Buy ABB India; target of Rs 1041: YES Securities

YES Securities is bullish on ABB India has recommended buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1041 in its research report dated July 26, 2020.

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July 28, 2020 / 08:59 IST

26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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YES Securities' research report on ABB India

Sales were down 43% yoy to Rs9.86bn due to supply chain disruptions & lockdown. However, it came in 15%/10% ahead of our/cons. est. as ABB’s execution improved sequentially in June’20. Industrial Automation (IA)/ Electrification (EL)/ Motion (MO)/ Robotics & Discrete Automation (RA) revenues declined by 37%/51%/35%/64%. EBITDA margins contracted across all segments except Motion. EBITDA margin came in at 2.4% down 480bps yoy, (much ahead with our/cons est. of -4.7%/-4.3%) as lower revenue was offset to a reasonable extent by various cost saving initiatives & favorable forex. Order inflow de-grew by 31% (ex-solar inverter) to Rs12bn by securing orders in varied sectors, including power distribution equipment, automation projects for process industries, food and beverage. Net non-cash working capital days stood at ~37 as on Q2CY20 vs ~34 as on Q4CY19. Cash position remains strong at ~Rs15bn. ABB’s order book stood at Rs46.7bn & is well positioned to focus on pockets of growth like F&B, Data Centers, Pharma, Rail & Metro, Gas distribution, Chemicals, Renewables, Waste water and Smart infra. We are positive on ABB, given its niche business related to products and services and a pure play on Digitalization and Automation. Postponement of major capex to subsequent quarters due to COVID-19 has led to greater focus on plant upkeep, optimization, automation & digital solutions which should augur well for ABB. We cut our CY20E EPS estimates by 27% to factor in the extended impact of COVID-19 pandemic, weak business prospects for IA & RA in H2CY20, gradual recovery in global macros & trade uncertainties. We expect margin recovery over CY21-CY22E led by i) Increasing contribution of high margin ‘electrification products’, ii) Exit from solar inverter business which had wafer thin margins, iii) Higher sales contribution by exports and services, iv) Increase in local content & v) Efficiency improvement through cost rationalization.

Outlook

The Stock is trading at 56x Jun’21 earnings vs 15-yr average forward P/E of ~72x, implying ~20% discount. We retain ‘BUY’ rating with TP of Rs1041 at 45x as we rollover to Sept’22 earnings.