Motherson Sumi up 15% on in-principle nod for fund raising; biz update

The company announced it was well-positioned on liquidity, with an 11-quarter low debt and adequate liquidity as well as a focus on generating further cash.

Shares of Motherson Sumi Systems (MSS) were up 15 per cent to Rs 72.60 on the BSE on Wednesday after the company’s board gave in-principle approval to raise Rs 1,000 crore to enhance liquidity during the uncertain times of coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).

"The company is well-positioned on liquidity, with an 11-quarter low debt and adequate liquidity as well as a focus on generating further cash. It expects the current crisis to introduce M&A opportunities, and key customers are already pointing it in the direction of certain troubled companies," it said in a business update on Covid-19 impact.

The company said it is seeing positive development in demand from its China plants, which had initially been shut down at the onset of the pandemic but have since recovered their production levels to nearly the pre-Covid-19 state soon after resuming operations. For all other plants (India, the EU, and the US), MSS has received positive reopening dates for the vast majority of its plants by end-April / early May.

"The net debt as of Mar’20 stood at an 11-quarter low of Rs 7,150 crore at a consolidated level and EUR 702 million at Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group BV (SMRPBV)," it added.

That apart, the company informed that the promoter Samvardhana Motherson International (SAMIL) has repaid part of its debt, and subsequently 30.5 million MSS shares (a total pledge of 254.4 million or 8.05 per cent of equity) are expected to be released from the pledge this week. SAMIL intends to pay back more facilities from internal accruals and dividends going forward.

Motilal Oswal Securities remains positive on MSS owing to the stabilization of its Greenfield plants, execution of SMRPBV’s strong order book, and recovery in India. However, near-term stock performance would be influenced by COVID-19 developments (China exposure for SMRPBV and PKC Group) as well as ongoing restructuring exercises, the brokerage firm said in stock update.

At 10:07 am, MSS was trading 12 per cent higher at Rs 70.75 on the BSE on the back of heavy volumes. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 2.4 per cent at 31,427 points. A combined 12.3 million shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.