Investing Reflections On India

Sudal Industries is in the business of manufacturing aluminium extrusions, which h are used in several basic industries such as construction, buses/trucks, power, electrical, defence, railways, infrastructure, packaging etc. with new applications still being discovered.  Moreover, aluminium penetration in the Indian market is very low by world standards (like a lot of other products) indicating potential for a lot of future growth. The company reported a recent spurt in revenues and operating profits of 10cr and 110cr respectively.  It employed moderate debt of 12cr as at 31 st March 2011 but this is set to increase substantially over the next few years as a result of capacity expansion plans (see below). The business is exposed to rising aluminium prices and is subject to the general economic cycle. Management have planned large capital expansion projects with capital expenditure equivalent to about 60% of current resources planned for next year alone.  Needless to say

Avon Corporation is in the business of manufacturing weighing machines.  It went public in 2008 and is listed on the BSE. The company has displayed apparently impressive growth in revenues and profits with modest leverage. The good news ends there. A closer examination of the listing prospectus and subsequent annual reports indicates that the company has bled cash from operations over the last seven years.  Profits seem to be tied up in ‘Other Debts’ and ‘Advances to Suppliers’.  One is forced to ask why the company’s debtors cannot pay in time for relatively small-cost items such as weighing machines and what the necessity is for such large advances to suppliers.  Moreover, there is no mention of the significant class of raw materials used in manufacturing – as is common practice with other public companies.  Apart from this, management appear to have diversified into an unrelated business of desigining ‘Activity Monitoring Software’.  Neither the extent of this activity nor its