Reliance Industries

Just heard some Insipid advise for RPL from ‘Experts’ on UTVi just now!

2 Comments / Chuckle !, Controversies, Interesting News Sightings, Investing Themes, Refining & Petrochemicals, Reflections, STOCKS, VALUATION / By Gaurav Parikh

Two ‘Experts’, one Fundamental and the other Technical were on a Viewers Q & A show right now on UTVi…A viewers question came forth on RPL…”I have brought it at Rs 154,what should I do ?”

Both these ‘Experts’ went into detail on the merits of holding RPL for a One Year Hold !…Insipid Stuff…Guys ! RPL will not be in existence after a Year !….the RPL Price right now merely reflects a 16:1 merger ratio with Reliance Industries…RPL is Rs 125 and Reliance Industries is Rs 2000 !…That’s it !…so it’s a just a Piggy back share right now…It has to be !…what would have served the viewer well would be to explain to him that at his cost of Rs 154 in RPL ,his holding cost in Reliance Industries would be Rs 2464 …Will this Price be reached ,given the Court ruling against them in the RNRL Case ?…The downward effect of this on the EPS will be Rs 20 in FY 11…Despite this short term reaction in Reliance,it definitely will regain strength…It has a 17% weightage in the Sensex and if the Sensex has to move towards 18000 and beyond in the next year or two,it cannot be without Reliance climbing upwards towards Rs 3000 and beyond

Come On Guys in UTVi…I’ve been impressed with all of you…but you do need to vet some of your ‘Experts’ before putting them on your channel…unless ofcourse you’re being dictated by their PR exercise !

Reliance announces RPL Amalgamation into RIL Ratio at 16:1…What should RPL and RIL Shareholders do?

Leave a Comment / Controversies, Corporate Governance, Derivatives Strategies, Interesting News Sightings, Investing Themes, INVESTOR MISTAKES, Refining & Petrochemicals, Reflections, STOCKS, VALUATION / By Gaurav Parikh

On Friday,after Markets closing,RPL and RIL announced that their Boards would meet this morning to consider and recommend the Amalgamation of RPL into RIL

I had blogged that the ratio could be 20:1 and the Amalgamation would add incremental EPS to RIL and help RIL Share Price to be maintained or enhanced

The Amalgamation Ratio has just been announced this morning at a better 16:1 and it’s already in the share prices…RIL is marginally lower at Rs 1235 and RPL is virtually unchanged at Rs 76

RIL has been justifying this amalgamation largely for operational efficiencies and enhancement of shareholder value…They say it will be tax neutral…My blog had emphasised that clearly the Amalgamation was an effort to maintain/enhance RIL Share Price in these tough times as there would be incremental EPS accretion and a very marginal dilution of Equity

Times are tough for Global Refiners and Gross Refining Margins are abysmal…In the near term 2009/10 I don’t see any recovery

Projected EPS for FY 10 is Rs 140 for RIL post amalagamation as KG Gas and RPL is expected to l add the incremental EPS…Otherwise the EPS would have struggled to top even Rs 90 in FY 10……I have reservations on this Projections of an EPS of Rs 140

I also see a deepening Global Crisis and the Dow sinking to more Lows…In this scenario I see RIL moving below Rs 1000

So what should RIL and RPL Shareholders do Now….All depends on your View of Markets and Reliance in the Near and Long Term…A few strategies are advised below for those who hold both RPL and RIL in their Equity Portfolio

A BULLISH VIEW IN THE NEAR TERM ( 2009) AND LONG TERM (2011)

Retain your holdings in RPL and RIL

A BEARISH NEAR TERM VIEW BUT A BULLISH LONG TERM VIEW

If you are a Long Term Investor and are not going to be unnerved by short term share price volatility,you could remain a passive spectator and retain your holdings

Alternatively you can retain your Holdings but protect yourself from any downside by buying RPL (Lot is 3350 shares…contract size is therefore over Rs 2.5 lakhs) and RIL Puts (Lot is 300 shares…contract size is therefore nearly Rs 3.8 lakhs)…Obviously this strategy is not suitable for marginal holdings significantly below derivative contract values

However if ,assuming You hold an intensely bearish view for the near term like I do you can adopt the following strategy…Sell off both RPL and RIL Holdings and either remain in cash for some time or sell RPL Holdings and actively use the proceeds to pay the margins by shorting RIL Futures or selling RIL Call Options

Breaking News ! ….RIL and RPL Boards to Meet on March 2,2009 to consider and recommend that RPL amalgamates into RIL!

