Siemens trades near record high on strong outlook; surges 25% in two months

The management has indicated that the automotive segment continues to face headwinds especially in passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle segment and going ahead sees recovery to be very gradual

Shares of Siemens rose 4 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,706 on the BSE on Tuesday, surpassing its previous high of Rs 1,673 scaled on January 11. The stock of heavy electrical equipment manufacturer was quoting close to its record high level of Rs 1,717, touched on October 23, 2019.

In the past two months, the stock has rallied 25 per cent after the company reported healthy operational performance for the September quarter with the improvement in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin of 180 basis points (bps) year-on-year (YoY) to 12.9 per cent, largely led by a 210 bps YoY expansion in gross margins. The company follows October-September financial year.

The company said it has a strong order backlog of over one year's revenue, partially on account of the period of lockdown in the country, which resulted in reduced revenues. The company's new orders grew by 8.7 per cent YoY to Rs 3,220 crore during the quarter.

"India's GDP is expected to revive on the back of digitization, globalization, favourable demographics and reforms. The company is fully aligned to support the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ program announced by the Prime Minister with its offerings to support the various initiatives of Make in India, Digital India, Power for All, Smart Cities, Modernization of the Railways, etc," Siemens said in September 2020 annual report.

The company further said it has also witnessed heightened interest from customers for digitalization solutions to enable them to reduce their capex requirements, save cash and increase their productivity. Being a global leader in automation and digitalization coupled with a strong local footprint, the company is in an advantageous position to enable greater productivity and be the preferred choice for customers across all business segments.

The management has indicated that the automotive segment continues to face headwinds especially in passenger vehicles (PV) and commercial vehicle (CV) segment and going ahead sees recovery to be very gradual. Sectors like water, food & beverages (F&B), are seeing ordering opportunities in warehousing segment. Pharma is doing very well in manufacturing services. Transmission & Distribution (T&D) sector has been decent and is expected to start playing out once large tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) orders start kicking-in.

However, analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, in a result update, said they remain cautious over the medium-term owing to a gradual pick-up in demand across the sectors. "But, on a long-term basis, we are positive on the company due to its focus on digitization and localization, diversified business, high cash flows and robust balance sheet cash position," it said.