who ran the Show and even remained Director till 2015.Menon’s Rise & Fall Story has been covered in some interesting detail by Forbes in November 2012 .Do even read the Readers Feedback to the Forbes Article. The Board also has Sanjeev Aga,ex MD of Aditya Nuvo & Birla ATT (Idea) & Anil Singhvi of Ican & earlier known for his long tenure with Ambuja Cement.He also was an advisor for two years with the Reliance ADA Group & advised on the Enam Axis Bank Merger .The Promoter Category shows a few investors with a very low stake.In fact many  others especially FPIs have much larger stakes & a few were allegedly instrumental in Founder Menon’s ouster because of the Syndesis Acquisition debacle that crippled Subex.The suspicion was that there was more than meets the eye in this US $ 165 m acquisition & it’s funding by US $ 180 m FCCB 1(See below) ~ Question : What’s Surjeet Singh’s strategy going forward to address the challenges that yet remain & scale the Topline & Bottomline significantly ?       
  2. Networth Jump with FCCB Conversion~ Networth has jumped from Rs 209 crs at March 31,2015 to Rs 727 crs at March 31,2016 as Company revised FCCB III Conversion price downward yet again from Rs 22.79  to Rs 13 on May 14 2015.This attracted near full conversion of the FCCBs taking the Equity from Rs 182.92 crs to Rs 502.81 crs in FY 16….These FCCBs were the huge Debt overhang in the Balance Sheet.The Book Value thus became Rs 14.46 on March 31,2016 with the Balance Sheet showing very little Debt with just US $ 6.95 m o/s on all FCCBs I ,II & III .The FCCB Story commenced 10 years ago in 2006/7 when 2%  FCCB I for US $ 180 m was issued with Exchange rate fixed at Rs 44.08 & Conversion at Rs 656.20.In 2009/10 a restructuring proposal of FCCB 1 was offered at a 30% discount to Face Value.Those who held US $ 141 m face value FCCB I accepted & were issued 5% interest per annum, payable half yearly US $ 98.7 m FCCB II with exchange rate fixed at Rs 48.17  & Conversion at Rs 80.31.Redemption date was the same at March 9,2012 which RBI extended to July 9,2012.However another restructuring offer was made in June 2012 to FCCB I & II Holders & most (US $ 38m of the 39 m FCCB I o/s & US $ 53.4 m of the 54m FCCB II o/s) accepted it in July 2012 & were issued 5.7% interest per annum payable half yearly FCCB III for US $ 127.72 m with exchange rate fixed at Rs 56.0545 & Conversion Price at Rs 22.79 with maturity date of July  7,2017.On May 14,2015 the Conversion price was reset on these FCCB III to Rs 13  ~ Question : Though the FCCB Mess has been resolved where lies this High Networth & how is it going to be serviced?
  3. Goodwill on Consolidation ~ The Networth lies in the Carrying Values as on March 31,2016 of the Investments of Rs 647.39 crs made in Subex(UK) which contributes nearly all of topline & of Rs 124.96 crs(lower by Rs 54.90 crs) in Subex Americas Inc.Consolidated Accounts throws up these Investments in the Goodwill on Consolidation.Company has,and new auditors,S R Batliboi & Associates(Previous was Deloitte Haskins & Sells) have accepted the continuing Goodwill Value of Rs 670.36 crs for UK & the fresh assessed Rs 97.26 crs for Americas(down by Rs 88.70 crs from the Rs 186.06 crs carried till FY 15).Company views this as fair based on their assessment of operations  & cash flows going forward & even external valuations.~ Question : These are Intangible & carry risk of Impairment going forward & thus are they yet being overstated even now ?
  4. Topline ~ Sales continue to hover in the Rs 320 crs to Rs 360 crs range last four years despite regular annual report noises on the potential of  mobile telephony going forward.Bottomline remains relatively insignificant even as FY 16 generates Rs 50+ crs and an EPS of Rs 1…maybe enough to service stakeholders like Employees & Working Capital Lenders but what about Shareholders~ Question :Even assuming lower Interest Burden with the FCCB Conversions & less risk of Exchange Fluctuations how would such a flat growth topline generate enough bottomline to service the Equity of over Rs 500 crs now?
  5. Subsidiaries Outstandings set off sought from RBI ~ Standalone Financials as on March 31,2016 reveal Trade Receivables,net of Doubtful Debt) from Subsidiaries  at Rs 412.73 crs &  Payables at Rs 441.28 crs.Company plans to apply to RBI to allow them to set these off. No Accounting adjustment has been made for these & neither have Auditors qualified their Report on the Standalone Accounts though they have drawn attention to it as an Emphasis of Matter ~ Question : That these have grown so huge on either side over the years without being settled does it signal at least a part being accommodation entries?

