Hold Exide Industries; target of Rs 350: Prabhudas Lilladher

Prabhudas Lilladher's research report on Exide Industries

EXID's Q3FY25 standalone performance was a miss across all fronts owing to muted demand from OEMs during the quarter. It reported flattish revenue while gross profit improved marginally by 1.8% YoY and margin increased by 50bps YoY. EBITDA increased by 2% YoY with a margin expansion of 20bps YoY. Subdued overall performance led to modest PAT expansion of 2% YoY. Overall growth was subdued due to cautious production from OEMs, which impacted their sales. Demand outlook from the OEMs segment is subdued as tepid demand momentum is expected to keep the production across companies at moderate level, which may further impact EXID’s volume and revenue growth for FY25.

Outlook

Factoring this, we reduce our estimates by 4-15% for the forecast period. Replacement demand and industrial division outlook remains optimistic, while commencement of the LAB plant shall support the next leg of growth for the company. We retain “Hold” rating with a TP of Rs350, valuing its core business at 21x and its HDFC Life stake at Rs44/share.