Buy Aries Agro; target of Rs 112: Sunidhi Securities

“Incorporated in 1969, AAL manufactures and markets micronutrients. AAL introduced Chelation technology in manufacturing micronutrients to India and is the market leader in the same. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has seven manufacturing units in India, in addition to an overseas subsidiary for manufacture and sale of chelated micronutrients. AAL tapped the capital market in December 2007 at a price of `130/share aggregating `130 crore to fund the five-fold expansion of its production capacities (Setting up of new manufacturing units at Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Medak (Andhra Pradesh) and an additional unit in Maharshtra and to strengthen its marketing network.”

“Aries has 65 branded products coming from six manufacturing units in India, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad , Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and one new factory in UAE which is mainly for catering middle east region and North Africa. Company’s largest distribution network of 5, 500 distributors and 76, 500 retail outlets across India is the main attraction for a rural centric business like this. AAL is also entering new markets in India by expanding its distribution activities in states like Kashmir, Kerala, Manipur and Goa. Aries has been effectively scaling up utilization of its manufacturing base of 84,600 tpa across the 6 plants in India. In addition, its 70,000 tpa manufacturing base at Sharjah and Fujairah are now fully operational. The Fujairah manufacturing unit is the 1st in Asia and 15th in the world with 60,000 tpa installed capacity for Sulphur Bentonite fertilizer.”

“AAL’s wide product range matches the world's best and biggest plant nutrition companies. This vast range of cost-effective, world class products serves as a major differentiator as it provides Aries farmers with the widest choice of customized plant nutrients, tailor-made for the crop and soil specific needs. AAL’s efforts to further enhance this brand portfolio will continue with further research and development at its own R&D labs and by working with Agricultural Universities and Research Institutions. In future, AAL can easily roll out allied products throughout this network without much marketing efforts. In addition to this distribution Points Company has added a fleet of 100 rural retail vehicles called ‘Krishi Vinjan Vahan’ in 9 states in India. This is mainly for improving company’s rural reach and advisory services. The demand for AAL’s products in the South Asian region and the Middle East is growing and that Golden Harvest Middle East FZC will require further expansion of its manufacturing capacity. In addition to export markets, AAL has also set up a team to look into institutional sales in India covering major fertilizer manufacturers, State Governments and large seed producers. This opens up new opportunities to expand bulk business in India.”

“At the CMP of Rs 80, the share is trading at a P/E of 4.6x on FY12 earnings. We recommend BUY with a target price of Rs 112 in the medium term,” says Sunidhi Securities research report.

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