Remember how I had analysed & exposed Geodesic in 2012/13 at @ Rs 10 & with huge FCCBs too when many were floating it as multi-bagger potential to cross Rs 100.It dropped to under Rs 2 & has since been suspended from trading         

Over 600 Employees yet believe that Subex will Turnaround under Surjeet Singh…Question is do you as a Potential Investor ….or is the risk a bit too adventurous for your profile….Subex has little long term debt & is showing a positive bottomline now ….well the FCCB Mess certainly has been cleared up but at the cost of FY 16 creating an additional 32 cr shares which already created a selling momentum after the conversion…some yet may have to be sold off.

This is anybody’s & everybody’s share now with insignificant Promoter Holding….There are many who jumped in excitedly at Rs 18 last year & saw their Investment halve in quick time on selling pressure created by additional 32 crs created from August 2015, earliest effective conversion date was in this month ,on the FCCB III.Remember these FCCB Holders had already faced 30% Face Value Loss on FCCB II issue  + Exchange Loss from original Rs 44 & then Rs 48 & then Rs 56 when current rate is @ Rs 67 ….and shares converted at Rs 13 would surely have been crying to sell at Rs 18 to recover some loss for the holders!…. Now there are many yet aggressively buying in at Rs 9.50 to Rs 11…Volumes & Price Trends are telling some story…Selling Pressure seems to be ebbing

🙂 Anybody interested in acquiring  majority stake in Subex ? will cost you under just US $ 45 m or under  Rs 300 crs (@ Rs 67 ex rate)  for a 51% stake & you’ll get a Rs 350 crs topline company with little debt & in profits & servicing  most of the leading Telecom Operators & Communication Service Providers worldwide…and the Book is near Rs 15 with very little equity dilution remaining on account of remaining FCCB conversion….you of course need to believe the carrying worth of Investments in Subex (UK) & Goodwill on Consolidation shown because of it…you would also need to believe in Surjeet Singh’s exclamation in his statement in the FY 15 Annual Report that it’s Inflection Point & all at Subex are very excited about the road ahead read more

Sensex disappoints in FY 16 as many of the 30 constituents lose big value

FY 16 has been a mixed year for Stocks with Markets on a downward drift  with  Sensex closing 9.4% lower  at 25341

Sensex disappoints in FY 16 as many of the 30 constituents lose big value 

Interesting & Heartening to it’s Shareholders ,Reliance has been the biggest constituent gainer at @ 27% while at the other end BHEL has lost half it’s value at 51% !  ~ another 11 companies have lost between @ 19% to 30 % values

Domestic Concerns revolved around  second consecutive failure of monsoon in 2015 &  slow pace of Reforms  & Corporate Earnings Lethargy with growth in single digits despite boasts of GDP Growth of over 7% and lower Inflation and Oil Price falling 40%

Global Concerns revolved around  China’s Growth slowing down considerably & It’s Stock Markets losing a lot of it’s froth in panic falls, continuing recession in Europe & expectations of the US Fed raising rate

Consequently FPI Inflows which were a record US $ 17 b in FY 2015, reversed to outflows of US 2.1 b in FY 16.These outflows would have been higher if last month March 2016  had not seen a reversal back to FPI Inflows of US $ 3.2 b 

