Jefferies upgrades Titan to 'buy' from 'hold'

Reuters Market Eye - Jefferies upgrades Titan Industries to "buy" from "hold" and raises its target price to 296 rupees from 288 rupees, saying recent concerns about increased regulatory scrutiny on gold lending and the demand environment are overdone.

The brokerage says Titan can still buy physical gold using regular working capital loans and simultaneously sell forward contracts on gold and currency in the event that metal gold loans become too expensive.

Jefferies adds that its customer base is one that may be more amenable to comply with know-your-customer rules.

Jefferies also expects a higher number of weddings and auspicious days in 2013 with strong retail space expansion to support growth in FY14.

 

Shares in Titan were down 0.5 percent at 1:12 p.m.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)