Adani Ports posted a 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 1,159 crore, while 40 per cent to Rs 5,797 crore in Q4FY23. Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) are likely to hit the Rs 1,000 mark, if brokerage firms are to be believed, after upbeat Q4 earnings. A majority of the brokerage firms, both international and domestic, continue to remain positive on the stock and see an upside potential of up to 40 per cent in the stock.
Shares of Adani Ports fell on Thursday to Rs 730 compared to its previous close at Rs 737.25 on Wednesday. The company was commanding a market capitalization of Rs 1.58 lakh crore during the session. Shares of Adani Ports turned multibagger from their 52-week lows at Rs 394.95 as the stock hit Rs 790 the previous week, before correction.
CLSA said that core ports and logistics EBITDA grew 35 per cent YoY and the company consolidated its hold over the business by consummating many acquisitions. Ports traffic did well with FY23 traffic up 9 per cent YoY and the company is getting ready for its next leg of growth, it said. "Its $4 billion forex debt led to an MTM hit and it exited Myanmar," CLSA added.
ASPEZ completed six acquisitions during the year, namely- Haifa Port Company, Gangavaram Port, Karaikal Port, IOTL, Ocean Sparkle, and ICD Tumb. The global brokerage firm has maintained its 'buy' rating on the Adani Ports and has increased its target price to Rs 878 from Rs 792 earlier.
Another Global brokerage firm Nomura sees Adani Ports shares at Rs 1,025 and it has a 'buy' rating on the stock as it finds results were operationally better than estimates.
"Management highlighted focus on deleveraging and minimum share pledges by FY24 and the company sees strong growth in logistics volumes, which may be a risk for CONCOR. It expects strong growth of 20-22 per cent in container volumes in logistics," said Nomura. However, Phillip Capital has trimmed its target of Adani Ports to Rs 930, from Rs 950 earlier, but has maintained a 'buy rating as it has revised its FY24 earnings considering margin impact of international operations and fixed cost impact of capex in FY23. "Adani Ports reported a decent set of numbers, broadly in-line with expectations but volumes may impact in the short term over global geo-political developments and economic slowdown along with margin pressure due to increased mix from international operations. We continue to view it as an excellent way to play the economic recovery cycle," Phillip Capital said. Adani Ports posted a 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 1,159 crore, while 40 per cent to Rs 5,797 crore in Q4FY23. For FY23, the company reported a 9 per cent YoY growth in net profit to Rs 5,310 crore, with a 22 per cent rise in revenue at Rs 20,852 crore. Ruchit Jain, Lead Analyst at 5 Paisa, said it is difficult to guess the short-term momentum as far as Adani group stocks are concerned. However, he likes Adani Ports as price-wise correction in Ambuja Cements seems over but has recommendations for 6 months and above. Among other brokerage firms, JM Financial has a target price of Rs 850 for Adani Ports, while Nuvama Institutional Equities sees the stock at Rs 956. According to Kotak Institutional Equities, the fair value of Adani Ports shall be Rs 835. All three brokerages gave a 'buy' rating on the stock.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Business Today)