In the first three months of this Calendar Year 2016 , January &  February 2016 witnessed significant outflows of US 1.67 b & US $0.8 b respectively that dropped Sensex to 23000 levels.On the back of many countries like Japan,Switzerland and Sweden embarking on Negative Interest Rate Policy,the  US Fed send out dovish signals and has delayed Rate hikes.This saw FPI Equity Inflows smartly cross US $ 3 b in  March 2016  getting them back into the Green in 2016 & revive the Sensex back up @ 10% to 25500 levels or else FY 16 would have seen a Sensex drop of nearly 5000 points & @ 18%,double than what it actually did in the end

Here are some FY 16 Trend observations :

  • Sensex closed down 9.4%.It was down @ 18 % just around a month ago but smartly pulled back on record US $ 3b FPI Inflows in March 2016
  • Of the 30 Sensex Constituents,amusingly after a seven year itch perhaps 🙂  Reliance is the biggest gainer  at 27% taking it’s Market Cap to US $ 49 b,next only to top TCS  which  despite a flat year retains Top Market Cap of US $ 73b !
  • Six Scrips,including all weather favourite TCS (Market Cap US $ 73b) have remained flat
  • Of the Four Banks,only HDFC Bank stays in the Green just about,the rest have lost lot of value from one third to one fifth
  • India Growth Proxy Larsen & Toubro has lost 26% Value
  • Four Pharma Majors have also dropped significantly from 13% to 28%
  •  Three IT Bellweathers saw Wipro down 10%,Infy up 10% and TCS  in between remaining flat
  • Of the Five Auto Majors,the two 2-wheelers are both in the green,two ,Maruti & M & M are flat while Tata Motors has lost 30% value
  •  Three eternal FMCG Favorites,ITC,Asian Paints & HUL have held up
  •    After a Steel Sector Battering past few years,Tata Steel is now catching it’s breath
  • All  Five  Non Bank PSUs continue to flounder ~ BHEL has lost half it’s Value follwed by ONGC down 30% ,Coal India down 19%,NTPC down 13% & Gail down 8%
  • Housing Finance Leader HDFC too has taken a beating of @ 16%
  • Controversial Adani Group’s Adani Ports is down 20%
  • Telecom Leader Bharti Airtel is down 11% despite getting a 4G breather as Reliance’s Jio ,expected to be a sector disruptive force,launch continues to be delayed but should be fully operative by FY 17 year end
  • read more

    Anil D Ambani Reliance Group~Market Cap & Debt ~ Defence to its Defence

    Have a Look at the Market Cap (today closing March 28,2016)& Consolidated Debt (September 30,2015) of these Five Listed Companies of Anil D Ambani

    Name Of The Company

    Market Cap (Rs.Crs)

    Total Debt (Rs.Crs)

    Reliance Power

    13015

    31428

    Reliance Infrastructure

    13747

    24645

    Reliance Capital

    9117

    22730

    Reliance Communication

    12457

    35254

    Reliance Defence

    5098

    6884

    Total

    53434

    120941

    Rs 120941 crs was the Aggregate Consolidated Long & Short Term Debt of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Five Listed Group Companies as on September 30,2015 while today’s Market Cap is Rs 53434 crs.Aggregate it and you’ll get Enterprise Value without adjusting for any Cash    

    Reliance Defence (erstwhile Pipavav) has come into his fold now and a turnaround is expected after CDR was approved ~ RCom is planning to reduce Debt substantially by selling Assets like it’s Tower Business.It also is being supported by Big Brother Mukesh Ambani’s tie ups for Jio Roll outs etc ~ RPower has just declared and paid it’s maiden interim dividend of 10% in December 2015 but continues to struggle to commission Samalkot Power Plant on non availability of Gas ~ Rinfra & RCap are the relatively stabler companies

    As long as his companies keeps servicing debt the Banks who have lend will not have to classify the Loans as NPAs….In fact with Anil Ambani planning huge Defence Sector Investments and Growth in his other Companies the aggregate Debt may increase even after Asset Sell offs