2 Comments / Controversies, Corporate Governance, Derivatives Strategies, Insider Trading, Interesting News Sightings, INVESTOR MISTAKES, Refining & Petrochemicals, Reflections, SEBI, STOCKS, VALUATION / By Gaurav Parikh

Ambanis of Reliance have adopted this modus operandi without fail the past 25 years…They create new companies for similar business…and when they commence production,they amalgamate them into the Parent, RIL…in a sense give birth to Children and bring them back into the Parent fold

So I was not surprised at all when the Breaking News hit that the Boards of RIL and RPL are meeting seperately on March 2,2009 to consider and recommend the amalgamation of RPL into RIL…In fact for years I have been stating that this will inevitably happen…What must have pushed RIL now is that the Margins are under pressure in both, RIL and RPL, and RIL is carrying Huge Inventory losses as it had entered into Oil Contracts at US $ 120+ per barrel in mid 2008…Oil is now crashed to just over US $ 40 per barrel…Clearly RIL sees Cashflow,Tax,Valuation,Scale and Leverage Synergies in this Amalgamation

This Breaking News will Break RPL Shareholders…Closing Prices,adjusting for a possible fall in the price of RPL on Opening on Monday and adjusted Book Values indicate an amalgamation ratio of 1: 20

RPL Shareholders will not get to see really how much RPL really makes on the bottomline in it’s first full year of production !….This is the devious part really……Falling Gross Refining Margins would have meant a very low bottomline for RPL….With Equity at Rs 4500 crs +,it would have been seen as a loss of Group image in not being able to service the equity

The April 2006 IPO of RPL was at Rs 60…That’s where the price will settle…It may sink even lower…Current Price is Rs 76 while RIL closed at Rs 1265

As a stand alone Refinery,RPL would have got Earnings Valuation Multiples of much below 10….and much below Overseas Peers….FY 2010 would have shown Earnings in the low range of Rs 2 to Rs 4…despite a low floating stock of under 10%,the share price would have reacted quite sharply…With the amalgamation this scenario will not play out

Long Term RPL Shareholders have been short circuited…Just think about this !…in April 2006,you invested in RPL at Rs 60…assuming the ratio is 1:20,your cost of the RIl Share would work out to Rs 1200 right now…in April 2006,RIL was Rs 825-850 at the time of the RPL IPO

So,in April 2006 if you had invested in RIL, and were yet holding the shares you would have made 50% + gains…Twice that you would have made by investing in the RPL IPO at Rs 60 and yet held the share read more

Supported by a rise in Other Income,Reliance Industries reports a respectable net profit of Rs 3501 crs in Q3

4 Comments / Interesting News Sightings, Investing Themes, Reflections, STOCKS, VALUATION, Welcome / By Gaurav Parikh

For Reliance Industries’s Q 3 Profits for the Q ended December 31,2008,few estimates were over Rs 3500 crs…some were even below Rs 2700 crs and the consensus revolved around Rs 3000 crs

Despite an expected drop in Margins,Revenues and Profits to reflect challenging times,Reliance,true to form,showed a respectable profit of Rs 3501 crs in Q 3 against Rs 3882 crs yoy,supported by an increase in Other Income from Rs 241 crs yoy to Rs 641 crs

Gross Refining Margins are US $ 10/barrel.Cash and Cash Equivalents are Rs 28500 crs.Revenues are split 37% and 63% between Petrochemicals and Refining

Reliance may fail to notch an EPS of Rs 100+ for FY 2008/9 on fully diluted equity of Rs 1580 crs as it is unlikely to notch up profits of Rs 16000 crs for the full year.Gross Refining Margins and Quantum,if any,of Hedging or Speculative Loss on Oil Price Plays holds the key for profits that will be reported for this Q 4

Back of the Envelope Valuation on Earnings Multiples

Unless we are confronted with a shock on Derivative Losses on Oil Price Plays,even if camouflaged as Higher Cost Inventories,the likely EPS for FY 09 would be in the Rs 90 to Rs 95 range.At Rs 1136 closing today,the multiple would be @ 12.With expectations of Krishna Godavri Basin Gas contributing to revenues and profits from FY 10 and without much equity dilution,the Forward EPS estimates for FY 10 revolve around Rs 115…Applying a Multiple range of 7-14,the Share price Range in 2009 should be Rs 800-Rs 1600 and will depend on prevailing seniment and Earnings in FY 10.For Reliance to race away back towards Rs 2000 in 2009,a better sentiment has to prevail in the Markets to facilitate a higher multiple than 14…this is unlikely to happen anytime soon

Looking at the Downside…if the Sensex,currently has gone yet again below 9000 and is at 8800 levels, seeks to sink even below 7000 sometime in 2009,then Reliance will fall in sync towards Rs 800 with forward multiple falling to 7…unless global markets get hysterical and unless Reliance shocks with some significant scam,I don’t see Reliance below Rs 800 in 2009 or above Rs 1600 for that matter.It closed at Rs 1136 today.Results came in after market hours,so expect some rally tomorrow.

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