Page Industries Post Robust Q3FY13 Numbers

Page Industries today came out with a robust set of Q3FY13 numbers. The company posted a topline growth of 26% to Rs 216 crore and bottomline growth of 28% to Rs 25.42 crore on a YoY basis. Over a good set of numbers, the stock is trading higher by 0.65% to Rs 3281 per share. The following table gives us an overall financial performance of the company in the December quarter of 2012:

Input costs of the company increased substantially during the December 2012 quarter. The raw material expenses increased by 34%, to Rs 111 crore on a YoY basis. Further, the raw material to sales ratio, increased by 325 basis points to 51.52%. Despite a higher input pressure, the company managed to hold its operating margins.

For the December 2012 quarter, the operating profit of the company increased by 25% to Rs 37 crore on a YoY basis. However the operating margin decreased marginally by 5 basis points to 16.98% as against 17.03% in the similar period last year. On the other hand, the Net Profit margin of the company increased by 20 basis points to 11.75% on a YoY basis. The Profit margin increased on account of lower depreciation and interest expense, which declined approximately by 5% each on a YoY basis.

The Board of directors declared a third interim divined of Rs 14 per share. For reference, the company had declared the first interim dividend of Rs 10 per share in July 2012 and the second interim dividend of Rs 12 in the month of November 2012. Collectively till date for this fiscal, the company has declared an aggregate dividend of Rs 36 per share which is very commendable.

Overall, we believe that the company posted a good set of December quarter numbers for FY13. On the valuation front, the company is currently available at TTM PE of 34.52x, which we believe is fairly valued considering its robust financial performance and healthy business growth. We suppose, one should invest in the counter in a staggering manner keeping in mind a long-term horizon to garner better returns.