    Problem is that Anil Ambani has not been enjoying good Investor Credibility after wealth destruction in RCom & RPower & suspected involvement of top management in the 2G Telecom Scam.Investigation continues

    The Group’s Market Cap is Rs 53434 crs ~ Compare this with Big Brother Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries that closed today with a Market Cap of Rs 330654 crs

    Now his big Focus is on Defence with India having embarked on a Huge Defence  ‘Make in India’ Endeavour opening out FDI  Cap to 49% in the Sector

    None of Anil Ambani’s Companies have approached it’s shareholders or the Public for funds after the Reliance Power IPO at Rs 450  in January 2008

    None have as None could !

    The Reliance Power IPO was a huge obscene premium assault on the Public from which the Public has yet to recover (Quotes at Rs 47 today after a Bonus Issue in 2008 itself  from the Premium collected that adjusted the Price to @ Rs 270!) .The Issue was hyped by the Investment Banker Wolves to create a huge oversubscription.

    Of course in January 2011 Anil Ambani had entered into a Consent Plea with SEBI without admission of guilt & was investigated for misuse of Overseas Borrowed Funds and was personally fined and banned access to Capital Markets for a year and Reliance Infra for two years    read more

    Freedom251 ! A 3G Phone for just Rs 251 ! ~ Charity or Con!?

    Got up this morning to see Freedom251 splashed across the cover of Times of India & it’s sister Mumbai Mirror

    It’s a 3G  GSM Phone for Rs 251 for which the Registration & Booking begins today till Sunday February 21,2016 with deliveries in four months

    Times also run a news article on the controversial launch

    It’s planned to be made by Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd promoted by one Goel Family in Noida with parts from Taiwan

    Charity or Con!?….that’s because it’s less than half the price of a subsidised Gas Cylinder & the Company says it’s not receiving any government subsidies   

    Company should upfront receive Rs 251 + Rs 40 for delivery=Rs 291 for each phone.That’s Rs 29.1 crs for One Million Orders & 291 crs for 10 Million and 2910 crs for 100 Million !….and it can deliver by June 30!?…they should have names it Rabbit Bells !

    It also has not received the time consuming BIS approval…wonder if they have applied!

    When you do try to register & pay  it throws you back to the first page….that’s ominous at the start itself !

    Its Human Nature to be seduced like this & apply & hope it’s not a Con!

    🙂  And I’m a sucker for seduction ~ Stock Market has been a great teacher ! ~ So I’m going to sacrifice my Happy Hours Pizza this afternoon and apply if I get through !

    Indiabulls Housing Finance & Reliance Communications sinking on Bourses !

    Post Bihar Elections Results observe the rapid decline in share prices of Indiabulls Housing Finance & Reliance Communications!

    Both are sinking on the Bourses  by 15% + & 10% respectively today ….far more than Sensex drop of 1% to 25600 levels !…and both are traded in F & O Segments too !

    Indiabulls Housing Finance down 15% + this morning !

    Indiabulls Housing Finance had recorded a high of Rs 820 on BSE on August 10,2015 and was available at even Rs 750 levels end October 2015,just a fortnight ago!.Last few days it has rapidly sunk and today the intensity was a worrying over 15% to sub  Rs 600 levels this morning

    This is just a day after it announced it was acquiring 39.76 % stake for US $ 100 m in the UK Bank OakNorth as was announced also by the PM in his address to Businessmen in UK yesterday while on a three day UK Trip.Interestingly this acquisition was guided by the outspoken and blunt Dr K C Chakrabarty who is on the Board of Indiabulls Housing Finance and who retired in 2014 as Dy RBI Governor…I had blogged on him then  when he was blasting the banking rot !…See the link below :

    Why Now? ~RBI Dy Governor K C Chakrabarty speaks his Mind on the Banking Rot and seeks to retire a few months early !

    Saturday, March 22nd, 2014

     

    Recently in September 2015  the Company had also raised Rs 3997 crs in a QIP at Rs 702 that took it’s networth past Rs 10000+ crs.It has just announced a third interim dividend for FY 16 on it’s FV Rs 2 Share

    BSE shows an average Two Week  Daily Volume of just 49000 shares .But today there’s mean abnormal selling at just past noon the Volume is 8.6 lakh shares already !

    What’s happening ! ? Anybody knows !?

    Incidentally the Chairman Sameer Gehlaut too is picking up a 10% stake in the UK Bank in his personal capacity

     

    RCom ringing alarm bells on the bourses

    Reliance Communication  recorded a day’s low of Rs 63.75 down over 10% this morning and is trying to recover from there.Just last week it was Rs 82 !….having surged from Rs 50 levels end August 2015….down by 20% from Rs 80+ levels inside days !

    Average Two Week Daily Volume is 16 lakhs but it’s approaching 30 lakhs already on BSE as we approach 12.30 pm!

    Anybody can explain !?

     

    Whatever be the reason ! and there has to be !,such Volatility in such F & O Segment Scrips is unnerving for  Speculators,Traders & Investors et all with the exception of Insiders !

    And Both were positioned well,despite Corporate Governance Issues,to move further ahead on favourable fundamental developments and on current valuations  !…and I did discuss them at my recent NSE Workshop on October 31,2015 highlighting the Corporate Governance Risks though ! read more

    Shyam Telecom Upper Circuit at Rs 51+ as RCom buys into SSTL ~ Not Justified

    Shyam Telecom was on Upper Circuit at Rs 51+ this morning  as RCom buys into SSTL ~ Not Justified  

    Anil Ambani’s listed Reliance Communication just announced a few days ago it’s picking up the wireless business of  Russian Parent’s Indian unlisted Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd that operates in India as a Telecom Service Provider under the MTS Brand

    SSTL would get 10% of RCom in an all stock deal that was expected to conclude mid 2016.This is current worth just over @ 2000 crs assuming RCom Share Prce of @ Rs 80

    I had blogged extensively on Shyam Telecom just two years ago in October 2013 when it had rocketed from Rs 16 to Rs 46 then…link is below

    Shyam Telecom continues to Fly into a different Orbit ! From Rs 16 in August to Rs 46 upper circuit now !

    Saturday, October 12th, 2013

    Today Shyam Telecom hit an upper circuit of Rs 51.55 in the morning on NSE and also Rs 50.65 on BSE and has now opened out

    The rise today is not really justified

    Shyam Telecom owns just 380307 Equity Shares of FV Rs 10 of SSTL….That’s a paltry 0.01% of SSTL…If it thus opts to exchange these shares for RCom shares post deal it would get barely just over 25000 shares that’s worth just over Rs 20 lakhs

    Market probably is under impression Shyam Telecom owns 24% of  SSTL while  it’s actually the Shyam Telecom Promoter Group of Rajiv Mehrotra that does own 22.65% of the SSTL Equity

    SSTL has an Equity of Rs 3193.82 crs of which Russian Parent Sistema holds 56.68%,Russian Government owns 17.14% aggregating  a Russian Interest of 73.82% .The Shyam Telecom Group of Rajiv Mehrotra owns 22.65% with 3.53 % owned by over 18000 non promoter group shareholders

    The Shyam Telecom Group that owns 22.65% comprises of Mehrotra owned entities of Intell Invofin,AT Invofin,Cellphone Credit & Securities and others

    Each of these three Mehrotra Entities of the Shyam Telecom Group are common Investors in Shyam Telecom & SSTL and own 15.065%,7.186% & 6.745% in listed Shyam Telecom  and 10.95%,5.48% & 5.48% respectively in unlisted SSTL…..so it is these three Mehrotra Companies that will get under 6 cr shares of RCom valued under  Rs 500 crs currently should they opt for them in exchange of their SSTL holding

    Shyam Telecom should continue to languish unless Rajiv Mehrotra decides to turn it around with fresh infusion of funds and new Business….now that’s a possibility and any share price rice will have to be assuming this and not the immediate Value benefit of RCom shares that the Company would be entitled too ! read more

    Scroll to Top